The 3,000-meter race: Bai Qingxia brought him water in front of everyone
His calm response caught Liu Wei off guard. Like a Sichuan opera performer changing masks, the woman in her thirties instantly switched from anger to smiles. She gently patted Lu Yuanqiu on the shoulder and encouraged him:
"Oh, really? You have an event this morning, Lu? Run your best. I was only joking just now."
Lu Yuanqiu nodded, trying not to laugh.
The implication: kill him after the race.
Liu Wei was a woman who wanted to come first in everything.
Whether it was a major exam or any school competition between classes, she had to take first place.
She doted on Bai Qingxia so much because the girl could single-handedly raise Class 28's average score by another seven or eight points every time.
Apparently, Bai Qingxia had missed last semester's final exams, causing Class 28's average to fall out of the top three in their year.
So ever since the start of this semester, Liu Wei had been silently nursing her determination in the office, not exchanging a single word with the other teachers, just waiting for this monthly exam to reclaim her pride.
Lu Yuanqiu remembered that Liu Wei's "sworn enemy" was the homeroom teacher of senior-year Class 29-another woman in her thirties who wore glasses, named Cao Yan. She was slimmer, taller, and more fashionable than Liu Wei.
The two classes secretly competed during every exam, all because their homeroom teachers had a long-standing grudge. Nobody knew whether there were other issues between the two women.
After the opening ceremony, Lu Yuanqiu ran back to the classroom to change into his sportswear for the morning's 3,000-meter race, while Bai Qingxia headed toward the campus convenience store.
That brief, one-minute "catwalk" with her class procession had turned her into the female star of all of Lucheng No. 7 Middle School. That was no exaggeration.
If the internet had been more developed that year, videos of Bai Qingxia carrying the placard would already have gone viral across every major short-video platform.
During their school years, people often needed only a fleeting glimpse of a dazzling girl for her to leave a lasting impression.
On her way to the convenience store, Bai Qingxia felt more and more eyes gathering on her.
There were even little groups of two or three following silently behind her and discussing her, like obsessive stalker fans.
Bai Qingxia responded to none of those looks. She simply walked with her head lowered as though nobody else was around. She could even clearly hear the conversations nearby, and among them, she heard her own name.
Like an epidemic, her name had quietly spread across the entire sports field of No. 7 Middle School. Even people who had no interest in her had learned what she was called.
"Excuse me, could you wait a moment?"
Hearing a voice up ahead, Bai Qingxia stopped in her tracks.
She looked up and saw a fair-skinned, clean-cut boy in front of her. The moment she looked at him, his face flushed bright red. Looking uncomfortable, he glanced back at his buddy behind him and silently gave him the middle finger.
Bai Qingxia felt uncomfortable too. She did not respond, but she did not immediately leave either, waiting for him to explain why he had stopped her.
"Could I add you on QQ?"
The fair-skinned boy bowed like a gentleman and asked bashfully, using a voice he believed sounded deep and appealing.
In 2010, QQ was all the rage among young people, one of the hottest social messaging apps around.
"I don't have QQ."
Bai Qingxia told the truth. Her voice sounded a little cool, but that was simply how she normally spoke.
The fair-skinned boy froze. Before he could recover from the heart attack of being "rejected," she had already walked around him and continued on her way.
"...I told you I didn't want to ask. Now I've been rejected. Happy?" The fair-skinned boy turned around and complained to his buddy.
The other onlookers turned their eyes toward him too, leaving him looking embarrassed.
"Wait... is she really that aloof?"
His buddy walked over in surprise, staring blankly at Bai Qingxia's slender waist and long legs.
How could she possibly not have QQ?
Who their age didn't have QQ these days?
When she reached the convenience store, Bai Qingxia asked softly, "Excuse me, how much is a bottle of water?"
The owner was a young man. Hearing her voice, he casually shifted his gaze from the television and replied, "One yuan fifty a bottle."
Then he saw her. His expression briefly froze, and he hurriedly climbed out of his rocking chair, smiling as he repeated, "One yuan fifty a bottle, miss."
"I remember it being one yuan a bottle..." Clutching two coins, Bai Qingxia questioned him in a small voice.
"Oh, well," the owner said. "It's sports day, so the price has gone up a little."
Seeing the girl's troubled expression, he readily offered, "Then I'll sell it to you at the original price. One yuan a bottle."
Only then did Bai Qingxia hand him the two coins and take two bottles of water.
The young owner stared after her, murmuring, "That girl... goes to No. 7 Middle School? How come I've never seen her before?"
"Two bottles of water!"
Chen Fei called to the owner, turning to glance at Bai Qingxia's retreating figure as she did. She was buying water for Zheng Yifeng's 100-meter race. Was Bai Qingxia buying hers for Lu Yuanqiu?
"Three yuan a bottle. Six for two." The convenience store owner glanced at Chen Fei and answered offhandedly.
"What?! That's daylight robbery!"
"That's how it is during sports day."
As he spoke, the owner lay back down to watch television, looking as though she could either buy it or get lost.
"Next group! Start warming up."
On the red running track.
Wearing a short-sleeved shirt and cargo pants, with his race number pinned to his chest, Lu Yuanqiu took his position midway along the track.
For the 3,000-meter race, they had to complete seven and a half laps of the 400-meter track.
There were eleven runners in his group, including his classmate Wang Haoran.
Wang Haoran tossed his center-parted hair, waved an arm at the Class 28 students gathered nearby, and declared confidently, "Don't worry, everyone. First place in this group is mine!"
"You've got this!!"
Liu Wei had gathered beside the track with the students too, eagerly cheering Wang Haoran on.
But they all seemed to have forgotten that Lu Yuanqiu was in this group as well.
As Wang Haoran warmed up, he glanced at Lu Yuanqiu doing the same beside him and asked scornfully, "What's wrong with you? You came in cargo pants instead of shorts?"
Lu Yuanqiu scoffed and casually patted the patch of grass and little flowers on the side of his pants. "None of your fucking business."
Wang Haoran could not be bothered with him. He had never really felt anything about Lu Yuanqiu before, but seeing Bai Qingxia suddenly become so close to him, without even realizing
it, he had started finding this burly guy irritating.
Why did both Hu Caiwei and Bai Qingxia get along with him?
The girls in their schoolgirl uniforms were watching expectantly and constantly cheering him on, which left Wang Haoran feeling very pleased. He spotted the two bottles of Scream in Hu Caiwei's hands and knew they had to be for him afterward.
"Holy shit, Lu Yuanqiu?"
A voice suddenly came from beside him. Lu Yuanqiu turned and found a guy whose face was as dark as Judge Bao's.
Going by his memories, he ventured, "Tan Le?"
"What, you don't recognize me anymore?"
Tan Le, who was as dark as charcoal, laughed and gave Lu Yuanqiu a pat. They had been classmates in their first year of high school, but had barely stayed in touch after being assigned to different classes.
The two had actually been close, though, because Lu Yuanqiu was always last in their year, while he was always second to last.
"I saw you in Class 28's procession. Holy shit, you fucking..." Tan Le suddenly lowered his voice and whispered furtively to Lu Yuanqiu:
"That Bai Qingxia in your class-I'd only ever heard about her before, never seen her. Fuck, she's actually that gorgeous! Like an anime girl! Seriously, I don't get it. Did she always study at home before? How come I've never seen her? Never even run into her in the cafeteria."
Still warming up, Lu Yuanqiu answered, "She doesn't board here, and she's completely focused on studying."
Tan Le asked shamelessly, "So, do you know her well? Give me her QQ."
Lu Yuanqiu rubbed the little grass-and-flower patch on his pants and looked around, but there was still no sign of Bai Qingxia.
He pursed his lips. "We're not that close."
Has that girl run off? Why isn't she here yet? My race is about to start, Lu Yuanqiu thought gloomily.
If Bai Qingxia did not cheer him on, he genuinely could not think of anyone else in his class who would.
Hearing that, Tan Le nodded quietly. "True. None of the girls in our class wanted anything to do with us in our first year. Sigh. Average looks, lousy grades."
Lu Yuanqiu shot back, "Fuck off. You're the one with average looks."
"On your marks!"
The teacher holding the starting pistol shouted. With a gunshot, the eleven runners in the group set off at an easy pace with long strides. Wang Haoran charged straight into first place, his center-parted hair streaming backward.
Tan Le and Lu Yuanqiu were still chatting amid the pack.
The guy seemed possessed. "She's seriously the prettiest girl I've ever seen. Bro, I've never asked you for anything in my life. Help me get her contact info-holy shit, she's here!"
Tan Le suddenly yelled when he saw Bai Qingxia jogging over outside the track, looking like a fairy with two bottles of water in her arms.
His eyes went round. Then, in his shock, he tripped right where he was and rolled over on the ground.
"Hey! Watch where you're going!" Lu Yuanqiu hurried forward to help him up, lifting his head to glance at Bai Qingxia at the same time.
The girl smiled at him, standing shyly at the edge of the track and gently waving the two bottles of water in her hands to show that she had bought them for him.