Those two actually had something in common?
Didn't he say he wasn't that close to Bai Qingxia?!
Would someone you weren't close to bring you water?!
Don't tell me you two have been fucking dating all along and just pretending in front of me?!
Lu Yuanqiu! I'm going to draw a circle and curse you!!!
May all your instant noodles come without seasoning packets!
Tan Le stood there questioning his entire existence. His convictions had crumbled, and he felt the wounded indignation of someone betrayed and stabbed in the back by his best buddy.
Because the moment Bai Qingxia had cheered him on, he had already imagined the two of them exchanging wedding vows in a pristine white church.
Of course, Tan Le wasn't the only one struggling to stay calm.
Bai Qingxia had already been the center of attention as she stood outside the track. When people noticed the two bottles of mineral water in her hands, the more observant among them had sensed something was off.
Sure enough, she had brought the water for someone.
But just who was this boy who liked fooling around?
What was his relationship with Bai Qingxia? Were they simply good friends? Or... could Bai Qingxia merely be rewarding him with water for bringing glory to their class?
Of course, another possibility had silently occurred to all of them.
If that possibility was true...
Then the thousands of innocent high school boys who had fallen for the white swan when she carried that sign would all be plunged into the gloom of heartbreak.
Like the fair-skinned boy whose request for her QQ had just been mercilessly rejected by his senior.
He and his best buddy were watching the scene from a distance, and he looked as though he had split down the middle.
Even the Green Tongue ice pop in his hand had wilted into a limp droop.
So she wasn't cold and distant toward everyone...
Bai Qingxia was simply too dazzling.
So dazzling that nearly everyone automatically overlooked the other person offering Lu Yuanqiu a drink.
Lu Yuanqiu glanced at Hu Caiwei and said flatly, "I don't drink that stuff, thanks."
He turned to Bai Qingxia with a smile and asked in surprise, "Both bottles are for me?"
Bai Qingxia nodded briskly, holding her slender, fair arms straight out. She offered the mineral water with all the shy hesitation of someone handing over a love letter.
She waited eagerly for him to accept it.
Lu Yuanqiu took the bottles without hesitation and smiled. "Thanks."
Fine. I'll remember this, Lu Yuanqiu... Hu Caiwei silently lowered her hand, inwardly gritting her teeth.
Then she turned to Wang Haoran and said expressionlessly, "Class monitor, catch!"
"Thanks, Hu Caiwei!"
Wang Haoran happily accepted the drink.
"Come on, let's rest over there," Lu Yuanqiu told Bai Qingxia. He opened a bottle and immediately gulped down half of it.
He didn't know whether he was genuinely thirsty or whether it was because Bai Qingxia had brought it, but the water tasted sweet, as though someone had added sugar.
But it's just an ordinary bottle of mineral water... Lu Yuanqiu looked at the bottle and smiled mockingly at his own inexplicable thoughts.
He realized that, at some point, this girl had suddenly come to mean much, much more to him.
He couldn't pinpoint which particular incident had caused it.
Seeing Lu Yuanqiu staring blankly at the bottle, Bai Qingxia blinked, then hurriedly stopped. Her little face earnest, she asked, "Do you want a drink instead? I'll buy one. I have money."
Lu Yuanqiu hastily explained, "No, no... I was just checking the brand. Weird. It's actually pretty good."
Mineral water tasted good?
Bai Qingxia tilted her head as though she couldn't quite process that.
But once she learned that Lu Yuanqiu wasn't examining the bottle because he disliked her choice of mineral water, she smiled contentedly and added:
"Okay. I'll buy you more water for your eight-hundred-meter race tomorrow."
Lu Yuanqiu said, "Sure."
Bai Qingxia smiled again. She didn't have dimples, but the little curves beneath her eyes were adorable.
Lu Yuanqiu was a little surprised. Although she had seemed very uncomfortable today, he could plainly see that she was smiling more often.
Was she enjoying today's taste of "youth"?
On a side note, that pink hair clip was an absolutely perfect match for her.
Lu Yuanqiu had to admit that he had found himself staring at her face in a daze several times today. That had never happened in the preceding days.
Watching the two walk away, Gao Qiang said in surprise, "They actually got closer after sitting together. Those two really have something in common?"
Zhong Jincheng frowned. "Could they be..."
"No way." Hu Caiwei rejected the idea outright and glared at him.
Lu Yuanqiu had no more events that morning. After finishing the three-thousand-meter race, he was free to do as he pleased.
As he walked with Bai Qingxia, he noticed more and more gazes converging on them. It wasn't just the boys looking; the girls were watching too.
For some reason, Lu Yuanqiu felt that if he took Bai Qingxia's hand right now, it would cause an uproar across the entire sports field.
Heh. These high school boys and girls had nothing better to do than stare at other people's asses.
Seeing some classmates gathered around the hundred-meter track, the two headed over together.
Just then, Bai Qingxia stuffed a wad of tissues into his palm at lightning speed.
Lu Yuanqiu looked at her blankly. She hesitated, then hurriedly raised a slender, fair finger and pointed at her own pale cheek.
Lu Yuanqiu understood. "Oh, you want me to wipe off my sweat."
She nodded gently.
Lu Yuanqiu smiled. "Why don't you just wipe it for me? My hands are full."
Bai Qingxia instinctively reached out, but seeing so many people around them, she lowered her head shyly and quickened her pace, choosing to ignore his request.
They arrived beside the hundred-meter track. Zheng Yifeng was standing at the starting line with a number bib on his chest, looking half asleep.
Chen Fei stood shyly among the crowd, hugging a bottle of mineral water.
The race hadn't even started, and everyone had already given up expecting anything.
"Zheng Yifeng, open your eyes! Look at the track!" Liu Wei ordered from the sidelines.
Zheng Yifeng obediently raised a hand, propped his eyelid open, and looked at the track.
Liu Wei: "..."
The starting pistol fired. Everyone else shot forward like cannonballs, while Zheng Yifeng trailed leisurely behind like an old man out for a morning jog.
Liu Wei could practically keep pace with him at a walk. The woman in her thirties strode alongside him, her temples throbbing with anger. "Zheng Yifeng! Are you taking a stroll?!"
"Zheng Yifeng!
Are you listening to me?! Zheng Yifeng!!" She repeated herself countless times.
He finally replied lazily, "Miss, I can't outrun them anyway. Might as well save my energy."
Zheng Yifeng finished the hundred meters in one minute, slower than a stroll. Liu Wei had even walked to the finish line before him.
His deskmate, Chen Fei, ran over to the finish with a bright smile. "You must be exhausted, Zheng Yifeng. Hurry and have some water to soothe your throat."
Liu Wei stared at the girl beside her in shock.
They really were a perfect pair of deskmates.
Unbelievable.
Back at the starting line, Lu Yuanqiu looked away and said to Bai Qingxia, "Come on. Since you bought me water, I'll buy you lunch."
Bai Qingxia took a deep breath and was about to refuse, but Lu Yuanqiu waved a hand. "It's just one meal."
In the end, she didn't stand on ceremony too much and nodded gently. "I'll go to the restroom first, then come find you."
Lu Yuanqiu waved. "Hurry back. I'll wait for you."
After Bai Qingxia left, Lu Yuanqiu stayed beside the hundred-meter track to watch the remaining races. Besides Zheng Yifeng, Zhong Jincheng was also representing Class 28 in the event.
Under Liu Wei's stern scrutiny, Zhong Jincheng swallowed nervously. "Miss, I'm Zhong Jincheng..."
At those words, Liu Wei immediately snapped out of it. Only then did she realize that she had been so furious she'd nearly targeted the wrong student. She put her smile back on:
"Second in the whole year! Your hundred-meter result doesn't matter. Participation is what counts! Just give it a little jog. We have other people handling the sports meet. For example-"
She turned, adjusted her glasses, and fixed Lu Yuanqiu with a stern look. "This one."
The corner of Lu Yuanqiu's mouth twitched. "Miss, I gave you a wall calendar."
"What wall calendar? If you don't come first in your other events, I'll hang you from the flagpole." Liu Wei hadn't understood him, but she issued her ultimatum anyway.
After he watched heat after heat, nearly everyone in the class had gone to the cafeteria for lunch, but Bai Qingxia still hadn't returned.
Was she going number one or number two?
Lu Yuanqiu glanced at his watch, puzzled.
Another fifteen minutes passed with no sign of her. Without hesitation, Lu Yuanqiu immediately ran toward the classroom building. Something had definitely gone wrong.