Lu Yuanqiu snatched the microphone on the podium and issued a public challenge [please keep reading!]
Bai Qingxia smiled inside and nodded. "Impressive."
Lu Yuanqiu held out his hand to her. "Come on. Let's go."
Bai Qingxia placed her hand in his palm without hesitation. Lu Yuanqiu quickly led her out by the hand, and only after they had left the school building did they let go of each other.
They walked slowly along a campus path, lush green plants lining both sides, with enough space for another person between them.
Bai Qingxia glanced at the broken pieces of the hair clip in her hand and carefully tucked them into her pocket.
Lu Yuanqiu did not ask who those girls were or which class they belonged to, because he knew Bai Qingxia would never tell him, even if it killed her.
This girl would never burden anyone around her with her troubles, especially someone who wanted to be good to her.
She was so terribly stubborn. She would rather bear it all alone than trouble anyone else, but that was just how she was. On that front, Lu Yuanqiu could do nothing about her.
Still, not asking did not mean he would let this slide.
Lu Yuanqiu had never been the type to swallow an insult.
He turned toward Bai Qingxia with a bright smile. "Which floor do you want to eat on? What do you feel like having?"
Then he stopped and sighed silently, looking at the girl's reddened nose and eyes, and her slightly disheveled long hair.
His heart ached for her. In the end, he could not keep smiling.
He raised his hand to straighten Bai Qingxia's hair. Just then, some students passed behind them, and she hurriedly ducked away from his hand. Looking a little embarrassed, she lowered her head and forced a faint smile, then turned sideways and raised her own small hand to smooth that section of hair.
"Anything's fine."
The girl answered softly.
Then she took out her black hair tie and gathered her long, seaweed-like hair back into a ponytail behind her head.
Lu Yuanqiu turned to look at her. Her profile was exquisitely delicate, fair and flawless, and the milky skin of her neck stood in striking contrast to her dark ponytail.
A rose was beautiful. Everyone wanted to touch it.
But roses were born with thorns, while all Bai Qingxia had to protect her was a fragile shell.
Lu Yuanqiu drew a deep breath and raised his eyes to the path ahead.
This time, he had to be the thorn.
Afternoon arrived.
After the two of them ate lunch, Bai Qingxia packed up the leftover food and went home.
She had not said so, but Lu Yuanqiu knew it was for her father.
Ah, Uncle Bai, whom I've never even met...
Fine. Your daughter loves you and cares about you. For her sake, I'll be a little nicer to you and stop cursing you out.
Lu Yuanqiu wanted to find a suitable opportunity to visit her home and see how things were.
But that opportunity would probably be hard to come by.
He also went home for a short nap. He still had the long jump and shot put that afternoon.
But there was something even more important he had to do.
That afternoon, the classes did not need to assemble again. Students trickled onto the field. Those with events competed, while those without either cheered for their classmates or stole a little time to run back to their classrooms and study. After all, the monthly exams were the day after tomorrow.
Of course, there were also groups who shut all the classroom doors and windows and gathered inside to play cards.
Usually, someone would stand lookout at the door.
The head of their year and their homeroom teacher could come by on patrol at any moment.
The Senior Class 28 classroom.
Hu Caiwei sat at her desk playing cards with a group of girls. They were boarding students and had yet to change out of their pretty schoolgirl uniforms.
Just then, someone entered the classroom. Hu Caiwei looked up and saw Bai Qingxia, who had changed back into her school uniform.
She looked the same as before, wearing her uniform with her hair in an ordinary ponytail.
Yet somehow, Hu Caiwei felt that Bai Qingxia was no longer quite the same. There was something special about her now.
It was like a celebrity taking off her gown. At first glance, she looked ordinary, but because she was Bai Qingxia, and that name itself embodied beauty, Hu Caiwei no longer saw her as just another face in the crowd, even in a school uniform.
She knew this girl could transform into a dazzling white swan at any moment for the whole world to see.
Hu Caiwei cast Bai Qingxia a rather unkind glance and continued playing cards. Normally, Lu Yuanqiu should have arrived by now, but he still had not shown up.
Bai Qingxia also glanced at Lu Yuanqiu's desk, a faint worry lingering in her heart.
In the back row, there was only her and Zheng Yifeng, who was asleep with his head on his desk.
Just then, someone knocked on the classroom door. Liu Wei appeared in the doorway, frightening Hu Caiwei and the others into hurriedly putting their cards away.
"What are you all doing here? Go downstairs and cheer for the people competing."
They had barely had a chance to relax before everyone in the classroom stood up again with sighs and groans, shuffling toward the field like the walking dead.
The crowd on the field was hardly any smaller than it had been that morning. The girls' three-thousand-meter race was currently underway.
On the podium, a girl read out a message of encouragement in an excited voice:
"On this track, you are not fighting alone! Behind you are countless eyes filled with hope..."
Seeing Liu Wei bring Class 28 down, PE teacher Wang Ping hurried over. "Is Lu Yuanqiu here? The shot put is about to start, and I haven't seen him check in."
Liu Wei froze. "I haven't seen him either. I thought he'd already gone to check in at the event area."
Then she turned toward the students behind her and asked, "Has anyone seen Lu Yuanqiu? Is he here?"
Everyone shook their heads, indicating they did not know. Then, one after another, they glanced discreetly toward Bai Qingxia, Liu Wei included.
Only after what they had discovered that morning did they realize that the two people in their class who seemed least likely to have anything to do with each other were actually surprisingly close.
Being deskmates might have had something to do with it, but they genuinely could not imagine what those two normally talked about.
One was a top student, the other a terrible student. One was a goofball, the other cool and aloof. Somehow, even those two had found their way together.
Bai Qingxia silently shook her head.
Liu Wei turned to Wang Ping. "Could you wait a little longer and move his turn back?"
Wang Ping raised his eyebrows. "That's not how it works. If he's late, it counts as forfeiting."
Liu Wei said, "...That damn Lu Yuanqiu."
Just as everyone was at a loss, something seemed to happen over at the podium.
"Athletes, give it your all! Let every breath be filled with strength, let-hey, hey, hey! Who are you? Who are you?! Why are you taking my microphone?! Give it... What class are you from?!"
Thump, thump, thump!
Someone tapped the microphone three times, producing three dull thuds.
"Hello, hello, hello? Hello, hello, hello?"
A low, resonant voice came through the loudspeakers.
At the same time, everyone on the field turned toward the podium.
That included all of Class 28, the other students on the field, the teachers from every year, and the dean.
Even the girls competing in the three-thousand-meter race turned to look curiously.
Bai Qingxia's beautiful eyes widened. She silently took two steps forward, stunned by what she saw.
A tall boy with a buzz cut leaned casually against the railing. His shoulders were broad, and the corners of his mouth curved slightly upward, but his sharp eyes swept over all the teachers and students on the field.
"Let me introduce myself. I'm Lu Yuanqiu from Senior Class 28."
"Something happened today that really pissed me off. A few girls locked another girl in the girls' bathroom."
"Heh, heh, heh..."
"For the next few days, I suggest you girls keep your heads down!"
"Ever heard of a game of cat and mouse?"
"Every last one of you had better hide well."
"Once the monthly exams are over, I'm coming to catch you."
His voice rang out through the loudspeakers, reaching every corner of the campus.
With that, Lu Yuanqiu turned around and casually tossed the microphone to the girl with glasses behind him.
As the girl stared at him in astonishment, he slipped both hands into his pockets and calmly descended the steps from the podium, one at a time.
Zhong Jincheng gaped. "He's gone and stolen the show again..."
For once, Zheng Yifeng opened his handsome, usually sleepy eyes wide. He smiled and said, "Interesting, Lu Yuanqiu."