Xia Shuran, who arrived a few steps after Gu Qing,
jogged over
and handed him a flask full of warm tea.
The flask was pink.
It showed some signs of use.
Clearly, it was the one Xia Shuran used every day.
"Let me try some."
Gu Qing took the flask with a smile, unscrewed the cap, and raised it to pour tea into his mouth.
He deliberately kept some distance between the opening and his lips.
They never touched at all.
Seeing that Gu Qing hadn't drunk straight from the flask, Xia Shuran felt a tiny pang of disappointment.
But that little disappointment soon turned into greater affection.
Senior isn't someone who gets too familiar. He knows to keep his distance from a girl he isn't that close to yet. He's so considerate about boundaries and doesn't do anything overly intimate.
And since Senior is acting so reserved, maybe he's never dated anyone either, just like me.
At that thought,
Xia Shuran couldn't help feeling secretly delighted.
Having never dated anyone herself, she hoped the boy she liked had no romantic experience either.
If I get together with Senior someday, should we have a son first or a daughter?
Oh, and we need to think of names in advance too!
Xia Shuran's imagination began to run wild.
While Xia Shuran kept imagining things, Gu Qing had already finished his tea.
Seeing the younger sports student standing before him with her whole face flushed, he couldn't help finding it a little odd.
It's pretty cool today. Why is she so hot that her whole face has turned red?
Is it because she jogged over here?
Gu Qing didn't dwell on it and soon began practicing with the Red-Tassel Spear alongside Xia Shuran.
Time ticked by.
An hour passed in the blink of an eye.
Gu Qing was practicing with the Red-Tassel Spear alongside Xia Shuran.
As he practiced,
several text notifications suddenly popped up before his eyes.
[You have practiced martial arts with your classmate Xia Shuran for over an hour] [Martial arts technique +1] [Physical constitution +1] [Accumulate 100 points of physical constitution to obtain the attribute-Knotted muscles] [Current points acquired: 21]
I actually got attributes?
Gu Qing froze for a moment, then grew rather excited.
He had spent several days with Xia Shuran, staying on the sports field for ages every time they met up, constantly practicing with the Red-Tassel Spear.
Hard work really does pay off!
I've finally become close enough to her!
Now I can farm attributes from that [Martial Arts Grandmaster] tag above her head!
After steadying himself a little,
Gu Qing began reading through the notifications.
Martial arts technique +1?
Physical constitution +1?
Just like the [Basketball Player] tag?
This [Martial Arts Grandmaster] tag also provides physical constitution?
Looks like any tag related to sports provides this attribute.
It's a little repetitive, but that's actually pretty good.
That guy Gao Fei is useless.
Every time we go out to play basketball, he starts complaining nonstop about being tired after only about three hours.
He says he's exhausted and can't play anymore.
Now that I have a Junior Schoolmate who's a sports student to train my physical constitution with too, I'll be able to get that musclehead attribute, knotted muscles, even faster.
After thinking for a while,
Gu Qing dismissed the notifications before his eyes and continued practicing with the Red-Tassel Spear alongside Xia Shuran.
Only this time,
his movements were completely different.
He wielded the spear smoothly and deftly.
His grip was steady and strong.
With a slight turn of his wrists,
the shaft swept past with a whistle of wind, its red tassel fluttering with his movements and tracing graceful arcs.
Thrusts, flicks, chops, sweeps-every movement was precise and crisp, without the slightest hesitation.
Compared with his earlier awkwardness, his movements now had a flowing quality to them.
Xia Shuran stood beside him, dumbfounded.
It took her a while to react. Looking at Gu Qing in disbelief, she asked, "Senior, how did you suddenly get so good with the Red-Tassel Spear?"
Without a change in expression, Gu Qing casually replied, "I've practiced with you several times now, for at least an hour or two each time. The practice just happened to add up to a breakthrough, so I suddenly got better."
Xia Shuran listened in utter bewilderment.
Wait, you've only practiced a few times, and you're telling me it added up to a breakthrough?
Then what does that make me, a sports student who's practiced the Red-Tassel Spear since childhood, for almost ten years now?
Disabled?
This really dealt Xia Shuran a heavy blow, leaving her looking as though she were questioning her entire life.
PS: Holding out my bowl, begging for monthly votes and recommendation votes!
Chapter 15: A simple spar
[You have practiced martial arts with your classmate Xia Shuran for over an hour] [Martial arts technique +1] [Physical constitution +1] [Accumulate 100 points of physical constitution to obtain the attribute-Knotted muscles] [Current points acquired: 22]
Only after another hour of practicing with the Red-Tassel Spear
did Gu Qing put away his spear to rest, sitting on the steps with Xia Shuran, drinking tea and chatting.
In truth, he could have kept thrusting his spear until sunset without any trouble.
The problem was that Xia Shuran couldn't take it.
After two straight hours of practicing with the Red-Tassel Spear, this Junior Schoolmate, a sports student who had only just turned eighteen, was already drenched in sweat, her bangs soaked and clumped together.
If she kept going, she might end up dehydrated and collapsed on the ground.
"Senior, you're an academic-track student, so how do you have such amazing stamina?"
Worn out and listless, Xia Shuran looked at Gu Qing beside her in puzzlement as she asked.
She felt that Gu Qing's stamina made him like a cybernetic mechanical ox fitted with a nuclear fusion engine. No matter how much he plowed, he would never tire; he would only ruin the field.
Gu Qing smiled. "Maybe it's an inborn talent."
"Talent?"
Xia Shuran blinked her glistening eyes and said regretfully, "Senior, with athletic talent like yours, it's such a shame you didn't go into sports."
"If you had, you'd at least be a national-level master athlete by now."
"You might even have represented our country at the Olympics, broken world records, won gold medals, and become the country's number one athlete."
Nice, nice. She really does have a sweet tongue.
Even Gu Qing, who usually took praise and criticism in stride, was enjoying this sports-student Junior Schoolmate's flattery.
The corners of his mouth unconsciously lifted.
He was stuffed full of emotional gratification.
He felt very comfortable spending time with Xia Shuran.
After resting for about half an hour,
Xia Shuran rose from the steps, brushed the dust off her bottom, and looked at Gu Qing as she asked,
"Senior, I'm going over to the horizontal and parallel bars for some strength training. Want to come?"
"Sure."
Gu Qing got up as well.
They arrived at the horizontal and parallel bars beside the sports field.
Both were quick to get moving.
They soon began basic strength exercises, including squats, push-ups, sit-ups, and pull-ups.
Gu Qing did set after set without feeling anything in his muscles.
His body was too powerful.
These simple bodyweight exercises couldn't provide his muscles with any effective stimulus at all.
No matter how many he did, it would be a waste of time.
He was only willing to work out with Xia Shuran because he wanted to see whether exercising with her would let him farm attributes from her [Martial Arts Grandmaster] tag.
Strictly speaking, working out didn't count as martial arts.
But what martial artist didn't do strength training?
Without enough strength, they might not even be able to lift a Red-Tassel Spear.
Based on that,
Gu Qing reckoned that doing strength training with Xia Shuran should also let him farm physical constitution.
An hour later,
several notifications popped up before his eyes.
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