Because of the movie, all the lights in the classroom were turned off, and due to that explosive opening scene, the classroom erupted with excitement. No one noticed this moment in the corner.

The young man supported his face with half his palm, while his other hand stretched out straight, shielding Shi Niannian’s eyes.

He could even clearly feel her rapidly fluttering eyelashes, lightly tickling his palm.

Light from the screen spilled onto her face, casting a pinkish-blue glow.

Shi Niannian belatedly realized what the images on the screen were, and her face instantly reddened.

She leaned back slightly, avoiding Jiang Wang’s hand, lowering her head with red ears.

Jiang Wang narrowed his eyes and smiled.

The bad mood caused by the coach’s phone call in the afternoon had also dissipated.

After the evening study session, Shi Niannian walked out of the school gate and saw Xu Ningqing’s car.

She paused momentarily, waved goodbye to Jiang Ling, and ran toward the car.

“Brother?” She bent down slightly and knocked on the window.

Xu Ningqing happened to be passing by and, knowing it was almost dismissal time, had waited a while: “Get in.”

Shi Niannian got in and fastened her seatbelt: “Why did you… Come?”

“I just took your parents and Shi Zhe to the airport, and thought I’d pick you up on the way.”

She was startled: “They went back?”

Xu Ningqing raised one eyebrow in surprise for a moment.

This family was something—they didn’t even tell their daughter, who was studying here, that they were leaving. He exhaled and didn’t answer.

He only asked: “Today was your sports meet, right?”

“Yes.”

“Did you participate?”

She nodded: “800 meters.”

“Impressive, did you win anything?” Xu Ningqing asked with a smile.

Shi Niannian also smiled, a bit shyly: “Silver… medal.”

“That’s amazing! Looks like all that running away from people wasn’t for nothing—you’ve earned yourself a silver medal.” Xu Ningqing started the car and casually asked, “Was the gold medalist even better?”

Shi Niannian made an affirmative sound.

“Has anyone been bullying you lately?”

As Xu Ningqing spoke, he glanced at her clothes, not finding any stains.

“No,” she calmly shook her head.

Yet she recalled that day at the hospital when she ran frantically, grabbing Jiang Wang’s arm and seeking his help.

If she hadn’t encountered Jiang Wang that day, with so many people in Cheng Qi’s group, Shi Niannian didn’t know what would have happened.

But since then, Cheng Qi hadn’t bothered her again.

After evening study session, the road in front of the school was completely congested. Xu Ningqing drove for quite a while before breaking free, and just as they got out, they saw Jiang Wang walking along the roadside.

Xu Ningqing flashed his high beams, and Jiang Wang turned his head to look.

He rolled down the window and whistled at Jiang Wang: “Want a ride?”

Jiang Wang raised the car keys on his finger to show him.

“Want to hang out later?” Xu Ningqing asked.

Jiang Wang snorted softly: “Don’t play so hard you get kidney deficiency.”

“There’s a minor present, watch it,” Xu Ningqing nodded toward Shi Niannian on the other side.

Only then did Jiang Wang notice there was another person in the car, and he swallowed what he was about to say.

“So, are you coming?”

“No.”

Xu Ningqing clicked his tongue.

The cars behind honked a series of horns, and Xu Ningqing hurriedly said goodbye before stepping on the gas and leaving.

“You and Jiang Wang…” Xu Ningqing considered his words, then asked, “How are you getting along?”

“Hmm?” Shi Niannian blinked. “Fine.”

A very official answer.

Although Xu Ningqing felt that asking a minor such a question wasn’t very brotherly, he still couldn’t help but smile.

With someone like Jiang Wang, any other girl might easily fall for him.

But Shi Niannian was different.

This girl was naturally a bit slow. If it weren’t for her consistently excellent academic performance, Xu Ningqing would sometimes wonder if her intelligence was a bit lacking.

Regarding how Jiang Wang might fall, Xu Ningqing was quite interested.

The second day of the sports meet featured long-distance running and some field events.

Shi Niannian had washed her class uniform last night, dried it after spinning, hung it overnight, and put it on again.

There was no morning self-study, and everyone was enthusiastically discussing today’s upcoming competitions.

Jiang Ling hadn’t arrived yet. Shi Niannian was lowering her head, working on National Day holiday assignments. After the sports meet, they would go directly on holiday, and the teachers had already assigned mountains of homework.

By the time she finished the math worksheet, Jiang Ling entered the classroom, and Shi Niannian handed her the completed test paper.

“You’re too amazing, Niannian! You can still concentrate on homework during the sports meet.”

“Not, difficult.”

Jiang Ling smiled and put away the test paper before pulling her to the field.

The 5000-meter race was in check-in. The stands were already full of people. Only Xu Fei from Class 3 was participating. Even before the competition started, everyone was already shouting his name.

“Let’s go, let’s go over there!” Jiang Ling pulled her across the track.

“Shi Niannian, Jiang Ling, do you want to cheer together later?” Chen Shushu came over and asked them.

Jiang Ling: “You mean standing by the track and shouting?”

“No, those cheering are all in the stands with megaphones ready,” Chen Shushu said. “For the 3000 meters, we also need people to deliver water to the sports committee member.”

Jiang Ling: “Sure.”

Shi Niannian also nodded.

Chen Shushu took two bottles of water from a nearby box and gave them to the girls, pointing: “Just stand at those two positions, and when Xu Fei runs by, offer him a water cup. He’ll take it if he wants to drink. Extend your hand every lap, though he may not always drink.”

The two nodded and ran to their designated positions.

Shi Niannian’s position was near the finish line.

With the sound of the starter pistol and overwhelming screams, the men’s 3000 meters began.

Xu Fei took the lead from the start, gradually widening the gap between him and second place.

This was the first time Shi Niannian had seen him run, and she hadn’t expected him to be so impressive.

It wasn’t until the fifth lap that Xu Fei took the water bottle Shi Niannian offered, raising it directly over his head and pouring it down, soaking a large part of his clothes. He shook his head, water droplets scattering from his hair.

The cheers from the stands grew louder.

After emptying the entire bottle over himself, he tossed the empty bottle back onto the track.

Shi Niannian jogged to pick up the bottle.

When she looked up, she saw Jiang Wang standing on the other side of the track.

His clothes looked familiar…

Only after looking away did she realize—it was the class uniform, a simple black outfit for boys.

Worn by Jiang Wang, it gave him a youthful air he usually didn’t have.

The 3000 meters consisted of seven and a half laps.

During the final lap and a half, the original second-place runner began to exert himself. He was a sports student who probably had better running techniques and methods than Xu Fei.

“Run faster, Xu Fei!!!”

“Go, Sports Committee!!!”

Hearing the increasingly intense and urgent voices, Xu Fei had a feeling that second place was about to overtake him.

He wanted to accelerate, but his energy had already been depleted. He heard the footsteps behind him getting closer and closer.

“Ah—!”

“Damn! That was obviously an intentional collision!!!”

“Xu Fei!!”

The stands suddenly erupted with curses. The Class 3 students, not caring about clearing the field, all ran toward Xu Fei.

He was curled up on the field, clutching his ankle in pain, cold sweat pouring out, almost instantly soaking his clothes.

“What are you doing?!!” The PE teacher ran over with a stopwatch. “Do you know that disrupting the sports meet rules will result in deduction of class points?!”

Jiang Ling also ran over from the other side: “Why? It was clearly that person who deliberately stepped on our classmate! He would have at least gotten second place if not first!”

“The school will make a decision later. Now get off the track quickly!”

The PE teacher pushed them all off the track.

Several boys had already carried Xu Fei to the infirmary.

“What do we do now? This is so infuriating!”

“Doesn’t Xu Fei have another event in the afternoon?”

“Damn! The 4×100! He’s the last leg!”

…

Everyone complained all morning. Fortunately, the school had designated students to record videos. Cai Yucai, upon hearing what happened, asked for the recording and went to the sports department with several classmates.

The final result was disqualification of the first-place finisher.

But since Xu Fei hadn’t completed the entire course, his final result couldn’t be counted either.

Because of this incident, many students from Class 3 were very unhappy about this sports meet.

For the afternoon’s 4×100 relay, Class 3 originally had hopes for a top-three finish. Although they couldn’t compete with the other two classes, they weren’t weak. But with Xu Fei’s twisted ankle, the substitute couldn’t match up.

“Aren’t you… going to watch?”

The classroom was nearly empty. Shi Niannian nudged Jiang Ling, who was slumped on her desk.

She complained: “We’ll definitely be last. What’s there to see?”

Just as she finished speaking, they heard hurried footsteps in the corridor outside the classroom, along with excited female voices.

“—Hurry, hurry! Jiang Wang is actually going to run the relay for Class 3’s sports committee! I think Class 3 might even have a chance at first place now!”

Jiang Ling practically bounced out of her seat.

By the time they reached the field, it was already crowded, with many girls from the school across the street who had somehow heard the news also mixing in.

Jiang Ling, pulling Shi Niannian’s hand, weaved through the crowd until they finally squeezed to the edge of the stands.

Four boys stood at the edge of the track.

“Wang, which leg do you want to run?” a boy asked.

Jiang Wang: “Anything but the first leg.”

In the 4×100, the most important positions were the first and last legs. Hearing this, Jiang Wang was naturally assigned to the fourth leg.

No one had expected the last event of the sports meet to become the most dramatic and eye-catching race.

Class 3’s lane was the first one. Jiang Wang stood with his back to the stands in front of the white line for the fourth leg.

His angular silhouette was tinged red by the sunset’s glow.

He possessed a restrained sensuality on the cusp between youth and manhood. His black pants were pulled up above his ankles, revealing muscular yet slim, fair ankles.

He stood as tall as a white poplar.

The race began!

A gust of wind blew.

His clothes were blown forward, outlining his broad shoulders and narrow waist.

He appeared unmoved by the eight winds, immune to all poisons.

“Aaaahhh!!” Jiang Ling jumped excitedly on the spot, pulling Shi Niannian’s hand.

First leg.

Second leg.

Third leg.

Class 3 barely maintained fourth place.

Jiang Wang took his starting position, extending his hand backward.

His explosive sprint burst forth in an instant. The moment he received the baton, he immediately sprinted forward. Before anyone could react, he had already overtaken one person.

“So fast—!”

Even louder screams erupted from the stands.

Shi Niannian’s gaze followed him, her heart giving a slight flutter.

She suddenly recalled Jiang Wang’s question from yesterday—why didn’t she take first place?

She had no obsession with being first; whether she was first or not didn’t seem like a very important matter to her. But seeing Jiang Wang now, racing against the wind, she suddenly felt:

Jiang Wang had a clear goal—he only wanted first place.

He continued to sprint.

Overtaking one person, two people, three people.

Even when leading, he continued to accelerate. In the short 100 meters, he surged from fourth to first, and the gap between him and second place kept widening.

People didn’t even know a person could run this fast.

Under the blinding sunlight, Jiang Wang crossed the finish line.

In the stands, everyone fell silent for two seconds before completely losing their minds, screaming wildly, shouting Jiang Wang’s name.

“Jiang Wang!!”

“Jiang Wang!!”

“Jiang Wang!!”

“Jiang Wang!!”

…

Jiang Wang had removed his hearing aid during the run, and all the shouts and screams seemed to have a blurring effect.

He could hear them, but not clearly.

It suddenly gave him the illusion of returning to the past.

This blood-boiling feeling.

Many people rushed down from the stands. He couldn’t hear clearly what they were saying.

Until a pair of hands appeared before him.

He looked up and saw Shi Niannian holding out a bottle of water to him, her wrists so thin they seemed like they would break with a single twist.

Around them, a stream of noisy people came and went.

Shi Niannian looked up at him.

Her neckline was soft yet fragile, her eyes calm and clear, meeting his gaze.

She pushed the mineral water bottle forward a bit more.

In his vision, her lips moved, but he didn’t hear clearly. He just tilted his head with a smile and took the water bottle from her hand.