Shi Niannian arrived home just when the evening study session would normally end.

No one was in the living room. She went to her room to change clothes, gave the medical report to her mother, and repeated the doctor’s instructions.

“I thought you’d come straight home after getting the report. Do you have a lot of schoolwork?” Xu Shu asked.

Shi Niannian paused, then nodded: “Yes, the monthly… exam is coming soon.”

Xu Shu: “Mm, study hard.”

The next day.

“Niannian, have you asked Jiang Wang about Xu Zhilin yet?” Jiang Ling asked as soon as she put down her schoolbag.

“Not yet.” Yesterday’s incident with Cheng Qi made her forget. “I’ll… ask him, later.”

Usually Jiang Wang would come to class after several periods, or simply not show up all day, but today he arrived right as the morning self-study bell rang.

Even the English teacher was surprised and teased: “What a rare guest you are.”

Having just finished two units of textbook content, the English morning reading class was for dictating vocabulary.

Shi Niannian already knew most of the words, and she had reviewed them again after returning home yesterday, so the dictation went very smoothly for her.

From the corner of her eye, she noticed Jiang Wang’s pen never stopped either.

The first class was mathematics.

Three minutes after the bell rang, there was still no teacher. The class gradually became noisy. The class representative called for quiet several times without success, and finally walked out to find the teacher.

Just as she stepped out, she encountered Xu Zhilin, the freshman math teacher, carrying teaching materials.

“You’re from Class 3, right?” Xu Zhilin stopped her.

The math representative nodded: “Yes.”

“Your math teacher is in the hospital. I’ll be teaching your class for a while.”

The math teacher had been pregnant last semester, teaching with her big belly. Xu Zhilin didn’t explain further, but it was understood that she had taken maternity leave and couldn’t come to teach.

When Xu Zhilin walked into the classroom, Jiang Ling, who had been lazily resting on her desk, suddenly sat up, looking at him in shock.

Xu Zhilin gave a brief explanation and self-introduction before starting the class.

With his gentle appearance, Xu Zhilin had attracted everyone’s attention since arriving at the school.

The girls were especially happy that he would be teaching their class for more than a month, whispering and discussing among themselves.

Jiang Ling listened to the lesson with stars in her eyes. It was the first time Shi Niannian had seen her so attentively taking a math class.

However, having Xu Zhilin in front of her was a constant reminder that she needed to ask that question for Jiang Ling.

Xu Zhilin wrote a problem on the blackboard. Shi Niannian solved it early, hesitated with her pen, and then tore off a piece of scratch paper.

*Do you know if Teacher Xu has a girlfriend?*

She quietly pushed the note to the edge of Jiang Wang’s desk.

He had been watching a basketball game, but after reading the note, he turned his head.

Shi Niannian glanced at the podium before meeting his gaze.

The young man frowned slightly with narrowed eyes, his thin chin raised, a blood mark under his eyebrow from yesterday’s injury.

After a moment of silence, he pressed his tongue hard against his back teeth: “Shi Niannian, you’re something else.”

His voice was neither loud nor soft, and most people couldn’t hear him. Jiang Ling turned her head to look at them.

Shi Niannian completely didn’t understand why he was suddenly angry.

She asked in bewilderment: “You don’t… know either?”

After hearing this, Jiang Wang suddenly laughed, abruptly standing up as his chair made a sharp scraping sound on the floor.

Xu Zhilin looked up.

Jiang Wang looked at no one, kicked his desk, slammed the classroom door, and left.

Shi Niannian watched him leave without understanding what had happened.

Why was he angry…

Anyone could see that Jiang Wang was venting his frustration on the basketball court.

One shot after another, no three-pointers, all dunks, his arm muscles prominent as he gripped the rim.

Before long, the other team was calling out that they couldn’t play anymore.

Jiang Wang tossed the ball to someone else, left the court, and tilted his head back to gulp down water. It flowed along his chin, over his Adam’s apple, and dripped onto his clothes.

“You called us to play basketball this early just to crush some weaklings?” Xu Ningqing sat under the basketball hoop, deliberately provoking him. “You’re just a high school student, while we’re all college students who don’t have to get up early.”

Among their group, probably only Xu Ningqing dared to speak like this when Jiang Wang was irritated. Jiang Wang glanced at him and sat down nearby.

Xu Ningqing: “Who made you angry? Are there still kids who dare to make you angry?”

Jiang Wang sat with a gloomy face without speaking.

Others wouldn’t dare, but one person did, and she was blinking at him without knowing why he was angry.

And now her brother was chirping away beside his ear.

Jiang Wang was extremely annoyed by Xu Ningqing and kicked the basketball he was sitting on: “Shut up.”

As soon as class ended, Jiang Ling turned around and asked: “What happened to Jiang Wang just now?”

Shi Niannian shook her head: “I don’t… know either.”

“I thought I heard him call your name before he stormed out.”

Shi Niannian paused, then told Jiang Ling what had happened.

After listening, Jiang Ling clutched her chest, widened her eyes, and leaned close to Shi Niannian’s ear, whispering: “Do you think Jiang Wang might like you?”

Shi Niannian was stunned, her face instantly reddening as she pushed Jiang Ling: “Don’t… say nonsense.”

“I’m serious!” Jiang Ling argued, “The way he acted, he thought you liked Xu Zhilin and got jealous.”

“That’s impossible…” She blushed, her voice as faint as a mosquito’s. “Jiang Ling, please… stop talking.”

Until school ended, Jiang Wang didn’t return.

Cheng Qi’s group came in the afternoon, glaring viciously at Shi Niannian and mocking her even more when she answered questions, but at least they didn’t block her way again.

Jiang Ling’s words didn’t linger in her mind for long.

She never thought Jiang Wang would like her. Even though he often said those flirtatious things to her, Shi Niannian didn’t think so.

She couldn’t imagine what about herself could be likable.

She couldn’t even speak clearly.

She attributed all the reasons for Jiang Wang helping her to the fact that her brother was Xu Ningqing.

But she vaguely felt that the reason for Jiang Wang’s anger was related to her, though she didn’t know what she had said wrong.

The next day was the sports meet.

This meant no classes, and everyone was extremely excited. Nobody studied during the morning reading period—a sports meet program booklet was being passed around the classroom.

They had specially bought class uniforms.

For girls, it was a short-sleeved shirt and shorts, simply in black and white. Many girls this age liked black, thinking it was cool. When Shi Niannian went to get her clothes, only white was left.

“There’s still one male uniform that hasn’t been claimed!” The class monitor raised the uniform high and scanned the classroom. “Hasn’t Jiang Wang arrived yet? Shi Niannian, can you take it to his seat?”

She took it and noticed the size: XXL.

Her own was S.

The girls’ bathroom was completely jammed. After she finally changed into the class uniform and squeezed out, Jiang Ling was already waiting outside, also sweaty from squeezing through the crowd.

“Niannian, you’re so thin!” she exclaimed upon seeing Shi Niannian circling her. “And so fair-skinned! Your legs are too thin!”

Shi Niannian smiled: “You are… too.”

Jiang Ling grinned mischievously: “That’s just what I wanted to hear.”

As they passed the classroom door on their way to the field, she looked inside. Jiang Wang’s uniform was still on the desk. It was already nine o’clock, and he still hadn’t come to school.

The first competitions were short-distance races—100 meters and 200 meters.

The starter pistol fired with a loud “bang.”

A row of boys immediately burst forward, running at high speed, with cheers erupting all around.

The weather was especially nice on the day of the sports meet. The sun hung high overhead, burning their cheeks.

Jiang Ling had brought a camera, though her target wasn’t the competing athletes but Xu Zhilin. Even though she wasn’t sure if she had been forced into unrequited love, the world would be wasted without admiring handsome men.

She bought two cups of milk tea, one for herself and one for Shi Niannian. They sat in front of the stands while she aimed her “artillery” at Xu Zhilin across the field, taking photos nonstop.

“Wuwuwuwu, why is Brother Zhilin so handsome?!” Jiang Ling sighed as she took photos.

“…”

Shi Niannian’s event was in the afternoon.

The women’s 800-meter race followed the men’s 800 meters.

She pinned her number to her clothes and went to the check-in area.

Jiang Ling accompanied her, appearing even more nervous than she was. She pushed Shi Niannian onto a chair, massaged her back, squeezed her shoulders, and even tapped her thighs to help her relax.

Shi Niannian was both amused and helpless, pulling Jiang Ling’s hand to make her sit down too: “It’s fine, I’ve done… the warm-up.”

Cheng Qi was also running the 800 meters.

Although she did many bad things and countless people secretly disliked her, she had many friends who had even made an exaggerated poster that read “Sister Qi is awesome! Sister Qi is number one!”

In comparison, everyone else seemed to fade into the background.

They all became her foils.

A boy stood at the check-in gate with his arm around Cheng Qi’s shoulder, saying in a measured voice: “Sister Qi, just run at your own pace. If anyone’s stupid enough to try to take first place from Sister Qi, we fans will finish them.”

Cheng Qi glanced lightly at Shi Niannian and smiled, elbowing the boy: “Are you suggesting that even if I take first place, it would be because they let me?”

“How would I dare think that?”

Jiang Ling, arm-in-arm with Shi Niannian, rolled her eyes and didn’t look at them, muttering softly: “Really, how boring.”

Shi Niannian said nothing, lowering her head to check her number and shoelaces again.

When the men’s race ended, they were led in.

As soon as the starter pistol fired, everyone rushed forward.

Cheng Qi took the lead, and the crowd of boys and girls in shorts on the stands excitedly shouted her name. Cheng Qi raised her chin, smiling proudly.

Shi Niannian was in third place. As she sprinted out, she heard Jiang Ling cheering for her, though her voice was quickly drowned out by other sounds.

The 800 meters severely tests both endurance and explosive power—both are essential for a good ranking.

During the second lap, Shi Niannian overtook the original second-place runner.

She wore the class uniform short-sleeve shirt, her legs both white and slender. Though Cheng Qi’s legs were also slender, they weren’t as fair-skinned.

People’s gazes involuntarily fell on the legs of the girl now in second place.

Someone in the stands couldn’t see her face clearly and squinted: “Who’s in second place now?”

“Shi Niannian from Class 3, the one who always gets top scores.”

“Damn, those legs! This academic star has been hiding her talents. Those legs are amazing!”

“Pah, how disgusting you are!”

“But you have to admit, even though she’s short, the proportion of her legs is perfect. Do you think she might overtake Cheng Qi?”

“Don’t be ridiculous, how could that be possible? Cheng Qi has been in first place since middle school.”

“Look carefully. Shi Niannian’s breathing is super steady.”

…

As Shi Niannian passed her class’s section of the stands again, she heard Cai Yucai leading Class 3 in cheering: “Cheng Qi, Shi Niannian, go for it!”

Jiang Ling was shouting her name until her throat was nearly splitting.

She heard “Shi Niannian, go for it!”

As she turned the corner, she heard the suddenly heightened discussions around her, completely different from before—passionate and enthusiastic, primarily dominated by girls’ screams.

She looked ahead and indeed saw someone.

He walked into the venue with an indifferent expression, wearing neither the school uniform nor the class uniform, but all black clothes, clean-cut and tall.

Since his return to No. 1 High School, this was the first time he had appeared so prominently in everyone’s eyes.

Shi Niannian began to accelerate at the final turn.

Originally, Cheng Qi had been far ahead, with the three runners behind close together.

As Shi Niannian accelerated, the distance between her and the others widened, while the gap with Cheng Qi narrowed.

With Jiang Wang’s entrance and this dramatic potential comeback, the entire venue erupted.

“Damn!! I said Shi Niannian might overtake Cheng Qi!”

“No way, someone as competitive as Cheng Qi would die before letting anyone pass her.”

“Just watch, Shi Niannian is amazing. She has great grades and she’s good at sports too.”

…

Jiang Wang walked to the top of the stands, leaning against the railing, his gaze falling casually on Shi Niannian.

White class uniform, short sleeves, and shorts, with beautiful, flowing leg lines.

He exhaled softly, imperceptibly holding his breath, the last bit of air trapped in his chest.

“Look, she sprinted for such a distance, she must have exhausted her energy. Cheng Qi will still be first.”

“That doesn’t seem right… I feel like her breathing has been steady the whole time.”

Shi Niannian crossed the finish line second, one second slower than Cheng Qi.

Silver medal.

As soon as Cheng Qi crossed the finish line, a group of people surrounded her, pushing Shi Niannian to the side.

There were too many people. She couldn’t find Jiang Ling, so she walked to the bathroom in the gymnasium to wash her face.

Afterward, she sat on the steps to catch her breath and rest.

The scorching sun hung overhead, making her a bit dizzy.

She narrowed her eyes until something suddenly cold touched her face.

Startled, she opened her eyes to find Jiang Wang crouching in front of her.

She sat on the steps, and he crouched below them, for once slightly shorter than her, looking up at her.

Shi Niannian saw his chin, with its decisive, smooth curve.

In his hand was an ice-cold cola, pressing against her face.

This person who had angrily slammed the door and left the classroom yesterday was now crouching in front of her, his face bearing a somewhat casual smile.

He reached out with his other hand and tucked a strand of her sweat-dampened hair behind her ear.

“You’re quite impressive.”