When Sheng Xia arrived at the classroom the next morning, her book box had already been moved to the middle.

Although Zhang Shu hadn’t arrived yet, she couldn’t think of anyone else who would move her things.

After spending time together, she could somewhat guess the thoughts of this mercurial person. He seemed to be someone who appeared cold on the outside but was warm inside.

Sheng Xia fished out a chocolate from her bag and slipped it into his desk drawer as a thanks.

No lollipops or milk candy, this would have to do.

During the afternoon class meeting, Hou Junqi announced the fun sports meet event list.

The hard requirement was that everyone must participate, except those with physical conditions that prevented them. So everyone had an event.

Sheng Xia saw that she was assigned to: Interlocking Rings.

She had 9 teammates, including Zhang Shu. The ten names were listed in pairs, looking like they were matched up, and her name was paired with Zhang Shu’s.

What was this?

Other events had names like “Ten People Eleven Feet,” “Big Windmill,” “Rolling Forward,” “Beautiful Wheels”…

Everyone else had participated before and didn’t need the rules explained, only Sheng Xia looked completely confused.

Wang Wei said: “If anyone needs adjustments, tell Student Hou Junqi, but without necessary reasons, try to follow the arrangements. If everyone keeps switching around, we can’t get work done. Everyone needs some collective spirit. The fun sports meet is for playing and relaxing, then we can face the monthly exam with full force.”

Hou Junqi nodded vigorously beside him: “Exactly, I spent several days arranging this list, considering everyone’s physical conditions and relationships. It’s completely fair and just, so, no complaints, no objections.”

“Be more civilized,” Wang Wei glanced at him.

Hou Junqi bowed and scraped: “Yes, sir.”

Below the stage, Xin Xiaohe said to Yang Linyu: “Huh, fair and just indeed.”

Yang Linyu didn’t catch on, “Huh, isn’t it good?”

“Blockhead,” Xin Xiaohe fumed, “Actually pairing Sheng Xia with Zhang Shu, how despicable.”

Yang Linyu looked at the list again, “How sneaky.”

Xin Xiaohe’s gaze crossed the classroom to the confused-looking Sheng Xia, “Poor child, definitely doesn’t understand.”

When Hou Junqi came down, Sheng Xia tapped his arm, “Brother Hou, do you have the event rules?”

Zhang Shu heard this greeting and looked up too, staring at Hou Junqi.

Hou Junqi felt like he was being pricked by thorns, “Uh” he hesitated, then said: “I’ll just explain it to you.”

“Interlocking Rings is where two people run while holding hula hoops, five pairs total, relay race.”

Sheng Xia imagined the scene, “How do you run holding hula hoops?”

“Two people get inside the hula hoop and hold it up while running. The hoop can’t touch any body part except hands, can’t go above either person’s head, and can’t touch the ground.”

Sheng Xia: “That doesn’t seem easy to run?”

Two people in one hoop meant they had to stay in sync, hands had to hold the hoop without swinging, while still trying to maintain speed,…

Hou Junqi said: “If it was easy to run, would it be called a fun sports meet? Fun sports meets are about working together in good faith.”

Sheng Xia thought for a moment but still asked: “I’ve never participated before, I’m worried about affecting the class’s performance. Are there any simpler events?”

“The performance doesn’t matter, no one cares about that, it’s just about having fun,” Hou Junqi appeared very patient, “The others are even harder, want to hear about them?”

“Mm.”

“Ten People Eleven Feet means ten people running with their legs tied together; Big Windmill means ten people running while holding a long pole; Rolling Forward means rolling inflatable zorb balls, also in pairs, five pairs relay. Don’t think this one’s simple – it’s different from playing in the park. The football field will be full of zorb balls crashing into each other like bumper cars, you need to handle dizziness; Beautiful Wheels is a variation of hurdles where instead of jumping over hurdles you crawl through tires, also relay.”

After Hou Junqi’s introduction, he glanced at Zhang Shu’s half-smile, then stared at the intimidated Sheng Xia, “Which one do you want? Brother will arrange it for you.”

Everyone around had black lines over their heads: What happened to “no complaints, no objections”?

Sheng Xia was dumbfounded. She had never been good at any sports, let alone fun events. These all sounded quite difficult – she would be the one holding everyone back.

But…

From the corner of her eye, she saw Zhang Shu looking unconcerned about the whole matter.

But running with him would be awkward.

Seeing her silence, Hou Junqi winked: “Didn’t brother pick the best one for you? No crawling or rolling required, how nice!”

Sheng Xia pursed her lips, unable to decide whether to nod or shake her head, finding no words to object.

Hou Junqi said: “‘Beautiful Wheels’ needs small thin people, ‘Rolling Forward’ can’t have too heavy people either, so by ‘Interlocking Rings’ there weren’t many thin people left. It was really hard to arrange people!”

With things put that way, anything else would seem wrong, so Sheng Xia nodded.

A classmate nearby said: “Brother Hou, what happened to fair and just? Why are you showing favoritism?”

“Get lost!” Hou Junqi dismissed it, “What’s wrong with showing favoritism to the goddess? If you’ve got what it takes, why don’t you be the placard goddess?”

The male classmate was speechless, and everyone laughed.

It made sense – Sheng Xia had to hold the placard, so she couldn’t be crawling or rolling around.

She was their class’s face.

Someone muttered quietly: “You probably forgot you assigned Zhou Xuanxuan to Rolling Forward last year…”

Hou Junqi heard it, shrugged, and spread his hands with an expression that said: What can you do about it?

Zhang Shu called to Hou Junqi, “Going to the store?”

Hou Junqi checked the time, “Now? It’s almost mealtime.”

Zhang Shu said: “My treat.”

“What?! Really?” Hou Junqi jumped up, “You’re treating me? For real? What good deed did I do today? Let’s go, let’s go!”

The two left through the back door and around the small corridor. Passing by Sheng Xia’s window, she heard Hou Junqi ask: “Hey, Ah Shu, that person who used to give you snacks stopped?”

Zhang Shu laughed, “Changed to chocolate.”

“Tsk tsk,” Hou Junqi patted Zhang Shu’s shoulder, “How persistent.”

Sheng Xia: …

…

Over the next two days, Sheng Xia discovered that “Interlocking Rings” was indeed a good event – it didn’t require much practice, unlike “Ten People Eleven Feet” and “Big Windmill” which needed all ten people to practice together.

Xin Xiaohe was the team leader for “Big Windmill,” and as soon as afternoon classes ended, she would be carrying the soft pole and calling her teammates to practice.

Lu Youze was in the “Beautiful Wheels” group. After the first day of practice, when they were walking home together in the evening, Sheng Xia noticed his elbows were black and blue all over – others didn’t seem as badly affected. Lu Youze self-deprecatingly said: “No athletic genes, never played these things when I was little either.”

“Me neither,” was all Sheng Xia could offer as comfort.

“Your event, have you practiced with Zhang Shu yet?”

“Not yet.”

Lu Youze said: “I did ‘Interlocking Rings’ last year. Sounds simple but it’s quite difficult, and also…”

Sheng Xia slowed her scooter, listening carefully.

“There might be some physical contact.” Lu Youze glanced at her.

Sheng Xia had considered this point – since bodies couldn’t touch the hula hoop, the two people would inevitably need to stay quite close. But thinking about how “Ten People Eleven Feet” required holding waists on both sides and “Rolling Forward” might involve rolling into teammates, “Interlocking Rings” seemed relatively better.

“Sports are just sports,” Sheng Xia said.

Lu Youze paused, nodding in the darkness.

Easy to say, but when Zhang Shu brought the hula hoop to find her during PE class, her palms were still sweating from nervousness.

Zhang Shu showed no expression though, his tone somewhat casual: “Sheng Xia, let’s practice.”

“Oh.” She dropped her basketball and followed him to the soccer field.

To prevent falls, ‘Interlocking Rings’ was held on the grassy field.

When Sheng Xia and Zhang Shu arrived, the other ‘Interlocking Rings’ teammates from their class were already there. Upon their arrival, everyone was present. Among them, Sheng Xia was quite familiar with one pair – Zhou Xuanxuan and Qi Xiulei.

Team leader Qi Xiulei had already arranged the order – Sheng Xia and Zhang Shu were fourth, while Zhou Xuanxuan and himself were in the final sprint position.

“Practice in your groups first, then we’ll practice baton passing near the end of class,” Qi Xiulei said.

Zhang Shu’s eyes asked: “Where should we practice?”

Sheng Xia looked around, “The far edge?”

Zhang Shu raised his eyebrows slightly and nodded lightly, “Let’s go!” As he spoke, he dropped the hula hoop over her head. Sheng Xia felt the hoop fall to her waist, followed by a force pulling her forward.

“What are you doing!”

He was in front pulling the hoop, with the hoop around her, forcing her to follow step by step.

This person! What kind of mischievous pleasure was this?

Zhang Shu turned back with a smile, and seeing her displeased expression, simply continued walking backward, holding the hula hoop with both hands, eyes twinkling with mischief.

Sheng Xia wouldn’t let someone pull her around like a dog! She quickened her pace, her waist leaving the hoop which nearly fell. Zhang Shu’s arms pulled, walking faster too, the hoop touching her waist again. She sped up again, and he went even faster.

And so it continued.

Zhang Shu’s laughter of mischievous satisfaction rippled across the entire soccer field.

The other groups on the field watched these two, one pulling and one chasing, black lines appearing over their heads.

Qi Xiulei was speechless: “Weren’t they tired of flirting when they were desk mates, now they have to come here to slaughter dogs?”

His partner Zhou Xuanxuan glanced at him, “What nonsense are you talking about? Zhang Shu just likes teasing people, let’s practice quickly!”

Qi Xiulei rubbed his nose and chose to keep quiet.

Sheng Xia was pulled by Zhang Shu like a dog to the edge of the soccer field. Before she could voice her complaint, he had already ducked under and into the hoop.

The sudden closeness caught Sheng Xia off guard. She instinctively stepped back but was confined by the hoop and couldn’t retreat far. His chest was right there, his breath falling on her head, leaving Sheng Xia frozen in place.

Her head reached his chin level, and looking straight ahead put her eyes right at his throat…

His Adam’s apple rolled, its sharp angle like a blade scraping against thin skin, seeming ready to break through at any moment. Observers could only find it heart-stirringly intense.

Sheng Xia’s gaze froze, her heartbeat pounding like drums.

What exactly was in his throat, it was so… so big…

“Is there a map on my body?” A casual voice came from above, “Look forward.”

Sheng Xia came to her senses and leaned back slightly before slowly raising her head. Their eyes met, and Zhang Shu tilted his head slightly to lower his gaze, “Handsome?”

Sheng Xia glared at him, turned her head away, and simultaneously turned to stand in front of him, half a body’s distance away.

Zhang Shu laughed.

He somewhat understood why Hou Junqi had been so excited that day – when she glared, it was rare and uniquely interesting.

Moving inside one hoop was indeed difficult; Hou Junqi’s point about finding thin people made sense.

Both Sheng Xia and Zhang Shu were thin, so there was plenty of space.

But, “How do we run?” Sheng Xia muttered.

She turned to look at other groups – basically, all had girls in front and boys behind, with girls barely touching the hoop, relying entirely on the boys holding it with both hands.

To maintain balance, the space behind the boys was empty, making the front quite crowded.

“Let’s stand back to back,” Zhang Shu said.

Sheng Xia turned back: “Hm?”

“Turn around, each hold the hoop in front of us. No one said we had to face forward,” Zhang Shu stepped back to give her space, “We’ll run sideways.”

Sheng Xia understood – this way they wouldn’t interfere with each other at all, and there would be almost no body contact. As long as their steps and rhythm matched, they could go fast.

Except… the running posture wouldn’t look very elegant.

She suddenly smiled, “That’s a great idea!”

The afternoon sunlight was bright and intense, falling fully on the young woman’s smiling face, dazzling Zhang Shu’s eyes. He coughed softly and turned away, “Got it?” The question sounded a bit forced.

Sheng Xia nodded: “Got it.”

This method was indeed much faster, and seeing this, other groups followed suit. In less than half a class period, everyone had pretty much mastered it. Then they practiced the relay.

The relay was simple – just take off the hoop and pass it to the next pair.

Throughout the class, none of the “physical contact” Lu Youze mentioned occurred, all thanks to Zhang Shu’s good solution. Back in the classroom, Xin Xiaohe came to ask about their practice, and Sheng Xia told her everything.

Xin Xiaohe was somewhat surprised: “Zhang Shu was so gentlemanly?”

Gentlemanly? Perhaps that was an accurate description.

Regarding physical contact, most boys didn’t mind much, some even enjoyed it. After all, in sports competitions, some bumping was inevitable.

But he had found another way, actively avoiding it. Perhaps because he had a girl he liked, so he avoided intimacy with other girls.

Although sometimes the things he said to her were somewhat…

Sheng Xia didn’t know how to evaluate it, because when examined carefully, there wasn’t anything. Most likely she was just being oversensitive and overthinking.

Objectively speaking, in this matter, his approach was indeed commendable.

Sheng Xia nodded slightly.

“Doesn’t seem like it…” Xin Xiaohe muttered, “Could he just be all talk?”

Sheng Xia didn’t understand: “Hm?”

“Enjoy the sports meet! Hee hee hee hee.”