By the time Zhu Wenshu realized that Ling Chen pulling down his mask and turning his face away had just been to drink his cola, and not a signal for her to stick on the flower, it was already too late.

There were still other classes competing on the field.

Ling Chen slowly turned his head, his gaze shifting even more slowly, and in the midst of the enthusiastic cheering, he looked at Zhu Wenshu.

If the eyes were the windows to the soul, then Zhu Wenshu, at this moment, saw through Ling Chen’s windows a scene straight out of an incoming storm—roiling dark clouds, violent gusts of wind.

Though he hadn’t actually said anything yet, Zhu Wenshu didn’t understand why sticking on a little red flower would provoke such a reaction.

Oh…

Only belatedly did she realize—this was Ling Chen! The Ling Chen who only ever received flowers and trophies presented to him, not one of those parents playing along, acting cute and obedient for the kids in front of her!

Sticking a cheap little red flower sticker on a big celebrity’s face was practically the equivalent of dressing a heavyweight boxing champion in a schoolgirl skirt.

“Uh…”

Her brain hadn’t caught up with her hands yet. With a rip, Zhu Wenshu instinctively peeled the little red flower back off, as if pulling a sticker off a tiger’s backside.

Ling Chen gave a light hiss, frowning at Zhu Wenshu, then looking down at the sticker in her hand.

“What are you doing?”

“Did that hurt?”

Zhu Wenshu said awkwardly, “I just stuck it on the wrong person…”

Perhaps it really had stung a little, because Ling Chen reached up to touch the spot on his face where it had been.

“So who were you originally going to give it to?”

Zhu Wenshu: “Ling Siyuan’s father.”

“…”

His hand paused mid-motion, and Ling Chen tilted his head to look at her. “What, did he come in first just now?”

Zhu Wenshu: “…”

Wow, how did he manage to say that about winning first place in an elementary school parent-child relay with the same pride as winning a Grammy?

Ling Chen: “Stick it back on.”

Zhu Wenshu: “…Oh!”

She peeled off another sticker, and just as she reached out her hand, she looked up at Ling Chen with a bit of hesitation.

Was he being serious?

Seeing her hesitate, Ling Chen sighed.

Then, half-squinting his eyes at the crowd running around ahead of them, he bent down, tilting his profile toward her.

Suddenly there was no need to reach up at all. Zhu Wenshu’s movements became very light—she didn’t even properly press it down twice before withdrawing her hand as if scalded.

After that, Ling Chen coughed once, pulled his mask back up to cover the sticker on his face, and said nothing more.

Zhu Wenshu looked at his mask and silently sighed.

Afraid of being seen, yet still insisting on claiming his prize—men and their inexplicable competitiveness.

“I’ll head over first, then.”

Zhu Wenshu stuffed the remaining stack of stickers into her bag. “We teachers still have our own event.”

Since it wasn’t a full official school-wide sports day, the school hadn’t taken it too seriously; the teachers’ competition was more of a formality, divided into three groups led by three backbone teachers.

There were only three events too: tug of war, relay running, and jump rope.

Not a single one Zhu Wenshu was good at.

But the students and parents were unusually enthusiastic, gathering around the field to loudly cheer on the teachers.

Infected by the mood, the teachers all started warming up too, as if determined to take it seriously.

When the tug-of-war began, Zhu Wenshu, who had never had much strength to begin with, tried to skate by, but with so many students and parents watching, she couldn’t slack off too obviously, so her movements ended up looking a bit forced.

To make matters worse, not a few parents joined the students in loudly shouting “Go Teacher Zhu!”, which just made her more embarrassed.

And Ling Chen had, at some point, drifted over too, blending into the crowd, his gaze following their team’s movements the whole time.

Ugh.

In the heat of the competition, being yanked around by the rope, feet stumbling, Zhu Wenshu thought to herself, couldn’t the school arrange some better-looking events for the teachers?

By the sidelines.

Ling Xingyan, having not won a single event so far, stood with his arms crossed, offering commentary.

“Look at Teacher Zhu’s little frame, I’m worried she’s going to get squished into a sandwich by the teachers in front of and behind her without even noticing.”

“Oh, they lost.”

“Tch, look at how red Teacher Zhu’s face is—how little exercise does she usually get?”

Ling Chen said nothing, but under his mask the corner of his mouth curved up slightly.

The next second, a figure blew past him like the wind.

By the time he registered what had happened, Lu Zibin had already handed a bottle of water to Zhu Wenshu.

“Well, well…”

Ling Xingyan shook his head. “Isn’t that laying it on a bit thick, trying to butter up a teacher like that?”

He turned to Ling Chen. “Right?”

With his sunglasses on, Ling Xingyan couldn’t see Ling Chen’s expression, and only heard him deliver a flat, four-word verdict.

“Disgraceful conduct.”

After a while, the relay race was nearing its end.

Watching that “disgraceful conduct” once again carrying a bottle of water in Zhu Wenshu’s direction, Ling Xingyan started to waver a little.

“You think I should bring Teacher Zhu a tissue to wipe her sweat too or something…”

He got no response, and when he turned to look—

Where’d he go?

Something occurred to him, and Ling Xingyan looked toward the end of the track.

The man in sunglasses and a mask was leaning sideways against a table behind the finish line, one hand tucked in his pocket, the other holding a bottle of mineral water.

Ling Xingyan: “…”

Ling Siyuan, having wandered over at some point, stared blankly at Ling Chen in the distance and asked, “Dad, what’s Uncle doing over there?”

“Your uncle, huh…”

Ling Xingyan rubbed his son’s head. “He’s working hard, for your sake.”

After crossing the finish line, Zhu Wenshu’s colleague took over the baton and sprinted off with all her might.

Though Zhu Wenshu had already passed the finish line and headed toward the resting area, she kept craning her neck back, watching her colleague run with her hair flying wildly and still failing to close the gap, feeling quite guilty.

Seeing that this event’s outcome was also decided, Zhu Wenshu sighed.

She turned around, and a bottle of mineral water was suddenly held out in front of her, startling her so badly she jumped back.

Once she saw who had handed her the water, Zhu Wenshu relaxed, wiping the sweat off her forehead with one hand and accepting the water with the other.

“Thanks.”

The cap had already been loosened, so Zhu Wenshu didn’t need to exert any effort, taking a couple of sips before hearing a burst of cheers erupt behind her, and knowing her team had lost yet again, she sighed once more.

Just a moment ago she’d been saying Ling Xingyan didn’t exercise enough, and here she was, always the one dragging her team down too.

“It’s just a grade-level sports day.”

Ling Chen suddenly spoke. “What’s Teacher Zhu sighing about?”

“True.”

Zhu Wenshu muttered to herself, “When Nüwa was molding Teacher Zhu, she must have gotten distracted and left out the ‘physical fitness’ ingredient from the whole package of virtue, intellect, physique, aesthetics, and labor.”

“Beauty is enough. No need to ask for so much.”

The words hung there, and both of them froze.

Zhu Wenshu slowly looked up, gazing at Ling Chen in the dim daylight.

The way she must have looked just now, running with sweat all over her face… was that beautiful?

Unfortunately, the man’s sunglasses and mask hid his expression completely, and Zhu Wenshu couldn’t read anything.

“Let’s go, cheer on the competition.”

He turned and walked away, tossing back one last line. “Experimental Elementary School’s number one beauty.”

“…”

The last event was group jump rope, and maybe influenced by that earlier “disgraceful conduct,” the moment the competition ended, quite a few parents crowded around to bring water to the teachers.

Looking at the three bottles of mineral water in front of her, Zhu Wenshu patted her stomach.

Much appreciated, but she really couldn’t drink any more.

After the sports day ended, the parents took their kids home, and the teachers stayed behind to clean up.

Fortunately there wasn’t much to deal with—the male teachers handled moving the tables and chairs, while the female teachers carried baskets to collect the scattered small items.

The little prizes hadn’t all been handed out, and when Zhu Wenshu brought them back to the office, she found the drawer was nearly full to bursting when she opened it.

She happened to have brought a bag to carry her changed-out tracksuit home for washing, so she figured she could bring along the six little wooden carvings Lu Zixi had given her too.

Walking out through the school gate, there were still quite a few lingering parents and students on the road.

“Teacher Zhu!”

Hearing someone call her, Zhu Wenshu turned around and saw Ling Siyuan standing by the trunk of the black business van she’d ridden in before, waving at her.

He’d had a great time today, and with Ling Xingyan rarely having free time, he’d spent it taking tons of photos with him on the field before finally coming out. Ling Xingyan had just put things into the trunk and, without having closed it yet, had stepped aside to take a phone call.

“Not home yet?”

Zhu Wenshu walked over, glanced at Ling Xingyan, and not wanting to interrupt him, bent down to ask Ling Siyuan, “Did you have fun today?”

“So much fun!”

Ling Siyuan had originally just meant to say goodbye to Zhu Wenshu, but suddenly remembering something, he turned and called into the car, “Uncle, where’s the cheer sign I made? Why didn’t you take it out at all today?”

Only then did Zhu Wenshu notice Ling Chen was sitting inside; she’d been standing at the far end of the trunk and hadn’t easily seen that particular figure.

The man in the car turned his head, glancing at Zhu Wenshu from a distance.

“Your Teacher Zhu wouldn’t let me take it out.”

“Aw…”

Ling Siyuan felt it was a shame, and not willing to let it go, turned to unzip the bag, revealing the sign inside. “This one lights up too, why wouldn’t the teacher let uncle take it out?”

Because the bag had been repacked, the sign now facing outward wasn’t the one Zhu Wenshu had seen earlier, but a different sparkling one reading “Siyuan, Siyuan, third in the universe.”

Thank goodness she hadn’t let Ling Chen take that one out either.

Otherwise, ten years down the line, some teenager would find himself jolted awake in the dead of night by his own secondhand embarrassment, curling his toes hard enough to summon an entire dream castle.

Zhu Wenshu let out a long breath.

“Teacher was worried it would tire your uncle out.”

“Huh? How would my uncle get tired?”

Ling Siyuan said, “Teacher, don’t you know? My uncle’s muscles are amazing!”

The man in the car didn’t stir.

Zhu Wenshu glanced at him, her expression a bit sheepish.

How would I know if your uncle’s muscles are amazing—I’ve never even seen him with his shirt off.

Just then, Ling Xingyan finished his call and came back—perhaps having some matter to deal with, he didn’t chat much with Zhu Wenshu, just gave a quick greeting before heading to the driver’s seat.

“See you, Teacher!”

Ling Siyuan got in the car, and the automatic door slowly closed.

As he bent down to buckle his seatbelt, a bag of fries was suddenly stuffed into his arms.

He turned to look at Ling Chen, blinking in confusion.

Ling Chen didn’t say anything either, just turned his head to look at the person outside the car window.

Just then, someone in the distance called out for Zhu Wenshu again.

Zhu Wenshu, who had only walked a couple of steps away, turned back and saw Lu Zibin, holding Lu Zixi’s hand, running toward her, stopping right beside the now-closed car.

Seeing the enthusiastic pair, one big and one small, Zhu Wenshu walked a couple of steps closer. “What’s up?”

Lu Zixi stood beside her brother without a word, while Lu Zibin pulled a small item out of his pants pocket and handed it to Zhu Wenshu.

He opened his palm, revealing a small painted wooden carving of Doraemon.

“This is…”

Though she’d already guessed, Zhu Wenshu still asked, “For me?”

“Mm.”

Zhu Wenshu took it, but her face showed no delight.

She looked carefully at the item in her hand a few more times, then at Lu Zibin’s hand, and asked hesitantly, “Was the one before… also from you?”

At this point, Lu Zibin didn’t bother hiding it anymore.

He smiled openly. “I knew if I said from the start that it was from me, you wouldn’t have accepted it, so I borrowed my little sister to help out.”

Zhu Wenshu said nothing, frowning slightly as she looked down.

“So…”

Lu Zibin said, “If I collect all seven little gifts, do I get to have dinner with Teacher Zhu?”

“…”

Zhu Wenshu suddenly pushed the Doraemon carving back into his hands. “Sorry, but the school doesn’t allow parents to privately invite teachers to dinner.”

With that, she also took out the other six wooden carvings from her bag, glanced around, and finally stuffed them into Lu Zixi’s backpack instead.

“You should have these back too. I appreciate the thought, but let’s not do this anymore going forward.”

Lu Zibin’s palm just stayed open like that, and it wasn’t until Zhu Wenshu had walked far away that he looked down at the Doraemon in his hand, feeling like he vaguely had his answer, yet still a bit unwilling to accept it.

What if that last line of hers just meant she didn’t want him using a child to send her gifts?

Lu Zibin pondered this to himself for a while, then looked at his own innocent little sister.

It looked like he was talking to her, but really, he was asking himself.

“What does your Teacher Zhu mean by that…”

Suddenly, the car behind him, which had been silent this whole time, rolled its window down a crack, and a cool voice drifted out.

“It means you’ve been friend-zoned. Don’t get it?”