Chapter 146: The Plum Blossoms Bloom Twice

Ying Chanxi was still a bit dazed.

When she fell, her mind had gone completely blank.

Only when she actually hit the ground did pain shoot through her body, leaving her unable to think clearly.

As she looked up at her surroundings, she instinctively searched for Li Luo's figure.

When she saw Li Luo sprinting toward her, her heart finally eased a little.

So her mind naturally began to fantasize: when Li Luo came over, would he carry her to the infirmary or something…

But…

The plot had developed completely differently from what she imagined.

She had never heard Yan Zhusheng's voice so cold—he shouted at the crowd to get out of the way, then swept her up in his arms all at once.

Light as a feather, carried in Yan Zhusheng's arms, Ying Chanxi was stunned; her gaze slipped past the strands of hair beside his ear, fixed on Li Luo trailing behind, and she had no idea what to say.

She had wanted Li Luo to carry her, but under these circumstances, how could she possibly say it aloud?

In the end, she buried her face in Yan Zhusheng's chest and pretended to know nothing.

The school infirmary was right beside the side entrance of the gymnasium, not far from the 100-meter finish line.

After Yan Zhusheng carried Ying Chanxi straight to the infirmary, he placed her on the hospital bed as the infirmary teacher instructed.

At that moment, a crowd suddenly surged into the room.

The infirmary teacher glanced once, then looked at Ying Chanxi and Yan Zhusheng's faces, and impatiently said: "No one without injuries may enter—only two people may stay with her; everyone else must step outside and not crowd the infirmary."

At this, people like Qiao Xinyan and Xu Yinghuan obediently filed out.

Xie Shuchen and Liu Shaowen exchanged a glance, then shoved each other awkwardly at the doorway until Li Luo burst in—then their shoving fell silent, and they both snorted.

"How did you get hurt?" The infirmary teacher glanced at Ying Chanxi, noted her scraped elbow, and asked.

"I fell while sprinting the 100 meters at the finish line," Li Luo said beside her.

"Is your foot hurt too?"

"My knee hurts a little," Ying Chanxi muttered, lips pressed tight.

"Roll up your pant leg, let me see your knee," the infirmary teacher ordered. "Which knee?"

"Right one."

Yan Zhusheng stood on the right side, so he stepped forward and slowly rolled up Ying Chanxi's pant leg.

Meanwhile, the infirmary teacher first examined Ying Chanxi's arm, holding her hand and moving it through a series of motions.

"Does this hurt?"

"What about this?"

"Hss…"

"Oh, your wrist is injured too. Your elbow is just a superficial scrape—you must have braced yourself with your wrist when you fell?"

At this point, Yan Zhusheng had already rolled up Ying Chanxi's pant leg, so the infirmary teacher set her arm down and turned to examine her right leg.

He then concluded: "The elbow injury isn't serious—just a superficial scrape with minor bleeding; I'll disinfect it."

"Your left wrist probably got injured when you braced yourself—it needs rest for a while."

"As for the knee, it's also scraped, possibly with some ligament strain, but the bones seem fine."

As he spoke, the infirmary teacher began disinfecting her wounds.

Li Luo watched beside her, his palm tightly gripped in Ying Chanxi's right hand—so hard she nearly crushed it.

Soon after, the infirmary teacher finished treating her and gave her some care instructions.

At this time, the class teacher, Teacher Sun, arrived and asked after her condition with concern.

By then, Ying Chanxi felt much better—she could at least stand and walk, limping slightly as long as she avoided touching the wounds.

"Teacher Sun."

"Hmm?"

"Don't tell my father about this," Ying Chanxi said. "It's not a big deal—I don't want him to worry."

Teacher Sun frowned, asked the infirmary teacher for details, confirmed there was no serious injury and only rest was needed, then nodded: "But if your condition worsens, tell me immediately."

"Li Luo, keep an eye on her," Teacher Sun said, turning to Li Luo beside him. "You two live together—you'll have to take extra care of her."

Li Luo nodded.

The infirmary teacher, meanwhile, gave Li Luo a curious glance, sensing another student gossip brewing.

After leaving the infirmary, Teacher Sun gave a few more reminders, spoke briefly with the vice-class-monitor Jian Zhenyuan, then departed.

At this point, many classmates from Class One who had seen Ying Chanxi fall had gathered outside the infirmary.

When they saw her emerge, they all rushed to ask after her well-being.

Though Ying Chanxi acted a certain way around Li Luo, she still commanded great respect in her own class.

She was always measured in her conduct, the perennial top-ranked scholar of the grade—everyone both loved and feared her.

"Xixi, here," Qiao Xinyan handed her a bronze medal, smiling. "Third place."

This bronze medal was, in a way, a blessing in disguise.

Originally, apart from Yan Zhusheng and Luo Jiajia, who had pulled ahead significantly, the next four runners—from third to sixth—were nearly tied.

Ying Chanxi had been nearly in fifth place, but just before the finish line, she stumbled and tumbled forward—accidentally landing her third place.

"Zhusheng, this is yours," Xu Yinghuan cheerfully pulled out a gold medal. "I picked it up for you, but you'll have to go back to the podium yourselves to retake the photo—I'm not sure if Xixi can stand for it now."

"I just fell down—I didn't break my leg," Ying Chanxi smiled, gripping Li Luo's shoulder with her small hand and limping toward the track. "Everyone, don't crowd around—go back to the stands and watch the rest of the competition."

Most people, after confirming Ying Chanxi was fine, dispersed.

Only Liu Shaowen and a few others, plus a handful of boys from Classes Two, Three, and Four who admired Ying Chanxi, refused to leave.

Only a few people like Liu Shaowen, and some boys from Classes Two, Three, and Four who admired Ying Chanxi, refused to leave.

So he followed behind, watching as Li Luo escorted Ying Chanxi to the podium on the sports field.

Luo Jiajia, the second-place finisher, had been waiting here for a long time.

Yan Zhusheng stepped onto the first-place podium, and Ying Chanxi, supported by Li Luo, stepped up to the third-place step.

Under the photography club members' lenses, the top three finishers of the Grade One girls' 100-meter final were recorded.

"Is Xixi okay?"

At this moment, Xu Youyu, having heard that Ying Chanxi was injured, rushed over from the grandstand and asked with concern.

"I'm fine," Li Luo said. "Just need to rest my left wrist and right knee for a while. I might trouble Senior Sister to look after her these days."

"That's only natural," Xu Youyu smiled, winking at Ying Chanxi. "I can even help Xixi bathe."

Ying Chanxi's face turned bright red at this, and she quickly waved her hands. "Senior Sister, don't say things like that in public!"

"Hahaha~ What's the harm?"

With Xu Youyu's reminder, Ying Chanxi suddenly realized.

If Xu Youyu weren't living with her, it would just be her and Li Luo alone.

Then, with her hand and leg injured, she'd have to ask Li Luo to help her put on and take off clothes—and possibly even bathe…

Eww~ Ying Chanxi couldn't bear to think further.

But more likely, they'd notify her father, and she'd still have to rely on Lin Xiuhong to come help.

After the 100-meter final photos were taken, Qiao Xinyan helped Ying Chanxi back to Class One's spectator stand, where she sat quietly, forbidden from wandering off except to use the restroom.

Meanwhile, Li Luo strolled slowly to the grandstand, wrote two news bulletins on the spot for his class, read them aloud, then returned the microphone to the host.

Yan Zhusheng followed him closely; while he read the bulletins, she quietly pulled Xu Youyu aside to say something, received Xu Youyu's nod, then returned satisfied to Li Luo's side.

Xu Yinghuan trailed beside them, staring in stunned silence as Li Luo casually composed two news bulletins, showing no sign of preparation whatsoever.

"No wonder our class didn't collect any bulletins yesterday afternoon," Xu Yinghuan couldn't help saying. "You handled them all yourself, Class President."

"What else?" Li Luo raised an eyebrow. "Did you think the Student Union could be fooled so easily?"

"I thought you were Xu Senior Sister's favorite," Xu Yinghuan scratched his head. "I figured you'd pulled some strings."

"Calling it pulling strings is about right," Xu Youyu chimed in from the side. "But I've never seen someone just make them up on the spot."

Li Luo chuckled twice, then returned with Yan Zhusheng and Xu Yinghuan to Class Eight's spectator stand.

Seeing Yan Zhusheng finally return, the class burst into cheers and applause.

After all, it was the 100-meter gold medal—its value was substantial.

When it reached half past ten, Yan Zhusheng took the field again and won the 200-meter gold, adding eighth place in the high jump; in individual events alone, Yan Zhusheng brought Class Eight a full 21 points.

In overall contribution, she was unquestionably Class Eight's top athlete.

By afternoon, a series of events gradually came to an end.

The final event of Friday—the men's 3000-meter race—was about to begin.

Zhu Yufei called out to the stands: "Class President, and Wei Chun, the 3000-meter is coming up."

"Got it."

Li Luo nodded, stood up to head to the gym for registration, glanced at the seat beside him, and realized Yan Zhusheng hadn't returned since leaving.

"Where's Yan Zhusheng?" Li Luo asked.

Xu Yinghuan shook her head blankly. "Didn't she go to the restroom?"

"It's been over ten minutes," Li Luo said, already stepping down from the stand. "Never mind—I'll go register first."

Walking with Wei Chun to the gym, Li Luo found himself, unusually, without a girl trailing beside him.

But when he reached the PE teacher, he saw Xu Youyu again.

"Senior Sister, what are you doing here?"

"I'm in charge of guiding the 3000-meter runners," Xu Youyu rolled her eyes. "Originally it was Xixi's job, but with her leg injured, I came to cover for her."

"That explains it," Li Luo nodded in understanding.

"Oh, by the way," Xu Youyu seemed to remember something, smiling as she pointed toward the grandstand. "Don't line up yet—go check the entrance. There's a surprise."

"A surprise? What kind of surprise?"

Li Luo was baffled, but still walked to the gym entrance, unsure what to look for.

The next second, the sports meet's background music halted.

A familiar guitar melody began.

At the same time, an even more familiar voice rang out.

"Only by turning myself~"

"Can I find the light~"

"The sun has always been right there~"

Yan Zhusheng appeared on the grandstand, cradling the guitar Li Luo had used, singing the song Li Luo had once sung.

Instantly, every eye turned toward her.