Chapter 149

On the final day of the sports meet, the main characters were no longer just students from Fuyi High, but also their teachers.

After yesterday's men's 3000-meter race, all competitive events among the students were effectively concluded.

The overall scores for each class in the sports meet had now been finalized.

Through the efforts of all classmates, Class 8 of Grade One secured third place in the grade.

The two classes ahead—Class 10 and Class 16—each had several athletic students competing and won numerous gold medals, so their scores were higher than Class 8's.

Under these circumstances, Class 8, with no athletic students, achieving third place was already quite impressive.

On Saturday, starting at eight in the morning, the fun events began.

The rules were simple: each class's homeroom teacher had to participate and invite one subject teacher as their assistant.

Then, in the five fun events, if only two people were needed, the two teachers would complete the event together.

If more people were required, the homeroom teacher had to ask students from their own class for help, inviting enough students to form a team for the competition.

All students from Grade One to Grade Three had gathered early on their respective bleachers.

When the time came, they saw their homeroom teachers, accompanied by their assistant teachers, walking from Houde Road onto the playground, then heading straight toward their own class's direction.

When the students of Class 8, Grade One saw Kong Junxiang accompanied by Ding Xiang, the English teacher, they all went "Eee~" and "Ooo~," winking and nudging each other.

"Old Kong's got ulterior motives," Zhu Yufei whispered with a sly chuckle. "By the way, Old Kong's barely thirty, and Teacher Ding just returned from studying abroad with a master's—she's probably two or three years younger. Suddenly, they seem pretty well matched."

"Teacher Ding looks so beautiful today," Xu Yinghuan giggled dreamily, spotting the detail. "She wore makeup! Usually she's barely touched up, but today it's so refined."

"Is there really a difference?" Li Luo examined closely and saw nothing unusual. "It doesn't look like she even applied lipstick."

"Look at her eyeshadow, and her eyebrows are definitely done. The contouring under her nose and jawline is perfect," Xu Yinghuan whispered to him. "The lipstick's a light shade—it looks youthful, not that full-on Western-style heavy makeup."

"You know a lot about this, Xu Yinghuan."

"It's a basic girl skill, okay?" Xu Yinghuan huffed. "I learned a lot from my mom since middle school."

"Really?" Li Luo turned to Yan Zhusheng beside him. "Can you tell?"

Yan Zhusheng shook her head: "I can't tell."

"Then according to Xu Yinghuan's theory, Yan Zhusheng, you're not a girl."

"I am," Yan Zhusheng said seriously. "I just don't wear makeup."

Given Yan Zhusheng's natural features, at least at this teenage age, makeup was truly unnecessary.

At most, she might use light makeup to subtly enhance her look—a touch of lipstick to brighten her lips, making her appear more energetic.

In Li Luo's memory, even by her thirties, Yan Zhusheng never developed a habit of wearing makeup.

After all, in the short videos Li Luo made, she never showed her face—she only focused on singing.

She mostly stayed at home, so there was little need for makeup.

Back then, Yan Zhusheng had shed the shyness and naivety of youth, retaining only her delicate face, her overall aura becoming colder and more distant.

During the six months Li Luo and Yan Zhusheng spent together in their past life, they had worked together for over four months before her attitude toward Li Luo slowly warmed from distant to familiar.

But this life, at only fifteen or sixteen, Yan Zhusheng's aloof aura was fainter—it was merely the first impression she gave.

Yet after actual interaction, what stood out more was her naturalness and cluelessness, her blunt speech highlighting a certain innocence.

After all, there was a gap of over a decade between them; it was normal for their personalities to differ.

Li Luo thought to himself: if, in his past life, Yan Zhusheng had been in Class 8 without him, how would her situation have been?

After entering university and stepping into society, what events would she have encountered that led to her lack of social skills, causing her to develop an entire protective shell of emotional distance?

"The competition's started!" Xu Yinghuan pointed downward.

Kong Junxiang and Ding Xiang had already joined the first event.

The rules were simple: each teacher pair received three balloons and had to stand back-to-back, 夹着 one balloon between them, then carry it twenty meters to the finish line.

Once they reached the end, they had to work together, still back-to-back, to pop the balloon before running back to the start to fetch the next one.

On the playground, most homeroom teachers had chosen assistants of the same gender—either male teachers with male teachers, or female teachers with female teachers.

So Kong Junxiang and Ding Xiang, as a male-female pair, stood out sharply.

Among all sixteen Grade One classes, only two teacher pairs were mixed-gender.

One of them was even a married couple.

"Go, Teacher Kong!" Zhu Yufei led the cheers from the bleachers.

Seeing their homeroom teacher on the field, Class 8's students laughed and cheered enthusiastically.

"Teacher Kong, use some force! Can't you even pop it?"

"I'm dying laughing—is this 'chivalry'? You're holding back?"

"Hey, look at Old Kong—his ears are red! Hahaha~"

"Teacher Ding's way calmer—she's even holding Old Kong's hand, teaching him how to pop it."

"Pathetic! So pathetic!" Zhang Guohuang shook his head. "Old Kong's still green—has he even dated before?"

"He's gonna get totally dominated by Teacher Ding."

"Airway inflammation case number one—next!"

Students on the bleachers joked and teased, while the homeroom teacher and English teacher fought hard on the field.

Once Kong Junxiang realized Ding Xiang didn't have the usual timid, coquettish attitude of a traditional girl, he loosened up.

Though he was slow at first carrying the balloons, his performance improved with each subsequent event.

After all, both he and Ding Xiang were still young among the teaching staff, giving them a physical advantage.

After five events, they won first place twice.

After splitting a gold medal with Teacher Ding, Kong Junxiang returned to the bleachers grinning broadly—anyone could see how happy he was.

"Teacher Kong, when's the wedding?" Zhang Guohuang leaned in boldly, whispering.

Kong Junxiang shot him a disgruntled look: "Think your homework's too light? Back in class, I'll give you two extra tests."

"Two sheets are too few," Teacher Ding shook his head beside them. "Zhang Guohuang, you scored the worst in English on your midterm—I'll give you four or five more sheets to do."

A burst of laughter erupted from the surrounding classmates.

Li Luo and Yan Zhusheng had already vanished from the stands.

After the fun competition ended, each class lined up in order and entered, forming ranks in the center of the playground.

School leaders ascended the podium, and the closing ceremony of the sports meet officially began.

The students weren't interested in the leaders' long speeches, yet all of them leaned forward eagerly.

Only when the principal finished speaking did the rhythmic drumbeats of a drum kit emerge from behind the red curtain, snapping everyone to attention as they craned their necks toward the podium.

The five members of the rock club arrived as promised, appearing before all the students as the red curtain was pulled aside.

When the crowd heard Yan Zhusheng's voice again, they quickly sank into this musical feast.

Only when the principal announced the sports meet had ended in perfect success did everyone feel a pang of loss, realizing this year's sports meet had truly concluded.

The freshmen and sophomores felt little, but the seniors knew that after this sports meet, next year they would face the college entrance exam—and there would never be another high school sports meet.

Still, this year's sports meet had let them hear a girl like Yan Zhusheng singing loudly for them—a rare memory indeed.

"I forgot to tell you this morning."

After the sports meet ended, everyone dispersed and returned to their classrooms.

While packing his things, Li Luo said to Yan Zhusheng, "Xixi hurt her knee, so I told her to stay home and rest today—she won't be coming with us to your place."

Yan Zhusheng blinked, then asked, "What about Qiao Xinyan and Zhao Rongjun?"

"I'll let Zhao Rongjun off for now. But Qiao Xinyan will probably stay with Xixi."

"Oh." Yan Zhusheng nodded, slung her backpack over her shoulders, and walked out of the classroom with Li Luo, both stepping more lightly. "Then let's take Xixi home first."

The two went up to Class One on the second floor.

At that moment, Ying Chanxi and Qiao Xinyan had already packed their bags.

Qiao Xinyan directly helped Ying Chanxi put on her backpack, letting her walk out leaning on her crutch—right into Li Luo and Yan Zhusheng.

At the sight of Li Luo, Ying Chanxi glanced sideways at Yan Zhusheng, then silently slipped her crutch into Qiao Xinyan's hand.

Then she pointed to the space before her and looked at Li Luo: "Come here."

"... Aren't you using a crutch?"

"Your human crutch works better."

"Heh."

"Lin Yi said she'd come over after finishing lunch."

"Please, sir~"

Li Luo smiled apologetically and crouched down before Ying Chanxi.

Ying Chanxi nodded in satisfaction, kicked her feet, and launched herself onto Li Luo's back, hugging his neck tightly.

Li Luo cupped her small bottom with both hands and descended the stairs.

Qiao Xinyan and Yan Zhusheng walked beside them, carrying both their backpacks.

"By the way, where's Senior?" Li Luo asked.

"The sports meet is over, but the student council still has plenty of cleanup work," Ying Chanxi said from his back. "I'll probably be busy this afternoon before I can go home."

"Alright then, I'll take you home first," Li Luo said, turning to Qiao Xinyan. "Are you coming to our place today? Stay with Xixi, and if you want, you can stay for dinner—I'll have my mom drop you off later."

"Sure!" Qiao Xinyan, already very familiar with them, nodded eagerly without any hesitation. "What about you and Yan Zhusheng?"

"We've got things to do this afternoon. We'll come back in the evening."

Hearing this, Ying Chanxi, who had been happily perched on his back, let out a soft huff.

She had a legitimate reason now to be carried by Li Luo after her knee injury—so why couldn't she feel completely happy?

Ying Chanxi felt a little gloomy. After Li Luo brought her back to 1502 and sat her on the sofa, she watched helplessly as Li Luo and Yan Zhusheng left together, the door closing behind them.

"Xixi, what are you thinking about?"

"Xinyan, go get me something from the bedroom."