Upbeat music blared over the campus broadcast system, drifting through every corner of the grounds as even the flowers and grass seemed to sway along. Their class adviser, dressed in a suit, picked up his teaching pointer and lowered the volume of the speaker in the classroom. Then he smacked the pointer against the lectern with a startling crack. “The sports meet is tomorrow. Just look at the state of all of you.”
“Because we literally only found out about it this second.”
“Think of it as a surprise inspection of your physical fitness.”
“What kind of inspection is that supposed to be? We’re university students. Why are we having a sports meet? We didn’t even have one in our first year.” The students complained, and Ke Bu was among them. Of all the activities schools had organized throughout his life, sports meets had always been the ones he hated most. He didn’t want to move, and he wanted even less to cheer other people on.
“Sheng Jie Academy holds its sports meet once every two years.” Their class adviser planted both hands on the lectern and spoke with tremendous gravity. “Our class has to win. Did you hear me? We have to win. Otherwise, I’ll personally make all of you relive your senior year of high school!” Ke Bu’s head began to hurt. There were only three chapters left. Why did they have to hold some sports meet at a critical moment like this? Was the universe deliberately working against him?
“Sir, this isn’t like you. Since when do you care this much about rankings?”
“Do you know what the champions get?” Their supposedly respectable educator rubbed his thumb against his index finger in the universal gesture for money, then raised his voice. “Idiots, besides the extra bonus I get, there’s something in it for all of you too.” The students’ interest instantly shot up, and everyone perked up to listen.
“You’ll get both prize money and a special exemption allowing you to skip class for seven days without a reason.” Both rewards were extremely tempting. Anyone short on money wanted the cash, while anyone who wasn’t short on money wanted the time off. Almost every student was enthusiastic about getting a break. Even if they had no plans, even if their coursework was overwhelming, even if they knew perfectly well that taking time off would interfere with their studies—they still wanted a holiday. What could they do about it? They hadn’t yet been forced to confront society and real life. Wanting a few days off was about as ambitious as they got.
“Do the top three all get it?” Ke Bu raised his hand to ask.
“The school only recognizes first place. To keep things fair and prevent anyone from training or preparing in advance, the date is never fixed.”
“How many events are there? How do they decide who comes first?”
“Only one event: a relay race. It’ll all be finished in one day. The school doesn’t have that much time to waste. Today is the only day you have left to prepare.”
“Isn’t the school being a little too underhanded here? Today is Saturday! These two days were supposed to be our weekend, and instead you’re making us hold a sports meet!”
The class adviser put on a thoroughly righteous expression. “We’re a school. How could we schedule recreational activities during study time? That settles it. I have a date, so you can discuss the rest yourselves. Pick ten people—five men and five women.” After the class adviser left, everyone was stumped. The class monitor stepped forward. “Is anyone confident enough to volunteer?”
Gong Zhu badly needed time to finish all the BL material he had found recently, so he immediately stood up. The class monitor waved him back down. “For the sake of the class, please sit.” Whatever confidence Gong Zhu had possessed was thoroughly trampled. Gong Zhu wasn’t selected, but Chu Hao Yu was. His endurance wasn’t great, but his explosive speed was excellent, making him well suited to a relay race. Ke Bu agreed wholeheartedly with the class monitor. “Gong Zhu, you’re not suited for this. Sit down. Class Monitor, I personally strongly recommend Zhi Li.” Ke Bu’s recommendation was absolutely motivated by selfish reasons. After all this time, he had never once seen the youthful sight of Zhi Li wearing sports clothes and sprinting across a track.
“Zhi Li, what do you think? Contribute something to the class.”
Hearing someone call his name, Zhi Li lifted his head from the computer manual he had been reading, clearly unable to understand why everyone was staring at him. Ke Bu snatched the manual away. “You weren’t listening to a single word again, were you?!”
“Did you say something?”
“We were discussing what the class adviser said.”
“The class adviser was here?”
“Since you didn’t hear any of it, I’ll decide for you. Class Monitor, sign Zhi Li up.”
As though they were discussing someone else entirely, Zhi Li calmly took the manual back from Ke Bu without reacting. The class monitor turned around and wrote Zhi Li’s name on the blackboard, then continued looking for the remaining participants. A while later, after finishing the manual, Zhi Li finally looked up. “Why is my name on the blackboard?”
“Your reaction time is way too long. I recommended you for the sports meet.”
Zhi Li’s face turned cold. “Without asking for my permission?”
“Y-You don’t want to?” Ke Bu thought Zhi Li was angry and immediately felt a little guilty, suddenly regretting that he had forced the decision on him.
“Either way is fine with me.” Zhi Li’s expression remained cold.
“You don’t have to force yourself. If you really don’t want to do it, I’ll tell the class monitor.”
“Either way is fine with me.”
“Then why are you making that face?”
Zhi Li immediately returned to his usual expressionless face. “Just trying it out.” Driven insane, Ke Bu grabbed Zhi Li by the collar and shook him repeatedly. “Stop playing with me!”
At long last, they finally managed to choose all ten participants. Someone like Ke Bu, who had gone years without exercising and got winded just climbing stairs, naturally wasn’t selected. Not being selected was exactly the result he wanted. Avoiding the punishment from the bet was currently his highest priority, but he still wanted his class to win the sports meet. While wondering what to do, he spotted Ying Xiu Jie. Oh no. Another problem. Something like a sports meet was guaranteed to ignite Ying Xiu Jie’s hot-blooded spirit. Ke Bu watched him through the windows as Ying Xiu Jie walked past one after another. When he finally entered the classroom, Ke Bu covered his forehead. Through the windows, only Ying Xiu Jie’s upper body had been visible, so he had looked perfectly normal. Seeing his lower half once he entered was another matter entirely. He was wearing a pair of skin-tight athletic briefs that outlined absolutely everything.
“I’m here to inform all of you that until the sports meet is over, we’re enemies. Goodbye.” Despite saying goodbye, Ying Xiu Jie showed no urgency whatsoever about leaving. Completely unselfconscious, he demonstrated his abilities at the front of the classroom, stretching his legs one moment and raising them the next. The girls all turned their faces away. His lower body attracted far too much attention. The participants had already been selected, so the other students simply ignored Ying Xiu Jie and gradually filed out.
Chu Hao Yu slumped against the back of his chair as though every ounce of energy had been drained from him. He didn’t want money. He didn’t want a holiday. He only wanted these ten chapters to hurry up and end. Ying Xiu Jie walked over to him. “Get some energy back! Give it everything you’ve got and have a proper match with me.” Only then did Ying Xiu Jie notice Zhi Li’s name written on the blackboard. His eyes widened. “Zhi Li’s competing too?”
Ke Bu folded his arms and swung his right leg. “Class 2 really wants to win.”
“Which leg of the relay is Zhi Li running?”
“The last one.”
“Then I’m running the last leg too!”
Zhi Li’s expression turned cold. “You want to compete against me?”
“C-Can’t I? You don’t have to get angry about it.” Even Ying Xiu Jie began worrying about Zhi Li’s mood.
“Quit getting carried away with playing around! Think about tomorrow! This is about money and time. Aren’t those the two things people live for?”
“You should be living for me.”
“You want me to live for nothing but love? Love needs money and time as a foundation too.” Ke Bu had always been a realist. He wasn’t stupid enough to believe that people could survive on love alone as some kind of spiritual nourishment. More often than not, love was the loser, defeated again and again by money and time. But Ke Bu didn’t want his love to lose to either of them.
Zhi Li stood up and placed a hand on Ke Bu’s head. With a little pressure, he pushed Ke Bu’s face flat against the desk. “I’ll give you both the money and the time. Don’t live for love. Live for me.” Watching Zhi Li walk away, Ke Bu seriously wondered whether the strange construction of Zhi Li’s brain allowed him to understand what the word “love” actually meant.
Love isn’t your rival. You are my love, you dense idiot.
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