A sports meet wasn’t exactly a grand occasion, but in the heavy-workload era of high school, it was undoubtedly the event students looked forward to the most.

Sheng Qing was full of enthusiasm and exceptionally excited. He wished time could fly by and skip straight to the day of the sports meet so he could flex his muscles.

Gu Qichi’s emotions weren’t quite as outwardly expressive. His health wasn’t that good. Even though it had improved a lot over these years, to the point where he no longer panted three times with every step he took, he still couldn’t do any strenuous exercise.

For him, the sports meet was just changing to a different location to do homework.

Only when Bo Yu was competing would he lift his head from the endless sea of test questions, watch Bo Yu running on the track, and then go hand him water when the race was about to end.

It had always been like this in previous years. Only during their third year of middle school did both he and Bo Yu skip the school sports meet due to their studies. But this year, like in the past, Bo Yu would probably participate, and Gu Qichi would wait for him in the stands.

Gu Qichi turned his head. Just as he was about to ask Bo Yu what events he planned to sign up for, he saw the other boy was already resting his head on the desk with his eyes closed.

Sheng Qing, who had been waiting for an answer: “…”

Gu Qichi: “…”

We clearly slept together last night, and I even went to bed later than him. What on earth did Bo Yu do to be this sleepy?

The bell for morning class rang. The first period was about to start, but Bo Yu still hadn’t recovered any energy.

A patch around his waist and abdomen was wet. To prevent the damp shirt from sticking to his body, he had to hunch his back and wait for the wind to naturally dry it.

The classroom had returned to its previous lively and bustling state. A long line had formed in front of the Sports Rep’s seat, all students going to sign up for sports meet events.

Gu Qichi and Bo Yu’s seats were quite a distance away from the Sports Rep, but they could still hear everyone’s conversations: “I’ll do the four hundred meters, plus the long jump.”

“What about the relay? Is there no one for the relay yet? Add me in.”

“Why hasn’t any girl signed up for the eight hundred meters? Hurry up, who wants to sign up?”

Bo Yu rested his head on the desk. The pen at his fingertips spun three times before stopping, coming to a halt on his test paper and bleeding out a pool of black ink.

The noise in the classroom was somewhat annoying. Bo Yu couldn’t figure out Gu Qichi’s recent hot-and-cold attitude towards him. He wanted to ask for clarity, but he knew Gu Qichi’s personality better than anyone else.

He wouldn’t say anything.

He was just like that stray cat at the orphanage when they were five—very timid, looking at everything with fear. If you tentatively approached and showed kindness, he might bestow you with a glance, but the moment you tried to grab him or get something from him, he would run faster than anyone else, leaving not even a shadow to catch.

As Bo Yu was feeling agitated, Gu Qichi next to him poked his head over, looking at him hesitantly as if wanting to speak but stopping.

Because he was backlit, his entire silhouette was blurred into a halo by the light. His irises were a clear amber color, and the outer corners of his eyes curved upwards, making him really look like a cat.

Bo Yu turned his head to look at him. Meeting his eyes, he pressed the tip of his tongue against the roof of his mouth, couldn’t hold back, reached out, and pinched his jaw.

“What are you looking at me for?”

Gu Qichi opened his mouth, glanced at the people lining up, then at Bo Yu, and asked very confusedly: “Aren’t you going to sign up?”

Actually, Bo Yu wasn’t very interested in this upcoming sports meet.

It would have been fine if it were the High School Affiliated to the University’s usual autumn sports meet—the weather was cool, and you wouldn’t sweat much. But Dongcheng First High’s sports meet was held in the summer. Although it wasn’t during the hottest few days, it was still enough to make people sweat buckets.

With that time, he’d rather sleep a bit more in the classroom or do two more sets of competition questions.

Seeing him stay silent, Gu Qichi didn’t know how to interpret his meaning, so he tentatively asked: “Do you not want to participate in the sports meet?”

Bo Yu leaned his back against the chair. The wet shirt stuck to his waist and abdomen, the sticky sensation making him frown. But looking at Gu Qichi’s reaction, he could roughly guess some of Gu Qichi’s thoughts.

Bo Yu asked him back: “Do you want me to participate?”

In previous sports meets, the homeroom teacher had forcefully signed up the boys in the class, under the beautiful pretext of fighting for class honor and promoting the spirit of sports. Bo Yu had been assigned all sorts of events and had never refused; he had even tried every single one.

Anyway, Gu Qichi would take care of him after he got off the track, so there was nothing bad about it.

Thinking of the past image of Gu Qichi’s frail little body struggling to carry him, Bo Yu’s Adam’s apple bobbed.

He lowered his eyelashes, quietly waiting for Gu Qichi’s answer.

Gu Qichi was quite honest and didn’t think too much about it, straightforwardly nodding in reply: “I kinda want you to. So, will you participate?”

Bo Yu pinched the soft flesh on both sides of his cheeks. The texture was so good, like a ball of cotton—no matter how much he pinched, it was never enough.

“I’ll participate. I was just too sleepy earlier. I’ll go sign up when there are fewer people.”

Being pinched by him, Gu Qichi felt uncomfortable. After letting out an “Oh,” he tried to dodge, but Bo Yu clamped down and wouldn’t let go.

When Sheng Qing returned from signing up, this was the scene he saw. His mouth opened so wide it could fit an egg.

It wasn’t anything else, it was just that the actions of these two—Bo Yu and Gu Qichi—were truly a bit too ambiguous.

Sheng Qing was a straight man made of steel. Normally, the most he did was put his arm around a bro’s shoulder, or at most kick the other guy in the ass twice. When had he ever seen this kind of face-touching behavior like Gu Qichi and Bo Yu were doing?

He froze for a long time, wanting to say something to liven up the atmosphere, but like an old, broken-down robot, he couldn’t move for half a day.

After Gu Qichi successfully broke free from Bo Yu’s hand, he glared at Bo Yu with great dissatisfaction. Bo Yu also sat up straight and raised the corners of his eyes to look at Sheng Qing.

“Is something the matter?” Bo Yu asked him.

Sheng Qing let out an “Uh,” sat down in his seat, wanting to say nothing, but after holding it in for half a day, he couldn’t squeeze out a fart. Finally, he glanced at the line still formed at the Sports Rep’s desk, and a stroke of genius saved him: “Brother Yu, are you still going to sign up? If you are, I can go sign up for you?”

Bo Yu glanced at the line that still hadn’t died down, then looked at Sheng Qing waiting for his answer. After pondering for a moment, he finally nodded: “Sorry to trouble you.”

Sheng Qing let out a breath. He didn’t know why, but every time he talked with Bo Yu, he felt like he was holding his breath.

He hurriedly ran over to the Sports Rep, seeking a piece of pure land for himself.

…………

…………

The summer temperatures rose day by day. Accompanied by two tense days of mid-term exams, the students of Dongcheng First High finally ushered in the annual summer school sports meet.

This spring sports meet lasted for three consecutive days. The entire time, students weren’t required to stay in the classroom for lessons or study halls. In fact, because most students wouldn’t watch the competitions during the sports meet and would instead do practice questions, the principal specifically ordered the homeroom teachers of all classes not to assign homework. The student council was also instructed to pay special attention during their patrols to those who stubbornly ignored orders and studied.

Once this rule was issued, Gu Qichi didn’t know about other classes, but his class went a bit crazy.

On the night before finishing the exams, everyone left carrying empty backpacks. The next day, they came carrying stuffed backpacks, tossed them directly onto their assigned bleachers, and then gathered on the sports field.

Everyone wore uniform white shirts and black pants, standing perfectly straight. Drones buzzed overhead, patrolling the territory, recording everyone’s movements and expressions at all times.

On the rostrum, the principal habitually cleared his throat, stroked his non-existent beautiful hair, straightened his back, and passionately launched into the sports meet opening ceremony speech that sounded the same at every school.

“Just at the age of youth, in the prime of life, full of scholarly spirit, directing the affairs of the nation…”

Being tall, Gu Qichi stood at the end of the line with Bo Yu.

The homeroom teacher went to the front to keep an eye on discipline and didn’t pay much attention to the back.

The sunlight was a bit blinding, falling right on the top of Gu Qichi’s head. He slightly narrowed his eyes, raising his hand to block it. Aside from the dense sea of heads in front, the only thing in his field of vision was the shiny bald head at the very front.

—It was the principal’s dazzling head.

The other party continued to show off his superior literary talent on stage, pouring out a torrent of words. With the straight beam of light shining down, Gu Qichi could even see the spit spraying out when he got excited.

Tsk. He lowered his hand and simply closed his eyes—out of sight, out of mind.

Bo Yu stood behind him, looking at Gu Qichi’s slender back contours, spacing out a bit.

How is he still so skinny? I’ve fed him so many supplements all these years, and it’s been of no use at all.

“Today, we finally usher in the 58th Dongcheng School Sports Meet. I declare—the school sports meet officially begins!”

As soon as the principal’s voice fell, the colored flag team standing in the very front row started running. Facing the wind, the colored flags fluttered and billowed, one after another, forming a flowing river.

Gu Qichi was also called over by the homeroom teacher, and a battle flag was shoved into his hands.

The homeroom teacher lifted his chin, glanced at the homeroom teachers of the other surrounding classes, and said quite smugly: “Gu Qichi, when we do our display later, remember to wave our class’s battle flag high…”

In the several other classes around them, it was all girls wearing various outfits holding the flags. Gu Qichi was the only guy mixed in, appearing utterly out of place.

But this face was not inferior to the other girls in the slightest, even possessing a beauty that surpassed them by a margin.

The homeroom teacher adjusted his tie, walked back to the rear of the team, and filled in the square formation.

Class A marched onto the track in unison, their square formation orderly and neat. When the camera positioned at the front right focused on Gu Qichi, and his face was projected onto the huge screens on both sides of the sports field, even from the last row, the homeroom teacher could hear the screams of countless girls behind him.

Right beside him was Bo Yu; the two of them looked up at the big screen together.

The clothes Gu Qichi wore were slightly different from the others. His shirt was embroidered with a silvery-white hidden pattern, which now caught the light and refracted the design, looking exceptionally noble.

The smile on his face was very shallow, the outer corners of his eyes curving upwards. Across the battle flag in his hand, when he inadvertently looked at the camera, a look of surprise flashed through Gu Qichi’s eyes, even causing his eyes to widen into perfect circles.

But he quickly realized something, adjusted his expression, and seamlessly looked away.

This drew another wave of whispers from the students in the back rows who hadn’t joined the formation.

Gu Qichi’s homeroom teacher had never stood with his neck this straight in his life. Today, he was like a proud rooster, his entire body filled with drive.

Teachers wouldn’t say it out loud, but as people reached middle age, their desire for comparison blossomed crop after crop.

Normally, they compared whose students got higher grades, who prepared better lessons, and who got higher professional titles. During the sports meet, they would switch to a different method of comparison.

There was no need to compete for first place in points—that would definitely be taken by those little brats in the sports class. But there was plenty else to compete for.

The title of “Advanced Class Collective,” the number of broadcast scripts read in front of the rostrum, and the class belle holding the flag during the square formation march.

In previous years, Gu Qichi’s homeroom teacher had also led Class A, but those little brats had no mind for fun. While other students were playing cards or Truth or Dare in the stands, the students in his class hid in the classroom doing test papers. The occasional few who were willing to come over and watch the competitions would watch while not forgetting to memorize English texts.

As a result, their class lost points in moral education every year, and completely missed out on the Advanced Class Collective title.

This year, thanks to the principal’s order, combined with Gu Qichi’s face that outshone all others, he refused to believe he couldn’t win the Advanced Class Collective this year.

It was half an hour later by the time all three grades completely finished marching their square formations. Having held the flag and walked around more than half the track, Gu Qichi’s arm was sore, and sitting in the bleachers, he felt like he had nothing left to live for.

He fumbled with his backpack, wanting to pull out a bottle of water to drink. Before he could dig around much, an opened bottle of mineral water suddenly appeared before his eyes.

Bo Yu didn’t even let him reach out to take it; instead, he brought the water right to Gu Qichi’s lips, feeding it directly to him.

Sheng Qing, who was just about to share snacks with Gu Qichi and Bo Yu: “…”

Damn, can guys even do this? His straight-man cognition was about to collapse!!!

Yu Sheng, the leader of their CP fans who happened to be passing by: “?”

Damn, why is he doting on him so much? This old lady is going to go crazy from shipping this!!!

But the two couldn’t sit together for long, because Bo Yu’s race was about to start, and he had to go down for roll call.

Speaking of this, one had to mention classmate Sheng Qing’s peculiar thought process.

That day, when Bo Yu asked him to help sign up, upon being asked which events, Bo Yu casually said he wasn’t picky, anything was fine. Sheng Qing’s brain short-circuited, and he signed him up for four events directly. When Gu Qichi found out about this, he was genuinely worried Bo Yu would flip Sheng Qing’s desk. After all, nobody could run a 4×800 relay, a 4×200 relay, a 1500m, and a 3000m all within two days.

Sheng Qing had directly treated Bo Yu like a special forces soldier, and the extreme limit kind at that.

After all, the maximum limit for everyone in this sports meet was four events.

Fortunately, Bo Yu was in a good mood that day. Upon seeing that sign-up sheet filled with his name, he enthusiastically helped Sheng Qing change his events, signing him up for the exact same events as himself.

The 3000 meters was put as the finale on the last day by the school, but the 1500 meters came quickly. When Bo Yu went down for roll call, Sheng Qing followed beside him. The two chatted off and on, their relationship not as unharmonious as Gu Qichi had imagined.

The Language Rep was ordered to distribute manuscript paper to everyone, relaying the homeroom teacher’s command as she handed them out: “The homeroom teacher said everyone must write two broadcast scripts every day to cheer on our class’s athletes.”

Finding it exceptionally funny, Gu Qichi glanced at the homeroom teacher and the dean sitting on the lawn, then asked the Language Rep for two extra sheets of manuscript paper: “Give them to me, I have nothing to do anyway, I can write a few more.”

The Language Rep pursed her lips and thanked him.

The 1500 meters proceeded exceptionally smoothly. Bo Yu was tall with long legs, and he frequently exercised at home. Almost right from the start, Bo Yu steadily occupied a top three position.

He was wearing that very ugly First High school uniform, but luckily, with his broad shoulders and narrow waist, he forcibly pulled off a refreshing, youthful look, appearing entirely out of place among a group of sports students wearing athletic tank tops and shorts.

Bo Yu’s speed was fast and very steady. Trailing behind him was Sheng Qing, who looked unhurried. Gu Qichi narrowed his eyes to look; Sheng Qing’s speed was also exceptionally steady, his face not red, his heart not panting, keeping exactly a one-meter distance from Bo Yu.

When there was only one lap left, Gu Qichi delivered the cheer script he had written to the broadcast station, grabbed a bottle of water, and went down from the bleachers to receive Bo Yu.

A circle of people stood before the finish line. Aside from the referees and student council members tallying scores, it was all girls holding water.

The last two hundred meters was the sprint phase. The several people on the track all started to accelerate, Bo Yu included.

The leading sports student gritted his teeth, his jaw clenched tight, and started charging forward. Standing at the finish line, Gu Qichi could still hear the guy’s roar: “Charge, bro! That f*cking top-class student is going to catch up to you! Bro! Bro! You’re a sports student!”

Their class was not to be outdone. Yu Sheng stood at the front lines, arm-in-arm with three or four close sisters, a few of them huddled together screaming in unison:

“Bo Yu! Charge, Bo Yu!”

“Sheng Qing! Go faster! There’s a medal for third place!”

“Charge your f*cking life! Ahhhhh Bo Yu is second! Sheng Qing is third!”

The entire sports field was in an uproar. As if infected by their emotions, Gu Qichi’s heartbeat also couldn’t help but accelerate.

Bo Yu was getting closer and closer to him, his features becoming clearer and clearer.

The sports class’s first-place runner tensed his calves, clenching his teeth as he charged forward, but he was still gradually being caught up to by Bo Yu.

The distance between the two was only a shoulder’s width. Their legs were running so fast you could only see overlapping shadows. The battle was becoming increasingly deadlocked; the students in the entire stadium held their breath, waiting for the final result.

Yu Sheng screamed again: “Ahhhhhhhhhhh! Bo Yu, charge! Take first place!”

Gu Qichi gripped the water in his hand tightly, couldn’t hold back, and shouted along with Yu Sheng: “Bo Yu! You can do it!”

As soon as his voice fell, the Bo Yu opposite him seemed to have a switch pressed. His footsteps flew, successfully overtaking the first-place sports student by a shoulder’s length, then an arm’s distance, and the gap gradually widened again.

“Bo Yu!” Gu Qichi called him again, waving the water meant for him in his hand, his smile dazzling.

Bo Yu crossed the finish line with absolutely suppressive strength, leading the second place by a huge margin.

But because his speed was too fast and his momentum too great, he ran forward a few more meters before stopping. Hunching his back, panting heavily, large drops of sweat seeped from his head, slid past his nose, and hit the ground.

Gu Qichi ran over to support him, and Bo Yu didn’t stand on ceremony, directly leaning his entire body weight onto him, rubbing the smell of sweat all over his body.

Gu Qichi staggered under his weight, then stood firmly, supported him up, twisted open the water, and fed it to him. “Gu Qichi, I got first place.”

Bo Yu took a few sips from his hand, then feeling it wasn’t satisfying enough, straightforwardly drank the entire bottle, crushed the bottle flat, threw it into the trash can, and only then turned his head to look at Gu Qichi.

His bangs were all wet with sweat, a layer of water droplets seeped from the tip of his nose. His eyes were sparkling, reflecting Gu Qichi’s silhouette inside, revealing a rare hint of childishness.

Gu Qichi smiled too, his eyes curving up, and praised him very earnestly: “I saw, Bo Yu, you’re so amazing, even more amazing than the sports students.”

Bo Yu looked at him, straightened his back, and reached out to rub his hair.

“There’s something even more amazing.”

Slumped on the lawn, Sheng Qing gasped for air, his entire body covered in sweat. He looked at himself, then looked at Gu Qichi and Bo Yu, his mouth couldn’t help but twitch.

Fck, why don’t I get the same great treatment as Bo Yu?*

He called out to Yu Sheng: “Yu Sheng, do you still have water over there?”

Yu Sheng was excitedly shipping her CP. Without even turning her head, she tossed him a bottle and said nonchalantly: “Yes, open it and drink it yourself.”

Sheng Qing, who was nearly smashed by it: “…”

Dongcheng First High’s sports meet used a points system: 10 points for first place, 8 points for second, 5 points for third, and 3 points for fourth.

For the men’s 1500 meters event, Gu Qichi’s class achieved such a good result for the first time.

Bo Yu took first place, and Sheng Qing fought his way to the third position at the end. Their class earned 15 points, plus the various other competitions before, they leaped from dead last to sixth place.

The homeroom teacher’s tail was about to point to the sky. The dead last spot wasn’t in his hands this time, and the honor of the Advanced Class Collective would be bagged by him. No matter how he thought about it, life felt exceptionally beautiful.

The medals were uniformly awarded two hours after the race. Bo Yu and Sheng Qing walked towards the podium with the main group, but unexpectedly saw Gu Qichi wearing a sash standing there.

Gu Qichi was also somewhat awkward, holding a few medals in his hands, at a loss for what to do.

The homeroom teacher had suddenly come looking for him just now, holding a bright red sash in his hand, dragging him straight to the rostrum.

While walking, he explained to Gu Qichi: “Dongcheng First High is going to build a new planetarium this year, and also expand the new campus. The school leadership has decided to shoot a magnificent promotional video, so they are placing exceptional importance on this year’s sports meet.”

“Your performance was exceptionally outstanding this morning, so the school leadership made a temporary decision to change the person awarding the honors to you. The camera will record you, and you’ll appear in the school’s promotional short film later…”

He talked non-stop along the way. Gu Qichi had words of refusal at the tip of his tongue, but couldn’t get them out. He had no choice but to hesitate, maintaining an awkward silence.

“Look at you, not only are you ranked first in the grade, but you also have such proper features. You really bring credit to our class…”

When Bo Yu came over, Gu Qichi still hadn’t been released by the homeroom teacher; it was only when other student council members around reminded him that the homeroom teacher finally let go.

But he still somewhat uneasily asked the female teacher next to him: “Should we put some lipstick on Gu Qichi, so he looks better on camera?”

The female teacher rolled her eyes at him and said not very politely: “Teacher Zhang, stop worrying blindly. We all know Gu Qichi is a student in your class, stop showing off here.”

Having his intentions exposed, Teacher Zhang laughed it off, smiled, and turned to leave.

Leaving Gu Qichi and Bo Yu to look at each other in dismay.

Bo Yu reached out and played with the loose hair by Gu Qichi’s ear, asking him in amusement: “Why did you come over?”

Gu Qichi sighed and answered in a tough spot: “To be a mascot.”

Sheng Qing was clear on the situation in his heart and teased: “Gu Qichi is the treasure Old Zhang holds in the palm of his hand now. Being used to compare against other teachers, what else is he but a mascot.”

Fortunately, there were other student council members awarding medals with him; Gu Qichi was only responsible for the first place.

When the cameras started recording, the principal, sporting his bald head, happily walked over. After praising the students’ youthful vigor in front of the camera for a good while, he stepped aside, letting the student council members award medals to the top three.

The moment the award music played, Gu Qichi stepped forward first, took a gold medal for the men’s 1500 meters, and stood on his tiptoes to put it on Bo Yu.

Bo Yu bent down, obediently stretching out his neck to make it easier for Gu Qichi to move, but his eyes stared at him without blinking.

Bo Yu was already tall to begin with, plus the height of the podium, normally Gu Qichi really wouldn’t be able to reach him, but today it went exceptionally smoothly.

The moment the medal was on, Gu Qichi was just about to step back when he saw Bo Yu’s eyes filled with a smile, firmly staring at him without letting go.

“Don’t move.”

He leaned close to Gu Qichi’s ear and said softly.

Gu Qichi was a bit dazed. He stood up in confusion, looking at Bo Yu, only to see the other boy stand up straight, take the medal off his own neck, and bend down to put it on Gu Qichi’s neck.

At this height, Bo Yu’s movements were incredibly smooth, like flowing water. In just a moment, he straightened up again, looking at his masterpiece with satisfaction.

Gu Qichi was wearing a clean white shirt, a red sash on his body, and a shining gold medal hung around his neck.

The cameras were still recording. Sheng Qing was touching his own medal with contentment, his facial expression management entirely in place.

But upon seeing this scene, his defenses successfully shattered. No way, bro, they’re fcking filming a promotional video, what are you doing.*

The award ceremony ended. Bo Yu jumped off the podium, raised his hand to adjust his collar and medal for him, his tone exceptionally natural: “First place and the medal, they’re all yours.”

Gu Qichi swallowed his original words of reprimand back into his stomach. His Adam’s apple bobbed, and after a long time, he finally smiled.

But the massive tremor hidden beneath his chest could only be heard by him alone.

Thump after thump, clamorous and noisy, as if relentlessly telling him—

Gu Qichi, see, you just like him, you just like Bo Yu.

…………

…………

The sports meet lasted for a total of three days, and Gu Qichi also acted as a mascot for three days. Because the 4×800 and 4×200 were team events, no matter how fast Bo Yu ran, it was hard to turn the tide with his own power alone.

Their class got fourth place in the 4×800 meters. The 4×200 was even more impressive; relying on Bo Yu and Sheng Qing turning the tables against the wind, they forcefully surged from dead last to first place, fiercely stepping on the sports class.

Not just Sheng Qing, for the past two days, the other people in the class had also been scrambling to come over and call Bo Yu ‘Daddy’.

Calling someone Daddy wasn’t shameful; what was shameful was pretending to be badass without the actual ability.

Bo Yu just happened to be the most badass one. Because he had both the ability and the aura, this ‘Daddy’—including Sheng Qing’s—was called out completely willingly by everyone.

Gu Qichi was also exceptionally happy these past two days. Throwing his competition papers and test booklets aside, he draped his school uniform jacket over his head every day, sitting in the bleachers playing cards with Sheng Qing, Yu Sheng, and the others.

Being high school students, they couldn’t drink or gamble money. So they simply brought out a set of Sudoku puzzles—whoever lost had to do one, and if they couldn’t solve it, they had to grab a random teacher and confess their love.

Everyone present was smart, and little tricks like card counting were commonplace. As things progressed to the end, it inexplicably turned into a competition of who was best at cheating.

Sheng Qing won battle after battle, while Bo Yu and Gu Qichi actually fell into the disadvantage.

The two were forced to find the pot-bellied chemistry teacher and the balding, Mediterranean-style physics teacher to deliver touching and affectionate praises. After earning awkward smiles from the two teachers and two cups of Mixue Ice Cream & Tea lemonade, the two fled the office without looking back.

At first, Sheng Qing was still happily clutching his cards, but later on, the smile on his face grew shallower and shallower, until he could barely maintain it.

Because Gu Qichi learned how to cheat at cards, and the student surpassed the master, successfully sending Sheng Qing to the offices of teachers of every subject, even unlocking the ultimate boss—the Dean of Students.

The group of people sitting together laughed like crazy. It was rare to be able to set aside homework, set aside grades, and set aside all worries; everyone played exceptionally wildly.

Gu Qichi originally thought this sports meet would end in this joyful atmosphere, but he never expected that an incident would happen on the last day, completely disrupting everything.

Bo Yu got injured.

It wasn’t an accident, but man-made.

Probably because people were too ambitious and liked to show off. The class Gu Qichi was in was rarely not like the usual top classes that were only absorbed in studying and turned a deaf ear to sports-related things.

Everyone’s enthusiasm was exceptionally high, the names on the sign-up sheets overflowing. Aside from Gu Qichi, whose physical condition was special, everyone else signed up for one or two events to some extent.

Combined with the devilish training during the middle school PE exam, everyone’s physique wasn’t bad either. They swept up various big and small awards, and this time they didn’t even let the sports meet go.

Their class’s score soared to 97 points, only 5 points behind the first-place sports class.

The homeroom teacher had been as excited as a monkey these past two days. He wished he could wipe away past humiliations, show off his might, and let the other teachers—especially that group of teachers in the PE department—see that the students in his class weren’t to be trifled with; if they really competed, who knew who would win or lose.

Also thanks to everyone’s active participation, the scores rose like the tide lifting all boats, bringing the homeroom teacher’s love soaring along with it.

Everyone received quite a few snacks these past two days, and they even drank milk tea for three days straight—all feathers plucked one by one from the stingy Old Zhang himself.

The final event of this school sports meet was none other than the men’s 3000 meters that Bo Yu was participating in.

Stingy Old Zhang leaped up into the bleachers, repeatedly instructing and urging Bo Yu, telling him to make them proud and absolutely bring back a first-place trophy for him.

If they got first place in total points this time, he would grant every student in the class three chances to be exempt from copying texts twenty times.

Hearing this tempting condition, everyone was so excited they were about to howl. They were only short of picking Bo Yu up and tossing him into the sky to cheer him on.

When Bo Yu stood at the starting line and the referee blew the whistle, the breathing of the entire class stagnated, and even Gu Qichi was no exception.

He was still wearing the medal Bo Yu had put on him that day around his neck.

Originally, he had taken it off a long time ago, but Bo Yu put the 4×200 meter medal on his neck as well. Before going to sleep last night, he even joked, telling him to wear both of them, and that he would gather a complete set of three for him today.

It was clearly a joking sentence, and Gu Qichi even lectured him not to be too arrogant—those newly recruited sports specialty students in the sports class were not to be trifled with. But remembering those eyes of Bo Yu’s staring at him, Gu Qichi inexplicably shoved the medals into his backpack again this morning.

He thought, even if Bo Yu didn’t win the gold medal, it didn’t matter, he already had one first place.

It was given to him by Bo Yu.

People couldn’t be too greedy.

On the track, Bo Yu had long since started running. He wasn’t wearing First High’s school uniform today, but had changed into a light T-shirt and shorts, in case the temperature was too high and long clothes felt too stifling.

Just like when he ran the 1500 meters that day, Bo Yu, Sheng Qing, and those three sports specialty students from the sports class occupied the top few positions right from the start.

By the third lap, those few had already left the others a full lap behind. As time went on, the distance widened further. By the time they left the others two laps behind, the battle was pretty much decided.

A dark-skinned guy from the sports class held first place, Bo Yu was second, the other two sports students were sandwiched in between, and Sheng Qing trailed behind as the fifth.

There was no need to look at the people behind them—some dropped out, some forfeited, or they were left a huge distance behind, running covered in sweat and panting heavily.

Gu Qichi had come down from the bleachers ever since Bo Yu started running. His hand stayed in his backpack for a long while; after thinking about it, he still endured the peculiar emotion in his heart and put on those two medals.

He was going to the finish line to receive him.

The most grueling part of the battle was the final lap, when everyone’s stamina was declared depleted, the air in their chests squeezed empty, their calves sore, pushing hard to cross that finish line.

Bo Yu was covered in a layer of sweat, the corners of his eyes and brows completely wet. A patch of moisture even flowed down the lines of his Adam’s apple and collarbone.

There wasn’t much distance left to the finish line. He let out a breath, wiped the sweat from his face, and quickened his pace, planning to accelerate at the very end.

He tilted his head up, narrowed his eyes, and as expected, saw Gu Qichi obediently wearing the gold medals waiting for him at the finish line.

So good.

Bo Yu thought.

He smiled silently, exhaled the pent-up air in his chest, and his pace grew faster and faster.

If he said he would get first place, he would definitely get first place. The things given to Gu Qichi all had to be the best.

The dark-skinned guy in front clearly sensed his intention. His heart tightened, and he accelerated along with him.

In the last 1500 meters, he was also in first place, but at the final moment, he was overtaken by a large margin by Bo Yu and dropped to second place. The dark-skinned guy just couldn’t swallow this resentment no matter what. This time, if he was overtaken by Bo Yu again, what kind of sports specialty student was he? He might as well just give his National Second-Class Athlete title to Bo Yu.

The figures of the two quickly tangled together again. The two behind them also accelerated at the same time, and Sheng Qing ruthlessly chased after them.

The people in the bleachers shouted until their voices were almost hoarse; they had never seen such an intense scene.

The top three places in this race would directly determine the rankings of each class in this sports meet. Stingy Old Zhang was counting on this to wipe away past humiliations, and ruthlessly declared that if they won first place, he would treat the whole class to barbecue.

Not only that, he hurriedly rushed to the finish line to welcome Bo Yu.

When there was two hundred meters left to the finish line, seeing that Bo Yu was about to overtake the sports class’s dark-skinned guy again, and the tragedy of the 1500 meters was about to happen once more, the dark-skinned guy closed his eyes in despair. The next second, the unexpected occurred.

The student in third place reached out and tugged at Bo Yu’s sleeve. His strength was exceptionally great, forcefully yanking him to stagger backward.

Bo Yu was suddenly pulled by someone, his center of gravity dragged backward, and he fell straight onto the track.

With a crack, Bo Yu’s palms dug into the rough track, carving out several bloody scratches.

He cursed “F*ck” in a low voice.

But facts proved that sometimes playing petty tricks was useless, because man’s plans were inferior to heaven’s plans.

The moment Bo Yu fell, the dark-skinned guy in front was also tripped by Bo Yu, and just happened to serve as Bo Yu’s stepping stone, solidly protecting the rest of Bo Yu’s body, while falling exceptionally miserably himself.

So, with one hundred and fifty meters left, under everyone’s watchful gaze, the original top four bumped into each other and fell into a pile of mud, leaving a bewildered Sheng Qing to desperately crash across the finish line and take first place.

The cheers of the whole stadium followed immediately. Gu Qichi ran to receive Bo Yu.

He was drenched in sweat all over. In the past, Gu Qichi would have definitely felt disgusted by Bo Yu, but not this time.

He saw clearly from the sidelines—Bo Yu was obviously going to win, but someone broke the rules and pushed him to the ground.

As for Gu Qichi, you could call him cold, or you could call him unreasonable. Aside from having a bit of a temper in front of Bo Yu, in front of outsiders, he was like a snowman, icy cold, not even showing his emotions outwardly.

The four people tangled on the ground scrambled apart miserably. The dark-skinned guy was even more furious, his belly full of anger, wishing he could curse the two behind him until they were drenched in dog blood.

Where the fck did these retards come from, seeking death like this, throwing away all their face.*

The dark-skinned guy put on a sour face. Just as he was about to apologize, he saw the little beauty who helped Bo Yu up with red-rimmed eyes, very angrily kick the idiot who tripped Bo Yu.

The angle was exceptionally tricky, and one look showed he kicked incredibly hard.

The dark-skinned guy sensibly shut his mouth.

Then, taking advantage of everyone not paying attention, Gu Qichi kicked him a few more times.

Bo Yu was originally hanging onto Gu Qichi, frowning in pain, limping as he walked, looking a bit miserable, and his mood wasn’t smooth either.

But seeing Gu Qichi’s little actions, he pressed the tip of his tongue against the roof of his mouth, unable to hold back a laugh.

By the time Gu Qichi sent him to the school infirmary, Bo Yu was still laughing, laughing lazily, looking like he really needed a beating.

Originally, there were a lot of people accompanying them along the way, each showing a word of concern. Bo Yu simply couldn’t handle it, or rather, he was completely too lazy to handle it, so he simply drove everyone away, leaving only Gu Qichi alone to stumble along supporting him.

It wasn’t until they arrived at the infirmary that Gu Qichi realized how severely Bo Yu had sprained his ankle.

The skin around the ankle bone was completely swollen, the flesh inflamed red, looking very terrifying.

Because he was wearing shorts, there were quite a few scrapes on his knees and calves too. Sparse traces of blood seeped out, mixed with dirty stones and debris.

Gu Qichi’s eye rims instantly turned red. He reached out his hand very heartbrokenly, wanting to touch but not daring to, afraid of hurting Bo Yu.

The school doctor on duty cleaned Bo Yu’s wounds and applied an ice pack to reduce the swelling. When it was about done, he prescribed him a few boxes of anti-inflammatory medicine and medicinal oil, then let Bo Yu rest in bed.

During this time, Bo Yu didn’t make a sound. Only when the doctor used the medicinal oil to rub away the bruised blood did a few muffled groans escape his throat.

The bit of redness around Gu Qichi’s eyes hadn’t faded to begin with, and seeing him like this, it grew even redder. Those who didn’t know better would think he was about to cry at any moment.

It even startled Bo Yu.

When Gu Qichi was pulled to sit on the hospital bed, Bo Yu coaxed him, not knowing whether to laugh or cry: “My ancestor, you absolutely must not cry.”

Gu Qichi looked at his foot, swollen like a steamed bun, couldn’t catch his breath, and said indignantly: “I’m not crying, I’m just angry.”

Bo Yu reached out and tapped the two gold medals around his neck: “Angry about what, because I didn’t win the first place back?”

Gu Qichi gave him a grumpy eye roll, but also understood that Bo Yu was only speaking like this to make him a little happier.

Bo Yu stopped the hand tapping the medals. Medicinal gauze was still stuck to his palm, and the wound would hurt if his movements were too big, but his hands always itched when he saw Gu Qichi.

While Gu Qichi was still feeling depressed, Bo Yu pinched his face and gently tugged twice.

“How is it still exactly like when you were a kid, your face is so soft… no matter how much I pinch it, it’s never enough…”

He muttered unconsciously, and when it fell into Gu Qichi’s ears, he felt the boy was very childish.

Gu Qichi also reached out to pinch his face. He didn’t use much force, but tugged Bo Yu’s face out of shape.

He laughed at him: “You’re the kid, your face is softer than mine.”

Because Gu Qichi had been intentionally avoiding suspicion, the two of them hadn’t had such intimate actions for a long time.

Suddenly leaning close, their breaths intersecting, Gu Qichi met Bo Yu’s eyes, only to realize he and Bo Yu were too close.

So close that he could feel the breath Bo Yu exhaled hitting his face.

The tender illusions that had made it hard to sleep night after night these past few days resurfaced. In those dreams, Bo Yu would always grab the back of his neck and forcefully kiss him.

Gu Qichi suddenly panicked. His eyelashes trembled, swiftly lowering his eyes, and he scrambled up with a pale face, putting a not-too-far, not-too-close distance between him and Bo Yu.

“What’s wrong?”

Bo Yu looked at him in confusion. Gu Qichi was extremely embarrassed by the inappropriate yellow trash appearing in his head, so he had to bite the bullet and explain: “Nothing, I want to go to the washroom, there’s a smell of sweat on me.”

He had been like this since childhood, bad at lying. Every time he lied, his eyelashes would tremble violently, and his earlobes would turn bloody red; anyone familiar with him could see through it at a glance.

Gu Qichi truly wasn’t acting right recently. Bo Yu didn’t speak, just quietly looked at him, then nodded.

“Go ahead.” He paused, then added: “I’ll sleep here for a bit.”

He lay on the hospital bed and closed his eyes. The moment Gu Qichi hid in the washroom, Bo Yu abruptly opened his eyes again.

Through that layer of frosted glass, he carefully recalled the moments of Gu Qichi’s recent emotional fluctuations, his brows knitting tightly.

Was it…

Because of him?

Because Gu Qichi didn’t like his touch?!

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