MNL Chapter 18

Chapter 18: Blushing and Complimenting Your Beauty

The sports meet arrived as scheduled. As the acknowledged “mother hen” of Class Four, Cha Fei’ang had long prepared the sunshade and mineral water, and had chosen a spot with a large shaded area to set up their camp.

The leaders of Linhe No.1 High School didn’t waste any words and went straight to the point. After announcing the competition rules at the opening ceremony, the sports meet officially began.

Considering that the weather would get hotter over the next two days, the women’s 1500 meters and men’s 3000 meters were both scheduled for this morning.

Cha Fei’ang was originally full of energy and wandering around, but after learning that he was about to compete, he became nervous. He ran to the toilet several times. Xu Jing couldn’t stand it anymore, so he went over and taught him a few tricks.

Maintaining a steady pace is not easy. He said to pay attention to rhythm and stabilize breathing. Cha Fei’ang then conserved his strength and stayed in the middle of the pack. After three laps, he felt like he wasn’t as tired as he had imagined.

Watching the people on the track gradually getting into their rhythm, Xu Jing lost interest in staying there. He scanned the surroundings, but found that Shen Yan was gone.

Because of his leg injury, Shen Yan hadn’t signed up for any sports events. He remembered seeing this person standing nearby a few minutes ago, so how could he be gone in the blink of an eye?

Mao Chengyu was squatting in the corner stretching. Seeing Xu Jing looking around, he asked, “Jing-ge, what are you looking for?”

Xu Jing walked over. “Where did Shen Yan go?”

Mao Chengyu replied while stretching, “I don’t know. Maybe he went to the toilet.”

Xu Jing nodded. Just then, cheers rose and fell from the other end of the track. Someone had already finished the race! Mao Chengyu put on his glasses and was immediately stunned. The finish line was surrounded by people from their class, and in the middle was a tall figure panting, his face red, unable to stand up straight.

It was actually Cha Fei’ang! Mao Chengyu blurted out, “This bastard betrayed my feelings!”

Xu Jing: “?”

“He told me yesterday that his physical fitness was extremely poor, and he would definitely be last in the 3000 meters. I even comforted him all night.” Mao Chengyu was indignant, gnashing his teeth.

Hearing this, Xu Jing lowered his head and smiled.

The competition continued in an orderly manner, but some people became increasingly bored. Those exciting scenes and sounds gradually became dull and tasteless. After struggling psychologically for a while, Xu Jing chose to get up.

Walking along the road he had taken to the infirmary before, he found that person under a tree.

The young man was kneeling against a tree stump, his eyes closed, not knowing what he was thinking. Maple leaves kept falling on him, but the person sitting there remained indifferent, as if he wanted to bury himself in the soil.

The liveliness was fake, but the loneliness that was unintentionally revealed was nowhere to hide. Those carefully managed noises were, at this moment, just powerless covers and decorations.

At this moment, the person in front of him looked so leisurely and free, but why did he feel sad in his heart? Xu Jing slowly stepped forward and blocked the light. The looming shadow made Shen Yan open his eyes.

Seeing the person who came, Shen Yan wasn’t surprised and slowly said, “What a coincidence.”

“You’re certainly comfortable.”

Shen Yan smiled and said, “Want to sit?” Then, as if remembering something, he moved a little to the side, answering himself, “Forgot, someone’s got OCD.”

Xu Jing glanced at where Shen Yan had just been sitting. It was a very clean lawn. Apart from the danger of bugs, there didn’t seem to be any other problems.

Folding the rolled-up trouser legs down twice, Xu Jing sat down and casually asked, “What are you doing here?”

Shen Yan lazily replied, “Sleeping.”

The two’s shoulders were barely touching. Compared to Shen Yan’s casualness, Xu Jing’s upright posture was a bit comical, like he was meditating.

The atmosphere was strange and awkward.

After a long time, Xu Jing suddenly said, “Will you continue looking for him?”

But this wasn’t a good topic. Shen Yan just looked at him and replied, “Yes.”

“Even if you can’t find him for a lifetime?”

“Then I’ll look for a lifetime.”

Xu Jing bluntly commented, “Stupid.”

Shen Yan: “…”

After a moment of silence, Xu Jing said again, “There’s Qiyuan Mountain twenty kilometers from here. My mom says it’s quite effective. You can try it.”

“I never believe in these things.” Shen Yan said, “Do you believe it?”

Xu Jing sneered, “Only idiots believe it.”

Shen Yan was immediately amused by this.

But thinking that it wasn’t easy for Xu Jing to take the initiative to find a topic, Shen Yan was too lazy to argue, and said, “You want to go with me?”

“Which organ analyzed that meaning?” Xu Jing reached out and brushed the leaves off his trouser legs and said, “I’m not looking for anyone.”

At this moment, Shen Yan suddenly leaned closer, looking at Xu Jing and said, “Since it’s a place for making wishes, don’t you have any wishes?”

Shen Yan’s eyes sometimes made people feel like they were falling into a blue ocean. It was brilliant and bright inside, but bottomless. Looking at it for a long time inexplicably made him feel thirsty.

Xu Jing couldn’t help but lick his lips. At this moment, a very light laugh suddenly came from the side, the tone was deep, not knowing whether he was laughing at him or at himself.

Shen Yan moved his body, and without caring about being cliché, he used that reason again, “If I’m alone, I’m afraid my legs will have a hard time supporting me to the top of the mountain.”

“…”

Xu Jing wanted to punch someone, but out of some emotion that he couldn’t explain just now, he still held back.

Shen Yan: “Won’t let you follow me for nothing.”

“Are you going to give me money?”

Shen Yan didn’t reply, but suddenly reached out and touched Xu Jing’s shoulder. Xu Jing turned his head stiffly, only to see a ladybug slowly crawling along the scar on the other’s hand, but in an instant, it was ruthlessly thrown into the grass, upside down.

Immediately after, a harsh comment came over, “Vulgar.”

Xu Jing: “…”

“Jing-ge, Jing-ge! Why are you here? I’ve been looking all over for you.” Cha Fei’ang ran over in a hurry, and the earth-shattering roar instantly destroyed the quiet atmosphere here.

But he also arrived in time, because what he might have seen later was a scene of two academic gods fighting each other.

Cha Fei’ang gasped as he held his leg, “Jing-ge, the high jump competition has been changed to this afternoon. It’s rotating from the third grade down, you should go.”

“Got it.”

After getting up, Xu Jing was about to leave, but deliberately paused for a moment.

Shen Yan was propping himself up on the ground with one hand, planning to get up. His movements were neat and decisive. Halfway through, he suddenly felt a gaze above his head, so he once again showed off his superb acting skills, deliberately lightening the force of his elbow. When he stood up, his body couldn’t help but sway.

Xu Jing’s hands were faster than his brain, and he immediately supported him.

Shen Yan followed the arm and pulled the two closer, and whispered in his ear, “Thank you.”

It was as if an electric current ran through his body, and Xu Jing’s ears were inexplicably hot.

Cha Fei’ang watched from the side with his mouth agape, his expression like he had swallowed dozens of sea urchins raw.

What’s going on here…

When Xu Jing arrived, the competition had already rotated to the first grade. Cha Fei’ang was in charge of calling people, and he disappeared in the blink of an eye. Only Shen Yan patiently stayed in place. Every time he turned around, he could see that person.

The judge was their geography teacher. The difficulty of the high jump wasn’t high at the beginning. Only two people had been eliminated so far. Through a rhythmic run-up, Xu Jing jumped off one foot, leaped into the air, and drew a beautiful curve in the air. His waist was several centimeters higher than the set bar.

At this moment, Shen Yan keenly saw a girl taking pictures.

It wouldn’t have mattered, but the T-shirt Xu Jing was wearing today was relatively short. With that leap in the air, his flexible and narrow waist was exposed without a trace.

“Delete it.”

A cold voice without warmth entered the girl’s ears. She was stunned for a long time before she realized that the words were being spoken to her. She was also startled by the cold eyes, and could only stutter and reply, “Okay, okay.”

Being caught secretly taking pictures was already an extremely embarrassing thing, but deleting photos would automatically switch to the next one. Seeing another angle of Xu Jing appearing on the screen, the girl embarrassedly wanted to crawl into the ground.

The picture above was still Xu Jing’s photo, but it was when he was waiting to go on stage in the line. At that time, Shen Yan just happened to turn his head, and the girl was standing next to him. The scene of them looking at each other was captured.

“Sorry, I’ll delete it right away.”

The girl consciously pressed the delete button, but the next second she heard the person who had just been cold-faced and told her to delete the photos suddenly say, “Can you send me this one?”

“Ah?” The girl was confused by the change in attitude, and tentatively said, “But I don’t have your contact information.”

Shen Yan didn’t think much and directly gave his WeChat ID.

So, Xu Jing, who had just finished and was about to walk over, saw Shen Yan not far away talking to a girl, and the girl’s face was red, looking a little embarrassed.

Tsk.

Xu Jing couldn’t help but frowned.

Did this person come to watch his game or to do something else?

As if sensing his thoughts, Shen Yan also looked up at this time. The girl next to him was still talking. Shen Yan didn’t hear clearly, so he hummed in response and left.

“Jumped well.” Shen Yan handed over the mineral water in his hand and asked, “Practiced?”

After Xu Jing took the water, his voice was faint, “No.”

High jump is inherently suitable for people with light weight and a high center of gravity, and Xu Jing happened to have both. He thought to himself, does this still need practice? It’s just a matter of moving around a bit.

He quickly asked casually, “What were you doing just now?”

Thinking that saving photos was a bit strange, and he might even make the other person think he was a pervert, Shen Yan gave up on telling the truth and smiled, “Nothing, that girl was praising you, so I listened to a few words.”

“Is that so?” Xu Jing knew these words weren’t true, but he still asked, “What was she praising me for?”

“Praising you for being good at high jump.” Shen Yan’s gaze left Xu Jing’s waist and said, “Also complimenting you for being beautiful.”

“…”

This word is not suitable for describing boys, and some people might feel unhappy when they hear such praise.

But whether it was because he had just exercised or because of the weather, or for some other reason, Shen Yan turned his head and found that Xu Jing’s usually cold and pale face was actually a little red.