Chapter 24: Husband, You’re So Manly
Soon, the whistle blew, and more than ten girls began to run. Although Jiang Yan didn’t like running, she wasn’t one to back out of a competition, so she immediately put in her full effort.
Wen Xia and Liu An’an both waved their pom-poms and shouted, “Yan Yan, go for it!!”
“Yan Yan will win!!”
“Li Jing, keep it up, Li Jing!!”
“Wang Jie, go, Wang Jie!!”
The voices of Liu An’an and Wen Xia were drowned out by others, but Liu An’an, unwilling to be silenced, shouted even louder, “Yan Yan, go! Yan Yan, go!”
Wen Xia followed by shouting a few times, but her throat gave out, and she paused to catch her breath. Not long after, Liu An’an also ran out of energy.
Liu An’an panted, “Yan Yan can’t run anymore.”
Just after the second lap, Jiang Yan’s speed began to slow down.
Seeing that some others had running partners, Wen Xia and Liu An’an decided to take turns accompanying her in the inner track.
Wen Xia went first. She caught up with Jiang Yan and looked at the out-of-breath girl, “Yan Yan, keep going. I’ll treat you to ribs at lunch.”
Jiang Yan rested her hands on her waist and weakly replied, “Let the ribs eat me instead, damn sports day!”
Wen Xia ran a lap with her before Liu An’an took over.
Running a 400-meter lap was exhausting, and Wen Xia crouched down in the inner circle, panting. Suddenly, a bottle of water appeared in front of her, the cap already twisted off.
She looked up and saw Liu Boyi, wearing the same light yellow vest. She accepted the water without hesitation. “Thanks, Brother Boyi.”
She took a few sips, and only then did she feel her breath steady.
“This afternoon is the women’s 800-meter race. Don’t run with her anymore, you’ll be too tired by then.”
Liu Boyi looked at her. Today, she wore a pink sports outfit, and her originally fair skin appeared even whiter. Her ponytail was tied into a bun.
Her facial features were fully visible, with well-shaped eyebrows, a standard arched shape, and almond-shaped eyes that slanted slightly upward. Her nose and mouth were delicate and small.
Her face, shaped like an egg, still had a bit of baby fat, which slightly softened the sharpness of her delicate features, but it still looked fresh and natural.
Wen Xia’s gaze fell on Liu An’an and Jiang Yan, not noticing Liu Boyi’s eyes on her. “It’s fine, Brother Boyi.”
A couple of minutes later, Liu An’an and Jiang Yan approached her. She quickly stood up and took over from Liu An’an. By this time, Jiang Yan was looking very unwell, her face a little pale. “Yan Yan, stop for a bit and walk.”
Jiang Yan shook her head, gasping for air. “I can’t stop. If I stop, I won’t want to run anymore.”
At that moment, Cao Jun ran into the inner track and caught up with Jiang Yan and Wen Xia. He was worried. “Jiang Yan, does your body feel uncomfortable? If it does, stop immediately.”
“Old Cao, don’t call me next time. I’m going to ‘die’!” Jiang Yan waved her hand at him, signaling that she was fine.
Cao Jun was both amused and helpless. He tried to comfort her, “After you finish, I’ll treat you all to a bag of candy from my own pocket.”
“I want lemon flavor,” Jiang Yan replied, not missing the chance to tease Old Cao, still gasping for air.
“Okay.”
Cao Jun ran half a lap with them but soon couldn’t keep up. “These old bones of mine can’t keep up with you young folks. I need to rest for a bit.”
Wen Xia and Jiang Yan laughed. With someone running alongside her, Jiang Yan found it a little less grueling.
By the time they were on the fifth lap, a girl from another class fainted and had to be carried off the track.
Zhou Qing cheated once, taking off his yellow vest and running alongside Jiang Yan for the last two and a half laps.
Jiang Yan successfully finished seven and a half laps, finally collapsing at the finish line. Zhou Qing caught her, and Wen Xia and Liu An’an quickly surrounded her.
Wen Xia handed her a cup of warm water and fed her a few sips, while Liu An’an fanned her.
Cao Jun came over and asked again, “Jiang Yan, is there anywhere that feels uncomfortable?”
Jiang Yan didn’t feel like talking at all; she just shook her head.
A few minutes later, Jiang Yan started to recover.
Wen Xia and Liu An’an each supported one of her arms and helped her back to their class. He Wen handed Jiang Yan a bottle of “Ming Dong” as compensation for the participants.
Once Jiang Yan had fully recovered, Liu An’an nudged her and grinned mischievously. “Was the 3,000 meters worth it?”
Wen Xia joined in, making exaggerated faces at Jiang Yan.
Immediately, Jiang Yan’s face turned bright red.
…
In the afternoon, it was Wen Xia’s turn for the 800-meter race. Thanks to Liu Boyi’s “connections,” she was placed in the second round’s first group, which was near the inner track.
Although she didn’t have much of an advantage in terms of distance, being near the inner track meant she didn’t have to fight others for that spot.
As she was applying her number tag, a voice came from above her head. “Xia Xia, go for it!”
She quickly looked up. “Hus—”
The word “Husband” almost slipped out, but she stopped herself and cheerfully said, “Cousin, what are you doing here?”
They had talked on the phone earlier that morning, and she had mentioned her race in the afternoon, but she didn’t expect him to come.
“I took two hours off.”
Qin Mo’s voice was a bit breathless, clearly because he had rushed over.
When he saw a strand of her hair fall out of place, he reached out and tucked it behind her ear, speaking in a voice only they could hear. “Wife, go for it.”
Liu An’an and Jiang Yan didn’t find anything odd about the interaction; after all, he was her cousin, so it was completely normal.
“I want to swap my brother for a handsome cousin like yours,” Liu An’an said with a click of her tongue, her voice filled with envy.
Jiang Yan gave her a playful slap and smirked. “An’an, if I were your brother, I’d want to swap you for Xia Xia. She’s so pretty.”
“Go away, go away,” Liu An’an responded, laughing.
Liu An’an pretended to glare at her, then said, “My brother isn’t the type to be swayed by looks. Isn’t it better not to hurt each other?”
“If I were Brother Zhou Qing, I’d like Xia Xia. Xia Xia is so pretty,” she said with a sly grin.
Seeing that they had turned everything into a topic about her, Wen Xia gave both of them a playful slap. “If you two want to hurt each other, don’t drag me into it.”
Jiang Yan and Liu An’an both chuckled mischievously.
…
A whistle sounded, signaling the start of the women’s 800-meter race.
In this group of the women’s 800 meters, two of the runners were from the school’s sports team. Wen Xia and the other girls had barely taken a few steps before they were already far behind.
Wen Xia clicked her tongue and quickened her pace, falling into third place.
Qin Mo ran beside her, matching her pace without hurry. Under the sunlight, half of his face glowed with a soft yellow light, and the bridge of his nose formed a perfect arc.
“Adjust your breathing, keep your lips together.”
Wen Xia glanced at him, feeling a slight rush in her chest, like she did when she was younger. Gasping for breath, she praised him, “Husband, you’re so manly.”
Around them, the sounds of cheering filled the air, so no one else heard what she said.
Qin Mo chuckled softly in response, “Didn’t you already experience it, wife?”
Not far off, Cao Jun was watching the two of them with a smile, speaking to the homeroom teacher of the neighboring class, Yang Cong. “Wen Xia is being paced by Qin Mo, the top student in No.1 Middle School.”
“This kid is impressive,” Cao Jun said with admiration. “Except for Chinese, he scores almost full marks in all subjects.”
Yang Cong’s son also studied in No.1 Middle School’s Rocket Class, so he knew a bit about Qin Mo. Smiling, he added, “He’s indeed impressive. My son told me Qin Mo won first place in the national Math Olympiad.”
The two of them were strict about preventing early relationships in their classes, so at this moment, neither of them had any thoughts leaning toward early romance.
**TN
Rocket Class – (in Chinese education) a term used to describe an elite or accelerated class, typically made up of top-performing students who are considered to be academically gifted or advanced.
These classes are designed to provide more challenging coursework to help students excel faster, often focusing on subjects like math, science, or language.
The term “rocket” symbolizes rapid progress or advancement, similar to how a rocket accelerates quickly.
