As the starter pistol fired, cheers erupted.
Zhou Li had never run in a sprint race before and was half a beat slow to react, so he sprinted at a relatively steady pace to catch up.
Encouraging shouts rose and fell around him!
Sprints are always passionate, and as Zhou Li overtook one competitor after another, the cries of the crowd reached a crescendo, right until he crossed the finish line first.
Brother Nan was waiting for him at the finish. And was that Yin Le I just saw in the crowd? Zhou Li thought.
Brother Nan's slap broke Zhou Li from his thoughts. "Impressive! It looked like you had the slowest start!"
It was as if she shared in the glory.
Zhou Li smiled. When he looked back, Yin Le had disappeared. Only the competitors who finished one by one remained—those who had the worst times in his heat didn't care about their results, but the second-place runner who had advanced to the semifinals with him looked somewhat dejected.
"Quick, relax and do some stretches!" Brother Nan urged repeatedly. "I have to run after the boys are done. Remember to cheer for me." For original chapters go to NoveI★Fire.net
The third heat began.
There were a total of three rounds in the hundred meters—preliminaries, semifinals, and finals—run alternately by the male and female groups.
My desire to win isn't actually that strong, Zhou Li mused. However, you can only earn quality points by placing in the sports meet, and the higher the rank, the more points you get. There's a cap, though; the school limits the number of quality credits obtainable in each area of achievement. I'm aiming to earn all the 'sports' related quality credits I can at this sports meet. Next year, I can either lounge around at home playing with Tuanzi or go traveling. The three-day sports meet, plus the weekend, is like a mini-long vacation. If I skip two more days of classes, that would be nine days…
Huh? Zhou Li was suddenly baffled. Why am I even thinking about skipping classes?
Brother Nan was frowning at Zhou Li. "Why are you looking at me like that?"
"You're beautiful," Zhou Li said, withdrawing his gaze.
"I feel like you're insulting me," Brother Nan's brows furrowed tighter, then suddenly relaxed. "Whatever you're saying, right back at ya!"
Soon, the women's 100-meter preliminaries began.
Compared to the men's event, the women's 100 meters was less thrilling, lacking power and passion.
Fortunately, there were other attractions.
Qian Qian ran in the first heat. Brother Nan's participation made many students who were about to leave, both male and female, stop in their tracks.
Some recognized that she was a substitute runner but said nothing.
Cheers and shouts of encouragement rang out again.
Zhou Li watched quietly.
In the end, Brother Nan dominated her heat and finished first.
In the semifinals, Zhou Li raced against Chen Yang.
In the finals, he faced Zhong En.
Zhou Li took first place in the men's category; Brother Nan only took third.
As Brother Nan herself put it—
"I was a substitute to begin with, so it wouldn't be right. If I'd grabbed first place, some people might have gotten upset. Third place is good enough. I don't think anyone in our dorm is lacking quality points."
Zhou Li felt she made sense.
「The next day, neither Zhou Li nor Brother Nan had any events scheduled.」
Zhou Li had planned to stay cooped up at home all day, but the class monitor texted him, asking him to join the tug-of-war and the fifty-meter water relay.
Zhou Li ignored the message. However, Brother Nan also sent him a message, suggesting they go play together.
Zhou Li had no choice but to go out.
But he was from Class Three, and Brother Nan was from Class Four.
The sun was still blazing that day. Winning or losing wasn't the point in these team events; the group of young people was having a blast on the field.
「At five in the afternoon.」
Many boys and girls left the sports field, sweaty and flushed, yet all wore beaming smiles, talking and laughing as they walked.
Chen Yang slapped Zhou Li on the back from behind. "Room Monitor, are you coming to the commercial street for dinner?"
Chang Xiaoxiang grabbed Chen Yang firmly, glanced at Brother Nan next to Zhou Li, and forced a smile. "He's just rambling, don't mind him. Actually, we agreed to fast tonight to lose some weight."
Chen Yang nodded, not quite understanding.
Brother Nan rolled her eyes. "Let's go, together!"
Chen Yang looked like he wanted to speak but stopped himself.
Chang Xiaoxiang kept refusing.
Brother Nan's mouth twitched. She turned to Zhou Li and said, "What is this nonsense? Your dorm is full of big guys, so why are you acting like the three drama queens in our dorm?"
Zhou Li didn't answer.
Walking on the street, the crowd gradually dispersed.
Brother Nan asked again, "Why haven't we seen Huai Xu these past few days? He rarely plays games at night anymore too."
"He's practicing his vocalizations."
"Yes, and it's very noisy."
Brother Nan was momentarily choked up.
She had once tried to imagine Zhou Li living with a demon, finding it both fantastical and fun, but she had overlooked one thing: no matter what kind of life it is, it's always down-to-earth.
Vocalization practice... Very noisy...
While Brother Nan was picturing the scene, she suddenly saw a short guy wearing a hat and mask walking towards them.
This guy's skin is probably really sensitive, and he's too lazy to put on sunscreen... I've done that before, Brother Nan silently guessed.
A smile touched Brother Nan's lips.
But just as they passed each other, the short guy suddenly threw a wad of paper, landing right at Zhou Li's feet.
Brother Nan was thoroughly confused.
She saw the short guy quicken his pace and leave, while Zhou Li turned his head to stare at his back, then bent down to pick up the wad of paper.
A dark line seemed to form on Brother Nan's forehead, her expression blank. "Are you guys shooting a TV drama or something?"
Zhou Li silently unfolded the paper and took a look.
"Ignoring me, huh? Getting a big head, are we?" Brother Nan scoffed, then leaned in as well.
On the paper was written—
*The one with you yesterday was a ghost. Be careful!*
Brother Nan blinked. "Is this a new event from the Supernatural Society? Why wasn't I notified?"
"He's talking about Huai Xu."
"I know, just kidding with you..."
"This person can also see demons?" Brother Nan asked.
"Probably," Zhou Li said with some doubt.
Huai Xu's disguise abilities were absolutely top-notch, especially after he took Zhou Li's advice and lowered his standards for appearance. He hadn't done anything out of the ordinary that morning, yet this person seemed to have seen through Huai Xu at a glance.
Are his observation skills that sharp?
"Then why didn't you chase after him?" Brother Nan asked. "Otherwise, how lonely you must be all by yourself."
Zhou Li pocketed the note and continued walking toward the shopping district, pondering as he went.
That person will definitely show up again. I'm certain of it. People like them, different from ordinary people since childhood, were always lonely, whether they were optimistic or introverted. Because there were always things others couldn't understand, always words you couldn't say to anyone. After walking alone with a lamp in the darkness for over a decade, who could resist the pull of finally encountering a similar light?
Zhou Li suddenly smiled, looked at Brother Nan, and then couldn't help but reach out to fiddle with the cowlick on top of her head.
Brother Nan instinctively covered her head, staring at him with shocked eyes.
Then, clenching her teeth, she raised her hand to strike.
Zhou Li just kept smiling.
Brother Nan isn't one of us, but she still shines.
But in Brother Nan's eyes, it wasn't like that at all—
Not only does this guy provoke me with his actions, repeatedly ignoring my warnings, but he also freaking dares to laugh? If I don't beat his head swollen today, my 'big brother' dignity might be gone forever!
"Why aren't you yelping?"
"Brother Nan's hitting me; I wouldn't dare yelp," he said, his expression nonchalant.
"Because Brother Nan is the 'big brother'."
"So you still know I'm the 'big brother'... Well then, tell me, will you still dare to touch the 'big brother's' cowlick again!?"
"I was wrong, Brother Nan. Oh, right, Tuanzi absolutely loved that fish soup with rice you mentioned yesterday. Let's order fish again later. This time, we'll ask the owner to use less salt; Tuanzi can't eat things that are too salty."
"See?! I told you cats like fish! And you wouldn't believe me!" Brother Nan declared. "Hmph!"