Chapter 34: The Academic Slacker and the Athletic Failure

It was another bright and sunny day. Three weeks had already passed since Su Bai’s discharge from the hospital.

Their university life had gradually settled into a normal rhythm, and they were growing more accustomed to this pace.

At this moment Su Bai and Jiang Yuelan were rushing toward the teaching building in a great hurry.

“Sister Lan, I slept in this morning and almost made you late too. You could have left earlier, yet you still waited for me.”

Su Bai looked close to tears, carrying a hint of apology. These past days she had constantly felt restless, plagued by those same old nightmares.

Her sleep quality had been terrible, and today she had nearly overslept again.

“Cough, is that so? It’s nothing, nothing. We’re roommates. I couldn’t just leave first.”

Jiang Yuelan did not finish the rest of her thought. In truth she herself also felt a little depressed, because she shared some responsibility for oversleeping.

Lately she would always sneak out in the middle of the night to investigate clues.

But recently there had not been a single lead. The few times something seemed promising, after investigating for half the night she would discover it was all a false alarm.

This had left Jiang Yuelan unable to sleep properly for half the night, night after night.

If she were not a witch capable of eternal youth, by now she would already have been fully equipped with all the classic late-night symptoms—oily hair, dark circles, breakouts, and more.

Really now. Things had been far too calm recently. Every faction seemed to have received some kind of tip and gone into hiding. The peace felt a little eerie.

…

After running for a while, the two of them—whose dormitory was not far from the teaching building—managed not to be late.

They sat in a corner of the classroom, opened their books, and began class.

“Today we will be covering…” The teacher entered and started the lesson.

Right now Su Bai could only be thankful that Jiang Yuelan had tested into the liberal arts department and that she herself had also been arranged into the liberal arts track. At least she could still understand the material.

If she had ended up in the sciences, she would definitely already have been driven to a mental breakdown by her studies.

After all, she had never attended a normal high school. She had only received some high-school-level education inside the Association, which naturally could not compare with students who had gone through the college entrance examination.

She turned her head to look at Jiang Yuelan. The two of them were simply not in the same style.

Jiang Yuelan listened attentively, taking notes at key points—pure academic overachiever behavior.

Wuwuwu, studying is so painful. I don’t want to go to school.

Su Bai was being tormented by her studies until her whole person looked ashen.

…

Time passed quickly, and just like that it became afternoon.

The afternoon was physical education class. Everyone stood in neat lines on the sports field, waiting for the PE teacher.

“Students, today’s class will be the physical fitness test. This is also the first physical test of our university. I hope everyone takes it seriously.”

Huh? Universities have physical tests too?

Su Bai only knew that middle schools had physical tests. She had not expected universities to have them as well. (High schools also had them, but Su Bai had never attended high school.)

“First is the standing long jump. Then for the boys it will be pull-ups, and for the girls sit-ups. Finally there will be the run.”

The PE teacher arranged it this way. The students’ reactions varied.

Some wore uncomfortable expressions, clearly somewhat fearful of it.

Others looked more confident—those belonged to the students with relatively good athletic performance.

Su Bai shrugged, indicating she did not care. Just test it. It wouldn’t affect anything anyway.

“Come on, line up one by one. First is the standing long jump.”

The school only had one sandpit, so they could only go one after another. Those who had not yet lined up and those who had already finished stood to the side watching the other students.

Because Su Bai was short, she was squeezed to the front by the crowd. After only a few people had jumped, it was her turn.

She walked to the front of the sandpit, first glancing at its length, then looking at the expressions of the people watching.

A bit conflicted.

Just jump casually. Don’t go too far or too close.

So Su Bai gave a light hop.

Puff. After the dust settled.

The PE teacher stepped forward, glanced at the distance, and a trace of surprise flashed across his face.

“Two meters fifty-four?! What’s this classmate’s name??”

Before Su Bai could even open her mouth to answer, the surrounding crowd began making a fuss.

“Her name is Su Bai. Oh my god, such a tiny one jumped that far?”

“Even guys would find it hard to jump that far, right?”

“Su Loli is this strong?”

Everyone wore expressions of disbelief.

Only Su Bai’s brain was a little confused. Was there something wrong with this result?

She had never participated in a physical test before, so naturally she did not really understand where the students’ “average level” stood.

This was still her holding back. If she had jumped with full strength, she might have leaped straight out of the sandpit.

“Alright, next classmate.” The PE teacher was naturally surprised, but that was all.

This was only a university physical test after all. If it were a professional competition, this distance would not be particularly world-shaking.

Soon it was Jiang Yuelan’s turn. Su Bai was not sure if it was her imagination, but the girl who was always so composed in class—why did her hands seem to be trembling a little?

Then came the arm swings and the squat. Although it looked somewhat like the proper form—

Weren’t these movements a bit too stiff and uncoordinated?

Then came a thud.

“Uh, this classmate, this is the standing long jump. You’re supposed to jump out.”

Jiang Yuelan’s feet were still in place, yet her entire body had pitched forward and she was lying flat on the ground.

If not for her hands supporting her, it would have been even more embarrassing.

The surrounding classmates could barely hold back their laughter.

“Jiang Yuelan?! Are you hurt?”

Only Su Bai showed no trace of mockery. Seeing the situation, she hurriedly ran over to help Jiang Yuelan up.

Fortunately it was only a bit of dirt rubbed onto her clothes and pants. Nothing serious.

Jiang Yuelan shook the sand off her body. Her tone and expression did not change much.

“I’m fine. I just wasn’t prepared and tripped over myself.”

But you already swung your arms for three minutes. Still not prepared?

The surrounding classmates complained a little speechlessly in their hearts, yet no one dared to openly mock her.

Of course Su Bai had other thoughts in her mind.

All of this might have been intentional—if one could not rule out Jiang Yuelan’s identity as a witch.

In any case she found it hard to believe that the tall, long-legged Jiang Yuelan who walked with such cool, dashing presence was truly an “athletic failure.”

…

Only Jiang Yuelan herself clearly knew what was actually going on.

Saying it out loud was enough to make one want to cry.

It was entirely because she really was athletic trash—genuine and authentic.

If she could use magic she could even fly across.

But she could not. Su Bai was right beside her. Using too much would expose her.

Without magic she was never good at sports to begin with. She had disliked it since childhood. One could imagine how embarrassing it would be when she jumped out.

She was at least a witch, yet she could not even compare to ordinary people.

For the sake of face she could only secretly apply a tiny bit of magic to her legs, not daring to use too much for fear that Su Bai would notice something wrong.

Then tragedy struck. The overall force was completely uncoordinated. Her body had already pitched forward while her legs had not yet adapted to the power, and she simply crashed straight to the ground.

“This classmate, jump one more time. That last one doesn’t count.” The PE teacher gave her another chance.

Jiang Yuelan nodded and thought to herself: Forget it. Better not use magic anymore. I was already uncoordinated. Adding magic only makes the force even harder to control.

She jumped again. Although her body was still somewhat uncoordinated, she at least managed to jump out this time.

“One meter sixty-three. State your name. Next.”

This result was only a pass—lower-middle among the girls in this group.

Jiang Yuelan’s physical condition, nourished by magic, was considerably stronger than that of ordinary people. But the long jump was not purely about physical condition; technique mattered more.

Then for the following sit-ups and running there shouldn’t be too many problems, right?