The clear voice of the announcer came through the broadcast: “Athletes participating in the men’s 1000-meter preliminary, please get ready and report to the responsible teacher for check-in. I repeat, athletes participating in the men’s 1000-meter preliminary, please get ready and report to the responsible teacher for check-in…”
Li Yang took off his jacket, revealing the sports uniform underneath, and handed it to her. “Hold this for me.”
An Ling took the jacket. Her fingers accidentally brushed the back of his hand.
The touch was warm. She quickly pulled her hand back.
“Go for it.” she said softly, her voice gentle.
Li Yang looked at her and suddenly reached out to ruffle the top of her head.
“What are you doing?”
An Ling protested quietly, but she didn’t step back or truly object.
After turning her head to confirm no one was looking their way, she allowed Li Yang to ruffle it once.
For the sake of him about to compete, she wouldn’t hold this time against him.
“Don’t worry.”
Li Yang pulled his hand back and loosened his wrists.
“After I finish running, remember to wait for me at the finish line.”
“Mm.”
An Ling nodded.
Li Yang smiled, turned, and walked toward the responsible teacher.
After a few steps he looked back at her once and waved.
An Ling also waved at him, then stood in place holding his jacket and watched him walk away.
The jacket still carried the temperature of his body, along with a faint scent of laundry detergent. An Ling’s little nose twitched.
She hugged the jacket a bit tighter, and her tail swayed lightly behind her.
“An Ling?”
An Ling turned her head.
Zhou Meng had somehow walked over at some point, a folder in her hands and a mischievous smile on her round face.
“Why are you here?”
An Ling asked.
“I’m the Class President. I have to come check on the situation of our class’s competitors.” Zhou Meng leaned in and lowered her voice. “Are you here to be Li Yang’s support staff?”
“He asked me to help hold his things.”
An Ling somehow felt inexplicably guilty and quickly added, “Just… while I was at it.”
“While you were at it?”
Zhou Meng smiled meaningfully and shifted her gaze to the jacket An Ling was tightly hugging in her arms.
An Ling’s face flushed red. She hurriedly took Li Yang’s jacket out of her arms and switched to carrying it by hand.
Zhou Meng looked at her like this and couldn’t help laughing out loud.
“Alright, alright, I’ll stop teasing. The race is about to start. Want to watch together?”
“Oh, okay.”
The two walked to the lawn beside the track. Quite a few students had already gathered there, all coming to cheer for their own class’s athletes.
An Ling found a spot with a good view and stood still, draping Li Yang’s jacket over her arm, her eyes tightly fixed on the starting line.
The first group of athletes was already in position.
Eight boys crouched behind the starting line with varying expressions—some nervous, some excited, some expressionless.
Bang!
The starting gun fired.
The eight people shot out like arrows leaving the bowstring.
Cheers rose and fell one after another from the stands.
“So lively.”
An Ling said.
“Every sports meet is like this. Much livelier than class.”
The first group of athletes quickly crossed the finish line.
Waves of cheers erupted from the stands.
Next was the second group—checking personal information, starting, charging out, the same process again.
An Ling’s heartbeat began to speed up.
After the second group finished, Li Yang appeared on the starting line.
He stood on the outermost lane, warming up. His expression looked very relaxed.
He even seemed to know the person beside him. The two said something and both laughed.
“Go Li Yang!”
Zhou Meng led the shout at the top of her lungs.
An Ling opened her mouth but made no sound.
“I… there are too many people…”
An Ling said quietly, her face turning red again.
“What’s the big deal? It’s just cheering!” Zhou Meng nudged her with her elbow.
“Cheer for Li Yang. You don’t want other athletes to have people cheering for them while Li Yang has none, right?”
Just at that moment, Li Yang also turned his head to look in this direction.
Seeing them, he smiled and waved. His gaze paused on Zhou Meng for an instant, then moved to An Ling’s face.
Only when the teacher told them to get ready did he look away.
He crouched behind the starting line and took the starting stance.
Bang!
The instant the starting gun fired, An Ling’s heart also lifted with it.
Eight people charged out at the same time. Li Yang’s start didn’t put him in first place right away.
He ran out the moment the gun sounded and steadily held third place. His strides were large and steady.
When he ran, his arms swung powerfully, and the lines of muscle faintly showed under the sports vest.
An Ling’s gaze tightly followed him, watching him gradually overtake the people in front step by step.
“Go for it!”
An Ling tried shouting once. Her voice wasn’t particularly loud.
Looking at Li Yang’s figure, An Ling finally mustered her courage.
“Go for it, Li Yang!”
She finally shouted out loud. She didn’t know if Li Yang heard her, but she didn’t want Li Yang to have no one cheering for him.
But after a while she discovered that her worry had been completely unnecessary.
Quite a few girls in the stands were cheering for him, much louder than An Ling.
There were also many girls from other classes, and some girls even strained their throats to shout that he was so handsome.
She knew Li Yang was relatively low-key on ordinary days, but his popularity in school, especially among the girls, wasn’t low.
She just hadn’t expected there to be this many little fans.
An Ling felt an inexplicable irritation in her heart. It seemed that cheering for Li Yang on this playground wouldn’t draw anyone’s attention at all. She simply let loose and cheered for him as well.
On the first lap, Li Yang was in third.
On the second lap, he caught up to second.
On the third lap, the distance between him and first place was shrinking.
“Go for it!”
An Ling watched anxiously, completely no longer caring about anything else around her, as anxious as if she herself were competing on the track.
In the final hundred meters, Li Yang began accelerating with full force. He drew level with first place, then overtook him, then pulled away.
Li Yang was the first to cross the finish line. He bent over, both hands braced on his knees, and panted heavily.
An Ling didn’t even think. Holding his jacket, she ran over.
Li Yang didn’t stop after reaching the finish either. He raised his head.
His forehead was covered in sweat, and his cheeks were flushed from the exercise.
He saw a small figure hurriedly running toward him.