Fang Yuan was thoroughly disgusted by his theatrical performance and laughed as he cursed, “Zhou Yan, do you have Stockholm syndrome or something?”
Zhou Yan asked blankly, “What syndrome?”
Everyone immediately doubled over laughing. Xia Siqiao laughed too, his eyes bright beneath the sunlight and his smile clean and beautiful.
Boys of seventeen or eighteen could truly cut loose when they joked around, and when it came time to compete, they could become equally serious and focused.
Their order for the four-by-four-hundred relay was He Pei first, followed by Lu Yan, then Fang Yuan, with Xia Siqiao anchoring. Since runners could change lanes in the four-by-four-hundred, lane position mattered less. They would use this race to test the strength of the other teams.
The starting pistol fired, and ten first-leg runners burst forward together. As a top-tier alpha, He Pei's physical advantage became obvious immediately. Before long, he had left everyone far behind, opening a huge gap over second place. Lu Yan waited beside the track, warming up within a small area, while Fang Yuan stood beside Xia Siqiao with his hands pressed together, muttering prayers to heaven.
The screams from the field rose wave after wave. Amid the shouting, He Pei only ran faster, charging to the exchange point nearly a hundred and fifty meters ahead of second place. Lu Yan took the baton and ran. Carried by his momentum, He Pei continued sprinting a short distance before stopping, bending over with his hands on his knees as he steadied his breathing.
Lu Yan's explosive power and endurance weren't as strong as He Pei's. An alpha from Class 10 who had been joking around with them earlier quickly closed the distance. He was a track athlete and clearly had better technique. The two ran neck and neck, and by the time they reached the exchange zone, they were nearly even. Fang Yuan and Zhou Yan shot forward one after the other.
Fang Yuan and Zhou Yan chased each other down the track while students from both classes screamed themselves hoarse. The entire field thundered with cheers. Even Xia Siqiao was infected by the atmosphere and grew a little nervous, hopping in place as he tried to settle himself.
As Fang Yuan drew closer to the exchange zone, He Pei watched him approach, then naturally shifted his gaze to Xia Siqiao. Xia Siqiao licked his slightly dry lips, the tip of his tongue a vivid red brighter than the red team uniform he wore.
Xia Siqiao shot forward like an arrow released from a bow. By then Class 1 had been overtaken by Class 10 and dropped to second. Wind roared past his ears, and he could faintly hear his classmates shouting. Looking at the runner ahead, a surge of youthful competitive spirit suddenly ignited in him. He adjusted his breathing and accelerated again.
The students of Class 1 watched Xia Siqiao run like the wind, drawing closer and closer to first place before overtaking it. They screamed encouragement with already ruined voices. Fang Yuan didn't care whether Xia Siqiao could hear him or not; he cupped his hands around his mouth like a megaphone and jumped as he shouted, “That's it, brother!”
Even Lu Yan couldn't stop himself from shouting encouragement a couple of times.
When Xia Siqiao passed Class 10's anchor, the tension in He Pei's brow eased almost imperceptibly.
Xia Siqiao ran with bold, unrestrained energy, looking neither particularly exhausted nor disheveled. He kept accelerating, pulled far ahead of Class 10, and flew across the finish line like the wind.
The PE teacher clicked the stopwatch and raised his brows with a smile. “New record. That's another ten points.”
The students of Class 1 jumped together in excitement, making an enormous racket.
Above No. 3 High, the sky was a clear, boundless blue, with soft layers of cloud piled across it. The sunlight was gentle yet brilliant as it fell across Xia Siqiao's face, flushed slightly from the intense exercise.
A rosy tint had spread over Xia Siqiao's normally cool, pale complexion, even the roots of his ears turning light pink. Before he had time to catch his breath, Fang Yuan hoisted him over his shoulder.
Fang Yuan felt like the greatest talent scout in history, a man of unmatched insight who had discovered the hidden pearl that was Xia Siqiao. Excitement went straight to his head. Ignoring the lesson of what had happened to Zhou Yan, he carried Xia Siqiao nearly fifty meters to Lu Yan and proudly showed him off. “See? What did I tell you? Little Xia really is amazing, isn't he?”
Being carried over to his sworn enemy and praised like this made Xia Siqiao so embarrassed that his ears turned scarlet. He gritted his teeth and snarled, “Fang Yuan, put me the fuck down right now!”
Lu Yan folded his arms and watched with the expression of someone enjoying a very good show.
The students on the field even forgot to celebrate. They were too stunned by Fang Yuan's outrageous maneuver.
For a moment, the field that had been boiling with noise fell into an eerie silence.
Only then did Fang Yuan realize what he had done. He gave two awkward laughs, put Xia Siqiao down, and backed away two steps into a defensive stance. “I was just too excited. Lost control for a second, that's all.”
Xia Siqiao had been deposited directly in front of Lu Yan and He Pei. If he immediately walked away, it would look as though he were retreating in embarrassment, but standing there was equally awkward. Trapped between the two options, he could only glare ferociously at Fang Yuan. Unfortunately, he was so beautiful that even his fiercest expression looked more adorable than threatening.
Lu Yan enjoyed Xia Siqiao's embarrassment for a moment, rubbed his nose with a slightly wicked smile, and drawled, “He really is pretty impressive.”
A faint red flush spread over Xia Siqiao's slender neck. Too mortified to care about anything else, he turned and fled, but not before shooting Fang Yuan a vicious glare.
Lu Yan nudged He Pei with his elbow and teased with deliberate provocation, “He's actually pretty interesting now.”
Xia Siqiao's back remained straight, though his pace was suspiciously fast and slightly flustered. His calves were pale and long, and the fine bones of his slender ankles were particularly elegant.
He Pei pressed his lips together as he watched the faintly pink roots of the boy's ears ahead. Fine hairs were barely visible there in the sunlight. He looked away indifferently. “Worry about yourself. If you've got that much spare time, go run some more.”
Zhao Zhihuan sat in the stands. The people who had originally been beside him had all crowded toward the edge to watch Xia Siqiao and the others. He stared at Fang Yuan laughing animatedly in the distance; even Lu Yan had a smile on his face.
His gaze flickered. Secretly and greedily, he took a long look at He Pei, his nails digging deep into his palm. After a while, he pulled out his phone and replied to a number with no saved contact name.
Tell me what you want to do first.
There was no fixed attendance time for the sports meet, so Xia Siqiao slept in the next morning. Once he had slept his fill, he headed to the field in an excellent mood.
As he climbed into the stands, he suddenly saw several bottles of Nutrition Express sitting where he had been seated the day before. His brow twitched violently. He swallowed down the sourness rising from his stomach and pointed at the bottles as he asked Fang Yuan, who was already sitting nearby, “Where did those come from?”
“Oh, those?” Fang Yuan glanced in the direction he was pointing, closed his game, and looked at Xia Siqiao with unconcealed pride. “Offerings from our classmates, to cheer you on for today's races. They didn't know what you liked to drink, so they specifically asked me.”
Yesterday Fang Yuan had pulled the tiger's tail and was feeling terribly guilty today. He had come early to wait here, and the moment he heard people asking what Xia Siqiao liked to drink, he immediately thought his chance to redeem himself had arrived.
Under Fang Yuan's expression of someone waiting to be praised, Xia Siqiao nodded without emotion, sat beside him, and opened a search page.
His long fingers rattled rapidly over the phone keyboard. Curious, Fang Yuan leaned closer to look.
What should I do if I can't control the urge to beat up a classmate?
Xia Siqiao hadn't named anyone, so Fang Yuan didn't fully understand what was happening. Still, instinct told him something was wrong. He stood and backed away, waving his hands as he retreated. “Uh, the men's bathroom needs me for something—no, I need the men's bathroom for something—no…”
Then he simply turned and ran.
Xia Siqiao had a hundred-meter race that morning. Without He Pei suppressing him and Zhou Yan jinxing him with disastrous encouragement, he performed normally and calmly took first place.
Zhou Yan had been placed under a gag order by Xia Siqiao and only dared speak after the race was over. He sighed with feeling, “I never would've guessed you were an African cheetah reincarnated as a human. You can really run.”
Xia Siqiao frowned at him. “What kind of comparison is that?”
“The fastest animal in the world.” Zhou Yan pulled out his phone and showed Xia Siqiao the record he had just searched. “See? My comparison is backed by evidence.”
As they spoke, the two reached Class 1's section of the stands. Xia Siqiao shoved Zhou Yan and told him to hurry off before he said anything even more ridiculous. Su Boran and several other omegas were flipping through the score booklet. When they saw Xia Siqiao, they hurriedly asked, “Xia Siqiao, perfect timing. What place did you get in the hundred meters? The sports office hasn't updated it yet, so we can't add the points.”
“Oh?” Xia Siqiao looked at them with an unreadable expression and slowly asked in return, “What place is our class right now?”