Chapter 179: Not Again, Seriously? |
After spending some time away, Xia Yuan and Mei Fang returned to the stadium next to the gymnasium. Inside the venue, high jump, standing long jump, and triple jump competitions were taking place, with students coming and going.
At this moment, Lin Youxi was not on the field. She was standing on the side, talking to Liu Xiaoyu. When she saw Mei Fang and Xia Yuan approaching, Lin Youxi quickly went up to inquire about Mei Fang’s condition.
“Why did it take you so long? Is everything okay?”
As Lin Youxi asked the question, Xia Yuan suddenly looked elsewhere out of guilt, while Mei Fang didn’t feel any pressure and simply answered her.
“It’s nothing serious, just needs some observation. Have you finished your event here, or has it not started yet?”
“I got seventh place in the high jump for the girls’ division, barely securing a position.”
“That’s great, congratulations! Unfortunately, I wasn’t there to cheer you on.”
Mei Fang congratulated Lin Youxi on her performance, and Lin Youxi smiled slightly, gently patting Mei Fang’s arm.
“It’s alright that you missed it this time. Both Yuan Yuan and I will be participating in the relay race this afternoon, so you better come then.”
“As long as you show up, cheering is not necessary. Your Class 3 will also be competing with us. You just need to cheer for Bingbing, so people won’t gossip.”
“Then I’ll silently cheer for both of you in my heart.”
While Lin Youxi and Mei Fang were chatting, Lin Youxi noticed Xia Yuan’s unusual state and went up to pat her shoulder.
“What’s wrong, Yuan Yuan? You’ve been acting strange since you returned.”
“I-It’s nothing…” Xia Yuan quickly waved her hand and mumbled, “I’m just thinking about the relay race. I performed so poorly, and I ran so slowly. It will definitely bring shame to our class.”
“It’s normal for girls to run slower and not be able to compete with classes that have sports students.”
Mei Fang interjected in surprise, “Doesn’t your class have any sports students? I remember Bingbing saying she has a teammate in the basketball team, who happens to be from your class.”
“You mean Shang Qin, the sports committee member in our class?”
Xia Yuan sighed silently, “She lost the class monitor election to Youxi before, and since then, she has never been on good terms with us. So she only signed up for individual events in the sports festival. Otherwise, how would there be two rookies like me and Xiaoyu signing up for competitions?”
“Not on good terms with you?” Mei Fang furrowed his brows slightly, “It sounds… like a small discord.”
“There are many local students in our class who have known each other since middle school, especially those local female students who get along well with Shang Qin. They don’t really like us, non-local students… Ah, forget it, I shouldn’t be telling you about this, girls’ matters are complicated, just ignore it.”
It seems that there is some group discord in Class 5, is it common among high school girls?
This matter is not a big deal for now, let’s keep it in mind first.
The few students from Baimei County currently didn’t have any competition events. The three of them, along with Liu Xiaoyu, wandered around for a while and then went to eat.
In the cafeteria, Lin Youxi ran into Xiao Yang, the publicity committee member of their class. He informed Lin Youxi that the number of broadcast scripts from Class 5 did not meet the basic requirements.
After inquiring, they found out that several girls in the class hadn’t submitted any scripts, and they were all good friends with Shang Qin.
According to the division of labor for the sports festival, if a student didn’t participate in any individual events, they had to submit at least three broadcast scripts.
Xia Yuan said angrily, “It seems like they made plans with their friends today and didn’t care about the class matters at all.”
Liu Xiaoyu was worried, “It’s too late to ask them for the scripts now. We don’t even know where they are… Why don’t we make up for the missing scripts ourselves?”
“But that would leave no time for the lunch break,” Mei Fang reminded them, “We still have competitions in the afternoon, so we need to rest and conserve our energy.”
“But if the number of scripts doesn’t meet the requirements, the school will criticize us,” Liu Xiaoyu said.
The publicity committee member agreed with Liu Xiaoyu’s concerns and said, “You need to focus on the competition. How about I write some extra scripts and submit them first? If we find them later, we can ask them to make up for the missing scripts.”
“No need to write, let’s just rest. You don’t have to write extra scripts either; you should focus on your own responsibilities,” Lin Youxi said seriously. “This is not the first or second time they’ve done this. Before, they at least knew to ask for help, but we can’t cover for them every time. If they still don’t submit their work in the end, I will report this matter to the homeroom teacher. Being criticized is fine, but the issue needs to be exposed so everyone in the class knows whose responsibility it is.”
When Lin Youxi was the class monitor in middle school, she was always the top student in her grade, and except for a few shameless boys, almost no one in the class dared to disobey her, so she had a smooth journey.
In Jiangcheng NOHS, Lin Youxi no longer had the same prestige, and everyone around her was a stranger. Being the class monitor in high school was a considerable test for her.
From the way Lin Youxi handled the matter just now, Mei Fang could feel her decisive and efficient style of handling things, without any delays.
Of course, this was not much different from her usual attitude when managing her work on C Site. She had a very clear sense of responsibility. Whose problem it was, as long as it did not affect the overall progress of the project, she would definitely arrange for that person to personally handle and resolve it.
Even for the simplest of bugs, she absolutely would not trouble someone else to do it, or casually resolve it herself—her speed at fixing bugs was widely acknowledged as fast, and many bugs were very simple for her.
But if she felt that there was no way to work with this person, she wouldn’t talk to them directly. Instead, she would go straight to Mei Fang and end the cooperation with that person the next month.
In simple terms, it meant firing them.
Switching between the role of the C Site administrator and class monitor was seamless for Lin Youxi, and Mei Fang highly approved of her approach.
After all, he could empathize with her.
In his previous life, he worked as a mid-level manager and always got along well with his colleagues, forming a close bond.
Mei Fang’s intention was to create a relaxed and harmonious work atmosphere, where everyone could work together, make efforts, and have a positive and proactive attitude.
However, the actual effect was that the problems reported to him from above piled up, while colleagues below adopted a nonchalant attitude, slacking off every day.
Because the team atmosphere was too good, the kind-hearted Mei Fang couldn’t speak harshly to them or urge them to work properly, so he could only work overtime and clean up after them.
And because of the overwhelming pressure piled up on himself, Mei Fang met an untimely death in his previous life, leading to the present day.
“I believe Youxi is right… Even if you face criticism together, you can’t let these people have their way. The more you show weakness now, the more they will take advantage of you in the future.”
Lin Youxi and Mei Fang’s remarks convinced the others to stop dwelling on the issue, and everyone returned to the classroom for a short afternoon nap.
The tug-of-war competition was the first event of the afternoon. Mei Fang’s Class 3, led by the female war goddess of Shennongjia, Xiang Bingbing, was like a divine force, overturning several teams one after another and storming into the final, even defeating the Aviation class.
“First place, Class 3!”
Mei Fang fought alongside his classmates to achieve victory. This is the story of a passionate and idealistic young man, a tale of youthful ambition and triumph——
Well, the sense of passion was actually absent because they barely had any space to exert their strength before the rope was already moving towards their side.
It was all thanks to Xiang Bingbing’s exceptional leadership.
After Mei Fang and his classmates casually secured the first place, he went with Xiang Bingbing to the relay race venue. At this moment, the class monitor of Class 3, He Luoyun, came over with a bag of water bottles and asked Mei Fang to distribute them to the girls participating in the relay race.
Mei Fang helped distribute the water in the race area, and the girls preparing for the race happily accepted it. Only when Xiang Bingbing received the water did she take an extra glance at Mei Fang’s face.
“Yuan Yuan said that when I accidentally bumped your nose earlier, it got crooked. Is it true? I can’t really tell… But does it still hurt? My grandfather taught me some traditional bone-setting techniques. If you don’t mind, after the race, I can use our Shennongjia’s bone-setting technique to fix it for you. I promise it will help.”
“No, no! It’s perfectly fine! My nose is completely healed,” Mei Fang said, wiping off his sweat and gently rubbing his nose to show Xiang Bingbing that he was alright.
“It seems so. Well, that puts my mind at ease.”
Then Xiang Bingbing cheerfully exclaimed: “The water that you bought for me is extra sweet!”
“It’s the same for everyone, don’t get it wrong. It’s all paid with class funds, not mine.”
“Suddenly, it’s not sweet anymore!” Xiang Bingbing pouted.
The 4x100m women’s relay race attracted many boy spectators, seemingly drawn by curiosity. Several of them were even discussing about “that girl from Class 5,” speculating whether she had a 36D bust size.
Mei Fang, the agent of justice, was displeased with the shameful behavior of these male students. He walked over to the boys, coughed for a while, and eventually drove them away.
Yuan Yuan, make sure to tighten your sportswear!
Only I, as your childhood sweetheart, can freely admire it.
The agent of justice, Mei Fang not only held grudges but was also quite petty.
His possessiveness was no less than Xia Yuan’s and Lin Youxi’s.
Xia Yuan was lined up third for the handoff position. Their anchor leg was Lin Youxi. Mei Fang first went to cheer on and encourage Lin Youxi, then ran over to keep Xia Yuan company at the starting position.
When Xia Yuan saw Mei Fang approaching, her fighting spirit was instantly ignited. With the sound of the referee’s pistol, the girls in the first leg began their 400m relay race.
The students on both sides shouted loudly, “Go! Go!” Many of them even ran alongside their classmates who were participating in the race.
Xia Yuan was the last to receive the baton among the five teams, as Liu Xiaoyu was weaker than her. Of course, Liu Xiaoyu herself was a gentle and soft girl; one couldn’t expect her to perform exceptionally well in running.
But Xia Yuan didn’t get discouraged. After receiving the baton, she dashed forward in pursuit. Mei Fang also sprinted alongside her right after Xia Yuan received the baton to cheer her on.
The two rushed to the handoff area, barely managing to catch up with one person, while the anchor of Class 3, Xiang Bingbing, had already sprinted 30 meters ahead.
After receiving the baton, Lin Youxi relied on her physical advantage to chase fiercely. It must be said that it was rare to see Youxi with a flushed face, running with all her might. Mei Fang felt her determination and couldn’t care less about him being considered a traitor to Class 3 and shouted words of encouragement to the opposing Class 5’s anchor, Lin Youxi, while running alongside her.
Perhaps hearing Mei Fang’s shouts, Lin Youxi’s performance in the latter half of her run became even more desperate. Her sudden burst of speed allowed her to overtake one runner, then another—she went from fourth place to third, then second.
“We won!”
But no matter how hard Lin Youxi tried, she couldn’t catch up to Xiang Bingbing.
Xiang Bingbing led her team to first place and was extremely happy. She hugged the girls from her own class, while the boys bumped shoulders and jumped around in circles.
Mei Fang, who was in a hurry to go to Lin Youxi’s side, was an exception among exceptions. After being caught by Xiang Bingbing, she directly picked him up and spun him around before letting go, obviously receiving extra special treatment from Xiang Bingbing.
“Mei Fang! I saw you cheering for me while running, thank you so much! It’s just that you ran a bit slow.”
“Uh, well…”
Seeing how happy Xiang Bingbing looked, Mei Fang couldn’t bring himself to say that he was cheering for Xia Yuan and Lin Youxi and didn’t care about her at all. He casually responded and then immediately went to Lin Youxi’s side.
After finishing her run, Lin Youxi also received everyone’s congratulations. She then sat off to the side massaging her feet, with Xia Yuan sitting beside her and keeping her company.
When Mei Fang hurriedly approached, Xia Yuan explained, “Youxi sprained her ankle when she stopped just now.”
“She sprained her ankle? Then let’s go to the infirmary and apply an ice pack. Come… I’ll help you.”
Because of the incident in the infirmary earlier, Xia Yuan felt guilty towards Lin Youxi, so when she saw Mei Fang supporting Youxi, she patted Mei Fang’s back and said, “You dummy, how can she continue walking with a sprained ankle? You should carry her, hurry up…”
“…” Mei Fang and Lin Youxi exchanged a glance. “Do you… want me to?” Mei Fang asked.
“Mhm,” Youxi didn’t refuse Xia Yuan’s suggestion, so Mei Fang didn’t think too much and princess carried Lin Youxi, rushing towards the infirmary.
Although a princess carry between opposite genders is romantic, it’s not necessarily an act of puppy love. It’s just friends helping each other out!
Mei Fang kept his thoughts pure, but he couldn’t avoid the excited exclamations from the girls ringing in his ears.
When girls encounter something exciting, they first scream and then stomp their feet crazily to express their unspoken excitement.
Mei Fang continued to walk briskly under the gaze of everyone. Even the usually aloof Lin Youxi couldn’t help but cover half of her face and bury her head in Mei Fang’s arms.
“Put me down, I regret it now.”
“What’s the use of regretting now? We’re already here.”
Mei Fang ran a bit further before finally putting Lin Youxi down, then he supported her and entered the infirmary.
However, there was no school nurse in the infirmary this time. It was empty.
Mei Fang skillfully took an ice pack from the freezer and then walked toward Lin Youxi.
Lin Youxi, who was already holding her injured foot, rolled up her tight pants and slowly took off her socks, showing Mei Fang her slightly swollen ankle.
“Um…”
After Lin Youxi rolled up her pants, she looked up at Mei Fang and said, “Since you brought me here, won’t you help me apply the ice pack?”
“Ah? Uh…”
Mei Fang sat beside Lin Youxi and applied the ice pack to her ankle.
Lin Youxi seemed to not be affected by the coldness of the ice pack and kept gazing at Mei Fang’s face.
“What’s wrong?” Mei Fang asked.
“It’s nothing… I just wanted to look at you,” Lin Youxi smiled faintly. “Thank you for supporting me today, whether it was handling the broadcast script or the race, you’ve always been on my side.”
“Why are you suddenly thanking me? It feels strange… I’m not used to it,” Mei Fang felt a little embarrassed, so he changed the topic. “Aren’t you afraid that the ice pack will be too cold for you?”
“It’s alright, I don’t feel much. My hands and feet are always cold.”
“But this is still ice. Even if your hands and feet are cold, you should still feel the coldness of it, right?”
“Hmm…” Lin Youxi tilted her head and thought for a moment. “Well, it’s not too bad. Maybe it’s so cold that I can’t feel it. Try massaging it with your hand.”
“Massage it?” Mei Fang paused. “Massage… your feet? Or what do you mean?”
“Do you think my feet are dirty?”
“How could that be?! We’ve even soaked our feet in the same foot bath together.”
Although Lin Youxi was usually proactive, Mei Fang knew that her thoughts were also delicate, and she needed him to take the initiative to care for her.
To show his care for her, Mei Fang put the ice pack aside and directly used his hand to knead and pinch it a few times.
“How does it feel?” Mei Fang asked.
Lin Youxi pursed her lips, revealing a blush. “I don’t feel anything.”
“Should I do it harder then?”
“Mhm…” Lin Youxi nodded.
“If I do that, won’t it hurt you?”
“It won’t… I don’t feel anything.”
“If you say that again, I might show you my true strength…”
While Mei Fang and Lin Youxi were having fun, a thunderous voice suddenly came from behind.
“Not again, seriously? You two never stop, do you…”
Mei Fang turned around and saw that it was the school nurse who had kicked him and Xia Yuan out earlier when they were “flirting.”
“You! How come you’re here again? Which class are you from? Puppy love is one thing, but doing shameful thing on top of that? I won’t let you go this time! Wait, wait!”
While the school nurse was scolding and getting ready to teach Mei Fang a lesson, Mei Fang and Lin Youxi quickly escaped, recreating the scene from earlier with Yuan Yuan.