"Another sunny day." Qianbao sighed, entering the classroom with the morning light, "Ok now, class begins." "Why does your class smell like spicy strips?" "It wasn’t me, teacher." Li Hua stood up with a puzzled look, his lips red, "Do you have any evidence?" "Evidence?" Qianbao, dressed in a pink down jacket and fitted gray skirt, sneered. "Turn around and let everyone see." Instantly, the class burst into laughter. Jiang Nian laughed, "Hua, who stuffed spicy strips in your mouth?" Ma Guojun’s chubby face squeezed into a narrow smile, "Kid, you didn’t even wipe your mouth after eating?" Li Hua wiped his mouth, leaving a streak of red oil on his hand. In the back of the classroom, near the blackboard. The king returned home. Qianbao was dressed especially pink today, like an eighteen-year-old girl. "OK, everyone take out your test papers and look at the fill-in-the-blank section." Starting with grammar instruction, an old teacher’s skill. Having just livened up the atmosphere, she wanted to take advantage of the students’ energy to finish the grammar section. Otherwise, if delayed, no one would listen to the lecture. After the first class ended, the class slumped again. Qianbao glanced around, then left in platform shoes. After the bell rang, the second class. People in the class forcibly woke up one by one, looking sleepy and tired, like eggplants hit by frost. "So sleepy." Yang Qiming was a bit dazed. He had chatted with "Lv Xuan" all night, only to realize he had the wrong person. The previous evening, Lv Xuan had changed her avatar from a solitary girl watching the sea to a cute cat. Yang Qiming added her on QQ in the evening and didn’t make a note. After evening self-study, he found the chat missing. In the message list, looking at avatars, he opened a blank chat window and started chatting. The conversation ranged from poetry to life ideals, until past four in the morning. Just as things were turning a bit risque, he suddenly needed to pee. Just as he got up to pee, the other person sent a message. "Little brother, you’re quite funny." At that moment, he realized something. He opened the other person’s profile and carefully checked her personal signature. A distant cousin from the countryside, added on QQ without a note. Just a little more, just a little more. He was about to go off-script. For the rest of the night, Yang Qiming didn’t sleep a wink. It wasn’t until 5:30 that he finally dozed off for an hour. Now, the aftereffects of staying up have caught up with him. "Were you out stealing?" Zhou Yuting glanced at her deskmate Yang Qiming, "Sleeping during self-study, sleeping up and down the classes." Before Yang Qiming could respond, Qianbao clapped her hands on the platform. "Alright, stop talking during class." Then she held up the test papers but didn’t start lecturing directly. Instead, she paused for a moment to share a bit of gossip. "Hey, did Teacher Liu tell you about the football class tournament?" Upon hearing this, the drowsy class. Especially the boys, almost instantly woke up. They widened their eyes, visibly more cheerful. "Why a football tournament, no basketball class tournament?" "Probably because playing basketball might lead to injuries; the school leadership hates trouble. Soccer is much safer in comparison." "People from the next class said it’s to respond to the policy." "Who’s good at soccer in our class?" "It’s the ones who often play during PE class, who else could it be?" The class buzzed with discussion, and Qianbao didn’t stop them. In fact, she smiled and even joined in the chat for a few sentences. After about five minutes, she clapped her hands again. "OK, save the soccer discussion for after class. Take out your test papers, look at section D, which option has an issue?" Jiang Nian was lowering his head, working on problems when Li Hua nudged him, making him look up, confused. "Are you playing soccer in PE class the day after tomorrow?" Li Hua asked awkwardly, "I actually have a dream, to become the prince of soccer." "The prince of soccer, what is that fluff?" Jiang Nian was bewildered, "Is it like a soccer babe? Dressed in a uniform dancing with a pom-pom?" "Chi Shi! Chi Shi!" Li Hua turned red. "I’m doing it for the career of football, do you know what would happen to the national team without me?" Jiang Nian: "They would win." "Chi Shi Chi Shi!!" Li Hua felt extremely insulted. The national team won’t always be bad, but without him, they would win. What a curse more vicious than single-celled organisms! "Li Hua, stand up and stand at the back!" Qianbao called him out, "Since you love talking so much, how about leading the class?" Li Hua held the test paper as he stood, muttering under his breath in defiance. "If I really talked, you’d be unhappy." "What did you say?!!!" Qianbao immediately got angry, "Forget standing at the back, come up to the front of the class!" Jiang Nian was in fits of laughter, especially seeing Li Hua’s cowardly yet mouthy expression, laughing almost foolishly. "Li Hua’s gone mad, talking about a new English classroom." After the second class ended, during the run to the stairs by all the senior students. Wang Yuhe was squeezing through the crowd at the stairwell and suddenly turned to Chen Yunyun. "Yunyun, can’t I play soccer?" Chen Yunyun was still quietly studying vocabulary in her palm, momentarily stunned by the question. "It’s not that you can’t, but there are so few girls in our school who can play soccer in senior year, it’s hard to form a decent team." "Oh." Wang Yuhe’s mood dropped instantly, her lips moving slightly, "Okay, then I won’t play in gym class." Chen Yunyun couldn’t bear it, thought for a moment, and said. "You can ask Jiang Nian to take you along, if I remember correctly, he said he played in a game back in ninth grade." Wang Yuhe, on the steps, was about to comment but was swept away by the crowd, separating her from Chen Yunyun. They reunited on the first floor. "Jiang Nian used to play soccer?" Wang Yuhe stopped at the line where the sunlight and the teaching building’s shadow met, stepping firmly. "Why didn’t he tell me?" Wang Yuhe asked, puzzled. Chen Yunyun was stumped, pursed her lips, and decided to shift the blame onto Jiang Nian. "He deliberately didn’t tell you." "Alright! I knew it!" Wang Yuhe clenched her fists but hesitated, "But, will he take me?" "What if I end up playing better than him, Jiang Nian will definitely be annoyed." Chen Yunyun glanced at Wang Yuhe, suppressing a grin. On the sports field’s bright red track, the radio was blaring. Classes lined up loosely, class flags waving in the sunlight, and the sharp whistle divided the field into two sections. Class 3 was near the exit, known for doing things their own way. Li Qingrong gently looked back, her gaze sweeping over Jiang Nian, talking to Chen Yunyun, her clear eyes calm as autumn water. Her complexion was pale, not glowing white but like frost under the golden sun. As if the purest ice cream, sculpted and translucent. Until she turned her head, a slight wave appeared in her eyes as she lowered them. "Class leader, what’s wrong?" Nie Qiqi sweetly leaned over, almost turning into an octopus attachment on the class leader. "Nothing." Li Qingrong replied flatly. "Oh, okay." Seeing the class leader wasn’t in a bad mood, Nie Qiqi continued, "Can I sign up for the archery contest?" Li Qingrong remembered, a small activity at the back of the class. It was brought by the class teacher before the joint exams. She recalled Jiang Nian didn’t participate. Before Li Qingrong could answer, the executive class deputy, Cai Xiaoqing, came and whisked the fox spirit away. "Come, come, sign up with me." "Hey, let go, let go." Nie Qiqi struggled, "I’m signing up with the class leader, not you." Cai Xiaoqing said, "There’s one spot per gender in a class, you won’t make it anyway." "Then what about on the boys’ side? Jiang Nian was super accurate." Nie Qiqi was unsatisfied, "The boys are just as eager to sign up." "They..." Cai Xiaoqing didn’t know how to respond. Suddenly, a shadow loomed over them. Li Qingrong avoided their gaze, swept back her wind-tousled bangs, and asked calmly. ".... who’s holding the signup sheet?" Jiang Nian ran four laps, face unflushed, breathing evenly. As he waited for the dismissal, he glanced at the soccer field. It’s been a while since he played soccer. In ninth grade, he had too much free time, but back then, he didn’t quite understand his parents, and his relationship with Xu Qianqian had just started to improve. Which made his mood not great all year in ninth grade. If he wasn’t playing basketball, he was playing soccer, with plenty of unwanted admirers. Either being flirted with by girls seeking advantage or hugged out of obsession. The unwanted popularity in ninth grade couldn’t be cut. The chase for little Zhou in tenth grade was futile. Though little Zhou did spill some Gold Coins, slightly defying difficulties. Being poor didn’t help, having the will but not the way. Sometimes life is abstract ; the more you want something, the less you get it, but in unexpected ways, things work out. Tenth grade was like a dream, seeing through the haze. He looked at the overgrown patches, bald spots revealing brown soil, making the soccer field seem rather shabby. He thought maybe entering the tournament wouldn’t be bad, winning a small prize would be good. Knowing the school’s patterns, there might still be prize money. Winning is uncertain, but the top three certainly have a few hundred bucks, a sizeable amount. And tease the younger students a bit, playing with them was too easy. Jiang Nian walked upstairs with Li Hua and Ma Guojun, unexpectedly spotting a few people moving desks out of Class 3. The three of them exchanged glances, all seeing the surprise in each other’s eyes. "If it’s any slower, the physics scores would be out by afternoon, what a strange process." Jiang Nian checked the stairs. At the hallway’s end, only Yu Tongjie’s back was left, moving a chair. Some students from the honors class helped him move desks and book baskets. Suddenly, Yu Tongjie turned back oddly. His gaze cut through the crowded hallway, locking directly with Jiang Nian, filled with blatant hatred. "Maybe... going back to find his father." Jiang Nian walked into the classroom, "Come, let’s meet your round-faced, bearded new classmate." Li Hua: "Chi Shi! It must be a beautiful girl."