Chapter 98: The Sports Day Ends
The “closing ceremony” of the sports day was a fun match put on by the school staff.
The teachers, most of them in their 40s or 50s, were either chubby or thin. None of them looked strong, except for Yang Ye.
During the race, all kinds of funny things happened. Some teachers fell, some ran with strange posture, and some got so tired after a few steps that they sat down to catch their breath... But none of them seemed embarrassed. In fact, they looked like they were having even more fun than the students.
The students gathered around the field, cheering loudly for their favorite teachers. The atmosphere was more exciting than any of the earlier events.
“Go, homeroom teacher, go!” Yu Fan stood near the finish line, waving and shouting.
Yang Ye, being one of the younger teachers, was the first to cross the finish line. Right away, Yu Fan and a group of girls from their class ran over to greet him.
Li Mu stood not far away with a blank face, not understanding why everyone was so excited.
Then he turned to look at Wang Chen behind him. That guy had snuck out of school yesterday afternoon and had been acting quiet and down ever since, like something was bothering him.
When Wang Chen saw Li Mu looking, he raised his head and, after hesitating a bit, asked, “Is your sister really from the high school next door?”
“Why?”
“It’s Fengcheng No.1 High School, right?”
Li Mu thought for a moment about the bus route map, then nodded slowly. “Yeah.”
Maybe it was No.1 High School? Honestly, he couldn’t really tell the difference between schools with names like “No.1” or “No.2.” They were easy to mix up.
“But I waited outside No.1 High School for an hour yesterday evening. I didn’t see your sister at all,” Wang Chen said, clearly confused. “Did she see me and hide? Is there a back gate? Or does she live in the school dorms like you?”
How should he know? He didn’t even go to that school.
And wasn’t it already said that the “sister” is with Yu Fan now? Then why did you go looking for her?
Trying to steal her away? …Wait, what?!
After the surprise, Li Mu suddenly felt kind of empty inside.
Because if anyone was being “stolen from,” it was him… No, wait, he and Yu Fan were just normal friends. There’s nothing to steal!
Maybe it was the cold look on Li Mu’s face, but Wang Chen quickly explained. “I just wanted to see her, that’s all.”
“Oh.”
Wang Chen naturally thought Li Mu was mad because he tried to mess up Yu Fan’s relationship with the “sister.”
Li Mu didn’t want to keep talking. He had already explained everything clearly to Wang Chen before.
Even though he said nothing, Wang Chen still carefully asked. “Are you going home this weekend?”
“Yeah.”
He had to visit his hometown. Even though he didn’t really like those uncles of his, he still needed to ask them some questions if he wanted to find his parents.
“What about your sister…”
“She’s going on a date with Yu Fan.”
Wang Chen looked like he couldn’t breathe from the heartbreak.
Before, Li Mu could still understand Wang Chen’s “love at first sight” obsession. After all, that kind of thing happens a lot in romance dramas. But now, going this far to steal someone else’s “girl” just seemed crazy.
And it gave him a strange, disgusting feeling that made his whole body shiver.
At first, he only agreed to dress like a girl because someone saw it already, so he thought he might as well get some benefit from it, maybe even mess with Wang Chen a little to get back at him for old drama.
But in the end, he just made himself feel gross.
So he turned and walked straight back toward the dorms.
These teacher sports matches weren’t interesting. Even though he had a little urge to cheer for Yang Ye and some other teachers from his class, right now he just wanted to get away from Wang Chen.
There was still about half an hour left before the sports day officially ended. The school radio was already announcing the top three winners of each event. Meanwhile, Li Mu sat down on the steps in front of the dormitory building, ready to go back to his room when it opened.
At first, he thought about climbing over the wall to get inside, but his arm strength wasn’t what it used to be. If he really wanted to climb the wall, he’d probably need someone to help him.
He rested his arms on his knees, leaning forward a bit while playing with his phone, but his mind wasn’t focused on the screen at all.
He had to return to his hometown this weekend.
He had mentioned before that his hometown was actually the same village as Yu Fan’s. If Yu Fan had gone to primary school there as a kid, there was a chance they had even been classmates back then, or at least seen each other before.
And then there were those uncles of his... After the spring exams were over, he’d have lots of free time. Maybe then he could find a lawyer to help him get back the money that was supposed to be paid after his parents’ accident.
Back then, he had been too naive. His uncles helped with the funeral and told him, “Kids shouldn’t hold on to too much money.” So he stupidly gave it all to them. Only after the sadness of losing his parents had passed did he start to realize something was wrong.
His grandpa had tried to help him get the money back too, but every time, they came up with new excuses to avoid paying.
Also, if he had time this weekend, he needed to get another health check-up to see how much his body had changed.
As he was lost in thought, a shadow suddenly covered him. He looked up and saw it was Chen Zhihao.
This guy probably knew about his crossdressing, so Li Mu became alert right away, worried that Chen Zhihao might try to use that secret to threaten him.
But Chen Zhihao didn’t seem like he was going to do anything bad. He just sat down beside Li Mu and said, “Wang Chen is kind of losing it. And Zhao Yu is making it worse, like kicking someone when they’re already down.”
Li Mu said nothing.
“Aren’t you going to do something about it?”
“I already said my sister is with Yu Fan.”
Chen Zhihao nodded. “Yeah, true. It’s his own fault for being dumb.”
They both stayed quiet for a moment before Chen Zhihao spoke again. “How about letting your sister talk to Wang Chen herself and make things clear?”
He had been Wang Chen’s classmate and roommate for over two years, so he cared about what was happening to him.
“Talk to him in person?”
“Yeah. Let your sister meet with him and say no directly. He just can’t let it go right now.”
Li Mu started thinking deeply.
It was already one thing to dress as a girl twice a week to study with Yang Ye. Now he also had to dress up to appear in front of his roommate and turn down a love confession?
Just the thought made him shiver.
“No way.”
“But doesn’t your sister come to school on Mondays and Wednesdays anyway? Wouldn’t it be better to do this before Wang Chen catches her by surprise?”
“How do you know that?” Li Mu suddenly looked cautious.
Chen Zhihao looked surprised.
“It’s not a secret. Every year the Top Ten Singers have coach teachers, right?”
Oh, so that’s it. Nothing to worry about, then.
Li Mu thought for a second it was Yu Fan selling him out again.
“I’ll think about it.” Li Mu felt like Chen Zhihao made a good point, taking action first might help him prepare mentally.
From the sports field, loud cheers came over, and the school’s end-of-day bell started ringing. At the same time, the dorm manager opened the front door of the building.
Li Mu stood up and headed inside, nodding at the dorm manager as he passed.
“So early?”
“Yeah, I’ve got something to do.”
These days, his face and features looked almost completely like a girl’s. But because his roommates had a good relationship with the dorm manager, the manager remembered his face, so he didn’t get mistaken for a girl trying to sneak into the boys’ dorm.