Chapter 57: If You Don’t Marry Him, You’re Not Even Human!
As time went by, Lin Muqing started to get tired. She was sweating a lot and couldn’t keep up anymore.
On the other hand, Ye Ziming didn’t even seem out of breath. He looked the same as always.
The difference in physical strength between them was obvious, Lin Muqing was already bent over with her hands on her knees, gasping for air, while Ye Ziming stood there calmly like nothing had happened.
“I can’t… I need a break.”
Lin Muqing felt like she was about to overheat. She waved her shirt to cool off while calling out to her good buddy, who was not far away.
Ever since the physical fitness test for high school entrance, she hadn’t done such intense exercise, or barely any at all, really.
Suddenly being active like this was just too much for her.
“Drink some water.”
Seeing her face turning red and clearly looking uncomfortable, Ye Ziming quickly brought her over to a bench.
He helped open her water bottle and handed it to her, speaking gently.
Seeing that it was her own water bottle, Lin Muqing didn’t hesitate at all. After giving her buddy a thankful look, she took it right away.
Then she tilted her head back and gulped it down in big swallows.
“Phew~”
After drinking a big mouthful of water, she instantly felt much better. It even felt kind of bold and satisfying.
Feeling weak after drinking, she leaned back against the bench, too tired to even move her fingers.
“Just rest here for a bit.”
Seeing the state she was in, Ye Ziming knew there was no way they could keep playing.
He said that as he put the bottle cap on the bench, took both badminton rackets in his hand, and got up to return them to the equipment room.
“Got it.”
Lin Muqing forced herself to lift one hand and gave him an "OK" hand sign, then replied weakly.
Of course, she also gave him a smile, that was her way of showing thanks and approval.
After watching her buddy walk away, Lin Muqing suddenly felt something in her hand. She looked down, it was a packet of tissues.
Ah~ how thoughtful! Her forehead was soaked with sweat, and she had been worrying about not having anything to wipe it off with.
As expected of her good buddy. She gave him another thumbs-up in her heart.
After wiping her sweat, she lowered her head and held her water bottle on her lap, quietly resting while waiting for her buddy to come back.
As she waited, she started zoning out, just staring at her bottle.
In the middle of her daydream, she suddenly noticed something: the light around her seemed to get dimmer.
She looked up and saw a girl from her class standing in front of her.
“Lin Muqing.”
The girl smiled and called her name when she saw Lin Muqing look up.
“Yeah? What’s up?”
Looking at the girl, Lin Muqing felt like she’d seen her before. She was probably one of the girls who had stared at her this morning.
Seeing the teasing smile on the girl’s face, Lin Muqing had a feeling this wasn’t going to be a normal chat.
Still, since they were classmates, she wasn’t going to tell the girl to go away or ignore her.
“I just wanted to ask you a few questions.”
“Oh? What kind of questions?”
Lin Muqing raised her eyebrows, opened her eyes wide, and leaned back a little. She felt the smile on the girl’s face getting stranger and couldn’t help but become a bit alert inside.
She thought, Wait, is she going to ask some really awkward question?
Like: Do you watch adult videos? How many times a day?
“Cough, cough.”
Maybe she noticed Lin Muqing’s reaction, because the girl quickly coughed twice to cover up the awkwardness, and hurriedly toned down her smile.
“First question, what kind of person do you think Ye Ziming is?”
After trying hard to keep a straight face, the girl finally asked slowly.
“Umm…”
Okay, that question sounds pretty normal, maybe she was just overthinking things?
“Well, he’s tall, rich, and handsome. He’s my best buddy and my best bro. He’s a really good guy…”
She thought for a bit, and then just started praising her good buddy like crazy, without holding back at all.
Though her Chinese grades weren’t great, what she meant to say was “someone I can trust with my back,” but she ended up saying “someone I can rely on.”
After thinking about it, she figured it was close enough, so she just went on.
“Wow~ you two must be really close.”
“Ah… huh? I guess so. We get along pretty well.”
The way the girl asked that made Lin Muqing freeze for a second, though she couldn’t quite tell what was off. So she just nodded in agreement.
“Cough, cough… Last question, if you could marry him, what would you think about that?”
“Ah? That? Well, you know what they say, ‘Don’t let good stuff go to outsiders!’ Of course, we gotta keep it in the family.”
Just then, Lin Muqing suddenly remembered a funny joke she’d heard before and decided to reply in a joking tone.
“So that means… you’d marry him?”
“Marry him? Of course! I must marry him! If I don’t, I’m not human!”
Without the slightest hesitation, Lin Muqing grinned widely and answered with a laugh.
The girl in front of her looked totally shocked. She covered her mouth with both hands and her eyes went wide, though her smile was getting even weirder.
She looked down at Lin Muqing sitting on the bench… then looked up at Ye Ziming, who had been standing behind her the entire time.
This is just too juicy! The girl could barely hold herself back. She was dying to run off and share this with her besties, she was sure this would blow their minds for at least three years!
“Pfft—wishing you two a happy life together! Bye!”
Beaming with excitement, the girl turned around and ran off in a hurry like she was on a mission.
“Bye~”
Lin Muqing smiled and lifted her head, politely saying goodbye.
Little did she know, what she thought was just a joke… didn’t sound like a joke at all to Ye Ziming or that girl.
She also didn’t know that, after today, she would become famous at school. All because of that “just kidding” answer.
All she knew was, just as she leaned back to rest and wait for her good buddy to come back, a shadow appeared over her again.
She looked up—oh! It was her buddy. He came back with her student ID card.
“Uh… just got back?”
Seeing him appear, Lin Muqing looked a little awkward. She raised her eyebrows and asked, testing the waters a bit.
If her buddy had heard that earlier conversation, she’d be so embarrassed. So she wanted to find out.
“Yeah, the equipment room was kinda crowded.”
For some reason, Ye Ziming actually lied, something he almost never did.
And over such a small thing, too. He just didn’t want Lin Muqing to know… that he had been standing behind her the whole time.
And that he’d heard everything, the stuff she meant to say… and the stuff she didn’t.
“Oh, okay. That’s fine then.”
She let out a small sigh of relief and didn’t notice anything strange about his expression. Then she picked up her water bottle and took another sip.
P.E. class was almost over by now.
After resting for two more minutes, they’d hear the teacher blow the whistle, that meant it was time to line up, and then they’d be free to go.
Lin Muqing felt really happy this class. The exercise made her feel great.
She never imagined that her little joke today had just dug her a giant hole…
The kind she’d spend the rest of her life trying to fill.