Chapter 238: Who Will Lead the Exercises?
After Lin Muqing started to slow down, Ye Ziming slowed too. He ran up beside her and whispered, “If you speed up now, you’ll pass. Tonight I’ll take you for grilled fish.”
“Ah? But…”
Hearing her good buddy, Lin Muqing looked up in surprise, breathing hard and ready to say she was too tired.
“If you don’t pass, I’ll post hundreds of your high-quality photos in girl clothes to the class group so everyone can see how cute a ‘manly guy’ can be.”
“!?”
“You know I’m not joking.”
Lin Muqing’s eyes went wide. At first she thought he was joking, but when she saw his smile and teasing look, she panicked.
“Okay, I’ll try!”
She pushed herself hard and ran toward the finish line. In that one short minute, she felt like she was flying. At the end she not only passed, she beat the pass time by a few seconds, an amazing effort.
“Phew… finally done.”
After the 1000 meters, Lin Muqing bent over with her hands on her knees, gasping. Then other discomforts came, dry throat, weak body. She wanted to sit, but her good buddy stopped her. He knew you shouldn’t sit down right after running, and he kept supporting her so she wouldn’t fall.
“Ah… thanks.”
At her worst moment, a bottle of sports drink suddenly appeared near her, the cap was already open. It was clearly for her. She thanked whoever handed it and drank.
“No problem.”
After drinking, she felt something was odd about the voice that answered. Was that not Ye Ziming who gave her the drink? She opened her eyes and saw Ye Ziming still standing next to her, but also saw the class monitor, Zhang Xiaoling, nearby.
“Don’t just stare, wipe your sweat.”
While Lin Muqing was still dazed, Zhang Xiaoling took out tissues she had prepared earlier and reached forward to wipe Lin Muqing’s sweat. When Zhang had seen Lin Muqing running the 1000 meters, she had worried, it looked painful.
“No, I can do it myself.”
Lin Muqing quickly took the tissue back and wiped her own face, before anyone could get upset. But she didn’t know that while the school’s popular students were showing concern, many others were already feeling jealous. The playground filled with a sour, jealous feeling.
“Big Bro, that’s weird.”
Back in class after PE, Lin Muqing sat thinking for a long time. Then she poked Ye Ziming’s arm and said, “Just now, the class monitor treated me so carefully. She even said my face was so red she wanted me to lie down at the school clinic. She’s never treated me or anyone like that before. It felt like she saw me as a fragile girl.”
“Did she say anything to you?” Ye Ziming asked, frowning.
“No.” Lin Muqing thought hard, then shook her head.
This had happened suddenly. She wondered if the class monitor had seen something. After all, she had seen Lin Muqing in girl clothes many times. But if Zhang Xiaoling knew she sometimes dressed as a girl, wouldn’t she feel uncomfortable and keep her distance instead?
So strange… Lin Muqing just couldn’t figure it out.
“Oh, Big Bro, by the way, I passed the run just now!”
Changing the topic, Lin Muqing smiled brightly, blinked at her good buddy, then gave a cheeky grin. She clearly remembered that her good buddy had promised to take her out for grilled fish if she passed.
“Mm, congrats.”
Seeing Lin Muqing trying to act cute to give him a hint, Ye Ziming pretended not to understand and answered calmly.
“What about the grilled fish you mentioned?”
“Grilled fish?”
“Hey! You clearly said so—”
As expected, the two started playfully arguing again, showing how close they were.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the classroom, Zhang Xiaoling quietly watched their interaction and suddenly felt a bit jealous. Before, when she saw scenes like this, she would think they were just good buddies.
But now, she felt like their relationship seemed… intimate, almost like a couple in their honeymoon phase.
Zhang Xiaoling thought, ‘Hmm… the more I look, the more I think they match well.’
The afternoon classes passed quickly, and soon it was time for school to end.
Before dismissal, the homeroom teacher announced some news, the school was going to make a change. From now on, morning exercise routines would be removed. Instead, during the big morning break, students would learn a trendy kind of square dancing that was said to be very suitable for teenagers.
“Teacher, didn’t you just say you’re planning to pick two girls to lead the exercises?”
“Yes. I want to choose two girls who look energetic, so it gives a good image.”
“Then why did you call me here!?”
After school, in the hallway outside the office, Lin Muqing stared wide-eyed at the homeroom teacher in shock.
Standing next to her were the other candidates being considered to lead the dancing.
Hearing Lin Muqing’s words, several girls nearby couldn’t help laughing and whispering to each other.
“Don’t be in such a hurry. I just think you’re quite suitable, you have a good image, so I wanted to ask for your opinion.”
The teacher spoke casually, smiling without concern.
“Suitable for wearing girls’ clothes?”
Hearing that, Lin Muqing instinctively raised her eyebrows and asked with surprise.
“Uh… now that you mention it, hmm, you actually would look pretty suitable.”
“Uh… what?”
“How about this, you—”
The teacher hadn’t been thinking about it before, but after hearing Lin Muqing say that, her eyes lit up as if she had just discovered a new idea.
“No thanks!”
Seeing the teacher’s strange smile and hearing the giggles from the nearby girls, Lin Muqing quickly interrupted and refused. It was too much, having so many girls and passersby hear something like that made her blush with embarrassment and frustration.
After saying no, she planned to add a few words to make her position clear, then go find her good buddy. But just as she was about to speak, Zhang Xiaoling, standing behind her, quietly said,
“I think Lin Muqing would look really good in girls’ clothes.”