Chapter 230: Chapter 152: I Want to Be the First to Rush to You (2)
"Isn’t the sun hot?"
He bounded down the steps, taking two at a time, his shadow falling over the girl.
The rustle of his school uniform pants startled the focused girl. When Li Zhi looked up, she saw Shen Yuan’s familiar face.
Li Zhi shook her head. "I put on sunscreen."
"That’s good, then."
Shen Yuan tilted his head, surveying the empty rows of seats. He gripped the railing and gestured with his chin toward the sprinting events bustling with energy on the track. "Where should I sit?"
Li Zhi’s fingertips kept tapping on her phone screen. Her voice, mingled with the cheers from the squad on the other side of the stands, drifted over. "Wherever you want. There are plenty of empty spots."
Shen Yuan chuckled. "Well then, I might just go backstage to find Ah Jie and the others."
He deliberately took two slow steps back, feigning a move toward the entryway.
Li Zhi lifted her eyelids to glance at him. "Go on, then. I’ll stay here and watch for a bit."
Hearing her words, Shen Yuan suddenly didn’t feel like leaving anymore.
However, despite thinking that, he still turned and headed backstage.
"I’m heading off, then."
Li Zhi nodded but didn’t reply.
Shen Yuan smiled faintly. As he turned, the hem of his school uniform stirred up a light breeze. The sound of his deliberately slow footsteps intertwined with the cheerleaders’ cries from the other side of the stands, fading into a soft echo.
Dappled shadows of trees flickered in the entryway, and the faint, hurried sounds of various classes could be heard from backstage.
Before long, Li Zhi saw Shen Yuan return, an English vocabulary booklet in his hand.
Under Li Zhi’s confused gaze, Shen Yuan placed the English vocabulary booklet on the aisle step and plopped down right beside her.
The aisle step was lower than the seats, so after sitting down, Shen Yuan had to look up at Li Zhi.
As he tilted his head up, he met her questioning gaze. The line of the young man’s jaw was edged in a pale golden halo. "Hehe, I’m sitting here."
The sunlight fell on the side of his face, coating it with the colors of youth.
Li Zhi rolled her eyes at Shen Yuan. "Do whatever you want."
Meanwhile, beside Li Zhi, He Zhiyu secretly pointed out the antics of the childhood sweethearts to Zhuo Peipei. A sweet, knowing smile appeared on both of their faces.
But just as Shen Yuan sat down, Ah Jie, who had just returned backstage with Yang Ze after carrying water, suddenly realized his English vocabulary booklet was missing.
"Damn it! Who took my vocabulary booklet?! Have they no decency at all?!"
The sacrifice of Ah Jie’s vocabulary booklet was not in vain.
As the sun climbed higher, he used the excuse of adjusting his position to inch his shoe across the edge of the step, his uniform pants making a soft, rustling sound.
By the third time the tips of Li Zhi’s hair brushed against the back of the hand Shen Yuan was using to hold his phone, their sleeves were, without them realizing, only half a palm’s width apart.
Seeing his head practically leaning right in front of her, Li Zhi reached out and gave it a light pat.
"Hey! You’re crossing the line!"
But to Li Zhi’s surprise, Shen Yuan took the opportunity to lean his head into her hand, resting its weight there. The hair at the nape of his neck tickled her palm.
"I’m just helping you block the sun."
Shen Yuan said, inching half a step closer as if he’d just won.
By now, his shadow completely enveloped the phone on her lap.
He Zhiyu and Zhuo Peipei had already moved to a perfect viewing spot diagonally behind them.
The two girls stifled their laughter as they watched Shen Yuan feign composure, planting a hand beside Li Zhi, the bulging veins on the back of his hand betraying his effort.
Just as the two girls thought the scene would continue, a roar echoed from Class 15’s section of the stands.
"Shen Yuan!!"
Ah Jie had come looking for him.
Ah Jie’s roar tore through the flirtatious atmosphere in the stands.
He charged up the steps, clutching half a bottle of mineral water, looking ready for a fight. The collar of his uniform was still smudged with dust from carrying the water.
When his eyes fell on the pair at the turn of the steps, his furious charge came to an abrupt halt on the third step.
Ah Jie stared at his English vocabulary booklet, currently being used as a cushion under Shen Yuan’s butt, and for a moment, he was at a loss for words.
"You son of a..."
"What’s up?" Shen Yuan looked up at Ah Jie.
Ah Jie’s hand, holding the water bottle, froze in mid-air. For a moment, his paternal instincts overrode his brotherly duty.
Ah Jie announced with a serious expression, "Xiaohua bought a cup of millet porridge for an exam, then asked Huang Feihong to guess how many apples were in a word problem, but Guo Qilin uses a brand of toothpaste that promises to be clean and fast. So, my question is: how many grams of toothpaste should you squeeze out?"
Shen Yuan answered without hesitation, "Five grams."
Ah Jie stood there, stunned. "How did you know?"
"Because 5G is fast!"
"I’m out!"
Ah Jie cupped his fists, then turned and walked away.
But as he left the stands, Ah Jie quickly sent Shen Yuan a message.
"Buy me milk tea tonight."
Shen Yuan’s reply was just as fast: "You can have two."
That’s brotherhood for you.
A satisfied expression on his face, Ah Jie returned to the back rows and ran into Yang Shuai.
"Hey, Jie, didn’t you go looking for Shen Yuan? Couldn’t find him?"
Ah Jie nodded, tilted his head back, closed his eyes, and said with feeling, "I found him, but I couldn’t bear to disturb him and Li Zhi. I’ll just let my vocabulary booklet suffer a little."
Hearing this, Yang Shuai immediately gave Ah Jie a thumbs-up.
"If Teacher Hou was as reliable as you, I’d probably have a girlfriend by now."
Hearing this, Ah Jie asked in confusion, "Is that girl not talking to you anymore?"
Yang Shuai shook his head. "No, it’s just that she doesn’t call me ’big brother’ when we play games anymore."
Ah Jie lunged at him. "You lucky bastard, I’m gonna kill you!!!"
Back in the stands, Shen Yuan was still at it.
Using the excuse of adjusting his posture, the vocabulary booklet under him scraped softly against the concrete step.
His short hair, slightly hot from the sun, brushed against the fabric of her school uniform on her lap with his movements.
Suddenly, Shen Yuan’s voice reached Li Zhi’s ears. "Babe, I’m a little dizzy. Can I rest on your lap for a bit?"
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