Chapter 234: Chapter 153: The Family Must Not Know (2)
Li Zhi instinctively leaned back, but the nape of her neck bumped into Shen Yuan’s hand, which he had already placed there to block her.
Shen Yuan deliberately let go of the medal. It landed on the girl’s neck, and his mischievous laughter rang in her ear. "Heavy?"
The swaying golden glint of the medal reflected in her wide, almond-shaped eyes. The ends of her hair tangled with the red ribbon in the wind.
"Are you asking for a beating?!"
With a soft reprimand, Li Zhi landed a quick punch on Shen Yuan’s arm.
Shen Yuan ran off, laughing and joking.
Li Zhi watched Shen Yuan’s retreating back. The wind lifted the red ribbon around her neck, tangling it with a stray strand from her ponytail.
The beautiful girl raised a hand to hold the medal, her fingertips tracing the engraved markings.
Cheers from the distant high jump area drifted over, broken up by the wind, but they couldn’t drown out the tremor of her heartbeat conducted through the metal in her palm.
The wind pressed the medal’s ribbon against her collarbone. Li Zhi suddenly recalled the sight of Shen Yuan leaping onto the stands—the taut lines of his forearm, the bead of sweat rolling down a vein and into the collar of his school uniform.
’He’s actually... kind of charming.’
Li Zhi was startled by her own thought. She realized she had been staring blankly at the medal for a long time, and the midday sun burned the tips of her ears an even deeper red.
If Shen Yuan had seen this, he might have felt this was the true purpose of the medal.
It wasn’t long before Li Zhi returned the medal to Shen Yuan.
The thing was too much trouble to carry.
"You can hold on to it for me," Shen Yuan said, looking at the medal Li Zhi was handing him.
Li Zhi shook her head. "No, it’s too ugly."
Just as Shen Yuan was about to say something, a "DING" sounded in his mind.
’Holy crap! Brother Tongzi is back online!’
[After returning from Hang City, you can’t help but think about your high school days with Li Zhi. That was the last time you and Li Zhi spent together at school.]
[After taking a well-preserved high school graduation photo from a drawer, you look at Li Zhi’s image in the picture and suddenly remember the medal you won at the high school sports meet.]
[Package the sports meet medal and give it to Li Zhi as a memento of your school days. Reward: 10,000 yuan.]
’Huh?’
Shen Yuan looked at his mission in confusion.
A strange thought popped into his head.
’I was in the sports meet back then? And I actually won a medal?’
Could things be such a coincidence?
Before Shen Yuan could think too much, Li Zhi slapped the medal into his hand. "Here, you hold it!"
After the medal landed in his hand, Shen Yuan subconsciously looked up at Li Zhi.
Li Zhi said irritably, "I’m going to eat."
Shen Yuan nodded repeatedly, and the two of them headed to the cafeteria.
The sports meet had a lunch break and wouldn’t resume until 1 p.m.
After finishing his event, Shen Yuan didn’t run off to have fun. He spent the entire afternoon backstage, working through practice tests.
In fact, whether backstage or in the stands, there were quite a few people with their heads down, studying or reading.
The third-year students were the most conspicuous.
"Dammit, Lao Yuan, this backstage area is for gaming, and you’re here studying..."
Ah Jie grumbled, his face full of displeasure. He stared at Shen Yuan with wide eyes, a look that seemed to say, "Have you lost your mind?"
However, just as Ah Jie’s complaint ended, he saw Shen Yuan pull a gold medal from his pocket and, with a CLACK, place it firmly on the table.
Ah Jie immediately shut up.
As his game ended, his attention shifted back to Shen Yuan, and his mouth started firing like a machine gun. "We start the long vacation tomorrow, Lao Yuan. What are your plans?"
Hearing the words "long vacation," the tip of Shen Yuan’s pen, which had been buried in his homework, came to a sudden halt.
He slowly raised his head, his gaze naturally falling on Li Zhi, who was sitting nearby.
The beautiful girl felt his gaze. She turned to look at him, and the moment their eyes met, she shot him a fierce glare, as if warning him not to try anything funny.
Seeing this, the corners of Shen Yuan’s mouth lifted slightly into an imperceptible smile.
He gave a slight nod, then turned to Ah Jie and said, "Study, what else? What about you? What are your plans?"
Ah Jie scratched his head and chuckled. "Me? I’ll probably play games..."
The smile vanished from Shen Yuan’s face. He stared at Ah Jie with a serious expression, poked him on the head, and said with exasperation, like a disappointed parent:
"What the hell, what was your score on the last English test?! How many words have you copied? This break, I want to see you memorize 50 words!"
This barrage of questions left Ah Jie stunned. His expression stiffened, and the game he had just been enjoying suddenly lost all its appeal.
"I..." Ah Jie opened his mouth, as if to explain something, but he was cut off by Shen Yuan’s harsh reprimand before he could speak.
"Do you want to become an English pro or not?!" Shen Yuan stared at Ah Jie, his eyes wide, looking extremely disappointed in him.
Ah Jie was startled by the scolding, but he quickly recovered and shouted back, "I want to become an English pro!"
His voice was firm and powerful, revealing his desire to become an English pro.
"Then go copy your vocabulary!!" Shen Yuan ordered mercilessly, his tone leaving no room for negotiation.
Ah Jie nodded.
After shooing Ah Jie away, Shen Yuan refocused his attention on his test paper.
He picked up his pen, ready to continue working.
However, as he wrote, his mind gradually began to wander.
’The long vacation... Li Zhi said back then that the bet would be settled during the long vacation.’
"Babe, what are we doing for the long vacation?" Shen Yuan suddenly leaned in close to Li Zhi and asked curiously.
"Getting cocky."
Li Zhi chuckled coldly. "Keep being so cocky and I’ll back out."
"Hey, hey, hey!" Shen Yuan yelped dramatically. "You’re going back on your word?!"
"I’m a girl. What’s wrong with me going back on my word?" Li Zhi tilted her chin up, a triumphant look on her face.
"What you need to do right now is uninstall Little Red Book!" Shen Yuan said with a straight face.
"Nyah nyah nyah, no way, no way!" Li Zhi shook her head playfully, her ponytail swinging from side to side. She clearly wasn’t taking his words to heart.
The second day of the sports meet passed quickly.
After the evening self-study session ended, Shen Yuan and Li Zhi headed home.
"Let’s discuss this seriously." Walking down the road, Shen Yuan added a disclaimer before he began.
"Speak," the beautiful girl’s voice came from ahead of him.
Shen Yuan took a deep breath, then continued, "So, the Xishi Tofu for tomorrow is for dinner, right?"
Li Zhi thought for a moment, then nodded. "Mhm, only for dinner."
Shen Yuan turned to look at Li Zhi, a hint of anticipation in his eyes. "So, your place or mine?"
Hearing this question, Li Zhi’s brow furrowed slightly. She seemed to be in a difficult position.
After all, with their parents at home, fulfilling this bet would be rather difficult.
They both fell silent for a moment, neither knowing how to explain this to their parents.
"Why don’t you just tell them you lost a bet to me? It’s just about cooking a meal, anyway," Shen Yuan said, breaking the silence with a seemingly simple solution.
However, Li Zhi rejected his proposal without hesitation. "No way! I’m not saying I lost to you!"
"Then what do we do?" Shen Yuan asked helplessly.
Li Zhi pursed her lips, hesitated, and then asked tentatively, "Why don’t you pick something else?"
Shen Yuan thought about it and nodded. "Alright, I’ll think about it when I get back. If it really comes to it, I’ll just kick my parents out."
Li Zhi’s mouth couldn’t help but twitch when she heard this.
’What a harmonious family,’ she thought sarcastically.
However, this little headache of a problem was solved in a completely unexpected way.
On the morning of the third day of the sports meet, Li Zhi received a phone call.
After hanging up, Li Zhi looked at Shen Yuan with a strange expression.
"What’s wrong?" Shen Yuan asked, confused.
The beautiful girl’s mouth twitched. She said, "My parents went to my grandfather’s place. They’re not coming back tonight, and they told me to go to your house for dinner."
Hearing this, Shen Yuan’s eyes immediately lit up.
Seeing his reaction, Li Zhi kicked out at him. "You’re happy about this, aren’t you!"
"No, no, no. I can cook too, actually."
As he spoke, Shen Yuan’s eyes lit up again. "Hey, what do you say we make dinner together?"
Li Zhi shot him a sideways glance. "In your dreams! Dinner is just Xishi Tofu! You can treat me to a late-night snack after!"
Shen Yuan clicked his tongue. "Fair enough."
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