Chapter 28: Ms. Lin, Come On!
Li Yanchen was so focused on his son that he didn't even realize when Xiao Yi tore off his name tag.
Li Zekai saw that his father had lost because of him. His smile vanished, only to be replaced by tears in his eyes.
"Daddy…," Li Zekai almost sobbed.
Li Yanchen squatted down on the ground and used both his hands to protect his youngest son's name tag. "I'll leave the rest to you. Make me proud."
"Li Yanchen lost?" Lin Wan straightened her back, very surprised when Li Yanchen 's name was announced.
'I guess a loss is a loss. If you lose earlier, you can sit and watch the others,' thought Lin Wan, feeling that losing wasn't so bad after all. 'Hah. I should congratulate the "competent" Li Yanchen on his grand loss.'
When Li Yanchen sat beside Lin Wan, she looked at him. "It's more interesting to watch the game than to run around anyway. Everyone is giving it their all but they all look so funny. Look, this is hilarious." She showed him the photos of Li Zexuan and others on her phone.
'Is she trying to comfort me?' thought Li Yanchen.
"If you don't go up and run, you will miss the fun," said Li Yanchen, noticing that her name tag was still intact.
"Oh, I am having fun." She plucked a leaf and fanned herself with it.
'Is she running away from the game?'
Li Yanchen sighed. "Did you also take ugly photos of me?"
"Huh?" Lin Wan was lost for a moment. Then she took out her phone again. "No, I don't seem to have taken any photos of you." She swiped through her photo album.
Li Yanchen leaned to look. All of the photos were of his sons. Each and every one of them. 'How did she click only their photos in the middle of so many people,' he wondered.
"It's fine as long as I'm not there." Although he said it very casually, Li Yanchen felt a little sour. 'This was her first time participating in a parent-child activity. Wasn't it worth it to record everyone?'
'Although Li Yanchen isn't a celebrity, he still carries a lot of burden no less than a celebrity. Luckily, I didn't film him,' thought Lin Wan.
"Don't worry, I've cut out all the photos I took. These photos will only be stored in my photo album and won't be released to the public," assured Lin Wan.
Li Yanchen felt disappointed. 'She doesn't have to explain it to me. She can take a photo if she wants. Also, am I not even worthy enough to be in her photo album?'
Thinking back to last night, when he hadn't even gotten a sip of the fruit tea, Li Yanchen felt bitter. Even though they weren't romantically involved and the marriage wasn't real in all the sense of the word, he felt that they could still be friends or roommates. No matter how bad the tea was, he wanted to taste it. He felt that Lin Wan didn't care about him at all, not even as a roommate. He felt pitiful.
Li Yanchen made an excuse to watch the competition and did not say anything else.
In less than half an hour, only Xiao Yi, Li Yanchen 's sons and Lin Wan were left on the field.
'Three against one," thought Li Zexuan. He felt that it would be unfair to corner him. "I will challenge Xiao Yi alone," he said to his brothers.
[This is the most exciting part. Xuanxuan, please win.]
[Xuanxuan seems to have overexerted himself. He is panting.]
[Guys, I can't watch anymore. Let me know the results later.]
"Begin," Li Zexuan shouted.
The two of them were on the balls of their feet, warming up. One hand covered the name tag and the other reached for the opponent, trying to find the right time to pounce.
After about ten minutes, the radio announced that Li Zexuan had been eliminated.
[Ah! Lost!]
[Xuanxuan, don't be sad. Xiao Yi is an adult, after all.]
The result wasn't that important to Li Zexuan. He got to participate in the competition with his family, along with his father. Losing didn't make him feel as bad as he had expected.
He even shook hands with Xiao Yi. "Congratulations! Please take it easy on my two younger brothers."
Li Zexin and Li Zekai could not believe that their elder brother had lost.
[Two cubs, just admit defeat. Stop struggling.]
[Isn't Lin Wan still safe?]
[Judge, there are still adults in the Li family who have not been eliminated.]
[Yes, there's still Lin Wan. Judge, let her go.]
"Ahhh…" Lin Wan patted her leg, anxiously. The nervousness in her eyes was clear.
"You aren't eliminated yet," encouraged Li Yanchen. "Go, get him!"
"Just accept that I am eliminated," said Lin Wan. She was going to tear off her name tag.
"Mrs. Li," said the judge, walking over. "It's your turn."
Only then did everyone notice that Lin Wan's name tag was still safe. They all looked at her. Li Zexin and Li Zekai also looked at their stepmother with hope in their eyes.
[Everyone's waiting for her to go on the field.]
[Why is she not moving at all?]
Seeing that Lin Wan had no intention of going to the field, Li Zexuan walked over to her. "Aren't you the competent champion we were looking for? It's time to show the power of your school's track and field team," he said. "Come on! We have already eliminated everyone except one."
[Hahaha, Xuanxuan is here to attack Lin Wan again.]
[Was that Lin Wan's strategy from the beginning? That she would just stay and watch and tear off her own name tag?]
[I suddenly feel that she's very smart.]
"It's already one against two now. It's bullying with numbers. It won't be good for me to go out there." She felt tired from just sitting and watching them. She regretted her words from this morning.
Fortunately, she was quite smart, and the excuse she gave wasn't bad.
But Xiao Yi shouted at them, "Auntie, I will be okay. Come at me together, all three of you!"
Lin Wan was speechless. Lin Wan had no choice but to go to the field.
Looking at the woman who was not moving at all, Xiao Yi was too embarrassed to attack first.
The four of them looked at each other for at least five minutes. The live broadcast room became silent.
[Is this really a competition?]
"Begin." The referee had been saying that for at least ten times now. But no one moved.
Li Zekai clenched his fists, but seeing how calm everyone was, he didn't dare take a step forward. He hid behind Li Zexin.
"Ms. Lin, come on!" Li Zexin reached out and pulled at Lin Wan.
Lin Wan froze. She felt too anxious. She raised a leaf to fan herself. "I can't. You do it. Good luck!"
Li Zexin was stunned. Even Xiao Yi was speechless.
The live audience was flabbergasted. Everyone was silent for almost three minutes.
"I'm not asking you to be self-sacrificing by tearing your name tag," said Li Zexin. He gritted his teeth to avoid yelling at Lin Wan.
Lin Wan knew that. She knew that everyone expected her to participate now. But she didn't want to.
"Captain of the track and field team, come on!" Li Zexuan shouted. He wanted to roll his eyes at her, but they still had to depend on Lin Wan to win. So he hoped she would take it as encouragement.
When Lin Wan heard Li Zexuan's words, her eyes narrowed. She felt like he was mocking her. If she had known things would get this out of hand, she would have clarified that she was not the captain of the track and field team, instead she was the captain of the cheerleaders who cheered for the track and field team!
Lin Wan's face darkened...
Seeing Lin Wan motionless, Li Zexin got impatient, and he attacked.
[She can't do anything at all. Because of her, they will lose a chance of winning.]
[Isn't the competition important? Isn't the honor of her family important to her?]
[Where's the sportsmanship? Lin Wan is really a useless piece of sh*t. Isn't the Festival Group afraid of gaining negative reviews because they invited such a person?]
[Don't let the children see what she's doing. They will take her example and turn out lazy.]
The fight started. Lin Wan didn't want to get involved. She could only dodge. Li Zekai took advantage of his small size and launched himself and stuck to Xiao Yi's leg. "Brother! Go!" he shouted to Li Zexin.