361. Sports Day
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Honestly, Chen Yao couldn’t care less about anyone pursuing Lin Nan.
I mean, these days Lin Nan was pretty gorgeous, and it’d be weird if no one was after a beautiful girl like her.
What worried Chen Yao was that this silly girl Lin Nan might get bamboozled and end up counting money, just like back when he tricked her into staying at his house for half a month by claiming the roads in her village were blocked.
If it weren’t for that stunt, Lin Nan probably wouldn’t even be his girlfriend now.
But then there’s this Chen Jiang…
Chen Yao had never heard of this guy from Lin Nan’s mouth. He guessed they were just acquaintances and there weren’t any chat records between them.
The next day before class, he watched Lin Nan cheerfully apply a thin layer of lipstick, which made his mood even worse.
Lin Nan was bound to notice that the lipstick wasn’t a gift from him, and when that happened, it’d probably be three days of porridge for him.
He should find a chance to come clean before things got messy.
“Hey…”
“Pretty, right? Liu Xuefei told me this shade suits me best yesterday!” Lin Nan happily turned her head, “She’s super envious of me! My uncle hasn’t even given her a gift since they got together!”
Chen Yao, interrupted, nodded awkwardly, his expression shifting like a chameleon, but he finally managed to summon a small smile: “Yeah, very suitable, very pretty.”
“Let’s go!” Lin Nan grabbed the textbooks she needed for the morning and dashed out the door.
Chen Yao sighed helplessly, frowning as he contemplated how to fix his lie.
Maybe he could secretly pay back that Chen Jiang guy for the lipstick, and then he could confidently tell Lin Nan he bought it!
Lin Nan was clearly in high spirits today, but being the first time she wore lipstick out, she felt a bit self-conscious, turning back to ask Chen Yao from time to time: “Is it really pretty?”
“Super pretty!”
“I still feel a bit uneasy…” Lin Nan noticed some passersby staring at her, quickly stepping back to hide behind Chen Yao.
She then complained: “Why’d you buy me lipstick? I normally don’t use stuff like this! But since it’s bought, not using it feels like a waste of money.”
“Then how about I treat you to a big meal next time? The kind where it costs at least a thousand per person?”
Lin Nan’s eyes lit up: “Isn’t that way too extravagant?”
“Just once in a while! I’ll save up a bit, and treat you when I get the chance.” After hesitating for a moment, Chen Yao tentatively asked, “Who’s Chen Jiang?”
Lin Nan was a bit slow to respond, thinking Chen Yao was joking with her: “Chen Jiang? The fathead fish? Did you grow gills?”
“No, I meant his name is just Chen Jiang…” Chen Yao couldn’t help but laugh and cry at the same time; of course he also knew about the fathead fish.
“His name is Chen Jiang…” Lin Nan suddenly recalled this memorable name, but still confused, asked, “Do you know him?”
“Yeah, I know him.” Chen Yao continued lying, “I heard he knows you too. How do you know him?”
Lin Nan pondered for a moment, recalling last year’s events before sharing with Chen Yao: “Last semester, I was working part-time on Student Street, handing out flyers at the red light. There was a traffic coordinator uncle nearby, and we got familiar after seeing each other a few times…”
Chen Yao gasped in shock—this uncle actually gave Lin Nan lipstick! What a disgrace!
“Chen Jiang is his son…” Lin Nan observed Chen Yao’s expression changing multiple times in a short span and felt a bit puzzled, not understanding what was up with Chen Yao today.
She recounted everything about Chen Jiang during their walk, finishing as they sat down in the classroom.
“Back then, he thought I was on a blind date with him and I told him I was a guy.” Lin Nan recalled Chen Jiang’s expression at the time, bursting into laughter, “He looked so dark after hearing that!”
At that time, Lin Nan already mentally leaned towards being female but still considered herself a guy.
Listening to this, Chen Yao frowned deeply. So, that Chen Jiang thought Lin Nan was a dude but still gifted expensive stuff? Another one who doesn’t care about gender and just likes pretty faces!
If he had known, he would have used Lin Nan’s phone to fish for information from that Chen Jiang yesterday.
More and more students filtered into the classroom, making it a bit crowded for the big Tuesday class.
Just when the teacher was about to call the roll, Tu Junhui and Xiong Da ambled in.
As soon as they took their seats, Tu Junhui began teasing Lin Nan: “The forum is starting to select this year’s school flower and school hunk! Are you planning to participate? With your stunning looks, if you don’t make the top three, there’s definitely some under-the-table dealings!”
Lin Nan couldn’t be bothered with this guy, but she noticed Tu Junhui’s surprised look: “How come you’re wearing lipstick now? Getting more feminine?”
“Chen Yao bought it for me, so I just put it on…” Lin Nan asked a bit nervously, “Is it bad?”
“Pretty! Just feels a bit off.” Tu Junhui cheerfully pulled out his phone and opened the forum. “Seriously, they’re selecting school flower and school hunk! It’s organized by the school this time, and you have to register. The top three get to participate in a promotional video.”
Lin Nan was a bit amazed; in previous years, the selection was just a way for bored students to pass the time. This year, the school was actually involved?
“I already knew about it. My Lin Nan wouldn’t participate in such activities.” Chen Yao scoffed. “Just look at the school flower from the neighboring school. She’s barely passable; who can be actually pretty? Probably all rigged voting anyway.”
Xiong Da agreed: “If it was the forum’s spontaneous selection, it would have been fairer, but now that the school’s organizing it with rewards, a lot of people are probably planning to get bots to cheat.”
“Then it’s meaningless.” Tu Junhui muttered, “What about talking about the upcoming Sports Day instead?”
“Isn’t it typically held in the fall?” Just as Lin Nan finished her sentence, she remembered that the school hadn’t held a Sports Day last semester.
Mentioning this, Chen Yao perked up; he was the sports committee member of the class, so naturally, he was also in charge of Sports Day registrations. He pulled out his phone, opened the form the school had sent, and passed it to Tu Junhui while explaining to Lin Nan: “They said it’s to strengthen physical exercise after the pandemic and improve physical fitness or whatever, but I just think the school leaders forgot about it last semester.”
Then he smiled at Tu Junhui: “Since you brought it up, you might as well participate! I see you’re so plump, running and jumping is obviously out of the question, but shot put is definitely yours! Come on, support the hard work of your sports committee member; after all, I’m your roommate.”
“Xiong Da, why don’t you try running? You’d definitely get a place in the three-thousand-meter race!”
Xiong Da turned pale; as a total couch potato, his stamina was probably on par with Lin Nan’s. Last time in the physical fitness test, he ranked third to last in the thousand-meter run, ending up walking leisurely with a group.
Tu Junhui, unwilling to give up, tried to drag others into the fray: “Lin Nan is actually your real roommate now! Why don’t you invite her?”
“Now that’s living together, it’s not the same.” Chen Yao defended himself vigorously.
Lin Nan didn’t argue, curiously peering at the form on the phone. She noticed a few classmates’ names were already filled in, with Chen Yao’s name being the first, signed up for the 400 meters, 100-meter relay, and the three-thousand meters.
Honestly, she wasn’t all that interested in sports, and there would definitely be a lot of people watching, so she yawned and turned her head to rest her chin on the desk, ready to catch a few Z’s.
