"Zhijing, hasn't the competition started yet?" When Nian Suian came over, she saw Gu Zhijing crouching to one side with Qu Zizhou, while Qi Anlu stood behind them.
"Not yet," Gu Zhijing lifted his hand to check his watch. "Still about ten minutes to go."
"Shouldn't you be warming up? If you keep crouching like that, your legs will go numb."
Jiang Yun walked over and kicked her son's bottom, "Exactly. Get up now. If you're going to compete, do it properly. Don't be so lackadaisical."
Nian Suian noticed Qi Anlu standing to the side and asked him, "Don't you have a competition today?"
"No, mine are all tomorrow. Today I'm just here as support for these two."
Nian Suian nodded and pulled out a small banner she had prepared earlier from her bag, unfolding it in front of Gu Zhijing.
[Wishing Gu Zhijing a sky-high jump!]
"How is it? I prepared it especially for you."
"Step-mom, can we keep it low-key?"
"Why?" Being low-key wasn't Gu Zhijing's style.
"I'm not good at high jump. I'm just here to make up the numbers..." The pressure of 'sky-high jump' was too much. If he got eliminated in the first round, he'd be laughed at.
"It's okay," Nian Suian put away the banner and pulled out a sash from her bag.
[Second in competition, first in handsomeness!]
"How about this?"
Gu Zhijing was shocked. No wonder his step-mom had brought such a big bag today.
Nearby classmates had already started teasing.
"Gu Zhijing, your mom really dotes on you."
Qi Anlu also said, half-jokingly and half-sincerely, "Zhijing, I'm really envious of you."
Gu Zhijing had initially wanted to maintain his cool persona, but he couldn't help the smile that crept onto his face.
However, he still had to act a bit tsundere, "Who else would she dote on if not me?"
Seeing this, Qu Zizhou also whined to Jiang Yun, "Mom, I want one too."
"How about a chestnut to the head, want that?"
"..."
Jiang Yun also said to Nian Suian, "You really put your heart into this, even more than me, his birth mother."
Nian Suian shook her head, "I just bought these things online. It didn't take much effort."
"Even if you bought them, you still had to think of it."
After the competition officially began, Nian Suian indeed saw that Gu Zhijing wasn't exaggerating when he said he wasn't good at high jump.
His form looked more like a two-footed hurdle jump. Luckily, his long legs allowed him to clear the initial low heights.
Bad news: Gu Zhijing couldn't high jump
Good news: Not many of the other competitors could either
High jump isn't a sport that's regularly taught in PE classes, unless you specifically train for it. So everyone's form was all over the place, none particularly standard. Gu Zhijing, relying on his long legs, somehow made it to the finals.
Before the finals began, Gu Zhijing finally remembered his father.
"Where's my dad?"
"He went to a meeting. Butler Su probably went with him."
"That's fine... it's better if he's not here, otherwise he'd just laugh at me."
High jumping with all heart but no technique couldn't carry him much further.
In the first round of the finals, Gu Zhijing was honorably eliminated. Nian Suian still applauded for him and solemnly hung the sash on him.
"Let's go see how Qu Zizhou is doing. Wonder how many rounds he's lasted."
Qi Anlu said, "I just went to check. Their finals haven't started yet. There were quite a few fouls at the beginning, so they had to restart several times."
Gu Zhijing was quite the social butterfly and didn't mind others seeing the sash hanging on him. When people looked at him, he even stood up straighter.
They arrived just in time. As soon as the three of them walked over, Qu Zizhou was eliminated.
Qu Zizhou seemed unbothered and came over to ask Gu Zhijing to lend him the "First in handsomeness" sash to wear.
"No way!"
"Mom, buy me one of these for next year's sports meet."
"Alright, I'll buy you one."
"Buy me two."
"Don't push your luck!"
The brothers' competitions ended within the first hour, earning zero points for their class.
They hadn't walked two steps before receiving a message from Chu Mingyan.
"Mingyan's calling us to play basketball."
"Basketball?" Gu Zhijing was confused. "I thought he'd be off trying to impress Xu Yuan."
"He'd like to, but she's not interested. Come on, let's go."
Gu Zhijing called out to Nian Suian, "Step-mom, I'm off to play basketball. Feel free to rest or watch the competitions, whatever you prefer. Remember to wait for me to go home together in the evening."
"I got it. Do you want to take this off?" Nian Suian pointed at his chest.
Gu Zhijing puffed out his chest, "I'm not taking it off! This is my medal of honor."
"...Suit yourself."
Chu Mingyan did want to chat with Xu Yuan, but today Xu Licheng felt an unprecedented sense of crisis. Chu Mingyan found that if he got within ten steps of Xu Yuan, her uncle's eyes would glare at him. He had no choice but to retreat regretfully.
This time, Xu Licheng truly hadn't intended to seek out Cen Xi. The school was crowded during the sports meet, and he was also worried about affecting Xu Yuan.
But fate works in mysterious ways. Just as he thought he wouldn't go looking for her, they ended up meeting.
Xu Yuan had been called away by her friends to buy milk tea from the cafeteria. Xu Licheng had promised her he absolutely wouldn't bother Cen Xi, so he was just wandering around the school alone.
Cen Xi was returning from taking a student with a sprained ankle to the infirmary when she saw Xu Licheng.
She paused, but eventually nodded at him and walked past.
"Have you ever regretted breaking up with me?"
Cen Xi's steps were nailed to the spot by his voice. She looked around before answering, "No."
"But I have."
Cen Xi couldn't help but mock, "What do you have to regret? Weren't you the one who initiated the breakup?"
"That's because I didn't realize I had fallen in love with you then. Otherwise, how could I have suggested breaking up? Actually, I regretted it the very next day. I went to your house to find you, but you had already left. All these years, I've been looking for you."
Cen Xi almost laughed from anger. She hadn't wanted to bring up these old matters, "How novel. You were with me for two years without knowing you loved me? Were you just playing house? Why did you suddenly remember to find me now? Did your princess go abroad again?"
Xu Licheng hurriedly explained, "Of course not. I've long had no relationship with her. Besides, she's already married."
"Oh! So she's married, no wonder you came looking for me. What does it matter if she's married? People can still divorce. If not, you could always be a Male Mistress!"
"Xixi..."
"Can you not call me that? From now on, you're just Xu Yuan's guardian to me. The only reason I'm standing here talking to you is out of consideration for Xu Yuan. You probably don't want your niece to know her uncle is a scumbag who can't appreciate what he has, right?"
With that, Cen Xi walked away without looking back.
Xixi? Xixi. How disgusting.
