volume 1 / Chapter 82: Run, Huā Yínyín, Run!

The lunch break today was shorter than usual—probably because there were still many events left on the schedule.

Especially the track events. The morning had been for the preliminaries, and now the afternoon would see the finals for all running competitions.

First up was the girls’ 100-meter dash.

Eight girls, each representing one of the eight groups, were set to race for the top spot.

From Class 2, Grade 10, only Wáng Jiālè had made it to the finals. She now stood at her starting position, visibly nervous.

“Jiālè——Go for it——!!!” Mo Xiǎoxiào cupped her hands like a makeshift megaphone and shouted at the top of her lungs.

Of course, with the noise of the entire field, even someone on the judges' stand might not catch what she was saying—let alone Wáng Jiālè, down on the track.

“Here, use this instead,” Yè Wēn came up the stairs just then and handed Lǐ Wǎnyán a real loudspeaker.

It was one of those white plastic ones you often saw street vendors use—what they called a portable amplifier.

It wasn’t as loud as the school’s official PA system, but it was plenty loud enough for someone on the track to hear.

The finals felt noticeably more serious than the heats. Even the countdown was different—Yè Rán counted down from ten this time. When he reached one, the starter pistol fired.

Startled by the sudden bang, Wáng Jiālè flinched. Her palms were slick with sweat, and she nearly slipped and fell right out of the gate.

She barely managed to keep her balance and immediately sprinted forward.

Though she had only lost a single second, in a 100-meter dash, even one second could be the difference between winning and losing.

This wasn’t a long-distance race—it was a fight for every second.

“Ahh—she messed up,” Mo Xiǎoxiào frowned.

“Mmm… a hundred meters goes by in a flash,” Lǐ Wǎnyán nodded. “That false start’s going to cost her.”

“Wáng——Jiā——lè——! You can do it——!” Mò Xuěyáo grabbed the loudspeaker and shouted toward the track.

By now, the race was already halfway through.

Wáng Jiālè pushed forward with everything she had, but she was still just in the middle of the pack.

Leading the group was a girl from the school’s athletic training team.

“Yes! Let’s go Jiālè——!!” Mò Xiǎoxiào yelled into the loudspeaker again.

Gritting her teeth, Wáng Jiālè found a burst of speed and pushed herself forward, catching up to second place.

If it hadn’t been for that stumble at the start, she might’ve matched the pace of the girl from the training team…

The 100 meters flew by in a blink. Wáng Jiālè ran a few extra steps from momentum before finally coming to a stop.

She didn’t seem too out of breath, still looking composed.

“Whew… That was close——” Back at the viewing stand, she took a deep breath. “Well, second place isn’t bad.”

“Not bad at all,” the other girls quickly chimed in to comfort her.

“You were up against a training team athlete. Plus, you lost a second at the start,” Lǐ Wǎnyán said, handing her a bottle of salty soda water. “Here, drink something.”

“Salt soda, huh… I was hoping for Coke.”

“There’s Coke too,” Lǐ Wǎnyán smiled, bending down to retrieve a bottle from a crate nearby.

“Hehe, nothing beats an ice-cold Coke!” Wáng Jiālè grinned, already tossing her earlier disappointment to the wind.

Mò Xuěyáo wanted Coke too.

But that was for athletes.

Unless there were leftovers after the sports meet ended, she’d be lucky to get even one bottle.

Well, salty soda wasn’t bad either.

It was much cheaper than Coke and didn’t taste as good, but hey, it was still carbonated.

As the top three finishers for each event were decided, time ticked past 3:30 in the afternoon. In another hour, it would be time to wrap up.

Yǔkōng High School always dismissed students at 4:30. Unlike other schools that dragged it out to 5:00 or even 5:30, here the timing was tight.

Whether that was good or bad was debatable, but at least students didn’t have to worry about walking home in the dark—even in winter.

The highlight of the sports meet was coming up: the boys’ and girls’ 1500m and 1000m long-distance races.

And finally, the grand finale—mixed-gender class relay races.

“Hurry, hurry! Our grade’s girls' 1000m is about to start! Let’s go cheer them on!” Wáng Jiālè bounced excitedly, patting Mò Xuěyáo’s back.

“Let’s go~ It’s the last event anyway. Time to cheer them on from down there~!” Mo Xiǎoxiào agreed.

“Yeah, they can hear us better if we’re closer.” Lǐ Wǎnyán picked up the loudspeaker and led the way down the stairs.

The girls’ 1000-meter race didn’t use assigned lanes. All the runners started on the same line, and once the race began, they could switch lanes as long as they didn’t obstruct others.

It wasn’t strictly by-the-book, but hey—it was just a school sports meet. Participation mattered more than rules.

Two girls from Class 2 were in this event: the tall, long-legged Qiūyuán Líng, and someone Mò Xuěyáo was very familiar with—

The one she had shared a bed with during military training… Huā Yínyín.

Come to think of it, Huā Yínyín was even shorter than Mò Xuěyáo.

“Why on earth would Huā Yínyín sign up for the 1000m?” Mò Xuěyáo muttered.

“She didn’t have a choice,” Lǐ Wǎnyán explained. “All the other events were full when she signed up.”

“Poor girl,” Mò Xuěyáo chuckled, but there was a trace of glee in her voice.

Huā Yínyín stood at the start line with a miserable face, clearly dreading this.

“Ughhh—why me?! Why the 1000 meters?!” she groaned.

“Good luck,” Mò Xuěyáo smirked and gave her a thumbs-up. “Believe in yourself.”

“Believe in what?! I barely passed the 1000m during the high school entrance exam!”

“Still, good luck.” Mò Xuěyáo kept smiling.

“Do your best~!” Wáng Jiālè waved. “Wēnwen’s delayed ice cream order—she sent some boys to buy it. You can have one when you’re done!”

“Fighting!” Mo Xiǎoxiào and her sister Mo Zhúyōu also cheered her on.

…Though the glint in their eyes was more of watching-the-show than actual encouragement.

Notably, no one was cheering for Qiūyuán Líng.

Probably because no one thought she’d have trouble with this.

Thankfully, Lǐ Wǎnyán remembered her duties and walked over to pin down the flapping race number on Qiūyuán Líng’s back to prevent it from becoming wind resistance or falling off mid-run.

Gunfire rang out. The runners took off.

As expected, Huā Yínyín immediately fell into the back half of the pack, and the gap between her and the front runners widened with each lap.

Once again, the girl from the training team used her athletic edge to surge ahead. She moved like a gazelle—so graceful it barely looked like effort.

“Run faster, Huā Yínyín——!” Mò Xuěyáo yelled gleefully. “Or the first-place girl’s gonna lap you!”

Even in the middle of her struggle, Huā Yínyín found time to roll her eyes—her steps starting to wobble.

“Let’s go!” Even some boys came running alongside, shouting support.

“Come on, Huā Yínyín!”

“Whoa, amazing!”

Amazing?

That word made Mò Xuěyáo pause.

Then she looked closer—and realized those boys weren’t here to cheer.

They were using it as an excuse to get up close and observe something.

Observe what?

Huā Yínyín’s bouncing chest as she ran.

Normally hidden by school uniforms, her, uh, assets were now fully on display.

Huā Yínyín might be proud of her figure on a regular day—but right now? It was just a burden.

She was nearly out of breath.

By contrast, tall and flat-chested Qiūyuán Líng had a major advantage. She was even chasing right behind the training team girl.

Less wind resistance, less weight. Simple physics.

Now only those two remained in the lead. Everyone else was far behind.

Qiūyuán Líng wasn’t even part of the training team—so keeping up this well was impressive.

She even looked like she was holding back.

Ironically, no one was watching the real race at the front. All eyes were on the struggling Huā Yínyín.

Even mid-run, she realized what was going on and flipped the boys off.

That got a chorus of snickers from the sidelines.

There’s a saying about “laughing like blossoms swaying in the breeze,” but Mò Xuěyáo thought… maybe Huā Yínyín could be described as running like swaying blossoms.

Hmm… swaying like blossoms?

If she used that idiom like this, would the Chinese teacher die of rage?

“Look, look!” Wáng Jiālè tapped Mò Xuěyáo’s shoulder, pointing to the final half-lap where Qiūyuán Líng and the training girl were now neck-and-neck.

“Go Qiūyuán Líng!” Mò Xuěyáo finally snapped out of it and cheered loudly.

The training team girl made her move first, pushing ahead with full power.

But Qiūyuán Líng wasn’t backing down—she accelerated harder, overtaking her with a narrow lead and crossing the finish line first.

“Who won?” Mo Xiǎoxiào squinted, unsure.

“Maybe it was a tie?” she guessed again, not having caught the finish clearly.

When the class rep came back with the results, they all jumped up in joy—Mò Xuěyáo included.

“Qiūyuán Líng got first place! And she broke the school record for the 1000m girls’ run!”

“Incredible!”

Mò Xuěyáo let out a genuine sigh of admiration.

Being tall really was a gift—especially in sports...

Meanwhile, poor Huā Yínyín still had half a lap left to go.

At least she had a horde of boys cheering her on. She probably wasn’t that bored.