Chapter 44.1

Event selection day was on Wednesday. After a week of training that seemed pointless, the students who had been pressured into signing up gathered at the sports field, feeling dejected and nervous.

Of the three events Jiang Zhihuo signed up for, the 3000-meter long-distance run didn’t need a selection because runners just went straight to the race. This event really tested the physical limits of today’s mostly inactive high school students, and nobody wanted to join. Every class had to push or reward someone to take part, but even then, it was hard to find volunteers. If people had to choose again, probably no one would want to do it.

The relay race was a 100-meter sprint. As soon as the starting gun went off, Jiang Zhihuo used his height and long legs to race ahead like a rocket, leaving the other studious students behind.

He didn’t watch the others running the 100 meters and didn’t worry about who was behind him. Since his two events were close together, he hurried over to the long jump right after finishing.

In the long jump, everyone had three tries, and their best result was taken as their final score. The top ten performers would go on to compete in the upcoming interschool sports meet.

After his three jumps, Jiang Zhihuo didn’t check his score. He had done his best and felt confident that he wouldn’t fail. He looked around the field and saw participants everywhere but couldn’t spot Yan Mu, so he took out his phone to look for him.

Jiang Zhihuo: Yan-ge.

Jiang Zhihuo: Where are you?

Ever since they agreed to ease up and be friends, Jiang Zhihuo stopped hiding. He was open and straightforward and sometimes even invited Yan Mu to eat in the cafeteria. Whenever the people who shipped them saw this, they would get excited—though they kept it to themselves in person. As soon as the meal ended, they would go online to gush about it.

However, the girls’ stares were so direct and intense that it seemed like they wanted to push the two of them together. There was a time when Jiang Zhihuo felt so uncomfortable under their gaze that he even made an alt account to try to steer the forum’s atmosphere back on track.

1068th comment: Everyone, please calm down. The school bully Jiang and the God of Learning Yan are just friends—upright, straightforward friends! Eating a meal together isn’t unusual, right? Can we all look at their pure friendship from a relatively innocent perspective?

As soon as he said that, a group of people immediately shut him down.

Can the simple excuse of ‘pure friendship’ really stop girls from shipping CP?

Impossible!

1069th comment: We never said they weren’t friends. We didn’t say anything at all. We were only whining and screaming the whole time, weren’t we?

1070th comment: Absolutely! They’re friends in real life, and we’re just shipping them, not making it into something serious. Relax, you can treat it as a parallel world. Doesn’t that make it feel better?

1071st comment: By the way, our thread has been around for a while and hasn’t been deleted. The school bully Jiang and the God of Learning Yan must have seen it by now, right? They don’t seem to be reacting at all. Does that mean they’ve tacitly approved of our CP shipping?

1072nd comment: Omg girl, you caught the best moment! Write it down, take notes! How are you not shipping them already? Start shipping NOW! Falling for MuHuo is totally worth it!

江知火：……

Jiang Zhihuo: ……

With a face full of disbelief, Jiang Zhihuo showed these comments to Yan Mu.

In reality, he should have tried to avoid the topic of shipping himself and Yan Mu, considering they were both boys. It wasn’t something they should even bring up because of their gender, but Jiang Zhihuo hadn’t thought it through. His hand moved faster than his brain, and before he realized it, he had already clicked on the post and sent his reply.

Yan Mu looked completely calm, merely gave a faint glance, and twisted open the newly bought sports drink for Jiang Zhihuo. “That’s precisely why we can’t delete it. If we delete it, people will say we’re feeling guilty.”

“If we don’t delete it, everyone will think it’s true.” Jiang Zhihuo said, tilting his head back to take a sip of the drink. He glanced over and added, “By the way, what will you do if your white moonlight finds out? How will you explain that you and your friend are, like… gay together¹[T/N: 搞基 is slang for being in a gay relationship, often used teasingly or provocatively in fan contexts]?”

A pair of dark eyes gazed directly at him, their focus tracing along his sharp nose as Yan Mu asked, “What do you want to say?”

Jiang Zhihuo was momentarily taken aback by Yan Mu’s gaze. Yan Mu’s eyes were too notable; the deep, rich color resembled melted caramel, drawing people in when observed up close.

He didn’t know what made him think this way, but as he tightened the bottle cap, he casually tossed the drink into the air and said, “You can just say… an ex-boyfriend. Studying was too tiring, so I dated someone to relax a bit. He’s too good-looking; only the school’s popular guy could match him. We were together for a while.”

After saying this, Jiang Zhihuo realized the sentence was quite ambiguous. Only by shipping a CP and it turned him into an ex-boyfriend.

Yan Mu didn’t seem puzzled by this statement. Instead, he asked, “And what about the omega?”

As the forum discussions continued, the unnamed omega gradually faded into obscurity. It wasn’t their fault; everyone was aware of their existence, but aside from that midterm exam incident, Yan Mu never mentioned them again, as if they had vanished from the world.

Jiang Zhihuo casually replied, “Just go with what the forum says. Childhood friends, grew up together, family-arranged marriage, irresistible attraction, love triangle, tragic ending.”

Yan Mu reached out and ruffled Jiang Zhihuo’s hair.

Jiang Zhihuo: “?”

Is it really okay to just randomly touch a boy’s head? Just because you’re two or three centimeters taller, you think you can do whatever you want!

Jiang Zhihuo looked up, ready to glare at him, but the moment his eyes met Yan Mu’s, he froze.

He wasn’t sure if it was his imagination, but Jiang Zhihuo thought he saw a hint of amusement on that usually icy, expressionless face.

The once tight, pale lips seemed to curve upward ever so slightly, as if the ice and snow had finally melted away.

Jiang Zhihuo held his phone and waited for a while. When Yan Mu didn’t respond, he went to the restroom to wash his face, since he’d gotten pretty dusty playing in the sandpit. The moment he finished cleaning up, his phone screen lit up.

Yan Mu: Gym.

The high jump was originally scheduled to take place on the sports field, but because there were too many people, it was moved to the gym at the last minute. Jiang Zhihuo was busy with the long jump when the change happened and didn’t notice.

When he stepped into the gym, a scream pierced his ears.

Jiang Zhihuo covered his ears and squeezed through the crowd.

The gym was brightly lit.

The rules for the high jump selection were the same as those at the sports meet. The height increased by five centimeters each round, and each participant had two attempts.

There were no other participants left on the field; at this height, only Yan Mu could clear the bar.

Jiang Zhihuo squeezed his way to the front row just as Yan Mu stepped back, took a running start, accelerated, and cleared the bar in one fluid, effortless motion. The gym lights shone directly on his sharp brows and eyes, highlighting a cool, austere presence that was impossible to look away from.

The referee blew the whistle, recorded his score, and walked over to ask if he wanted to keep jumping.

Yan Mu fiddled with his collar, his fingers lightly tugging at the neckline, and as he spoke, his Adam’s apple moved up and down.

His Adam’s apple was already pronounced, and set against his fingers, it had an inexplicable appeal.

Jiang Zhihuo didn’t realize his gaze was lingering from across the gym, fixated on Yan Mu’s Adam’s apple. One thought filled his mind—

Back when they lived together, every morning he would awaken to that prominent and enticing sight.

Em……

Jiang Zhihuo shook his head, trying to banish those images from his mind. The referee was talking to Yan Mu, seeming to hope he would keep jumping, but Yan Mu simply said, “No need.”

Those two words conveyed two meanings.

He could keep jumping, but he didn’t want to.

Everyone else was too weak; it wasn’t intriguing.

Perhaps it was because the previous high jump had been so impressive that Jiang Zhihuo’s thoughts began to wander, and suddenly, he remembered something.

Yan Mu can do high jump?

Did he try to show off in front of an expert yesterday?

The tall boy stood out in the crowd. After registering his name, Yan Mu immediately spotted Jiang Zhihuo and walked over to pick up his jacket.

Jiang Zhihuo tossed him a sports drink and gave his shoulder a light punch, exclaiming, “What the hell, you can jump!”

Yan Mu replied calmly, “I never said I couldn’t.”

Jiang Zhihuo pretended to be offended. “Then why did you ask me to teach you?!”

Yan Mu: “To give you a chance to show off.”

Jiang Zhihuo clasped his fists together. “Thanks, that’s pretty awesome.”

There was a ‘click’ sound by his ear.

Jiang Zhihuo had grown accustomed to that sound; it was obvious that someone had intended to take a picture but had forgotten to turn their phone into silent mode.

As expected, a female junior behind them held up her phone, looking embarrassed when she accidentally met the boys’ eyes through the screen. After a few seconds, she quickly put her phone away and blurted out, “Ah, sorry!”

Jiang Zhihuo himself didn’t mind, but the young master beside him might. Usually, there wasn’t much they could say when someone took photos in secret. Now, though, it was happening right in front of them.

Just as he was about to reassure the young master, Jiang Zhihuo felt a hand on his shoulder. Then Yan Mu’s voice sounded. “It’s fine; you can take the picture.”

The girl froze for a moment, her trembling hand shaking even more as she snapped several pictures. Her ears reddened, and then she hurried out of the gym.

Jiang Zhihuo was surprised that Yan Mu would actually say something like that, but the young master looked completely unconcerned, as if nothing had happened. The girl got what she wanted and scurried out, while Yan Mu blended casually into the crowd as he left the gym.

The selection of events took the entire afternoon, with many results announced on the spot. That evening, the participant lists were published, and each event’s supervising teacher set up a chat group for the participants.

For individual events like the long jump, 3000 meters, and high jump, creating a group was mostly a formality. But for relays, which relied on teamwork, group chats became essential for building rapport and coordinating together.

In the third senior year, thirty-two students participated in the 100-meter relay, divided into four teams of eight, each team consisting of four boys and four girls.

The supervising teacher added all eight team members to a group chat.

Lincheng No. 1 High School Senior Year Group A for the 8X100 Relay.

Supervising teacher: Hello everyone, welcome to the Relay Group A chat. The relay is all about teamwork, and this time, we’re representing our school in the competition. I hope everyone will communicate openly and train together. If you need any technical guidance, please feel free to mention me in the group.

When Jiang Zhihuo saw the group notification, he was on a break from his part-time job at the bar, leaning against the counter and glancing at his phone.

After the supervising teacher’s message, the other members took the initiative to greet each other.

– Hello, everyone, I’m Liu Yaqi from Class 3; you can call me Qiqi.

– I’m Hou Jue from Class 2.

– I’m Xiao Ka!

……

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  [T/N: 搞基 is slang for being in a gay relationship, often used teasingly or provocatively in fan contexts]