novelraw Chapter 51
Chapter 51
Chapter 51 Qin Qing sat in the temporary resting area for participants beside the competition field for a full half hour.
Several times, the teacher in charge of maintaining discipline wanted to approach and persuade her to return to her class’s spectator area. However, each time, the teacher was deterred by the look in the boy’s eyes, who remained by her side, his gaze carrying a hint of hostility.
In the end, it was Qin Qing herself who started to feel embarrassed.
“Wen Yufeng.”
The girl looked at the boy squatting next to her.
When Wen Yufeng raised his eyes to meet hers, she spoke softly, “Let’s go back. My foot doesn’t hurt anymore.”
Wen Yufeng didn’t rush to respond. He lowered his head, lifted the ice pack in his hand, and glanced at the girl’s ankle.
It would have been better not to look, but when he did, his barely calmed eyebrows knitted together once again.
—
Although he knew it was normal for the bruised area to look more frightening as time passed after a sprain, seeing this injury on his girl made it impossible for him to suppress his anger and concern.
Seeing Wen Yufeng’s face darken again after briefly softening, Qin Qing felt a pang of anxiety. She leaned slightly towards him.
“Sitting here is too conspicuous… All the other classes can see us. Let’s go back to our class’s spectator area.”
The expression on Wen Yufeng’s face clearly showed his disapproval, but when he saw the girl’s innocent eyes looking up at him, he found it impossible to voice his refusal.
Sighing, Wen Yufeng stood up and set the ice pack aside.
Then, he bent down toward the girl sitting on the chair.
Qin Qing, who was about to stand up, was startled and instinctively tried to move away.
“…”
Wen Yufeng frowned, stopping his motion in that bent-over position. “What are you avoiding?”
Qin Qing hesitated for a couple of seconds before stiffening her neck. “I can walk back on my own.”
Wen Yufeng asked, “Are you planning to hop back on one foot like a rabbit in front of the whole school?”
Before Qin Qing could refute, he raised an eyebrow. “Or should I just carry you back?”
Qin Qing: “…”
Why hadn’t she noticed before how much this person liked using metaphors?
But in the next second, Qin Qing snapped back to reality.
“Even hopping back would be better than being carried by you from here to the spectator stands.”
Wen Yufeng remained silent for a moment, then made a move as if to carry her.
“In that case, maybe I should just throw you over my shoulder.”
“No…”
Qin Qing hurriedly softened her voice and moved aside. When Wen Yufeng stopped his motion, she let out a small sigh of relief and then cautiously lowered her voice. “How about you just help me walk back?”
“…” Wen Yufeng gave her a black-eyed glare, unmoved. “Carrying you might be better.”
“No, no, no—” Qin Qing quickly pleaded, scrunching up her face like a withering eggplant.
After struggling internally for a long while, she finally made up her mind, squeezed her almond-shaped eyes shut, and said, “Do… do whatever you want.”
This statement could easily be misunderstood.
When Wen Yufeng raised his eyes, they were dark, but when he saw the girl sitting on the chair, looking like a small animal resigned to its fate, he couldn’t help but turn his face aside and chuckle softly.
The air fell silent for a moment.
After what seemed like an eternity with no response, Qin Qing, puzzled, was about to cautiously open her eyes when she heard a deep, slightly raspy voice in front of her.
—
“Get on.”
“…”
Qin Qing curiously opened her eyes and saw that Wen Yufeng was squatting on the ground in front of her, his back turned toward her.
“Don’t even think about putting your foot on the ground.” Wen Yufeng glanced sideways at her, his tone tinged with displeasure.
After a pause, he turned back. “I’ll carry you on my back… is that okay?”
“…”
Qin Qing couldn’t help but smile.
As she lay on the boy’s broad back, breathing in the faint scent of mint from him, she couldn’t help but think—she might be turning bad.
Why else would her heart feel like it had a spring inside, bouncing up and down, whenever she saw those subtle expressions and reactions from Wen Yufeng when he compromised or yielded to her?
…
Wen Yufeng carried Qin Qing to the narrow steps leading up to the spectator stands. Before he even stepped onto them, he spotted the discipline teacher and Mr. Shen standing there.
Both teachers looked far from pleased.
Wen Yufeng didn’t pause. He lifted his leg and carried the girl up the steps, his deep black eyes holding a slightly cool indifference.
It wasn’t until Mr. Shen spoke that he stopped.
“Wen Yufeng.”
Mr. Shen turned around, looking at the boy who had bypassed him and the discipline teacher to walk up the stairs. He frowned, “You—”
“Mr. Shen.” Wen Yufeng interrupted, stopping on the steps but not turning around. “I’ll take Qin Qing back first, then return to hear your lecture. She’s injured and can’t ‘stand with me’ for punishment.”
The teacher next to Mr. Shen was furious. “Wen Yufeng, what kind of attitude is that? Don’t you understand the importance of the situation?! If you keep this up, I’ll—”
“Mr. Du.” Mr. Shen reached out to hold back the teacher about to lose his temper. “This is my student. I’ll handle it.”
“…”
It was the first time this teacher, known as a “good-natured” teacher at the school, had seen such unarguable authority in Mr. Shen’s eyes. His body stiffened before he awkwardly nodded.
“All right then, Mr. Shen. I’ll leave it to you. Otherwise, if the higher-ups ask questions later, I’ll have a hard time explaining.”
“Don’t worry.” Mr. Shen nodded to the teacher, then continued up the steps.
As he passed Wen Yufeng, Mr. Shen sighed, “What are you waiting for? Get moving.”
Wen Yufeng didn’t say anything, lifting his leg to follow.
Back at the Class 6 spectator area, Wen Yufeng gently placed Qin Qing in the front row.
Mr. Shen sat down at the head of the first row, then waved for Wen Yufeng to come over.
Wen Yufeng glanced down at the girl. “Don’t move.”
“…”
Qin Qing looked at him with worry in her eyes but eventually nodded.
Only then did Wen Yufeng feel a bit more at ease, walking over to sit beside Mr. Shen.
“Sit down,” Mr. Shen said with a glance.
After Wen Yufeng sat down, Mr. Shen sighed, “I know you don’t like the rigid rules of the school. But you have to understand, as long as you’re a student here, you need to follow the rules.”
Wen Yufeng replied, “Even if they’re unreasonable?”
“What you see as unreasonable is only unreasonable to the individual; rules, on the other hand, are never made for just one person.”
“Is that so.”
Wen Yufeng looked up, his deep black eyes sharp. “So the rules are there for those who find them reasonable to follow, and for the minority who find them unreasonable to defy and break.”
“Do you want to be part of that minority?” Mr. Shen frowned.
Wen Yufeng chuckled, “I’m not trying to be different, Mr. Shen. I stand where I am based on whether the rule is reasonable or not, right or wrong—this answer always comes from my own conscience.”
This time, Mr. Shen fell silent for a long while.
After a long pause, he also began to laugh, though he shook his head as he did. “That’s why the teachers at school think you’re a free-spirited, willful troublemaker!”
As he spoke, Mr. Shen lifted his head to look in Qin Qing’s direction.
After watching for a few seconds, he turned back to Wen Yufeng. “Maybe pairing you two as deskmates was the right choice. You guide her in direction, and she teaches you restraint. It’s a good match.”
“…” Wen Yufeng raised an eyebrow, “I guide her in direction, Mr. Shen? Are you sure you didn’t misspeak?”
Mr. Shen chuckled.
“I may no longer fully understand you young people, but I’m still good at reading people. From the first time I saw you, I knew you had your own direction… but she’s different.”
Mr. Shen glanced at the girl sitting there and sighed, “She’s still too naive in worldly matters, and maybe because she’s so exceptional, showing her talents so early, it’s harder for her to see clearly what path she really wants to take.”
Wen Yufeng seemed to grasp something. “Is that what you want to talk about after today’s sports meet?”
Mr. Shen smiled, “At your age, someone like you, who has a clear goal and doesn’t need to be worried about, is rare; unfortunately, most teachers tend to mix up this distinction.”
…
All the events of the sports meet concluded around the time classes were dismissed at noon.
After the other classes left, only the students of Class 6 remained in the spectator stands, not a single one missing.
—Even Wen Yufeng sat beside Qin Qing in the front row.
Mr. Shen, the homeroom teacher, leaned against the railing, facing his students.
Unlike usual, Mr. Shen’s face, typically adorned with a smile, now bore a calm and composed expression, devoid of any trace of humor.
“The sports meet is over, and next Monday is the monthly exam. The results will be out within three days, and during those three days, you’ll need to submit your choices for arts or science to me.”
“…”
Perhaps because of the gravity of the topic, the students listened in silence, barely daring to breathe. After exchanging a few glances, they all turned their attention back to Mr. Shen.
Mr. Shen continued, “I know that most of you have already made your decisions after discussions and research with your parents or other elders.”
He paused briefly, his gaze sweeping across the students. “I also know that most of you in this class are top students. Your elders, considering your future education and career prospects, have guided you to choose the science track.”
At this point, many students displayed complicated emotions, clearly identifying with what Mr. Shen had just described.
Mr. Shen’s words, with their deeper implications, left them puzzled.
As their gazes focused on him, Mr. Shen gave them a gentle smile.
He waved his hand, “Don’t get me wrong. I’m not standing here today to tell you whether to choose arts or science, nor am I here to say which is superior, more outstanding, or more worthy of following.”
“I just want to say— I hope my students choose arts or science not because your parents or teachers told you that science is better than arts, not because of the notion that ‘top students should go into science,’ not because of any societal expectations of ‘what I should do’—”
Mr. Shen paused, his voice growing slightly louder.
At the same time, his hand gripped the railing tightly, his veins bulging. “I hope your choice is made after you’ve understood what you truly want, a choice you won’t blame anyone else for later, one that follows your heart.”
Mr. Shen’s voice abruptly stopped, his face flushed from the long speech.
After a long pause, he slowly exhaled the breath he had been holding.
“Do what you truly want to do—something you’ll dedicate your life to without complaint or slackening.”
A slow smile spread across his face, as gentle as usual.
“Only then, on some night years from now when a memory suddenly resurfaces, will you not regret having wasted the best years of your life, don’t you think?”