Chapter 41: The Indian Master-Reencarnado, parei de bajular a bela da escola, e minha deslumbrante amiga de infância me declarou seu amor.(Através dos tempos, nunca houve beleza tão incomparável.)

The most exciting event of all was the four-by-four-hundred-meter relay finals.

Zhao Guangtao was dead set on having Lin Cheng run the final leg.

Lin Cheng protested, "I want to take the lead off!"

"Bullshit! Listen to me!" Zhao Guangtao said, flashing Lin Cheng a seductive, wicked smile right after.

It gave Lin Cheng goosebumps all over.

Once Lin Cheng took his position on the track, Pang Yuanguang—Yu Yan’s so-called "boyfriend"—beckoned to him, his eyes filled with sheer murderous intent.

Is he the anchor for Class 14?

No need to ask! This was definitely Zhao Shit-tao’s doing! Just wait until I finish running!

"Bang!"

A cluster of sun-bronzed lads bolted forward, roaring at the top of their lungs...

Class 3 had a decent start; "Zhao Shit-tao" ran neck and neck with the runner from Class 14!

The second runner, Dou Guangpeng... um... didn't fall behind Class 14 by more than a few meters.

The third runner... well, the class genuinely had no one else to spare, so Zhao Guangtao, picking the tallest dwarf in the pack, assigned Zheng Qintao to the third leg...

He was a javelin thrower, too! Though slow on his feet, his greatest asset was his exceptional stamina!

Class 14’s third runner was Pimple-face—while this guy couldn't beat Lin Cheng in the four-hundred-meter dash, playing catch-up with everyone else was child's play for him!

Visible to the naked eye, the other lads were left further and further behind.

Pimple-face surged right past the first-place runner, handing the baton to Pang Yuanguang as the leader.

After the handover, Pimple-face even gave Lin Cheng an extremely smug thumbs-down gesture.

Pang Yuanguang didn't waste any time either, rocketing forward at top speed.

As a hundred-meter sprinter, his traction was so powerful it felt like he could carve a crater right out of the track.

By this time, Zheng Qintao had fallen behind by over thirty meters. Lin Cheng was so anxious he was literally jumping up and down on the spot!

He felt like running back to cover those thirty meters for Zheng Qintao himself.

Finally, Lin Cheng received the baton!

He shifted straight into fifth gear from a dead stop!

The wind whistling past his ears sounded like it was roaring in fury...

Running with all cylinders firing, Lin Cheng overtook runner after runner until he finally clawed his way up to second place.

At that moment, he was still over a hundred meters away from the finish line, and more than twenty meters behind Pang Yuanguang!

Pang Yuanguang was, after all, a hundred-meter sprinter; by exerting too much force at the start, his speed was now visibly dropping.

Gritting his teeth, Lin Cheng kept chasing!

Chasing with every ounce of his being!

"I cannot lose!"

It felt as though he wasn't just racing for a placement, but chasing down the three years of youth he had shared with Yu Yan!

He had to win it back!

Lin Cheng! You can do it!

Lin Cheng! Go for it...

The air was filled with deafening shouts!

Lin Cheng ran with everything he had, chasing relentlessly, drawing closer and closer...

With only a single body-length left between them...

Lin Cheng!

"Lin Cheng—" The cheering cries dissolved into his name alone!

Wave upon wave of sound surged higher than the last.

Right before the finish line, Lin Cheng overtook Pang Yuanguang in a final burst, becoming the first to breast the tape!

Thunderous cheers erupted from the stands...

Lin Cheng felt black spots dancing before his eyes, his body trembling uncontrollably as if it no longer belonged to him.

Zhao Guangtao and Dou Guangpeng hurriedly rushed over and half-carried him back to the class seating area.

Immediately afterward, Zhao Guangtao switched into supreme braggart mode:

"Lin-san, that epic comeback of yours was drop-dead gorgeous! And you took down the number one hundred-meter sprinter to boot. Well, come on! Shower me with praise!"

Lin Cheng snapped, "Damn it! How did you know Pang Yuanguang would be running the last leg? What if I hadn't managed to outrun him..."

Zhao Guangtao grinned. "Bro operates by the art of war. I purposely told you that you were running the anchor leg. Once that idiot found out, there was no way he'd let you off the hook."

"And you were that certain I'd win?"

"I kept you out of the one-hundred and two-hundred-meter events precisely because I was afraid a loss would wreck your mood. Doraemon was right there! Your arch-rival in love was right in front of you! It's your specialty event, the four-hundred—you had no choice but to chase him down for dear life!"

"Who's my rival in love?"

"Get lost, get lost, stop playing dumb..."

Just then, Yao Jingying walked over with a couple of bottles of cola, smiling brightly, and handed one of them straight to Zhao Guangtao!

"You guys... aren't you chasing Zhuang Shijing anymore? Now you're setting your sights on Yao Jingying? You're playing both sides, aren't you?"

"Hahahahaha!" Zhao Guangtao laughed smugly. "I could never chase Zhuang Shijing. That girl's heart has always been set entirely on you."

"..."

When the sports meeting concluded, Class 1 ranked first in overall scores, with Class 3 taking second place!

That was the prowess of an elite class—strong across the board!

Head teacher Wang Lixin praised every single participating student.

As he spoke, the conversation inevitably drifted toward Zhuang Shijing. Guardian Wang couldn't help but burst into a chuckle, and the laughter of the entire class instantly rang out to the skies.

Zhuang Shijing thought that was the end of it!

Not by a long shot!

As the student famously crowned by everyone's whispers as "the one still out on the track," she had passively become a legendary figure across Wuzhou Middle School.

Good grief, students and friends alike couldn't stop laughing the moment Zhuang Shijing's story was brought up.

Two weeks after the sports meeting ended, no matter whether she went to the cafeteria or the restroom, people would constantly approach her:

"Ah, you... you're that... the student from the track?"

This had become the hottest running joke among the Class 3 students, a meme so enduring it would probably follow her for the rest of her life!

That still wasn't the end of it!

A month after the sports meeting, just when everyone thought the matter had blown over, Wuzhou Middle School held a ceremony for the "Top Ten Campus Figures Moving Hearts"—an event that theoretically had nothing whatsoever to do with Zhuang Shijing.

She sat apathetically on the athletic field alongside four thousand other students, listening as Principal Huang Yi read out names one by one and recounted their inspiring deeds.

Stories about returning lost money, shouldering family responsibilities without letting one's studies slip, unselfish dedication to the collective, and so on.

Zhuang Shijing was a night owl and invariably drowsy during the afternoon.

Just as she was half-asleep and drifting away in a daze, she suddenly heard the principal call out:

"Zhuang Shijing!"

She bolted upright in sheer fright! The entire class whipped their heads around to stare straight at her.

Zhuang Shijing herself had no clue what she could have possibly done to move the campus...

"During the sports meeting, student Zhuang Shijing displayed the courage to challenge herself. Even when left far behind at the very tail end, she refused to give up and stubbornly completed the fifteen-hundred-meter distance. Is this not also a manifestation of the enterprising spirit?..."

Zhuang Shijing inwardly groaned: "Gee, thanks a million."

Then, Zhuang Shijing was summoned to the stage to accept a certificate of merit and a notebook.

Thunderous applause rang out once again, lingering in the air!

That bright red certificate of merit would forever be proudly hung by her mother on the pristine white walls of their home...

How wonderful!

...

School was finally dismissed.

At the school gates, Zhao Guangtao was chattering away nineteen to the dozen while Zhuang Shijing giggled merrily...

Right at the peak of Zhao Guangtao's hyperactive monologue, the soul-stirring roar of a heavy motorcycle echoed through the air. Raising their eyes, they saw an Indian Chief motorcycle embodying the raw beauty of untamed wildness.

The female rider was even more domineering, the striking contrast delivering an intense visual impact.

Under Zhao Guangtao's stunned gaze, she parked the bike, leaving even Zhuang Shijing momentarily transfixed.

"Mr. Lin, err... Lin Cheng, I've arrived." Tao Lu awkwardly corrected herself, remembering Lin Cheng had told her to use his first name at school.

"Wait a moment, they'll be coming out right away." Lin Cheng nodded.

Many students strolled out chatting and laughing, casting involuntary extra glances as they passed the fiery red heavy motorcycle.

Before long, Yu Yan and Yao Jingying, two tall and pretty girls, walked out arm-in-arm from the paved walkway, their long hair flirtatiously tossed back by the breeze.

Trailing behind them were the lingering gazes of teenage boys who desperately wanted to stare but were too shy to be caught looking.

From high school to university, art students always formed a stunning landscape on any campus.

Yu Yan slowed her pace slightly, her eyes cast "accidentally" in another direction.

Yu Yan was no ordinary girl; the moment she glanced over, several nearby boys instinctively turned their heads as well, quickly pretending to converse with their companions while keeping her in the corner of their vision.