A Young Woman's Heart

"What's wrong, Lao Lü? Why aren't you hanging out with Wang Jiale anymore?" Li Hongran put her hand on his shoulder. "She's always out playing with her best friend. You should try harder and at least get her to spend some time with you!"

"Ahem." Lu Bolun coughed awkwardly a few times. "Uh, it's nothing... Come on, let's play cards..."

Wang Jiale was leaning against the window closest to the podium, staring blankly at the blackboard behind him. When he noticed Lu Bolun's gaze, he slightly turned his eyes and gently patted Mo Xueyao's shoulder beside him.

"Xiao Yao".

"Hmm?" Mo Xueyao was listening to Mr. Xue and Duanmu Ji discuss international affairs—unexpectedly, Duanmu Ji, who was usually not very talkative, would offer some rather reasonable insights on this matter.

"Want to go downstairs and buy something to eat?"

"Okay, let's go." Mo Xueyao rubbed her stomach. "Just the two of us?"

"Okay, let's go."

Every year during the school sports meet, Yukong High School invites some snack shops near the school or owners who usually set up stalls at the school gate to come to the school to provide various food.

Common items include steamed buns and shumai, while less common items include even fried insects.

These past two days, the school cafeteria hasn't been serving very lavish meals. Lunch will just be three different flavors of steamed buns—you can get more if you're not full, but you can't waste them.

Many students don't want to eat the steamed buns provided by the school, so they buy other snacks instead.

There are quite a few food options available to students, such as egg pancakes, fried rice dumplings, and scallion pancakes.

"What does Xiaoyao want to eat?"

"Me? Hmm, I'll have lunch later, so I'll just buy some oden first."

"Then I'll buy that one too."

The oden stall is closest to the teaching building and has the best business.

A large canopy covers the small cart that is used to make oden. The stall has dozens of small compartments, each containing different foods.

The prices are written on the tags, so that even when the owner is busy, students can choose according to the price tags.

"Boss, a skewer of meatballs, please." Mo Xueyao handed over a one-yuan bill.

There were five meatballs in a string. The shopkeeper responded and then asked, "Do you want anything else?"

"No need, one is enough."

"okay."

"Then I'll have meatballs too, and a skewer of... seaweed knots," Wang Jiale added.

Should we pack them together?

"Packed separately~"

"Give me more soup," Mo Xueyao added.

The meatballs were served in a small, thin disposable plastic cup filled with clear broth and a few chopped scallions floating on top.

No other seasonings were added to the soup, just a little salt, so the flavor was a bit bland, but it was just right when eaten with the meatballs.

"Whoosh—" Mo Xueyao blew on the disposable cup, and the misty rain fell on her head. The two girls ran and skipped back to the lobby on the first floor.

This is a temporary dispatch center. Li Wanyan is checking the situation here. If it's the turn of the students from Class Two and the other student hasn't arrived yet, she will run upstairs to call for help.

"Wanyan~" Wang Jiale raised his palm and clenched it to greet her.

"Hmm, it's not your turn yet," Li Wanyan replied casually, glancing at the schedule for the school sports meet.

"I know it's afternoon, I just came out for a stroll."

"Wanyan, do you want some?" Mo Xueyao waved the string of meatballs in her hand. "I haven't eaten yet."

"no need."

"Have one? Here, you go first." Mo Xueyao handed over the meatball.

Li Wanyan glanced at her helplessly, carefully bit off a piece, and then, very ladylike, closed her mouth tightly and slowly chewed it.

"Did anyone in our class win an award today?" Mo Xueyao asked, sitting on the armrest of her chair.

"It's not the final round yet," Li Wanyan replied after swallowing the food in her mouth. "Yaoyao, you'll be in a group with Wang Jiale later."

"Oh, together?"

"Ah."

Mo Xueyao ultimately signed up for the women's 200-meter race. This is not as intense as the 100-meter sprint, nor is it like the 400-meter race, which is a sprint but requires endurance. It is relatively easy and enjoyable.

"Did Xiaoyao come wearing spiked shoes?" Wang Jiale asked, tilting his head.

“Spiked shoes? No…” Mo Xueyao glanced at her feet. She was wearing just ordinary sneakers. She originally wanted to wear her old sneakers, but her mother thought they were too masculine and made her wear the women’s sneakers that were bought later.

Actually, there's not much difference, except that the colors are pink and blue.

"Hmm, then I probably won't be able to run fast." Wang Jiale took a sip of clear soup. "Especially on rainy days."

"It's all about participation." Mo Xueyao didn't really care, as long as she didn't end up last.

"Please invite Jia Qixue from Class 7, Grade 11 to the lobby to prepare. And please invite the rest of Class 7, Grade 11..."

The loudspeaker seemed to be constantly broadcasting, either urging students to take their positions or reading out sports meet articles that seemed unchanged from elementary school to the present.

For example, something like...they marched forward with passionate steps.

Because she listened to it so many times, Mo Xueyao was able to filter out the broadcast audio altogether.

Time flew by and it was noon. Since the first race of the afternoon was the 200-meter race for the second-year girls, Mo Xueyao only ate one tofu bun—if she ate too much, her stomach would definitely hurt when she ran.

"Wanyan! It's starting?"

"Okay, you can go to the playground to prepare now." Li Wanyan glanced at the light rain that was still falling outside. "Come back quickly after you finish running. I brought you a towel."

"Wow, the class monitor is taking such good care of Xiaoyao! Do I get any like that?" Wang Jiale pouted and joked.

"I'll just let you use it when I'm done, won't that be fine?" Mo Xueyao glanced at her sideways.

"Hmph, I can use what Xiaoyao used." Wang Jiale deliberately turned her head to the side, unable to suppress a laugh. "Sure enough, the class monitor looks just like Xiaoyao's mom!"

Mo Xueyao rolled her eyes, took off her coat, and handed it to Li Wanyan for safekeeping.

"It's okay to run slowly, just don't fall," Li Wanyan instructed.

"It's okay, it should be fine!" Mo Xueyao made an 'OK' sign, and then went to the playground with Wang Jiale to assemble.

There are quite a few girls in the whole grade, so it's impossible for them all to finish in one go. Even for the 200-meter sprint, they have to be divided into several groups.

Each group consists of eight people, and each person stands in their own lane. It is absolutely forbidden to cut in line during the sprint; otherwise, the person will be disqualified from the competition. The reason why cutting in line is allowed during regular physical fitness tests is simply because the PE teacher is too lazy to care.

The PE teacher was already waiting in the rain. He didn't have an umbrella, but the rain didn't get his clothes very wet. Perhaps it was because the rain evaporated as soon as it hit him.

That must have been such a fiery and masculine energy...

Mo Xueyao was a little distracted when Wang Jiale whispered to her, "Xiaoyao, aren't you going to warm up?"

"Ah...oh..." She quickly imitated the others, rotating her wrists and ankles, "Should I squat down?"

"Look at you, you don't have to squat down." Wang Jiale squatted down himself, pressed his hands on the ground, and felt how slippery the playground was.

She was wearing a pair of military green sneakers—these were the spiked shoes she had just changed into.

On a relatively slippery surface, it can better increase friction—or something like that.

"Alright, are you all ready?" Ye Ran pulled one hand out of his pocket, and the girls immediately assumed a ready-to-go stance.

"On your marks, get set—"

"Bang!" The starting gun emitted a puff of blue smoke, which was then dispersed by the wind in the rain and mist.

The girls dashed off like arrows. Wang Jiale, who excels at sprinting, was in the lead, and the gap between her and the second-place runner was widening at an alarming rate.

Mo Xueyao was running in the middle, probably in fourth or fifth place, not particularly conspicuous—that was just her perception, of course.

In fact, almost all the boys in the neighborhood were focused on her.

Wow—it's surprisingly capable when it runs!

"It doesn't look small either?"

"It's not that big, is it?"

"That's perfect, so delicate and easy to hold!"

Mo Xueyao, who was running, couldn't hear the boys' chatter; all she could see was the finish line.

The results of previous training are now becoming apparent.

She gradually sped up and finally caught up with Wang Jiale. The two of them ran across the finish line one after the other, ranking first and second respectively—as should have been the case.

However, the danger of not wearing spiked shoes on a rainy day became apparent at this moment. Her foot slipped, she staggered, and almost lost her balance.

Gasps came from the sidelines, but Mo Xueyao did not fall to the ground as they had expected.

She quickly regained her balance, but it was too late to catch up with Wang Jiale.

He ultimately finished the competition in fifth place and failed to advance.

The three girls running in the lead, including Wang Jiale, were all wearing spiked shoes...

"Sigh..." Mo Xueyao said with some regret.

"It's okay. If you don't have to make it to the finals, you can rest all the time. Isn't that great?" Wang Jiale comforted her.

"I just felt I could have done better." Mo Xueyao pouted. "Phew... I should have brought my spiked shoes too."

……

Chapter 126 A Thousand Meters Like Taking a Leisurely Stroll

This was the last project on the afternoon of the 2nd.

The 1000-meter race for second-year high school boys.

Seven classes, a total of twenty-one people participated, divided into three groups.

Li Hongran was a member of the last group in the preliminary round, and several members of this group were also from the school's sports training team.

If it rains again tomorrow, the final time will be used to determine the rankings; otherwise, the fastest runners will be selected for the final competition.