The students flocked downstairs. Xu Lin initially planned to find Ji Yun, but it was evident that the class monitor was too popular; she was immediately surrounded and whisked away by a group of girls.
Following his classmates downstairs, Xu Lin saw that the playground was already filled with many students. However, unlike the last meeting, the atmosphere was much more relaxed, with students from different classes chatting together.
Once again, Xu Lin felt his own social ineptitude. He had been at the school for over a year, yet his friends were still just a few people from his class.
In fact, there were a few classmates he had never even talked to; he only knew their names.
Although he had been reborn and his personality had become slightly less gloomy and troublesome, his friends were still the same ones.
"Hey, Xu Lin, I saw a stunning beauty," Ma Zhiyu and Li Bin squeezed through the crowd, putting their arms around his shoulders, which he promptly shrugged off.
He guessed it was probably Qin Yunhe, but it was impressive that they could still recognize her despite her wearing a uniform and a mask.
"Where?" A few boys craned their necks.
"Just now at the entrance, she came with Teacher Chu. Even though she was wearing a mask and a hat, you could tell she was a beauty just by her figure."
"Hah, she might just be a back-view killer," Hei Yuanliang joked, a trick he had learned from watching certain movies.
Sometimes, the cover and screenshots looked great, but once he started watching, he was utterly disappointed!
Xu Lin was also surprised. Did Chu Qingchan come with her? She was supposed to visit Teacher Guan. Did she come to school today?
Xu Lin suddenly felt a bit nervous. If she came to watch his race, he had originally planned to just run casually. But with so many girls around, would it be embarrassing if he lost?
"What, do you want to go take a look?" Seeing Xu Lin's reaction, Ma Zhiyu looked around. Ji Yun wasn't nearby.
"No."
"By the way, Xu Lin, do you know that girl?"
Li Bin suddenly realized that Xu Lin seemed to have an unusual relationship with Teacher Chu. He might know something.
He vividly remembered the last time the two shared a bottle of water, and it still stung a bit.
"I don't know her, and I haven't even seen her. Even if I had, I wouldn't know who she is."
"True, let's go sign up first."
Everyone thought that signing up meant filling out a form or at least writing down their name and class. However, since this sports event was organized on short notice, everything was quite rushed.
So, signing up meant directly picking up a number tag: green for 100 meters, yellow for 500 meters, and red for 1000 meters.
Then the teacher would write your class and name on the back of the tag, and that was it for registration.
The competitions would happen one by one, and the teachers recording the results only needed to note down the tag number of the first place in each race, which was simple and efficient.
But everyone was smart. Since it was about picking up number tags, it was highly likely that the groups would be formed based on the numbers. So they all tried to avoid being in the same group as their classmates.
"Xu Lin, what's your number?"
"Number 121."
"Pretty early; I'm number 450." Ma Zhiyu shook the tag in his hand.
"I'm in the same group as you." Hei Yuanliang walked over, holding tag number 127.
"Yours is a yellow tag for the 500-meter race. Xu Lin's is for the 1000-meter race."
"I forgot. By the way, Xu Lin, are you really okay with running 1000 meters?"
"I think I'll be fine. After all, that guy challenged me. He took the number before me, so how could I back out?"
"Alright, even if we lose, it's better than backing out like a coward!" Li Bin patted Xu Lin on the shoulder.
"Xu Lin, I just saw over at the girls' side that Ji Yun is running the 500 meters. The girls' 500-meter race starts first, and Ji Yun is up early. Want to go cheer her on?"
"The girls' 500 meters are first? Let's go take a look."
"Yeah."
At this moment, Ji Yun was feeling a bit nervous. She hadn't expected to get such an early number. Xu Lin would definitely come to watch; she hoped she wouldn't embarrass herself.
"Little sister Ji Yun?"
A soft voice came from behind her. She quickly turned around and saw a slim, dark-skinned girl.
"Senior Bai! Are you running the 500 meters too?"
"Yes, I'm number 55."
"Then we're in the same group." Ji Yun turned over her tag.
"Let's cheer each other on."
"By the way, why are you still like this? I've told you to be more confident."
"Being too pretty can be troublesome. It's not that I'm not confident." Bai Xiaoxiao waved her hand, afraid that Ji Yun would try to make her over again.
"Has Xu Lin not come to see you recently?"
"He came to see my dad a few days ago, but he hasn't been here the past two days."
"I see. Well, next time I'll go with him."
"No need, my dad's health is much better now. He should be able to get out of bed in just over a week. By then, Xu Lin's shop can also open."
As she spoke, Ji Yun recalled that last time, it seemed like Xu Lin had just left her house when Bai Xiaoxiao hesitantly called her.
She had reached out to her twice since then, but she wasn't sure if she had eased Bai Xiaoxiao's confusion.
From the perspective of an ordinary girl, Ji Yun wanted Bai Xiaoxiao to bravely approach Xu Lin. Regardless of the outcome, it would be part of her own choice, and she shouldn't have any regrets.
But as someone who liked Xu Lin herself, Ji Yun was somewhat selfish and wanted Xu Lin to choose only her.
Even though she had a good relationship with her senior sister, who wouldn't want to be the only one? It was very normal.
"Sister Xiaoxiao, have you had any new thoughts since you called me last time?"
On the other side, since Su Qingwan started working at the school and was treated like a treasure, she hadn't successfully gotten any work done and was bored sitting in the office, looking down.
Coincidentally, her view was of the playground, providing a better perspective. But she wondered if Xu Lin would hear her cheering from upstairs when he competed?
"Slacking off here?"
"Sister Qin, could you knock before coming in? You scared me!" Su Qingwan pouted as she saw her friend in uniform walk in.
"Why don't you go downstairs to watch the competition?"
"It's too crowded, and the view isn't as clear as up here. Look, the view from here is perfect."
"It really is." Qin Yunhe glanced outside, noticing that the height was just right, and the finish line was not far below.
"When is Xu Lin competing?" Su Qingwan stretched and yawned.
"Yeah, but whenever the competition is, you can see him from here." Qin Yunhe nodded.
But in the next second, both of them were stunned!
Su Qingwan covered her mouth, her eyes widened in shock. What did she just say!?
Qin Yunhe was also dumbfounded. She, the top agent of the police station, had let something slip!
In her moment of confusion, Su Qingwan glanced at her friend, her mind catching up. It seemed Qin Yunhe had responded with 'Yeah.'
She didn't seem surprised at all. Could she already know that her relationship with Xu Lin was fake? Did she know Xu Lin's true identity? How did she know?!
The two best friends, who had been fine just moments ago, suddenly found themselves in a strange atmosphere.