"Xu Lin, over here!"
Xu Lin saw a boy with naturally curly hair, about his height but much more muscular. It was his neighbor from elementary school, a year older than him, now a senior in high school.
"Brother Huang, what's your number?"
"130."
"Then we're in the same group. I'm 121, the first one in the fourth group."
"Good luck then. I don't feel like running with my big frame; running too fast is too hard on it."
"Then just walk slowly. Lots of students do that. By the way, doesn't your class have enough people? I heard you could skip if you wanted to."
"If we don't come, we have to go back to studying. Senior year is so stressful, it's nice to have a break."
As Huang Chao spoke, he stretched his arms, making a cracking sound.
"Hey, I heard you had a disagreement with Zhang Kang? Is he causing trouble for you again?"
"No, he just wants to race me. He's in our group, but I'm ignoring him."
"Well, I heard you played the hero and got the girl. Ji Yun actually fell for you. Lots of guys must be losing sleep over it."
"We're not together, just friends."
"Friends, got it."
"But didn't you say that high school without a romance isn't really youth? Now that you're a senior, has your youth arrived?"
"Yeah, there's a girl I've got my eye on. I'm not ready yet, though."
"Who?"
Xu Lin got curious and looked around with interest. Huang Chao quickly grabbed his arm.
"Ahem, it's the girl who placed fourth in the 500 meters. Dark skin, not really ugly, just a bit skinny."
"Senior Sister Bai?"
"How did you know? It's Bai Xiaoxiao." Huang Chao nodded, but then noticed Xu Lin's smile suddenly vanish into silence.
"Sorry, Brother Huang, that girl is mine."
"Huh? What do you mean?"
"Just what I said."
"Isn't Ji Yun your girlfriend?"
"I just told you, she's not my girlfriend."
"Then Bai Xiaoxiao is?"
"She likes me, I haven't agreed yet," Xu Lin said shamelessly.
"Really?"
"Really." Xu Lin felt a bit apologetic, but Huang Chao quickly responded.
"Phew, alright then. I was still deciding between Bai Xiaoxiao and Jiang Wenhe. Now I can go after Jiang Wenhe. That curly hair is pretty nice too. Isn't her birthday coming up? What should I get her?"
"Uh..."
Looking at Huang Chao, Xu Lin suddenly realized something. High school romances were really just that, romances. There was no real love.
Or rather, most of them didn't understand love. It was more about mutual comfort in their loneliness. Thinking about marriage and the future was for the minority.
"Xu Lin! We've been looking for you everywhere." Li Bin and Ma Zhiyu squeezed through the crowd.
"I was looking for you guys too. Didn't we agree on the usual spot?"
Xu Lin glanced at them. Ma Zhiyu scratched his head sheepishly and then laughed.
"Well, we were setting Li Bin up on a date."
"No we weren't! Don't listen to him!" Li Bin quickly interrupted, his face turning red.
"I want to hear this. Tell me."
"We met a girl just now. She was a bit chubby but pretty, sitting alone on the steps reading."
"And she was reading 'Romance of the Three Kingdoms'. Since Li Bin likes that book too, I told him to go chat her up. Guess what happened?"
"It didn't work?"
"He stammered for so long that I got anxious, but the girl finally said, 'You're here to chat me up, right?' and gave him her QQ number."
"Stop talking!"
"What's the big deal? This is youth, after all. Li Bin, don't be too reserved online. Chat well, you might get somewhere."
Xu Lin patted Li Bin on the shoulder. He always believed that no matter what, the first romance would bring unexpected experiences.
Even if you end up being strung along by a heartbreaker, at least you learn how people can be, making you more perceptive in the future.
"Everyone get ready! First group, to the track! If you need to use the bathroom, go now!"
The referee's shout sent the first group toward the track. But, considering each group took about ten minutes, Xu Lin figured he still had half an hour to wait.
Though it wasn't hot, he felt a bit thirsty and regretted not asking Li Bin and Ma Zhiyu to bring him a bottle of water.
While waiting, he saw some girls walking over, carrying bottles of water, and handing them to the boys in their class.
Those boys were overjoyed, and the others began to envy them. Even though it was just water, it was frustrating not to have any!
"Xu Lin, where are the girls in our class? I'm not really thirsty, but I'm feeling sour."
"Wow, here comes a beautiful lady delivering water."
At that moment, a beautiful older sister dressed in office attire walked over, and the students were stunned. Long, black legs! But they didn't keep staring, as many of them recognized her—Teacher Su from 2nd grade, a famously beautiful teacher.
However, word had it that she already had a boyfriend, which made the boys feel even more upset.
In the midst of everyone's astonishment, Su Qingwan walked up to Xu Lin and handed him the bottle of water she was carrying.
"Thank you, Teacher Su."
Xu Lin smiled like an innocent young boy, but his fingers mischievously hooked Su Qingwan's. She lightly pinched his fingers with her nails in response.
"Good luck."
"Teacher Su, what about us?" A few students from Su Qingwan's class called out together.
"I can't carry that much. Share this for now. I'll be off. Good luck, everyone!"
"Okay."
As Su Qingwan walked away, Xu Lin felt like he had fallen into a vat of jealousy, though he was used to it by now.
"Do you guys want some water?" Xu Lin glanced at Li Bin and Ma Zhiyu.
"We just drank, but be careful, Teacher Su has many fanatical admirers."
"Haha, she just gave me a bottle of water."
"But why didn't she give water to anyone else?"
"Maybe because I have good grades." Xu Lin gave a reason that left the two speechless.
The surrounding students were stunned—good grades got you water from a beautiful teacher? They felt the urge to study hard, thinking they might get lucky.
While the boys were lost in their fantasies, another pretty girl came over, carrying a bag.
"It's the class monitor! Is she bringing us water?"
Ji Yun quickly walked towards Xu Lin, her cheeks growing redder as many people were staring at her, making her a bit uncomfortable.
"Monitor, are you bringing us water?"
"Yes, and some drinks. There's nothing else left, only orange Fanta."
Ji Yun opened the bag—there were 7 bottles of Fanta and 1 bottle of mineral water.
Li Bin immediately reached for the mineral water, though he loved soft drinks, he wanted to be courteous.
"Li Bin, drink something else. Xu Lin drinks mineral water."
"Oh." Li Bin was taken aback, but picked up a soda, and Ma Zhiyu did the same.
"I'll give the rest to the classmates at the back."
"Okay."
"Good luck."
"Got it!"
Watching Ji Yun walk away, Li Bin looked at Xu Lin. "Why did she only give you mineral water? Did you upset the monitor again?"
"No, she knows I don't like Fanta, so she gave me mineral water."
"Xu Lin, my fists are itching!"
"No worries, my heart's been melted by a beautiful girl."
"Damn, stop grossing me out!"
As Xu Lin opened the water and took a couple of gulps, he saw a small figure quickly running towards them.
"What a cute girl, is she a teacher's child?"
Xu Lin saw her and quickly went over to pick her up.
"Brother! Here's water, Mom asked me to bring it to you."
"Thank you, Shaoyao, and thank your mom too. Is your mom here?"
"Hmm."
"Well, should I take you back?"
"I can go by myself, Mom asked me to."
"Okay, be careful and don't bump into anything."
"Got it!"
He put Shaoyao down, and she hopped away singing a song.
"Xu Lin, whose child is she?"
"No idea, but I already have 3 bottles of water here, I can't drink them all."
"Stop complaining when you've got it good."
As Ma Zhiyu finished speaking, they saw the graceful Qin Yunhe walking over, also carrying a bottle of water.
Xu Lin smiled helplessly—his wives seemed to have the same idea. It looked like he was going to turn from a slick teenager into a very hydrated man.