Lemon Soda Candy - 75
The sports meet was initially planned for early November.
But as late October arrived, Nancheng was suddenly gripped by an unending rain that persisted for over ten days. The school sports meet was postponed again and again, eventually pushed to mid-November, right after the two-day midterm exams.
The rescheduled event fell on a Thursday and Friday.
On Thursday morning, the weather finally relented; the sun hung bright and early in the sky.
Autumn mornings always carry a certain chill. Though the temperature had risen, Zhou Anran dutifully wore her autumn uniform jacket. Her 50-meter dash was set for 10 a.m., shortly after the opening ceremony concluded.
This was Zhou Anran’s first time competing in a sports meet. Before the preliminary race began, Yan Xingxi and Sheng Xiaowen, ignoring their own class’s events, gathered around her with Zhang Shuxian to offer moral support.
“Don’t be nervous, Ranran,” Zhang Shuxian said. “Just run your best. Our class always ranks first in exams anyway, we don’t need this point.”
“Yeah,” Yan Xingxi chimed in. “Our class, no, wait, not our class anymore, your class? Ugh, whatever! Class 1 ranked eighth overall last year. Whether you run well or not won’t make a difference.”
Sheng Xiaowen nudged her. “You should warm up first.”
By nearly 10 a.m., the sunlight had grown noticeably warmer than in the early morning.
Zhou Anran, thinking about the upcoming race, simply took off her school uniform jacket.
Just as Yan Xingxi reached for it, a slender, unmistakably male hand got there first.
“Why do you have to compete with us over holding a jacket?” Yan Xingxi grumbled, shooting a displeased look at the newcomer.
Chen Luobai draped the girl’s jacket over his arm casually, his tone light. “Your class has a race soon. If you leave, who’s going to hold this for her?”
Sheng Xiaowen tugged Yan Xingxi’s sleeve. “Right, our class does have a race now. Let’s go check it out.”
Yan Xingxi let out an exaggerated huff but turned to Zhou Anran. “We’ll be back to cheer you on!”
Zhang Shuxian added, “I’ll have to check out the high jump area too. Let’s go together.”
Zhou Anran: “…”
Were the three of them being this obvious on purpose?
But maybe it didn’t matter if they were obvious now.
His friends often teased them even more openly.
Zhou Anran felt her ears grow warm at the sight of her jacket in his hand. She kicked a small pebble at her feet, still avoiding his gaze. “Are you really going to run alongside me today?”
Chen Luobai’s voice sounded above her head. “Of course. I always keep my word.”
Zhou Anran: “…?”
“Since when?”
“Name one time,” Chen Luobai said, looking down at her lowered head. “When have I not kept my word?”
She counted off softly: “That time you lied about skipping class, when you stole my water bottle and refused to give it back, or when you promised not to tug my rabbit charm but did it again yesterday.”
Chen Luobai laughed. “You remember all that?”
His lowered voice carried a hint of ambiguity.
Zhou Anran’s ears grew even warmer. “Of course. My memory isn’t bad.”
“Alright,” Chen Luobai said, his gaze lingering on her flushed cheeks. He adopted a negotiating tone. “Then how about I definitely keep my word today?”
Zhou Anran’s lips curved slightly. After a pause, she whispered, “You really don’t have to run with me.”
Chen Luobai: “Why not?”
Zhou Anran finally glanced at him. “Haven’t you seen? No one else has a running partner.”
Chen Luobai’s lips also curved. “That’s because they don’t have a deskmate as good as yours.”
Zhou Anran: “…”
Where was he good? He was the one who loved teasing her most.
“But you’re too conspicuous.”
Rumors about them were still circulating at school. If he ran alongside her in front of the entire school today, tomorrow’s gossip would probably claim they were really together.
Plus, many teachers were watching today.
“Now you think I’m too conspicuous?” Chen Luobai reached out and ruffled her hair firmly, his tone feigning annoyance. “Zhou Anran, have you no conscience?”
“Chen Luobai!” Zhou Anran looked up and glared at him. “You messed up my hair again!”
Chen Luobai laughed softly at her puffed cheeks and utterly non-intimidating glare, it only made her look softer and cuter. “Really don’t want me to run with you?”
She readjusted her hair and, since she was about to run, tied it up with a band. “Really.”
The school didn’t allow long hair. Though she hadn’t had a haircut in a while, her hair barely reached her shoulders. Tied up, it formed a short little tuft that looked especially adorable.
Chen Luobai couldn’t resist giving it a gentle tug.
Zhou Anran: “…?”
His touch was light and didn’t hurt her, but the freshly tied hair loosened slightly.
She glared at him again. “Chen Luobai!”
Chen Luobai slowly withdrew his hand. Instead of looking chastised, he smiled under her glare. “The back of your hair wasn’t tied properly just now.”
Zhou Anran: “…”
As if she believed that.
She ignored him and retied her hair herself.
Chen Luobai rubbed his nose. “Sure you don’t want me to run with you?”
Zhou Anran: “No.”
After a pause, she added softly, “Wait for me at the finish line.”
Before the 50-meter preliminary race, Yan Xingxi and the others returned to the track. Zhu Ran and the boys also came over to watch her race, forming a boisterous crowd near the start line.
Perhaps caught up in the competitive atmosphere, Yan Xingxi and the others were especially excited.
“Go, Ranran!”
“You’ve got this, Ranran!!”
“Fighting!!”
Zhou Anran smiled at them.
As she turned around, she heard one of the boys behind them shout:
“Sister-in—”
The word was cut off abruptly, as if someone had clamped a hand over the speaker’s mouth.
Zhou Anran: “…?”
The teacher nearby called, “On your marks!” Zhou Anran had no time to ponder the situation. She focused, took a deep breath, and fixed her eyes on the finish line.
The 50-meter finish line was so close.
Close enough that she could clearly see the tall, handsome boy waiting there, her jacket draped over his arm, his eyes locked on her.
The starting gun fired.
Zhou Anran didn’t glance at the other lanes again. She ran straight toward the finish line.
Straight toward him.
It was her first short-distance race. As she crossed the finish line, her foot stumbled unexpectedly.
Chen Luobai, already waiting at the finish line, reached out to steady her.
Carried by her momentum, Zhou Anran crashed heavily into his chest, feeling a slight pain on impact.
As soon as she regained her balance, she stepped back, her face flushed. She looked up to see the boy also awkwardly averting his gaze for a moment.
Fortunately, everyone else was focused on the race results, and no one noticed their subtle, charged moment.
Zhou Anran took a moment to calm her breathing and heartbeat before asking softly, “What place did I get?”
“Third in your heat, you made the finals.” The playground breeze tugged at his blue-and-white uniform as he smiled down at her. “My deskmate is pretty impressive.”
Zhou Anran had always been average at sports. She’d entered this race just to participate, so making the finals was a welcome surprise. By the time the finals began, all pressure had melted away.
Perhaps because of this, and because he was still waiting for her at the finish line, Zhou Anran’s performance in the finals exceeded her expectations, she actually finished fifth.
Zhang Shuxian and the large group rushed over from the starting line and surrounded her.
Yan Xingxi hugged her tightly. “Ranran, you’re amazing! Fifth place!”
Aside from the 50-meter champion, she had the largest crowd gathered around her.
Zhou Anran noticed a few students from other classes giving them odd looks. Her face warmed, but she couldn’t suppress a laugh. Patting Yan Xingxi’s back, she said, “Okay, stop praising me, or people will laugh at us.”
Yan Xingxi clenched her fist. “Let them try.”
But she obediently released her anyway.
After the girls’ 50-meter finals, the boys’ 100-meter dash was up next. Tang Jianrui and Huang Shujie were both competing.
The boys’ 100-meter track was on the opposite side of the field.
Their large group marched across the field together. Whether intentionally or not, after just halfway, Zhou Anran found herself and Chen Luobai trailing behind at the end again.
The field buzzed with ongoing or preparing events, students dashing everywhere in high spirits.
The jostling crowd pushed Zhou Anran closer to him than usual.
As she watched the large group chatting and laughing ahead, her hand accidentally brushed against his during their walk.
A tiny electric shock seemed to zip from her hand straight to her heart, as if the spot where they touched had suddenly caught fire. Zhou Anran curled her fingers instinctively, about to pull her hand back.
The next second, she felt him slip something into her palm.
A cool, small object, contrasting sharply with the warmth of his fingertips that had accidentally touched her palm.
Her face seemed to burn too.
She stopped and looked down to see he had placed a medal in her hand.
“What’s this?” Zhou Anran looked up at him again.
Chen Luobai: “A medal from a Math Olympiad a while back.”
Zhou Anran: “I know.”
The medal was engraved.
“I mean, why are you giving it to me?”
Chen Luobai slipped his other hand into his uniform pants pocket. His tone sounded as casual as ever, laced with familiar amusement. “Awarding my deskmate. This will have to do for now.”
Zhou Anran’s heartbeat suddenly raced again. She reminded him softly, “This is a gold medal. I only got fifth.”
Chen Luobai hummed in acknowledgement.
The sunlight that day was especially unrestrained.
So was the boy’s smile.
“But—” he said, smiling, “to me, you’re first.”
In the boys’ 100-meter finals, Tang Jianrui and Huang Shujie took first and second place respectively.
Class One wasn’t known for sports prowess, so sweeping the top two spots sent the whole class into a frenzy. Nearly all the boys swarmed over, some so excited they lifted Tang Jianrui high into the air.
Gao Guohua, watching from a distance, nearly had a heart attack and rushed over to intervene.
“What are you doing? What if you drop him? Put him down now!”
The boys obediently set Tang Jianrui down and stood in line to receive their scolding.
But good behaviour was short-lived—they all soon made faces at each other behind the homeroom teacher’s back.
Zhou Anran stood to the side, amused, when she felt her little ponytail get tugged again.
Like before, he had controlled his strength carefully and didn’t hurt her, but she couldn’t help tilting her head away. “Why are you pulling my hair again?”
“I’ll stop,” he said lazily, “if you agree to a condition.”
Zhou Anran: “…?”
She was asking him to stop pulling her hair, why did she have to agree to something?
“What condition?”
Chen Luobai didn’t answer. Instead, he moved to stand behind her.
Zhou Anran glanced around quickly.
Gao Guohua had finished scolding and walked away with his hands behind his back.
She relaxed slightly and, for some reason, didn’t stop him.
The next moment, her tied hair came loose.
Zhou Anran turned to see her black hair tie in his hand.
“Let me have the hair tie.”
Zhou Anran blinked. “What do you want it for?”
Chen Luobai slipped the hair tie onto his wrist casually, his tone still lazy. “Looks fun.”
Zhou Anran: “…”
What was fun about a plain, simple hair tie?
But she quite liked seeing her accessory on his wrist. Especially since he wore it lower on his arm, the thin black line resting just above the small brownish mole on his wrist bone.
The sun seemed to make her ears burn again. “Then you’re not allowed to pull my hair anymore.”
The sunlight had grown more intense than before.
The boy squinted slightly against the glare. He hummed vaguely in agreement, then called her name.
“Zhou Anran.”
Zhou Anran: “Hmm?”
“Want to go with me?” Chen Luobai asked suddenly.
Zhou Anran’s heart skipped a beat. “Where to?”
“Anywhere. It’s too sunny and noisy here.” Chen Luobai shielded his eyes from the sun. His wrist, accentuated by her black hair tie, looked even paler. He looked down at her, a faint smile playing on his lips, his voice lowered. “Will the good student skip the sports meet with me?”
Whether it was his look or his words that captivated her, Zhou Anran almost nodded in agreement—until she heard Sheng Xiaowen reminding Zhang Shuxian nearby that her high jump event was about to start.
They had all stayed to support her earlier; she couldn’t leave now.
Zhou Anran shook her head. “Shuxian and the others have events. I need to stay and cheer for them.”
Chen Luobai squinted again, looking somewhat displeased.
Zhou Anran also didn’t want to part with him either and added softly, “You should stay too.”
Chen Luobai: “Why?”
Zhou Anran: “Next year we’ll be seniors. Who knows if the school will even let us participate in the sports meet then? This might be our last one.”
It was also their first one together.
Last year, he had skipped it secretly; after the opening ceremony, she’d barely seen him.
He studied her for a moment, his tone and smile both helpless yet indulgent. “Alright, whatever my front deskmate says.”
Zhang Shuxian had signed up for both the high jump and standing long jump.
Unlike Zhou Anran, she was the most athletic girl in their class. She easily won first place in the high jump preliminaries by a landslide.
During the finals, Zhou Anran cheered from the sidelines with the others.
Being somewhat introverted, she had initially cheered for Zhang Shuxian quietly, fists clenched. But Yan Xingxi and Sheng Xiaowen grew louder and louder, and since a girl from Class 9 was also quite good at high jump, their cheers grew competitive.
Whether influenced by Yan Xingxi and the others or the vague rivalry, Zhou Anran found herself shouting along: “Go, Shuxian!”
Zhang Shuxian, waiting her turn, heard her and raised both hands to form a heart toward her from a distance.
Zhou Anran smiled. When Zhang Shuxian jumped, she kept cheering loudly with Yan Xingxi and the others.
Chen Luobai glanced down.
The girl’s fair cheeks were flushed pink from the sun, her eyes clear and bright, fixed intently on the field, completely focused on her friend—utterly unaware of his gaze.
Zhang Shuxian easily won the high jump finals by a large margin.
Zhou Anran, pulled along by Yan Xingxi, ran onto the field, and the three of them surrounded Zhang Shuxian with a group hug.
Right after the high jump came Zhang Shuxian’s long jump event.
Zhou Anran was fully immersed in the competitive atmosphere, shouting cheers from the sidelines with Yan Xingxi and Sheng Xiaowen the entire time.
But in the long jump, Zhang Shuxian’s lead was slimmer. She ultimately took second place, narrowly beaten by a girl from Class 11.
Afterward, Yan Xingxi’s class had a key event starting. She and Sheng Xiaowen left to support their classmates. Zhu Ran and the boys also left to watch other events. Zhou Anran stayed behind to watch Zhang Shuxian’s medal ceremony.
Chen Luobai, who’d remained beside her, suddenly spoke: “I regret it now.”
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