Chapter 18: That Delicate Flower (18)

Song Qi watched the two girls in the distance and warmed up. One look at Gu Si told her something was going to happen.

The girl who’d come with Gu Si was running in the third lane, right beside Song Qi in the second.

The starting pistol cracked, and Song Qi shot forward almost instantly. Her reaction time was clearly faster than everyone else’s.

The other girl was fast, too, just behind Song Qi.

Song Qi caught the girl’s movement from the corner of her eye. She frowned, then spotted a shiny round object ahead. Her mouth twitched.

Seriously, your system needs an upgrade. You’re still pulling tricks this lame?

Song Qi didn’t slow down. She gave the marble a light kick and sent it off to the side. Even if someone watched the footage, it would only look like an accident.

Besides, no one would think she’d had time to do anything else in those few seconds.

The girl was surprised when Song Qi didn’t fall. Then her foot slipped, and she went tumbling to the ground.

Her last thought was, I clearly threw that marble over there!

By the time the girl had fallen, frozen in shock, and started screaming, Song Qi had already crossed the finish line. She watched the girl coldly.

Gu Si hurried over. When she saw the girl’s legs, she sucked in a breath.

The girl had worn running shorts for the race, leaving her knees completely bare. Scraping them across the track had left them in terrible shape.

Gu Si immediately helped her up. Both knees were skinned, and there were abrasions all over her legs. Blood ran down her skin, and bits of track grit were embedded in the wounds. It looked awful.

“It hurts so much! When did she kick it away?”

Gu Si shook her head. “I don’t know. She probably bumped into it by accident.”

Though she knew it had most likely been deliberate.

Song Qi recorded her time, then went back to her class’s cheering section. After chatting with everyone, she returned to the classroom. Her three remaining events were all in the afternoon.

Someone was waiting there to study with her.

As Song Qi took the shortcut out of Building Three, Gu Si happened to be coming out of the infirmary with the injured girl.

Gu Si paused, still unsure what to say. Song Qi glanced at her and walked right past without stopping.

Host, you’ve been pretty good to Gu Si, and she still tried to trip you. Are you upset?

No. Song Qi rubbed her neck. “It’s not worth it.”

She could cultivate positive feelings toward a string of data if it served her, but there was no reason to let that same string of data make her miserable.

As she walked down the hallway, she could still hear the two girls behind her.

“Sisi, are you okay?”

“I’m fine.” Gu Si shook her head. “I’ll help you get some rest. Don’t do anything reckless again.”

“Honestly, I didn’t expect it to turn out like this. Xu Yangnuan is so lucky.”

Gu Si smiled perfunctorily and went upstairs. As she passed Song Qi’s classroom, she saw Zhong Yi sitting in Qin Xiao’s seat, discussing something with Song Qi.

She felt a little envious.

A thin thread of jealousy wound around her heart as well.

They’d been the closest of friends at the beginning.

Song Qi took first place in the 800-meter race that afternoon, pulling far ahead of everyone else. The crowd cheered wildly.

She also discovered that Zhong Yi was seriously devoted to studying. Zhong Yi had waited for her just so she could drag Song Qi back to study with her.

“I have another event soon,” Song Qi said, politely turning her down.

“I know.” Zhong Yi tapped the bag she’d brought and looked at Song Qi. “That’s why I brought the papers. We can go sit in the bleachers.”

Song Qi rubbed her temples…

Gu Si watched from a distance and muttered, “Are they really that close?”

“Hm? What did you say, Sisi?”

“Nothing.” Gu Si straightened up. “I was wondering if we could take first place in the long-rope event.”

“You set the bar pretty high.”

Gu Si nodded solemnly. “This is a competition.”

“Mm. You’re right.”

After that, Gu Si jumped rope as if possessed, keeping her eyes fixed on Song Qi in the distance. She got hit by the rope several times. She didn’t feel it while she was worked up, but once the adrenaline wore off, her arms and thighs started burning.

She’d done this to herself.

Her skin was so delicate that several spots on her arm had been scraped raw.

She was just about to leave when she saw Song Qi and Zhong Yi walking toward her side by side.

Gu Si’s mouth trembled, and the tears came.

She didn’t know why she was crying. She just wanted to cry.

Then she went straight over and stopped in front of Song Qi.

“Yangnuan, it hurts…” Gu Si sobbed, looking up at her. She reached out and grabbed Song Qi’s sleeve.

Zhong Yi glanced at Gu Si. “I’ll head back to the classroom. We can talk about the third solution after evening study.”

“Okay.” Song Qi nodded and watched Zhong Yi leave. Then she lowered her eyes to Gu Si.

Gu Si wiped at her tears, but they wouldn’t stop. Song Qi only looked at her without saying anything, which made her feel even worse. Her grip on Song Qi’s sleeve tightened.

“What’s wrong?”

“I got hit by the rope when I was jumping.”

“It’ll feel better in a bit.”

“My arm’s scraped, too,” Gu Si insisted.

Song Qi rolled up Gu Si’s sleeve and glanced at it. “Yeah, it’s scraped. If you’d come any later, it would’ve healed.”

“Yangnuan… do you hate me?” Gu Si’s voice grew quieter. She knew that, given how she’d been acting, it would be reasonable for Song Qi to hate her.

“No.” Song Qi pulled her sleeve out of Gu Si’s hand. “Don’t overthink it.”

She reached up and rubbed Gu Si’s hair. “I wouldn’t hate you whether you behaved or not.”

Because there’s no need to, the system silently added.

“Can I cheer you on in the relay later?” Gu Si wiped her tears and tried to smile.

“Sure.”

Qin Xiao sat on the field with a group of boys, propping his chin on his hand as he watched the two girls nearby. He shook his head.

“Say you found out a green tea had latched onto your friend. What would you do?”

“Nothing,” one of the boys replied. “I couldn’t tell you who’s a green tea if my life depended on it.”

Qin Xiao shot him a look of disdain. “How are you this useless?”