Chapter 16: I’ll Cheer for You

The sudden glow from the phone on her pillow pulled Shen Jia Yan back from her thoughts.

She picked up the phone and unlocked it.

A WeChat notification.

She tapped into the WeChat page.

It was an unread message from the pinned Wen Wan Ning.

Wan Ning: [You were amazing today!]

Bubbles of joy bubbled up in Shen Jia Yan’s heart, and she replied with a face full of smiles: [Thanks, it was okay, I guess. (Happy puppy.jpg)]

Wen Wan Ning looked at her phone, her lips curving slightly. [Why so humble today? Isn’t this the time to confidently radiate your personal charm?]

Shen Jia Yan sat up halfway, turned on the small bedside lamp, and leaned against the headboard. [Hahaha, fine, I admit it—my personal charm is just too overwhelming.]

Wen Wan Ning placed her English workbook on the desk and then replied: [Yeah, it really is.]

[Oh no, stop praising me, I’m getting embarrassed now. (Shy.jpg)] Shen Jia Yan’s already upturned lips curved even higher.

Wan Ning: [Alright, no more teasing. You’ve had a long day, so get some rest soon. I’ll study a bit more and then rest too.]

Shen Jia Yan glanced at the time, her brows furrowing slightly.

It was so late, and she was still studying.

Her admiration for Wen Wan Ning deepened another layer. She was truly giving her all for her goals.

Shen Jia Yan: [Okay, you rest early too. Don’t stay up too late.]

Wan Ning: [Got it. Good night.]

Shen Jia Yan: [Good night.]

Shen Jia Yan set down her phone. She felt that the most successful part of tonight’s performance was attracting Wen Wan Ning’s attention—and unexpectedly receiving praise that she was amazing.

She curled up under the covers, her lips still holding onto an un faded smile.

The small nightlight by the bed cast a warm yellow glow, projecting tiny shadows of her eyelashes onto her cheeks, trembling gently with her breaths.

Moonlight slipped through the gap in the curtains, drawing a silver line across the floor. Her breathing gradually became long and even, her chest rising and falling slowly, as if she had melted entirely into this pleasant atmosphere.

After the school celebration, Shen Jia Yan was “popular” for a while. People would occasionally peek into her classroom door to sneak glances at her.

One evening after self-study.

Shen Jia Yan waited as usual by the fish tank on the second floor for Wen Wan Ning.

While she was immersed in watching the fish, someone suddenly patted her shoulder lightly. She turned with a smiling face, “Wa—”

Her expression shifted from joy to confusion. She frowned and asked, “Who are you?”

The boy opposite her fidgeted unconsciously with the hem of his shirt, crumpling the school uniform fabric into tiny wrinkles. “H-Hi, I’m Li Mo from Year 2 Class 16.” His Adam’s apple bobbed nervously as he continued, “Um… can we be friends?”

Wen Wan Ning, who had just reached the corner of the lobby downstairs, overheard the boy’s words and instantly grabbed Lü Yue to stop in place.

“Hm?” Lü Yue was forced to halt and asked curiously, “What’s up?”

She followed Wen Wan Ning’s gaze to the two by the fish tank, her tone tinged with excitement. “A confession? Is it to Jia Yan?”

Wen Wan Ning’s delicate brows furrowed, her expression darkening as she said sternly, “Don’t talk.”

Wan Ning seemed unhappy. Lü Yue wisely shut her mouth.

Shen Jia Yan was momentarily stunned, then lowered her eyes, her lips pressing into a polite but distant curve. “Sorry, I don’t have extra time to make friends.” She added, “High school is important—focus on your studies, classmate.”

She tiptoed to glance toward the corner and sure enough, spotted Wen Wan Ning.

“Wan Ning.” She smiled and walked toward Wen Wan Ning, leaving the boy standing there in a daze.

Wen Wan Ning’s heart skipped a beat, then pounded fiercely, like a little bird flapping its wings in her chest. Her lips curved upward uncontrollably, and she quickly pressed them together to hide the obvious smile.

As the distance between them shortened, she clearly saw the smile on Shen Jia Yan’s lips—bold like when she played the drum set, but with an added touch of indescribable gentleness.

Shen Jia Yan reached her and asked, “Waiting for me here today?” Her eyes sparkled with mischief.

Wen Wan Ning caught a faint citrus scent. She opened her mouth, “I-I saw you seemed busy.”

Shen Jia Yan glanced at the boy walking away and chuckled lightly. “Yeah, handled it. Let’s go.”

“Okay.”

Wen Wan Ning didn’t know why she’d felt bad just now, or why her mood had lifted so quickly.

Why did she have so many emotional ups and downs just because someone showed interest in Shen Jia Yan…

The intense high school life left her no time to dwell on it, letting the confusion grow wildly and then fade away.

Pages of the calendar flipped by, and in the blink of an eye, the traces of fallen cherry blossoms had evaporated under the blazing sun. The bulletin board in front of the teaching building quietly removed the school celebration photos, replacing them with the sports meet date circled in fluorescent chalk.

For students at this key high school, the sports meet was probably the only time to relax a bit, and everyone looked forward to it.

However, selecting participants for the sports meet became another major challenge.

The school required every class to have someone signed up for each event—no matter the ranking, participation was key.

This time, a few classmates volunteered, but compared to the number of events, they were far short.

Shen Jia Yan thought for a moment and signed up for the short-distance sprint she was good at, doing her part for the class.

She just had too strong a sense of class pride.

After scouting around, the PE representative Zhou Yi came back to Shen Jia Yan awkwardly. “Um, Jia Yan, take another look at the events we need to sign up for and our class roster.” She placed the list on Shen Jia Yan’s desk.

“I scraped together this many people, some even signing up for two or three events, but we’re still short. I know you were on the school team in junior high—could you take a look…”

With things said like that, what could Shen Jia Yan do? That strong class pride again.

She smiled helplessly. “Alright, I’ll add long jump. That okay?”

“Yes, yes!” Zhou Yi nodded repeatedly.

Shen Jia Yan wrote her name under women’s long jump and handed the filled list back to Zhou Yi. “Let’s agree now—it’s my first time in this event, no practice before, so don’t expect a good placing.”

Zhou Yi took the list, her brows lifting happily. “No worries, it’s all about participating.”

Shen Jia Yan shook her head with a smile as she watched Zhou Yi’s gleeful retreating figure.

That afternoon, PE class.

With the sports meet approaching, the PE teacher led a simple stretch and then dismissed them on the spot, letting everyone use the class time to practice their events.

Sprinting was Shen Jia Yan’s strength, but this sports meet had no individual 100m—only the 4x100m relay—so that’s what she signed up for.

The other three were Xia Yuxin, Shao Han, and Zheng Qian.

The four sat in a circle on the grass, eyeing the track, discussing baton order.

With the sports meet imminent, the stands opposite the field and under the rostrum had already marked spots for each class.

Year 2 Class 11 was next to the rostrum under the stands; Year 2 Class 4 was three classes to the left of Class 11.

Shen Jia Yan had scoped this out early.

“Among us, Jia Yan and Shao Han are probably the fastest. They can take the first and anchor legs,” Xia Yuxin analyzed seriously.

Zheng Qian agreed. “I second that.”

Shao Han thought for a moment. “I’ll take first leg then.” She draped an arm over Shen Jia Yan’s shoulder. “Jia Yan was on the school team in junior high—the anchor leg is yours.”

Shen Jia Yan met their three pairs of eyes—pretending seriousness but brimming with expectation—and burst out laughing. “Hahaha, fine, I’ll anchor. Can you three stop looking at me like that?”

She’d wanted the anchor leg anyway.

First, to aim for a good placing for the class. Second, she’d calculated that the anchor stretch ran right past Year 2 Class 4.

Obviously, the second reason mattered more.

The four finalized the order and stood to practice.

Zhou Yi handed them the relay baton borrowed from the PE teacher.

Shen Jia Yan separated from the group to head to her position.

“Hey!” Someone patted her shoulder lightly.

She turned.

Seeing who it was, she instantly beamed. “Wan Ning, you guys have PE too?”

“Yeah.”

Shen Jia Yan’s lips curved uncontrollably. “What a coincidence—our PE classes at the same time. It’s basically like we’re in the same class.”

Sharing PE with Wen Wan Ning meant she could see her every week at this time.

Just thinking about it made her happy.

Wen Wan Ning smiled lightly, lips hooking up. “Mm, very coincidental. No ‘basically’ about it—I’ve always seen you as my best desk mate.”

Shen Jia Yan’s ear tips flushed pink. “Yeah, me too.”

Best desk mate…

“Jia Yan, we’re heading to our spots—ready to start!” Shao Han called, waving the baton.

“Oh, okay.”

Wen Wan Ning followed the voice, spotted the baton in Shao Han’s hand, then turned to Shen Jia Yan, noticing she held one too. “You guys practicing relay?”

Shen Jia Yan walked toward her position with Wen Wan Ning beside her. “Yeah, we signed up for the 4x100m relay and are practicing now.”

Wen Wan Ning recalled how unwell Shen Jia Yan had been after the December 9th event, frowning. “Is your body okay for that?”

Shen Jia Yan always sacrificed for the group, pushing through even when uncomfortable.

“No problem—I trained sprints on the school team in junior high. 100m is fine.”

Hearing that, Wen Wan Ning relaxed a bit. “That’s good then.” She quickly added, “But no other long runs, okay? Careful not to cough uncontrollably after—then no one to hand you water.”

Shen Jia Yan’s mind flashed to freshman year, drinking from Wen Wan Ning’s cup.

Wan Ning hadn’t minded her using it.

A bit happy, a bit… blissful.

She cleared her throat. “Mm, don’t worry. Without my best desk mate around, I won’t sign up recklessly.”

Wen Wan Ning smiled in satisfaction.

They reached Shen Jia Yan’s baton spot.

“Practice well then. I’ll go find Yue Yue—she’s waiting.”

Shen Jia Yan tugged her stretchy pants. “Okay.”

Wen Wan Ning took one step, then turned back. “Practice hard. On sports meet day, I’ll cheer for you.”

Shen Jia Yan’s heart warmed instantly, like someone had slipped a sun-warmed marshmallow into it. Her lips curved up involuntarily, the smile spilling from her eyes. “Okay, I definitely will.”

The cicadas’ chorus suddenly crescendoed, and summer swept across the campus without warning.

Finally, the day of the sports meet arrived.