Chapter 7

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From that day on, Chen Ruobing looked different in my eyes. She was an icy beauty in other people’s eyes, and before, it had taken me a long time to succeed in considering her as a sister-like relative. But right now, none of these descriptions were accurate.

Chen Ruobing suddenly became a vivid, warm person in my eyes.

Maybe because of that kiss, I began to knowingly or unknowingly look at her slightly pouted full lips and at the fine loose hairs that showed on the back of her neck when she wore a ponytail.

Not only that, but I felt as if I had suddenly matured. It felt like I had been standing in the light and jerked my head around, suddenly finding a shadow behind me.

I stood in front of the bathroom mirror and began to look at my body in a different light.

I was shocked to find that the person in the mirror was already a girl with attractive curves. The impression I had had of myself still seemed to be a dull little girl, and in the blink of an eye, I had become something else.

I showered for a longer amount of time, began to use a different hair mask, carefully shaved the hair under my arms, and as my finances allowed, bought different skincare products to apply to my face and body.

One time, I was covered in sweat after playing basketball. Chen Ruobing inadvertently said, “What shampoo do you use? Every time you finish playing basketball, I can smell the scent of your hair.”

After that, I would secretly spray perfume and not only started buying nice clothes, but paid attention to the style of bras and underwear as well. After that, I began to watch my weight, would control how much I ate, and even began to pay attention to the gestures I made.

I didn’t know when other girls began to do these things, and at the time I couldn’t figure out why I suddenly seemed to have been enlightened and would look at myself and others in a different light.

One day, Chen Ruobing asked me, “Have you noticed that there are many more boys playing basketball after school recently?”

“I guess so. Maybe because the weather’s warming up?”

“I don’t think so,” she mysteriously smiled and said, “They’re there because of you.”

So, I began to pay attention to the gazes of the people around me, and those gazes weren’t only directed at Chen Ruobing anymore. Ever since I had committed assault with a beer bottle, it seemed that overnight, everyone began to notice the girl walking next to Chen Ruobing.

It was true that there were quite a few people that would strike up a conversation with me. Whenever I used to have a confrontation when playing basketball, the boys would always give way to me. But it didn’t seem to be the case now, and many boys would deliberately defend me with all their might. Oftentimes, I would circle the perimeter a few times in possession of the ball and still couldn’t find an opening to go in.

If I were to make a judgement now, the Sha Yu at that time would be considered a beautiful and attractive girl in every respect.

I felt that until now, Chen Ruobing was standing in the center of the stage, and although I was next to her, I was in the shadows. But one day, there was suddenly a spotlight on my head too.

The next year, the school expanded and a new stadium was built. Spring that year welcomed one of the school’s grandest sports events. Because I played basketball often, it gave people the false impression that I was very good at sports, so much so that the class representatives wouldn’t give up until I signed up for an event. In reality, my sprint, long jump, and so on had never been any good. I looked at all the events and finally chose the 3000 meter run that no one had signed up for, which was the longest distance.

Although I often played basketball until I was exhausted and even practiced a few long-distance runs, I underestimated this race. After the gunshot sounded, a tall girl from class six set the pace, and I nearly had to use over half of my energy to barely keep up with her. On the second lap, I didn’t have enough oxygen in my body, which completely disrupted my plans.

The feeling of standing on the track was completely different from sitting in the audience, because the heart not only had to supply the body with oxygen consumed during the strenuous exercise, but you also had to cope with the extra burden caused by the tension and excitement.

As I got onto the track, Chen Ruobing descended from the audience seats and stood a short distance outside the field.

The girl who led the second lap still maintained that speed, and I hesitated over whether to continue keeping up with her, but I didn’t know if I could keep up with her like this and would only be able to walk the next few laps.

The 3000 meter race was arguably the dullest, most time-consuming event of high school sports meets, especially for girls. At the start of the race, everyone came over to cheer us on, but after that they returned to doing their own things, and likely no one cared how many laps the people on the track had run.

By the third lap, I had already fallen a dozen meters behind the lead runner. Coming back from this lap, I only saw Chen Ruobing standing all alone outside the field, apart from the staff members. I weakly smiled at her. Chen Ruobing, however, excitedly shouted, “Go Sha Yu!”

I already felt as if the speed my heart was racing was at its limit and I had nearly exhausted all the energy required for a 3000 meter race, so I didn’t know what to do for the remaining four laps.

On the fourth lap, a few people had slowed down significantly and were practically speed walking. The girl in front of me had also slowed down, but at this point she was fifty or sixty meters ahead of me. For high school girls who normally did not exercise much and mainly focused on their studies, 3000 meters was indeed too difficult.

At this moment, I reckoned that every girl on the field was thinking, why did I sign up for this event?

During the 100 meter run, a vast majority of the people would cheer on the athletes. Even the 800 meter could attract most people’s attention. But as we were thinking we’d rather be dead, the students in the audience were chatting in groups and simply no one cared.

Sweat dripped into my eyes, and I wiped my forehead, flinging it to the ground.

Although I expected this situation, what I didn’t expect was that my desire to give up at this moment would be so strong.

I was completely numb as I went through the motions of running, forcing myself to think about nothing—not about slowing down and not even about stopping.

When I completed the fourth lap, I saw Chen Ruobing standing next to the track, unexpectedly holding a paper cup, and she carefully handed it forward. Maybe because she saw that I was running with great difficulty, she put away the excited expression she had on just now, as if she wanted me to run fast but seemed reluctant.

This silly girl! Who would drink water halfway through a 3000 meter race?!

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