OEBSAS |Chapter 20

As soon as the class dismissal bell rang, and just after the teacher left the classroom, the physical education committee member of Class 1, Grade 7, jumped onto the platform and tried to make a passionate speech, calling on the classmates to actively take part in the 36th Autumn Sports Meet of No. 9 Middle School.

But after talking for half a day, there were still only a pitiful few in the class who said they wanted to sign up.

The physical education committee member was tall and sturdy, named Ren Feng. His family was pretty well off, and it was said that he had practiced taekwondo since elementary school, so he had some martial arts foundation. He led by example and signed himself up for the long-distance run and the relay race. If there had not been a limit of two events per person, he might have signed up for even more.

Seeing that the classmates were not responding, Ren Feng looked quite upset, and he got down from the platform, planning to ask one by one.

They had only just enrolled for less than two months, and everyone was still unfamiliar with each other. No matter how thick-skinned Ren Feng was, he was still only a twelve-year-old boy. After asking all the way down, his face had turned red.

When he reached the second-to-last row, he saw that the boy in the seat was lying on the desk asleep, and he could not help pausing, thinking whether he should wake him up.

He knew the boy was named Qian Wenjie, that his family was quite wealthy, and that he was ironclad buddies with the two school heartthrobs. Usually he only played with those two and did not care much about the other classmates.

Just as he was hesitating, the leg of Qian Wenjie’s chair was suddenly kicked by the boy behind him.

Not only did Qian Wenjie jump in fright, even Ren Feng was a little stunned.

The one who kicked the chair was none other than Shao Xian.

Qian Wenjie almost sprang up to fight someone, but when he saw Shao Xian, he immediately wilted, and hurriedly asked with a grin, “Young Master, what can I do for you?”

Shao Xian looked at Ren Feng, then asked Qian Wenjie, “Are you signing up for the sports meet or not?”

“Are you signing up?” Qian Wenjie asked back.

Shao Xian nodded, and said to Ren Feng, “Help me sign up for the relay and the high jump.”

Ren Feng was flattered beyond measure, nodded again and again, and his eyes toward Shao Xian were full of gratitude.

He had originally thought that the second young master of the Shao family was aloof and difficult to approach, but he did not expect him to have such a sense of collective honor, and even to sign up on his own initiative.

Since Shao Xian had signed up, Qian Wenjie was not to be outdone. He signed up for the shot put and the javelin throw.

Ren Feng bent over and finished filling out the form, then his gaze fell on Shao Xian’s deskmate, Chen Baizhou.

Just as he was about to speak, he heard this Student Chen say coolly, “Long jump, long-distance run.”

The rumors were not deceiving me after all. Although Student Chen was good-looking, his personality really was extremely cold. If Shao Xian and Qian Wenjie had not signed up, he probably would not even have bothered with him.

Seeing that the two school heartthrobs had signed up, the others could not help being tempted too, especially the girls.

After the study committee member Hao Lu learned that the three of them had signed up, she also decisively filled in her own name.

Speaking of Hao Lu, she had been in the same class as Shao Xian since elementary school.

This girl had fairly strong self-esteem and competitiveness. After the final exam of the second semester of fourth grade, because Shao Xian and Chen Baizhou tied for first place, she spent the whole summer studying, planning to face the two of them in fifth grade.

But just a few days before the school year registration, she heard that the two of them were going to skip to sixth grade. After confirming that the news was true, she did not hesitate and also took part in the grade-skipping exam, going up to sixth grade with them.

During sixth grade, Shao Xian and Chen Baizhou won awards in multiple competitions, and Hao Lu was not willing to fall behind either. She had been closely chasing after them all along. Basically, no matter what the two of them did, she would compete with them as if she had to fight for victory.

After all, before this, first place had been hers.

Now that they had advanced to first year of middle school, they were assigned to the same class again. Although it had not even been two months since enrollment, they had basically already taken tests in every subject. Shao Xian and Chen Baizhou were still among the best, while Hao Lu was firmly pressed underneath by the two of them. It was simply heart-wrenching to hear and bring tears to the eyes.

If she could not beat the two of them academically, then she could not lose points at the sports meet either. With this thought in mind, Hao Lu decisively signed up for herself.

Because the three of Shao Xian’s group took the lead, the classmates in the class no longer resisted participating in the sports meet. Ren Feng easily completed the task and handed the list to the homeroom teacher.

“Xianxian,” Qian Wenjie had completely turned around, his hands propped on Shao Xian’s desk, and said mysteriously, “Hao Lu was looking at you two again just now.”

Qian Wenjie had been in the same class as Shao Xian since sixth grade, and he saw Hao Lu’s little looks of competition, both open and covert, very clearly. Every time, he would tease Shao Xian about it.

“Class is starting,” Chen Baizhou reminded him while calculating a problem.

His tone was cold and quiet, and paired with his exquisitely sculpted face like an ice carving, it inexplicably made people feel chilly inside.

Yet Shao Xian, of all people, still felt that this guy Chen was obedient beyond belief.

Of course, Chen Baizhou only smiled in front of Shao Xian.

Qian Wenjie curled his lip and turned back around, and thus did not see the cold Mr. Chen take a lychee-flavored candy from his schoolbag, carefully peel it open, and hand it to Shao Xian.

“I finished the snacks I brought today, and I didn’t expect you to have brought some too.”

Shao Xian’s eyes lit up with surprise. He leaned close to Chen Baizhou’s ear and whispered his joy, then without any politeness, he lowered his head and used his tongue to roll it up, swallowing the candy into his mouth.

Just then, the teacher walked into the classroom.

A trace of smile appeared in Chen Baizhou’s eyes. The corners of his lips curved, and then he continued using his pen to do the problems.

After school, Shao Xian and Chen Baizhou returned to the Shao family home, while Qian Wenjie went home alone.

Only Aunt Sun was at home. Shao Father, Shao Mother, and Shao Ge were all not there.

Shao Xian had already gotten used to this in his previous life. In the past, because he was still young, Cai Yalan sacrificed her career and stayed home to keep him company more. Once he entered middle school, Cai Yalan resumed her career, so Shao Xian had been very independent since middle school.

But now it was different. Now he had Chen Baizhou accompanying him, which was so much better than in his previous life.

A year was enough to wear away the scars on him.

Chen Baizhou was no longer the frightened child he had been before. He had grown much taller, and he was no longer as thin and weak as he had once been.

The child had grown into himself. His brows and eyes were becoming more and more delicate. During this year, because his nutrition had been balanced, he was already as tall as Shao Xian. If this continued, he would definitely surpass Shao Xian.

Every time Shao Xian thought of this, he could not help feeling a little sad.

In his previous life, Fu Baizhou seemed to have been a little taller than him, but that was because he had suffered abuse in the Fu family until his teens, missing the best time for development.

And in this life, he was probably even less of a match.

That was what Shao Xian thought, but when it came to Chen Baizhou’s diet, he was still very careful and considerate, after all, the child had a not-so-good stomach and needed careful nourishment.

Just as he was thinking, Aunt Sun put the dishes on the table and said with a troubled expression, “Second Young Master, Young Master Zhou, something came up in my hometown, so I need to take a few days off. I already called and told Madam.”

Shao Xian was stunned for a moment. A reluctant expression appeared on his face, but he still said, “Aunt Sun, family matters are important, it’s fine.”

Aunt Sun left with a smile.

Just after they finished eating, Cai Yalan called back. She told Shao Xian to go to the Qian family for meals for the next few days, and Shao Xian agreed with mm-hm’s.

After finishing the call, Shao Xian leaned on the sofa and said to Chen Baizhou, “We’ll have to trouble Aunt Wang for the next few days.”

Chen Baizhou curved his lips in a smile, went to the kitchen to cut some fruit, and brought it out.

The eleven-year-old boy was tall and straight, his skin fair. At this moment his eyelashes were lowered, hiding the gemstone-like pupils beneath them. Every movement he made was just right, pleasing to the eye.

“If you could always…” Shao Xian murmured, half-closing his eyes.

Chen Baizhou did not hear clearly. The instant he raised his eyes, brilliance suddenly appeared.

“What?”

Shao Xian came back to his senses and laughed, saying, “Nothing. After you finish the fruit, go upstairs and do your homework.”

Chen Baizhou did not eat much. The fruit on the plate basically all ended up in Shao Xian’s stomach.

After the fruit was finished, the two of them went together to the room to read and do their homework.

Although they were studying the first-year middle school curriculum, they had already self-studied up to the third year of middle school.

At any rate, Shao Xian still had the boost of memories from his previous life, so the middle school curriculum was not that difficult for him.

But Chen Baizhou was different. During this year, he had shown Shao Xian what it meant to have genius-level intelligence.

Shao Xian often thought that in his previous life, losing to Fu Baizhou was really not unjust at all.

The two of them studied until ten at night, and Shao Xian got up to pack clothes to go take a shower.

Chen Baizhou carefully helped him pack his schoolbag. Just as he was about to zip it closed, he discovered that the outermost small pocket had a corner of a pink envelope peeking out.

Pink represented the ambiguity and fluttering heartbeat between men and women. Chen Baizhou understood this very clearly.

His gaze darkened in an instant. He stood there in a daze for a long while, only then making up his mind and reaching out to take the envelope.

But then he heard the sound of water stopping in the bathroom, followed by the rustling sound of clothes being put on.

Chen Baizhou withdrew his hand, took a deep breath, and zipped up the small pocket, covering that letter.

Subconsciously, he thought that it would be great if Shao Xian never saw this letter.