After Becoming the Love-Brained Female Lead’s Best Friend - Chapter 25

By the time Ye Wanyin finished cleaning herself up and taking care of the bedding, it was already ten minutes past the time she usually got up. She hurriedly woke Fang Shu, and the two of them rushed to the classroom together.

Thursday’s morning reading was English. The homeroom teacher had already come to the classroom early. At first, when she saw Fang Shu, her brows instantly twisted together and she was about to scold her. Then she saw Ye Wanyin behind her.

“…”

In the end, she simply reminded them not to be late next time and let them both in.

Probably because of the sports meet, the teachers knew this group of little brats could not possibly listen seriously, so aside from the teachers of the top classes, the other teachers had relaxed their lesson progress these two days. They even turned a blind eye to students spacing out in class.

The teacher on the podium was explaining questions in a hypnotic manner. The students around them were either whispering to each other or silently playing games. Fang Shu had originally also been slacking off, but then she suddenly remembered something and turned to Ye Wanyin beside her. “Is your period here?”

Ye Wanyin nodded.

Fang Shu frowned. “You’re still running during your period? Are you trying to die?”

“Go tell the sports committee member to switch someone else in.”

Seeing that Fang Shu looked as if she was ready to find the sports committee member as soon as class ended, Ye Wanyin hesitated. “It should be fine, right? I’ve never had period cramps before. If it really doesn’t work, I’ll just walk the whole thing.”

Fang Shu looked at her innocent, foolish expression, like someone who would still help count the money after being sold off, and said with some disdain, “Suit yourself.”

The next day, the sports meet began.

Morning reading turned into each class’s “military parade.” Every class monitor carried a flag and shouted a slogan they had temporarily made up. After they finally finished walking through the round, it was time for the leaders’ speeches.

A group of people sat on the ground, drowsy as they listened. Several of them dozed off on the spot, their heads bobbing in their palms, only to be slapped awake by their own homeroom teacher with a lesson plan.

By the time they finally finished listening, more than ten minutes had already passed past the usual breakfast time. Everyone rushed off to eat breakfast.

How long they had to eat depended on whether they had events in the morning and what time those events began. Ye Wanyin’s event was in the afternoon, so she and Fang Shu walked calmly at the back.

After breakfast, as soon as they reached the sports field, they saw that every class, even those without events, were in a flurry, carrying water and distributing snacks to deliver water to the athletes.

Seeing them, the sports committee member quickly rushed over. “Are you two busy? Our class is a little short on people. Top student, you have an event, so just rest nearby. Fang Shu, can you help us deliver water to the girls in our class later?”

Fang Shu did not refuse.

The sports committee member immediately stuffed two bottles of water into her hands and asked her to bring them to a girl in their class doing long jump and another girl doing shot put.

Ye Wanyin sat idly on the steps. Beside her were a few people who, like her, had events in the afternoon, now gathered in twos and threes. Some were playing cards, some were playing games, and some, who knew when, had taken homework out of the classroom and were now doing homework with it spread across their knees.

Ye Wanyin glanced a little longer at the person doing homework, then looked toward the sports field.

Her gaze swept around once and finally landed beside a certain event surrounded by a circle of people. Fang Shu had no event, so she was still wearing a skirt today. A dusty-pink shirt paired with a wine-red short skirt, her arms and legs exposed. Walking through the crowd, she was extremely eye-catching.

Fang Shu had no habit of squeezing inward, so she stood rather close to the edge. Her expression was as lazy as ever. She tucked the two bottles of water under her arm and began playing on her phone at the side.

Ye Wanyin saw quite a few boys go over to Fang Shu to strike up conversations. Most were dismissed by Fang Shu before long. As for the few who remained, Ye Wanyin saw them chatting for a bit, then seemingly glancing in her direction, though they quickly looked away again. She did not know if it was her imagination.

The girl doing long jump finally finished. Fang Shu handed her the water and watched as she was taken away by the other girls in their class. Then Fang Shu turned and went to the next stop.

At noon, the sun grew hotter and hotter. Ye Wanyin also had no choice but to take off her school uniform jacket. Under it, she was wearing a short-sleeved T-shirt. On the bottom, she wore school uniform pants and plain white sneakers, looking very ordinary from a distance.

“Top student.”

Ye Wanyin subconsciously turned around and saw a somewhat familiar-looking boy standing behind her. She adjusted her glasses. “Is something wrong?”

The sun was too strong, and the nose pads of the glasses perched on her nose had pressed out a fine layer of sweat. Ye Wanyin had to lift them from time to time to let the area breathe.

The boy in front of her handed her a bottle of drink and said, “Good luck with your event this afternoon. Even if you can’t run, it’s fine to just walk the whole way.”

Ye Wanyin looked at him, not quite understanding why, then refused the drink. “I don’t drink this.”

“Ye Wanyin.”

At some point, Fang Shu had walked over. She was holding two cups of milk tea. She handed one to Ye Wanyin, then looked at the boy opposite them and frowned slightly. “Zhang Heng?”

The boy called Zhang Heng looked at her, then glanced at Ye Wanyin, who was holding the milk tea. As if he had understood something, he walked away in disappointment.

Fang Shu gave a light snort, then said something to Ye Wanyin.

Ye Wanyin gave an “oh” and very quickly put what had just happened behind her.

She held the obviously warm milk tea in her hands. Fang Shu said to her, “This is red bean milk tea. It should have about the same effect as brown sugar. Try it.”

Ye Wanyin tightened her grip on the milk tea. She did not know if it was an illusion caused by her period, but she felt as if a warm stream was slowly flowing out from her heart. She took a sip, then said to Fang Shu, “Thank you.”

Fang Shu sat down beside her.

Ye Wanyin watched Fang Shu drink in gulps, then took another small sip of the red bean milk tea in her hand. The sweet taste of red bean spread through her mouth. She casually chatted with Fang Shu. “After the sports meet ends, next—”

Fang Shu: “…”

Ye Wanyin looked at her.

Fang Shu: “…”

Fang Shu turned Ye Wanyin’s head to the side. “Don’t talk to me.”

She could not even make conversation properly. What conversation was there to make?

Ye Wanyin thought Fang Shu wanted to watch the sports meet seriously, so she gave an “oh” and really sat beside her without making another sound.

In the afternoon, Ye Wanyin lightly warmed up beside the sports field. Her 800-meter race was about to start. Fang Shu stood next to her, frowning as she said, “When it starts, just walk.”

“Our class is focused on participation anyway.”

Ye Wanyin nodded in agreement.

Only then did Fang Shu feel slightly relieved.

Ye Wanyin stood on the same track as the other contestants. Fang Shu watched her from the edge of the track at a short distance away. In her hand, she was not holding the mineral water distributed by the class, but a thermos cup she had dug out from the classroom.

At first, Ye Wanyin really planned to just walk.

But the moment the starting pistol went off, all the girls rushed out like arrows leaving the string. Their classmates ran along the edge of the track with them, cheering them on. Ye Wanyin alone fell behind at the very end.

Very soon, the people in front were almost out of sight.

Ye Wanyin felt countless gazes falling on her. The classmates running alongside the other contestants seemed to slow down too, looking at the only girl on the track who was slowly walking.

Ye Wanyin: “…”

She seemed to understand why Fang Shu had worn such a subtle expression when she said she could just walk the whole thing.

Walking the whole distance under so many gazes really did require courage.

And so, at first, Ye Wanyin had been walking as if taking a stroll. Later, she began jogging.

Fang Shu quickly ran a few steps to keep up. Because non-contestants could not cross the track line, she could only remind Ye Wanyin from not far away, “Stop running. Walk back.”

Her voice was not small, and it stood out among the surrounding cheers for the contestants of each class. The gazes of the people around instantly shifted from the jogging Ye Wanyin to her.

The pressure on Ye Wanyin instantly lightened, and her jogging pace slowly slowed down too.

In the end, Ye Wanyin still finished the whole race at a jog. When she crossed the line, the judge was almost wiping sweat. “If you were any slower, the boys’ 1000-meter race might have finished too.”

Ye Wanyin gave the other person an awkward smile. After the judge finished recording her result, she slowly walked out, preparing to look for Fang Shu.

Fang Shu was beside the finish line. Between them were their classmates. Several girls held mineral water and wanted to stuff it into Ye Wanyin’s hands. “You worked hard. Our focus is participation. It doesn’t matter if you came last.”

Ye Wanyin looked at them helplessly. Because she was on her period, she did not know whether she should take the mineral water.

Fortunately, Fang Shu came over in time to resolve the situation. She stuffed the thermos cup into Ye Wanyin’s hands, then returned the mineral water that had been forced into her hands. She said to them, “She can’t drink this right now.”

The girls instantly understood, then said in unison to Ye Wanyin, “Remember to drink more hot water.”

Ye Wanyin nodded at them.

Only after they had all walked far away did Fang Shu frown and look at Ye Wanyin, arms crossed over her chest. “You’re really not uncomfortable anywhere?”

Ye Wanyin bent down slightly and pinched her calf. “My calves just feel a little sore.”

Although it had only been a jog, it was still 800 meters without stopping. After this run, Ye Wanyin felt that her whole calves were numb and tingling.

Fang Shu contributed one of her arms for Ye Wanyin to hold and helped her over to the steps.

The two sat on the steps for the entire afternoon. When the weather began to cool, Fang Shu urged Ye Wanyin to put on her jacket and, along the way, asked again, “Your body isn’t uncomfortable, right?”

Fang Shu had already asked this no fewer than five times that afternoon. Ye Wanyin still patiently shook her head. “I’m not uncomfortable.”

Only then did Fang Shu let out a breath of relief.

That night, the two each briefly reviewed their knowledge before returning to their rooms to sleep.

Early Saturday morning, Fang Shu woke from a dream with a start. Thinking of what had happened in the dream just now, Fang Shu’s cheeks instantly felt a little hot.

She dug out her phone, which was charging by the bed, and was about to type in a search. But thinking of the answers she had found the previous two times, she fell silent for a moment, then retyped a line—

“How to tell if you are gay.”

This time, several search results came up, and the suggestions looked much more reliable than before.

She scrolled through them one by one, and finally revealed a thoughtful expression.