Lin Jinglei was still furious and intended to continue giving Mr. Ming a hard time. Yan Zizheng said he wanted to retrieve his phone, so Lin Jinglei followed him and climbed over the wall.

He fell from the school wall and headed straight for the small shop across the street. With a demeanor resembling a robber, he pushed the door open and walked straight to the refrigerator without saying a word. He forcefully pulled open the glass layers and grabbed an ice cream, bursting the packaging bag and desperately shoving it into his mouth.

The female sales clerks behind the counter were all dumbfounded. They shifted their gazes towards another relatively normal-looking young boy who entered. He was dressed neatly in a uniform. One of the clerks stuttered, "This...he..."

Yan Zizheng was unaware of what had happened to Lin Jinglei. He understood that their relationship did not allow him to ask any probing questions. As for why Lin Jinglei chose to find excuses to lead him out, it was beyond his comprehension. His principles had long been ineffective when facing Lin Jinglei, and it was not the first time that he had been confused by something that deviated from common sense. He signaled to the female salesperson to ignore him and took out his wallet to settle the bill. However, he realized that his flag-raising uniform had no pockets.

Lin Jinglei leaned against the refrigerator, his mouth full of ice cream as if the cool sensation could calm his anger. He crazily threw the remaining two bites of ice cream on the ground and grabbed another one to continue eating.

Yan Zizheng counted the fourth one. He could tell that Lin Jinglei wasn't simply craving to eat, but forcing himself to eat. What's wrong with him? Unable to resist, Yan Zizheng reached out and knocked the ice cream out of Lin Jinglei's hand, saying, "Don't eat anymore."

Lin Jinglei reached his hand into the refrigerator, his words carrying a chilly air, "Don't you fucking bother me."

Yan Zizheng exerted force to pry the person stuck to the freezer, then swiftly closed the freezer. He then pulled the person out and, incidentally, took out a wallet from Lin Jinglei's coat pocket, extracted some money, and tossed it onto the counter.

Lin Jinglei walked over to the side of the road and turned back, saying, "I can go get my phone myself."

Yan Zizheng threw the wallet back, and Lin Jinglei caught it without caring about what it was. He looked at it and couldn't believe it, then reached into his pocket and frowned, saying, "When did you take it?"

"You ate all the ice cream, so you should at least pay for it."

There was indeed nothing wrong with these words. Lin Jing lei put his wallet back into his pocket.

Yan Zizheng continued, "I have put the receipt for the phone in the classroom. You can only retrieve it if you have it with you."

"Shouldn't have told me earlier," Lin Jinglei clicked his tongue, "then what's the use?"

Yan Zizheng squatted on the steps in front of the small shop and said, "Either you wait for me to go back and get the documents, or you come with me to get the documents."

Lin Jinglei found every option troublesome. He shook his head and exclaimed impatiently, "Let's not consider that for now."

He didn't want to go home, didn't want to stay at school either. Lin Jinglei really didn't know where he should go. He looked at the endless streets and gradually walked over to sit on the steps, about half a meter away from Yan Zizheng.

Across the street, at the entrance of the school gate, a cleaner was sweeping up fallen leaves. A formation of migrating geese flew across the sky overhead, their calls sounding increasingly desolate.

Lin Jinglei turned his head and glanced at Yan Zizheng, who was sitting quietly there. Although they couldn't be considered friends, whenever he was troubled, the person sitting next to him was always him. This person who had fought with him and looked down on each other, spoke little and didn't cause any trouble. This feeling couldn't be described as particularly good, but at least it wasn't bad.

"Yuzhao, the class teacher wants you to go to his office."

Zhao Yu was goofing around with a few boys in the back row when he was interrupted by the class monitor's announcement. After cursing a couple of times, he turned around, pushed open the back door, and walked out.

In theory, once the parent-teacher conference was over, he should no longer fear Zou Jing. However, subconsciously, he believed that the incident with the athlete was deliberately orchestrated by Zou Jing to target him. He was afraid that if he provoked this smiling but ruthless individual again, his life would become even more difficult.

Every time he comes to Zou Jing's office, he never knocks on the door, or rather, he has never knocked on any door wherever he goes. Upon pushing the door open, he leans against the wall near the doorway with a boneless appearance, ready to leave at any moment, asking, "What do you want from me?"

Zou Jing looked up and said, "Yan Zizheng didn't attend the third class. Do you know where he went?"

Yu Zhaoyu frowned, saying, "How would I know?"

"Aren't you guys in a good relationship?"

"Who said we have a good relationship?" You Zhaoyu impatiently said, "Don't ask me, I don't know."

Zou Jingbian continued correcting the exercise book while saying patiently, "I called his dad's phone number, but it was out of service. Do you have any other contact information for his family?"

Zhaoyu raised an eyebrow and chuckled, "Whose phone number do you want? You gotta ask the King of Hell for that."

Zou Jing slammed the table with a loud "bang" and raised his voice, "How dare you speak to me like that!"

Yu Zhaoyu didn't expect that a simple joke would actually make this man angry. He instinctively straightened his body and muttered, "Just kidding."

Zou Jing strode over and stood solemnly in front of You Zhaoyu, saying, "You are aware of Teacher Chang's achievements, aren't you? Is this the kind of attitude you have towards the deceased?"

The man squinted at his eyes, and from that look, Zhao Yu could see interrogation and contempt. He toned down his arrogant attitude and said, "I really don't know how to contact other members of their family."

Zou Jingping's tone softened and said, "If you can get in touch with him, tell him to come back for class."

Zhaoyu nodded perfunctorily, "Hmm."

"Also, I applied for a training slot for you in the sports group. In two days, you can join the training with the second and third-year students. Do you have a favorite sports teacher?"

Yao Zhaoyu interjected anxiously, "So fast!"

"The earlier the training, the better."

"But I didn't want to participate in the training as an athlete."

Zou Jing looked at the young man in front of him and said, "Do you know how high your father's expectations are for you? Even if it's for his sake, you must persevere. Of course, if you are particularly weak and can't hold on for a few days, then there's nothing that can be done. To be honest, I really don't have much confidence in you."

Zou Jing intentionally finished the latter part with a slightly sarcastic tone, and his provocative approach had indeed had some effect. The young man turned around and glanced at him before leaving: "Whether I can persevere or not is not for you to decide."

Zhaoyu returned to the classroom and saw Yan Zizheng already sitting in his seat, without saying a word. The more he thought about the scene he saw that night, the more troubled he felt. If his good buddy really had something going on with the girl he liked the most, he didn't want either of them anymore.

As he was about to slip away, he looked up and saw Yan Zizheng getting up and leaving through the front door. Nervously, he poked his head out from the back door and saw Yan Zizheng walking towards the back door of Class 18 to look for someone. His heart tightened. If it turned out to be Gong Yue who came out, he planned to rush over and give Yan Zizheng a beating.

Luckily, it's not.

Tang Shan came out.

Tang Shan thought that Zheng Qiaoyin, who had previously asked him for help with her broadcast script, was looking for him again. He went out and searched for a long time but didn't catch sight of that girl.

A folded piece of paper was handed over in front of me.

Tang Shan looked at Yan Zizheng in surprise and asked, "You're looking for me?"

"Lin Jinglei asked me to give this to you and said you should take it to his home after school."

Tang Shan took it and opened it. He was afraid it might be a prank, after all, in his impression, Lin Jinglei would not entrust matters to Yan Zizheng. After confirming that it was Zhang Weixiu's receipt, he relaxed and put it away.

Lin Jinglei finished his meditation and got up to leave. Before he left, he entrusted the promissory note to Tang Shan, and it seemed as if he would never come back to school again.

Yan Zizheng handed over the documents and took two steps away before turning back and asking seriously, "Do you know what happened to him?"

Tang Shanmu nodded silently.

Hearing the doorbell, Lin Jinglei knew it was Tang Shan who had come without looking through the peephole.

Tang Shan entered the room and took off his school bag, placing it on the ground. He reached into his pants pocket and pulled out a repair receipt, saying, "What happened to your cellphone? Why did you change the screen?"

Lin Jing Lei sighed: "To make a long story short, it's broken. If it's not broken, who would fix it?"

Tang Shan sat down on the sofa and asked, "When did you become so close with Yan Zizheng?"

"How come he is so familiar with me? Isn't it just a matter of giving a gift?"

"I mean, he inquired about what happened to you in great detail, and he listened quite seriously."

Lin Jinglei was taken aback. He reached out and took the receipt, lowering his head to look at it. "I will go get my phone in a moment. I plan to eat outside. Do you want to come? I'll treat you."

Tang Shan laughed and said, "Hey, the sun came out from the wrong side today."

Lin Jinglei grabbed his coat and said, "If you're going, just say so. Don't dawdle."

"Keep walking."

Tang Shan agreed readily, but suddenly said after leaving, "I need to let my mom know."

"Mom is strict."

"This is a case of 'better to have one less thing than one more thing'. I don't feel comfortable at school, and I don't feel comfortable at home either. What's the point of me being alive, seriously?"

Lin Jinglei leaned against the wall of the corridor, waiting for Tang Shan to finish calling his mother. He raised an eyebrow and said, "Did she let you go home early?"

"Well, isn't this something parents should always say?" Tang Shan said, turning his head as he walked downstairs. "Did you not tell your uncle that you won't be having dinner at home?"

Lin Jinglei snorted and said, "What a load of nonsense."

Zou Jing didn't have any classes in the afternoon. He was reading in the office when the final self-study class bell rang. Just as he was planning to return to the classroom to take a look, Mr. Liang from the Physical Education Department came.

As Liang Jinlong walked in, he forced a smile and said, "Xiao Zou, you're really good at giving Brother Liang a difficult problem."

"What's wrong?" Zou Jing smiled, put down the book and stood up. "What happened?"

Liang Jinlong scratched his head and said, "I really can't manage the student you entrusted to me."

Zou Jing was surprised. The physical education class was scheduled for the last two periods in the afternoon. It had only been forty minutes, and yet he managed to make the head gym teacher look like this. What on earth did Zhao Yu do?

He apologized, "I'll go with you to take a look."

This is Zhao Yu's first day of training. When he arrived at the school in the morning, the training had already ended, so he joined the afternoon session. He didn't even finish running two laps during warm-up before refusing to run anymore. He got into a dispute with some second-year sports students for no apparent reason. He disregarded everyone's scolding and caused chaos in the training team. He also ignored the physical education teacher and argued back at every sentence. Unable to do anything about it, Liang Jinlong came to find the class advisor.

Zou Jing doesn't need to hear much from Liang Jinlong to know what kind of person You Zhaoyu is. When things go his way, he's like a tiger reluctantly drifting off to sleep. But when things don't go his way, he becomes a stubborn donkey with a wild temper.

When he arrived at the playground, You Zhaoyu was sitting on the sidelines playing with his phone. He was wearing sportswear and looked the part, but he didn't actively participate.

Zhao Yu was in the middle of giving his assessment of Gong Yue's condition when someone kicked him on the side of his thigh. He clicked his tongue and raised his head.

"Do you not want the mobile phone anymore?"

Yao Zhaoyu decided to give face to the class instructor, so he tucked away his cell phone and twisted open the water bottle in his hand, tilting his head back to gulp down the water.

Zou Jing squatted down and said, "I've heard about your glorious deeds. So, do you think you are particularly amazing?"

Zhaoyu manipulated the water bottle with his hand without making any noise.

Zou Jing continued, "For someone who can't even complete two laps, what do you have to be so arrogant about? If you want others to respect you, at the very least, you need to have some capabilities. Do you really think you're capable with just this?"

Zhao Yu slammed the water bottle onto the ground, visibly frustrated. He exclaimed, "So talking big is cool, huh? You said being an athlete is easier for me. Why don't you try running for a bit and see how exhausting it is? It's easy for you to stand there and lecture me without experiencing the pain. What right do you have to teach me? If you're so capable, show me how many laps you can run, damn it!"

Zou Jing stared at the young man's sharp gaze and said slowly, "What if I have that ability?"

The sports field during this time period was filled with athletic students training, and no one noticed the tense atmosphere between the teacher and student here.

Zou Jing stood up and, while undoing his coat, looked at You Zhaoyu who was still sitting there. He said, "I ran down without any pause in the middle for ten laps. So why don't you make up for today's warm-up laps. What do you think?"

Yu Zhaoyu laughed as if he had heard a joke, looking at the man in front of him dressed in attire unsuitable for running - a shirt, trousers, and leather shoes. This is really a matter of life and death. He could just go back to the office and sit there, so why bother coming here? He didn't think that Zou Jingwen, who appeared weak, could run ten laps. He chuckled lightly, "Sure thing. It would be best if you can survive to supervise me in completing the mission."

Zou Jing threw his coat onto the seat next to You Zhaoyu and walked onto the running track, while moving his limbs.

On the side, Liang Jinlong, who didn't understand the situation, stopped and said, "Teacher Zou, what are you doing?"

Zou Jing smiled and looked over, saying, "Let's exercise."

The sunset was just right, with noise and commotion on the playground. Zou Jing, who was being smiled at by Liang Jinlong, made Zhaoyu suddenly feel uncomfortable in his heart. He had never seen Zou Jing smile at him so beautifully before. He was always giving him a lecture or scolding him, only ever giving him instructions.

With his gaze fixed on the thin and determined figure running into the track, Zhao Yu felt agitated. In order to ensure that he could train well, Zou Jing actually started running. He had never seen a class leader like this before. For a moment, he admired Zou Jing's dedication, but it quickly faded, thinking that it was just nosy meddling.

After several laps, Zou Jing's stamina was gradually declining. His perseverance was not solely for show. He could imagine the mocking tone and disdainful expression from Zhao Yu if he were to stop. Therefore, these few laps were crucial, as they were related to his dignity in front of the youngsters.

A lap is four hundred meters, and ten laps are four kilometers. Zhao Yu sat there watching, rarely counting the laps very seriously.

He was waiting for Zou Jing to give up halfway, and at every second, the figure drenched in sweat seemed to slow down more and more, but he didn't wait for it to stop.

When Zou Jing was about to finish his last lap, the school bell rang, urging the athletes who had completed their training to leave. He gritted his teeth and increased his speed, stopping in front of Zhao Yu. His face was flushed, his nostrils were filled with sweat, and though he was clearly out of breath, he managed to steady his voice and said, "It's your turn."

Yao Zhaoyu stood up and patted the dust off his pants, saying to the person sitting behind him, "If you want to run, go ahead. I'm not afraid of you."

The youth crouched down and tied his shoelaces before standing up. Suddenly, he smiled, revealing a neat row of upper teeth. "However, I must explain to you that I warm up with five laps," he said.

Zou Jing waved his hand and said, "The number of laps doesn't matter, as long as you can run."

Zhaoyu tugged at the hem of his sweatshirt and took out his phone. He thought about putting it aside, but was afraid of losing it, so he had to hand it to Zou Jing and said, "Please hold onto this for me and give it back to me after I finish running."

Zou Jing took it and looked up, but the young man had already run away.

He glanced at the mobile phone screen that lit up when he touched the side button, muttering, "Childish."

Zhao Yu still tried to worm his way out of it, not completing the required five laps. He claimed that he had already run one and a half laps earlier, so he only needed to make up for the remaining three and a half laps.

Zou Jing couldn't be bothered to argue with him. After all, Zhaoyu's attitude towards training had improved, even if it was only slightly, it was still not in vain.

The campus is much quieter now. There are only a few classrooms on the first and second floor with open windows, while the classrooms on the third floor across the way are all lit up.

Zou Jing handed his cellphone and water bottle to You Zhaoyu before leaving first, saying, "Train hard tomorrow. I don't want to be called here by Teacher Liang again."

Zhaoyu stood in the same spot for a while before getting up and walking towards another direction. He saw Yan Zizheng, who was carrying a bag slung diagonally across his chest and looking down at the ground, under a street lamp. They hadn't spoken in two days. As he approached, Zhaoyu asked, "What are you doing here?"

Yan Zizheng looked up and said, "I'll wait for you."

Zhaoyu didn't stop walking, with Yan Zizheng following behind: "You really intend to train, huh? What kind of aphrodisiac did Zou Jing feed you?"

Zhaoyu still cared about the scene he had seen that night, ignoring the person behind him.

Yan Zizheng became more and more certain that You Zhaoyu had been avoiding him for the past few days, so he decided to confront him and ask what was going on. He stopped in his tracks and said, "What exactly happened that made you distant from me?"

Taking a deep breath, Zhao Yu said, "Well, never mind. Let's not discuss it. He turned around and continued, "I asked you before, what would we do if we both fell for the same girl? At that time, you told me it was impossible."

Yan Zizheng nodded and said, "I remember."

Yu Zhaoyu hummed and said, "But it seems like you didn't do it like that."

"What have I done?"

After the parent-teacher meeting that evening, I asked you where you were after school. Did you really stay at home?

Yan Zizheng tried hard to recall. It was true that he had lied that day, but it shouldn't have caused them to be so estranged.

Yu Zhao continued, "At that time, I was sitting in the car, just passing by the drink shop that you were about to enter."

"We?"

"Damn it, you really want me to say it out loud," Yu Zhaoyu glared angrily at Yan Zizheng, "Back when I was pursuing Gong Yue, you always advised me to give up. It turns out you had ulterior motives yourself. I really misjudged you. Don't force me to make a move. I've already shown you enough face. From now on, let's pretend we don't know each other."

Yanzizheng was completely disoriented by You Zhaoyu's series of words. After collecting his thoughts, he called out to the person who had already started walking away, saying, "You misunderstood. I didn't go to any beverage shop with Gong Yue."

Zhao Yu laughed and pointed to his own eyes by poking them with his fingers, saying, "My eyesight is 5.0."

Yan Zizheng sighed: "You didn't see it wrong, I did indeed appear in that store with her, but it was just by chance. We only exchanged a simple greeting. I didn't go to find her."

Yao Zhaoyu was seriously contemplating, trying to expose Yan Zizheng's facade, but he really didn't know how to refute him.

Yan Zizheng emphasized with a heavier tone, "Gong Yue is not the type I like. I assure you, you can rest assured this time."

Zhaoyu softened his tone and asked, "Really?"

"Really."

Zhao Yu relaxedly chuckled and said, "That was my misunderstanding of you."

Yan Zizheng seemed to smile and not to smile, as Zhou Yu had always been simple-minded with well-developed limbs, so he couldn't be blamed.

With the knot in her heart untied, Xiaokai leaned on Yanzizheng's shoulder and said, "Tell me, what kind of girl do you like? Do you have someone in mind, someone from our school, maybe from our class?"

Yan Zizheng disdainfully takes the arm of Yu Zhaoyu off his shoulder, saying, "You're covered in sweat. Stay away from me."

"Don't change the subject. Your reaction suggests that you have feelings for someone. What's her name? Do I know her?"

Yan Zizheng refused to answer and walked off in big strides.

"Introduce me to her, are you already together or what? Hey, don't go..."

The street lamp elongated the shadows on the ground as two teenagers, one walking briskly and the other chasing after, hurried along.