Chapter 8

When Yan Ning pushed open the door, she saw the young man who had helped her out at lunchtime.

Meng Qing also recognized her and flashed a warm smile. “We meet again. Are you here to sign up for the individual competition?”

“Yes.” Yan Ning nodded and casually asked, “Are you in the student council?”

“Yes, we really are quite fated,” Meng Qing replied.

The office was quite large, likely converted from a classroom.

Taking up the most space was a conference table arranged in a semi-elliptical shape, with the main seat at the center and two parallel tables on either side. On the wall opposite the main seat was a multimedia setup, which was where regular meetings were held.

The area where Meng Qing was sitting had three desks arranged in a row, but at the moment, he was the only one there, handling daily tasks. There was also a small tea room with a wall full of various materials.

After quickly scanning the room’s setup, Yan Ning lowered her head and handed over her student ID. “Is just the student ID enough?”

“Yes, please wait a moment.” Meng Qing took the student ID, glanced at it, handed her a registration form, and then pulled out a sign-up sheet for her.

The registration form was similar to a log-in sheet, asking for her name, student number, class, and the time of registration. The sign-up sheet was more detailed, in addition to the aforementioned information, it also asked for her age, hobbies, and any honors she had received.

Yan Ning filled out both forms. He tore off the receipt at the bottom of the registration form and handed it to her. “You’re right on time. The registration deadline is today.”

“I just found out about this competition, so I thought I’d give it a try.”

“With your qualifications, the first round will be no problem at all.”

“Thank you. I won’t disturb your work any longer. I’ll be leaving now.” Yan Ning put the receipt with the competition schedule and notes into her pocket and turned to leave.

Meng Qing lowered his head to organize the registration materials. The registration deadline was at 2:30 PM today, and he estimated no one else would come. He wanted to finish up the paperwork in advance so that he wouldn’t have to come back in the afternoon.

After tidying up, he glanced at the clock on the wall. It was 2:20, he should head back to class.

The sound of hurried footsteps echoed, loud in the quiet hallways of the experimental building. It seemed someone was running toward him.

He was about to stand up to see who it was when a figure “whoosh” appeared right in front of him.

“I want to sign up.” The young man slammed his hand heavily on the table, speaking while slightly out of breath—he must have run all the way here.

Meng Qing raised his eyes and saw a young man with a fierce look on his face. Even so, it couldn’t be said he was unattractive.

He looked very tall, probably over 185 cm, with a strong and muscular build. His features were sharp, and his eyes were particularly intense, giving him an air of authority when he spoke. His presence didn’t resemble that of a high school student, there was a sharp, decisive pressure around him.

“Let me see your student ID.” Meng Qing lowered his gaze, trying to ease the inexplicable pressure he felt.

The young man took the ID from his pocket and tossed it directly onto the table, making a crisp sound as it landed.

Meng Qing furrowed his brow when he saw the cover of the ID. After picking it up, he looked up and said, “You’re not a student at our school.”

“Obviously.” The young man raised an eyebrow, a smirk playing at the corner of his lips, his tough expression turning into that of a sly troublemaker.

Meng Qing handed the ID back to him. “Sorry, only students of our school can sign up.”

“I heard there are three requirements for the individual competition at Minghua’s sports meet. Take a good look—I’m nineteen, I’m good-looking, and this is my first time signing up. Which one doesn’t apply to me?” The young man slapped the table arrogantly.

Meng Qing’s tone remained calm. “I’m truly sorry, although you meet the requirements for the individual competition, you’re not a student of Minghua, so you fundamentally don’t qualify to sign up.”

“Hey, bro, don’t be so rigid. How about you call and check if someone like me can sign up?”

The young man’s insolent attitude put Meng Qing in a difficult spot. The registration for the individual competition was nearly over, and very few people had signed up in the last few days, so he hadn’t called anyone for help. Had he known he would run into someone like this, he would have asked for assistance. With class about to start, he didn’t want to waste time on a pointless argument.

Meng Qing took out his phone and called the student council president, briefly explaining the situation.

The president asked to see the young man’s appearance. Meng Qing hung up and snapped a photo of the young man, sending it via QQ.

A few minutes later, he received a reply: 【Let him sign up.】

【Really? But he’s not a student at our school.】 Meng Qing quickly replied.

【Yeah, the sponsor said it’s fine. Just go ahead and do it.】

Meng Qing put his phone down, his expression unchanged, and handed over the registration and sign-up forms.

The young man took the pen and started filling them out, without saying much.

Meng Qing leaned over slightly and saw that the name field was filled with three characters: Zhao Mingcheng.

When Zhao Mingcheng was filling out the registration form, he noticed the name of the person before him: “Yan Ning.” He frowned slightly.

He must be overthinking it, that person couldn’t possibly be here. Her name wasn’t unique, and it wasn’t unusual to encounter a few people with the same name.

Zhao Mingcheng dismissed his doubt and handed the form back to Meng Qing. After receiving the receipt, he left decisively.

—

The laboratory building and the high school teaching building are connected by short bridges on the first, third, and fifth floors. By passing through the high school teaching building, you can reach the junior high school building on the other side, where the teacher’s office is located.

After leaving the student office, Yan Ning climbed from the third floor to the fifth floor of the laboratory building, planning to cross the bridge connecting the teaching buildings and return to her classroom directly.

The laboratory building is a five-story building made of green glass and red tiles. People only come here for biology and chemistry lab classes, and it is very quiet most of the time. Perhaps it has something to do with the color of the window glass, but the corridor in the laboratory building always seems darker than the one in the teaching building.

As Yan Ning reached the second row of steps between the fourth and fifth floors, she heard some faint sounds. The noise was very subtle, but Yan Ning’s senses were sharp. It sounded like fabric rubbing together, along with nearly inaudible breathing…

She paused, recalling the cigarette butts she had occasionally seen on her way up. There might be older students misbehaving here. She considered taking the stairs from the bottom instead, to avoid any trouble.

A muffled grunt sounded from the side, and Yan Ning realized it was too late. She froze and slowly turned her head.

The first thing she saw was the tear mole at the corner of the young man’s eye. In an instant, his face appeared clearly in her mind. It was the same young man, even more stunning and dangerous than the blood-red lotus.

Yan Ning stepped aside, backing up two steps to lean against the wall, her right hand clutching the collar of her shirt. She was clearly startled.

The young man was wearing a pure white shirt and black pants, casually sitting on the stairs. The shirt was unbuttoned at the top, revealing his delicate, pale collarbones. The girl beside him was leaning into his embrace, her arms tightly wrapped around him in a very affectionate manner.

The girl, lying sideways against the young man, also noticed Yan Ning coming up the stairs.

Their eyes met in midair. Yan Ning awkwardly realized that she seemed to be the only one feeling embarrassed.

The young man’s lips curved slightly, and it seemed that he wasn’t disturbed at all by the sudden intruder. The girl beside him clearly wasn’t the same one from under the cherry blossom tree.

Ah… this… this is so stimulating?

This kind of scene wasn’t… uh, she really hadn’t seen anything like this in real life.

Yan Ning composed herself, standing up straight, and stiffly nodded at them. She then stepped aside, climbing the stairs one step at a time—one, two, three steps—until she reached the top of the stairs and then walked past them at a normal pace.

Once she was out of their line of sight, she immediately tiptoed and jogged as quickly and quietly as possible, trying to escape this awkward situation.

Yan Ning tried hard to appear mature and worldly, which was why she hadn’t just run away earlier.

She felt that her performance had been decent, except for that one second of panic at the start, which lowered her standard. But other than that, her performance could be called perfect.

“Ningning, your face is so red. What happened on the way back?” Qiao Yingxue asked when Yan Ning returned.

“Oh, nothing. I was afraid I would be late for class, so I ran back. I’ll be fine in a bit.”

Qiao Yingxue didn’t think much of it. “Did you sign up?”

“Mm, I did.”

—

“President, all the registration forms are here. Please take a look, this is the registration sheet,” Meng Qing handed the organized registration materials to Qin Li.

Qin Li, male, 17 years old, is the president of the student council at Minghua High School, and a classmate of Meng Qing.

Qin Li picked up the top sheet from the stack of materials, which was Zhao Mingcheng’s registration form. He quickly skimmed through the basic information and then placed it separately in a folder.

His desk mate, Chen Xiaohai, leaned over to take a look and immediately saw the registration form with the name “Yan Ning.” She reached out and took it. “Grade 7, Class 5. It’s really her.”

Qin Li took the registration form back from her hand. “These need to be handed over to the teacher later, so don’t mess them up.”

“Looking at it won’t hurt anything,” Chen Xiaohai muttered as she stood up to look for Yan Wan.

Yan Wan had just returned from outside and was sitting at her desk, wiping her hands with a handkerchief.

Her movements were slow and graceful, and simply doing this made several people around her glance her way.

Chen Xiaohai sat down in the empty seat in front of Yan Wan, leaned in, and whispered, “Wanwan, I saw that she signed up too.”

A hint of confusion appeared in Yan Wan’s eyes.

“Yan Ning. I just saw Qin Li holding Yan Ning’s registration form,” Chen Xiaohai said, leaning closer to Yan Wan’s ear.

Yan Wan paused her movements, lowered her long lashes to hide her expression, and her voice softened, “Ningning is so confident. I’m happy for her, and I’m looking forward to it.”

“How can she compare to you? If you’re the swan in the sky, she’s just a toad in a well, not knowing the vastness of the sky,” Chen Xiaohai said mercilessly.

“Alright, alright, don’t say things like that,” Yan Wan didn’t like it when Chen Xiaohai spoke this way, always saying things that could be easily used against someone.

In the laboratory building, the stairwell Yan Ning had just passed.

“Darling, what are you laughing at?” Chen Nuan lightly pushed the young man, pouting and playfully looking at him, her tone carrying a slight hint of dissatisfaction.

She was beautiful and well-dressed, with a fitted top and short skirt that perfectly accentuated her figure. Her coquettish and slightly jealous look resembled a rose soaked in morning dew, vibrant and nearly dripping with beauty—rarely could anyone resist such charm.

The young man pushed her away, stood up, and gently patted the nonexistent dust off his clothes. A faint smile tugged at the corners of his mouth, and his soft, pleasant voice, like the clouds at dusk, was intoxicating and seemed a bit distorted in the empty hallway: “Let’s break up.”

“Darling, that’s not a funny joke,” Chen Nuan thought she had misheard. How could her boyfriend, who had just been so sweet, suddenly turn cold?

“Oh? You think I’m joking with you?” The smile in the young man’s eyes deepened. He pulled out a piece of paper from his pocket and gently placed it in Chen Nuan’s palm.

Chen Nuan flipped the photo over and saw the content. For the first time, she felt a chill run through her heart. It was a photo from last night, showing her dancing with another young man at a bar.

“Don’t misunderstand. It was just for fun, I’m not mad about this kind of thing. It’s just that I suddenly feel a bit tired of it. Let’s part on good terms.”

With every word from his soothing voice, Chen Nuan felt her heart freeze a little more.

It seemed like he was saying, “I know everything you’ve been hiding from me. I didn’t expose you because I didn’t care. Now I’m exposing you because I’m tired. So, be smart and stop clinging on.”

“Lu Feng,” Chen Nuan tried to stop him.

The young man didn’t stop walking, just turned his back to her and waved his hand. It seemed like he said something, but she didn’t catch it.

“At least you get my name right. Now I can’t even find an excuse to be heartbroken,” Lu Feng murmured as he took a big step and walked away from the laboratory building.