Xia Ruan moved the corner of her lips. Before she could refuse, the bottle in her right hand was snatched away by Lu Yan. 

“Thank you.” 

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Lu Yanzhi, dressed in white, walking over. He casually took the water bottle from Xia Ruan’s left hand and handed it to a nearby classmate. 

When Fang Yinan walked over holding a bottle of water, she saw Lu Yan tilting his head back, drinking large gulps of water. The water at the corner of his lips reflected a rainbow under the sunlight. She paused for a moment, glanced at Lu Yanzhi who was approaching, then tossed the bottle in her hand in his direction. “Deskmate, catch.” 

Lu Yanzhi caught it steadily and then raised the bottle to her. “Thanks.” 

Most of the students in Class Seven were still immersed in the joy of victory. This subtle undercurrent of emotion here went unnoticed by most. 

Yang Xiaomi was the first to notice Fang Yinan’s disappointment. She tugged her sleeve gently and comforted her in a low voice, “Nan Nan, don’t worry. Lu Yan won’t like Xia Ruan.” 

Fang Yinan lowered her gaze and looked at her. She didn’t deny her own feelings, but instead asked, “Why do you say that?” 

“Because before, Xia Ruan confessed to Lu Yan in public, and he rejected her,” Yang Xiaomi said matter-of-factly. 

Fang Yinan looked at her expression and suddenly let out a soft laugh. “You said it yourself. That was in the past.” The way Lu Yan looked at Xia Ruan just now was clearly different from how he looked at others. 

After the relay race, Xia Ruan carried snacks and accompanied Fan Shujuan in the logistics area. She casually opened a bag of chips and handed it to Fan Shujuan, asking, “What are we going to watch next?” 

Fan Shujuan glanced at the chips in her hand and resisted the temptation. “I’m dieting. Just one chip’s calories take a whole minute to burn.” 

“It’s okay to eat a little sometimes,” Xia Ruan said as she grabbed two chips and crunched them loudly. Watching her made Fan Shujuan’s teeth itch, and she eventually gave in to the temptation and ate several chips. 

Shouts echoed all around. Fan Shujuan, afraid Xia Ruan would be bored, quickly said, “If you get bored, you can go look around by yourself first.” 

Xia Ruan glanced at the crowd walking in groups and decisively refused, “No, I’ll wait for you.” 

Fan Shujuan looked at her watch, then glanced at the schedule on the table. “In the afternoon, when someone comes to replace me, we can go watch the men’s 3000 meters.” 

Seeing Xia Ruan nod vaguely, Fan Shujuan reminded her, “In twenty minutes is the high jump. Aren’t you going to cheer for your brother?” 

Xia Ruan lazily said, “That place is probably already surrounded by Lu Yan’s fangirls. Besides, my voice will definitely be drowned out, so I’ll just support him mentally here.” 

Fan Shujuan laughed. “Careful, your brother might get mad.” 

Xia Ruan looked up at her with an indescribably lazy tone, “He won’t. If he can get first today, he’d have come to pull me to watch long ago and definitely want me to record a video for him.” 

After saying that, Xia Ruan let out a small laugh. Tch, men and their egos. ” 

❖❖❖ 

Just like Xia Ruan guessed, the high jump area was packed with people. With the event about to start, the competitors were all warming up. 

Lu Yan scanned the spectator stands several times but didn’t see the person he was looking for. So he looked toward Xia Fei, who was also warming up, and saw him chatting happily with someone. 

Xia Fei said, “It’s not like I’m gonna win first place. What’s the point of asking Ruan Ruan to come? Just to see how a sports student like me gets crushed?” 

Hearing that, Lu Yan paused slightly, feeling a little regretful. Maybe he had gone too hard earlier. But this was his usual style: either not participate or do his best. 

Soon, the teacher gathered the participants. Lu Yan followed the others toward the teacher. 

“Ah, Nan Nan, do you think Lu Yan was looking for someone just now?” Yang Xiaomi asked uncertainly. 

Fang Yinan rubbed her brow, trying to calm the sudden uneasy feeling. Hearing Yang Xiaomi’s words, she replied dismissively, “Probably.” 

Yang Xiaomi looked around strangely but still didn’t understand who Lu Yan was looking for. Fang Yinan vaguely had a guess but tried to convince herself it wasn’t what she thought. 

As expected, Lu Yan easily took first place again. Xia Fei looked at his own third-place ranking. Well, it was the outcome he’d expected. He just wasn’t as skilled, and there wasn’t much to regret. But his gaze toward Lu Yan became a bit complicated. Was there anything this guy wasn’t good at? Weren’t all these events randomly picked for him by Lu Jizhou? If he was this good at randomly chosen ones, how amazing would he be with ones he actually chose? 

At this moment, Lu Yan didn’t know about Xia Fei’s inner complaints. He looked at the water a girl handed him, hesitated for two seconds, then took it, “Thanks.” 

Fang Yinan confidently met his gaze, “No need, this is what logistics should do.” 

Lu Yan didn’t reply further. He lowered his head, twisted open the cap, and then tilted his head back to drink. 

Fang Yinan just stood quietly at the side. From nearby came a girl’s disgruntled voice. “Why does he only drink the water she gives him? Is ours poisoned or something?” 

“Look at Fang Yinan, then look at yourself. That look in your eyes like you want to devour Lu Yan whole—do you think he’d dare take yours?” her friend teased. 

“But I think Fang Yinan’s look isn’t much better than mine,” the first girl grumbled, unconvinced. “She hid it well, but I still saw it. The way she looked at Lu Yan wasn’t much different from the rest of us.” 

❖❖❖ 

“See? I told you he wouldn’t get first,” Xia Ruan pulled a lollipop from her mouth and said to Fan Shujuan. At this time, the broadcast was announcing the high jump winners and their rankings. 

Fan Shujuan tidied up the table without looking up, “Third place is still impressive. Your demands are too high.” 

Xia Ruan thought about it and agreed, then picked a lychee-flavored lollipop from her bag, “Then I’ll just give him this as a reward.” 

After seeing the lollipop, Fan Shujuan couldn’t help but come closer and flick her forehead, “You’re so stingy, Pah. Your brother treats you so well normally.” 

Xia Ruan, feeling wronged, spread open the snack bag to show her. “I’m giving him my favorite candy. How’s that stingy?” Then she suddenly realized something. “Wait a minute, class monitor, you’re actually standing up for my brother? Clearly, we’re closer, right?” 

“That’s because I envy how good he is to you.” Compared to her own troublesome little brother, she really wished she had an older brother like Xia Fei. 

“That’s true, my brother is the best brother in the whole world.” Xia Ruan said with a big smile. 

“I know you have the best brother in the world. It’s time to eat now, where should we go? The first canteen or the third canteen?” Fan Shujuan asked for her opinion. 

“Wait a moment, I’ll ask my brother.” The sports festival didn’t restrict them from using phones, and usually, she ate with Xia Fei. 

After agreeing with Xia Fei to go to the third canteen, Xia Ruan and Fan Shujuan headed that way. She remembered what Fan Shujuan said and casually asked, “What time is the 3000-meter race in the afternoon?” 

“At 3 o’clock. Do you want to watch it together?” Fan Shujuan asked. 

Xia Ruan thought for a moment: “Watching is fine, I’m bored anyway.” 

The two chatted casually while walking to the third canteen. It was packed today. Before Xia Ruan could find a seat, she saw Xia Fei waving at them: “Ruan Ruan, over here.” 

When Xia Ruan got closer, she realized Lu Yan was also there—not just Lu Yan, but several boys she didn’t recognize. 

Xia Fei seemed to know what she was thinking and quickly explained: “These are the people we just did the high jump with.” 

Alright then. Xia Ruan couldn’t quite understand this kind of “brotherhood.” One minute they were competitors, and the next they were eating lunch together. She glanced subtly at Lu Yan. She hadn’t expected him to be here. 

Lu Yan stayed quiet the whole time. It wasn’t until Xia Ruan showed up that he lazily lifted his eyes and spoke. “Xia Fei, what dishes did you order earlier?” 

Hearing this, Xia Fei quickly patted his head and looked at Xia Ruan: “Ruan Ruan, tell me what you and the class monitor want to eat. I’ll tell Wang Hao.” He glanced at Wang Hao in the queue nearby, who was almost at the front with just two people ahead. 

“What did you guys order?” Xia Ruan asked. 

Xia Fei rattled off a string of dish names. Xia Ruan and Fan Shujuan were both a bit shocked—there wasn’t a single vegetable. As expected, they were all meat-lovers. So Xia Ruan just added two vegetable dishes and called it good. 

Hearing this, Xia Fei raised his eyebrow: “Just vegetables? Ruan Ruan, you’re not even fat. Why are you dieting?” 

Xia Ruan rolled her eyes at him. “You all ordered so many meat dishes, I obviously need to balance it out with some veggies.” 

Xia Fei was about to complain about vegetables being tasteless when Lu Yan’s voice interrupted: “Xia Fei, if you don’t go now, it’ll be Wang Hao’s turn.” 

Xia Fei glanced at Lu Yan, who was sitting there acting like some kind of noble lord. He clenched his teeth but decided to let it go. After all, Lu Yan had helped him review important exam points. 

As soon as Xia Fei left, the other guys at the table started chatting up Xia Ruan and Fan Shujuan. Xia Ruan gave them a quick glance and thought her standards had already been spoiled by Lu Yan and Lu Yanzhi. It might be harder than she thought to get into a relationship early. Resting her chin on her hand, she sighed a little at the thought. 

“Can we sit here?” A sweet female voice spoke up from the side. 

Xia Ruan looked up and met Fang Yinan’s smiling face. The boys beside her had already made room for the two girls. Fang Yinan nodded politely and thanked them, then pulled Yang Xiaomi over to sit next to Xia Ruan. 

Yang Xiaomi thoughtfully sat beside Xia Ruan, letting Fang Yinan sit on her right to be closer to Lu Yan. 

When Xia Fei came back, he saw Fang Yinan sitting there and happily greeted her: “What a coincidence, Fang Yinan. You guys are eating here too?” 

Xia Ruan thought her brother must’ve lost his mind. What else would someone come to the canteen for? Studying? 

Fang Yinan politely nodded at Xia Fei: “It is a coincidence.” 

Lu Yan noticed Xia Fei’s gaze toward Fang Yinan and seemed to understand something. Then he stood up and walked over to Xia Fei, patting his shoulder: “You take my seat.” 

Author’s Note: 
Lu Yan: The opportunity has been laid out for you. 

At this point, Lu Yan probably hasn’t actually developed feelings yet. What he’s experiencing now is more like reluctance and curiosity.