It couldn’t be that she was less than 120 cm tall.

Sang Zhi picked out the keywords from the sentence.

120 cm, less.

She reversed the order and connected them again.

Less than 120 cm.

Sang Zhi was completely distracted by those few words and didn’t notice what Sang Yan said to the person next to him or what the person lying down looked like.

At this moment, the sun was blazing, and although it was shady under the tent, it wasn’t cool. The oppressive heat was everywhere. Sang Zhi’s face was slightly red from the heat and she was feeling irritable, unable to tolerate the inexplicable accusation thrown at her.

“How am I less than 120 cm?” Although Sang Zhi felt this was something she didn’t need to prove, she couldn’t help but argue, “I’m already 155 cm tall. How am I less than 120 cm?”

“Already 155 cm? Then, Student, you look,” Sang Yan flipped through the list nonchalantly, “quite short.”

“……”

“Alright, next time you should mention it earlier. Otherwise, it’s easy to misunderstand.”

“……”

Was she supposed to tell everyone she met, ‘Hi, I’m 155 cm tall’?

That would be like showing off.

“Check if the number on your shirt matches the list.” Sang Yan then nudged the person beside him, “Stop sleeping, come and help out, Bro.”

The person who had been lying down moved a little, then finally lifted his face from his arms.

Sang Zhi looked over.

The man appeared sleepy and his eyes were half-closed, seemingly unaccustomed to the brightness. His hair had grown a bit longer in the past few months, covering his eyebrows and looking somewhat messy from sleep. His skin was a cool, pale shade, but his lips were vividly red as if they were stained with rouge.

His seductive appearance was unchanged, even more enticing.

Duan Jiaxu sat up straight. He leaned back on the chair, looking as if he was still half asleep, and lazily responded, “En?”

Sang Zhi stared at him for two seconds, her heart pounding heavily. Then she quickly looked away, pretending not to see him. She found something to do, searching for her name and number on the list on the table as Sang Yan had instructed.

0155.

Sang Zhi looked down at the number on her chest and then told Sang Yan, “It matches.”

“Your number is quite interesting.” Sang Yan said casually, “As if you’re afraid the whole world doesn’t know you’re 155 cm tall.”

Sang Zhi was displeased. “I didn’t choose this number.”

Hearing their conversation, Duan Jiaxu lifted his drooping eyelids. Noticing Sang Zhi and the clothes she was wearing, he raised an eyebrow, his sleepiness almost completely dissipated.

Then, he suddenly laughed out loud.

Sang Zhi looked at him upon hearing the sound.

She saw him staring at her clothes, his chin lowered as he laughed and the amusement in his expression undisguised. The implication was clear. He was openly mocking her outfit.

This reaction reminded Sang Zhi of the class uniform she was wearing, which even her grandmother would probably refuse to wear. Her ears gradually turned red as she took a deep breath, angrily walking to the side.

She could still faintly hear Duan Jiaxu’s low laughter, “Your sister’s taste isn’t too bad.”

“……”

Now it was fashionable for older people to team up and bully the younger ones.

Two! Old! Men!

Sang Zhi pretended not to know them.

She stayed with a girl from her class who was also participating in the long jump, waiting for everyone’s names and numbers to be checked.

The girl’s name was Cen Rui and she was relatively quiet. She seemed bored and took the initiative to ask, “Sang Zhi, do you know those two guys?”

Sang Zhi reluctantly nodded. “But not well.”

“How do you know them?” Cen Rui was curious. “They seem quite a bit older than us.”

“They’re friends of my mom.” Sang Zhi casually lied.

“Huh?”

“My mom likes square dancing. They often dance together.” Sang Zhi continued, “Sometimes they come to our house for meals, so I know them.”

‘Square dancing’ and ‘often dance together’, these words struck Cen Rui like a bolt of lightning. She asked in disbelief, “You mean square dancing? Like 《Beautiful Seven Fairies^[1]by Niu Zhaoyang》 kind?”

Sang Zhi remained expressionless. “Yes.”

“That’s……” Cen Rui’s expression was indescribable and she squeezed out a sentence, “quite trendy.”

“Not bad.” Sang Zhi’s mood instantly improved with this reaction. “People their age seem to like dancing like that.”

“……”

Soon, Sang Yan called their group over to draw lots and arrange the competition order.

Sang Zhi drew casually and was placed second to last.

There were three check-in staff members. Besides Sang Yan and Duan Jiaxu, there was another young woman. They wore matching black T-shirts and white hats.

After the check-in was completed, they led the participants to the competition area.

Sang Zhi found it hard to believe.

Although she knew that Nanwu University would have students volunteering, the idea that Sang Yan and Duan Jiaxu would sign up for it seemed like a fantasy to her.

She didn’t want to be laughed at by the two of them, so she walked in the back with Cen Rui.

Once they were led to the competition area, the check-in staff’s job was done.

Sang Zhi gradually relaxed, praying they would leave soon. It was just past eleven and the sun was getting more intense. She squatted down, hiding in the shadow of the person next to her.

After a while, someone suddenly put a hat on her head.

Sang Zhi was squinting from the sunlight and instinctively lifted the brim of the hat, looking up.

Noticing the person in front of her, her expression froze.

She moved her gaze and saw another person standing beside him. What she had just prayed for didn’t come true. Neither of the two young men had left and now they even came to her.

Duan Jiaxu squatted in front of Sang Zhi, his hair appearing lighter under the sun. He tilted his head slightly, his arm resting on his knee as he smiled playfully. “Little Sang Zhi looks quite pretty today.”

Sang Zhi didn’t want to respond to him.

Sang Yan stood beside Duan Jiaxu, holding a camera he had somehow acquired. The next second, he aimed it at Sang Zhi, adding fuel to the fire, “You could go for a beauty pageant.”

“Brother!” Sang Zhi’s eyes widened. “Why are you taking pictures?”

“Mom and Dad asked me to.” Sang Yan bent down slightly, bringing the camera closer. “Not bad, Little Brat, you look like a beauty queen today.”

“I haven’t even mentioned you looking like Popeye today.” Hearing the mockery in his words, Sang Zhi immediately jumped up to grab the camera. “Stop taking pictures! You never take photos when I look good!”

“Is that so?” Sang Yan foresaw her reaction and raised his hand high, humbly asking for advice, “When do you look good? Let your brother know, or else I’ll never know.”

“……”

Sang Zhi wanted to jump up again but he immediately held her head down.

She couldn’t move.

She felt like she was about to explode, but she was suppressed to the point that she couldn’t move, completely helpless. Sang Zhi held back her temper, knowing when to yield. “Brother, I won’t take it.”

Sang Yan still didn’t let go.

Sang Zhi persisted, “You can keep taking pictures, it’s okay.”

She really felt too miserable.

Originally, Sang Yan going to university was something Sang Zhi had been immensely grateful for. But she had never expected that she would still have to endure Sang Yan’s torment while at school.

As if he hadn’t heard her, Sang Yan’s eyes lifted slightly and he continued his previous actions. “I was just taking pictures properly, wasn’t I?”

“……” Sang Zhi couldn’t take it anymore and threatened, “If you keep this up, I’m going to tell Dad.”

“Go ahead, complain all you want.” Sang Yan responded indifferently. “I won’t be home for a while anyway.”

They were in a standoff for a moment.

Duan Jiaxu, who had been squatting nearby watching, eventually stood up, pried Sang Yan’s hand off Sang Zhi’s head, and teasingly said, “Can you stop bullying my sister?”

Sang Yan: “?”

Even though she knew Duan Jiaxu was no better than Sang Yan, Sang Zhi shamelessly hid behind Duan Jiaxu, feeling emboldened. “Did you hear that? My brother told you to stop bullying me.”

Sang Yan stared at them for a while, finding it absurd. “Who is your brother?”

Sang Zhi naturally pointed to Duan Jiaxu.

“Fine, Bro.” Sang Yan said, putting down his camera and smiling as if he found this deal worthwhile. “She’s yours now.”

Before they knew it, it was Sang Zhi’s turn to compete.

When it came to sports, there wasn’t a single event Sang Zhi was good at. But after weighing her options, she figured the long jump was the easiest and so she chose it.

This was her first time participating in the school sports competition.

Initially, she didn’t feel nervous at all, thinking she would just jump and leave. She hadn’t considered whether she could win any ranking.

But now, inexplicably, two more people were watching her.

Sang Zhi took a deep breath.

Standing on the runway, she glanced at the take-off line, estimating how many steps she needed to take. Soon, she heard the referee’s command and started running.

When she was about a meter from the take-off line, Sang Zhi paused and then continued running. Afraid of stepping on the line, she glanced at it with her peripheral vision and accurately stood in front of it, using all her strength to jump forward.

The world fell silent, leaving only the sound of the wind whistling by.

After a few seconds, the referee came over with a measuring tape, looking serious and attentive. “0155, the first result is 0.5 meters.”

“……”

Sang Zhi vaguely heard laughter from the side. She pretended not to hear it and scratched her head. “Do I have to jump again?”

The referee replied, “Jump two more times.”

Sang Zhi didn’t want to jump again, but she couldn’t break the competition rules. “Oh.”

Standing on the sidelines, Duan Jiaxu found it amusing, his shoulders shaking slightly. “What’s wrong with your sister? She ran so fast to the take-off line, then stopped to do a standing long jump?”

“Little Brat is cautious and timid.” Sang Yan said while smiling slightly, having recorded the scene with his camera. “She’s probably afraid of falling.”

Sang Zhi repeated the same steps for her second jump but did slightly better, achieving 0.8 meters this time.

As she passed by Sang Yan, she heard him clapping softly, encouraging her, “That was far. It’s not even as long as one of my steps.”

“……”

Chen Mingxu happened to come over to watch the competition. Seeing Sang Zhi’s unenthusiastic performance, he scolded her and demanded that she put more effort into her last jump.

Even if she wasn’t good at the long jump, she had to try her best.

Attitude is everything.

Stimulated by both Chen Mingxu and Sang Yan, Sang Zhi bit her lip. Not knowing whom she was competing with, she was determined to make a good jump this time to make them look at her differently. She adjusted her breathing and started running slowly.

Then she began to accelerate in the middle.

She jumped five centimeters before the take-off line and landed in the sandpit. Just as she had imagined countless times, she lost her balance, twisted her ankle, and fell forward.

Instinctively, Sang Zhi reached out her hands, scraping them and feeling a sharp pain. Then she fell into the sandpit.

Volunteers immediately came over to help her up. “Are you okay?”

Tears uncontrollably fell from Sang Zhi’s eyes but she didn’t cry out and forced herself to say, “I’m fine.”

But her ankle throbbed with pain and Sang Zhi struggled to stand up.

This unexpected situation caught everyone off guard.

Sang Yan and Duan Jiaxu hurried over, followed by Chen Mingxu from a distance.

Duan Jiaxu, being the closest, reached her first. He squatted down and grabbed her arm without using much force. “Can you stand?”

Sang Zhi began to regret her stubbornness. More than the pain, what made her feel more embarrassed was falling flat on her face in front of everyone. She lowered her head and shook it.

Sang Yan grabbed her other arm, frowning. “Why didn’t you keep doing the standing long jump?”

Sang Zhi finally burst into tears, feeling utterly wronged. “Didn’t you mock me?”

Together, the two lifted her up.

Sang Yan squatted down. “Come on, let’s go apply some medicine for you.”

Chen Mingxu watched on the side with a sense of guilt. “Sang Zhi, are you okay? Teacher shouldn’t have said those things. If I had known you would jump like that, I would have been content that you participated at all……”

Sang Zhi climbed onto Sang Yan’s back, still holding back tears. “It’s okay……”

Seeing her like this made Chen Mingxu feel even more guilty. He turned around, about to say something, when he noticed Duan Jiaxu standing nearby. “Sang Zhi’s brother? What are you doing here?”

“Oh, I remember now.” Chen Mingxu started rambling, “You mentioned last time that you’re studying at Nanwu University, right? I’m really sorry I didn’t take better care of your sister……”

Then he noticed Sang Yan carrying Sang Zhi and paused. “And who is this?”

Sang Zhi’s scalp tingled.

Her thoughts drifted back to half a year ago when her parents were called to school. The pain seemed insignificant at this moment compared to the overwhelming guilt and fear.

How should she answer?

Saying this was Sang Yan, her real brother, would expose all her lies, and she would be doomed.

Or should she say he was her brother’s friend?

But why would he be carrying her? That would be strange.

Seeing Sang Zhi so tense, Duan Jiaxu realized something and was about to speak.

In the next moment, Sang Zhi tightened her grip around Sang Yan’s neck, as if to choke him or prevent him from speaking. With her mind blank, she blurted out without thinking, “Dad.”

Sang Yan who immediately turned his head: “?”

The pain and tension catalyzed more tears from Sang Zhi, falling down uncontrollably. She sniffled and stammered, “Teacher, t-this is my dad……”

“……”