Chapter 34: She Is Willing

A few dry leaves on the ground were swept up by the wind and then fell back down, making a faint rustling sound.

Wei Qingyu looked at Ji Xiao, who was jogging over, somewhat surprised. "Is there something wrong?"

"If there's nothing wrong, can't I walk home with you?" Ji Xiao countered, with hands in her pockets.

Seeing that Wei Qingyu was always alone, and the weather was nice today, Ji Xiao felt a bit nostalgic for the scenes of walking home with classmates during her youth. So, she decided to let the driver go ahead and walk home with Wei Qingyu.

“Alright," Wei Qingyu replied calmly.

She didn't mind having Ji Xiao with her, but she just felt a bit awkward.

"But I have a question, Wei Qingyu, why don't you take the bus home? With so much exercise today, aren't you tired?" Fang Yiming, who was standing on Ji Xiao's right, leaned over curiously, looking at Wei Qingyu.

Wei Qingyu and Fang Yiming were not particularly close. Their only connection was the incident with Liu Meina last time when Qi Qi pulled them together into a small group chat of four.

After that incident, the group chat fell silent.

Perhaps they didn't know what to say to each other in the group. After all, they must have had their group chat of three within the group of four.

With that in mind, Wei Qingyu shook her head and said, "I'm not tired."

"Really? Wow, you're really amazing then!" Fang Yiming's expression was as exaggerated as ever. "Do you know, this morning, our class, no, the whole school was stunned!"

As Fang Yiming spoke, her eyes sparkled like a fangirl.

Wei Qingyu looked a bit embarrassed and nodded slightly, saying, "You flatter me."

Ji Xiao glanced at Wei Qingyu upon hearing this, rarely seeing her like this, and smiled, "You don't know, all the Omega winners from the other groups were exhausted after finishing their runs. Some even had to be carried down."

"Right, right, in our class, it was still Qi and I who carried someone down," Fang Yiming nodded in agreement, taking out her phone and sending a few pictures. "Look, the captured expression of despair at that moment is just priceless."

Upon hearing this, Ji Xiao also took out her phone, looking at the pictures Fang Yiming sent and laughed. "These could really become emoji packs."

Wei Qingyu stood beside Ji Xiao, watching the two girls laughing together and suddenly feeling a bit uneasy. They had their own group, and their own sense of humor, while she felt like a temporary outsider pulled into their circle.

"You should take a look too, it's so funny."

Suddenly, a light tap on Wei Qingyu's arm drew her attention. Ji Xiao looked at Wei Qingyu with smiling eyes, gesturing for her to look at her phone.

Wei Qingyu paused for a moment, feeling an unexpected sense of anticipation. The dormant group of four suddenly appeared as a gray dot, with a white number: 12.

She tapped into it, and several pixelated images appeared in her view.

The people in the pictures had extremely funny expressions and actions. As Wei Qingyu scrolled through them, she noticed a small detail.

The first image in their group was a repost from Ji Xiao, and the subsequent ones were directly sent by Fang Yiming.

In other words, Fang Yiming originally posted to Ji Xiao and their small group of three.

Then Ji Xiao silently reminded Fang Yiming in this way, and Fang Yiming quickly realized it too.

The cool autumn breeze brushed over the girl's face, stirring ripples in her eyes.

Was Ji Xiao doing this to consider her feelings?

Had she actually learned to consider others' feelings?

As she looked at Ji Xiao standing in front of her, Wei Qingyu felt as if an invisible door had been pushed open by this girl.

"Wei Qingyu, I still have a set of emojis from Sister Xiao this afternoon throwing a shot put! Do you want it?" At this moment, Fang Yiming excitedly held up her phone, skipping past Ji Xiao and jumping to Wei Qingyu's side.

On the screen appeared a photo of Ji Xiao staring at the shot put she had thrown and landed by her feet.

It was unclear what Ji Xiao was thinking at that moment, but even her usually proud and self-confident face looked somewhat aggrieved, appearing pitiful.

As Ji Xiao looked past Wei Qingyu and saw the picture, her nerves instantly tightened.

Was she, an S-level Alpha, losing face like this?

Ji Xiao hurriedly chased after Fang Yiming, saying, "When did you take those?! Don't send them, I'm warning you Fang Yiming, don't send them!!!"

But it was too late, Fang Yiming had already pressed the send button.

Ding ding! Three phones vibrated simultaneously. Wei Qingyu saw Qi Qi immediately send a meme mourning for Fang Yiming.

As the sun set in the west, the river was dyed orange by the reflected sky, and the wind stirred up sparkling ripples.

Wei Qingyu looked at the girl in the distance who was fighting for her “reputation" and chuckled, saving the black photo within the two-minute unsend limit.

Of course, she wanted it.

….

The afternoon sun sprinkled with a hint of coolness onto the earth, while the marching band's tunes echoed across the playground, adding some liveliness to this autumn day.

Cheers erupted continuously, and excited students crowded along the sides of the red rubber track.

The two-day sports meet reached its final event—the 4x100 meters relay race for both male and female Alpha groups.

The girls from Class 17, in the sophomore level, had passed the check-in and were now queuing up, heading towards the lush green infield.

Ji Xiao, as the top Alpha female student in her class, although her shot put performance was not ideal, she was still roped into participating.

"Go, Class 17! Let's go, Class 17!"

"Class 13!! Come on, Class 13!!"

Ji Xiao listened to the waves of cheering and also glanced at the ongoing 4x100 meters relay race for the sophomore boys' Alpha group.

The competition between Class 13 and Class 17, with the loudest cheers, was intense, with the two teams neck and neck after the first baton exchange.

Amidst such fierce competition, there was one team that seemed particularly pitiful—the Experimental Class.

The first baton was dropped by their athlete, the second baton was overtaken by the second-to-last team, and the third athlete fell while running. The fourth baton exchange went smoothly, but they were already too far behind to catch up.

"Your class is so miserable," Fang Yiming remarked, who was standing nearby, unable to hold back her words.

"Yeah," Ji Xiao nodded. Though she's reluctant to admit it, it did seem that way.

"It's okay. After all, you guys aren't relying on sports. It doesn't matter," Qi Qi patted Ji Xiao's shoulder and reassured her.

"Yeah, you're all just bookworms who only know how to study. It's really tough for you to participate in the sports meet," came a familiar sharp taunt from the side.

Ji Xiao turned her head and unsurprisingly saw Liu Meina's face that deserved a beating.

"What did you say?" Ji Xiao looked at Liu Meina very unfriendly.

"What, isn't it the truth?" Liu Meina mimicked Ji Xiao's smile from yesterday, then looked at the last boy from the Experimental Class to cross the finish line. "Congratulations, both of our classes have retained the relay championship this year. But we're number 1 and you guys are number 1 from the last, right?"

"You didn't even run first, what are you so proud of?" Qi Qi retorted, rolling her eyes at Liu Meina.

"Yeah, anything can happen later. Don't get too cocky here!" Fang Yiming chimed in.

Liu Meina snorted, "Well, let's see later if our class is still the first."

Ji Xiao looked at Liu Meina's arrogant appearance, feeling extremely disgusted deep down.

She turned to her teammates, who were silent but resentful, and said, "Later, everyone must do their best to run and surpass them."

"Can we really do it? The boys' team lost so miserably..." one girl asked, feeling a bit disheartened.

"Do you all just want to let this villain look down on our Experimental Class?" Ji Xiao asked in response.

"I don't want to."

"Of course not, I wish I could punch her."

"Exactly, what she said was way out of line!"

Hearing everyone's resentful tone, Ji Xiao nodded firmly. "Since that's the case, let's not drop the baton. Give it your all and run with all your might. No matter how far behind we fall, I'll catch up."

With that, Ji Xiao coldly looked at the arrogant Liu Meina beside her, cracking her knuckles.

This time, she decided to teach Liu Meina a lesson.

A breeze blew across the stadium, and a thick cloud moved to block the sunlight.

The seven classes lined up on the seven lanes from the outer to the inner track. Ji Xiao stood in the last position, and Liu Meina stood on the lane next to hers.

The two exchanged a glance, neither acknowledging the other.

Liu Meina even took the time to tidy up the two braids her classmates had specially made for her.

She was an A-level Alpha, with excellent explosive power.

Last year, she easily took first place in the 4x100, crushing the other classes. Why couldn't she do it again today?

"Bang!"

The starting gun went off, and the seven athletes started simultaneously, accompanied by cheers from both sides of the track.

As expected, the experimental class lagged, hovering at the bottom of the pack.

Class 17, where Liu Meina was, was even far ahead of Ji Xiao's experimental class.

The first and second batons were passed.

Liu Meina looked at the relay baton handed to her by her teammate, her face full of triumph.

Up ahead, the red ribbon had already been raised, and the students cheering along the trackside were getting louder.

Liu Meina was reveling in her own cheers when she suddenly noticed something amiss in the cheering.

"Ji Xiao!!! Ji Xiao, go for it!!!"

"Ji Xiao, come on!!! Ji Xiao!! Go for it!!!"

….

"The familiar name continuously transmitted into Liu Meina's ears, and then, she suddenly felt someone rushing over from behind.

In the third leg of Ji Xiao's class, they caught up to the fifth position, and when she received the baton, she rushed forward, passing the fourth and third places side by side, surpassing the second.

Her long legs tensed, her muscles tight, her back straight, and her arms swinging in a fast rhythm.

Her high-tied long hair was like the most beautiful horse on the grassland, shedding a golden light under the azure sky.

Ji Xiao, in a visibly accelerating manner, quickly approached Liu Meina.

Everyone tensed up, and the cheers from the experimental class’ audience became deafening.

Except for Wei Qingyu.

She stood next to Feng Ming, her eyes fixed on Ji Xiao, who was about to overtake Liu Meina.

The tension was evident on her face.

"You can't be like this; you have to shout it out!" Feng Ming looked at Wei Qingyu and said to her.

Wei Qingyu hesitated for a moment upon hearing this, tightly pursing her lips, unsure of how to refuse.

She had always been emotionally restrained, never having shouted out so boldly before.

"If you don't shout it out, how will she know you're cheering for her? How will you pass on your strength to her?" Feng Ming loudly urged Wei Qingyu amid the noise.

"Look at them! Everyone is one collective; we need to come together!" Feng Ming said, then grabbed Wei Qingyu's wrist and stirred up the chaotic cheering in the class: "Come on, everyone, one, two, three, Ji Xiao, come on!"

"Ji Xiao, come on!"

"Ji Xiao, come on!"

The orderly and enthusiastic voices of her classmates pounded on Wei Qingyu's heart, one after another.

With only fifty meters left to the finish line, Liu Meina pushed herself to the limit, trying to pull ahead and match Ji Xiao's pace.

Ji Xiao's expression was serious and tense as if she had put all her strength into it, gritting her teeth tightly.

This was a Ji Xiao that Wei Qingyu had never seen before.

She charged forward with all the expectations of everyone, giving it her all.

The wind seemed to be infected too, pushing the heavy clouds aside to reveal a ray of sunlight.

Wei Qingyu's heart pounded, and amidst the deafening cheers around her, she let go of her tightly clenched lips.

"Ji Xiao! Come on!!!"

If this could give Ji Xiao more strength, she is willing to let go of her reserve.

The familiar voice cut through all the noise, landing squarely in Ji Xiao's ears.

Her golden-orange eyes trembled slightly, and in her line of sight, she saw the girl standing beside Feng Ming, waving her arms to cheer her on.

A cool mint scent suddenly pierced through Ji Xiao's body with irresistible force.

She didn't know what had come over her, but upon hearing Wei Qingyu's cheer, her Alpha body, already at its peak, suddenly surged with even more power.

With only 10 meters left to the finish line, Liu Meina strained with all her might to accelerate, but in her field of vision, she saw Ji Xiao's half-body.

Then it was her whole body.

And then there were only her shoes left, leaving behind a blur.

Ji Xiao surpassed her with absolute explosive power!

Liu Meina pushed herself to speed up desperately, but it was to no avail.

For the first time, the usually self-assured her felt what it was like to be powerless.

The girl who had brought her unbearable humiliation last time ruthlessly crushed her pride once again.

The heavy clouds finally drifted past the sun, and a beam of golden light shone unreservedly upon Ji Xiao.

Cheers that seemed to pierce eardrums echoed through the stadium, and Feng Ming excitedly loosened his tie and waved it in the air.

Ji Xiao crossed the finish line first!

The experimental class won its first relay first place since its establishment!

Cheers and admiration echoed from the stadium to the teaching building.

Until Ji Xiao returned to the classroom with a chair in hand to pack up and go home, a group of Omegas quickly surrounded her seat.

"Ji Xiao, you're amazing."

"Thank you."

"Ji Xiao, I poured some water for you, here."

"I'm not that thirsty, thank you."

"Ji Xiao, are you hungry? I have some cupcakes here."

"I'm not very hungry either, thank you."

“Hey, hey, no need, no need, my legs aren't sore..."

...

Facing everyone's enthusiastic gestures towards her, Ji Xiao suddenly felt like Tang Seng* stumbling into the land of women.

*one of the central characters in the classic Chinese novel "Journey to the West" is a Buddhist monk often portrayed as naive and kind-hearted, but also prone to mishaps and needing protection from his more powerful companions.

She sat at her desk, holding a cup of overheated water, feeling a bit overwhelmed by this dream-like situation.

“Are you leaving or not?"

A particularly cool voice cut through the sugary-sweet voices around Ji Xiao.

The unexpected scent of mint lingered in Ji Xiao's mind, making her involuntarily take a deep breath of cool air.

Wei Qingyu stood at the door with her white canvas bag on her back, expressionless, looking at her.

Author's Note:

I have no saved drafts left, so typed too quickly with no time to revise. Thanks, everyone for catching bugs. Also, no more updates tonight. Collapsed.jpg