Chapter 54: The Quality Is So Poor

Could it be haunted? The ghost was even sitting beside him, watching. He was startled and immediately turned his head to look, only to relax when he saw it was Xu Yannuo staring at him. Thankfully, it was just his deskmate.

“You’re back. Didn’t you watch the match?”

“You haven’t watched it either, have you?” Xu Yannuo scoffed inwardly. What’s so interesting about competitions anyway?

Chen Ciyi relaxed into his chair, tilting his head to look at Xu Yannuo. After a brief moment of eye contact, Chen Ciyi chuckled, “Fair point.” Then, noticing the meal card in Xu Yannuo’s hand, he glanced up at the classroom clock—it was already 11. He pulled out his own meal card too. “Come on, let’s grab some food.”

The two got up and headed to the cafeteria together. The competition was still ongoing, with most students either participating or cheering from the sidelines. The twelfth graders hadn’t even finished class yet, leaving the cafeteria nearly empty except for a handful of early birds like them. No lines, no rush, and all the dishes were still fully stocked—plenty to choose from.

After getting their food, they took the nearest seats. This was actually Xu Yannuo’s first time having lunch with Chen Ciyi. Usually, it was with Zhang Qi and Zhao Ying, or else he’d just come alone.

She noticed that Chen Ciyi wasn’t just good-looking—even the way he ate was pleasing to the eye. Tsk, truly a feast for the eyes, she thought with a smile before lowering her head to continue her meal. After finishing, both felt somewhat overstuffed. Normally, after queuing for ages, they might only get to pick one or two of their favorite meat dishes—getting three was nearly impossible. To ensure third-year students ate well and had enough energy for the college entrance exams, their lunch break started 10 minutes earlier than first and second-years. By the time the younger students queued up, the seniors had already taken most of the good meat dishes, leaving barely any leftovers unless you dashed out right on time or had gym class last period. Today was different—they got everything they wanted, so they decided to stroll around the playground before heading back to class to avoid just sitting around uncomfortably full.

After walking for a while, they could still hear cheers rising and falling from the sports field—the competition was still ongoing. Having missed the games all morning, they decided to check out the excitement, even if it wasn’t particularly thrilling. At least they could see how Class 8 was faring.

They headed to the sports field but didn’t return to their class’s designated area. Instead, they casually found a relatively empty set of stairs with a decent view and sat down. Currently, the 4×100 relay was underway on the track, while the long jump and high jump were taking place simultaneously in the inner field. Squinting, they could vaguely make out the competitors—though too far to see faces clearly, the team jerseys made it easy to distinguish the classes.

Class 8 wasn’t in this heat of the 4×100 relay. Since they’d arrived abruptly, they hadn’t seen earlier races or kept track of the standings, so they didn’t know whether Class 8 hadn’t competed yet or had already been eliminated. However, Class 8 did have participants in the high jump and long jump.

The two of them carefully watched the high jump and long jump events. At first glance, they felt a slight thrill, but after observing for a while, being mere spectators made it seem even more dull. Chen Ci leaned back on his hands, gazing at the high jump and long jump areas. “How come our class is so terrible at this?”

Xu Yannuo responded expressionlessly with an “Mmm,” adding, “They really are terrible.” How could the long jumpers land so close? Were they just hopping in place? And why were the high jumpers clearing such low heights? Did they have lead in their bones when they signed up?

The high jump and long jump events were halfway through, but for Class 8, it was already over. On the track, the previous group in the 4×100 relay had just finished, and a new group took their place. When this group spotted Class 8, they immediately abandoned the high jump and long jump areas, turning their attention back to the relay race on the track.

With a gunshot, the first runner dashed off, but at the sound of the gunshot, Xu Yannuo also visibly startled in her seat. Though her reaction was subtle—perhaps just sitting up abruptly—Chen Ciyi still noticed. He turned his head to look at her and soon observed that her face had turned pale, her pupils slightly abnormal, just like when he first saw her after transferring to Class 8. Back then, he had assumed she was feigning it.

Chen Ciyi worriedly leaned in to take a closer look at Xu Yannuo’s face, afraid of startling her again, and asked softly, “Are you… okay?”

Xu Yannuo snapped back to reality, her facial expression immediately softening. She looked at Chen Ciyi, smiled, and said, “It’s nothing, let’s keep watching.”

Beside her, Chen Ciyi sat back down and resumed his earlier lazy posture, leaning back on the steps with his hands. However, he still watched her with concern. After a few seconds of silence, he couldn’t help but ask, “Were you… frightened by bullying before?”

Xu Yannuo didn’t answer, and Chen Ciyi didn’t ask further. Making sure she was fine now, he averted his gaze and returned to watching the match.

After a while, Xu Yannuo’s voice came from beside him, “No, it’s domestic violence.” She said it lightly, without any emotion. After that one sentence, she didn’t say anything more.

She stopped speaking, and Chen Ciyi didn’t press further. Sometimes, no matter how much you care, it’s best to just be a good listener, because some things, even though they are right there, you can’t solve them at the moment. Asking too much will only lead to more frustration.

After a few seconds of each lost in their own thoughts, they both turned their attention back to the competition. Shortly after, they saw Class 8 lose again. In fact, one of the classes had already reached the finish line while Class 8’s third runner was just passing the baton to the fourth. To make matters worse, the fourth runner didn’t catch it properly, and the baton dropped. And to top it all off, the fourth runner was a boy!

Chen Ciyi was utterly speechless at this series of incredible maneuvers. “Our class has the most boys in the entire grade, right?”

Xu Yannuo nodded reluctantly, “Yes.”

“Besides the 1500 meters, the other running events must have quite a few participants too, right? And this is after the selection process?”

Xu Yannuo once again confirmed with a speechless expression, “…Yes.”

“Then why the hell is the quality so poor?” Chen Ciyi was so agitated while saying this that he nearly slapped his thigh.

As soon as this complaint was voiced, Xu Yannuo immediately turned her head in confusion to look at Chen Ciyi. Could it be that you’re any better? Didn’t you skip signing up for events precisely because you’re too weak? I get that you think they suck, but how can you be so worked up you start cursing?

Xu Yannuo frowned slightly. Her brain was telling her not to speak up, not to undermine her fierce yet weak desk mate, since the weak shouldn’t be discouraged and need support. But her mouth had other ideas—she couldn’t hold back and blurted out, “If they’re no good, then are you?”

Chen Ci glanced at her, momentarily stunned, thinking to himself, “Of course I can handle it. If I were to step in, what chance would anyone else have?”