Chapter 30: Youth Campus Episode 3

  "Attention athletes! Attention athletes! Students participating in the Grade 2 Women's 3000m preliminary final, please report to the check-in area immediately. The competition will start in fifteen minutes."

  Upon hearing the broadcast announcement, Su Luo excitedly took off her outer jacket, revealing the athletic attire she had specially prepared for this competition. The top was a short-sleeved sports vest that wrapped around her well-developed chest, with a number plate attached to the back, while the bottom consisted of matching sports shorts that exposed her long and straight legs as well as her porcelain-like skin, cute navel, and slender waist that could be grasped in one hand.

  This outfit would be perfectly fine in a professional competition, but this is just a school sports day. Everyone else was dressed relatively conservatively, even if they weren't wearing long sleeves and pants, at least they were wearing T-shirts or athletic wear. No one showed as much skin as she did. So the surroundings instantly boiled over, with everyone pointing and staring. The boys either boldly complimented her figure, pretended not to see her, or drooled over her limited-edition sneakers. In short, only a few truly ignored her. As for the girls, some expressed disdain and contempt, saying she was shameless, while others frankly admitted they were jealous of her confidence.

  As the target of public opinion, Su Luo showed unusualness around her, but she was simple-minded and couldn't hear the whispers of others, so she didn't know where the problem lay. Innocently blinking her big eyes, she just didn't think about it anymore, focusing on warming up, preparing to get a good score and make Yan Yu look at her with new eyes.

  "Bang!" The gunshot sounded loudly, and everyone rushed out of the starting line.

  Suolo didn't rush to take the lead, but adjusted his breathing and maintained a steady pace in the middle.

  For this competition, she has worked hard, not only in terms of equipment, but also starting from the day of registration, practicing every morning and evening, and even running to the sports school on weekends to ask for guidance from long-distance coaches. With her good physical quality and athletic cells, it wasn't that tiring to run.

  Zhou Xiaomeng wasn't so lucky, usually the only exercise she got was one physical education class a week, and she believed in not moving if she didn't have to, staying in the classroom to do homework if possible. So after one lap she was already a bit out of breath, by 800 meters her feet were aching unbearably, and with great difficulty she managed to make it to the third lap, but then her stomach started hurting, especially on both sides, forcing her to use her hands to press against it, which made her feel slightly better.

  Su Luo tried to calm her breathing, steady her footsteps, and the sweat trickled down her cheeks into her mouth, salty. The sound of the wind whizzing past her ears, along with the cheering voices from the spectator stands, accompanied by her own heartbeat, made her feel an urge to scream.

  Go for it! Go for it! Charge ahead! Charge ahead!

  As she passed by the spectator stand, she couldn't help but search for that familiar figure. In the dense crowd, he was still so eye-catching and recognizable at a glance. Was he cheering me on? Su Luo's heart felt sweet and her footsteps quickened.

  Running the full course is seven and a half laps. After all, everyone who participated had mental preparation, so there were few people like Zhou Xiaomeng, so no one quit in advance.

  By the fifth lap, Sulolo had already started leading with the only two athletes in the team, and the three were almost neck and neck.

  At the sixth lap, she heard her class's phalanx shouting: "Go for it, Class 1 of Grade 2! Go for it, Class 1 of Grade 2!" in unison, with great momentum.

  Do I get to have some encouragement too? She thought, flattered. Previously when running, she only heard "Team leader, jiayou!" "Zhou Xiaomeng, jiayou!", now it's changed, looks like everyone is recognizing me, hahaha, so happy!

  She couldn't help but wave her hand towards the stands, unfortunately didn't get a response, but she didn't mind, and instead sprinted forward with even more effort.

  We can't let our classmates down!

  She didn't know that the class teacher actually had almost all the classmates cheering for Zhou Xiaomeng, while Su Luo, who had a chance of winning, didn't have anyone cheering for her. Feeling it wasn't right, she asked everyone to unify their slogans. But this small change unexpectedly made Su Luo, who was always excluded, become an accidental beneficiary, and she foolishly became happy.

  Zhou Xiaomeng's condition was not good, dizzy and weak in the legs. From the second lap on, she fell to the last place, and the distance from the penultimate name grew farther and farther apart. She knew that continuing to run would also be at the bottom, actually meaningless, but she just didn't want to give up, even if she had to walk to finish the entire course, otherwise she would look down on herself. So, gritting her teeth, she continued to persevere.

  With the "encouragement" of his classmates, Suoluo's feet seemed to have wings, as if he had divine assistance. By the seventh lap, he had shaken off the tall girl and entered the final sprint with another lean and agile runner.

  The last 200 meters! She told herself for the seventh time as she passed the starting line, I must get first place! I must get first place!

  Her competitive desire was thoroughly stimulated, this is the first time she has been so close to honor from childhood to adulthood. She had never participated in any competition and could not have won any prize, but in fact, she also yearned for that kind of being surrounded by her classmates and praised by her teachers, so this championship was a must-win. Especially, it was all for Yan Yu.

  But this "o51" is really troublesome, no matter how hard I try to shake her off, she just won't leave. No way, can't give up like this, must get rid of her! Get rid of her! Come on, come on, for the sake of my male god!

  At this time, Zhou Xiaomeng was just 50 meters ahead of her. No, don't get me wrong, a sports idiot is not possible to turn the tide, this is not the myth of the tortoise and hare racing, but a real match. She had been lapped, and not just once, but twice.

  No matter what, I've already run 2,000 meters, just hold on a bit longer, isn't it said that where there's a will, there's a way? You can definitely do it! Zhou Xiaomeng's limbs and entire body were extremely exhausted, but her brain was still lively, constantly thinking of all sorts of proverbs and motivational stories to encourage herself. Suddenly, she lost her footing, her left foot tripped over her right, and she fell heavily to the ground.

  "Ah——!" The entire audience watching the match exclaimed in surprise, even Su Luo behind her instinctively closed her eyes, unable to bear the sight.

  Ouch, what a terrible fall, just looking at it hurts.

  But she was distracted for just a moment, and immediately came back to her senses, focusing on her own sprint. "I'm going to take down No. 51! I'm going to take him down!" Now her eyes could only see this number, her mind could only think of this thought, nothing else mattered.

  Zhou Xiaomeng struggled to get up. How embarrassing, the whole school saw it, what to do. She wished a hole would suddenly appear on the track, so she could crawl in.

  The more anxious she was, the harder it became. After getting up for the first time, her legs suddenly softened and she knelt down again, with her eyes instantly reddening.

  "Suluo, help the class monitor!"

  "Suluo, help her up!"

  "Suluo, let's see how Xiaomeng is doing next week!"

  Suolo acknowledged that she heard it, the first time in the whole game that she clearly heard someone shouting her name, unfortunately, it was not the cheering and support she expected, but to give up the opportunity to be the first and help a person who was destined to be last.

  I don't have time for that! The "o51" is about to catch up! I've only just managed to take the lead by a tiny bit, how can I give up now?! She thought to herself as she ran past Zhou Xiaomeng's side, slightly veering to the right and crossing over from the second lane before immediately returning to the first lane and continuing to sprint forward. The "o51" did the same. The third and fourth place runners also avoided Zhou Xiaomeng as they passed by.

  "How can this be! Not even a bit of love from classmates!"

  "It's just like that, losing because she is still a member of our class, don't even know about unity, is the championship really that important?"

  "The class monitor even spoke up for her several times, what a hypocrite!"

  “……”

  The crowd in Class 1, Grade 2 surged forward, unseen by Su Luo, and directly crossed over Zhou Xiaomeng's moment, all boiling with anger, accusing her of being wrong. Especially the girls, even if they thought to themselves that if it were them, they would also choose to compete, but still expressed support for Zhou Xiaomeng and disdain for Su Luo.

  Actually, Suoluo's idea is very simple. If you can't run, then don't run, why bother struggling and making yourself miserable? Anyway, it's just a ranking at the bottom, so just quit. Our class still has me, we can still rank second, it doesn't affect anything.

  But others may not think so. From an early age, schools have taught everyone: "Friendship first, competition second." Suoluo has done the opposite, and naturally offended everyone. If she knew that everyone wanted her to give up the championship that was within her grasp for this reason, she would probably be confused again - friendship? Do I have a friendship with Zhou Xiaomeng?

  Don't blame her, she sometimes really can't understand the "rules" of getting along in school, that's why she is treated so poorly.

  The last 50 meters, can't let "O51" pass, hurry up, can be faster.

  Thirty meters left and I'm still in the lead, the championship is mine! Haha, it's mine!

  Twenty meters.

  Ten meters.

  Yes! Arrived!!!!!

  Tremble, all of you! The first place is mine! Representing the Moon to annihilate you all! I am the beautiful young warrior Su Rou Luo! Yan Yu is also mine! Hahahahaha!

  Finally! She crossed the finish line 1.2 seconds ahead of "o51". Although exhausted, her eyes shone brightly as she struck a Water Ice Moon pose, grinning foolishly.

  I'm the champion, Yan Yu is also the champion, aren't we a perfect match? Will he confess to me? Ah! I'm so shy!

  She was so enchanted by her own fantasies that she even forgot about the fatigue on her body.

  That's right, Yan Yu! I have to share this good news with him in person.

  As soon as this thought occurred to her, she couldn't bear to rest and ran back to the audience seat in a hurry.

  Su Luo won the championship, and many people in Class 2-1 secretly cheered for her. This project had always been their class's weakness, but unexpectedly, they not only participated this time, but also defeated the sports students and took home the championship. This was something that no one dared to think about before. However, except for the class teacher who excitedly shouted "good" twice, everyone else remained calm and expressionless, because Su Luo was not on the side of "justice", so they didn't dare speak up for her, fearing that they would be considered traitors.

  At this age, kids are very innocent and also very cruel. They have their own sense of right and wrong, and a strong desire to follow the crowd, not wanting to be different from others, fearing being isolated by the group. So they pretend to like things that most people like, even if they're not really interested; and they keep away from things that most people dislike, as well as students who are labeled as "bad kids", for fear of being tainted by any association with them.

  Su Rongrong was one of those labeled as a "bad kid" because she had poor grades, often broke discipline and disobeyed the group's "rules", so she was excluded.

  With joy in his heart, Suoluo returned to the classroom, this "big family".

  "I'm back! I got the championship!"

  What's wrong, everyone looks unhappy. Didn't we all win? Her excited tone instantly turned low after seeing the expressions of the crowd.

  However, she is not the kind of person who would actively seek to be ignored. Since no one was paying attention to her, she didn't bother to make a scene either. Although she felt somewhat disappointed, she had originally expected a warm welcome, but instead it was so cold.

  What does her male god think of her winning the championship?

  "Male god, I..."

  "Get out of the way!" Yan Yu impatiently pushed Su Luo Luo aside, who was blocking his path. He wasn't being overly motherly because Su Luo Luo didn't go to help Zhou Xiao Meng and blamed her for it. This wasn't her responsibility, she was just concerned about the situation on the field. At this time, the competition had already ended, except for Zhou Xiao Meng, who was still jogging on the track, everyone else had crossed the finish line, so the track was no longer blocked off and people were allowed to enter.

  The teacher of the sports team seemed to be persuading Zhou Xiaomeng to give up, with only half a lap left, it was too difficult for her, her face was pale and ugly, she had been injured before, it's better to stop directly. But Zhou Xiaomeng didn't seem to agree, still insisting on that.

  Yan Yu was moved by her actions, what a brave girl, making him admire and pity her at the same time, really wanting to run the whole course with her. As soon as this thought occurred to him, he immediately jumped up from the plastic chair, no mistake! He wanted to go with her! And just then Su Luo appeared, blocking his way, he naturally didn't think twice before pushing her away.

  Su Luo stood there in a daze, watching as Yan Yu rushed to Zhou Xiao Meng's side like the wind, then slowed down and moved together with her at a turtle-like pace.

  There were several boys and girls who ran to Zhou Xiaomeng's side, and the rest of them didn't leave either. They all cheered her on from the stands: "Zhou Xiaomeng, go for it!" "Zhou Xiaomeng is the best!" "Zhou Xiaomeng, we will always support you!"

  The head teacher looked at this scene and couldn't help but praise: "What a good group of kids!"

  The champion forgotten by everyone looked at Zhou Xiaomeng who was surrounded by everyone with a sour and astringent heart.

  I'm not the winner, how can I not be a good kid?!

  Obviously I'm the champion, why does it seem like Zhou Xiaomeng is the hero who brought honor to our class?!

  At this moment, she found herself envying, no, jealous of Zhou Xiaomeng. Jealous of her good grades, jealous of her good relationships with others, and also jealous that she had Yan Yu accompanying her when running.

  In the last lap, Zhou Xiaomeng was driven by Yan Yu and Chen Jinsong to finish with their arms around her. When she reached the finish line, the whole class, even other classes on the playground, teachers and students of other grades, all gave her a warm applause.

  Besides Solol.

  They talk about sportsmanship, she doesn't understand. They talk about class dignity, she also doesn't get it. Isn't it just about striving hard and getting good grades?

  She stood dazed at the edge of the stands, watching as Yan Yu carefully carried Zhou Xiaomeng to the infirmary.

  "Please have the champion of the 3000-meter race for girls in Grade Two, Suoluo from Class One, Grade Two, come to the rostrum to receive her award! Please have the champion of the 3000-meter race for girls in Grade Two, Suoluo from Class One, Grade Two, come to the rostrum to receive her award..."

  As if nothing had been said.