Chapter 149: Physical Education Class

There was a physical education class today.

This class’s PE lesson rotated every week; last week it was on Thursday, so this week it fell on Friday—the third period of the morning.

Ordinarily, Ye Xingmian might have looked forward to PE class. After all, it was a rare chance to relax.

She wasn’t in good physical shape—she had poor stamina and little strength, and was at the bottom of the pack among the boys. When running laps, she often struggled to keep up with the main group.

What was worth looking forward to was the rest time after the laps.

She would go to a secluded corner outside the playground and stay by herself, either catching up on sleep or daydreaming, letting her mind wander. That was a precious moment of relaxation, something she could never experience at home.

At home, she was always busy with all kinds of chores. In the classroom, she had to catch up on various assignments. Her slow and exhausted mind was like a top that kept spinning from being whipped.

So she treasured every chance to rest.

However, ever since the day she became a girl, PE class had turned into a course she had to be careful with.

Come to think of it, it had been a long time since she had properly relaxed.

But relaxation wasn’t the most important thing; the priority was to get through the upcoming PE class safely.

“Hey, are you going? To the playground.”

“Uh… no… no… I have a stomachache…”

“Huh?”

Her deskmate Lin Ziyan looked at her suspiciously. Ye Xingmian deliberately pretended to be in pain, lying on the desk and clutching her stomach.

“Stomachache? You didn’t… get your period, did you?”

“What…?”

“Aunt Flow! Seriously, how can you not know that?”

Ye Xingmian was stunned. Aunt Flow? Did she mean a girl’s period? She had never thought she would get that, since her current appearance was just an act.

She bit her lip and shook her head hesitantly, but she really hadn’t gotten it.

“No…”

“Come with me.”

Lin Ziyan grabbed her hand without explanation.

“Ah! Where… where are we going?”

Yanked to her feet, Ye Xingmian was startled, then asked nervously.

“To the restroom. I’ll help you put on a pad.”

Lin Ziyan looked at her like she was an idiot.

“The female restroom?”

“Where else?”

“But I’m a guy…”

Lin Ziyan of course knew what she meant—in others’ eyes, she was male, so it would be inappropriate. But she didn’t care.

“It’s fine. Everyone else in the class has already gone to the playground. There’s no one in the restroom. Besides, if you’re really worried, we can go to the restroom on another floor—no one there will recognize you, right?”

Ye Xingmian shook her head.

“No… it’s okay… I…”

“This side goes against your underwear, this side faces inward. Don’t put it on backwards.”

“Oh…”

“You want to do it yourself? Fine, here you go. Do you know how to use it?”

Ye Xingmian hesitated, took the thing, and put it in her pocket.

She was led to the restroom door and went in by herself, her face inexplicably reddening. At least doing it herself was better—otherwise, Lin Ziyan would find out she had been faking the pain.

“Then I’ll wait for you at the door.”

‘But… just in case, I should stick it on anyway.’

‘How do I use this…?’

She hesitated, fumbled for a while before finally sticking it on, then let out a sigh of relief.

Luckily, she didn’t end up putting the pad on backwards or ripping off some hair.

‘That should be fine, right?’

Since class was about to start and the students from the surrounding classes had all gone to PE, the restroom luckily had no one during that time.

When she came out, Lin Ziyan had been waiting at the door for a while.

“Let’s go, to the playground.”

“Huh? No… I don’t want to go… Can you ask for leave for me?”

“Ask for leave? Why, is your condition serious?”

Ye Xingmian didn’t dare go to the playground. She was afraid of running into Qin Haiyue there. And with Liu Yinuo not around to protect her, she was very timid.

She really didn’t want to relive those dark days again.

Her original plan was to skip PE class on the pretext of a stomachache, then sneak out of the classroom and hide somewhere with no one around. Anywhere was fine, as long as she could avoid Qin Haiyue…

So she couldn’t go to the playground. She let out an “mm” in response to Lin Ziyan’s question.

“Then you have to go even more. If you’re on the playground, I can take care of you. Besides, you don’t have to run, so what are you afraid of?”

Lin Ziyan looked righteous and stern, almost unlike herself.

Ye Xingmian was silent for a moment, then finally told the truth.

“I’m afraid of running into Qin Haiyue.”

Her tone was a bit dull. She turned her head away, not looking at Lin Ziyan’s face.

“Huh? Afraid of her? Why.”

“What do you think?”

She was clearly asking knowingly. Ye Xingmian didn’t have a good expression.

Lin Ziyan’s face showed a hint of bravado. She hadn’t thought that much; since Liu Yinuo could do it, she surely could too.

“Hmph, it’s fine. If she comes, I’ll protect you.”

She wouldn’t be worse than Liu Yinuo.

But she overlooked one fact—her family had leverage in Qin Haiyue’s hands, which doomed her to not last two rounds against Qin Haiyue.

Ye Xingmian clearly didn’t trust her. She didn’t say anything, just tried to pull her hand back from Lin Ziyan’s grip.

“You don’t believe me?”

Lin Ziyan frowned, looking a bit angry.

“No need… I’ll just hide somewhere…”

So in the end, Ye Xingmian couldn’t resist Lin Ziyan’s insistence and was forcibly dragged to the playground.

In full view of everyone, Ye Xingmian felt a deep unease. She looked around blankly, didn’t see the person she feared, so she managed to relax a little.

Lin Ziyan took her to the PE teacher and asked for leave for both of them on the grounds that she had a stomachache. Lin Ziyan’s excuse for asking leave was that she needed to take care of her.

Since they were nominally brother and sister, the simple-looking PE teacher scratched the back of his head and agreed.

So Ye Xingmian and Lin Ziyan went to a remote place and sat down.

Because it was near noon, the temperature had risen and was no longer as cold as the morning. The warm sunlight falling on them always made one feel at ease and comfortable.

But for some reason, Ye Xingmian really did feel a slight discomfort in her stomach, a mild pain in her lower abdomen.

It was too mild, so she didn’t pay attention.

Lin Ziyan sat next to her, took out her phone from her schoolbag, and started scrolling.

Ye Xingmian felt that coming to accompany her was just a pretense, and the real reason was probably to use her phone, right?

But it was fine that way, at least it avoided awkwardness.

If this atmosphere could have lasted, it would have been fine.

No one was causing trouble, and what surprised her was that after the incident that morning, Lin Ziyan hadn’t picked a fight with her, and had even been so caring.

But this silence didn’t last long. It was soon broken by someone’s arrival.

It was a tall figure with wavy, flowing blonde hair, a pair of sea-blue eyes, and a slightly furrowed brow from irritation.

The moment she saw her, Ye Xingmian’s pupils constricted. She wanted to find a place to hide, but there was nowhere to go.