Facing the track. On the other side of the track was a lush jungle.
It looked like the territory of the Agricultural College people.
Then, beside them, Gou Yu and Xiao Yi’an were taking off their clothes and warming up.
They didn’t say anything, just shouted “Good luck.” Gou Yu casually bounced a couple of times and called that his warm-up.
“Uh, good luck.” Zhu Niao didn’t know what else to say at that moment.
She had bought nine bottles of drinks, but neither Gou Yu nor Xiao Yi’an seemed inclined to drink before running.
Then Ye Qingchang, who had just passed by the vending machine at the end of the Teaching Building Road, also added a “Good luck.”
The people sitting on the bench who didn’t plan to run ended up being the first to drink—Zhu Niao and Ye Qingchang.
Gou Yu and Xiao Yi’an started running, and in an instant, they were gone.
Not to mention the current Zhu Niao—even when she was still a guy, she never understood how anyone could get themselves moving in winter.
If it were her, after just two steps, the clothes she wore for warmth would all become dead weight.
She would absolutely never run at this time of year.
Winter clothes were the most unforgiving when wet.
Once soaked, not only did they feel awful to wear, but you’d end up in that terrifying predicament of being cold if you took them off and cold if you left them on.
“By the way, how many campus runs has the Dorm Leader done? I mean, she doesn’t exactly look like someone who’s run many times, does she?”
Zhu Niao propped her hands on the bench and turned to Ye Qingchang beside her.
“Her? It’d be a miracle if she even remembered the campus run exists.
But there’s no need to worry about her—I remember right after the semester started, she was already asking me what her account password was because she’d forgotten.”
Ye Qingchang took a sip of water.
There was a hint of weariness in her voice.
“You mean she secretly finished all her runs right at the beginning of the semester?”
“Oh no, that’s not what I meant at all. I think you can trust the Dorm Leader a little more on this one.” Ye Qingchang waved her hand.
“Sorry, but I can’t bring myself to trust anyone in any situation where you guys might secretly be out-competing me.” Zhu Niao said. “So, what do you mean then?”
“I mean, after she found her account password, she immediately forwarded it to Xu Nian. Probably because Xu Nian asked for it.” Ye Qingchang leaned back against the bench, a tired expression on her face.
“Oh, here we go again. Didn’t anyone tell her that in college, you don’t bring your guardian along with you?” Zhu Niao groaned, feeling an extra pang of pain. Well, it wasn’t that bad—since Gou Yu was there, she didn’t have to run anyway.
“Besides that, I have another piece of news for you.” Ye Qingchang glanced at Zhu Niao.
“What else could it be? Did the Dorm Leader get caught for proxy running?” Zhu Niao tilted her head.
“No. Actually, this story starts from this morning.”
“Why don’t you start from the creation of the world?” Zhu Niao turned around.
Right now, her phone was with Gou Yu, so all she could do was chat with Ye Qingchang to kill time.
She knew Gou Yu would finish running quickly, but her little phone was moving farther and farther away with him.
She used to criticize those experts who said young people wouldn’t know what to do without electronics, but now she thought they might have a point.
“Anyway, I was lying in bed waiting for the other two lazybones in the dorm to wake up, and I happened to see the calendar on my phone.” Ye Qingchang took out her phone and opened the calendar.
“Are you about to say it’s your birthday? Compared to tomorrow or next week, I’d rather it be yesterday.” Zhu Niao smiled slightly.
“My birthday is on Christmas—the end of this month. Sorry to disappoint you, but you still have plenty of time to think about what to get me. However, unfortunately, that’s not the news I’m talking about.” Ye Qingchang also smiled slightly.
Zhu Niao let out a groan.
“To be honest, I was looking at the calendar and suddenly remembered when our last menstrual period was. We might need to prepare in advance or something. Then I realized—if we count the days, our period should be here in the next couple of days.”
Ye Qingchang pointed to the bag of drinks on the ground. “Otherwise, why do you think I, of all people, would buy room-temperature drinks?”
Even though the school convenience store’s freezer was still running at this time of year, for some reason.
It was like the whisper of a demon, echoing in Zhu Niao’s ears.
“You’re kidding me. Are you saying my weakness this morning wasn’t because I skipped breakfast, but because my period is coming again?” Zhu Niao’s face filled with horror.
“Oh no, if you put it that way, I think skipping breakfast definitely played a part too.” Ye Qingchang moved a little farther away. “Just don’t die on me.”
“It’s not that serious.”
Zhu Niao accepted that, feeling even more relieved that she hadn’t pushed herself to run.
Otherwise, if she had a sudden gush, it would be pretty embarrassing.
“Got a pad?” Zhu Niao reached her hand out to Ye Qingchang.
Ye Qingchang pulled out a pad and handed it to Zhu Niao, watching her stuff it into her pocket.
Then Zhu Niao leaned back against the bench, as if suddenly remembering something, and looked at Ye Qingchang.
“How’s your digital pet doing now? Looks pretty harmonious—he even does proxy runs for you. Is he still chasing you?”
“He’s still chasing me, but I’m not taking advantage of that to make him run for me. I pay him the normal rate for proxy running.” Ye Qingchang quickly explained.
“Buddy, I know you’re not that kind of person. If you were willing to bleed your digital pet dry, you would have done it from the start. Now I’m stuck in a dilemma—haven’t you already started treating him like a normal friend?” Zhu Niao paused. “I just didn’t expect him to actually change.”
“What you need to do now is delete the novel app from your phone.” Ye Qingchang sighed. “To be honest, I didn’t think he would change that much either. I was expecting a story where he refused to reform, chased after me, and then you cut ties decisively, leaving a mess behind.”
“To be honest, normally if someone was so obviously chasing after me, I would keep my distance. But he…” Ye Qingchang’s face showed conflict. “I want to know if he’s really changed. I want to know what it would be like if he actually did.”
Just like Xiao Yi’an said.
If he really changed, gained Ye Qingchang’s forgiveness, and made up for everything in the time afterward.
Then the one at fault would be her—for deceiving Xiao Yi’an’s feelings.
Because neither of them was wrong, but both of them were wrong.
From their own perspectives, they did nothing wrong. From the other’s perspective, everything seemed wrong.
She had expectations. She expected Xiao Yi’an to truly fulfill all of this.
Out of her own desire, she wanted to see her digital pet “grow.” Out of human nature’s weakness, she wanted to get her compensation.
She also hoped that Xiao Yi’an would really satisfy all that, so that one day she could start making amends for her own mistakes.
On the sailboat. Before she knew it, she seemed to have tied herself to that pirate ship.
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