"I bet we're not doing calisthenics today."
As the second period was about to end, Shen Yuan glanced at Zhou Shaojie beside him, his eyes full of pity.
"Hey, buddy, are you, like, a moron?"
Shen Yuan pointed out the window. "Are you hoping it rains in the next three minutes? Or are you hoping the school leaders announce we're having a moment of silence in the classroom for one of their family members?"
Zhou Shaojie snorted and adjusted his imaginary glasses. "Mathematically speaking, there is a certain probability that it will rain within the next three minutes."
Seeing Zhou Shaojie's chuunibyou act, Shen Yuan couldn't take it anymore and brought out his ultimate weapon.
"If we don't do calisthenics, Old Zhou will make class run late."
All the fight went out of Zhou Shaojie at once. "Never mind then. I'd rather watch the big sister from the class next door bounce around."
Shen Yuan shook his head.
'This dumbass is a lost cause.'
'His brain is just… boobs.'
'Eh?'
Shen Yuan tapped his head and realized his own mind seemed to be full of images of the big sister from the class next door. How strange.
'Sigh. I'd better look at Li Zhi for a bit to cure myself.'
Shen Yuan propped his chin on one hand, pretending to look out the window, but he was actually watching Li Zhi.
'So beautiful.'
'If only I'd gotten into the honors class sooner.'
'I wouldn't have left behind any dark history, and that dark history wouldn't have followed me here.'
'Plus, I could have started appreciating the critical hit from Beautiful Maiden Qing Mei's stunning looks much earlier.'
'But then again…'
'If I had moved up to the honors class in my first or second year, I might not have ended up in the same class as Li Zhi.'
'It must be fate!'
'Alright then…'
'Genshin Impact! Laaaunch!'
Just as Shen Yuan was lost in his staring, Li Zhi's voice suddenly sounded by his ear.
"Am I nice to look at?"
"Very nice."
Shen Yuan answered subconsciously.
The moment he said it, Shen Yuan felt himself blushing a little.
'Geez, how could she ask such an embarrassing question?'
Li Zhi scoffed. "So half-hearted."
"I mean it, sis."
Seeing that Shen Yuan had taken the bait, Li Zhi went straight for the critical hit.
"If I'm so nice to look at, why did you run off to be with that girl surnamed Tong?"
Shen Yuan felt like he was about to cough up blood.
'Seriously, why does she keep hammering away at my dark history?'
'We're never going to get past this, are we?'
'Can't we just move on with our lives?'
Shen Yuan looked at Li Zhi seriously. "Classmate Li Zhi, I'm giving you a solemn warning."
Before he could finish, the bell for the long break rang, and the rest of his sentence was completely drowned out by the bell and the students' mournful cries about calisthenics.
Li Zhi tried to use the chaos to escape, but Shen Yuan was blocking her way, so she couldn't.
"I'm going to tell Auntie you're bullying me."
"Promise you won't bring up my dark history, and I'll let you go!"
Li Zhi took a deep breath.
'She finally had something to hold over Shen Yuan's head; how could she possibly let it go?'
"Fine, don't let me go. I'm not going to calisthenics, then."
The girl lifted her chin, and the two of them were locked in a stalemate.
When the PE representative, Yao Junhao, saw this, he felt like the damn sky was falling.
"Are you two going or not?"
Li Zhi leaned against the wall. "I'm on my period!"
Girls could indeed get out of calisthenics if they were on their period.
Shen Yuan immediately called her out. "On your period, my ass! I've known you for years, you think I don't know your cycle? PE rep, she was eating ice cream just yesterday!"
"Everyone's body is different!" Li Zhi argued.
"Hurry up! We're going to be late!"
Urged on by the PE representative, Shen Yuan and Li Zhi reluctantly got to their feet.
...
"The National Middle School Student Radio Calisthenics…"
As the music started, the students on the field began to bounce around.
The grade supervisors didn't really check on the calisthenics; as long as you were out there hopping about, you were fine.
But it would be going too far to just completely slack off.
Of course, the boys of Class 15 were quite enthusiastic about the exercises.
Class 14 had a "big sister" who was repeating the year, 175cm tall, pretty, with a top-tier figure.
She was a real feast for the eyes during radio calisthenics.
The boys closer to this "big sister" were ridiculously enthusiastic, their exaggerated movements like animals in heat, trying to get her attention.
"Childish."
Watching this scene, Shen Yuan found it utterly childish.
'If Zhou Shaojie knew what I was thinking, he'd definitely curse me for being shameless, probably screaming, 'Who the hell pushed me out of the prime viewing spot?!''
"Jumping exercises!"
As the music grew more energetic, the students on the field began to jump.
In an instant, the gazes of all the boys nearby converged in one direction.
'Spectacular. Truly spectacular.'
But as Shen Yuan was jumping, he turned his head and saw Li Zhi staring daggers at him from the side.
Shen Yuan subconsciously looked away, but he quickly realized something was wrong.
'Wait a minute! Why am I scared of her?'
Then Shen Yuan's gaze fell upon Li Zhi.
'Tsk, a little inferior.'
After the exercises ended, the lines started to gather.
Shen Yuan immediately received a fierce blow from Li Zhi.
A sharp punch from the beautiful maiden landed on Shen Yuan's shoulder. "You snitch!"
"WOOF WOOF WOOF!" Shen Yuan shot back, not giving an inch.
"Buy me ice cream!"
"WOOF WOOF WOOF!"
"Use your words!" The beautiful maiden landed another sharp punch.
"Fine, fine, I'll get it."
A grin immediately spread across Li Zhi's face.
Seeing her expression, Shen Yuan didn't say anything more.
'Anyway, the money came from completing missions related to her, so buying her some ice cream was no big deal.'
'All in all, I'm the one who comes out ahead.'
The school supermarket was fairly large, but the area in front of the freezers was still packed with people.
It was the middle of summer, and they had just finished exercising, so the students' demand for cold drinks and ice cream was high.
After asking Li Zhi what she wanted, Shen Yuan squeezed his way into the crowd.
A short while later, Shen Yuan returned victorious.
In his hands were not only the ice cream but also a bottle of soda.
"Here, take it."
Li Zhi took the ice cream and immediately unwrapped it.
The icy-cool sensation immediately filled her mouth.
After a bite of ice cream, Li Zhi asked, "What were you looking at during the exercises just now?"
"The scenery."
"I'll give you two choices. The girl surnamed Tong, or boobs."
'Only children make choices.' Shen Yuan wouldn't pick either.
"I was looking at you."
"Get lost, don't be gross."
Li Zhi felt like the ice cream in her hand had suddenly lost some of its flavor.
Shen Yuan shrugged. "You're the one who asked."
"Then I'm not asking anymore."
And so, the two of them walked back to the classroom side-by-side, eating their ice cream.
They were almost back at the classroom, but Shen Yuan still hadn't heard the system notification for a completed mission pop up.
'Looks like just doing morning exercises and visiting the supermarket isn't enough.'
"Want to have lunch together?" Shen Yuan asked.
"Where?"
"The cafeteria, probably. We can't eat out every day."
Li Zhi nodded. "Then I want the beef rice bowl from the second floor."
"I didn't say I was treating."
"And I didn't say I wanted you to."
They glanced at each other, then turned their heads away in unison.
When they got back to the classroom, Zhou Shaojie was being given the Aruba treatment again, probably for some other outrageous comment he'd made.
When it came to being outrageous, Shen Yuan felt like a complete rookie compared to Brother Jie.
'Then again, that's not a bad thing.'
'I'm a pretty respectable person,' Shen Yuan thought.
CLACK.
A sound came from Li Zhi's desk. A bottle of milk had been placed on it.
"Hmm?" Li Zhi looked at Shen Yuan, confused.
Shen Yuan said very seriously, "Actually, I really was looking at you."
Li Zhi froze for a second, then crossed her arms over her chest. "Pervert!"
"You gotta be kidding me!"