Chapter 34: Saturday Nights Henceforth

Tuesday afternoon, September 27th.

The weather was much more comfortable than it had been in previous days. The sun was still high, but its heat had faded. Occasionally, a gentle breeze would drift by, shaking a few yellowing leaves from the trees.

Lu You, dressed in his summer school uniform, stood on the open ground beside the track. Many students from other classes were also there, waiting for physical education class to begin.

Yuan Wenliang stood next to him. The two didn't say much, simply watching the other students interact.

"You two are like a pair of statues. Why aren't you talking or chatting?" Meng Yi asked, walking up behind them.

Lu You replied, "I'm maintaining my cold and aloof persona."

Yuan Wenliang added, "I'm cultivating my character. I have nothing to say."

"..." Meng Yi was speechless and had to find a topic himself. "What do you think about the physical fitness test later?"

Lu You said, "I'll just run casually. It's not the school sports meet; just doing enough to get by is fine."

Yuan Wenliang sighed, "I've always been athletically incompetent. I've already resigned myself to my fate."

Meng Yi rolled his eyes, looking at Lu You’s fair arms and calves, thinking to himself: *With these thin arms and legs, he probably can't run very fast.*

"Lu You, how did you do on your 1,000-meter run for the high school entrance exam?"

Lu You thought for a moment and said, "I managed to pass."

"Then let's run together later? I’m also just aiming to pass. The two of us can keep each other company and run with the main group."

Lu You didn't refuse. "Sure, let's stand together later."

"Alright, I'll head off first. We'll talk later." Meng Yi turned and walked toward another group of people.

"What was your time for the 1,000-meter run in the entrance exam?" Yuan Wenliang asked.

"Three minutes and thirty seconds."

"You call that just 'managing to pass'? The requirement for a perfect score is only three minutes and forty seconds, right?" Yuan Wenliang raised an eyebrow, somewhat surprised.

"A perfect score is also technically passing." After saying this, Lu You saw the PE teacher walking over from the track and stopped standing around. "Let's go, it's time to line up."

Yuan Wenliang cast a pitying glance at Meng Yi, silently mourning in his heart: *Poor classmate Meng Yi.*

...

The PE teacher first had the sports committee member lead everyone in a warm-up. Once finished, he addressed the crowd.

"We’re doing a physical fitness test this period. Boys, 1,000 meters and pull-ups; girls, 800 meters and sit-ups. There are no strict requirements, so you don't need to push yourselves too hard—just run at your own pace."

"The boys will run in two batches, and the girls will be the last batch. Those who aren't running yet, go to the deputy monitor to test the other event. Those in the first batch, come with me."

The crowd dispersed.

Meng Yi immediately scurried over to Lu You and asked, "Which batch are we in? How about the second?"

"No need. It's the same either way. Finish early, rest early. Let's head over." Lu You walked toward the starting line.

When they reached the 1,000-meter starting line, the PE teacher told them, "When you reach the finish line, someone will call out a number. Remember your number so the sports committee can register your score later. Did you hear that?"

"Understood!" the group replied in unison.

"Get ready, we're starting immediately."

Lu You took a standing starting position. Meng Yi followed suit.

"Lu You, are you nervous?"

"It's fine."

"Remember, run casually later. Don't sprint too hard, or you'll run out of energy," Meng Yi advised earnestly.

"Mm, I know."

Soon, the PE teacher’s voice rang out.

"On your marks, get set—go!"

Unlike a sprint, no one rushed out at full speed. Everyone started at a steady pace, and the gaps between them remained small.

However, after passing the first 100-meter curve, gaps began to appear. Several students overtook the pair and moved to the front. Lu You was running about 40 or 50 centimeters ahead of Meng Yi, who was still keeping up with relative ease.

By the time they reached the 300-meter mark and the second curve, Meng Yi began to lose steam, while Lu You seemed to accelerate slightly, rapidly widening the gap between them.

Watching the back moving further away, Meng Yi realized the truth.

*Damn it, I’ve been conned. This guy is a wolf in sheep's clothing!*

Passing the third curve, halfway through the 1,000 meters, Lu You overtook the first person and took the lead. His breathing was steady, his stride rhythmic, and he looked like he had plenty of energy to spare.

On the other side, on the basketball court next to the track, the second class was having free time after their warm-up. They had completed their physical fitness tests last week.

Li Yu was playing a 3-on-3 game with some boys from his class. Having never played before, he was just on a team with two older students, serving as a placeholder to pass the ball.

The older students didn't mind him; having a teammate who could pass, didn't hog the spotlight, and could cheer them on was actually a pretty good experience.

The girls of the second class sat some distance away from the basketball court. As for watching the game up close, they decided against it—you never knew when a basketball might come flying at your face.

Tang Wan’s eyes followed the figure on the track as he moved from the middle of the pack, overtaking everyone until he was in the lead.

Xu Nian, sitting next to Tang Wan, clicked her tongue in amazement. "He runs so fast! If Li Yu hadn't said his grades were bad, I'd suspect he was cheating."

Tang Wan’s eyes brightened slightly. "Niannian, I'm going to the bathroom, I'll be right back." Before Xu Nian could reply, she darted off.

When Lu You passed the second-to-last curve, he had left the other students far behind. The person in second place was more than 50 meters away, and that distance was only growing.

For the final 200 meters, he chose not to accelerate. As he had said, he was just running casually; there was no need to tire himself out. Even so, his "casual run" had already surpassed most people.

Soon, Lu You crossed the finish line, while Meng Yi still had over 200 meters to go.

"Number 1."

Lu You remembered his number and strolled around to steady his breathing and heart rate. As he looked up, he saw Tang Wan sitting alone by the bushes near the gymnasium. Seeing Lu You looking at her, she patted the spot beside her, signaling for him to come over.

Lu You went to register his score with the sports committee member first.

Looking at the score on the registration sheet, the committee member couldn't help but exclaim, "You ran really fast!"

"It's alright," Lu You said, unsurprised by his result. "I was even faster in the entrance exam."

"That’s different. It’s been half a year since the physical education entrance exam; not many people can run this time now. Do you want to contribute to the class for the school sports meet?"

"Forget it, the sports meet isn't until next semester, and we'll be in different classes by then."

"That's true," the sports committee member realized. "Registered. You can go."

"Sorry for the trouble."

"Small matter."

...

Lu You went and sat down next to Tang Wan. She shifted over, closing the distance between them.

"What was your time?"

"Three minutes and forty-something seconds."

"That's impressive!" Tang Wan’s tone was filled with admiration. "You looked quite relaxed after finishing. You could have run even faster, right? Do you exercise?"

Lu You estimated for a moment and said, "If I had run at full speed, I probably could have broken 3:30. But that's too tiring; there's no need to run that fast for a fitness test. As for exercise, I go to the track for a few laps and do some running after dinner every night. It helps me relax and relieves study stress."

Tang Wan recalled what Li Yu had said about Lu You’s grades being mediocre. She thought he must have spent a lot of effort trying to keep up with the high school curriculum, so she said, "Actually, my grades are quite good. If there's anything you don't understand, you can come ask me."

"Your grades... they should be more than just 'quite good,' right?"

"Of course. You have to learn how to be humble," Tang Wan said, her eyes full of confidence. Her grades were the thing she was most proud of.

"Alright, I'll ask you when I have time," Lu You replied politely.

Tang Wan narrowed her eyes, detecting the perfunctory tone in his voice. "Don't just say 'when you have time.' Last time you said you'd let me hear you sing, and there wasn't a trace of it."

Lu You felt awkward. It had just been a polite remark; he hadn't expected her to remember it so seriously.

"How about every Saturday night? There shouldn't be many people in your classroom. I'll come to your class to find you. Any problems with that?" Tang Wan cut straight to the chase, setting a time and leaving him no room to back out.

"What about your own evening self-study session?"

"The teachers don't come to patrol the classes on Saturday nights. I'll just go down to the second floor during the break."

"Aren't you afraid of people gossiping?" Lu You asked.

"It's just two people studying, what's there to gossip about? Are you agreeing or not?" Tang Wan looked at him with a mix of anticipation and nervousness.

She wasn't indifferent to what others might say, but this was the only way she could think of to get closer to Lu You. Since he was using his own methods to ensure they saw each other at least once a day, she couldn't just stay put—she had to at least take a step forward.

"Fine. Every Saturday night, I'll wait for you in the classroom." Lu You agreed. He usually spent his time at home reading research papers anyway; having someone to keep him company—especially Tang Wan—was reason enough to accept.

"That's settled!" Tang Wan’s face blossomed with a smile like peach blossoms.

Just as they were talking, Meng Yi finally crawled to the finish line. After his heart rate calmed down a bit, he collapsed onto the soccer field's grass like a dead pig, gasping for breath and cursing.

"Lu You... damn you... I really... believed your nonsense. You said... we’d just run casually... damn it... you ran... faster than I did in the entrance exam."

By now, Meng Yi couldn't even speak in complete sentences. His throat was dry and sore, and his lungs were pumping oxygen to his body, but it never seemed to be enough. His legs were sore and aching, and he had lost all feeling in them.

Tang Wan saw the classmate who knew Lu You and asked, "Your friend is done, aren't you going to check on him?"

Looking at Meng Yi, who was like a pile of mud, Lu You wanted to laugh. Even though everyone had agreed to run casually, people’s physical constitutions couldn't be compared. One person's "casual" might be another person's unattainable limit.

"I'll go over now. I have to do pull-ups next. What about you?"

"Me?" Tang Wan looked at the sky and thought for a moment. "I'll watch you do your pull-ups, count for you, see how many you can do, and then head back to my class."

"I only plan to do ten. There's no point in doing more; my arms will just get sore, and I won't be able to hold a pen in the classroom."

"Then I'll count to ten."

"Alright. I'm going now. See you tonight." Lu You stood up and bid farewell to Tang Wan.

"See you tonight!" Tang Wan didn't hide the joy in her voice.

Her request just now could be considered a bit unreasonable, but Lu You had agreed without much hesitation—how could she not be happy?

...

Lu You walked over to Meng Yi, kicked him lightly, and looked down at him. "You’re not dead, are you? Get up and go do your pull-ups."

Seeing Lu You looking so calm and relaxed while he felt like a cripple, Meng Yi was furious. "You dog! We agreed to run casually, and look what happened!"

Lu You shrugged innocently. "We did start running together. I didn't speed up from start to finish. You couldn't keep up and slowed down; how can you blame me?"

"Fine, you're something else! If I ever believe you again, I'll call you Dad!"

"Forget it," Lu You said with a look of disdain. "With my excellent genes, I wouldn't have offspring like you."

Meng Yi finally snapped and cursed, "Lu You, you..."