Chapter 33: Registration He suddenly felt that the word "brother" was somewhat...

Two days later.

After the final bell rang for the monthly exam, Gu Ci stood up and waited for the invigilator to collect his test papers, answer sheets, and draft paper. He put away his pencil case, waited for the invigilator to announce the end of the exam, and prepared to return to his seat.

The exam room was located in Class 1. From his freshman year until now, with the occasional change, the students sitting there had basically been the same, with only minor adjustments to the internal order. Gu Ci usually sat in the second or third seat against the wall. As for the first, it was either empty or occupied by his deskmate, Huo Wenyuan.

Huo Wenyuan usually went his own way, staying in the exam room for no more than sixty minutes per session before leaving in full view of everyone. At first, some invigilators, not understanding his style, wanted to call him back to finish his paper before leaving. However, after seeing the perfect answers on the full paper, they stopped saying anything to stop him.

Whatever. A top student is happy, and sitting there is boring. Whatever happens.

But unprecedentedly, during this monthly exam, Huo Wenyuan not only didn't leave a single class early, but he sat through the entire exam until the very last minute.

The other students in the same exam room, all in the top 40 of their grade, were horrified to find him still there after the Chinese language exam the previous day. Even Huo Wenyuan had been sitting for so long; were the questions this time really that difficult? The invigilator was also puzzled. She was the one who set the questions, and she felt the difficulty level was moderate. Perhaps Huo Wenyuan wouldn't be able to handle it at all? It

wasn't until she saw him walk around the second-place student and toward Gu Ci that she realized the mystery—he was waiting for Gu Ci.

The room was filled with both students from his class and those from other classes. Gu Ci felt embarrassed to let Huo Wenyuan hold his hand in front of so many people, so she grabbed Huo Wenyuan's sleeve, silently chanting, "Can't see us, can't see us," and returned to her seat.

His foot had actually healed considerably, and walking on its own was no problem. But Huo Wenyuan refused, fearing it would be inconvenient for him to move. He'd even taken him to the lounge for meals these past few days. Gu Ci was almost sick of the bone broth, but he couldn't bear to refuse Butler Feng and Huo Wenyuan's kindness, so he slurped down bowl after bowl, feeling his stomach plump up.

There was usually no evening study session after the monthly exams. Gu Ci secretly rubbed his stomach through his school uniform, trying to figure out how to politely suggest not having the bone broth that evening when someone suddenly tapped his left thigh from below, interrupting his thoughts.

Gu Ci turned in surprise to find Huo Wenyuan standing by the window, his hands in his pockets, his eyes clearly filled with annoyance.

Who had tapped him just then?

Looking down, he saw Shang Zui, the sneaky dog wearing a black baseball cap and a mask, crouching between him and Huo Wenyuan.

Gu Ci wanted to help him up: "Shang Zui? Why are you here? Get up quickly!"

Shang Zui shook his head and whispered vigilantly: "Don't do that! Little Gu Ci, from the end of the exam until now, every time I meet someone from the class, they ask me how I did and if I can move up 50 places. I'm going crazy! No one dares to offend you and Huo Gou here, so they asked me to come here to avoid the limelight. It's too much."

Someone was discussing this matter not far away, and he immediately retracted his head. Qu Zhi deliberately pretended to shout out his coordinates from behind, but Shang Zui angrily punched him in warning.

Gu Ci looked at Shang Zui's panic-stricken look, and although he felt it was immoral, he couldn't help laughing.

He pursed his lips, but couldn't hold it back and smiled.

Shang Zui: “?”

“Oh, oh, little Gu Ci, you’ve changed!”

Gu Ci shook his head, looked into his eyes and said, “I don’t mean to make fun of you. I believe in you and you can definitely achieve this goal.”

“Brother Wen Yuan and I have both explained the questions to you, and Qu Zhi has also helped you. We know your progress.”

“You can do it.”

Shang Zui’s mouth pursed under the mask, and he pretended to lie on Gu Ci’s knees and sob.

However, as soon as he lay there, he was blocked by a rolled-up book.

He was forced to raise his body and was caught off guard by the owner of the book.

“…” Shang Zui turned away and raised his hands to admit defeat.

He still couldn't understand how Huo Wenyuan could say such cold words: "I only promised to give you thirty seconds. Time's up."

Shang Zui was silent: "Can you be a little more stingy, Huo Wenyuan?"

Huo Wenyuan gave his answer: "Now, immediately, get up."

Just then, the sports committee member walked into the classroom with the sports meeting registration form. After looking around and not seeing the other sports committee member, he muttered to himself in confusion: "Hey, where is Shang Zui?"

Huo Wenyuan's voice was like a demon's whisper: "Here."

"Oh! Thank you, classmate Huo!" The sports committee member finally noticed the masked figure squatting next to Gu Ci. He thanked Huo Wenyuan with immense gratitude and walked over to him, his usual loud voice ringing, "Shang Zui, Teacher Xie asked us to count the students' registrations for the sports meet. Come with me!"

With the volume of his human-shaped megaphone at such a high pitch, Shang Zui knew he couldn't hide any longer. Desperately, he flipped off his cap and stood up. "Huo Wenyuan, I hate you!" He turned to Gu Ci and wailed, "Gu Ci, you control him!"

Then, grabbing the registration form his partner handed him, he walked towards the podium with a forlorn look on his face.

Gu Ci gave an awkward fake smile and muttered, "How can I possibly control him..."

"What are you talking about?" a familiar voice called out.

Gu Ci turned to see Huo Wenyuan sitting back down, shaking his head and denying with a smile, "No, no, I'm waiting for them to talk about the sports meet."

Huo Wenyuan understood and didn't ask any more questions.

On the podium, Shang Zui sat in Xie Bu Ruo's chair, a large screen behind him displaying the list of events for the sports meet.

"First, the women's 100 meters, three VIPs. Which distinguished ladies would like to volunteer?"

"Next, the men's 100 meters, three VIPs. Which warriors would like to show their talents?"

"Next, the women's 200 meters..."

Shang Zui craned his neck to confirm the students who had raised their hands to participate, then directed the sports committee member to take notes: "Write this down."

As the events progressed, the early events were mostly filled with competitors, some even requiring on-the-spot competition. But the later events, the more unclaimed, were left unclaimed.

Shang Zui glanced around the room: "3000 meters once, 3000 meters twice, 3000 meters three times... failed."

As usual, the "failed" events were decided by drawing lots. Shang Zui was still very relaxed at this time, clicking the mouse with his hand, and teasing in a cheeky tone: "I wonder which lucky person will get the luxury limited 3000-meter gift package? Hehe, let us wait and see~"

"Three, two, one, stop!" Shang Zui, who had his back to the screen, pressed the mouse, turned around, and almost fell off his seat after seeing the name on the big screen. His expression was completely torn.

The name on it was... Gu Ci.

Shang Zui was stunned. He had never expected that his shitty luck would trap his good friend. Gu Ci blinked blankly, only to feel that all eyes were cast on him, with relief, surprise, but more... sympathy.

Well, he didn't expect it would be him. But it seemed that things were not that serious?

Qu Zhi asked from behind: "Little Piaoliang, are you okay? Or should I do it for you?"

Huo Wenyuan also frowned and looked sideways at him: "Your foot..."

Gu Ci shook his head and smiled at them: "No problem."

Qu Zhi said worriedly: "That's 3000 meters..."

"Isn't it just 3000 meters?" Gu Ci's eyes were pure, with an expression of serious consideration. "My foot is almost healed, it's okay."

He squeezed two dimples at Huo Wenyuan, and without waiting for his response, he winked at Shang Zui on the stage and said firmly: "I'm willing to go."

Shang Zui tacitly read the confidence in Gu Ci's eyes. Remembering the experience of the two of them running as punishment on the playground in the third grade of junior high school, he gritted his teeth and said to the cultural and sports committee: "3000 meters, Gu Ci."

Now it was the turn of the others to be dumbfounded. Dozens of people looked at each other in confusion: Gu Ci, with his thin arms and legs, although he was tall, had only run 200 meters and long jump last year. This year, it was 3000 meters. Could he really handle it?

But Gu Ci's calmness exceeded their expectations. It was as if... beneath the fair and soft exterior, there was something very tough hidden.

The big screen continued to scroll through the unsold events. There were still two people missing in the 4x200m. With the unanimous "stop" from the whole class, the big screen stopped at the names of Gu Ci and Shang Zui.

Shang Zui: "?"

The sports and cultural committee member at the side couldn't help but add: "Now we believe that this lottery procedure is fair and just. Let us congratulate Gu Ci and Shang Zui for joining the 4x200m team!"

Shang Zui's face changed: "No, I'm the captain of the cheerleading team!"

The sports and cultural committee member added: "You know, as long as we have those people in our class, we will never lack foreign aid to cheer us on."

Shang Zui: "..."

Well, not only did Gu Ci get into trouble this time, he was also doomed.

After the registration was over, he came back with a gloomy look on his face and asked Gu Ci: "What should I do, little Gu Ci, I'm really bad at running..."

Gu Ci borrowed a sentence that Shang Zui often said when playing games to comfort him: "If you're bad, just practice more?"

Shang Zui was startled and said with sweat dripping down his face: "...Okay, okay, I'll do as you say."

On the way home, Gu Ci was still thinking about how to ask Butler Feng to stop taking the tonic bone soup. Unexpectedly, when Butler Feng heard that he was going to run next month, he directly recommended and praised the bone soup highly.

"What you eat is what you replenish! Xiao Ci, your dad once broke his leg while on a mission, and crutches didn't help. Your mom made bone soup for him with various ingredients, and your dad drank it like water for a month. They say it takes a hundred days to heal a broken bone, but not long after, your dad threw away his crutches on the spot and rushed out to run 3000 meters and 4x200 meters. He recovered very quickly!"

Gu Ci: "..."

He asked cautiously: "Uncle Feng, was my dad also going to participate in the sports meet at that time?"

"Uh..." Butler Feng was stumped by the question, and said vaguely, "It doesn't matter, Xiao Ci, Uncle Feng is just using examples to speak."

"Of course, if you don't want to drink it or are tired of it, we can also try another way and the ingredients?"

Gu Ci exclaimed, "Wow!" "Okay!"

Along the way, he heard a lot of interesting stories about his parents in the past, and Butler Feng described them very vividly. Gu Ci laughed so hard that he fell back and forth, and the smile in his eyes couldn't be stopped. He choked and coughed while drinking water.

Huo Wenyuan, who had been silent since getting in the car, took the water and stroked his back with his hand, his tone slightly chastised: "Slow down."

Gu Ci's lips pressed into a thin line, his eyes red but his brows curved as he looked at him: "I know, Brother Wenyuan~"

Huo Wenyuan's Adam's apple rolled, and he turned his head to stare out the window silently, clenching his fists when no one was paying attention.

Just now, he suddenly felt that the word "brother" was a bit harsh.

- But what was wrong with that?

Gu Ci didn't notice Huo Wenyuan's abnormality. When he returned to the Huo family, he found that one of the dishes for dinner had indeed been charcoal-grilled beef bones.

...Great, at least it wasn't soup anymore, he was already satisfied!

Gu Ci still ate until he was full before going upstairs. The night was quiet, the soothing harmony of insects chirping outside the window. The air conditioner was on in the room. Gu Ci washed up and lay in bed, feeling that today was gradually filling up with happiness.

He got up, flipped through his notes from the biology competition, and then took out his diary. Just as he was about to write something down, the lights above suddenly flickered.

Gu Ci was startled and looked up. The warm chandelier was still on, without a flicker.

Thinking he had seen it wrong, Gu Ci picked up the pen again. As soon as he wrote the date, a sudden "bang" sound came from the bedroom.

All the lights in the bedroom went out .