Chapter 29: She Did It on Purpose
On Monday morning, a gentle breeze was blowing.
The entire Class Nine, uniformly dressed in the school uniforms of Shuangshu Model Middle School, was lined up at the school gate, waiting for the bus. Accompanying them were not only their homeroom teacher, Sun Mulan, but also two physical education teachers and a grade-level director.
The loose and unremarkable tracksuit was somehow worn by Zhou Wanfeng with a different kind of flair. She had a pair of black lace-up sneakers, and the way she had tied her shoelaces was very distinctive, crossing them from top to bottom and then up through the eyelets. She had rolled up the elastic cuffs of her pants quite a bit, revealing her slender ankles.
The zipper of her school uniform jacket was open, revealing a tight-fitting black short-sleeved shirt underneath, its length just covering her navel.
While others had their backpacks filled with snacks and drinks, hers contained a few books.
Once on the bus, the two physical education teachers stood at the front and back, instructing the students to find seats. Zhou Wanfeng sat down and began to read. The atmosphere in the bus was indeed like a field trip; Mai Jiaqi had already opened her backpack and started distributing snacks.
Sun Mulan sat with the grade-level director, glancing at Zhou Wanfeng from time to time, noticing that she was engrossed in her book the entire time.
The bus ride took half an hour to reach the sports center.
At the entrance, many buses were already parked, with middle school students in different school uniforms getting off.
The field trip atmosphere from the bus suddenly changed.
There were a total of six middle schools in the South District, and it was said that elementary school groups were also participating.
The usual opening ceremony speeches were incredibly boring for the students of First Grade, Class Nine. It was nothing more than a list of who was present to watch the sports meet and how important it was, followed by a long-winded hope that the students would display a spirit of perseverance and not give up.
Many students in the formation were covering their mouths and yawning.
Zhou Wanfeng stood at the very back of the line. Zhu Junling in front of her could hear her muttering something. Listening closely, she was reciting vocabulary.
After the long-awaited end of the speeches, they found out that the competition would last for three days, with some events having a specific order. They could go and cheer for their classmates in the later events.
In front of the sports field was the spectator stand. In the very center, there were sun umbrellas where a few well-dressed leaders seemed to be sitting.
With the sound of the broadcast, the sports meet officially began.
Zhou Wanfeng’s events were later, mostly on the second and third days, so she found a place to hide.
She glanced at the sports field. Students in different school uniforms were running around. Zhou Wanfeng noticed that apart from the shady spots under the leaders’ umbrellas, everywhere else was under the sun.
The autumn sun was also scorching after a long time.
Zhou Wanfeng took off her school uniform jacket and draped it over her head, then took out the test paper Yun Jingya had given her and a pen, and started working on it.
On the first day of the sports meet, there were short-distance running, long jump, and high jump events, and Zhou Wanfeng completed two test papers.
During the long jump event, the students of First Grade, Class Nine got into a conflict with another school.
Zhu Junling had signed up for the sandpit long jump. This event attracted a large crowd of spectators. It was very exciting to watch. The good jumpers seemed to take a few steps in mid-air, as if they could fly.
Zhu Junling’s first jump showed his skill. He had no problem getting into the finals. Ding Gaoming, Zhu Yisen, and even Chen Hao, Li Hui, and Huang Jiankang, with whom he had had a strained relationship a few days ago, were all standing on both sides, cheering him on.
After he got into the finals, a problem arose. When their own school’s athlete was jumping, and their own people were cheering, someone from the side would interfere, shouting “one, two, one, two” in a rhythmic pattern to disrupt the athlete’s rhythm.
Zhu Junling’s mental fortitude was not very good, and he was distracted. The two schools were immediately at loggerheads.
By the time Zhou Wanfeng arrived, the two sides were already pushing and shoving. When she got there, she saw a familiar face.
The two sides had completely different styles of arguing. One was sarcastic and insinuating, while the other was a full-blown cursing match, insulting ancestors for eighteen generations, accompanied by wild gestures.
Jiang Chen had originally wanted to pull Lu Qing away, but after listening for a while, he was stirred by a sense of unity and quickly joined his own team. The participants from their experimental middle school were from different classes and didn’t know each other, but they recognized the school uniform. They had to be united against outsiders. He stopped pulling Lu Qing and joined in the babble. Even the top students from the key class had a unique way of cursing. “May your fortune be as vast as the Caribbean Sea.”
“I’ll f*ck your whole family’s mother.”
“You talk so well, it’s like you’re farting.”
“What, your whole family doesn’t have a…”
“Your IQ must have been cut along with your umbilical cord.”
“Your f*cking great-aunt is missing a leg when she goes out.”
When the other schools saw the conflict escalating, they all backed away. With their retreat, only the two sides were left to continue the battle.
The students of Shuangshu Middle School’s First Grade, Class Nine were too scattered. Ding Gaoming ran around but couldn’t find any support, so he went to find the class president, who was doing problems in a corner.
When Zhou Wanfeng arrived, she heard the two sides like fighting cocks, getting closer and closer, so close that their spit could land on each other’s faces.
In the opposite team, Zhou Wanfeng saw Jiang Chen.
“What are you doing?” a cold voice came over.
The people from Class Nine immediately quieted down and, with aggrieved expressions, pointed at the other side and began to complain.
Zhou Wanfeng turned and glanced over. Jiang Chen even smiled and raised his hand, but it was forcefully pushed down by a boy next to him. “Jiang Xiaochen, is your hand cramping? Why do you keep raising it?”
The moment Jiang Chen saw Zhou Wanfeng, he wanted to turn and leave.
“Class president, they’re the ones who started it. As soon as Zhu Junling started to jump, that guy started to interfere with his ‘one, two, one, two’,” Chen Yisen said, pointing at the boy next to Jiang Chen.
He was not short for a junior high school student, a little shorter than Jiang Chen. The Jiang brothers were already considered fair-skinned, but the boy leaning on Jiang Chen was a shade whiter.
He had double eyelids and upturned, narrow eyes. The confident and cunning look in his eyes was unmistakable as they moved.
Zhou Wanfeng looked at him, and Lu Qing looked back, his chin raised in a glance. He had never seen someone so old who still called their class president for help. They weren’t elementary school students.
Jiang Chen pulled Lu Qing and explained to Zhou Wanfeng, “He has a foul mouth. It’s my fault. I couldn’t shut him up.”
“What? Jiang Xiaochen, what are you talking about? How is it my fault? Weren’t they the ones who were making all that noise first?” Lu Qing was puzzled. The moment this class president appeared, Jiang Chen had started to pull him, even stretching his sleeve out of shape.
Zhou Wanfeng looked at Ding Gaoming. “Did you disturb others?”
“No, we were just excited and shouted a few times. But other people were shouting too,” the people from Class Nine didn’t think they had done anything wrong.
Zhu Junling was in the line, preparing for the next round of the competition.
“Hey, tell your classmates to tone it down. They’re shouting like monkeys…” Lu Qing shook off Jiang Chen and quickly ran over, reaching out to pat the other person’s shoulder.
But before he could finish, before his hand could touch him, he was slapped first.
Lu Qing looked at his own hand, which was visibly red.
He stared at her, dumbfounded, as if he couldn’t believe he had been hit.
Jiang Chen quickly pulled the embarrassed Lu Qing back. “Let’s go, let’s go. Let’s go see the other events. Don’t you like watching the high jump?”
Lu Qing looked back at the girl, unconvinced. “Jiang Xiaochen, I feel like you know her. You’ve been acting weird since she showed up.”
“I do know her. She’s Jiang Yi’s class president, named Zhou Wanfeng. Didn’t Shuangshu Model Middle School just expel a few people? The news spread like wildfire. I’m telling you now, that Zhou Wanfeng was the one involved. The people who were expelled were the ones who had a grudge with her. About ten of them ganged up on her at night, and she beat them all up. Do you think she’s tough? Do you think that group of people who were arguing with you were just babbling? The moment she arrived, they all became as meek as pet cats. Jiang Yi said she’s the boss in her class. Even the homeroom teacher’s words are not as effective as hers.”
Hearing this, Lu Qing became even more curious and looked back at her a few more times.
Jiang Chen continued, “With your dog-like temper and foul mouth, your skinny arms and weak legs, if you provoke her again, will I have to send you to the hospital again?”
“Her? Ten people couldn’t beat her? Were those people too lame?”
“Then why don’t you go and fight her?” Jiang Chen let go of Lu Qing. This person was good in every way, except that he was too curious. He always felt that life was boring and wanted to find some trouble to cause for those around him.
Knowing Lu Qing’s family background, Jiang Chen felt that it was the Lu family who had spoiled him. They were all very protective of him, and others didn’t dare to touch a single hair on his head, which had fostered his dog-like temper and foul mouth.
Hearing that he was being asked to fight a girl, Lu Qing looked at him as if he were crazy. “Me, fight her? Look at my hand. I didn’t even react when she swung. My whole hand is red. Does this count as hitting someone?”
Lu Qing blew on his red hand as he walked, muttering, “In this day and age, if a boy hits a girl, he’ll definitely be scolded. But if a girl hits a boy, he just has to take it. What did I do to deserve this?” Lu Qing weighed the pros and cons in his mind, thinking that if he couldn’t beat her, he would find another way to get back at her.
The next day, there was the middle-distance run, which was Zhou Wanfeng’s event. The competition was at 10:30.
There was a board at the sports field with the day’s competition events.
When the broadcast called for the participants to gather,
the referees and many staff members began to clear the track, telling the students not to block it and interfere with the participants.
The broadcast called again for the students participating in the 800m to gather.
The students of First Grade, Class Nine all rushed to the starting line. Zhou Wanfeng was doing her warm-up, stretching her legs, doing side lunges, and high knees. Many of the participants were lined up at the starting line.
Before the start, Zhou Wanfeng took off her school uniform jacket and threw it to Tang Yuqing outside the track.
“Go, class president!”
Zhou Wanfeng squatted down and pulled up her pant legs. After all the preparations, she started to run at the sound of the gun.
Bang.
Everyone aimed for the inner lane. On both sides of the track, there were shouts of “go, go, go.”
Zhou Wanfeng was in the middle of the pack. After everyone had run for fifty meters, the group began to spread out. She moved to the outer lane and started to accelerate.
The people from Class Nine even ran along the inner circle with her, cheering her on. They were out of breath themselves and couldn’t keep up.
In the blink of an eye, Zhou Wanfeng had overtaken the second place and was in the lead.
“Ahhh, the class president is first!”
“Go, class president, go!”
She was completely dominating.
Jiang Chen saw the girls’ 800m race. Seeing the one in the lead, he pulled Lu Qing over to look. “Look, look! How far ahead of the second place is Zhou Wanfeng?” While others were panting and exhausted, she looked so relaxed.
Lu Qing pouted. “This is only the first lap. She’ll be out of breath later,” he said, quickly getting up from the ground and running towards Zhou Wanfeng.
“Lu dog, where are you going?” Jiang Chen shouted.
“To chat with her,” Lu Qing said, running towards Zhou Wanfeng.
Zhou Wanfeng was on the inner lane. Lu Qing was inside the inner lane. He deliberately ran along the edge, following Zhou Wanfeng, and started a conversation with a smile. “Jiang Xiaochen said your name is Zhou Wanfeng, from Shuangshu Model Middle School.”
Zhou Wanfeng glanced at him.
“Why aren’t you talking? Are you too tired from running? Are you thirsty? I have water here.”
Zhou Wanfeng continued at a steady pace.
Lu Qing was still following. “My name is Lu Qing, from the experimental middle school. I heard that a group of third years cornered you on the way, and you beat them away? Are you that tough? Tell me which martial arts school you learned from. I’ll go and take a look. If there’s a not-so-tiring and quick-to-learn one, I’ll learn it too.”
“Go away,” Zhou Wanfeng warned coldly.
“Are you out of breath? Are you holding your breath because you don’t want to lose face in front of me?” Lu Qing’s eyes sparkled.
Someone was running with the class president. The people from Class Nine saw it. Chen Yisen recognized him at a glance as the bastard who had started trouble yesterday. He slapped his thigh in anger. “Damn it, he’s gone to interfere with the class president.”
Zhu Junling and Ding Gaoming quickly ran over.
But they were still some distance away when they suddenly saw the class president reach out and grab someone.
The two of them were shocked. Oh no, the class president is going to hit someone.
But the next second, all they saw was Zhou Wanfeng grabbing the boy’s arm and visibly accelerating. Compared to her steady pace before, she was now running with a burst of speed.
Lu Qing was completely dragged along, and he had to run.
Zhou Wanfeng deliberately ran from the inner lane to the outer lane. She was accelerating the whole time, and Lu Qing couldn’t pull his arm free. If he didn’t use all his strength to keep up, he would trip and fall. With so many people watching, he couldn’t afford to lose face. He gritted his teeth and followed.
In the girls’ 800m race, the first place suddenly grabbing a boy and running had already attracted attention.
Zhou Wanfeng’s speed was so fast that the air choked Lu Qing’s throat and he couldn’t stop coughing. The feeling of being dragged along was like the air was hitting his face.
He was dragged for nearly four hundred meters and crossed the finish line. The moment Zhou Wanfeng let go, Lu Qing stumbled forward and fell to the ground with a crash. A few seconds later, he rolled over, lying on his back, coughing and panting.
Zhou Wanfeng stood there, only slightly out of breath, a smile on her lips, her tone sarcastic. “I’m running the 1500m tomorrow. You’re welcome to come and chat with me.” With that, she ran to the staff and said that if she had violated the rules, her result could be voided.
As soon as Zhou Wanfeng left, Zhu Junling, Ding Gaoming, and the other people from Class Nine quickly surrounded Lu Qing.
Seeing this, Jiang Chen felt as if he were watching a herbivorous deer on the savanna being torn apart by a pack of hyenas.
“Damn it, you ruined our class president’s first place.”
From a distance, they could hear Lu Qing still trying to defend himself. “She grabbed me first.”
“You were the one who was being a nuisance first.”
Seeing that a fight was about to break out, Jiang Chen went over and pulled Lu Qing out. Zhou Wanfeng’s first-place result had been cancelled.
The people of First Grade, Class Nine now gritted their teeth whenever they saw the school uniform of the experimental middle school.
On the third day, Zhou Wanfeng ran the 1500m and got first place without any pressure. After the race, everyone was lying on the ground, squatting, or sitting. Some had even thrown up.
Zhou Wanfeng kicked her legs and stretched her arms after the race. There was still the mixed-gender relay.
The positions for the men and women were arranged by each team themselves, two men and two women.
Tang Yuqing’s legs were trembling with nervousness. She was running the second leg, and Zhou Wanfeng the third.
In the next lane was the experimental middle school, judging by their school uniform.
The second leg for the experimental middle school was a girl, and the third leg was Lu Qing.
Bang. The gun went off.
Basically, the first leg for each school was a fast runner. In the blink of an eye, they had handed over to the second leg.
Tang Yuqing had been too modest when she said she ran like she was taking a walk. She grabbed the baton and charged forward, shouting all the way. Her running posture was a little strange, but her speed was not slow, only a little slower than the lane next to her.
Lu Qing saw Zhou Wanfeng steal a glance at him and snorted, preparing to receive the baton and run fast.
Tang Yuqing was shouting. “Class president, class president, I did my best!” She stretched out her arm, trying to hand over the baton when she was still a long way off.
The lane next to her handed over the baton. One charged, the other reached out. Lu Qing was already impatient to sprint.
“Class president, it’s up to you!”
Zhou Wanfeng didn’t make a big show of it. She took the baton from Tang Yuqing and only started to run after she had turned around. As she turned, she saw a baton on the ground. The baton from the next lane had been dropped.
Lu Qing turned to pick it up, but his eyes met Zhou Wanfeng’s.
He bent down, and as he reached out, he saw a foot step on it. The next second… the baton flew.
Zhou Wanfeng pretended to stumble and almost fall, then steadied herself and started to sprint.
Lu Qing looked at the out-of-reach baton, his heart filled with frustration. He quickly ran over to pick it up, but the others were already out of sight.
By the time he handed over the baton, the fourth leg was already close to the finish line.
Shuangshu Model Middle School won first place in the mixed-gender relay.
Lu Qing’s face was red with frustration. Jiang Chen patted him on the chest. “It’s fine, it’s fine. You just didn’t hold it properly. Didn’t you say yourself that what matters is participation? You’ve participated, what are you so angry about?”
Lu Qing took a deep breath and gritted his teeth, spitting out the words one by one, “She-did-it-on-pur-pose.”
“The referee said your baton almost tripped her… and delayed her start.”
“Jiang Xiaochen, do you believe her, or do you believe me?” Lu Qing’s fair face was now red with frustration.
“You just stepped on it, and the baton flew that far? She kicked it, with a volley!”
Jiang Chen was being evasive. “Don’t worry about it. What’s the big deal about a relay first place? What matters is participation, what matters is participation.”
“No, I’m going to the referee. We have to do it again,” Lu Qing said, running to the staff to protest.
The three-day sports meet came to an end. The award ceremony was held that afternoon.
Sun Mulan and the two physical education teachers did a tally and found that Shuangshu Model Middle School had actually won quite a few awards.
At the commendation ceremony, Shuangshu Model Middle School was mentioned and praised many times. The grade-level director who had come with them was completely surprised. When the news reached the school, everyone was even more surprised.
The physical education teacher was disappointed that the first-place result in the 800m had been cancelled. He had a vague feeling that Zhou Wanfeng’s final result would have been very good.
It was obvious that Zhou Wanfeng had very good stamina. She had probably held back when she ran the 1500m.
It was a pity that he hadn’t seen her go all out. She might have even broken a record.
While the physical education teacher was feeling regretful, a coach from the Yunhai City Sports Bureau had noticed the situation in the women’s 800m and had specifically gone to the recorder to get the results.
Shuangshu Model Middle School had returned with a full load from this sports meet. The way back was filled with laughter, especially when they found out that the rewards were very generous.
But on Thursday morning, before they could even savor the excitement and joy of yesterday, the morning self-study was hastily interrupted to set up the examination hall. The books in the desks were cleared out and moved to the hallway outside.
The desks were pulled apart, row by row.
The exam started at 8:30 in the morning. The first subject was Chinese. The exam time was 100 minutes, with a full score of 120 points.
There were two proctors, the homeroom teacher of Class Eight, Wang Chenggang, and Director Du from the dean’s office. One in the front, one in the back. The two of them had a very strong presence. Apart from the rustling of the test papers, no one in the classroom was talking.
Zhou Wanfeng took the Chinese test paper and quickly flipped through it from beginning to end. There were questions on classical Chinese, poetry, and the annotations in the textbook. The problem was the reading comprehension at the end of the paper. Li Jianbang had said in class that the monthly exam would always test two explanatory and narrative texts from the textbook, but now there were none.
Zhou Wanfeng knew that the difficulty of this Chinese test paper had been increased.