My Upperclassman Wants me to confess my feelings - Chapter 14

Chapter 14: First Place

In the hospital, Bei Wenxin felt a deep sense of loss upon receiving the message that Cheng Wu wasn’t coming. However, Cheng Wu’s reasons were valid: heavy coursework combined with organizing the sports meet.

Bei Wenxin put down her phone and looked up to see Sun Wenze entering with a bouquet of flowers.

“Wenxin, I came to see you.” Sun Wenze sat down and said with a face full of apology, “This was all my fault. I swear, from now on I will—!”

“I already like someone!” Bei Wenxin interrupted him.

Sun Wenze froze, then immediately pressed: “Who? Fan Jia? Or Ding Ming from your department?”

Glancing at the flowers on the bedside table, Bei Wenxin said: “Take the flowers back with you. It wouldn’t look good if my mom saw them. I won’t tell you who I like; you just need to know that I will never like you. You should go find other girls sooner rather than later.”

Since she had put it that bluntly, Sun Wenze could only leave dejectedly.

…

Over the past few days, Xiaohan often went to the Management Department building to do her homework in Cheng Wu’s office. Almost every day, she ran into Fan Jia.

During dinner that day, Xiaohan couldn’t help but ask Cheng Wu: “Senior, you’ve rejected him so clearly; why doesn’t he give up?”

“He doesn’t give up because he believes he truly likes me.” Seeing that Xiaohan’s soup was finished, Cheng Wu pushed hers over. “Drink mine too.”

Xiaohan fell into thought and wanted to ask more, but Cheng Wu changed the subject: “I heard you signed up for every event?”

At the mention of this, Xiaohan felt exhausted: “The class monitor told me Wenxin had signed up for everything and that it was just to make up the numbers anyway, so I signed up too.”

Cheng Wu thought about the events: “Then you’re going to have a tiring two days.”

After finishing dinner and saying goodbye to Cheng Wu, Xiaohan headed back to her dorm clutching her books. She saw several girls gathered at the entrance. As she got closer, she realized Fan Jia was standing in the middle of them.

Xiaohan intended to take a detour, but Fan Jia stepped out from the crowd: “Xiaohan, I have something I want to ask you.”

Looking at the jealous gazes of the girls behind him, Xiaohan wanted to say she had no time, but Fan Jia immediately added: “It’s about Cheng Wu! Don’t you want to know about her?”

Her legs suddenly felt heavy. Xiaohan was silent for a moment before saying, “Okay.”

The two sat on a bench by the river. In the dim light, neither could see the other clearly. Fan Jia rested his hands on his knees, watching the pedestrians on the opposite bank, and said self-mockingly: “I know you think I’m ridiculous.”

“No, you aren’t ‘ridiculous,'” Xiaohan corrected him.

Fan Jia turned to look at her. In the blurred silhouette, Xiaohan’s dark eyes sparkled. She asked seriously: “Do you really like Senior so much that it has to be her?”

Fan Jia hesitated but quickly said: “At least for now, it has to be her.”

“Senior, you’re actually just unwilling to lose.” Xiaohan saw right through him. Recalling Cheng Wu’s words from earlier, she felt more and more that Fan Jia was the “observer who is lost.”

Xiaohan stood up: “If you really liked Senior, you would never have confessed publicly at the freshman orientation. You can move other people, but this kind of superficial ‘love’ will never move Senior.”

After saying this, Xiaohan turned and left.

She hadn’t walked far when Li Ya and Ye Sisi appeared in front of her. Xiaohan paused, nodded to them, and intended to walk around them. However, Li Ya told Ye Sisi to go ahead while she reached out to block Xiaohan: “Can we talk?”

“No need!” Xiaohan refused without a second thought, taking several steps to the side to bypass her. From her time with Cheng Wu lately, she had learned that Li Ya had always liked Fan Jia. She didn’t want to get involved in these emotional entanglements.

Li Ya turned and said: “Cheng Wu likes you, didn’t you know?”

Xiaohan stopped and turned back, saying seriously: “I know. Senior confessed last time, and it was a trending topic on the forum. Many people know.”

Li Ya felt it was strange. Does Xiaohan know Cheng Wu likes girls? Looking at her retreating back, Li Ya still couldn’t tell if Xiaohan and Cheng Wu were the same kind of person. The last time she met Cheng Wu by the river was because she had accidentally learned that Cheng Wu had an ex-girlfriend and went to confirm it.

Turning back, Li Ya spotted Fan Jia. He immediately said: “I like Cheng Wu. It is my business. I hope you don’t meddle.”

Li Ya laughed, then said seriously: “Fan Jia, I do like you, but what I talked to Xiaohan about has nothing to do with you. Besides, are you still refusing to admit that your feelings for Cheng Wu are just ‘unwillingness’?”

Fan Jia’s expression changed slightly, and he turned to leave. Regarding Cheng Wu’s situation, since Li Ya had decided to tell Xiaohan, she naturally planned to tell Fan Jia as well.

“It’s impossible for Cheng Wu to like you, even more so than her liking me.”

Fan Jia heard the hidden meaning in her words and turned around sharply: “What do you mean?”

Li Ya looked at the passing pedestrians and said with a smile: “How about we find a quiet place to talk? This involves Cheng Wu’s privacy after all. She has always been good to me, and I don’t like discussing such things in public.”

…

The sports meet arrived. As soon as the opening ceremony ended, Xiaohan became busy. After finishing the sprint and high jump in a hurry, she was dragged by the class monitor to the javelin and shot put.

The referee cleared the field and blew the whistle for the contestants to prepare. Xiaohan was first in line. She took the javelin, crouched slightly as demonstrated by the referee, leaned her upper body back, and gripped the javelin with her right hand.

“Throw!”

At the referee’s command, Xiaohan threw the javelin with all her might. The javelin traced an arc and landed far away after a long moment. The student responsible for checking the distance ran over ten meters before confirming the distance and signaling a number to the referee.

“Xiaohan! Thirty-two meters!”

The surrounding area went silent for a second upon hearing the number, then the class monitor clapped frantically: “Xiaohan! You’re amazing!”

Following her, several girls failed to even exceed ten meters. By the time all the contestants had thrown, only two had exceeded twenty meters, but no one surpassed thirty. By the time the javelin finals were announced, Xiaohan had already taken first place in the shot put.

In the javelin finals, there was no suspense; Xiaohan took first place with a throw of thirty-one meters. Soon, several congratulatory messages for Xiaohan appeared over the broadcast station.

Over in the Management Department, Cheng Wu was guiding the Publicity Department staff on writing broadcast scripts when she heard Xiaohan’s name repeatedly. She couldn’t help but look up.

“Did Xiaohan take that many first places?”

While she was wondering, Ningning ran over from the Finance Department next door, shouting excitedly: “Sister Wu! Xiaohan took two first places! She’s participating in the relay race right now. Do you want to go see?”

Cheng Wu agreed, handed the tasks over to Chang Le, and followed Ningning to the track.

…

On the relay track, since the Mathematics Department only had two girls, they teamed up with the Physics Department next door to make a four-person team. Xiaohan was the last runner. Everyone’s running was average, and they didn’t expect to place.

Just as Xiaohan relaxed her mindset, Ningning’s shout came from nearby: “Xiaohan! Sister Wu and I came to see you!”

Xiaohan turned her head: “Senior! Why are you guys here?”

“You just took first place in the javelin and shot put! We bought soda for you to replenish your fluids later, and there’s even a manual massage waiting!” Ningning was very excited, holding water in one hand and waving a towel with the other.

Cheng Wu recalled her events. Since she hadn’t placed in the sprint earlier, she guessed Xiaohan wasn’t very good at running. She expected them not to place in the relay, so she said: “You’ve already won rankings for the Math Department. Now, just do your best.”

Xiaohan clenched her fists: “I know, Senior. Don’t worry.”

Even so, with Senior watching from the sidelines, she felt she should work even harder.

The starter pistol fired, and the eight runners set off at once. To Xiaohan’s surprise, the girl from the Physics Department who started for them was very fast, leaving everyone far behind. But the middle two runners were truly lackluster; by the time the baton reached Xiaohan, she was in second-to-last place.

Once she started running, Xiaohan pursed her lips and tried to maintain her breathing, accelerating as much as possible. As she ran, terrifying memories suddenly surfaced in her mind. A long-lost fear welled up, and Xiaohan involuntarily accelerated to the extreme, overtaking one person after another.

She didn’t stop until she reached the finish line.

Cheng Wu was already waiting for her. She ran with her for a bit, and seeing that she wasn’t stopping, she reached out to catch her: “You can slow down and stop now.”

Hearing Cheng Wu’s voice, Xiaohan snapped back to reality. her body went limp, and she almost knelt on the ground. Fortunately, Cheng Wu caught her and called Ningning over. The two of them supported Xiaohan as they walked slowly.

A few minutes later, Xiaohan finally stopped and drank the water Ningning handed her. Cheng Wu wiped her sweat, and when her hand touched the perspiration on Xiaohan’s forehead, she couldn’t help but worry: Why is it cold sweat?

The sweat kept coming back as soon as it was wiped. Cheng Wu gradually realized something was wrong and asked: “Xiaohan, how do you feel?”

“So tired… very tired.” Xiaohan’s voice was faint, and as soon as she finished speaking, she fainted in Cheng Wu’s arms.

…

When she woke up, Xiaohan felt someone pressing on her arm. Opening her eyes, she found herself in the infirmary. Seeing Cheng Wu giving her a massage, she tried to sit up but was held down by Cheng Wu’s hand on her shoulder: “Just lie down and rest for a bit.”

Xiaohan’s whole body felt feverish, likely an aftereffect of the run. Cheng Wu’s fingertips were as cool as water as they landed on her arm and shoulder. The pressure was just right, effectively relieving the soreness of the muscles.

After finishing the massage on Xiaohan’s right arm, Cheng Wu glanced at her legs: “Should I help massage your legs too?”

“No, no need!” As soon as Xiaohan arched her legs, she felt a pull in her muscles, with a faint pain hidden within the soreness.

Cheng Wu shook her head, pulled back the sheet covering her, straightened Xiaohan’s legs, and pressed her entire palm against Xiaohan’s skin.

The soft palm made Xiaohan’s heart flutter, as if her whole being were sitting on a swing. When Cheng Wu’s hand lifted, her heart fell back down; when she pressed down, it felt as if she were swinging into mid-air, her body tensing involuntarily.

Her cheeks and the tips of her ears gradually grew hot. Xiaohan wanted to refuse, but Cheng Wu stood up and said: “Your warm-up earlier was okay, and your legs are recovering quickly. However, there’s too much lactic acid in the muscles of your right shoulder and arm likely from the shot put and javelin. Take off your top; I’ll help you stretch.”