Secretly Liking Him - Chapter 32

Chapter 32

Gu Xun was smiling like an absolute idiot. When Shen Yanzhi came to a stop in front of him, Gu Xun’s mouth was still wide open in a grin.

Seeing him this happy, the slight helplessness Shen Yanzhi had felt in his heart earlier could only turn into a sigh.

Gu Xun snapped back to reality and asked, “A-Yan, why are you sighing?”

Hearing this tone from him, Shen Yanzhi simply said, “Shut up.”

Gu Xun had no choice but to shut his mouth, but his eyes were still rolling around, conveying a very rich amount of emotion.

Full of helplessness, Shen Yanzhi could only sigh again: “Next time, don’t shout like that.”

Gu Xun wanted to nod, but he felt that holding back was just too hard. Luckily, a hundred meters only took ten or so seconds; if it had been any longer, Gu Xun would definitely have broken character.

Shen Yanzhi just stared at him, waiting for him to express his stance.

Gu Xun: “…”

Did he really have to be this strict? Wouldn’t it be fine to just let him muddle through this?

Wang Xiaosong leaned over: “What are you two doing, staring at each other with big eyes?”

Gu Xun really thanked him in his heart. He quickly gestured to Wang Xiaosong, signaling that Shen Yanzhi wouldn’t allow him to speak.

Wang Xiaosong guessed blindly for a while before finally understanding what he meant, and then asked peculiarly: “…If he doesn’t let you speak, you just don’t speak?”

Wang Xiaosong’s understanding of Gu Xun was that, let alone just having a slightly raspy throat, even if Gu Xun were truly mute, he would be the kind of person who would learn sign language just to keep annoying people.

Now, just because Shen Yanzhi wouldn’t let him speak, he actually stopped speaking?

Wang Xiaosong: “When I tell you to shut up, why don’t you shut up!”

Gu Xun rolled his eyes immediately. How can you compare to my sweetheart!

Wang Xiaosong: “…How has no one put a burlap sack over your head and beaten you up yet?”

Triumphantly, Gu Xun hid by Shen Yanzhi’s side, indicating that he had a backer now, so he wasn’t afraid!

Wang Xiaosong: “This is wicked. How is it that even when you shut up, you’re still this annoying!”

Gu Xun used his facial expression to show him: This is probably just natural talent.

Wang Xiaosong gave him the middle finger. Just then, the broadcast began announcing that the girls’ 400-meter preliminary race was about to start.

Wang Xiaosong instantly lost interest in dealing with Gu Xun and quickly squeezed his way toward the edge of the running track.

With this attitude, besides the fact that Xu Meng was among the runners, what other reason could there be?

…

The Water Bottle and the 200m Race

Two minutes later, Wang Xiaosong came back clutching his throat.

Gu Xun patted him on the shoulder. As fellow secret-crushers, I understand your feelings very well!

Moreover, howling through the entire 400 meters was much more brutal than a 100-meter race; running one round took at least over a minute!

Gu Xun tutted a few times in his mind, thinking to himself: Brother, it really isn’t easy for you.

As it turned out, Wang Xiaosong reached out wanting to take the water in Gu Xun’s hand. Gu Xun hopped and skipped away, completely refusing to give Wang Xiaosong a chance to snatch it.

Gu Xun hid the water behind his back. What kind of joke is this? A-Yan drank from this water! How could it possibly be given to someone else!

Wang Xiaosong: “…”

Is this motherf*er a fake brother?! Won’t even give me a sip of water!

In the end, it was Shen Yanzhi who saw how pitiful he was and went to get a bottle of water for him.

Wang Xiaosong gave Gu Xun a look of deep disdain, took the water, and left.

Gu Xun thought to himself: Buddy, don’t disdain me. Later on, if Xu Meng drinks your water, let’s see if you would give it to me to drink!

But he couldn’t say these words out loud, so he could only silently grip the water bottle tightly by himself.

Shen Yanzhi took in all of his reactions. His lips couldn’t help but purse slightly, and his brows furrowed gently.

Gu Xun’s low mood actually lasted for only a brief moment; the entire atmosphere of the sports meet was just too passionate.

There were quite a few people from their class competing. Gu Xun dragged Shen Yanzhi along to cheer everywhere. Although he no longer shouted loudly, he still had his ways.

He clapped his hands frantically and even whistled. If Shen Yanzhi hadn’t stopped him, Gu Xun almost went to the school band to borrow a gong.

Wang Xiaosong was puzzled and asked with a raspy voice, “Why a gong? Can’t you borrow a drum?”

Gu Xun glanced at Shen Yanzhi before saying in a whisper, “The big drum is too heavy, and expensive.”

Since the tool route didn’t work out, Gu Xun had no choice but to clap and whistle even harder.

By lunchtime, Shen Yanzhi already needed to ask him if he wanted to apply some ointment, because Gu Xun’s hands were swollen from clapping.

Gu Xun hadn’t expected himself to be so awesome that he could swell his hands just by cheering, but it did seem a bit exaggerated to apply ointment for just that.

Also, his face actually hurt quite a bit too, but he was too embarrassed to tell Shen Yanzhi.

Sigh, better take it easy when cheering in the future…

…

The Golden Moment

In the afternoon, the 200-meter preliminaries began. After the girls’ side started running, Gu Xun went to the starting point to prepare.

Standing at the starting line, Gu Xun subconsciously looked for where Shen Yanzhi was. His mind was entirely filled with thoughts of whether Shen Yanzhi would also shout “jia you” (come on/go for it) for him later.

Should he proactively request it? Anyway, as long as A-Yan shouted “jia you,” he would be thrilled!

At a time like this, if he didn’t raise the request, when would he?

As he was letting his mind wander, he heard someone calling his name. Looking over, he saw Shen Yanzhi standing there.

Meeting the other man’s gaze, Gu Xun’s brain buzzed.

Shen Yanzhi used his mouth shape to say: “Jia you.”

The surroundings of the entire running track were noisy, but this silent “jia you” seemed to roar in Gu Xun’s ears.

Gu Xun’s mind went completely blank. He only knew that the referee called “get ready,” so he got ready. As soon as the starting gun fired, he dashed out, unable to even slam on the brakes when crossing the finish line.

After he stopped, the guys from his class rushed up to pat him on the shoulders in various ways.

Gu Xun was still dazed and asked, “…What place did I get?”

The others: “…”

Wang Xiaosong: “…Did you lose your mind from happiness after running into first place?”

Gu Xun instantly came alive: “Hey! First place!”

Gu Xun immediately looked for where Shen Yanzhi was again. Then he saw Shen Yanzhi standing not far from him. His eyes suddenly became sparkling bright: “A-Yan! I got first!”

Shen Yanzhi smiled and handed the water over to him: “Yeah. Keep it up in a little while too.”

Gu Xun nodded furiously, indicating that he would definitely keep it up! Then he joyfully began to drink the water. Mmh, it feels kind of sweet.

During the finals, Shen Yanzhi stood by the side of the track, watching Gu Xun cross the finish line first. His own heart rate sped up quite a bit along with it.

The upbringing he had since childhood made it impossible for him to do something like shouting out loud, and in the past, he never felt there was any necessity for such behavior.

But watching the moment Gu Xun rushed across the finish line, Shen Yanzhi suddenly felt a bit of regret that he hadn’t been able to shout it out loud.

If he had just shouted it directly out loud, Gu Xun would definitely be even happier, right?

As he was thinking this, he saw Gu Xun already hopping and skipping toward him.

Gu Xun was incredibly happy, to the point where he almost directly wrote the three big characters “Requesting a Praise” right on his face.

Shen Yanzhi pulled back his thoughts and said to him, “You performed very well.”

The fat cat in Gu Xun’s heart held its chin high up, and the tip of its tail started wagging: “That’s a must!”

Some sweat had already broken out on his temples, his eyebrows and eyes were flying high with joy, and he looked vibrant with a surge of youthfulness.

Infected by him, the smile on Shen Yanzhi’s face deepened a bit as well: “Let’s keep it up together in a bit.”

Gu Xun knew he was talking about the relay race in a little while, but he still became sweet all over just because of that word “together.”

…

The Hero of the Relay Race

The relay race was the last relatively intense event of the entire sports meet, so the surrounding crowd was exceptionally large.

When Gu Xun, Shen Yanzhi, and two other classmates took their respective positions on the track, the cheering from the sidelines had already begun to ring out.

Gu Xun was the second-to-last baton, and the final baton was Shen Yanzhi; this had been arranged beforehand.

Although his confidence had been quite high earlier, once he actually got onto the track, it was still inevitable to feel nervous. Especially when thinking that if they broke the record, their names would be printed together—thinking about this kind of thing, Gu Xun’s heart couldn’t help thumping wildly.

When the starting gun fired, Gu Xun jolted, and then watched the classmate of the first baton zoom out like a streak of smoke.

Right at the start, everyone was neck and neck, but by the second half, they began to open up a slight distance.

Seeing that their class had dropped to second place, Gu Xun became incredibly anxious, wishing only that he and Shen Yanzhi could just run the entire race themselves.

The guy on the second baton was clearly further pulled apart from the runner in first place because of the distance lost by the first baton.

At this point, Gu Xun couldn’t care less. Straining his still-hoarse throat, he shouted: “Fast!”

That guy also gave it his all, gritting his teeth and rushing wildly. Seeing him getting closer and closer, Gu Xun adjusted his posture and extended his hand, preparing to take the baton.

In the end, that guy probably got too nervous or something; when his hand came over, he forgot to adjust it and poked the baton directly onto Gu Xun’s hand.

Gu Xun almost let out a howl, but luckily his reactions were fast. He grabbed the relay baton and immediately ran.

He reacted fast, but the runners from the other classes were no slouch either. In the blink of an eye, Gu Xun dropped to third place.

Gu Xun truly used every ounce of strength he had. Ahead, Shen Yanzhi had already extended his hand toward him.

This handover was very smooth. After Shen Yanzhi took it securely, he shot out like an arrow!

Sweat slid down his forehead, but Gu Xun didn’t dare reach out to wipe it; he was afraid of missing the most tense moment.

On the track, Shen Yanzhi had long since overtaken the original second place, and then with the turn of a corner, he left the first place behind him as well!

“Ahhhhh!”

Amidst the cheering that almost turned the entire sports field upside down, Shen Yanzhi crossed the finish line!

Gu Xun’s heart was beating wildly. Clearly, the screaming all around was loud enough to pierce eardrums, yet he felt as if he couldn’t hear anything at all.

The entire world was left with only that figure who had come to a stop behind the finish line.

Some excited classmates had already rushed up, surrounding Shen Yanzhi in the middle.

Gu Xun didn’t move. He just quietly watched Shen Yanzhi turn around and, slowly escorted by the crowd, walk toward him.

Gu Xun thought, How did the line in the movie go?

My sweetheart is a matchless hero.

Although they had only won a relay race, and using “matchless hero” to describe it seemed a bit exaggerated, this was exactly what Gu Xun practically felt.

He had almost thought it was impossible for them to win just now, but A-Yan had simply made it happen.

For some reason, Gu Xun was just so touched. Whether they broke the record or not seemed to matter no longer. Anyway, he and A-Yan took first place together, and that was wonderful!

In any case, when the time came, their names would ultimately have to be written together on the award certificate!

Shen Yanzhi walked up to him and smiled at him: “We are first.”