Chapter 59: So Lonely It’s Heartbreaking
The moment Gu Yifan and Wang Zibo walked out of the classroom, they saw Su Qinghe standing in the hallway.
Both of them froze for a moment.
"Qinghe, what are you...?"
Gu Yifan asked, a bit puzzled.
"I... My class has gym this period. I came down and saw your classmates heading to the field, so I knew your class had gym too. That’s why I waited for you here..."
Su Qinghe explained softly.
"Oh, I see."
"So that’s how it is. What a coincidence!"
"Then let’s walk together."
Gu Yifan nodded and gestured for Su Qinghe to walk with them.
"Um, Brother Fan, I think I’ll go on ahead!
"I won’t disturb you two lovebirds!"
Wang Zibo, stuck between the two, felt a bit awkward and quickly spoke up.
With that, he dashed off in a flash!
’If I walk with Gu Yifan and Su Qinghe, I probably won’t even need to eat lunch!’
’The reason was simple!’
’Walking with them, I’d get stuffed to death on their PDA alone!’
’During our daily tutoring sessions, I already get more than enough of their PDA. It’s torture!’
’It’s left me traumatized!’
’There was another important reason: when Han Ning sees Gu Yifan and Su Qinghe together later, there’s no telling what kind of drama she’ll stir up. I don’t want to get caught in that crossfire and become cannon fodder!’
’Alright!’
’Although, if something really does happen later, I can’t just stand by and watch Gu Yifan get stuck in the middle. I’d still be the one to rush to the front!’
’Sigh...’
’My life is so hard!’
’But!’
’For now, I’ll avoid it while I can. I really don’t want to be force-fed any PDA right now!’
"Uh..."
Watching Wang Zibo vanish in a flash, Gu Yifan and Su Qinghe glanced at each other, both looking completely baffled.
"Ahem..."
Gu Yifan feigned a couple of coughs and said awkwardly, "Um... let’s get going too."
"Mhm~"
Su Qinghe nodded gently, her face turning red.
......
「Two minutes later.」
"Holy shit!"
"Isn’t that the pauper school beauty, Su Qinghe?"
"Yeah, why is she with Gu Yifan?"
"Damn... could the rumors from the group chat be true? She’s together with Gu Yifan from our class???"
......
The moment Gu Yifan and Su Qinghe walked onto the field, the crowd gathering not far away suddenly cried out in surprise.
A commotion started in the crowd.
Han Ning, who had been standing with her best friend Wu Xiaoyan, heard the commotion. She turned her head and saw Gu Yifan and Su Qinghe walking toward the field, talking and laughing. Her already listless expression instantly fell.
Her face grew even darker, especially after hearing the gossip from the boys in her class.
"TWEET—TWEE-TWEET—"
Just then, a whistle blew. The gym teacher, clad in a tracksuit, yelled at the students who were slowly ambling over, "You students over there, pick up the pace! Assemble!!!"
Hearing this, everyone quickly ran toward the assembly point.
Seeing this, Gu Yifan reached out, took Su Qinghe’s hand, and led her at a quick pace toward the crowd.
"Holy shit!"
"They’re... they’re holding hands!!"
......
Someone in the crowd muttered under their breath.
For a moment, everyone’s eyes went wide as they stared at the scene in utter shock.
Soon, the two of them walked into the formation, still holding hands.
Seeing everyone staring at them, Su Qinghe couldn’t help but blush, and her heart pounded with panic.
Gu Yifan, however, was thick-skinned enough that his expression remained completely normal.
"HISS..."
Everyone sucked in a sharp breath.
Silence...
The once-noisy field suddenly fell quiet, and the atmosphere became a little strange.
The gym teacher gave Gu Yifan a deep look.
"TWEET TWEET—"
"Class One, Class Five, attention!"
"Count off!"
He yelled at the two classes’ formations.
"One, two, three..."
"Report!"
"Class One, 55 students present, 55 expected!"
"Report!"
"Class Five, 55 students present, 56 expected, 1 excused absence!"
The two classes’ gym representatives reported one after another.
"Good!"
"Fall in!"
The gym teacher in the tracksuit nodded.
After the two gym representatives fell in, the teacher scanned the crowd and said nonchalantly, "Class Five’s Teacher Lin is on leave, so I’ll be subbing today. Both classes will have gym together."
Only then did the students from Class Five understand.
"Hmm... since no one was prepared for this class, we’ll just do a simple warm-up. Then you’re all dismissed for free time on the field. Reassemble when you hear the whistle before class ends!"
"And one more very important thing: this is gym class, so you are not allowed to go back to the classroom!"
"If anyone is caught disobeying, that class will never have gym again!"
"Do you hear me!"
The gym teacher nodded and continued speaking.
"Yes, we hear you!"
The boys responded loudly, a little excited.
’Free time in gym class was awesome. Who would want to go back to the classroom!’
Meanwhile, the girls secretly breathed a sigh of relief. After all, many of them had assumed today’s gym class would be canceled too, so they had worn skirts. It would have been very inconvenient to do any real exercise.
......
After a round of warm-ups, the gym teacher dismissed everyone for free time.
"Brother Fan, King Bi and He Dong are calling you over to play basketball with the Class Five guys. You in?"
Wang Zibo sidled up to Gu Yifan and asked with a grin.
In truth, the other boys in their class had sent him to ask, because Gu Yifan was the best basketball player in their class.
And even if he wasn’t the most skilled, his height was undeniable.
Gu Yifan was over 1.8 meters tall. In high school, that put him in the top tier. With that height advantage, grabbing rebounds was a piece of cake!
Gu Yifan’s interest was piqued, and he was about to agree, but then he suddenly saw the lovely, solitary figure in the corner.
"Forget it, I’m not playing. You guys go ahead!"
He said, waving his hand dismissively.
"Don’t be like that! We finally have a gym class, come play with us!"
Wang Zibo tried to persuade him.
Gu Yifan didn’t say anything. He just gestured with his eyes in Su Qinghe’s direction.
Following his gaze, Wang Zibo looked over and saw Su Qinghe standing alone in a corner, looking a bit lonely.
"Uh... alright."
He shook his head helplessly.
"Then go keep your sister-in-law company. I’ll go play ball with them!"
"Okay!"
Gu Yifan nodded, then turned and walked toward Su Qinghe.
Su Qinghe had been spacing out when she suddenly sensed someone standing in front of her.
She jumped, subconsciously taking a step back.
Gu Yifan: "..."
A line from a song suddenly popped into his head:
’That half-step back... are you serious? Such a small gesture, but the damage is so great...’