Chapter 52: The Proud Little Beauty

When Li Sicheng returned to the sports field, the long-distance running test had already ended. The students who passed were scattered in small groups, enjoying their free time, while those who failed were gathered under Coach Gu’s supervision for intensive training. Students like Zeng Yi, who struggled with sports, were inevitably among the latter, being drilled mercilessly by Coach Gu and complaining bitterly.

Although Tan Xiaoxiao had passed the test, she hadn’t joined in the games. Instead, she stood at the edge of the field, repeatedly glancing toward the school infirmary. When she spotted Li Sicheng, she hurried over and asked, “Why are you back alone? Where’s Siyu?”

Li Sicheng replied, “I took her back to the classroom. You should go keep her company. Oh, by the way, her foot has stopped swelling, but she still can’t put weight on it. So you need to watch her, make sure she sits still and doesn’t run around.”

“Alright, I’ll go now.” Tan Xiaoxiao nodded and set off toward the classroom, but after a few steps, she stopped and turned around, puzzled. “Hey, why didn’t you stay in the classroom with her?”

Li Sicheng explained, “It’s not appropriate for a boy and a girl to be alone together. If someone saw us and started gossiping, that wouldn’t be good.”

“Hmph, hypocrite!”

Clearly, Tan Xiaoxiao wasn’t satisfied with this answer, even scoffing at it. In her eyes, there was definitely something going on between Li Sicheng and Lin Siyu.

“If you won’t tell me the truth, I’ll ask Siyu myself.” With that, Tan Xiaoxiao wasted no more time and hurried toward the classroom.

A few minutes later, she arrived. Lin Siyu was lying on her desk, her expression gloomy and forlorn.

Seeing this, Tan Xiaoxiao slowed her steps, quietly approached, and suddenly said, “What are you doing? Thinking about a guy?”

“Ah—”

Lin Siyu hadn’t noticed Tan Xiaoxiao’s approach and was startled by her sudden appearance. When she saw it was her best friend, she let out a sigh of relief and complained, “Why did you appear next to me without a sound, like a ghost? Are you trying to scare me to death?”

Tan Xiaoxiao pursed her lips and retorted, “Come on, you were just lost in thought, and you blame me for being quiet? For your information, I’ve been standing next to you for five or six minutes already!”

Then, she asked, gossiping, “Be honest, who were you thinking about? Was it Li Sicheng? What’s going on between you two?”

“Who... who’s thinking about that liar? Don’t talk nonsense!” Lin Siyu’s eyes and expression were flustered, and she kept denying it.

In fact, Tan Xiaoxiao’s guess was spot on. Lin Siyu had indeed been thinking about Li Sicheng as she lay on her desk, but she was unwilling and too embarrassed to admit it.

Tan Xiaoxiao rummaged through the desk drawer and found a small mirror, handing it to Lin Siyu. “Stop pretending. Look at your face—it’s all flushed, a sure sign of spring fever, thinking about a guy! If it wasn’t Li Sicheng, then which guy were you thinking about? Tell the truth, don’t try to fool me!”

Lin Siyu instinctively glanced at the mirror.

Her reflection really did look as if she were blushing with tender feelings.

“This...” Lin Siyu was tongue-tied, even more flustered.

She didn’t want to admit she was thinking about Li Sicheng. It was laughable; boys always had crushes on her, but when had she ever thought about a boy? Impossible, absolutely impossible...

“My... my face is red because it hurts. Yes, that’s right, it hurts—my sprained foot hurts...” Lin Siyu, quick-witted, managed to think up an excuse in the moment of embarrassment.

But as soon as she said it, her face grew even redder.

Her sprained ankle, after Li Sicheng’s massage, no longer hurt at all; she was clearly lying. Fortunately, Tan Xiaoxiao didn’t know this and assumed the pain was real, so she didn’t press further, but said with concern, “Still hurting? Maybe you should go to the hospital, don’t let it become a lasting problem.”

As she spoke, Tan Xiaoxiao took out her phone, ready to call an ambulance.

Lin Siyu hurried to stop her. “Don’t call, I don’t want to go to the hospital. The smell of disinfectant always makes me nauseous. Don’t worry, I’m fine now. Even if my ankle hurts, I can bear it.”

After confirming several times that there was no serious issue, Tan Xiaoxiao put away her phone.

Time flew by, and soon it was time for evening self-study.

Because of her injury, Lin Siyu stayed in the classroom the whole time, even eating dinner there, which was brought from the cafeteria by Tan Xiaoxiao. Except for going to the restroom, she never got up. She had followed Li Sicheng’s earlier instructions to the letter.

For the students of Nanshan High School, evening self-study might be called “self-study,” but in reality, it had nothing to do with independent study. For the full two hours, teachers lectured at the front of the class.

Tonight was no exception.

Gao Zixi was at the blackboard, writing mathematical formulas and explaining them endlessly. The students, whether watching the board or reading their textbooks, listened intently. No one dared to slack off during the homeroom teacher’s class—except Li Sicheng.

Suddenly, two people appeared in the corridor outside, peering in through the window.

They were hiding outside the back door of the classroom; most of the students, absorbed in the lesson, didn’t notice them.

Zeng Yi did.

He had little interest in the tedious math lesson, so to avoid falling asleep, he kept scanning the room and looking around to distract himself.

When he spotted the two outside, he quietly nudged Li Sicheng and said, with a grave expression, “Sicheng, this isn’t good. Those two outside are followers of Cheng Haoyu. Looks like they’re here to memorize your face, so when they corner you tonight, they’ll point you out to the thugs.”

Li Sicheng turned to look outside.

The two cronies saw that Li Sicheng had spotted them and showed no fear. They even made a throat-slashing gesture and mouthed exaggeratedly, “You’re dead, kid!”

After that, both flashed arrogant smiles.

Zeng Yi was clearly terrified by the scene, even more so than Li Sicheng himself, and trembled as he suggested, “Sicheng, if you ask me, you should ask Teacher Gao for leave and get out of here early!”

“It’s fine.” Li Sicheng smiled, showing not the slightest concern.

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