Let's Do Some Questions - Chapter 51

For Song Man, life after Ailan left wasn’t much different from before.

In fact, Song Man didn’t often chat with Ailan in her free time because they didn’t have much to talk about.

Without common interests or a shared social circle, a lack of topics can be quite detrimental to a friendship.

Song Man didn’t have any particularly deep feelings for Ailan; she was simply a friend. She was grateful for everything Ailan had done for her and sincerely hoped she could live a good life.

Life went on as usual. Song Man still occasionally gathered with her followers, listened to Deng Wei talk about interesting things happening at school, ate food, and drank beer.

Chu Fengqiu was always by her side, her presence particularly striking among the rough guys.

Chu Fengqiu also took care of her, but she wouldn’t arrange everything for Song Man to eat slowly like Ailan did. Of course, Song Man didn’t actually need that kind of care. Chu Fengqiu would just hand her a tissue afterward or help wipe the grease from her fingertips.

After dozens of days like this, the sports meet, which the students were looking forward to, was about to begin.

Every grade was preparing, and some were discussing what kind of group performance the first years would put on this year.

The schedule was finalized before the opening ceremony. Chu Fengqiu signed up for high jump, long jump, and the 100-meter race. Song Man only had the 3000-meter race. She actually felt she could add more events, but Chu Fengqiu didn’t want her to get too tired, so she didn’t let her sign up for others.

On the day of the opening ceremony, the sun was scorching, as if it wanted to burn through the earth.

Song Man and Chu Fengqiu didn’t have to participate in the group performance, so they just sat in the stands. The performances had an order; the first years went first. The girls wore summer school uniforms and held cheerleading pom-poms, their youthful energy immediately igniting the whole field.

The second and third-year boys whistled and cheered, incredibly excited.

Song Man thought it looked quite lively. She wondered what it would be like if Chu Fengqiu danced with cheerleading pom-poms.

Probably impossible, given Chu Fengqiu’s dignified persona. But Song Man imagined it and found it quite funny, unable to help but laugh out loud.

Chu Fengqiu, sitting next to her, was drawn by Song Man’s laughter. Following Song Man’s gaze, she only saw a group of young girls twisting and waving colorful pom-poms, and she pursed her lips.

“What’s so good about those little girls?” Chu Fengqiu thought with a light snort.

She took a candy from her pocket, unwrapped it, and reached out to put it in Song Man’s mouth.

Chu Fengqiu’s action was quite sudden, so much so that Song Man accidentally licked her finger, then tasted the strawberry flavor spreading in her mouth.

She tilted her head and blinked at Chu Fengqiu in confusion.

“Have a candy.”

Chu Fengqiu looked at Song Man. If Song Man still remembered what Deng Lu had said that day at Happy Valley, then perhaps she could understand the meaning behind this action and these two words. But she thought Song Man had probably forgotten long ago, or even if she remembered, she might not connect them.

Song Man didn’t ask Chu Fengqiu why she suddenly gave her candy, just held the candy in her mouth and continued watching the performance.

After all three grades finished their performances, the sports meet officially began.

Each grade sat in their designated stand area. Chu Fengqiu was in the Student Union, and the teacher also asked her to read announcements, so she had to sit at the main stand.

In the resting room behind the main stand sat the people reviewing the announcements for each grade. Approved announcements would be sent to the main stand to be read by Chu Fengqiu and another male student.

Song Man wasn’t the type to sit still. Although the school didn’t allow wandering around freely, she was a well-known figure, and the Student Union discipline members mostly recognized her, so no one stopped her from strolling around.

Song Man didn’t like joining in the fun with a bunch of strangers. Anyway, neither Chu Fengqiu nor her events were scheduled yet. Chu Fengqiu’s were in the afternoon, and hers was on the last day. So Song Man walked out of the sports field, planning to find a quiet place to play games.

Perhaps the weather made everyone irritable. As soon as Song Man entered the game, two people started arguing, both insisting on playing mage. Double mages were fine; they could just restart using the mechanism. But one person refused to restart, picked a weak top laner for the current version, and said they were going to throw. Oh well, this immediately ignited the anger of the other teammates, and a flame war began.

Song Man was quite annoyed by people like this. Restarting wasn’t a big deal; they could just play the hero they wanted in the next game. But these people insisted on throwing, not necessarily guaranteeing a loss, but their mindset was ruined from the start.

Song Man frowned in dissatisfaction, wiping the sweat from her forehead.

A bottle of ice water appeared in Song Man’s line of sight. Song Man looked up and saw someone wearing glasses against the light.

“Want some water?”

The person spoke, and Song Man finally recognized who it was.

It was that short girl from their class, with very short hair who looked like a little boy. Song Man had forgotten her name.

“Thanks.”

Song Man didn’t stand on ceremony, took the water, unscrewed it, took a sip, and continued playing her game.

The person didn’t leave, just stood in front of her, conveniently blocking the sun and making it easier to see the screen.

“Fan Ya, why did you run off here? You were gone the moment I turned around. Did you buy water just to give it to someone? Let me see which handsome guy made you so proactive?”

A female voice approached from a distance. Song Man found it a bit familiar but couldn’t remember where she’d heard it before. She didn’t pay it much mind and continued playing her game.

The person in front moved away, and the sudden light was a bit blinding. Song Man focused on the team fight and didn’t look up at all, thus missing the shock on the face of the person who had just arrived when they saw her.

“How do you know her?”

That person quietly asked Fan Ya next to her.

“She’s really nice, she helped me out. Do you know her too?”

“She’s famous in our school. Even after she left, her legend lives on.”

Even though the girl’s voice was quiet, at such a close distance, it was clearly audible. And Song Man wasn’t deaf, so she naturally heard everything. Just as a team fight finished, she looked up and saw who it was.

“Song Man, long time no see.”

The girl greeted her. Song Man thought for a while. The voice was indeed familiar, but she really had no impression of the person.

“Who are you?”

Song Man asked.

“You don’t remember me? It’s normal that you don’t remember. We used to be in the same class.”

“Are you from Nanzhong?”

Nanzhong was the private aristocratic school Song Man was in before. It had many children from wealthy families. Song Man barely attended classes there; she just played games during class, occasionally caused trouble or had trouble find her for entertainment.

“Yes, I know Yushi. My name is Cen Rui.”

After Cen Rui introduced herself, Song Man finally remembered something.

The Yushi that Cen Rui mentioned was Zhuang Yushi. From other people’s perspective, her relationship with Song Man was first rivals, then friends.

In Song Man’s own words, Zhuang Yushi started out like an idiot, always coming to bother her because the guy she liked liked Song Man. Ridiculous. Was it her fault she was too charming? She didn’t even pay attention to that guy.

Later, she found this person a bit interesting. One time Zhuang Yushi was being messed with. Although she found Zhuang Yushi’s constant provocations annoying, she didn’t hold a grudge and helped her out. After that, Zhuang Yushi inexplicably came over to apologize and wanted to make up with her.

Song Man was quite lazy about socializing. Seeing Zhuang Yushi come over, she just casually took her in as a follower. Anyway, the Zhuang family also had some minor influence, and teaching her wouldn’t hurt.

However, later she transferred schools without saying goodbye to anyone, including Zhuang Yushi. Zhuang Yushi never contacted her either.

As for Cen Rui, she was just a girl who followed Zhuang Yushi, always chattering. Song Man had heard her voice often enough back then to find it a bit familiar.

“I can’t believe you’re here. They all said you went abroad.”

Cen Rui’s eyes were filled with curiosity. She didn’t dare stand too close to Song Man, talking quietly.

Song Man didn’t reply, waiting for her to continue.

“You left without telling Yushi. She was sad for days and couldn’t reach you by phone.”

Song Man thought for a moment. Her transfer was arranged by Song Qinglan. She was in a very bad mood at the time, threw her phone after talking to Song Qinglan, didn’t take the SIM card, and got all new ones.

“But it’s been almost a year, right? She should be okay?”

Song Man asked politely.

Speaking of which, she almost couldn’t remember what Zhuang Yushi looked like.

“She still remembers you, including Qin Xiangyi.”

Song Man got a headache hearing that name.

“I have something to do, I’m leaving.”

Song Man had been bossy and fearless since she was little, not afraid of anyone, but facing this “little brother” Qin Xiangyi, she was truly helpless.

But things often go against wishes; what you fear happens.

On the day of the 3000-meter race, half an hour before the competition started, a cheerleading squad suddenly entered the field. They weren’t from their school; they clearly had professional training. They cheered for Song Man while dancing.

Song Man tilted her head slightly, her fists beginning to clench.

“This…?”

Chu Fengqiu looked at Song Man. Song Man shook her head at her.

So damn embarrassing.

The cheerleaders weren’t the end of it. After they finished dancing, a young man with a megaphone shouted a few genuinely heartfelt words.

“Damn idiot.”

Song Man couldn’t bear to watch.

“Your friend?”

“Does ‘haunting me’ count?”

Song Man was annoyed just talking about it. Qin Xiangyi grew up with Song Man since they were kids, practically childhood sweethearts. Qin Xiangyi always aspired to be Song Man’s protector, then would get bullied and run to Song Man crying. Their dynamic had been weird since childhood.

Later, their families didn’t live together, but Qin Xiangyi still came to find Song Man often, only to be impatiently brushed off by Song Man. Qin Xiangyi was very sad and asked Song Man why she didn’t like him.

“Why?”

Chu Fengqiu asked.

“I told him I don’t like guys who cry. And you know what? After I said that, he ran off crying.” Song Man felt utterly exasperated. She was quite rough around the edges and couldn’t stand dealing with such delicate types.

“And he always stuck with me, even at school. The whole school knew he was pursuing me.”

Qin Xiangyi usually seemed quite proper, but for some reason, he became completely idiotic around Song Man.

The guy Zhuang Yushi liked was Qin Xiangyi. Song Man thought at the time that Zhuang Yushi must have a screw loose.

Chu Fengqiu’s internal alarm was deactivated. This opponent posed no threat.

“Manman Fairy! Long time no see!”

Qin Xiangyi walked up to Song Man, beaming.

Chu Fengqiu sized him up. Around 1.78m, fair skin, phoenix eyes, good-looking (9/10). He seemed decent, but with his behavior and words, Chu Fengqiu thought the chance of Song Man liking him was equivalent to Mount Everest jumping into the Dead Sea – zero.

Great, none of the love rivals were a challenge.

“Others are fairies, I’m the dad you can’t have.”

Song Man sneered. It wasn’t that she didn’t want to give her childhood friend face, but she guaranteed the whole school would know tomorrow that Song Man was cheered on like this.

After the Magic Fairy Wand incident, she really couldn’t be the Top Dog properly anymore.

“Don’t be so angry, Manman. I finally caught you. I heard you’re running the 3000m, so I came to cheer you on.” Qin Xiangyi was used to Song Man’s disdain and knew her limits. Actually, after so long, he didn’t feel that way about Song Man anymore, but it was a habit. He found it fun to see Song Man flustered.

“Quick, quick, get that group out of here.” Didn’t he see the Dean of Discipline was about to have a heart attack?

“Right away.”

Qin Xiangyi made a gesture, telling his people to get the cheerleaders out. The long-legged sisters came and went like the wind, disappearing from the track.

“This beauty next to you, aren’t you going to introduce her?”

Qin Xiangyi’s eyes lit up when he saw Chu Fengqiu next to Song Man.

“Chu Fengqiu, my good sister. Qin Xiangyi, if you dare have any ideas about her, believe it or not, I’ll break your third leg?” Song Man noticed Qin Xiangyi’s gaze and said this with a very serious expression and tone.

Qin Xiangyi could joke around with her, but he couldn’t joke about Chu Fengqiu.

“Looks like after a year, you’ve found another good sister.”

A voice came from the side, full of resentment.

Song Man looked over and saw Zhuang Yushi standing there, holding a small parasol and dressed like a princess, looking at her with a wronged expression.

Oh god, headache.