Novel Turned Yuri – Chapter 36

Is it really that smooth?

Qiao Yu’s moodiness lasted about a week, during which she always looked like she was carrying the weight of the world on her shoulders and had a pretty bad attitude towards Cong Ye.

Yet, Cong Ye himself didn’t mind too much. He got the lowdown on the whole affair during a chat with Song Wanwan and chalked up Qiao Yu’s odd behavior to her “evolutionary phase of facing what love is.” So, he was pretty magnanimous about it all, besides being crazy happy every day that the issue with Song Wanwan was resolved.

Their mutual good friend Mi Yi affectionately dubbed the two of them ‘Airhead’ and ‘Grumpy.’

After a week, Qiao Yu figured it was time to shake off the ‘Grumpy’ nickname and adjust her mindset, so she perked herself up and found a chance to hang out alone with Lin Qing to probe who her crush was — even though she had a pretty good hunch, she still felt the need to go through the motions.

But Lin Qing didn’t give her a straight answer, just deflected the conversation with vague responses.

‘In the future, you will know.’

‘Before that, just act as if you’ve never heard those words.’

Qiao Yu, who had finally wanted to engage in some serious deeds, hadn’t had the best start, but this made her quite happy.

And so, school life went on smoothly, with the annual sports festival at Yao Hua quickly approaching.

The students undoubtedly welcomed such large events that served as a legitimate excuse to skip classes. At Qiao Yu’s former high school, the sports festival took up a whole day, but Yao Hua took it even further. Rumor had it that this year’s sports festival would last for three days.

“Wow, that’s really something, three days for what exactly? Are there that many events to compete in?”

Qiao Yu expressed her awe at the university’s grand approach as Lu Yao, who brought the rumor, stood beside her desk, speaking with great enthusiasm.

“Isn’t it great? No classes for three days!”

“Right? Awesome.”

Equally excited, Qiao Yu temporarily set aside her doubts, raised both hands, and gave Lu Yao a joyful high five.

But in her heart, Qiao Yu was still worried. After all, this was the world of romance novels, and with this premise in mind, she was almost certain that something would happen during the sports event, which was a major occasion of the semester.

And speaking of potential incidents during the sports event—

“…Lin Qing, how are your physical education grades?”

“They’re average, I guess. In the sports event, I could probably only take part in some team competitions.”

Well, that’s a relief. It looks like Lin Qing won’t be the one getting hurt.

Indeed, what else could happen at the sports event that would deepen the relationship between the male and female leads than one of them getting injured?

And then the other would carry the injured party to the infirmary! Applying medicine! Being alone together! Ouch, ouch! Sniff, sniff!

…That’s kind of nauseating, but that’s pretty much the gist. After confirming that Lin Qing didn’t have much chance of getting hurt, Qiao Yu turned her head to look at Cong Ye, her eyes filled with pity.

Cong Ye: “?”

Watching Cong Ye, who was still completely unaware that he might be fated to get injured, Qiao Yu tentatively asked him a question.

“Cong Ye, do you plan to sign up for any events at the sports festival?”

“Actually, I’d rather not, but I guess even if I don’t sign up, I’ll end up being drafted to fill in because we’re short on people. So I’m planning to wait and see how the sign-ups go before deciding.”

He’s practically a brick that’s used wherever it’s needed—Qiao Yu had a lot of respect for Cong Ye’s attitude of resigned compliance.

“That’s what happened last year. I don’t know what the deal was, but somehow the class had me down to run the thousand meters. I didn’t even know until they started calling my name over the loudspeaker right before the race.”

…What a terrible deed. Could it be that Cong Ye’s popularity in class is this poor?

Qiao Yu’s eyes towards Cong Ye shift from pity to sorrow, and asked sympathetically.

“So did you end up running?”

“I did. Along with the head of the class, who signed me up without asking.”

Well, that’s not too bad, at least he wasn’t at a loss.

Qiao Yu silently gave him a thumbs-up. Cong Ye coolly waved it off and said, “How could you forget something like this, Qiao Yu?” Laughing it off, Qiao Yu replied, “Maybe it’s because the memory is just too painful to remember.”

Although from Qiao Yu’s perspective she should probably be pleased to see the events unfold, as a friend she still played it safe and reminded Cong Ye to be careful—after all, if this world was hell-bent on using this incident to push the male and female leads’ romance forward, then even if she decked Cong Ye out in the Kamen Rider costume he had given her, it probably wouldn’t stop him from getting hurt.

The official notice for the sports meet came down quickly, and each class began to enthusiastically encourage everyone to participate.

But in reality, everyone was well aware that the students’ love for the sports meet was due to the opportunity to come to school without attending classes—it wasn’t really about the sports meet itself.

Therefore, there wasn’t much enthusiasm for signing up for events. The class president of Qiao Yu’s class stood in front of the podium, holding the list with a worried expression, clearly unhappy with the outcome of the volunteers. It was the study committee member Lin Qing who took over the list and started to softly and gently persuade the classmates.

Of course, Qiao Yu was one of the first to offer support. Her ears perked up, and with her nonexistent tail wagging, she gleefully told Lin Qing to use her as she wished, saying she could fill in wherever there was a need.

Qiao Yu wasn’t just putting on a brave front; she wasn’t at all averse to sporting events and was in good physical shape. In fact, in her original world, she had been an active competitor at sports meetings, so the event wasn’t a big deal for her at all.

However, Lin Qing chose to ignore the class monitor’s eager gaze and, adhering to the rule that each person could only sign up for a maximum of three individual events, she carefully discussed and picked three events for Qiao Yu.

“4×100 relay, long jump, and shot put—seems manageable, right? Doesn’t look too tiring.”

Cong Ye peered over to look at the list and read it out, feeling that Qiao Yu’s tasks were quite light and then enthusiastically scribbled his own name on it.

“…A thousand meters? Didn’t you say you were forced to run it last year? How come you’ve signed up for it voluntarily this year?”

Faced with Qiao Yu’s puzzled look, Cong Ye gave her a “you just don’t get it” expression.

“It’s exactly because last year I was forced into it and ended up running without any preparation. I even drank a bellyful of water right before the race, and out of ten people, I came in fourth place. How can I bear that!”

…To Qiao Yu, running fourth place under those circumstances seemed pretty impressive already, and she thought biting the bullet on this wouldn’t be a big deal. But seeing Cong Ye’s indignant face, she tactfully decided to hold her tongue.

Under their influence, the rest of the class began to take action too. Lin Qing was already quite popular in the class, so everyone was willing to do her the favor, and in no time, the event sign-ups were complete.

“This time, I’m definitely going to run for first place!”

“Ah, having ambition is good, but don’t overdo it. I suggest you buy some of those ankle protectors or something in the next few days—”

“Why? Qiao Yu, are you cursing me??”

“You really can’t recognize good intentions.”

Qiao Yu, while dealing with Cong Ye, scanned the completed sign-up sheet to make sure that besides group events, Lin Qing wasn’t signed up for anything else before she felt relieved.

Although under the current circumstances she couldn’t figure out how to orchestrate a scenario where Lin Qing would end up taking Cong Ye to the infirmary alone if he got injured, if she assumed such an event would happen, Qiao Yu thought it would still be better for Lin Qing to be the one to take Cong Ye.

If you ask why, of course, it’s because if Cong Ye gets hurt, Qiao Yu can rest assured letting Lin Qing take him. But if it’s Lin Qing who gets hurt—

Even if she could rationally hand Lin Qing over to Cong Ye, Qiao Yu would probably find it hard to resist the urge to stealthily follow them.

A few days passed, and the reasons for postponing this year’s sports festival at Yaohua for three days were finally revealed.

“What? It’s because Yizhong wants to borrow our school’s grounds for their sports festival?”

“Yizhong?”

Upon hearing this new term from Cong Ye’s mouth, Qiao Yu was taken aback. The system immediately caught up and provided her with some background knowledge, which she listened to for a while before striking up a conversation with an obviously disgusted Cong Ye.

“Hmm… is that the high school with the best academic performance in the city?”

“Right, right,” Mi Yi, who was clearly interested, joined in the conversation, “It’s that high school that has the best grades but is the poorest.”

“I heard their school is already under renovation, and that’s why they need to borrow our school’s grounds.”

Cong Ye sighed as he spoke, his face falling unwillingly.

“So our school’s sports festival is being held over three days this year because we’re holding it together with Yizhong. They have one day and we have another. The third day is for team competitions between both schools.”

“Oh, I see…”

Qiao Yu murmured thoughtfully, suspicion beginning to brew in her mind.

…Having another school suddenly come to Yao Hua to hold a joint sports festival at this time, it just doesn’t seem like a mere coincidence.

There must be some new plot twist hidden here… Ah, looking at it this way, it may not be certain that Cong Ye will get injured anymore—damn it, it’s too exhausting to have jumped into an unfinished novel! There’s not even a script! The follow-up plot is all up to guesswork! At least give me a rough outline of the whole story!

Qiao Yu rubbed her forehead in distress, and Cong Ye naturally attributed her unhappiness to the same reason as his own, giving her back a reassuring pat.

“You must also find it quite annoying, Qiao Yu! Suddenly there are so many outsiders coming to our school!”

“”Outsider” sounds a bit odd… But I guess the students from Yizhong must all be top students, so for me, they really are outsiders…”

“I’ve heard they have a super heavy study load. The moment such people get a break, they’ll go wild—Qiao Yu, you better watch out for the Yizhong boys. But in your case… you better watch out for the girls too.”

“…That sounds all like stereotypes to me. Besides, what exactly do you want me to watch out for?”

Cong Ye was again uttering things that Qiao Yu couldn’t make heads or tails of, and he didn’t seem inclined to explain. Thankfully, Mi Yi couldn’t stand it anymore and thoughtfully translated for her.

“I think he means you should be on guard against Yizhong students hitting on you.”

“That? Probably the funniest joke I’ve heard recently.”

Having said this, Qiao Yu disdainfully dispatched the nonsensical Cong Ye back to his place. Then Mi Yi’s airy voice reached her ears again.

“Maybe there’s a point to what Cong Ye was saying—don’t look at me with such disbelief; hear me out.”

Thinking that Mi Yi tended to be reliable most of the time, Qiao Yu graciously adjusted her attitude, ready to listen attentively.

“I’m mainly talking about Lin Qing.”

Mi Yi looked at Qiao Yu, who appeared quite bewildered, and sighed as if lamenting the lack of progress.

“Let me lay it out for you upfront.”

“While she hasn’t shown it in front of us, Lin Qing is actually quite popular.”

“I bet when we’re not looking, she’s already turned down quite a few guys.”

“Since the school is going to have such a large group of outsiders coming in, it wouldn’t hurt to keep an extra eye out for her.”

“After all, she stands out in every way. You wouldn’t want someone from another school bothering her, right?”

Having said that, Mi Yi went back to reading her book, paying no further attention to Qiao Yu.

Some things are best left hinted at rather than said outright. Mi Yi really wanted to shout in Qiao Yu’s ear with a megaphone, “You better watch over Lin Qing properly during the sports meet!” But there’s a line one shouldn’t cross. She held back and let her words suffice, leaving the rest for her to figure out.

At this moment, Qiao Yu felt greatly shaken inside.

She didn’t know whether to be shocked first that Lin Qing was very popular but hadn’t mentioned it to them, or to start planning for the possibility that Mi Yi had suggested, rigidly turning her neck to look towards Lin Qing, who was discussing a question with the teacher at the podium after class and had not yet left the classroom.

No way, it can’t be.

Indeed, in romance novels, there’s also a classic and constant plotline, but because it was obscured by the exterior of the sports meet, Qiao Yu had completely failed to consider that direction of thought until Mi Yi’s reminder just now.

That is, the incident where the female lead is approached by someone other than the male lead!

A random person strikes up a conversation! Seen by the male lead! The female lead refuses! The stranger is persistent! The male lead gets angry!

The situation could even escalate into a fight based on the bystander’s attitude, seamlessly leading to the previously conceived scenario of the male lead, Cong Ye, getting injured…

No way, officer, could it really be that smooth? Should she suggest Cong Ye buys some boxing gloves?

Her mind was barraged with a frenzy of thoughts, and her anxiety about the upcoming sports festival grew like a tide lifting a boat.

…It couldn’t really be a cliché plot of someone from another school hitting on Lin Qing during the sports meeting, could it?

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