Boundless – Chapter 7

The spots for the basketball tournament filled up fast, but for the sports meet, they had to draft people.

The 800-meter and 1000-meter races were the disaster zones. You’d get participation points just for running, but the mere thought of it was enough to make your legs go weak.

The PE committee member wanted to lead by example, ready to sacrifice himself for the cause, but no one was willing to die with him. In the end, he tearfully signed himself up and then drew lots to decide which unlucky soul would join him.

The unlucky boy was Fang Wenyuan, and the unlucky girls were Shen Ting and Jiang Mingyue.

Wen Qianshu: “Sigh, just as expected of the protagonist and supporting characters.”

2333: “…”

Why do you sound so disappointed!

As everyone knows, or perhaps doesn’t. In most campus novels, if the protagonist doesn’t make a trip to the infirmary, it’s as if they’ve missed a mandatory tourist attraction. Wen Qianshu did some research and found that Shen Ting, this “delicate and weak” little girl, ran too hard, “felt a pain in her chest, and collapsed.”

Wen Qianshu’s own chest ached.

She recalled seeing the delicate and weak Shen Ting carrying her family’s bicycle up seven flights of stairs in one go to prevent it from being stolen in the middle of the night. There was no way she was bad at sports.

“She doesn’t have a heart condition, does she?” Wen Qianshu asked 2333. “Should we take her to the hospital for a check-up first?”

While muttering to 2333, she signed up for the high jump.

2333 was surprised. “You know how to high jump?”

Wen Qianshu: “Nope, but no one else from our class signed up anyway, so I can learn. Well, don’t sweat the details.”

2333 thought there was something wrong with Wen Qianshu’s brain.

In the following PE class, Wen “something-wrong-with-her-brain” Qianshu began her high jump career. The PE teacher set the bar at a basic height for her, taught her the movements, and told her to “give it a try.”

Wen Qianshu perfectly sprinted, jumped, and flipped over—

—and ran straight under the bar.

2333 wished it could block its own vision.

On the edge of the field, someone practicing for the relay race couldn’t help but laugh as they passed Wen Qianshu, fumbling the baton handoff.

2333 had an epiphany.

It thought Wen Qianshu might be trying to disrupt the other classes’ performance.

If the opponent laughed so hard they couldn’t breathe, wouldn’t that reduce the competition?

The next day, Wen Qianshu went to class with an aching back. Seeing her pained expression, Shen Ting massaged her shoulders after class and asked, “Qianqian, why did you sign up if you don’t know how to do it?”

Wen Qianshu smiled. “I just wanted to try something new.”

“Think about it, what if I suddenly died one day? It would be such a shame to look back and realize there were so many things I never did.”

Shen Ting slapped her lightly and stopped massaging her shoulders. “What nonsense are you talking about! Don’t jinx yourself.”

Wen Qianshu smiled, and when she turned her head, she saw Jiang Mingyue look away.

Wen Qianshu was puzzled. “Did I say something just now? Little Moonlight seemed to be staring at me for a moment.”

2333: “Who knows with you.”

No. 1 High School’s sports meet had an opening ceremony where each class had to parade around the field. So, it was unknown who started it, but generations of students had gotten into the habit of wearing class uniforms for the opening ceremony.

The teachers didn’t care about the class uniforms; the students decided on them themselves. As one could imagine, all sorts of bizarre creations were let loose.

The class monitor was a huge Harry Potter fan, and there were quite a few like-minded people in the class. So, everyone got a set of a cloak and a wizard hat. The class monitor’s bargaining skills were superb; the seller even tearfully threw in wands as a bonus.

All morning, no one could focus on studying, waving their wands and casting spells on each other.

Zhang Zisheng shouted “Expelliarmus” at Shen Ting, but the other girl didn’t move. “Hey, play along with me.”

Wen Qianshu said, “Whoa,” and tossed her wand aside. “You missed your target and hit me.”

Zhang Zisheng giggled and went to find someone else to “duel.”

Shen Ting gave an awkward smile and whispered to Wen Qianshu, “I’ve never seen it.”

“So what if you haven’t?” Wen Qianshu also whispered with a smile. “Look how lucky you are. You get a cloak and a wand without even having seen it.”

“There’s a magic school in it called Hogwarts, and you enroll at eleven.” Wen Qianshu bent down to pick up her wand—the one from the seller was naturally not a good one, made of plastic, and Wen Qianshu had almost broken it. “I read the books, and when I was eleven, I spent half a year being sad about why I didn’t get my Hogwarts letter.”

Shen Ting was amused. “Really? You never told me that before.”

Wen Qianshu blinked and offered a self-righteous excuse, “It’s too embarrassing.”

“Me too.”

Wen Qianshu and Shen Ting froze, only then realizing it was Jiang Mingyue who had spoken.

The girl was adjusting her collar—she always dressed very neatly. Even when wearing a cloak, she would flip the collar over, fold it nicely, and then pull her ponytail out.

Wen Qianshu subconsciously looked at her jet-black hair, and beneath it, a section of her snow-white neck, hidden by the collar and the dark cloak.

“I was pretty sad not to get a letter, too.”

After speaking, she stood up on her own and went outside to assemble.

Wen Qianshu didn’t say anything, but Shen Ting continued to whisper, “Qianqian, I think Mingyue is a really nice person.”

“See, she was even comforting you.”

Wen Qianshu didn’t answer, just smiled and ruffled her hair. “Come on, let’s go assemble.”

The students went downstairs one after another, formed their groups, entered the field, and gradually saw the other classes’ uniforms.

The head teacher of Class 8 was a history teacher, so their class was dressed in Republican-era attire—long robes for the boys and student uniforms for the girls, looking beautiful but cold in the early autumn season. Class 6 was different; they seemed to take extra care of their health, wearing one-piece tiger costumes, all fluffy with tails on the back, sweating profusely from the heat. Class 1 was a group in white lab coats, even wearing goggles—well, their head teacher happened to be the chemistry teacher. Class 3 wore camouflage, looking uncommonly cool amidst a bunch of classes that resembled a cosplay convention. Class 4, Class 4 looked like Mario, wearing hats with a look of utter despair…

“Wow! Harry Potter! But how are you guys going to run in that? Won’t the wind resistance be huge?”

Just as the parade ended and they took their seats in the stands, someone from Class 6 ran over to ask. It was a tall girl, sweltering in her costume. She had taken off the hood of her one-piece, revealing slightly damp short hair that glinted light brown in the sun. Her skin was an even wheat color, and she had canine teeth when she smiled.

She even swayed a little, causing her tail to swing.

Like a little tiger.

Wen Qianshu was lazing around, propping up her leg and leaning on her elbow with a smile. “Our two classes are pretty much the same. Doesn’t your tail trip you up?”

Wen Qianshu claimed she was always in a good mood around good-looking people.

But 2333 suspected she found everyone good-looking.

The girl nodded. “True.”

Someone had the brilliant idea to schedule the 800-meter race right at the beginning, along with other non-track events. Wen Qianshu heard the PE committee member calling her and Shen Ting’s names—Shen Ting was in the first heat of the 800-meter, and she was in the first group for the high jump. Both had to go check in.

Wen Qianshu laughed, jumped up, and pulled Shen Ting along with her.

Shen Ting had been fine earlier, but her face grew paler the further they walked. Wen Qianshu frowned, repeatedly asking 2333 if she would be okay after running 800 meters.

Perhaps her face was frighteningly pale, and since Wen Qianshu had to go to the high jump and couldn’t stay with her, the PE committee member randomly grabbed a classmate and told them to wait on the side with water. That person comforted her, saying, “Don’t be scared, just relax and run. It’s fine even if you walk.”

Wen Qianshu looked back and saw that it was, of course, Fang Wenyuan.

2333 was exasperated, feeling that even the PE committee member was more useful than her.

Check-in, competition.

After just ten-odd days and a few PE classes of training, 2333 hadn’t expected Wen Qianshu to jump very well. But surprisingly, she had improved quite a bit. Wen Qianshu had a strong natural jumping ability, and once her form was corrected, she looked quite decent.

However, she was no match for the few student-athletes. After a few rounds, Wen Qianshu started hitting the bar. Once her score was finalized, she stood there to watch the 800-meter race.

She scanned the last group of people who were “fighting for survival” and “toddling along,” but she didn’t see Shen Ting. Wen Qianshu asked 2333, “Where’s Shen Ting?”

2333: “Uh, I wasn’t paying attention either.”

Wen Qianshu thought for a moment, then picked up her class uniform from the grass, preparing to head to the infirmary to check. She was a little anxious, but after just two steps, she saw Jiang Mingyue. The other girl was holding a cloak in her hands and had another one draped over her shoulders. Her back was always straight, making her stand out among the slouching high school students.

Of course, Wen Qianshu also stood out. As long as nothing was wrong, she could slouch more than any other high school student.

Wen Qianshu thought for a moment, and before she could speak, the other girl said, “Shen Ting is fine, just a little unwell. Fang Wenyuan has already helped her to the infirmary.”

Jiang Mingyue held out her hand, and Wen Qianshu instinctively reached out, taking a cloak into her arms.

“It’s Shen Ting’s.”

Wen Qianshu hummed in acknowledgment, not sure what to say. The other girl added, “I had the PE teacher check on her. She’s really fine. She just ran too hard and is a bit out of breath.”

Wen Qianshu’s heart suddenly settled, and she asked, “What place did she get?”

Jiang Mingyue: “First place.”

Wen Qianshu: “…”

“She’s a badass.”

Jiang Mingyue: “She’s quite impressive.”

“She looks delicate and weak, but she’s a real fighter when she does things.”

When Wen Qianshu heard “delicate and weak,” she suspected it was a line written by the author and was tempted to ask 2333 to check the book. But as she thought about it, she couldn’t help but smile.

Jiang Mingyue: “What are you smiling at?”

Wen Qianshu: “My dear deskmate, did you and Shen Ting conspire together? She also said you were a nice person today.”

Jiang Mingyue didn’t reply, just glanced at Wen Qianshu before looking away again. Her light-colored pupils were originally brown, but in the sunlight, they shimmered with a quiet gold, sparkling like water.

Wen Qianshu noticed the tips of her ears were a little red and found it extremely cute. She leaned closer. “You have to run the 800 later, right? Should I hold your uniform for you?”

Jiang Mingyue slowly turned, tilting her head to look at her.

Just as 2333 was about to mock Wen Qianshu for asking for a snub, it saw Jiang Mingyue reach up and start unbuttoning her cloak. She did things very slowly—to put it nicely, she was meticulous; to put it bluntly, she was fussy. On her slender fingers, her pale pink nails were neatly and properly trimmed. She felt for the button by her neck with two fingers, methodically pushed it in and unfastened it, then held the cloak with both hands, pulled it off, gave it a light shake, folded it in half and then in half again, and handed it to Wen Qianshu.

The uniform had been washed and had a very faint fragrance, clearly the one Jiang Mingyue usually wore. Mixed with the sunlight, it smelled like tangerines or oranges.

The announcer called for the next heat of the 800-meter to check in. Jiang Mingyue nodded at her and headed to the other side of the field.

Wen Qianshu hugged the uniform and spun around, then for some reason, hopped on the spot twice. She suddenly said to 2333, “Do you guys have a demon realm in your mission worlds?”

2333 didn’t understand but was very wary. “Yes, why?”

Wen Qianshu: “Jiang Mingyue is so pretty, I suspect she’s an orange spirit.”

2333: “…”

“A solemn reminder to the host: this is a campus novel. Please refrain from supernatural fantasies.”

“No, that’s not right.”

Wen Qianshu stroked her chin with her free hand. “She might be an orange-flavored ice cream spirit.”

Otherwise, why would she be so strangely cold, yet so strangely sweet?

2333: “…”

Psycho.

---

Author’s Notes:

hhhh Thinking back now, I still think class uniforms were really fun. I even regret not choosing a weirder one back then.

The year above us had a class that wore one-piece tiger costumes. When it was time for the actual competition, they took them off and changed into other clothes to compete.

#Otherwise, going to the bathroom would be so much trouble (crossed out)#