Chapter 9: I won’t tell anyone.

“Let’s go, it’s time for PE.”

Fang Chenxi patted the shoulder of the still-sleeping Jiang Ling. Jiang Ling let out a soft “Mhm,” and after a few moments, her delicate face emerged from the crook of her arm.

Afternoon naps in the summer were truly uncomfortable.

Waking up, she felt sticky all over.

Jiang Ling rubbed her eyes and tapped her head, trying to clear the mental fog as quickly as possible.

The first class after the break was Physical Education.

Despite her immense reluctance, Jiang Ling sighed and sluggishly stood up from her seat.

“The playground is full of tenth graders doing Military Training. Where are we having class?”

“The PE teacher talked to me this morning. Since the tenth graders are taking up the field and the weather is quite hot, our first PE class will be spent cleaning the equipment room.”

Ah.

Jiang Ling’s face soured into a grimace.

School had just started, and they were already treating students like manual labor.

Jiang Ling had encountered this during her previous student life.

Because of the long holidays, the sports equipment room hadn’t been used for a long time.

Consequently, the cleaning duty always fell to the first batch of students scheduled for PE at the start of the semester.

Fang Chenxi looked at Jiang Ling, who was radiating resentment from her nap, and couldn’t help but find it amusing.

She felt that the Jiang Ling of this life was much more childish.

“Alright, go wash your face and wake up. I’m heading down first; the teacher is waiting.”

Before Jiang Ling could react, Fang Chenxi gave her head two light pats and vanished from the classroom before she could get angry.

Unlike Jiang Ling, who had almost zero interest in PE, many classmates had already snuck out of the room before the break officially ended.

The classroom was now empty.

Jiang Ling stretched her arms in a long, wide yawn.

It felt so good she couldn’t help but let out a soft hum.

As she extended her body, her sizable curves were pulled into a perfect shape by her shirt.

She opened her eyes.

Jiang Ling locked gazes with a black-haired girl whose name she couldn’t recall.

The girl was standing by the door holding a water bottle, seemingly just back from the dispenser.

Very beautiful.

That was Jiang Ling’s first impression of the girl.

Her cold, aloof temperament was particularly striking.

Those clear eyes, seemingly devoid of emotion, appeared to see straight through people.

Matching her gaze made Jiang Ling’s heart flutter twice in surprise.

However, the girl seemed to look at the stretching Jiang Ling with a strange expression.

Seeing that Jiang Ling had noticed her, she gave a faint, indifferent nod, placed her water bottle on her desk, and walked out of the classroom first.

Jiang Ling froze.

The realization of how “inappropriate” her previous actions must have looked to an outsider caused her face to turn a deep shade of crimson.

She definitely needed to wash her face now.

Hurrying out of the teaching building, Jiang Ling spotted her classmates gathered in the open space and rushed to join the line.

The PE teacher was a woman who looked quite old.

The hair at her temples was turning white.

She held a water bottle, wore ice-silk sun-protection sleeves, and had a sun hat on her head.

Perhaps because it was the first PE class of the semester, everyone was excited and chatting incessantly.

Jiang Ling was pulled into line by her front-row neighbor, Xiao Tongqi.

Xiao Tongqi seemed very happy, saying to Jiang Ling, “Our PE teacher is the same one I had in tenth grade! She’s very kind to students and her classes are very relaxed.”

That sounded great.

This was exactly the kind of PE teacher Jiang Ling respected.

PE Class Lesson One:

Lining up.

Jiang Ling was relatively tall for the class at 165cm, so she stood in the third row.

Jiang Ling looked around.

Few girls in the class were taller than her.

Aside from Fang Chenxi, there was only…

Embarrassed, Jiang Ling quietly observed the black-haired girl standing next to her—the same girl she had bumped into in the classroom, Ji Qingyan.

She had overhead someone calling the name “Ji Qingyan” just moments ago.

Ji Qingyan was clearly stunning, but strangely, Jiang Ling had almost no memory of her.

Whether in the original book or her current memories, Jiang Ling had very little impression of those three characters.

Despite her outstanding looks and aura, and her elegant name, she seemed to have received zero description in the original plot.

Jiang Ling felt a surge of curiosity toward Ji Qingyan, but it was mostly eclipsed by shame.

Ji Qingyan had just witnessed her embarrassing moment.

Ji Qingyan was slightly taller than her, but couldn’t compare to Fang Chenxi.

Fang Chenxi was likely the tallest in class, standing at nearly 175cm.

“Next, everyone follow the Sports Representative to get the cleaning tools. Then, head to the equipment room to start cleaning.”

Just as Fang Chenxi had said, the task of cleaning the equipment room fell upon their “lucky” group.

Jiang Ling sighed.

Tianhua Middle School’s playground was massive, nearly the size of the one at Jiang Ling’s university. Even so, the tenth-grade military training took up most of the space.

The equipment room was located under the spectator stands.

It was about the size of two faculty offices and was filled with various gear for classes and competitions.

After grabbing a broom from a small shed next to the room, Jiang Ling walked inside with the others.

Cough, cough.

The amount of dust was stifling.

Jiang Ling covered her nose, waved her hand, and retreated.

The others were also choking and began streaming back out.

A few students with common sense went back in to open the windows.

After letting it air out for a while, everyone ventured back inside.

It was much more bearable.

Once everyone had their tools, Fang Chenxi stood before the group to coordinate the work.

She divided them into groups and set a time limit.

If they finished early, they could have free time.

As expected of students, even while doing such dirty work, Jiang Ling saw no resentment on their faces.

They seemed to treat cleaning as a form of entertainment.

Then again, for them, as long as they weren’t studying, almost anything counted as a fun extracurricular activity.

The spiderwebs in the ceiling corners were particularly difficult to clear.

Though there was a specialized tool—a bamboo pole combined with a broom—it could only be used by the tall boys.

During the cleaning, Jiang Ling didn’t see Fang Chenxi.

She was likely busy helping the PE teacher.

“Jiang Ling, could you and Ji Qingyan go fetch a bucket of water? The water for the rags is getting a bit murky.”

Ji Qingyan and Jiang Ling had just finished their sweeping tasks.

Their nearby classmates were busy, so seeing the two were free, a girl stepped forward and asked politely.

Jiang Ling had no problem with it, and Ji Qingyan nodded.

“No problem.”

“Thanks!”

Both girls placed their hands on the bucket handle, lifted it with effort, and walked outside.

There was a restroom behind the equipment room where they could fill the bucket.

They dumped the dirty water, rinsed the bucket twice with clean water, and placed it under the tap to fill.

“….”

“….”

The silence persisted.

Both girls stared at the bucket, neither speaking.

Why did this feel even more awkward than being with Fang Chenxi?

They were classmates, after all, and would likely interact in the future. Jiang Ling decided to speak first.

“Ji Qingyan, right? Hello, I’m Jiang Ling.”

Jiang Ling had a smile on her face, but she was nervous inside.

Her palms were slightly sweaty.

Setting aside the plot’s forced interactions, this was her first time greeting a beautiful girl who was on the same level as the two female leads.

“Hello, I am… it seems you already know my name.”

Ji Qingyan’s tone was flat.

Finally, her gaze shifted from the rippling water in the bucket to meet Jiang Ling’s eyes.

Jiang Ling couldn’t help but marvel.

Ji Qingyan had beautiful eyes—blue as the deep sea, profound yet carrying a hint of distance.

Her entire being radiated a cool, elegant aura.

Like a fairy.

Ji Qingyan’s grades must be excellent, Jiang Ling thought.

The two shook hands, marking their formal acquaintance.

The waiting time was still silent, but after the greeting, Jiang Ling felt the time wasn’t as hard to endure.

The sound of the water changed from a roar to a splashy drip.

As the bucket neared the top, Jiang Ling turned off the tap.

If it were too full, it would be hard for two girls to carry.

Besides, this much was enough.

“You can rest assured. I won’t tell anyone that you like to stretch and make strange noises when you wake up.”

Jiang Ling’s movement to grab the handle froze.

Her neck stiffened like a rusted machine part.

She turned her head with a literal “creak.”

She looked despondently at Ji Qingyan.

The girl’s small face was written with absolute seriousness—so serious that Jiang Ling didn’t even know how to respond.

Does she think I only greeted her because I was afraid she’d reveal my “secret”?

No way, right?