Chapter 9

When everyone in Class 10 saw that the last period of the morning schedule was P.E., they all silently assumed that P.E. class definitely wouldn’t happen.

Based on past experience, the P.E. teacher was either suddenly busy or suddenly sick, and instead, Old Zhang’s math class, or Nun Cai’s Chinese class, or maybe English class would take over…

But the surprise came so suddenly!

After the warning bell rang, the imagined main subject teacher didn’t appear at the classroom door. Instead, the P.E. teacher—who was usually sick or busy—was blowing his whistle on the playground, energetically shouting at the top of his lungs for Class 10 to hurry downstairs for P.E.!

“Ohhhhhh!”

“Holy crap! No way?!”

“Did the P.E. teacher finally get better?!”

This was the first P.E. class since the start of the semester! The excited screams in the classroom could almost flip the roof off. One student even did a backflip from excitement. The students filed downstairs gleefully.

Li Zhuo followed the crowd out of the classroom, listening to his classmates chatter about what they’d do during free time.

Some wanted to go to the school store to buy snacks, some to the phone booth to call home, some to go back to the classroom to finish homework, some to the dorm to wash their hair, and some wanted to play basketball…

“Haven’t played basketball in ages, don’t forget to bring it!”

“The sun’s really nice today…”

“So lucky it’s the last period!”

“…”

Sadly, this joy lasted less than five minutes.

Under the scorching sun, dozens of boys and girls stood in a neat square block, urged by the P.E. teacher’s whistle.

“All present! Attention! At ease!”

“Right, dress—!”

After a few rounds of this, the tall P.E. teacher, with full vigor, told everyone to first run a few laps around the playground to warm up.

The formation was the same as for morning exercises every day. Li Zhuo was in the middle. In the past, whenever they ran, the classmates ahead were slow, and the ones behind were fast, so Li Zhuo, caught in between, would always get his heels stepped on.

But lately, he didn’t know why, he hadn’t had his heels stepped on in a long time.

Li Zhuo was quite happy.

He felt that recently, everything he did went so smoothly.

And outside, in the corridor of a certain tall building he didn’t know about, a figure was quietly watching him.

【This individual had physical contact with 37 people last week, carrying 43 types of germs on his hands. Must be isolated from my child…】

Data streams flickered in Mo Liang’s pupils, showing images of classmates who passed homework around Li Zhuo, so detailed that you could see the dirt under their fingernails, the bodily secretions and food residue on their cuffs.

In but an instant, seemingly nothing had changed, but in reality, the distance between Li Zhuo and the classmates in front, behind, and beside him had been infinitely lengthened.

Since the space was infinitely stretched, naturally the trivial matter of stepping on his heels no longer existed.

【Actually, there’s no need to spray a disinfection net.】

The System muttered quietly.

【There’s an extremely small amount of dust in the air; it won’t affect the mission target much…】

Mo Liang paid no heed, doing as he pleased, continuing to record Li Zhuo’s breathing rate and heart rhythm while running, as well as monitoring his bodily indicators.

He ran too fast on the first lap, and by the second lap, his condition had clearly declined. Mo Liang even sensed his fatigue before Li Zhuo himself.

【My child is tired…】

【I must help him…】

【●●!】

This was Li Zhuo’s first P.E. class, and as a transfer student, a small incident occurred.

After all the students of Class 10 jogged four laps around the playground, the P.E. teacher finally blew the whistle to stop and demanded everyone line up again.

After a round of ‘attention’ and ‘at ease,’ the teacher then told everyone to pair up according to the previous test, two per group, and practice several sets of sit-ups.

As soon as the words fell, a chorus of sighs rose. But since some students had raised their hands during the run claiming they weren’t feeling well, this time the P.E. teacher dismissed them all without waiting for them to speak.

Having no choice, everyone had to find their previous partners, and Li Zhuo’s problem emerged at this moment.

While the other students quickly found their partners according to last semester’s lineup, Li Zhuo’s feet were rooted to the ground, not moving an inch.

Probably mistaking him for a lazy student who didn’t want to exercise, the P.E. teacher raised his voice a few notches: “Are you not feeling well too?!”

Li Zhuo was too honest, with a natural awe toward teachers. Sensitively perceiving the displeasure in the P.E. teacher’s tone, he nervously pursed his dry lips.

“No, I’m… a transfer student.”

“What?”

The P.E. teacher didn’t catch it at first.

“Teacher Zheng! Li Zhuo is a new student who just transferred this semester; he doesn’t have a partner…”

The one who spoke was Li Zhuo’s deskmate, Deng Yuliang. He raised his hand and said loudly, “Our class used to be an even number; now that he’s transferred in, it’s an odd number, so there will definitely be one person left over.”

Only then did the P.E. teacher seriously look at Li Zhuo.

He didn’t just teach Class 10, and his classes were few, so he couldn’t be as familiar with every student like the other subject teachers.

He couldn’t even remember all of the original Class 10 members, much less a new student who transferred this semester, so Li Zhuo had naturally not drawn his attention.

“Oh, is that so…” He pondered for a few seconds, then quickly got an idea, and looked at the Class 10 members who had already found partners. “Who’s willing to partner with the new student?”

If no one was willing to switch partners, then the new student would have to take the P.E. teacher as his partner.

The P.E. teacher didn’t say the last part, but Li Zhuo keenly sensed it.

His mood was not very good. This feeling of being selected like goods was truly awful; every minute and second seemed to stretch infinitely.

【Facial expression scan in progress——】

【Result: Nervousness, fear…】

【Why is there fear?】

Mo Liang still hadn’t fully grasped the situation.

The System, having experienced many mission worlds, was relatively experienced with such subtle scenarios:

【Perhaps this scene of being watched by many people reminds him of some bad memories, so he’s nervous, and also afraid that no one will choose him…】

Upon hearing that he was just afraid no one would choose him as a partner, Mo Liang immediately relaxed.

【So it’s only that?】

【Then it’s very easy.】

In his heart, his child was the most outstanding. How could there be no one to choose him? He only needed to pick a partner with fewer germs on their body for him.

While Mo Liang was still filtering, it was still Li Zhuo’s deskmate who spoke up: “I’ll do it.”

Deng Yuliang started winking and making faces at him from far away. When he got close, he patted his shoulder: “Don’t count too fast later, okay.”

When Deng Yuliang passed his original partner, the latter didn’t seem willing to partner with the P.E. teacher, and behind his back, he flipped Deng Yuliang the middle finger.

Deng Yuliang returned the gesture.

Li Zhuo, who witnessed everything, spoke: “There was really no need. What if he doesn’t hang out with you anymore?”

Deng Yuliang waved his hand dismissively: “Then we won’t hang out. Don’t worry, he’s not the kind to hold grudges. Once last semester when I was sick and took leave, he partnered with Teacher Zheng…”

Li Zhuo fell silent.

For sit-ups, one partner lies on the mat with knees bent and hands clasped tightly behind the head, while the other holds the former’s ankles firmly and counts.

When time was up, the two would swap positions; the one who held the ankles would then do sit-ups, and only when both finished was it considered a complete set.

That day, the P.E. teacher probably really wanted them to exercise; after the sit-ups, he followed up with another set of physical training.

They watched as most of the class had already passed, yet they still didn’t hear the command for free time. Instead, they heard the order to run two final laps.

Sighing and groaning, they finished the last two laps. At this point, only less than ten minutes remained until the end of class. Only then did the P.E. teacher, standing at the very front, finally look at his watch with satisfaction, pinch the whistle around his neck, and blow it hard:

“Free time, dismissed!”

The formation scattered like birds and beasts. Friends who got along well needed no words; merely a glance drew them toward each other like magnets, heading toward the cafeteria while griping and complaining.

The usually invisible little cliques now all revealed themselves, clearly at a glance.

Deng Yuliang was waylaid halfway by a few others, so the lonely Li Zhuo was the first to leave the group. He didn’t head toward the cafeteria; dragging his two sore, swollen legs, he sat down by the flower bed.

He remembered when he was still in Pingshan Village, he could carry a bamboo basket taller than himself along steep mountain paths, and could carry two full buckets of water on narrow trails as if walking on flat ground.

No matter how you looked at it, life back then had been so much harder than now. Two years of living like a wealthy young master had indeed caused him to regress quite a bit.

Li Zhuo muttered self-deprecatingly:

“…I’m really getting lazier and lazier now.”

As soon as the words fell, a familiar voice drifted softly from behind: “I don’t think so.”

Li Zhuo whipped around; on seeing that face, his voice suddenly shot up: “Teacher Mo?!”

The man was sitting beside him, in a spot hidden by the bushes, utterly silent, as if he had appeared out of thin air.

“Teacher Mo, when did you get here?”

Li Zhuo still couldn’t believe it; he clearly remembered not hearing a single footstep just now.

“Just now.” Mo Liang moved a little closer to Li Zhuo, his gaze concentrating on his legs, frowning tightly. “Are your legs in a lot of pain?”

“No, they’re not. Just a little sore from running, but it’s already much better now.”

Teacher Mo on the other side didn’t seem to believe him, his brow showing no sign of loosening. “I know a bit of massage. After you finish eating, I’ll give you a massage.”

“No need, really no need…”

Li Zhuo wanted to say that back in Pingshan Village, during the busy farming season every year, he had to do farm work in the fields and go out to do odd jobs, which was far more exhausting than this. Back then, even if his whole body ached as if falling apart, he’d be fine after a good night’s sleep.

But the words reached his lips and he swallowed them back.

Nobody wanted to know about those boring rural matters. Even his biological parents didn’t want to hear him talk about the past over and over. It was very annoying.

“I’m fine now, really.”

Teacher Mo didn’t answer, just gave Li Zhuo a deep look. The sound of his voice overlapped perfectly with the sudden ringing of the end-of-class bell.

“Class is over. Are you hungry now?”