Redemption from the Abyss: The School Beauty Insists on Pulling Me Out of the Mire

The days after returning to school were ordinary yet sparkling.

Although he won a national gold medal, the buzz at Jiangcheng No. 1 Middle School, a place teeming with top students, only lasted two or three days.

Class 1 of Grade 11 quickly returned to its usual rhythm—the blackboard that could never be cleaned, the test papers that could never be finished, and Xie Wang in the back row who was suffering over English words.

[12:00 PM · Cafeteria]

The canteen at Jiangcheng No.1 Middle School is always a battlefield.

As soon as the bell rang, thousands of students rushed to the cafeteria at top speed.

In the corner of the stir-fry window on the second floor, sat the "family and friends group" of Class 1, Grade 11.

Without Lu Wen's conspicuous bag, the table became slightly quieter.

Xie Wang, Su Qinghe, Shen Hao, Xu You, and Lin Lu sat around a long table.

In front of Xie Wang was a plate of sweet and sour pork ribs and a plate of spicy chicken.

He skillfully picked out the scallions and ginger from the ribs and gave Su Qinghe the carrots he didn't like from his plate.

Su Qinghe then picked out the onions from his plate and gave them to Xie Wang.

The two didn't exchange a single word the entire time, nor did they even make eye contact, but their unspoken understanding was dazzling to onlookers.

Across from him, Shen Hao was awkwardly trying to curry favor.

He picked up a huge Orleans chicken leg and carefully placed it in Xu You's bowl:

"Um... Xu You, you're too thin. Have some chicken leg to help you get some nutrition."

Xu You blushed, whispered a thank you, and then shared half of the vegetables on her plate with Shen Hao: "You eat some too."

Only Lin Lu, sitting in the middle, looked at the two pairs of potatoes on her left and right, and angrily poked at the mashed potatoes in her plate.

"Why am I sitting here? Am I part of your play?"

She sighed, missing Lu Wen, the big, goofy guy who always piled delicious food in front of her.

"Ugh, even the braised pork doesn't taste good today."

Xie Wang lazily raised his eyes and pushed his untouched braised pork over:

"Alright, stop howling. Here, take this and gag me."

……

[3:00 PM · Physical Education Class]

On a summer afternoon, the sunlight was a bit dazzling, but the occasional breeze was quite refreshing.

After the PE teacher announced "dismissal," the group immediately scattered.

Badminton court.

"Bang!"

The white shuttlecock drew a sharp arc in the air.

Su Qinghe, wearing a loose-fitting school sports uniform, stumbled back two steps and barely managed to catch the ball.

She just doesn't like to move around much normally, which doesn't mean she has poor athletic ability, but in front of Xie Wang, her physical strength is clearly insufficient.

On the other side of the net, Xie Wang twirled his racket, looking as relaxed as if he were taking a stroll.

He looked at Su Qinghe, who was panting heavily, and instead of holding back, he used a dangling ball to force her to run forward.

"Take a few steps, Teacher Su."

Xie Wang stood at the net, a smile playing on his lips, adopting the tone of a strict coach:

"Don't be lazy. Your health is too poor. You catch a cold every time the seasons change. Go out more and sweat it out."

Su Qinghe glared at him, wiped the sweat from her forehead, and gritted her teeth as she swung the racket back:

"Xie Wang, you did this on purpose, didn't you?"

"I'm doing this for your own good."

Xie Wang easily caught the ball and then hit it to the baseline.

"To withstand the pressure of senior year, your physical fitness needs to keep up. Here are ten more balls; I'll treat you to ice water afterwards."

Although he was stern in his words, he actually controlled the force of feeding her the ball just right, enough to get her moving without her missing the catch.

Not far away.

Shen Hao, who was enjoying the shade under the tree, saw this scene and his eyes lit up.

He turned to look at Xu You, who was sitting next to him reading a book, scratched his head, and tentatively asked:

"Xu You... look, Wang Ge and the others are having a lot of fun playing. How about... we join in for a bit?"

"There's still an empty space."

Xu You put down her book, looked at Shen Hao's expectant eyes, hesitated for a moment, then nodded, blushing as she stood up:

"Well... I'm not very good at it, so please don't mind."

"No, no! I'll teach you!" Shen Hao was as excited as a husky, wagging his tail as he went to borrow a racket.

As a result, a polarized scene unfolded on the field.

On one side, Xie Wang was leading Su Qinghe through "devilish physical training."

On one side was Shen Hao and Xu You's "elderly health badminton"—the shuttlecock flew high and slowly in the air, and the two were more showing mutual courtesy than playing badminton.

Only forest deer.

She sat alone on the steps of the stands by the field, holding a bottle of warm water in her hand, watching the two couples, her lips pouting so much they could hang an oil bottle.

"So boring..."

Bored, she kicked at the pebbles on the ground with her toes, thinking to herself that she should have pretended to be sick and slept in the classroom.

Just then.

"Shh-"

A whistle suddenly came from behind.

The deer turned its head.

A head wearing a floral shirt and sunglasses peeked out from outside the wire fence of the playground.

Lu Wen.

He was carrying a delicate insulated bag and was struggling to stuff it through the gap in the fence.

"Lu Wen?!" Lin Lu's eyes lit up instantly, and she jumped up and ran over. "What are you doing here? It's during class time!"

"Shh! Keep your voice down!"

Lu Wen took off his sunglasses, winked at her, and looked smug.

"I heard you had PE class today, so I sneaked in. The security guard is an old acquaintance of mine."

He stuffed the insulated bag into Lin Lu's hand:

"That's that trendy ice cream shop that just opened across from the school, it's your favorite sea salt cheese flavor. Eat it quickly before it melts."

Lin Lu hugged the cold bag, and her earlier frustration vanished.

She looked at Lu Wen, who was covered in sweat, and couldn't help but smile, revealing two small dimples at the corners of her mouth:

"Are you stupid? Coming all this way in this sweltering heat?"

"Even if it turns into water, we have to send it over."

Lu Wen chuckled and reached out through the barbed wire to ruffle her hair.

"I knew you'd be bored here by yourself. Hurry up and eat, I have to go, or the head of discipline will come and get me soon."

After saying that, he waved to Lin Lu, turned around and ran away in a flash.

Lin Lu stood there, looking at the ice cream in her hand, and then at Lu Wen's fleeing figure in the distance.

She scooped up a spoonful and put it in her mouth.

It's icy cold and sweet.

The puffed-up cheeks finally disappeared, replaced by a wide smile in his eyes.

……

[6:00 PM · Classroom]

The feeling of fatigue after exercise reached its peak before evening self-study.

Su Qinghe rested on the table, but his complexion was much rosier than usual.

Xie Wang came in through the back door, carrying two bottles of chilled electrolyte water.

He walked to Su Qinghe's table, handed her the water bottle with the cap unscrewed, and casually ruffled her ponytail.

"Good job. You lasted twenty minutes today."

Su Qinghe took the water and drank a sip, feeling his parched throat finally moisturized.

She looked up at him and said irritably:

"I'm not playing tomorrow, my legs are sore."

"That won't work."

Xie Wang sat down in the empty seat next to her, took out a neatly folded English test paper from his pocket, and unfolded it:

"Health is the foundation of everything. Let's continue tomorrow."

"However, as compensation..."

He pointed to the red cross on the exam paper:

"You can skip going over this cloze test twice tonight."

Su Qinghe couldn't help but laugh at his haggling manner.

She took a mint from the drawer, unwrapped it, and put it in his mouth.

"Okay, since you've worked so hard, it's a deal."

Outside the window, the setting sun bathed the playground in gold.

Lin Lu was happily sharing the snacks that Lu Wen had given her with her deskmate.

Shen Hao was blushing as he told Xu You about his "heroic" performance on the court.

Xie Wang, with a candy in his mouth, lowered his head and diligently memorized vocabulary words.

This is the best version of youth.

Someone will sweat with you, someone will give you candy, someone will shine with you in the ordinary days.