The girls' 3000 meters is much more drawn-out than the boys'.

Qu Wanqiu came in fifth. Although not in the top three, considering there were over twenty participants, it was still quite a good result.

Chen Yu Ying and Ding Sihan supported Qu Wanqiu as they slowly walked along the inner loop of the track to rest, and Lin Li and Bai Bufan followed behind.

"Wanqiu, that's a great result, and you scored quite high as well," Chen Yu Ying and Ding Sihan praised Qu Wanqiu with smiles.

"Plus, the four girls who were faster than you seemed like either athletic students or long-distance enthusiasts, so it's not surprising you lost to them."

"If I were to run the 3000 meters, I probably wouldn't have achieved what you did. I'm not just saying this to comfort you; I'm being honest," Bai Bufan nodded in agreement.

"Indeed, fifth place is really not bad. Although I'm the first place, bracket, a record-breaking first place, I think fifth place is also quite good. It's just four places away from first place, bracket, record-breaking first place, but it's very commendable."

Originally smiling politely, Qu Wanqiu stopped in her tracks and turned to look at the person who stood out strangely.

"Didn't you see? Little Qiuqiu ignores your praises and responds only to mine. Tell me, who is the true ruler of praise, the yellow-black king?" Lin Li said smugly.

"Water," Qu Wanqiu replied, not amused.

Lin Li unscrewed the cap of a brand-new water bottle and handed it to Qu Wanqiu: "Remember to drink slowly and not all at once."

Qu Wanqiu nodded, accepting the water: "Thanks."

The five stopped to let Qu Wanqiu drink water.

Gulp, gulp.

"Hmph, I'm not concerned about you or anything. I just hope to conserve water resources by telling you to drink slowly!" Lin Li suddenly said in a tsundere tone.

"Pfft—cough, cough!" The water that just went down was sprayed out, and Qu Wanqiu turned her head angrily towards Lin Li. Even though her throat was uncomfortable, she couldn't help but scold, "Seriously? Lin Li? Who even asked you?"

Bai Bufan couldn't hold back: "Lin Li, are you being tsundere here or something?"

Chen Yu Ying's focus was different from the others. She noticed the other bottle of water in Lin Li's hand and asked, puzzled, "Lin Li, why haven't you finished that water yet?"

"Of course, it's because I'm not thirsty and I want to conserve water resources. It couldn't possibly be because you, the class monitor, drank from it, so I consider it Holy Water that I should take home, put on a table, worship every day, and think it will bring me good luck, right? How could I do something like that?"

Chen Yu Ying: "?"

"What do you mean by Ying Bao drank from it?" Ding Sihan and Qu Wanqiu immediately went into gossip mode.

But before Chen Yu Ying could say anything, Lin Li had already been swept to the ground by Bai Bufan with a leg sweep.

With his bottom hitting the ground and his tailbone aching, Lin Li gasped for cold air. The cause of global warming was suspected to be found.

Bai Bufan went up to grab Lin Li's collar, angrily questioning, "Chen Tianming, I don't care why you're attacking your own kind, but now, immediately get off Lin Li!"

Lin Li: "?"

He got what he deserved and decided to lay there for a while where he fell. Lin Li lay on the ground rubbing his backside: "Just joking, just joking,"

He downed the remaining half bottle of water in one go and then handed it to Bai Bufan.

"I'm not thirsty."

"No, I meant open your mouth, I'm throwing away the trash."

Bai Bufan: "?"

So Lin Li lay there a while longer.

After walking a circle around the inner track, Qu Wanqiu felt better and could return to the class base to sit and rest.

"Would the first-place winner of the high school boys' 3000 meters, Class 4, Lin Li; second place, Class 14, Du Hansi; and third place, Class 19, Hu Feixing, please come to the podium to receive your awards."

Upon hearing this, Lin Li got up and looked at Chen Yu Ying: "Class Monitor, is your phone charged? Help me take a photo."

"Yes, it's fully charged," Chen Yu Ying nodded but looked away with a guilty conscience.

"Let's go!"

At the podium, Du Hansi was already there, and as soon as he saw Lin Li and Chen Yu Ying approaching, he smiled and stepped forward to greet them.

Instinctively, he focused his gaze slightly behind Lin Li on Chen Yu Ying, recalling the scene of her cheering for Lin Li, and curiously asked in a low voice:

"Lin Li, is she your girlfriend?"

"No," Lin Li shook his head.

"Then can I..." Du Hansi's eyes lit up.

"No way," Lin Li interrupted directly.

"Oh, okay," Du Hansi conceded.

It's not a "not yet," it's just a "no."

Nonetheless, Du Hansi completely dismissed any ideas he had and dared not covet Chen Yu Ying.

With the experience of the 3000 meters, Du Hansi believed that if he showed any signs of interest, he might replace Chen Yu Ying as Lin Li's new target.

He already found it exhausting to guard against Wang Ze all the time and couldn't imagine adding Lin Li to the mix.

The referee came to distribute the medals, and after student volunteers took a photo that might be used on the school's official page, the award ceremony was effectively over.

But the broadcast wouldn't immediately call the next batch of winners, creating a five-minute gap.

This time was usually used by the class to take photos of their classmates.

Lin Li held an awkward pose for the photos, occasionally stepping forward to check how they turned out. Noticing a figure in his peripheral vision, he abruptly stopped and shouted at the person, "Wang Yuezhi!!"

"Wh-what?" Wang Yuezhi, standing near the podium and watching, jumped again at the sudden shout and replied with a frown.

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