Chapter 12

Warmth

“Don’t.” 

Bian Shengjian looked down and saw a hand grabbing his arm. “Don’t be foolish.”

“..it’s okay.” Bian Shengjian frowned slightly, “Let go. “

Lu Shen let go of his hand but kept staring at him with undisguised worry in his eyes.

“You…”

Bian Shengjian didn’t speak. He suddenly raised his hand and instead flicked Zhou Li’s forehead, “Even if you make me run ten more laps, I can still beat him ten more times.”

“Ow!” Zhou Li shouted, staring at Shengjian while irritably rubbing his forehead,” Brother Jian, I advise you to not be too overbearing or it might cost you something. ” 

“Ah,” Bian Shengjian looked at him and nodded, “I’m wrong, it should be twenty.”

“Add me, and you should be able to make it up to thirty.” Lu Shen added.

“I’m really going to fight you after school this time.” Zhou Li said through gritted teeth.

Bian Shengjian couldn’t help but laugh as Brother Zhao had already reached the uneven bars and waved to him, “Boy! Come here!”

“Coming.” Bian Shengjian walked up to him and met his gaze head-on. The students in the class unconsciously divided into two groups and looked at him with a variety of expressions. Some were admiring him, some had a look of jealousy, and some were even looking at him maliciously. Yet Bian Shengjian doesn’t care much about these. He understood a life principle a long time ago and applied it perfectly. That is to ignore what kind of person you are in the eyes of others, just follow your own heart when you speak and do things. 

Honestly, why live under the impression of others?

“Let’s begin.” Bian Shengjian said.

Brother Zhao sneered and didn’t speak. He suddenly jumped up and grabbed the pole. Although he was almost old, his body still looked flexible. Some class members couldn’t help but take the lead in applauding. “Awesome!” 

“What ‘awesome?!’ It hasn’t even started yet!” Zhou Li was speechless and he leaned over and encouraged Bian Shengjian, “Brother Jian, you can do this!”

Bian Shengjian quickly stepped back and then jumped up. The hem of his shirt lifted in mid-air, revealing a smooth waistline, which caused the girls in the class to scream in high pitch, “Ah! “

“His jumping ability is great.” Brother Zhao commented.

“Start.” Bian Shengjian said, looking ahead.

—!” The students around the uneven bars counted together loudly, their eyes jumping back and forth from Brother Zhao and Bian Shengjian. 

“Two!”

“Three!” Zhou Li roared, staring nervously at Bian Shengjian’s forearm muscles that were repeatedly tightening then relaxing, for fear that Bian Shengjian would fall due to exhaustion when he reached the next number. 

“Four!”

“Come on, you can do it!” Zhou Li watched Bian Shengjian go up over the bar without blinking and stopped for a while when he reached the seventh count, panting hard with his head hung low.

“Crap, crap, crap.” Zhou Li jumped on the spot nervously twice, “Who the hell is going to step forward and continue!”

“Who would dare to? What if I accidentally fall over?”

Someone sneered rudely.

“Ma Jing, what’s your problem?” Zhou Li pointed at him and shouted rudely, “He’s fighting so hard for our class! You better clean your fucking mouth for me!”

“Huh,” Ma Jing squinted and looked sideways at him, “Zhou Li, you are really amazing. It’s only been two days yet you’ve already become someone else’s follower? Are you interested in his money or his… “

“Shut up.” Lu Shen looked at him.

Ma Jing was stunned for two seconds and inexplicably felt a chill running up his back. Regardless of anything else, he quickly stretched his hands behind and impatiently scratched his back. “Fuck… who is this person? Is it one from our class?”

Lu Shen stared at him for a moment before turning his head, looking at Bian Shengjian intently, who after resting for a while, resumed his movements, but his speed was slightly slower than before.

“Boy, how long can you hold on?” Brother Zhao’s hand holding the crossbar trembled slightly, but he still spoke steadily. “We’re already at the 12th count, are you almost at your limit?”

“How can it be?” Bian Shengjian shook his head, dripping the sweat that was about to flow into his eyes to the ground, “But I think you’re about to give up, right?”

“A true man never backs down easily.” Brother Zhao snorted coldly.

As the situation continues to deepen, the confrontation between the two seems to have fallen into a stalemate for now.  Bian Shengjian doesn’t care how much he has done. In short, as long as Brother Zhao pulls himself up, so will Bian Shengjian, and each action strives to the ultimate standard action of pulling the body up.

The expressions of the surrounding audience below them also changed from excitement to shock, pointing to the fact that seven or eight minutes had passed since the two of them were hanging on the bar. Let alone doing pull-ups, even if it’s just hanging on the bar, ordinary people might have been unable to continue grasping it because of lack of strength for an extended amount of time.

“Brother Jian! Come down if you can’t do it anymore!” Zhou Li wiped the sweat from his forehead, “Don’t be stubborn!”

“Nonsense.” Bian Shengjian gasped. Although his breathing had begun to be a little unstable, his tone was still casual, “If he can still continue, I can too.”

Brother Zhao didn’t answer this time, his wrinkled face was covered with sweat, but he still made another pull-up with great effort. “…good boy. You sure have guts!”

“I’m flattered.” Bian Shengjian took a breath and followed closely, “and you’re still strong despite your age.”

“Now’s not the time to be humble with me boy,” Brother Zhao laughed off and continued, “Okay…. I want to see who can survive to the end today!”

“…Twenty!” Ma Jing swallowed and stared at the two hanging figures in shock.

Inhuman… Neither of them is human!

“Fuck.” Zhou Li’s eyes widened and exclaimed in a low voice “The hell… they aren’t done yet?”

“It’s almost over.” Lu Shen took a deep breath, his eyes seemed to be glued on Bian Shengjian’s sweaty back, “Wait a minute.”

“Brother Zhao,” Bian Shengjian’s breathing was already very unstable at this time, but he still uses his last strength to persevere, “Your hand is shaking so much. “

“Aren’t you the same, smelly boy?” Brother Zhao’s face was already flushed, but it could be seen that he was also holding on due to his perseverance.

“Pull up one more for Lao Tzu!”

Brother Zhao suddenly let out a loud shout without warning, and the whole person struggled desperately to go up, even the blue veins on his neck and arms seemed to burst out. It can also be seen at this moment, that even his hairline was struggling with all his strength…

But unfortunately, it may be because the person was really old and out of strength, or maybe because his hands sweated too much, Brother Zhao struggled with all his strength, yet still failed. His hands loosen from gripping the bar and he fell down–

“Ah!” The boys in front who had been staring nervously at the situation immediately jumped forward a few steps, quickly stretching their arms out to prevent him from falling to the ground, “Brother Zhao, be careful!”

“…already old.” Brother Zhao wiped the sweat from his face with trembling hands, raised his head, and shouted hoarsely to Bian Shengjian, who was still hanging on the crossbar, “Come down, you win.”

Bian Shengjian didn’t answer. He still finished a pull-up slowly and steadily for the last time, then forcefully loosened the knuckles that were so stiff that they were about to lose consciousness, and was about to come down falling to the ground to land on his feet.

“Twenty-one!” Zhou Li almost cried out with joy and was about to rush forward, but there was someone who had already made it ahead of him.

“Don’t be so stubborn in the future.”

Bian Shengjian lowered his head abruptly and was horrified to find that his feet were still several centimeters off the ground. After a few seconds of being shocked, he realized that he had been intercepted mid-air, and a pair of arms circled around his waist, holding him.

“…Fuck!” Bian Shengjian was so shocked that he almost punched Lu Shen’s head, but his hands were sore, numb, and stiff; he couldn’t hit him with them. He could only yell at him loudly, “Lu Shen, you fucking let me down now!”

Lu Shen paused for a moment before gently lowering him down to the ground. At this moment, Zhou Li had already pushed aside the crowd and rushed up, he was about to feel Bian Shengjian’s face to see how he was after the competition, “Brother Jian, are you alright?”

“I’m fine.” Bian Shenghui took a few steps to the side. He really wanted to punch Lu Shen on the spot, but his hands were a little weak, so he could only glare at him. “Don’t fucking touch me!”

“But I was afraid you’d fall.” Lu Shen shrugged while looking at him.

“Damn, I was really scared to death just now!” Zhou Li shouted in his ear in succession, and only reluctantly calmed down after being hit by Shenjian’s elbow, “…Brother Jian, your arm is no good right now, do you want me to feed you tonight?”

“Go away, don’t disgust me here.” The blue veins on Bian Shengjian’s forehead jumped, and as he spoke, he shook his arm vigorously.

But at this moment, it would be a lie to say that it was not uncomfortable. Bian Shengjian had to grit his teeth to hold back a groan due a series of pains such as the soreness, swelling, and numbness coming from his arms. Putting on that calm expression, even he somewhat admired his professionalism for forcing himself to pretend to the end. 

“I won, remember not to go back on your words.” Bian Shengjian turned to look at Brother Zhao, who was still sitting on the ground panting and said calmly.

“Fine.” Brother Zhao looked up at him, “I am willing to admit defeat.”

“Then, the class is already over?” Zhou Li immediately raised his eyebrows when he heard this, and shouted in an exaggerated tone, “Brother Zhao should dismiss us ba? We still have classes in the next session!”

“Dismissed.” Brother Zhao didn’t say much after hearing this and simply waved his hand neatly. 

“But you, stay.”

Bian Shengjian massaged his sore arms and dragged his feet to Brother Zhou. Bian Shengjian gritted his teeth but didn’t let out any crude words, “Is there anything else?”

“Would you like to consider joining the school’s basketball team? Or the track and field team.” Brother Zhao stood up from the ground with a slight smile on the corner of his mouth, “I think you have great potential, brat.”

“I’m sorry, I’m not interested.” Shengjian said and turned his neck, “If there’s nothing else, I’ll be going back now.”

“Think about it!” Brother Zhao suddenly slapped Bian Shengjian’s back. “When you have thought about it, come to my office and I’ll make you some good tea.”

“…Okay.” Bian Shengjian almost lost his breath by that slap. He endured his irritation and didn’t lose his temper on the spot. “I’m leaving.”

“Go.” Brother Zhao said with a smile.

The atmosphere after returning was very cheerful. Most of the students were discussing the details of what just happened with relish, but only Bian Shengjian, the main party involved, did not feel the joy of victory after returning to his table. There was only bitterness in his heart.

It hit him like a thunderbolt. He had to clean the school grounds after classes and his arms were already sore.

Half dead, Bian Shengjian just laid his head on his table and waited for school to end. Because of his arms that were barely relieved of soreness, he didn’t think that he would be able to wield a broom or show off his skills on the playground now.

Ah, I want to die.

But according to his temperament, even if his hands hurt to death, he will not take the initiative to ask others for help, so he hesitated in his seat for a while before slipping out through the back door while Zhou Li was packing his bag. Bian Shengjian took small steps down the stairs as he was feeling moody from the work he was going to have to do.

Bian Shenjian found the cumbersome bamboo broom that Lao Tan told him to find. He felt the extremely rough surface as he picked it up. He looked over the playground littered with fallen leaves and began to doubt his life. A chuckle sounded behind him, “I’ll help you, you idiot. Don’t keep pushing yourself.”

“Get out of here!” Bian Shengjian threw the broom at Lu Shen without turning his head, “I haven’t even asked you to pay for what you did back at P.E. class!”

“You’ve already taken it!” Lu Shen hurriedly ducked to the side, “A gentleman speaks but does not move.”

(t/n a gentleman speaks but does not move-The gentleman speaks but does not move is a Chinese idiom, which means that the gentleman only uses his mouth to reason and argue, and does not fight with his fists.)

“What the hell did I do to you!” Bian Shengjian stared at him fiercely, “I really want to…”

“Brother Jian!” A sudden shout came from a distance, and then Zhou Li dragged a broom and ran up, gasping for breath when he stopped: “Why didn’t you tell us that you were going to be punished for sweeping the playground? Ah? This is your fault!”

“I…” Bian Shengjian frowned.”It’s none of your business. What are you doing here?”

“It’s not only me who’s here,” Zhou Li smiled and pointed behind him “All of us are here.”

Bian Shengjian didn’t speak and was stunned when he looked behind Zhou Li.

There was a group of students slowly walking towards them with brooms, and the boy in the lead waved at his hand after his eyes met Bian Shengjian’s. 

“Shengjian.” It was the class monitor.

“You…” Bian Shengjian paused for a while but still didn’t speak.

“You’re welcome!” Zhou Li smiled and patted his shoulders, “Everyone will help you, you’re a sick patient. Go to the side to cool off.”

“Why?” Bian Shengjian looked at him, and couldn’t help but say after a long time.

“Why?” Zhou Li also looked at him, stunned for a few seconds before laughing,

“Stupid, because we are friends.”

Author’s Note:

Continue tomorrow