Slightly Sweeter

Xu Lin took a one-hour nap, updated a chapter, and soon it was time to go to school.

Just as he put on his shoes and prepared to head out, he remembered one of his newly developed side hustles.

He wanted to check how the video was performing since he had uploaded it yesterday and hadn't looked at it since.

He opened up his video platform and saw that the single zero in the top left corner had turned into two zeros.

*Only 100 views...* Well, he had expected as much. It was his first video after all, with no promotional push and no clickbait titles.

However, the comment section actually had quite a few entries—thirteen in total. For a video with only 100 views, that was already a lot.

Out of the thirteen comments, ten were praising the background music, asking what the song was and why they couldn't find it anywhere.

Another two said it looked delicious and they wanted to try making it. And of course, there was the obligatory nasty comment.

*‘Tsk, not even talking, what kind of tutorial is this! And making croquettes, so many people have filmed this already, why don't you make some Chinese food?! Asking for a triple-like too,呵呵~’*

Xu Lin deleted it immediately. Some people just had too much time on their hands. Let's see if it hits 500 views by tonight, hopefully it can break a thousand.

Finally, Xu Lin left a cheeky comment of his own in the section: *‘If this hits 3,000 views, I'll make Chinese food for everyone. Leave a comment on what you want to see.’*

He shut down the computer, laced up his shoes, pushed the door open, and stepped outside, subconsciously raising a hand to wave.

Only to find the hallway completely empty. He let out a sigh; normally, Class Monitor Ji would appear right at his doorway precisely at this time.

"Sigh~ How could I not understand? Class Monitor Ji isn't angry with me, she's just feeling conflicted because of the people around me."

Thinking about it too much would only bring him a headache. Before Qin Yunhe, he could still rein it in, but now that the bow was drawn, there was no turning back. He had to keep moving forward.

Without Ji Yun and Chu Qingchan to slow him down, Xu Lin jogged for a little over ten minutes and arrived at school, only to be taken aback.

In just the span of a lunch break—a little over an hour—the school seemed to have completely transformed, as if it had put on makeup.

The slightly dusty school sign looked much brighter, and the overgrown greenery had been trimmed neatly and beautifully.

The pebble-paved paths, usually littered with bits of trash, were now spotless. A huge billboard had been erected beside the teaching building, bearing a line of text:

*‘Youth begins with every step, soar together with Fit.’*

Although it was a rather cheesy slogan, paired with the image of Fit's latest model, the Fit WEX, it still looked remarkably cool.

Many students were standing beneath the billboard, reading the introduction on the back, which featured other shoe models and their prices.

"This pair uses the newest material and it's only 290? This completely slaughters those stupidly expensive foreign brands!"

"I think the women's version of the WEX Cloud Breaker looks better than the men's version."

"Yeah, too bad I just bought a pair that cost me 300 bucks. I feel utterly ripped off."

Seeing everyone discussing it with such enthusiasm, Xu Lin figured that President Ye's results this time might actually turn out quite well.

When he reached the classroom, Xu Lin discovered that Ji Yun hadn't arrived yet. Usually, as the class monitor, she was one of the earliest to show up.

"Yo, Xu Lin, you're getting your new shoes today, happy?" Li Bin asked, his face green with envy. Why did he have to have such big feet!

"You'll get yours sooner or later. I saw on that billboard that the ones they're giving away to students this time should be the XueLin EX2. Those are last year's models, so who knows, if you wait, the second batch might be the new WEX."

"I love XueLin's uppers, those patterns are just too good-looking! Technology schtechnology doesn't matter, a hardcore sports student can easily outrun us even wearing casual sneakers."

"True." Ma Zhiyu nodded as well. "That women's Cloud Breaker looks great. I'm planning to buy a pair for Lu Man."

"You bastard showing off your romance again, didn't you see Xu Lin and Ji Yun having a falling out?" Li Bin hurriedly interrupted Ma Zhiyu, whose eyes widened in surprise.

"You and the class monitor had a falling out?"

"No, she's just overthinking things. Once she sorts it out in her head, it'll be fine." Xu Lin replied, though a particular thought lingered in his mind.

Ji Yun and Chu Qingchan exercised too, but they hadn't bought professional running shoes. Over time, that put quite a bit of pressure on their ankles and knees.

He could buy them each a pair of professional running shoes so they could run more comfortably, which would be good for protecting and stabilizing their feet.

Yet the same question remained: how many pairs should he buy? In his heart, he leaned toward treating every girl equally, without any hierarchical status, only a deepening emotional bond. So if he bought them, he had to buy several pairs for everyone, which would be quite a hefty expense.

"By the way Li Bin, what time does that so-called promotional assembly start this afternoon?"

"Probably the last two classes, then the assembly starts, and once it's over, we get to go straight home."

"That's pretty nice."

"But we have to make up for the classes tomorrow afternoon," Hei Yuanliang chimed in as he walked over, a single sentence causing several students nearby to curl their lips in disgust.

"That is so BS."

"No choice, that's how the school arranged it."

"Come to think of it, it's not even a donation, they're just handing out shoes. The other party is doing it to promote their new footwear and run advertisements anyway, why does the school act so—"

He Run, the sports委员 from not far away, muttered, and everyone chuckled. Obviously, some benefits must have been given, but Xu Lin understood the school's perspective.

The school wasn't acting this way out of greed for handouts from a large corporation, but because the school needed influence, publicity, and it looked good on their resume.

Just like when they were filming the short film in Jinling, there had always been a small line of text in the bottom right corner of the advertisement expressing gratitude to Jinling Middle School and the like.

As an ordinary school in the small city of Linshui, their No. 3 High School naturally needed this. It would be a significant boost to their future influence.

However, he didn't need to explain it to the others, because he wasn't certain whether there truly were no perks involved. If he said there weren't any and ended up getting proven wrong later, how awkward would that be?

"Li Bin, is Ji Yun here yet?"

"She and Zhuo Yan just got here, but they went back out."

Scarcely had Li Bin finished speaking when Ji Yun and Zhuo Yan walked in, arm in arm. Zhuo Yan called out to He Run, the sports commissioner.

"He Run, go to the office."

"The head teacher is looking for me?"

"You'll know when you get there."

"Fine." He Run scratched his head and walked out.

"Zhuo Yan, is something up? About the assembly?"

"Yeah, we aren't too sure either, but there should be a small running competition. A friendly match between classes, though they didn't give any more details."

"A competition? Spare us, please! I'm completely useless at sports."

"But the top finishers in the competition get to pick out a complete set of Fit shoes themselves, whether it's the new models or the old ones."

"That's never going to happen for us anyway~"

Xu Lin brushed aside the information about the competition, focusing his gaze on Ji Yun as she walked over, intending to go up to her. But seeing Zhuo Yan shielding Ji Yun like a mother hen protecting her chicks, he lacked the nerve to step forward.

Ji Yun didn't proactively acknowledge him either. He supposed he would just have to wait for Superstar Chu's psychological counseling tonight.

Before he could even lower his head to read, a bottle of drink was placed on his desk. Xu Lin glanced at it—blueberry sparkling water, his absolute favorite beverage.

He turned his head and saw that Ji Yun was still keeping her head down, while Zhuo Yan tilted her head toward him and mouthed:

*‘Your wife gave it to you.’*

A sudden sense of relief washed over Xu Lin's heart. He gripped the slightly chilled beverage in his hand, popped it open, and took a sip. *Mm*—it really was sweeter than usual!