When they were young and inexperienced, it was mostly Thomas Reed protecting Henry Clark, but as they grew up, most of the time it was Henry Clark protecting Thomas Reed.

Chapter 11: Sails

There are two sports fields at Nanlin No.1 High School. The new field has a track, basketball courts, a soccer field, a sandpit, and even an indoor gymnasium. After the new field was built, the old one was left deserted, only occasionally used for basketball when the new courts were full.

The old field is closer to the dorms, and at night, hardly anyone comes by. Thomas Reed likes the quiet here, so she runs here.

About half an hour after evening self-study, Henry Clark also comes over.

“I signed up for the 3000 meters, so I need to practice in advance.” Henry Clark says this, quietly running beside Thomas Reed.

There are two streetlights here, but one has been broken for a long time and never fixed. The other stands next to a tall camphor tree, its light mostly blocked by thick branches and leaves, making everything look hazy and unclear.

The voices from the dorm building sound like distant, flickering lights.

As usual, Thomas Reed is listening to music, something auto-recommended based on her preferences. She doesn’t even know the name—it’s an instrumental piece, not too loud. She can vaguely hear footsteps echoing around her, and because they’re in sync, it sounds like just one person running.

The tree leaves, made huge and mottled by the streetlight, fall to the ground and sway under their footsteps.

The song stops—probably because her phone ran out of battery. When her world goes quiet, Thomas Reed hears the person beside her softly murmuring something.

“What are you reciting?” Thomas Reed takes off her earphones and asks.

Henry Clark: “Reciting my textbook.”

Thomas Reed is impressed by this academic genius. If someone is not only smart but also more hardworking than everyone else, that’s truly intimidating.

Henry Clark asks her, “Not listening to music anymore?”

Thomas Reed: “My battery died.”

Henry Clark: “Want to recite the text? We have a random recitation test tomorrow morning.”

Thomas Reed doesn’t want to, but after a lap she gets bored and asks, “Have you memorized it already?” As soon as she asks, she realizes it’s a pointless question—Henry Clark probably memorized it after reading it twice in class.

Thomas Reed doesn’t even know what’s up with herself. She went out for a run just to avoid certain people in the dorm, but once Henry Clark showed up, she ended up using the time to memorize the text.

Not only did she memorize the text, she also practiced her English speaking.

Henry Clark says, “My spoken English isn’t very good, so I need to practice more.”

She practices beside her, repeating a line from a dialogue over and over, and Thomas Reed can’t help but respond with the next line. When she does, Henry Clark continues with the following sentence.

The whole school gradually quiets down. The summer stars are still twinkling in the autumn sky. Together, they walk through a greenbelt, climb dozens of steps, and return to the dorm to rest. This goes on for several days in a row.

For the opening ceremony of the sports meet, each class has to march in formation. During class meeting, the homeroom teacher Old Baker spends more than half the period discussing it with everyone. Some suggest renting suits, others propose cosplaying as characters from games or anime, and someone even suggests gender-swapping—boys in skirts, girls in pants. The atmosphere is lively, so noisy that a teacher from the next room comes over to ask them to keep it down.

The homeroom teacher Old Baker listens to them slowly, then finally says, “Our class fund isn’t much, so anything too expensive is out. The school leaders also don’t allow anything too weird.”

He hasn’t even finished speaking when the room erupts in groans and complaints.

Thomas Reed is somewhat interested in all this, but she doesn’t join the discussion, just listens.

“How about this: let’s ask Class 1 and Class 3 what they’re planning, and then decide?”

Blackie has already completed this reconnaissance mission and immediately reports, “Class 1 and Class 3 are both wearing school uniforms.”

“Ugh, that’s so boring! Just school uniforms? That’s no fun at all!”

In the end, they still wore school uniforms, because the vice principal announced that someone would be taking photos at the sports meet and no one was allowed to wear bizarre outfits.

“What do they mean by ‘bizarre outfits’? What era are we living in? Our principal and vice principal are such fossils!”

“So annoying, nothing is allowed. Might as well cancel the sports meet, it’s pointless.”

No matter how much they complain, the students can’t resist. When the day comes, they obediently put on their uniforms. Their school uniform is blue and white—not exactly pretty, but not too ugly either.

The sports meet lasts two days, Thursday and Friday, followed by the weekend off. As long as there’s no class, the students are happy, even if they can’t wear fun clothes to outshine other classes. Just being together brings plenty of joy.

It rained on Wednesday, but Thursday turned out to be a sunny day. The ground was still a bit damp, and the temperature shot up—it was especially hot.

During the entrance parade, Class 2 marched in formation as usual. Because of her height, Thomas Reed stood in the back half of the group. When Class 9 came out behind them, Thomas Reed heard a commotion all around—people screaming, whistling, and some complaining, “Why do they get to dress like that? It’s not fair!”

Everyone in front jumped up to see. Thomas Reed tilted her head to look through the gaps. The sign-bearer for Class 9 was a boy in a skirt and high heels, acting a bit coy—he was their class sports committee member. The students behind wore ultra-short skirts—the boys, that is—while the girls wore Hanfu. The styles were all mixed together, making them stand out among all the students in uniform.