Chapter Seventy-Six: Enemies Meet on a Narrow Path

A few more days passed, and the mid-term exams for the third year of junior high arrived as scheduled. In the two previous joint examinations, Zhou Xuan had secured the top rank in the grade, as he always did. The other top students who had hoped to surpass him could only sigh in frustration, feeling utterly helpless.

Perhaps spurred on by Zhou Xuan's influence, the overall performance of the six third-year classes was significantly better than the previous year. The number of top-tier students had also increased, a pleasant surprise for the teachers. It was foreseeable that the number of students from the Second Middle School admitted to the First Middle School this year would be much higher than before.

The final mid-term exam of junior high arrived amidst everyone's nervous anticipation. For Zhou Xuan, the exams were effortless. Having already self-studied the high school curriculum, he finished all his papers within an hour and walked out of the exam hall with complete confidence.

Seeing Zhou Xuan hand in his paper more than an hour early, his classmates, accustomed to this, could only exchange speechless glances. Why was it that the papers they found so challenging were so simple in his eyes?

For most students, the end of the exams meant they could go home. But for Zhou Xuan and a select group of others, the Municipal Middle School Sports Meet was set to begin the next day.

After the exams, everyone gathered at the playground at five o'clock. After roll call, they boarded a bus led by their teachers to head into the city for the two-day competition.

There were over thirty students from the Second Middle School participating, and with the accompanying teachers, the group numbered nearly forty. The school had chartered a fifty-five-seater bus to take them to the hotel arranged in the city.

Zhou Xuan and his group arrived at the hotel around six o'clock, while it was still light. The hotel arranged by the organizers was quite decent, comparable to the standards of modern economy chain hotels.

Upon checking in, they saw teachers and students from other schools bustling about. After dropping off their belongings, Zhou Xuan and the others followed their teachers to dinner.

After dinner, the students were free to do as they pleased. Zhou Xuan didn't go out to explore; instead, he stayed in his room to rest and adjust his mental state.

Early the next morning, they were roused by their teachers. After a quick breakfast, they walked together to the Municipal First Middle School, where the games were to be held. It had to be said that the hardware of the First Middle School was far superior to that of a county-level school; the facilities left everyone from other schools envious.

The track was regulation-standard, the surrounding stands had sunshades, and, most importantly, the turf on the field was real. Many middle school fields used artificial turf or plastic, but the First Middle School’s grass was exceptionally well-maintained.

As a physical education teacher, Li Yunxi was one of the team leaders. Perhaps fate had a cruel sense of humor; as they entered the grounds, they ran into Wang Wei, the detestable PE teacher from the Third Middle School—Li Yunxi’s former college classmate, rival in love, and current nemesis.

Seeing Wang Wei for the first time, Zhou Xuan found it difficult to associate the man’s protruding beer belly with the profession of a PE teacher. Looking at Li Yunxi standing beside him, Zhou Xuan immediately felt that Wang Wei looked like a fake.

Upon seeing Li Yunxi, Wang Wei’s expression turned twisted. With a mocking smirk, he said, "Oh, if it isn't Teacher Li. Leading the team again? I have to ask, what kind of athletic talent could the Second Middle School possibly have? Haven't you finished at the bottom in every sports meet?"

The man was truly insufferable. Zhou Xuan found it strange that as the son of Li Jing, the top official in Rongzhou City, Li Yunxi had allowed himself to be bullied by Wang Wei for so many years. Even if Li Jing was unaware or indifferent, given Li Yunxi’s connections with Chen Yulin, Wang Wei shouldn't have been this arrogant.

Zhou Xuan looked at Wang Wei with a playful glint in his eyes, wishing he could slap him into silence. He glanced at the student standing behind Wang Wei, thinking, *Is this his prized pupil, Zheng Qiang?*

"Heh, Wang Wei. What do you have to be so proud of? Isn't your star student Zheng Qiang graduating this year, too? You won't have anything to brag about for much longer. It's just one student who runs a little faster—don't get too full of yourself!" Li Yunxi retorted.

Zheng Qiang was graduating this year, but with his athletic performance and Wang Wei’s training, he was a shoo-in for the high school division of either the First or Third Middle School.

Wang Wei hadn't expected Li Yunxi to snap back at him, which felt surreal. Usually, they would have been shouting at each other by now. He wondered when Li Yunxi’s temper had improved so much.

At this moment, Zhou Xuan spoke up: "Teacher Li, so this is the Wang Wei you were talking about? Tsk tsk, just as you said—utterly shameless."

Zhou Xuan’s remark stunned Wang Wei, Zheng Qiang, and the others from the Second and Third Middle Schools. They couldn't understand how a student dared to speak so brazenly to a teacher from the Third Middle School. While Wang Wei had insulted Li Yunxi, that was a matter between teachers—what was a student doing getting involved?

Wang Wei glared at Zhou Xuan with malice and said in a deep voice, "Heh, so this is your source of confidence this year? Zhou Xuan, is it? Breaking the municipal sports meet record? I think it’s just all self-promotion."

"Exactly," Zheng Qiang chimed in. "I never noticed him before. Suddenly he pops up in his third year? This fraud is too obvious!"

Hearing this, the teachers and students from the Second Middle School were furious, glaring at Wang Wei and Zheng Qiang. Li Yunxi was also enraged; the man was questioning the Second Middle School’s athletic integrity just to get under his skin. Just as he was about to lash out, he caught a signal from Zhou Xuan and held back, waiting to hear what the boy had to say.

Zhou Xuan felt that simply beating them on the field would be letting them off too easy. He wanted to set a trap to ruin their reputations and leave them unable to show their faces in the Rongzhou educational circle.

"Heh, since you look down on our school's achievements, how about we make a bet?" Zhou Xuan sneered at Wang Wei.

"Haha, what kind of bet?" Wang Wei hadn't expected Zhou Xuan to challenge him, but he didn't believe for a second that Zhou Xuan had actually broken any records. Even if he had, Zheng Qiang’s performance under his training was already well above the previous records.

"Let's bet on the junior high boys' 100m, 200m, 400m, and 800m races. If Zheng Qiang wins even one gold medal, I lose. If I win all four gold medals, you will stand in front of all the students at the closing ceremony and admit that you are a pig." Zhou Xuan looked at them both and asked, "Well? Do you dare?"

When Zhou Xuan said this, those around them burst into laughter—whether at his arrogance or at the image of Wang Wei admitting he was a pig in front of all the school leaders. If he actually did that, his career would be over; he would not only disrupt the ceremony but would never be able to hold his head high in the education sector again.

"Fine, it's a deal. But if you lose, I want Li Yunxi to stand at the closing ceremony and say he is a pig!" Wang Wei stared at Li Yunxi, his eyes full of hatred. In his view, Zhou Xuan’s condition was far too simple. With Zheng Qiang’s strength, winning at least one gold medal was a given. Li Yunxi was about to be ruined by his own student.

"Fine! It's a deal!" Li Yunxi agreed decisively, having understood Zhou Xuan’s intent.

"Haha, great! No backing out now—I’ve recorded this!"

For some reason, Zhou Xuan’s words made Wang Wei’s heart skip a beat.