The white rose I picked up cried and said she liked me.

The chatter was constant, and every now and then a boy would be tempted to step forward and ask for Xu Xi's contact information, but he hesitated because of the crowd around him.

The boy in the orange sneakers also noticed Xu Xi by the track, and a look of amazement flashed in his eyes.

Especially when Xu Xi's gaze inadvertently drifted in his direction, he subconsciously raised his head, puffed out his chest, and pretended to be hot as he rolled up his sleeves, deliberately exposing the firm muscles on his arms to the air.

Little did he know, Xu Xi's gaze merely swept in his direction; her true focus was on Xu Nian beside him, and she never once looked directly at him.

But he naturally assumed that the young woman was attracted to his muscular physique.

After all, beautiful women love heroes. He has good looks and a strong physique, and he often receives admiring glances from women.

So he naturally felt that as soon as he appeared, he would become the focus of all the beautiful women.

He bent over, placed his hands on the ground, and stuck his buttocks up high, preparing to start running.

He bent over, placed his hands on the ground, and raised his buttocks high, assuming a standard starting position. The muscles in his calves were taut, like a taut bowstring, waiting for the referee's signal to launch him like an arrow, sprinting towards the finish line and securing first place.

Xu Nian didn't dare to be negligent in the slightest. He followed the other person's example, bending over and lifting his hips, supporting himself with his hands on the ground, gathering all his strength in his toes, and becoming focused.

Men are inherently competitive, and no man wants to admit that he is inferior to other men, whether in terms of intelligence, muscles, or any other aspect.

Even if the medals at this school sports meet were not particularly valuable in any sense, he could not allow anyone to steal the first place from the girl he loved.

This is similar to how, in an animal herd, only the strongest male can win the right to mate with a female; it's an instinct ingrained in men's bones.

Even if the girl you love is devoted to you, you can't lose face in front of her.

"On your marks, get set—beep!"

As soon as the referee blew his whistle, the athletes on the track shot off like arrows.

Among them, the two arrows that shot the fastest were Orange Shoes and Xu Nian.

The two were like wild horses, with amazing explosive power. They quickly pulled away from the other competitors and ran side by side at the forefront of the track.

However, the two were almost evenly matched, neither willing to give way to the other, and neither able to shake off the other, maintaining a close pace.

"Honey! Go for it!" Xu Xi stood on the side of the track, tiptoeing, waving her little hand and shouting at the top of her lungs.

She was small in stature, like an inconspicuous little radish in the crowd. Even if she jumped with all her might, it would probably be difficult for Xu Nian, who was focused on the competition, to see her.

However, her sweet and beautiful voice was highly recognizable, and even amidst the cheers and discussions of countless people, Xu Nian could hear it clearly.

The sound was like a shot of adrenaline, instantly filling his body with power, and his steps quickened involuntarily.

The orange shoes were not to be outdone, clinging tightly to Xu Nian's heels. As soon as Xu Nian sped up even a little, they immediately caught up, showing no sign of letting up, determined to compete with Xu Nian.

Jiang Xun, Su Zhe, Luo Chen, Xiao Chen, and Su Zhe's girlfriend—Qin Xin, the counselor of the finance class—also gathered by the track, shouting loudly to cheer Xu Nian on.

"Uncle Xu, pin Orange Shoes down and show him what it means to be outmatched!"

"Keep it up, Xu Nian!"

"Honey! You're the best!"

......

The cheers from the crowd gave Xu Nian even more confidence and strength.

He gritted his teeth, exerted all his strength, swung his arms rapidly, and quickened his pace, determined to leave his opponents behind and win first place.

One lap, two laps, three laps, four laps... With his unremitting efforts, just as he wished, the orange shoes seemed to slow down and he pulled ahead a little.

A smug smile spread across Xu Nian's face. She thought to herself that these sports students were nothing special, and it seemed that the dawn of victory was just around the corner.

But just half a lap from the finish line, an accident happened.

The boy in orange sneakers suddenly accelerated, as if activating a hidden reserve of energy. His steps became lighter and faster, and he slowly closed the distance between himself and Xu Nian.

Xu Nian sensed something was wrong and quickly tried to speed up.

However, the long-term high-speed running had already exhausted all his strength, and his reserve energy was long gone. He could only maintain his current speed at most and could not improve it further.

In the end, Orange Shoes, with a final sprint, slowly overtook Xu Nian and crossed the finish line first with a slight advantage of one body length, winning the championship of the 3,000-meter race.

The moment she crossed the finish line, Xu Nian could no longer hold on. Her legs gave way, and she collapsed to the ground, facing the blue sky, panting heavily, her chest heaving violently, her eyes filled with resentment and frustration.

If the opponent is so strong that he has no hope of catching up, and his lead is so great that he can't catch up at all, then he might be able to accept defeat wholeheartedly.

But the fact that his opponent won by such a narrow margin left him incredibly frustrated and regretful. He regretted that he had only been watching the excitement these past few days and hadn't trained with Jiang Xun and the others to improve his physical fitness.

If he could train for a few more days, he might be able to turn the tide in the final sprint and win first place.

On the other side, Orange Shoes also collapsed to the ground, panting heavily.

The look in his eyes when he looked at Xu Nian was no longer one of contempt and mockery; instead, it was filled with heartfelt respect.

From the very beginning of the race, he could tell that Xu Nian didn't understand long-distance running techniques at all—she used all her strength at the start and kept accelerating in the middle, exhausting all her energy, which led to her being overtaken by him by a narrow margin in the final sprint.

If Xu Nian had received professional long-distance running training like him and knew how to allocate her energy reasonably, he probably wouldn't have any hope of winning.