On the way back to school the next day, Gu Zhijing sat next to Nian Suian.
As soon as she got on the bus, Nian Suian noticed his small, cautious glances in her direction. She had slept off her anger, and besides, she hadn't been angry at Gu Zhijing in the first place.
Seeing his sheepish expression, Nian Suian couldn't help but smile. "It's okay, I'm not mad at you. Why are you still wearing that thing? Isn't it silly?" She tugged at the sash he was wearing. She thought it was fine to wear it for fun yesterday, but why was he still wearing it today?
"It's not silly at all. Didn't I say it's my medal of honor?" Gu Zhijing really liked this accessory, mainly because it looked cool, which appealed to him greatly.
Today, Butler Su was driving, with Gu Junxing in the passenger seat. Hearing the conversation from the back seat and sensing the warmer atmosphere in the car, Gu Junxing brought up the matter of the lawyer.
"Suian, I contacted Zhongyun after I got home yesterday. I briefly explained the situation to him, and he said that in cases like this, our chances of getting custody are very high. He also introduced me to a Lawyer Zhao from their firm who has handled many custody cases and is very experienced. I'm sending you this lawyer's contact information now."
"Alright, send it to me. I'll forward it to Jiang Yun later and mention it when I see her."
After getting off the car, Gu Junxing told his son to go ahead while he walked behind Nian Suian.
"What are you doing?" she asked.
"Are you feeling better now?" he inquired.
Nian Suian stubbornly replied, "When was I not feeling good?"
Playing along, Gu Junxing asked again, "Then are you feeling even better now?"
Nian Suian could only mumble, "It's fine, I guess." In truth, her anger had been inexplicable. She didn't know who to direct it at or exactly what she was angry about.
Since many competitions were scheduled for the second day, they could clearly see more people around the sports field as they approached. There were even parents in the stands holding banners to cheer for their children.
Gu Zhijing's 3000-meter race and Qi Anlu's 800-meter race were in the afternoon.
Chu Mingyan's 400-meter race, Qu Zizhou's 4x100-meter relay, and Qi Anlu's other event, the shot put, were all in the morning.
Nian Suian was shocked when she heard about Qi Anlu's event. "You're so thin, how did they assign you to throw the shot put?" Qi Anlu wore glasses and looked even slimmer than Gu Zhijing, with a scholarly air about him.
Qi Anlu bashfully explained, "In our class... everything was decided by drawing lots." Of course, after drawing lots, they were allowed to exchange privately, but for events like shot put, no one was willing to trade.
Before Qi Anlu's competition began, Gu Zhijing told Nian Suian that he wanted to go cheer for him.
Gu Zhijing angrily said, "Neither of his parents came. They said the sports meet is just a waste of study time." Qi Anlu usually could only go out to play when his father wasn't around. His mother was a bit more understanding, but his father had the final say in the family, and even if his mother felt sorry for her son, she didn't dare to go against her husband.
"Go ahead, we'll stay here," Nian Suian said. She didn't know the situation with Qi Anlu's parents, but if they were truly too busy with work to come, their child would understand. There was no need to say it was a waste of study time.
Qu Zizhou's mother, Jiang Yun, pretended to be annoyed with her son, but she had stayed up late the night before to make a banner for him at the print shop downstairs to make him happy.
Taking advantage of the time before the competition started, Nian Suian forwarded the contact information for Lawyer Zhao that Gu Junxing had sent her to Jiang Yun. She also made plans to visit Jiang Yun's home on Saturday to see Jiaojiao.
Jiang Yun said happily, "I didn't expect to find a lawyer so quickly. I told Xiaxia about this when I got home yesterday. Of course, it's best if we don't have to move. Xiaxia doesn't want to drag the child around either, and she has a good job now. It might not be easy to find something similar elsewhere." At this point, Jiang Yun started cursing that man surnamed Wei again, saying he had become increasingly unreasonable lately. "He even went to Jiaojiao's kindergarten a few days ago. Fortunately, the teacher didn't know him and didn't let him take Jiaojiao away."
Nian Suian was also astounded. Did he really intend to forcibly take the child away?
"Junxing said that Lawyer Zhao has handled many custody cases and is very experienced. You should have Xiaxia contact her and set up an appointment as soon as you get back today. It's better to resolve this quickly to avoid any complications."
Jiang Yun nodded, agreeing with the suggestion.
...
Qu Zizhou's 400-meter race ended quickly. In running events, there were many naturally gifted athletes. Qu Zizhou, seeing the big banner his mother had made for him that read "Qu Zizhou Bravely Takes First Place," gave it his all, but still didn't make it to the finals. He wasn't upset though, and posed with the banner for Cen Xi to take "glamour shots" from all angles.
Nian Suian also paid attention to the women's 400-meter race. Hao Leyun not only won first place but left the second-place runner far behind. The crowd cheering for her along the track took up half of the audience.
In the relay race that Chu Mingyan participated in, Class 3 took second place. Compared to their lack of achievements on the first day, Class 3 had done quite well on the second morning.
Before the afternoon competitions began, Nian Suian was pinning the number tag on Gu Zhijing's shirt while giving him some advice.
"The 3000-meter race is really tough. Just finishing it is impressive, don't push yourself too hard."
Gu Junxing added, "Don't focus on others' speed, find your own rhythm."
For easy recording, runners had to pin their number tags to the back of their shirts during races. When Gu Zhijing got his number tag, he went straight to Nian Suian to have her pin it on.
While pinning the tag on Gu Zhijing, Nian Suian noticed Qi Anlu struggling alone with his shirt in front of them. Gu Zhijing, looking down at his phone, hadn't noticed.
Nian Suian nudged Gu Junxing's foot with her own and nodded towards Qi Anlu, signaling him to help.
When someone took the tag from his hands, Qi Anlu was a bit confused. When he realized it was Gu Zhijing's father bending down to help him pin it, he was even more bewildered and froze in place.
"Uncle Gu..." Qi Anlu remembered how they used to be as scared as mice seeing a cat whenever they saw Gu Junxing at Gu Zhijing's house.
After finishing, Gu Junxing examined his work to make sure it was straight before patting Qi Anlu on the shoulder.
"There you go."
"Thank you, uncle."
"You're welcome. Good luck in the competition."
"O-okay." Qi Anlu couldn't help but glance up at Gu Junxing, who had already returned to his seat. He felt that... Gu Zhijing's father somehow looked different now.
As he turned his head, he caught sight of Gu Zhijing sitting a bit behind him. Gu Zhijing winked at him, grinning brightly.
Qi Anlu couldn't help but smile back.
He felt that his father was wrong. Besides studying, there were many other important things in this world, like... friends.