Deliberate Mark

ized back still straight as usual, with a bunch of red school badges scattered in his fair palm.

This pose, looks like a fucking marriage proposal!

Gu Ang panicked, and the blood from his cheeks quickly spread to the tips of the ears.
Thanks to the helmet, no one could see that.
Otherwise, blushing from a fight and being captured on the camera live in front of millions of viewers, this sort of embarrassment was unimaginable.

“Mn, thanks.” In hindsight, Gu Ang loosened the hand that was suppressing Ye Fei’s shoulder and grabbed the school badges.

His fingertips and his palm briefly touched, and then Ye Fei stood up.
The split second of closeness was broken off again.
Their breaths were intertwined for less than a second, and then suddenly disappeared.

Gu Ang’s heart felt a zap, his fingers felt tingly… 

The atmosphere was very subtle, but the on-screen comments erupted like wildfire, overlapping over the faces of the two.6

[Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck.
What happened? Did God Ye lose?]

[One knee down and all!! I want to transmigrate into helmet bro’s body! Ah!!!]

[Brainless followers should slap themselves in the face! Who said no one can beat Ye Fei? Then what just happened?]

[Clearly God Ye was going to win, what’s with the sudden reversal?]

[I don’t know, they moved too fast!]

[So up to now, no one has found out who helmet bro is?]

… 

The ‘helmet bro’ collected the school badges and turned away, hiding his identity and talent.

As he slowly walked, he carefully recalled their fight.
He felt that Ye Fei didn’t reveal his hand.
Every attack seemed like he was exerting his full force but there was no hitch in his breathing, not even the slightest sliver of panic.

But if he was to assume Ye Fei let him win on purpose, it was impossible as it seemed that Ye Fei did respect Gu Ang as an opponent and held no reservations during each attack.
When Gu Ang accidentally left an opening, Ye Fei would immediately aim at it.

Fuck, this person is hiding too well, the veil of mysterious in Gu Ang’s heart was getting more unclear.

He avoided the broadcast cameras.
If he was gonna put on a play, he wouldn’t expose himself.
He threw his helmet into the bushes before strutting back into the main pathway, into the view of the cameras.

The downpour finally quieted down and there were wisps of sunlight gradually peeking through the gaps in the branches and leaves, dropping patches of light beneath.

Gu Ang’s mood finally lifted and he whistled at the plump bird flying by, scaring the little one as it hurriedly flapped away. 

Faraway in the distance behind him, he could hear the hullabaloo brawls, the corner of his mouth raised into a smirk and he quickly averted his gaze from that direction.

It felt good to finish early, even the mud splatters on the side of his pants weren’t that irksome anymore. 

He didn’t bother to waste any more time, fearing that he might run into some randos that wanted to rob him, and turned directly to a shortcut to the top of the mountain: the slope behind the back of the hill.
The slope measuring about forty degrees, was where he used to go when he cut classes.

Gu Ang put the school badges in his pants pocket and climbed the rocks on the slope very quickly.
For the battle-hardened admiral, this was elementary child’s play.

After a short time, he could see the red flag waving at the top.

Before he even got close, Gu Ang felt several sets of cameras focusing on him, so he confidently walked into the view of audiences, carrying a relaxed smile.

Many spectators were still stuck contemplating on their final bets and were collectively confused when they saw the person who appeared at the finish line.

[Someone got to the finish line? So fast!!!]

[Who’s this? He looks interesting, but I don’t know him.]

[Here comes a fan girl, I can answer this question, his name is Gu Ang!]

[Gu Ang, Mr.
Last Place? How come he’s the first one here?]

[This is a way to show he’s giving up on the competition, right? Isn’t it the same concept as submitting a blank answer sheet?]

[Hahahahahaha Mr.
Last Place knows he can’t finish the task, so he might as well finish early and get more rest!]

[Just a flashy person, nothing to see here.
I’m sitting here waiting to see God Ye take the first place!]

… 

“Student, it has only been seventeen minutes.” The referee on the stand recognized the relationship of this person with one of their school’s benefactors and advised him earnestly, “Giving up so early isn’t the quality of a good soldier.”

Gu Ang wasn’t upset.
He leisurely approached, “Teacher, I have finished the task.”

“Hmm?” The referee was a little stunned, remembering that he had forgotten his manners, so he cleared his throat to hide his surprise, “The condition of completing the competition isn’t based on who arrives first, you’re required to get…”

“Count if there’s enough.” Gu Ang snapped and pulled the school badges from his pocket, placing them on the table.
The metal texture collided with the glass table top, making clear ‘ping ping’ sounds.

Not bad, you really brought some token of your victory.

The referee pushed up his glasses and counted the badges back and forth three times dutifully.

Ten pieces, no errors.

Regardless of the method used, he indeed stayed within the rules, he did it.

The referee nodded toward the Principal next to him.

A line of big red letters popped up at the top of the big screen of the live broadcast, [First place: Gu Ang; 17 minutes 03 seconds]

At the same time, Zhong Zhan’s resounding voice came out from the microphone, “Congratulations to Gu Ang for entering Class S with his first place in the competition.”

This sentence was like recording a new historical moment, like a nuclear bomb being dropped in deep waters, shocking the audiences with a big splash! The audience fell silent, so shocked that they forgot how to comment.

The cascading lines of colorful pop-ups disappeared, leaving only an empty screen at this moment.

Gu Ang slowly looked up and his lips raised into a smile.

In the blank and clean live screen, without a single pop-up comment, millions watched as this teenager, adorned in an all white tracksuit and a mocking smile, raised his hand in a perfect military salute.

 

Translator Notes:

idiom to express how one can recognise one person no matter what Busybody.
Or bystander, enjoying the show. Slang: to be unfaithful!! Older brother,could be related or called out of affection/courtesy. Metaphor for spring has arrived KIRIO RMB TO INSERT SC