“The next to compete is contestant No. 35. Please proceed to the prep area!” The loudspeaker snapped like a drum in the afternoon heat.

“Go finish your jump and hurry back!” Little Loli shoved Joanna off her lap like shooing a sparrow, then stood and smoothed her white athletic tee, the fabric fluttering like a cloud.

“On it!” Joanna flashed away toward the prep zone, a streak of wind. Before the ref even started counting, she sprinted and soared—one clean arc like a swallow over reeds—clearing the 1.35 m bar with ease.

“Joanna’s incredible...” The crowd, the ref, and the teachers at the side all sighed, voices rolling like a tide. For a middle schooler, her physique was first-rate.

Joanna landed on the mat, sprang up without a pause, and ran to Xiao Qianxue, light-footed as a deer. “Wah! Nana, what are you—” Little Loli was still looking left and right when arms wrapped her up like warm sunlight; she turned to find Joanna. “Hehe... nothing,” Joanna murmured, a smile like a crescent moon.

Six contestants remained; this round knocked out three like leaves falling. The only other girl besides Joanna and Xiao Qianxue scraped through on her third attempt, her breath a flickering candle.

“Alright, we’ll rest for a bit, then start the next round. Height now set at 1.4 m.” The ref’s voice rolled out like a bell.

For a seventh-grade girl, 1.4 m was a steep ridge. Past meets usually decided things at 1.35 m, yet today the bar rose like a mountain. Soon, more spectators drifted in at the sidelines like birds settling on branches, curious to see if these girls could clear 1.4 m—though most came for the two goddesses, drawn like moths to flame.

On the edge of the track sat the focus of every gaze: a blonde girl and a brunette, both hugging their knees like porcelain dolls. The blonde leaned gently against the brunette, soft as bamboo bending in wind. “Hey, Nana. I’m afraid I’ll have to forfeit,” Little Loli breathed, her voice a silver thread at Joanna’s ear.

“Huh? Why forfeit?” Joanna blinked, surprise rippling like a pond. “Push a little; there’s still a chance.”

“I really don’t have any strength left,” she said, eyes half-lidded, lazy as noon shade. “You can take first. I’ll settle for third, keep it low-key.”

“You little rascal—no serious moment with you.” Joanna flicked the blonde’s nose, then her smile bloomed like spring flowers.

“Alright, next we’ll invite the three finalists for the last selection! Let’s wait and see!” The ref suddenly boomed like a festival MC.

Hey, ref dude! It’s a school meet—why are you commentating like a pro caster?

“Even if you plan to forfeit, you still gotta show your face,” Joanna said, tugging Little Loli up. The two walked out together, twin shadows under the sun. The remaining girl was plain-faced, tanned, the well-trained athletic type—steady as stone.

But now she stood beside the two most famous school beauties in the grade, pressure piling up like storm clouds. As spectators kept trickling in like a growing river, nervous sweat beaded on her forehead like dew.

“Eh? Why did so many people suddenly show up?” Little Loli stepped onto the field and glanced around, finding the once-sparse crowd thickening like a bamboo grove.

“They’re here to see you.” Joanna stood behind her, fixed Little Loli’s headband with a gentle lift, then patted her golden head like a kitten.

“They’re here for you too,” the blonde countered, eyes smiling.

“Sounds about right.”

“First to attempt, No. 40—please come up!” The blonde girl walked forward, light as a feather. “Um... I forfeit.” Her voice was small but clear, a bell that reached every ear.

“Forfeit? Why?” The ref blinked, the moment jerking like a loose string.

“Why? No reason~” Little Loli sang, and strolled back down, easy as drifting clouds.

Her move set the crowd murmuring, a market’s hum. Most felt it was a pity not to see the goddess in full flight.

“Alright, then it’s down to the fight for first and second! No. 39, please come up!” No. 39, the ordinary athletic girl, stepped forward, breath tight as a drawn bow.

“Who is she? She’s so dark.”

“No, no—her tone perfectly sets off our two goddesses’ glow.”

“Can’t argue with that.”

Girls who appear alongside Xiao Qianxue and Joanna never have it easy; the words hit the athlete like cold rain. Her legs started to tremble, a reed in wind. Once, twice, three times—every attempt failed; she withdrew amid sighs, the sound thin as smoke.

“Tch. Boring.” Little Loli yawned, a cat in the sun.

“Whoever got up there would struggle in this mess,” Joanna said, steady as a stone lantern.

“Contestant No. 35, please come up! Whether she can take first comes down to this!” The ref’s voice flared again, fiery as drums.

Start, stride, lift—every motion flowed like water down a stream. Joanna cleared the 1.4 m bar smooth as a kite on wind, and the crowd answered with a wave of cheers. “Congratulations to No. 35, Joanna, champion of the high jump!”

“Alright, let’s go!” Joanna raced back, caught Little Loli’s hand like catching a breeze, and pulled toward the locker room.

As they stepped in, a voice tapped like knuckles on wood. “Nice work.” The class rep waited as if guarding a gate.

“That was Nana’s doing. Nothing to do with me!” Little Loli smiled sweetly, tugged her headband, and slipped inside like a goldfish.

“I’ll wait at the door for you two.”

Soon, the two reappeared in short skirts and black stockings, like matching ink strokes. “One first, one third. Aside from Xiaoxue forfeiting at the end, everything was perfect.” At the word “forfeit,” Zhu Jinhan’s tone shifted like a gust; she snagged a lock of the blonde’s hair and held it like spun gold. “Speaking of—why did you forfeit?”

“Yow! Ow-ow-ow!” Little Loli fought to free her golden strand, her hands fluttering like sparrows. “I really couldn’t jump anymore. I didn’t want to make a fool of myself, so I forfeited! I’m not a monster like Nana!”

“What—did you just call me a monster?” Joanna’s stare cut like ice, then melted to laughter.

After a round of “discipline” from the two, Little Loli wilted like a flower in rain. “O-okay... I’ll be good.” Her clothes were a bit rumpled, the look mischievous and “played-out,” yet with so few people around, no one glimpsed the spicy scene.

“That’s that. Let’s head back to class first.” The class rep waved them onward, and the three returned like swallows to nest.

“Everyone worked hard today,” the homeroom teacher announced from behind the podium, her voice steady as a temple bell. “Our top placements so far are Joanna’s first in high jump and Xiao Qianxue’s third in high jump. Give them a hand!”

Clap-clap-clap...

“One more thing, then you’re dismissed. No homework today!”

“Yay!! Long live the teacher!”

“We can stack for Overwatch tonight!”

“I’m getting a Hanzo pentakill!”

“Hey, you lot—enough!”