pdf-ebookys Chapter 268 Did the neighbors come over for dinner today? 6
Chapter 268 Did the neighbors come over for dinner today? 6
"Ready? I'm going to yell 'start'!"
The student at the front, who had turned his back, cleared his throat and shouted, "One, two, three!"
"Charge!" Almost the instant the word "I" landed, Su Qiao, like a wild horse, threw "cover" to the back of her mind and excitedly rushed forward, her skirt billowing in a beautiful arc in the wind.
The people around them started moving as well.
Jiang Shuwan was a beat slow. Just as she was about to move forward, a boy next to her accidentally bumped her arm. Her body swayed, and the wheels under her feet slid straight forward.
"Oh—" she cried out in fright, her hands and feet trembling wildly, unable to stop moving and forced to move.
Just as she was about to bump into the person who had stopped in front of her, a hand suddenly reached out from behind and firmly grabbed her wrist.
The force wasn't great, but it carried a steady strength, forcefully pulling her forward momentum back.
At the same time, a somewhat helpless voice rang in my ears: "Didn't I teach you how to slow down?"
Jiang Shuwan staggered and stopped in place, the slight coolness of his palm still lingering on her fingertips.
"Wooden Man—!" The "ghost" in front shouted the final command at that moment and suddenly turned around.
Jiang Shuwan remained in the slightly turned-side position after being pulled to a stop, too stiff to move, her heart still pounding wildly.
I don't know if it was the shock of almost bumping into someone, or the sudden and quick retraction of the touch.
She carefully and very slowly moved her eyes, glancing to her side out of the corner of her eye.
Lu Yan had appeared beside her at some point, also maintaining his still posture, slightly turned to face her, his jawline taut and straight, only the ends of his hair, blown by the wind, swaying gently in the sunlight.
Ahead, the "ghost's" sharp gaze swept across the entire area, searching for any slight movement. Suddenly, it raised its hand and pointed in three directions: "You, you, you, you moved! Go back now!"
The people who were called out returned to the starting point in frustration, and a burst of good-natured laughter rang out in the arena.
Jiang Shuwan held her breath, not daring to even move her eyes.
Finally, the "ghost" turned around and began to count in a drawn-out tone: "One—"
The last syllable of “two—” was still lingering in the air when Zhou Yan had already moved.
Taking advantage of the short distance between him and the "ghost," he lightly touched his toes to his roller skates, and his body shot out like an arrow, leaving only a blur in his wake.
"Snapped!"
As the crisp sound of clapping echoed through the venue, the word "three" in "ghost" was still stuck in his throat.
Zhou Yan smiled and stepped back half a step, raising an eyebrow at the other party: "You flatter me."
"Damn it! You beat me to it!" Su Qiao stomped her foot in frustration, her roller skates gliding half a circle on the ground.
"I almost got it too!" Her clear voice, tinged with a hint of coquettish resentment, broke the silence of the room.
A gasp of amazement rippled through the crowd, and someone whistled, "Zhou Yan is amazing! His reaction speed is incredible!"
Jiang Shuwan couldn't help but widen her eyes as she watched Zhou Yan's fluid movements, exclaiming, "Wow, that's amazing!"
Upon hearing this, Lu Yan, who was standing to the side, twitched his eyebrows almost imperceptibly, his gaze falling on the crisscrossing roller skate tracks on the ground, without saying a word.
The game restarts, this time with Zhou Yan as the "ghost".
He turned his back, cleared his throat, and, mimicking what he had done before, shouted, "One, two, three—"
Before the words "wooden man" could be uttered, a figure suddenly rushed over from the side.
Everyone only saw a blur before their eyes, and with another loud "snap," Lu Yan had already stopped steadily behind Zhou Yan, his fingertips just withdrawing from his shoulder.
The entire roller skating rink fell silent for half a second, then erupted into even louder cheers and screams.
"Holy crap! Lu Shen's speed is incredible!"
"That was so fast! I almost didn't see it clearly!"
Zhou Yan stood there stunned for a long time before turning around and pointing at Lu Yan with an incredulous look on his face: "You...you...you have no martial ethics!"
Lu Yan ignored his accusations and simply turned slightly to the side.
The afternoon sun pierced through the sparse clouds and fell on him, giving him a soft golden glow.
His gaze passed over the noisy crowd and somehow landed on Jiang Shuwan not far away.
Jiang Shuwan remained in the same position, her roller skates steadily in place, her face showing surprise that she hadn't had time to hide, but her eyes were surprisingly bright, making no attempt to hide her excitement, as she stared straight at him.
The moment their eyes met, the air seemed to quiet down.
Lu Yan's lips seemed to curve slightly, so quickly that it was almost an illusion.
Jiang Shuwan's heart skipped a beat. She quickly lowered her head, pretending to straighten her skirt, but her fingertips couldn't help but curl up.
That brief eye contact was like a pebble thrown into a lake, creating ripples that spread out in concentric circles.
This time it was Lu Yan's turn to be the "ghost," and he stood with his back to everyone.
Compared to the exaggerated entrance and rapid counting of the previous two "ghosts," Lu Yan appeared overly calm.
“One—” he began, his voice not loud, but clearly reaching everyone’s ears.
The pace was unhurried, with the intervals between the numbers as even as if they had been timed with a stopwatch.
"Two—" Many people had already taken advantage of this "relaxed" pace to slide quite a distance, and Su Qiao even rushed to the front.
Jiang Shuwan also glided a short distance, but her heart was inexplicably pounding.
Lu Yan's rhythm in calling out numbers was so steady that it was impossible to predict when he would suddenly turn around.
"Three, freeze!
He strung the last three words together and uttered them smoothly, while turning around deftly.
Just as he turned around, Jiang Shuwan, who had been watching his turn closely, lost control of her footing and the wheels rolled forward a little further.
Damn it, she hasn't fully learned how to brake yet.
Worse still, this small, momentum-driven slide allowed her to instantly surpass everyone around her who was frozen in place, like a small, off-track planet, sliding straight toward Lu Yan.
Amidst a sea of motionless figures, her subtle yet continuous movement stood out conspicuously.
"Pfft—" Someone couldn't help but burst out laughing first.
Like lighting a fuse, a low murmur of laughter quickly spread around, tinged with good-natured teasing.
Su Qiao, never one to shy away from a good show, maintained her comical, frozen pose with arms outstretched, but twisted her neck and started singing in a completely off-key voice: "I'm coming towards you...you are..."
She deliberately dragged out the last syllable, making it exceptionally clear amidst the laughter.
Jiang Shuwan's face flushed red instantly. She wanted to stop but couldn't. She could only watch helplessly as she got closer and closer to Lu Yan, while the wheels under her feet stubbornly kept moving forward, as if echoing Su Qiao's disruptive singing.