My Best Friend is Actually a Cat-eared Maid at a Cafe! – Chapter 57

Chapter 57 Chapter Fifty-Six: Suddenly Knew How to Play Ball
The September sun, nearing noon, was exceptionally fierce. Staying outdoors at this time was no different from deep-frying lard.
Fortunately, the school had indoor and outdoor sports facilities, so P.E. classes weren’t held outdoors, which felt decent.
After a simple warm-up, it was free activity time.
However, before dismissing them, the P.E. teacher announced something about the annual physical fitness test, which would be held around early October.
Although the college entrance examination didn’t test P.E., there was a physical fitness test every year, which was said to be recorded in the student’s file.
“Ah~ another kilometer.”
Finally getting dismissed, Xiaomuqing couldn’t be happy because the physical fitness test was coming, and she had to run a thousand meters!
In the fitness test, she wasn’t afraid of anything except the thousand-meter run. She could do ten pull-ups, easily clearing the passing line.
But this thousand-meter run was truly a killer for Xiaomuqing.
If it were an 800-meter run, it would seem much easier, at least she wouldn’t have to push herself so hard, Xiaomuqing thought.
“Boss, is there any way I can easily pass the fitness test?”
Thinking about it, she turned her head to look at her good brother beside her, her face a mask of misery, and asked.
At this moment, the two of them were sitting together on a long bench by the sports field, watching their classmates exercising not far away, idly idling.
One of them was too lazy to exercise, and the other didn’t like exercising there.
So, after a whole P.E. class, Xiaomuqing wouldn’t even sweat much because she was lazy and didn’t want to do anything.
“Yes.”
Looking into Xiaomuqing’s eyes, Ye Ziming replied seriously.
“Really? What is the method?”
Hearing this, Xiaomuqing instantly sat up straight, looking at her good brother with a face full of hope, as if she had found a life-saving straw.
“Exercise more, practice more.”
“…”
Four very simple words. After hearing them, Xiaomuqing felt it would have been better if he hadn’t said anything. If she were that diligent, would she be sitting here?
For Xiaomuqing, who suffered from severe laziness, running was out of the question; at most, she’d lift dumbbells at home.
“Lin Muqing, want to play together?”
Just as Xiaomuqing was lost in thought, Wang Wenxin suddenly appeared in front of her, with Zhang Xiaoling standing beside her.
The two of them were holding badminton rackets and stood in front of Xiaomuqing. Wang Wenxin asked.
“Ah? No, thank you.”
Without any thought or hesitation, Xiaomuqing immediately refused the invitation, the reason being her genuine laziness.
Exercising was a form of torment for her.
“Alright then.”
After being rejected, Wang Wenxin looked at Xiaomuqing, then at Ye Ziming beside her, her eyes holding a subtle hint.
Then she took Zhang Xiaoling’s hand and walked towards the remaining two courts.
The two girls seemed to be whispering, talking while secretly glancing at Xiaomuqing and Ye Ziming, their gazes more than just subtle.
“It’s better to exercise a bit.”
After they left, Ye Ziming lowered his head and pondered for a moment, then raised his hand and placed it on Xiaomuqing’s shoulder, softly saying to her.
“Ah?”
Turning her head in fright, Xiaomuqing opened her mouth wide and her eyes widened, clearly startled by her good brother’s words.
Her good brother was actually advising her to exercise; was something wrong with her ears!?
“Give me your card.”
Looking at Xiaomuqing expressionlessly, he then extended his right hand towards her.
The card referred to here was her student card/meal card, which could be used for cashless transactions on campus and could also be used to borrow sports equipment from the equipment room.
Looking at her good brother’s palm and then his face, Xiaomuqing was stunned, not quite understanding the situation.
Although she didn’t understand, she still handed over her card.
Then she dazedly watched her good brother stand up and leave. About two minutes later, he returned to her.
Now, in Ye Ziming’s hand, there was a pair of badminton rackets and two borrowed shuttlecocks.
“Yours.”
He directly placed one of the badminton rackets into Xiaomuqing’s hand, speaking with an tone that did not allow for refusal.
“Ah, this… I don’t think I know how to play badminton.”
Falling into a daze again, Xiaomuqing could never have imagined that her good brother would borrow her card for something like this.
But she still didn’t want to move; fundamentally, it was because she was lazy.
Seeing Xiaomuqing’s attitude, Ye Ziming was not surprised and suddenly showed a faint smile.
This sudden smile made Xiaomuqing feel a sense of foreboding.
“If you want a complete figurine next week.”
The corner of his mouth curving slightly, Ye Ziming slowly uttered a sentence.
A seemingly light sentence, but it caused Xiaomuqing’s pupils to contract sharply, her eyes suddenly widening. She thought of something.
Regarding her good brother’s promise to give her an Eromanga Sensei figurine next week.
After saying this, Ye Ziming turned around and walked towards the last remaining badminton court by himself.
“Hey! Wait a moment! I suddenly remembered something, I actually know a little bit about badminton!”
She scrambled to her feet, picked up the badminton racket, and ran towards her good brother, explaining loudly as she ran.
“…”
The smile on his face was very confident, as if he had predicted Xiaomuqing’s reaction, so Ye Ziming was not flustered at all.
At this moment, he thought of a way to help Xiaomuqing pass the fitness test.
Then, the two of them happily started playing badminton.
However, Xiaomuqing’s skills were really not great. If Ye Ziming didn’t occasionally let up and “feed” her the shuttlecock from time to time.
She probably wouldn’t have much of an enjoyable experience.
“Oh dear~”
On another badminton court, Zhang Xiaoling, who was playing with her good girlfriend, was suddenly hit in the eyebrows by a shuttlecock.
The reason was that she saw Xiaomuqing and Ye Ziming playing badminton, and then she was stunned for a moment, and the shuttlecock flew over.
“What are you looking at? This…”
Wang Wenxin on the other side of the court was about to rush over to mock her, but before she could even let out a laugh, she saw the other court.
Then she was so surprised that she couldn’t laugh.
“Could it be… the rumors are true?!”
Seeing this, Zhang Xiaoling couldn’t help but recall that Wang Wenxin had told her earlier that Ye Ziming was rumored to be gay.
And the latest rumor was that Ye Ziming and Lin Muqing had a very intimate relationship, a closeness that surpassed friendship.
Originally, she hadn’t quite believed it. After all, without concrete evidence, who would believe that a boy was by their side?
“This… it’s hard to say.”
As she spoke, Wang Wenxin’s eyelids twitched fiercely. She suddenly felt like a failure.
If she had just been rejected, she wouldn’t have felt anything. After all, some people just didn’t like exercising, and she could understand that.
But what she couldn’t understand was that after a boy rejected the invitations of two class beauties, he immediately accepted an invitation from another boy.
Was that acceptable!?
Did their charm not even compare to a boy’s?
The P.E. class continued, and Xiaomuqing suddenly felt that playing badminton was quite fun, and it wasn’t as unbearable as she had imagined.