Chapter 41
The guys from No. 6 High School had all gone to the hospital, leaving only the students from their own school on the court.
A girl hesitated for a long time before finally summoning the courage to walk up to Lin Xiu. She handed him a bottle of water. “Lin Xiu, good game. You must be tired; this is for you.”
Chi Aibei, who was drenched in sweat after running and jumping all over the court, looked at the girl offering water to Lin Xiu. He thought to himself, He wasn’t even on the court for ten minutes before the game ended. How tired could he be?
Seeing the girl blushing, Chi Aibeiās eyes lit upāIs she trying to pursue Lin Xiu?
Seeing Lin Xiu being pursued by a girl didn’t annoy Chi Aibei; in fact, he was a little excited. He glanced at He Chenjiang, who was still lingering on the court. Anyway, as long as itās not that scumbag, Lin Xiu can be with anyone.
“Old Father Chi” was back online. He narrowed his eyes, looking at Lin Xiu with a gratified expression. Sure enough, good-looking people are popular. This girl has great taste!
Lin Xiu didn’t intentionally look at Chi Aibei, but the intensity of his gaze was impossible to ignore.
He Youyou had gone to pick up their takeout. When she returned, she saw someone had beaten her to the punch in giving Lin Xiu water. She clicked her tongue. “Which class is she from? Daring to steal my thunder by giving the junior water before me!”
Meng Ying took a cup of milk tea from her hand. “What are you regretting? Don’t you like the tan ones?”
He Youyou did like guys with tans, and this milk tea was originally ordered for Qi Yuan. But after seeing Lin Xiu play, she suddenly felt that a pale-skinned younger guy wasn’t a bad option either.
Lin Xiu felt uncomfortable being stared at by Chi Aibeiās weird gaze. He refused the girlās water. “Thank you, but I’m good.”
He Youyou: “Eek, so cold. Good thing I didn’t go.”
Meng Ying gave her a speechless look, then shouted toward the court, “Junior!”
There were many juniors on the court, so nobody knew who she was calling. Chi Aibei turned his head along with everyone else. Seeing Meng Ying waving at him, he ran over immediately.
Wang Xu said enviously, “Nice one. Getting milk tea from a senior sister already.”
A teammate teased, “If you could run as fast as him, steal the ball as accurately as him, and shoot as terribly as him, maybe a senior sister would bring you milk tea too.”
Wang Xu laughed hard. “Are you praising him?”
Meng Ying handed the milk tea to Chi Aibei. He took it, pierced the lid with the straw, and took a huge gulp. “Thanks, Senior Sister. I feel alive again.”
He Youyou: “You looked pretty lively the whole time to me.” She reached out and poked Chi Aibei’s cheek. “Wow, Little Junior, your skin is so good.”
Chi Aibei rubbed his face shyly.
Lin Xiu watched Chi Aibei drinking someone else’s milk tea… So, what was he staring at me for just now? Did he want the drink in that girl’s hand?
He Youyou said something else that made Chi Aibei laugh.
With the game over, they had to go back to class. Before leaving, He Youyou handed the other cup of milk tea to Chi Aibei. “Help me give this cup to Lin Xiu.”
Chi Aibei held the milk tea. “Why don’t you give it to him yourself?”
He Youyou said, “Didn’t you see that girl get rejected just now? I don’t want to lose face like her.”
Chi Aibei: “What if he doesn’t want it from me either?”
He Youyou gave a mysterious smile. “Don’t worry. If you give it to him, he’ll take it.” With that, she took Meng Ying’s arm and left.
As the two walked away, Meng Ying asked her, “What did you mean by that?”
He Youyou: “By what?”
Meng Ying glanced at her. Although He Youyou had zero practical experience in romance, her radar in “certain areas” was incredibly accurate. For her to say something like that to Chi Aibei, she must have noticed something.
He Youyou said, “Nothing much, just casually shipping them. Don’t you think the top student and the slacker junior make a cute pair? Especially when they teamed up to play ball.”
Meng Ying looked at her suspiciously. “Is that all?”
He Youyou burst out laughing, leaning her head on Meng Ying’s shoulder. “Really, I can’t hide anything from you. Okay, okay, it’s because when Lin Xiu was rejecting that girl earlier, he kept watching the little junior. And after you called the junior over, he kept staring, as if he was afraid his child would be kidnapped.”
Meng Ying: “Then why did you make him deliver the milk tea?”
He Youyou: “Just to see. If he takes it, it proves my ‘ship’ is real.”
Meng Ying: “What if he doesn’t take it?”
He Youyou smirked. “If he doesn’t take it, then it’s even more real!”
…
On the court, Chi Aibei handed the milk tea to Lin Xiu. Lin Xiu looked at him but didn’t take it. “I’m not thirsty.”
Chi Aibei shoved it directly into his arms. “The senior sister bought it specially. Just try it.”
Watching Chi Aibei forcefully stuff the milk tea into Lin Xiu’s hands, the girl who had offered water earlier felt a pang of regret. If I had known, I would have just shoved it at him and ran.
Lin Xiu held the milk tea with a helpless expression and asked Chi Aibei, “Are you going to stay on the team?”
Qi Yuan suddenly hooked his arm around Chi Aibei’s neck, securing the hostage before begging Lin Xiu for mercy. “No, no, Top Student, I was wrong. I’ll never bet with him again. Don’t leave. I never really wanted him to quit the team, I swear.”
Chi Aibei had just sucked a tapioca pearl into his mouth and almost choked from Qi Yuan’s stranglehold.
Lin Xiu reached out and pulled Chi Aibei back. Chi Aibei coughed twice and said, “Gege, I don’t want to quit the team.”
Lin Xiu looked at Chi Aibei. He was clearly so aggrieved earlier, yet he still wants to stay? He knows perfectly well that Qi Yuan doesn’t get along with He Chenjiang and gets reckless when provoked. Isn’t he afraid of what happened today happening again?
To show his apology, Qi Yuan offered to treat everyone to a late-night meal.
Qi Yuan booked a table at an outdoor food stall. The environment wasn’t great, but it was cheap, generous with portions, and tasted good.
That night, the whole team came, except for Lin Xiu. Lin Xiu said he had something to do and would arrive later, telling them to start eating without him.
Chi Aibei had dragged Lin Xiu into the team, but he never really expected Lin Xiu to bond with them. He could handle the socializing part.
After everyone had a little to drink, the conversation naturally turned to the basketball game earlier that day.
He Dali had been sent to the infirmary and hadn’t seen Lin Xiu play. Wang Xu spoke with overflowing enthusiasm, “You didn’t see how badass that throw from the Top Student was! He didn’t even look back, just threw it right into my hands. I was completely stunned.”
Regardless of who caught that ball, they would have been stunned. Mostly because they assumed Lin Xiu would definitely go for a three-pointer; no one expected him to copy Chi Aibei’s chaotic throwing style. It was one thing to pass accurately, but the key was that he had also taken out Wang Du.
“Speaking of which, who saw exactly how he messed up Wang Du?”
A player who hadn’t been on the court said, “Me, me, me! I saw it! He went like thisā” The boy mimicked Lin Xiu’s motion of throwing the ball backward, then jerking his elbow back with force. “Wang Du’s face went pale instantly.”
Breaking someone’s rib with a single elbow strikeāthey couldn’t believe the Top Student was capable of such a thing. They preferred to believe Wang Du just had brittle bones.
After talking for a while and not hearing Chi Aibei’s voice, Qi Yuan asked him, “Why aren’t you talking?”
Seeing Chi Aibei’s glazed eyes, Qi Yuan paused. He took the can Chi Aibei was clutching. “What is this? Pineapple beer? Where did he get this?”
Before Lin Xiu left, he had instructed them not to let Chi Aibei drink alcohol, so Qi Yuan had only given him soft drinks. He had been holding that yellow can for ages, and everyone thought it was soda. Who knew it was actually alcohol?
A black G-Wagon suddenly squeezed into the narrow alleyway. Wang Xu exclaimed, “Whoa, why is such a big car stopping here?”
Shen Yicheng sat in the car and glanced over. “Looks like they drank quite a bit.”
Lin Xiu got out of the car. He Dali, still high on the stories of Lin Xiu’s heroism, forgot his sprained ankle and stood up to greet him.
Watching Lin Xiu walk toward them, Qi Yuan screamed internally. He had treated everyone to dinner specifically to make amends, but he failed to watch Chi Aibei and let him touch alcohol. Although it was just a can of pineapple beer, it seemed his alcohol tolerance was…
Lin Xiu looked at Chi Aibei, whose eyes were fixed in a stare. “What’s wrong with him?”
Qi Yuan: “…Uh, he…”
Chi Aibei reached out his hands toward Lin Xiu. “Gege, you’re here.”
Lin Xiu caught his hands. Chi Aibei tilted his body and leaned against Lin Xiu’s leg.
Lin Xiu looked at the cans on the table. “You guys let him drink?”
Qi Yuan quickly picked up the empty can. “We didn’t give it to him. I don’t know where he got this; I thought he was drinking soda.”
Whether due to alcohol flush or allergy, Chi Aibei’s arms and neck were bright red. Lin Xiu pulled him up from the plastic stool. “Stand properly.”
Chi Aibei swayed. “Can’t stand properly.”
Wang Xu picked up the can and examined it. “What’s the alcohol content of this thing? To get him this drunk?”
Hardly any alcohol at all, yet just enough to get Chi Aibei drunk. Lin Xiu picked up Chi Aibei’s backpack. “I’m taking him back first.”
Qi Yuan helped Lin Xiu get Chi Aibei into the car. He glanced at the man in the driver’s seat. The man, like Lin Xiu, looked refined and gentle, yet he had an aura that couldn’t be ignored.
Shen Yicheng looked back. “Whoa, how much did he drink?”
Qi Yuan was too embarrassed to say that he really had just drunk one can of pineapple beer!
As the car drove away, Qi Yuan sat back down. The table had fallen silent at some point. After a long while, someone finally said, “Did you guys notice? The Top Student has a really intense aura.”
He Dali noticed it. “Feels different from how he is at school.”
When Lin Xiu saw Chi Aibei drunk just now, Wang Xu thought he was going to get angry. “Sorry, I realized that the moment he broke Wang Du’s rib.”
Regarding Lin Xiu breaking Wang Du’s rib, He Dali had thought they were exaggerating. Wang Du was about the same size as him; how could the slender Lin Xiu break his rib with one hit?
But just now, he suddenly had a feeling of “it’s not impossible.”
He Dali said, “I couldn’t tell. The Top Student is actually so ferocious.”
Wang Xu saw things clearly. He said, “I don’t know if he’s ferocious or not. I just know he only went on the court today because of Chi Aibei’s unshed tears. Otherwise, he might not have necessarily avenged you.”
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