Chapter 135
After Jiang Xing entered the court, his phone vibrated several times. Lin Qingyu unlocked it and took a look. They were messages from his class’ group chat.
[@Jiang Xing, from which class is that guy you were talking to just now? He has a good temperament and good eyes. Can you ask him to take off his mask? I want to use a magnifying glass to see.]
[I don’t think he’s from our school. He wouldn’t have been able to escape my eyes. These peepers zero in on beauty.]
[I’m guessing he’s Jiang Xing’s brother? I saw him deliver food to Jiang Xing.]
[That makes sense. I can see the shared male god genes.]
[I thought you were all guys. Why are you all getting so excited? With all this fuss, I thought it was Jiang Xing’s milk tea girlfriend who came.]
…
Lin Qingyu held Jiang Xing’s phone and jacket in his arms. He looked towards the court. All he knew about basketball was that you had to throw the ball into the opposite basket. Ten boys attacked and defended back and forth on the court, colliding with each other, sweating profusely, full of passion.
Their blood was running hot. They were in the prime of their youth, brimming with vitality and zest for life. This was how seventeen/eighteen-year-olds should be. No matter how much of a salted fish Jiang Xing may be, his strong nature rooted deep his bones would always show itself at times like this.
Jiang Xing was one of the tallest among the boys. In their class, only the PE rep was as tall as he was. The PE rep had specially been admitted for his athletic abilities. He trained religiously every day and has developed a body rippling with muscles. Lin Qingyu watched the two confront each other and couldn’t help noticing how much leaner Jiang Xing was compared to his opponent.
Jiang Xing’s body did not follow the usual route of a tall man. He was slender, his muscles weren’t deliberately exaggerated. His body’s contours appeared more natural. His overall appearance was much closer to that of a beautiful youth.
When Jiang Xing had been Lu Wancheng, he was too weak and Lin Qingyu felt distressed for him. When Jiang Xing had been Gu Fuzhou, whenever he pressed him down, Lin Qingyu found him rather heavy; any heavier and he wouldn’t have been able to bear it. In Lin Qingyu’s opinion, Jiang Xing’s current figure was just right.
On the court, the PE rep could be considered a full hexagonal warrior. Save for Jiang Xing, all the others were simply no match for him. The heavy responsibility of guarding him naturally fell on Jiang Xing’s shoulders. Jiang Xing’s stamina and physical strength weren’t as good as the PR rep’s but his reflexes were quick. He heard someone yell the name of the PE rep. Jiang Xing closed in on the PE rep from an unexpected direction and intercepted the ball a second before the PE rep reached out to catch it. He quickly counter-attacked. Jiang Xing stood outside the three-point line and held the ball firmly. He then sent it straight into the basket.
The moment he scored the point, Jiang Xing turned his head and instinctively turned to look at Lin Qingyu.
The PE rep let out a curse. “Jiang Xing, what’s gotten into you today? You’re really giving it your all.”
Jiang Xing smiled without saying a word. How can he not give it his all? His wife was watching.
Lin Qingyu was indeed watching. Jiang Xing dripping with sweat has always been one of his most favorite sights. He wasn’t the only one watching. There were many girls watching the boys play on the sidelines of the court. Two girls were standing next to Lin Qingyu and from time to time, their conversation drifted into Lin Qingyu’s ears.
A girl with short hair said, “Is the boy who came to deliver Jiang Xing’s dinner today really his brother?”
The long-haired girl said, “Can’t be. I heard from Pei Zhiqi that Jiang Xing’s an only child.”
“Oh, I see. Was the one who brought him his dinner before his mother? I don’t think she looks like Jiang Xing at all.”
“That’s his housekeeper. It seems Jiang Xing’s mother passed away when he was in junior high.”
“Ah,” the short-haired girl exclaimed, “How could this be…”
Lin Qingyu remembered the form that Jiang Xing had to hand in. In the column for mother, there was only a single slash.
When they were in the Dayu, Jiang Xing occasionally mentioned his parents. Lin Qingyu knew that Jiang Xing’s mother had passed away, but the details were unclear. When Jiang Xing talked about his mother, he always had a nostalgic look, saying that she was strict with him and that she insisted he take the first place in everything. Even though he complained, he never said anything bad about his mother.
“I heard it was cancer and that she’d had surgery. You know, when fighting cancer, the patient’s mood is very important. Jiang Xing had done everything to make his mom happy. I heard from Pei Zhiqi that when his mom celebrated her birthday, Jiang Xing copied down [Don’t Get Angry] and gave it to her. Unfortunately, after fighting cancer for seven years, she finally passed away. Later, Jiang Xing’s dad started another family and settled abroad, so Jiang Xing returned to Guangzhou to attend high school.”
“Damn it, Jiang Xing’s father is such a scumbag.”
“You can’t say that. His father is still being responsible. At least Jiang Xing’s monthly pocket money of more than 200,000 yuan is being provided by his father.”
The short-haired girl was shocked. “I really didn’t expect that.”
“Otherwise, where do you think Jiang Xing’s good temper came from? We’ve been classmates with Jiang Xing for so long but have you ever seen him lose control of his emotions?”
The short-haired girl shook her head.
Jiang Xing’s classmates had never seen him lose control of his emotions, but Lin Qingyu had. He had seen Jiang Xing with the taste of blood in his mouth, saying he wanted to take someone’s life; he had also seen Jiang Xing in his arms, crying and saying sorry.
Jiang Xing has obviously developed an open-minded and free-spirited character only because he was exceptional.
The short-haired girl looked at the male god running on the court and was filled with emotion. “Jiang Xing has such a good personality, I thought he must have a very happy family life.”
The long-haired girl said, “Except for his parents, he should still be very happy. Although his mom is gone, the other elders in his family love him very much. Pei Zhiqi’s mom even just wants to adopt him outright and take him to live with her. But, Jiang Xing felt that living with the elders would curtail his freedom so he insisted on living alone. Pei Zhiqi’s mom hired a housekeeper to cook him delicious meals and take care of him…”
A burst of cheers pulled Lin Qingyu back from his thoughts. It was Jiang Xing; he’d broke through the defenses of three opposing players and made a riveting slam dunk. As soon as his feet landed on the ground, he turned around and locked eyes with Lin Qingyu.
Lin Qingyu, who was completely ignorant of the significance of basketball to modern boys: …Huh?
This basketball game went back and forth. The team led by the PE rep had a very strong offensive but Jiang Xing’s side wasn’t letting them gain too much ground. They were simply playing for fun and no one kept track of the points. As soon as the class bell rang, the thoughts of every student turned towards food. The PR rep threw the basketball to Jiang Xing, “I’m gonna take a quick shower! Xiongdi, do me a favor and bring the basketball back to the equipment room.” After saying so, he ran off like was doing a hundred meter sprint.
Jiang Xing walked towards Lin Qingyu, the basketball in his arms. He lifted the hem of his shirt and wiped off his sweat. “Qingyu, what’d you think of my playing? Was I cool or not?”
“Not bad.” Lin Qingyu returned his phone and jacket to him, “Do you have something to tell me?”
Jiang Xing thought for a while. “I don’t think so.”
“Then why did you look back at me every time you scored a point? I don’t understand.”
Jiang Xing choked and asked, “Did I really do that?”
“En.”
Jiang Xing said slowly, “That’s probably because I’m still too naive. It’s my first time being in a relationship so I ask for your understanding.”
“Alright.” Lin Qingyu said, “Where do you want to eat?”
The cafeteria was overcrowded and taking Lin Qingyu to his classroom would be inconvenient. Jiang Xing took the lunch box from Lin Qingyu and said, “Let’s go to the football field? We’ll make a picnic out of it.”
The football field was covered with artificial grass. Sitting and having a meal there had its own kind of elegance. Lin Qingyu nodded. “Okay.”
Since it was dinner time, there was almost no one on the field. The two sat beside the wire fence, with Jiang Xing’s school jacket serving as their cushion. Jiang Xing opened the lunch box. On the top layer were fried beef with scallions and sweet and sour pork tenderloin. There was a partition between the two dishes to prevent the tastes from mixing. The second layer held two vegetable dishes, stir-fried okra and cucumber salad. In the flask was well-stewed tree mushroom and fig duck soup. Auntie also prepared a box of sliced cantaloupes.
Lin Qingyu reminded him, “It is not advisable to eat immediately after strenuous exercise. You can eat some fruit first.”
Jiang Xing speared a piece of cantaloupe with a toothpick and moved it to Lin Qingyu’s mouth, “Open wide.”
The cantaloupe was sweet and juicy, its flesh fine and tender. It could be consider a simple natural delicacy. As Lin Qingyu chewed and swallowed slowly, he heard Jiang Xing say, “Auntie’s plate-setting skills seem off today. This doesn’t look as good as the ones she made before.”
Lin Qingyu immediately swallowed the cantaloupe in his mouth and complained to Jiang Xing, “It has nothing to do with Auntie. It’s that traffic light’s fault.”
Jiang Xing didn’t understand. “Huh?”
“The traffic light at that intersection near your place. The green light only lasts five seconds. In order to get the food to you, I had to run across with the lunch box in my arms. The lunch box was jolted around so of course, the dishes inside would be messed up.” Lin Qingyu said coldly, “Is that traffic light defective? I really hate it. Is there any way to get rid of it? I don’t want to have to run like that every time I go out. If that thing was in the Dayu, I would definitely have it uprooted.”
Lin Qingyu looked so stern but Jiang Xing couldn’t help laughing out loud; a hearty, unrestrained and boisterous laugh.
Lin Qingyu frowned. “You think this is a laughing matter?”
Not only was Jiang Xing laughing, he was laughing so much that he couldn’t stand upright. His elbow knocked into the basketball that had been placed to one side causing it to roll.
Lin Qingyu: “…”
“The great Lord Prime Minister’s first enemy after coming to the modern age is unexpectedly…!” Jiang Xing pointed to the top of his head and said with a smile, “You’re going to empty my health bar from cuteness, Qingyu, Baobei .”
Lin Qingyu frowned. “I don’t understand.” He had only seen heath bars in games. Where did Jiang Xing get a health bar?
Jiang Xing laughed so hard that he couldn’t speak. A big smile on his face, he took out his mobile phone to search which to department he should report traffic lights problems.
Lin Qingyu was simply baffled. “What’s so funny?”
Jiang Xing didn’t know how to explain his feelings to Lin Qingyu. He just wanted to laugh and his lips just can’t help ticking up when he sees Lin Qingyu, especially when he says such cute things.
Lin Qingyu, who still couldn’t get an explanation, grew quite impatient. “Jiang Xing!”
The last few students had also left, leaving only him and Jiang Xing on the football field. Jiang Xing finally had enough of laughing and said, “You ask me why I’m laughing but I don’t know…”
As he said that, Jiang Xing lowered his head and kissed his lips as if he couldn’t hold it anymore.
The dusk cast an amber light as the evening breeze blew lazily. The basketball rolled and rolled, finally stopping in the football net. Even time seemed to stand still at this moment.
He and Jiang Xing sat on the campus green, kissing quietly.
