Chapter 3

I didn't know whether to feel relieved or disappointed. I fiddled with my hair. The too-soft hair always drooped limply on my head, visually appearing a bit long.
The row of earrings on my right ear cartilage was also revealed. Luo Zhuowei, with sharp eyes, saw them and seemed curious as she leaned closer: "I didn't expect you to wear this kind of earring."
Ear piercings on the cartilage always look more rebellious than on the earlobe, but I just liked wearing earrings in that position.
Then she saw my movement of preparing to take them off: "Are you going to take them all off?"
"I'm afraid they'll fall off during the game and I won't be able to find them."
Girls always have an indescribable sweet smell on them. Luo Zhuowei had it too. When she leaned closer, I felt a faint sweet scent drift into my nostrils.
I felt that experiencing a classmate's scent like this was really a bit perverted, so I reflexively wanted to push the bench back a bit.
...Good thing I held back.
I quickly took off all the earrings.
Just as I was looking around, hesitating about where to put these easily lost little things, Luo Zhuowei reached out her hand to me: "I'll keep them for you. I'm planning to sit here and watch the game anyway."
"Then thanks in advance." I paused, then carefully placed all the earrings in her hand.
"If you're going to sit here and watch the game..." The afternoon sun in summer was as harsh as noon. I saw that basically all the girls surrounding the basketball court were holding umbrellas.
But this spot didn't have a sun umbrella, and Luo Zhuowei didn't seem to have brought an umbrella either.
The pre-game preparation time was almost over. My teammates were urging me from not far away to come learn some trash talk for the game.
Although I thought eighty percent of the reason they called me was because they didn't want to see Luo Zhuowei and me chatting happily.
"I have an extra sports jacket in my bag." I pointed to my backpack that I had casually placed on the ground. "If you're afraid of the sun, you can use it to block the light."
Because I have an older sister at home, I probably know a bit about what girls care about...
Before Luo Zhuowei could respond, I turned around before leaving and emphasized: "That one was just washed. I haven't worn it yet, so there won't be any weird sweat smell or anything."
Three minutes left in the game.
Class 3: Class 7.
50:51.
I could feel Lin Haoyuan's determination to pursue Luo Zhuowei.
That guy liked playing basketball, but he would never go all out and make himself sweat profusely. Because he thought that wasn't cool enough—he wanted to look effortless.
I was speechless watching Lin Haoyuan, after scoring a basket, deliberately face the spectator area where Luo Zhuowei was sitting, showing off his most confident 45-degree profile angle, plus the bonus of sweat dripping from his chin down his neck and disappearing into the loose jersey that couldn't hide his chest.
A friendly match had been turned into a heated competition by him. Combined with the gasps and earth-shaking screams from the circle of girls around, he was really being a show-off peacock.
I glanced at the scoreboard, then looked at Luo Zhuowei.
Unfortunately, Lin Haoyuan's whole performance was like winking at a blind person: Luo Zhuowei, using my jacket to block the sun while watching the game, looked way too serious. Her gaze was probably mostly following that basketball, completely not paying attention to the fact that the opposing team's forward was a handsome guy.
Dog Yuan, tragic.
I sympathetically withdrew my gaze. When I ran back to defend, I noticed my teammate giving me a "cut" gesture.
It seemed the classmates had also been riled up by Lin Haoyuan's sudden enthusiasm. The teammates who had been a bit wilted from the sun were now like they'd been injected with chicken blood, trying everything to suppress Lin Haoyuan's show-off behavior.
Look at our PE monitor, even swearing in his urgency: "Chen Hang! Are you going easy on Lin Haoyuan because you're close with him? Stop letting him show off like that!"
Got it, got it. Looks like I'll definitely be dragged by Lin Haoyuan tonight to go crazy until late.
When my teammate saw my slightly slowed steps, he knew I understood, so he confidently winked, signaling another person to help double-team Lin Haoyuan.
Lin Haoyuan, seeing our intention to double-team him, raised an eyebrow and continued dribbling unhurriedly: "You think you can stop me like this?"
We were already close to the three-point line. I knew Lin Haoyuan wouldn't deliberately stall to win—he would definitely shoot a three-pointer.
Because Lin Haoyuan's most proud skill was his three-point shot from beyond the arc.
The basketball was like an obedient toy in his hands. The two people surrounding him couldn't find any chance to steal the ball.
Lin Haoyuan's confident taunt was indeed a bit arrogant, but I knew he had the capital for it.
He raised his hand to shoot the three-pointer while still being mouthy: "Come on, putting a bicycle in front of me would be stronger than you two."
However.
The moment the ball left his hands, I rushed through the gap my two teammates had intentionally left and intercepted the ball right in front of Lin Haoyuan.
While quickly turning and running back, I didn't forget to return a taunt: "Next time, you put a bicycle in front of me to defend?"
"Damn! Chen Hang!"
#5
"Have you guys noticed that Chen Hang is a bit handsome lately..."
This was a discussion Luo Zhuowei often heard among the girls recently.
"I get it! It was during the class game last time, that interception in the last three minutes..."
When Luo Zhuowei finished getting water and walked to her seat, she happened to hear this sentence. She quietly put down her water cup and couldn't help but recall the scene from the game two days ago.
Noticing Luo Zhuowei's arrival, one of the girls tried to get her to join the conversation: "Zhuowei, you were in the best position to see yesterday, right? What do you think?"