Qian Wei thought, wasn’t he supposedly too absorbed in studying to care about the game??? So how did he end up sneaking over here??? And if he came, why bother hiding under a cap that covered half his face??? If you’re going to be all mouth-says-no-but-body-says-yes, at least own up to it!

As Lu Xun stood up, he cast a light glance toward Qian Wei and Mo Zixin’s direction, then turned his head away. He took off the cap and shrugged off his jacket—somehow, even this simple gesture, done by Lu Xun, carried the composed elegance of a general commanding a great army. Sunlight caught his young, handsome face, and sitting there, Qian Wei could make out his nearly perfect profile.

All around, girls whispered and chattered excitedly, but Lu Xun paid them no mind. He walked toward the court, and as he passed Qian Wei, he still didn’t spare her a glance—he just gave a light flick of his hand. It wasn’t until a moment later that Qian Wei realized he’d tossed his cap and jacket her way.

“Hold these.”

By the time Qian Wei registered what had happened, Lu Xun had already walked off, his cap and jacket having landed squarely between her and Mo Zixin’s seats.

Qian Wei glanced awkwardly at Mo Zixin sitting to her left, then quickly stuffed Lu Xun’s cap and jacket into her hands. “Oh—my mistake, my mistake! Lu Xun must have been in a hurry and thrown it to the wrong person! This should’ve gone to you—hold it for him!”

Mo Zixin took Lu Xun’s things and immediately looked back up at the court. In fact, at that moment, nearly every girl in the audience was doing the same—everyone had forgotten to cheer, holding their breath, eyes fixed on the court, watching Lu Xun.

Lu Xun took the court without calling for a timeout or making any request—he simply strode in decisively and joined the game. He didn’t exchange a word with Qian Chuan, but with just a glance between them, the two seemed to reach an unspoken understanding and nodded.

Within a minute of entering, Lu Xun intercepted one of the opposing team’s three-pointers with a resounding block.

“Ahhh Lu Xun is so hot!!!”

The girls watching seemed to have been switched on by that single move—everyone erupted into cheers and applause.

And on the court, the basketball team’s morale seemed ignited by that same play; right after it, Qian Chuan successfully grabbed a rebound.

In her past life, Qian Wei had never once seen Lu Xun play basketball—she’d always assumed his athletic ability was nothing special. But in this moment, she realized just how shallow her assumption had been. Was there anything someone as formidable as Lu Xun wasn’t good at?

At 186 centimeters, with a nearly flawless muscular build, his jumping ability and explosive power rivaled any professional player on the team, and his shooting form was practically flawless—it was impossible to look away, and everyone’s eyes instinctively followed his every move across the court.

Though the score hadn’t changed yet, Qian Wei noticed Qian Chuan’s earlier agitation had gradually faded, replaced by that familiar fire in his eyes—the refusal to lose, the certainty that he wouldn’t.

After a brief pause, the game resumed. But this time, the tide completely turned. Lu Xun and Qian Chuan worked together seamlessly, with Lu Xun filling the small forward gap, and on the court he was practically domineering. Ball in his left hand, he juked past Zhao Peng’s defense with a few fakes, made a sharp change of direction, spun away from several defenders, then leaped into a textbook-perfect long-range jump shot, the whole motion flowing as one.

“Swish.”

Without a hint of doubt, the ball dropped cleanly through the net.

The crowd erupted into screams. The same girls who moments ago had been shouting for Qian Chuan now, without a shred of guilt, had completely switched allegiance to Lu Xun.

There was no denying it—that was just the kind of person Lu Xun was. Even understated, he was dazzling enough; if he ever decided to go all out, not even the heavens could dim his light.

Qian Wei watched Lu Xun run, spin, and leap across the court—despite his height and long legs, every jump looked effortlessly light. Each time he leapt, his athletic pants would ride up slightly, revealing a sliver of ankle, pale and finely defined. For some reason, Qian Wei found her gaze fixed on that sliver of ankle, unable to look away. She was starting to believe what the interns at her old law firm used to say—that every part of Lu Xun seemed to radiate a certain sensuality.

“Wow!!! Lu Xun is amazing!!!”

“Go Lu Xun, go go!!”

Just as her thoughts wandered, Lu Xun scored again without any doubt, and the point gap between the basketball team and Zhao Peng’s side began to close—from the nine-point deficit before Lu Xun joined, down to just one point now.

“Three minutes left in the game.”

Though this had started as just an internal practice match, A University’s varsity team was actually ranked among the top three in the city, so the school took the basketball program seriously and kept it well-equipped—even a minor scrimmage had an electronic clock, an official scoreboard, and dedicated scorekeepers.

Zhao Peng’s group only needed to lock down Lu Xun and Qian Chuan for the final three minutes, keeping the team scoreless, to win by that one-point margin. They seemed to realize this too, because for these last three minutes, Zhao Peng abandoned his earlier aggressive offense and switched to a defense-focused approach—his players clamped down hard on Lu Xun and Qian Chuan, cutting off any chance for the two to pass to each other or drive to the basket.

The tension on the court spiked instantly. A minute passed, and Lu Xun still hadn’t managed to break through for a shot. Qian Wei couldn’t help growing anxious too.

Fortunately, Qian Chuan and Lu Xun exchanged a glance and quickly shifted strategy. When Qian Chuan grabbed the ball, instead of trying to pass to Lu Xun, he spun and passed to another teammate instead. Zhao Peng’s team scrambled in confusion, pulling one man off Lu Xun to rush and cover the teammate who now had the ball. That player was still a bit green, and unfortunately got intercepted by Zhao Peng’s street-ball crew. But Qian Chuan didn’t lose heart—he kept stealing the ball back and passing it to different teammates, throwing Zhao Peng’s team into total disarray, forcing them to cover the whole court. The three players originally locking down Lu Xun dwindled to just one.

One minute left.

Qian Chuan grabbed the ball again.

“Zhang Chen, catch!”

But this time, just as Zhao Peng’s group expected Qian Chuan to pass to the Zhang Chen he’d called out to, Qian Chuan instead swiftly and cleanly redirected the pass straight to Lu Xun.

Thanks to Qian Chuan’s misdirection, only one defender remained on Lu Xun now, and he caught the ball.

“Don’t let him shoot!”

Just as Lu Xun charged toward the basket, Zhao Peng came at him and slammed an elbow hard into his side.

Qian Wei’s heart leapt into her throat. In the heat of the moment, she stopped caring about anything else. “Lu Xun!! Hang in there!!”

Zhao Peng’s hit was vicious and calculated, clearly thrown with full force—even Lu Xun stumbled slightly from the impact.

Whether it was her imagination or not, Qian Wei felt certain that the moment she called his name, Lu Xun’s eyes flicked briefly toward her direction. He could have dodged the hit, but in the end he didn’t—he simply took it head-on, refusing to easily change course or release the ball.

Only ten seconds remained on the clock, and Lu Xun was still a considerable distance from the basket—shooting from there was incredibly risky. But Zhao Peng, like some relentless specter, kept blocking Lu Xun’s path forward. Even Qian Chuan, who never admitted defeat, now wore a look of frustration and resignation, and the rest of the crowd braced themselves, resigned to the disappointing outcome they expected.

Even Mo Zixin looked a bit dejected. “Even Lu Xun can’t save this game now. Such a shame—they’re being way too unfair about this.”

But for some reason, Qian Wei refused to accept this outcome. She was certain—if it was Lu Xun, he wouldn’t lose.

In that moment, Qian Wei stared intently at Lu Xun on the court.

Whether it was her imagination or not, Lu Xun suddenly stopped, then looked up and gave a brief smile in Qian Wei’s direction, before leaping up from right where he stood for a beautiful jump shot.

The ball traced an almost perfect arc through the air, circled the rim once, then—with a soft thud—dropped cleanly through the net.

Scored!!!

From that distance, Lu Xun had actually made it!!!

The crowd’s excitement nearly exploded; everyone cheered and applauded.

Faced with such thunderous applause, Lu Xun’s expression remained as understated as ever. He simply gave Qian Chuan a faint smile, and Qian Chuan reached out to high-five him in mid-air. The rest of the team rushed over and surrounded Lu Xun—someone started the hugging, and soon these young guys had him completely enveloped, layer upon layer, some lightly punching him in celebration, sweat still dripping from their hair, radiating that reckless, sunlit energy of youth.

How wonderful—this kind of soaring, unrestrained youth.

Thanks to Lu Xun, a game everyone had thought was already lost had been completely turned around by his single-handed effort, flipped from defeat into victory.

The crowd swarmed around Lu Xun as they left the court, with Zhao Peng and his crew trailing sullenly behind the basketball team.

“Since you lost, shouldn’t you keep your promise and never show your faces on our court again?” Chen Hua, limping over after having been sidelined by Zhao Peng’s dirty play, wore an expression of pure pride. “Now, all of you can go home to your mommies. Don’t come stinking up the place in front of us again.”

The words landed with satisfying bite, plenty rude too. Sure enough, Zhao Peng’s face flushed red then dark, cycling through emotions. These guys, who always bullied others by throwing their weight around, had never expected to lose today because of Lu Xun’s sudden intervention, and their faces were now full of resentment—but with so many witnesses around, they couldn’t very well lash out or go back on their word.

Several players who’d been injured by Zhao Peng’s dirty tactics had already bought iced cola, passing out cans to everyone. The team was awash in celebration—except for Lu Xun, whose pale face bore a rare flush from the exertion, though his expression remained as composed and understated as ever.

While the other players hugged and horsed around with each other, Lu Xun alone stood silent, looking nothing like someone who’d just barely won a game.

He walked straight up to Qian Wei. “Where’s my jacket?”

Mo Zixin stood up shyly. “I have it, I’ve been holding it for you. Do you want to put it on now?” As she spoke, she held Lu Xun’s clothes out to him.

Lu Xun glanced at the clothes but didn’t take them. His entire expression practically screamed “I’m about to give you a hard time,” and he looked at Qian Wei.

“I told you to hold it. Why’d you give it to someone else?”

Fine, fine, Qian Wei thought, my mistake for failing to divine His Majesty’s true intentions—turns out the jacket and cap were meant for me to hold after all, since this kind of lackey work suits someone as fawning as me…

“Go buy me a bottle of mineral water.”

Mo Zixin pressed her lips together. “Lu Xun, why don’t I go buy it for you instead?”

Qian Wei thought, oh no, please don’t—your Lu Xun clearly can’t bear to part with you! Let sturdy, thick-skinned me run the errand instead!

Sure enough, Lu Xun tilted his chin toward Qian Wei. “No need. Just her.”

Having received her “imperial decree,” Qian Wei set off toward the convenience stand. But she hadn’t gone far when she heard Mo Zixin and Mo Tao cry out behind her in alarm.

“Watch out!”

“Move!”

Qian Wei instinctively turned around, only to see a basketball hurtling toward her in a heart-stopping arc. It was moving far too fast—her mind went blank for a split second. Her reflexes had never been great, and with the ball coming in so fast, she instinctively closed her eyes and threw her arms over her head.

But the expected pain never came. Qian Wei wasn’t hit by the ball—instead, she collided with a warm human body.

Eyes still closed, she could feel this was a body fresh from intense exertion, beads of sweat not yet dried on the skin—yet surprisingly, there was no unpleasant sweat smell at all. Instead, Qian Wei found the scent of this body remarkably clean. She was pulled abruptly into this person’s embrace, caught completely off guard as she collided with his chest, and in that same instant, she heard a soft, stifled grunt escape him.

Qian Wei hadn’t been hit by the basketball, because someone had blocked it for her.

Startled, Qian Wei looked up, and without warning, found herself falling straight into Lu Xun’s eyes. At this close distance, in those beautiful, dark, round pupils, she saw nothing but herself reflected back.

Qian Wei’s heart suddenly began pounding wildly.

She remembered reading somewhere that you should never lock eyes with someone too beautiful—you might just lose yourself in them.