Lipstick Smudged
Chen Luobai kept his word.
He had said he wouldn’t guarantee not touching her, but aside from kissing, he truly didn’t do anything else. Just like last night, he kissed her a bit, then took her to the study to read.
At noon, Zhou Anran ate takeout with him in the apartment.
In the afternoon, Chen Luobai had training, so Zhou Anran went back to school with him, watched him practice basketball for a while at the court, and then returned to the library herself.
For quite some time after that, this was their mode of interaction.
The basketball tournament schedule was quite tight. Chen Luobai was juggling both studies and games, leaving him with basically no free time. From Monday to Friday, they would meet either in the cafeteria or the library. On weekends, they just changed their study location from the library to his apartment.
But Zhou Anran had never stayed overnight at his apartment.
After that day, Chen Luobai never said another “out of line” word to her. Occasionally on weekends, they would practice basketball in the morning, then go to his apartment to study in the afternoon. He would always send her back before curfew in the evening.
The basketball tournament progressed fiercely into mid-December, finally reaching its conclusion.
The Law School had only been a mid to lower-ranked team in previous years, but this year, under Chen Luobai’s leadership, they had fought their way into the finals.
The journey wasn’t entirely smooth sailing. After all, Chen Luobai was just a freshman who had just entered the school and was still in the process of meshing with the team. Several games in the middle were played stumblingly. In the quarter-finals, they were even trailing until the last ten seconds, when Chen Luobai made a three-point buzzer-beater to turn the tide and narrowly defeat the Business School team, which included Du Yizhou.
However, after that game, Zhou Anran felt that his fame in their university circle had greatly increased. The most obvious change was that more and more people came to the gymnasium to watch his games. When he held her hand walking on campus or when he sent her back to the dormitory, the gazes that fell on him, and by extension on her, also increased significantly.
Zhou Anran was quite uncomfortable at first, but now she had somehow gotten used to it.
The final was scheduled for 3:30 PM on the second Saturday of December.
Zhu Ran came to watch the game that day. Since Chen Luobai was busy practicing, Zhou Anran went to help receive him and bring him in.
On Saturday afternoon, before leaving, Zhou Anran’s dormitory put on some makeup.
She usually went to see him with a bare face, but today was his final game after all.
However, Zhou Anran’s makeup skills were just average, so Bai Lingyun helped her with it.
After finishing, Bai Lingyun asked if she had any accessories, suggesting she should add some.
Seeing that there was still quite sometime before the agreed meeting time, Zhou Anran took out her rarely-used accessory box. In the end, she and Bai Lingyun chose the rose gold bracelet that Cen Yu had given her for her 18th birthday.
The game’s gymnasium was near the school gate.
Zhou Anran received Zhu Ran and brought him in. They entered the gymnasium together and walked to the front row.
Their seats today were the same as the first game, right behind the Law School team’s rest chairs.
It was only 3:05 PM, but the gymnasium was already filled with most of the audience.
Players from both sides had also entered early and were conducting their final pre-game training.
After sitting down, Zhou Anran’s gaze naturally drifted toward the Law School’s half of the court, and she immediately spotted Chen Luobai among the crowd.
The young man was wearing a white jersey today, with a large number 26 on the back.
Zhou Anran remembered that his high school jersey number was the same as the basketball star in his WeChat profile picture. Now she didn’t know why it had changed to number 26. It wasn’t his birthday, nor hers. She wondered if it was the number of another basketball star he liked.
Chen Luobai was still practicing three-pointers.
The young man’s figure was tall and straight, his movements smooth and beautiful. Every time he made a shot, Zhou Anran could still hear cheers rising from behind her.
Much more enthusiastic than the first game.
Zhu Ran played with his phone for a while, then turned his head and noticed her hand casually hanging at her side, her jacket sleeve pulled up, revealing a slender white wrist with a rose gold bracelet.
“Your bracelet—” Zhu Ran paused.
Zhou Anran turned her head: “What about it?”
Zhu Ran: “Nothing, my friend also bought one to give someone.”
Zhou Anran looked down at the bracelet on her hand: “This one was also given to me by someone.”
Zhu Ran was silent for a moment, then suddenly seemed to remember something: “Oh right, Zhou Anran, will your family be living in Wu City from now on?”
Zhou Anran shook her head: “We might move back next year.”
“That’s good.” Zhu Ran smiled, “Otherwise you and A-Luo would have to do long-distance during winter and summer breaks. It’s much more convenient to meet in Nan City.”
Zhou Anran: “Yeah.”
Zhu Ran continued: “But his uncle’s family, that is, Sister Qin’s family, is in Wu City. Wu City is actually like half a home to him. He almost went to study in Wu City back then.”
Zhou Anran was a bit surprised: “Really? When was that?”
Zhu Ran opened his mouth, but from the corner of his eye, he saw a tall figure seemingly walking towards them from the court. He turned his gaze back: “A-Luo is coming.”
Zhou Anran also turned her gaze and saw the young man walking to the sideline, bending down to take out a bottle of water from the mineral water box.
Chen Luobai unscrewed the cap and took a couple of sips, then strode over to her, naturally placing the unfinished water bottle in her arms. He tilted his head: “What are you two talking about?”
Zhu Ran: “Of course, taking the opportunity to badmouth you to Zhou Anran.”
Chen Luobai reached out and directly half-choked his neck. The movement looked fierce and quick, but his tone carried a smile: “Looking for a beating, huh?”
Zhu Ran turned his head with difficulty: “Zhou Anran, control your boyfriend.”
Zhou Anran’s ears heated up, and she reached out to tug at the young man’s jersey: “He didn’t say anything bad about you, we were just chatting casually.”
“Zhou Anran.” Chen Luobai glanced at her, “You’re siding with outsiders, huh?”
Zhou Anran: “…?”
“I’m not, he didn’t say anything.”
Chen Luobai released Zhu Ran and was about to reach out to pinch her, but when his fingertips were about to touch her fair little face, he remembered he had just been practicing and his hands were a bit dirty. He stopped and instead lightly flicked her forehead with his knuckle, smiling lazily: “Don’t you understand the principle of helping your own?”
Zhou Anran: “?”
Zhu Ran rubbed his neck: “Keep your twisted logic to yourself. Zhou Anran is well-mannered, gentle, and smart. Don’t corrupt her.”
Chen Luobai raised an eyebrow, his tone extremely provocative: “How I teach my girlfriend is none of your business.”
Zhu Ran was about to retort when his phone suddenly rang. From the notification sound, it was a voice or video call. He didn’t pay attention to the check and just answered casually.
A boisterous voice came through.
Zhou Anran thought it sounded a bit like Tang Jianrui’s voice.
“Zhu Ran, have you reached A University’s gymnasium? Quickly show us what our sister-in-law looks like now.”
Zhou Anran: “…?”
Before Zhu Ran could stop him, Chen Luobai had already snatched the phone away.
Chen Luobai turned the phone around, adjusted the angle a bit, and coolly glanced at the person on the other side through the lens: “Why should I let you see my girlfriend?”
Tang Jianrui’s voice weakened a bit: “Luo-ge, what a coincidence, how come you’re standing with old Zhu now?”
“Quite a coincidence indeed.” Chen Luobai said coolly, “Otherwise how would I know you guys had such plans.”
Another voice cut in, sounding a bit like Huang Shujie.
Zhou Anran occasionally saw them chatting in the group and knew that Tang Jianrui and Huang Shujie were both studying locally in Nan City.
It seemed the two of them were together at the moment.
Huang Shujie: “Luo-ge, don’t be so stingy. We’re just a bit curious about what sister-in-law looks like now, want to see if she’s changed from high school.”
“Whether my girlfriend has changed from high school—” Chen Luobai’s tone was lazy, “What does that have to do with you two?”
Tang Jianrui: “Luo-ge, it’s no use hiding sister-in-law like a treasure. We’ll still see her at the winter break gathering anyway.”
“We’ll talk about that during winter break then.” Chen Luobai’s lips curled up, “Hanging up.”
“Wait—”
The voice in the call was abruptly cut off.
Chen Luobai casually tossed the phone back into Zhu Ran’s arms.
Zhu Ran hurriedly caught it: “Damn it, Chen Luobai, I just got this phone. If I hadn’t caught it, would you have paid for it?”
“Pay for what?” Chen Luobai coolly glanced at him, “What were you plotting with them? I haven’t settled accounts with you yet, so you should count yourself lucky.”
After saying this, Chen Luobai couldn’t be bothered to deal with him anymore. He turned his gaze to the girl beside him and saw her two small dimples faintly showing at the corners of her lips.
She was smiling sweetly and obediently.
Chen Luobai’s hand itched again, but in the end, he couldn’t bear to dirty her face. He still very lightly flicked her forehead.
“Going to train.”
Zhou Anran obediently said “Oh” and raised her hand to cover her forehead.
Just as Chen Luobai was about to turn around, he saw she was wearing a rose gold bracelet on her wrist.
He reached out and grabbed her wrist.
Zhou Anran blinked: “Weren’t you going to train?”
Why was he holding her hand again?
“Mm, I’m going. Why are you wearing—” Chen Luobai paused, “a bracelet today?”
Zhou Anran looked down at the bracelet on her wrist again: “My roommate said to choose some accessories, so I picked one.”
Chen Luobai’s fingertip very lightly touched the bracelet on her wrist, his voice soft: “It’s very pretty.”
Zhou Anran’s lips curved up: “Go train quickly.”
*
After the training ended, the game officially began soon after.
The Law School’s opponent this time was the Computer Science Department.
If the Law School stumbling into the finals was an unexpected dark horse, the Computer Science Department making it to the finals was within everyone’s expectations.
Strangely enough, A University’s Computer Science Department had somehow recruited several good basketball players in the past few years. The team included three players from the school’s basketball team, including the captain Wang Junzhuo. Although one of them was also a freshman, being able to join the school team was itself proof of ability.
They were the defending champions from last year.
As soon as the game started, the Law School was being dominated.
The Law School had faced unfavorable situations in previous games, but this was the first time they encountered such a dominating opponent. One or two players on the team were a bit dazed by the pressure and started to fall out of sync with Chen Luobai’s rhythm.
Zhou Anran’s fingertips involuntarily tightened on his mineral water bottle.
Zhu Ran suddenly spoke up beside her: “Is the opponent’s number 10 from the school team?”
Zhou Anran looked carefully.
The opposing number 10 was indeed the school team captain Wang Junzhuo.
She nodded: “Yes.”
“Are numbers 4 and 7 also?” Zhu Ran asked again.
Zhou Anran’s gaze remained on the court as she continued to nod.
Zhu Ran sighed: “This game will be tough for A-Luo.”
Although Zhou Anran had watched many games with Zhou Xianhong, she could only be considered half a pseudo-fan, and couldn’t compare to a true fan like Zhu Ran who had been watching games for years.
Hearing him say the game would be tough, her heart couldn’t help but rise in anxiety.
Zhu Ran suddenly said: “Zhou Anran, do you remember what you said that day?”
Zhou Anran was confused: “What did I say?”
Zhu Ran: “That day when Chen Luobai treated you to dinner, I said if he loses a game later, he’d be embarrassed not just in front of me, and then you said something in response.”
Zhou Anran blinked: “You mean when I said as long as he tries his best, I won’t think he’s embarrassing?”
Zhu Ran nodded: “Mm, it’s good that you remember.”
Zhou Anran knew Zhu Ran was helping him and also reminding her.
But she still felt a bit defiant.
“He won’t necessarily lose.”
She had come to watch all his games whenever she didn’t have class during this period and knew why the Law School could make it to the finals.
Because no matter how difficult it was, he had never given up on any game.
Whether in high school or now, he had always been someone with both talent and hard work.
Zhou Anran’s gaze turned back to the young man on the court: “No matter how strong the opponent is, he won’t easily admit defeat.”
Zhu Ran suddenly smiled: “Alright, looks like I was overthinking it.”
Zhou Anran, concerned about the situation on the court, didn’t say anything more and continued to watch the game attentively.
Zhu Ran lowered his head and opened the WeChat group chat.
Tang Jianrui’s group was still frantically tagging him in the chat.
This was the original small group they had created, where the boys occasionally engaged in uncensored conversations. That’s why the group he added Zhou Anran to that day was a newly created one.
Tang Jianrui: [Old Zhu, Luo Ge’s match must have started, right? Can you secretly take a photo of Zhou Anran for us?]
Tang Jianrui: [@Zhu Ran]
Huang Shujie: [Yeah, we don’t even need a video]
Huang Shujie: [A photo will do]
Huang Shujie: [@Zhu Ran]
Zhu Ran lowered his head to type: [Who told you to start yelling as soon as you connected?]
Zhu Ran: [I couldn’t stop it in time]
Tang Jianrui: [How was I supposed to know Luo Ge would come over right then?]
Tang Jianrui: [Just take a sneaky photo now, he’s playing ball so he won’t know anyway]
Zhu Ran: [If you want to die, don’t drag me into it]
Zhu Ran: [I’m not taking any photos]
Huang Shujie: [What’s all this talk about dying? Luo Ge isn’t that petty]
Zhu Ran: [When it comes to Zhou Anran, he is that petty]
Zhu Ran: [In high school, did he ever show any of you even one photo of Zhou Anran from his phone?]
Zhu Ran: [He’s just a love-struck dog who values romance over friendship]
Tang Jianrui: [I’m so damn curious about what Luo Ge is like when he’s dating]
Zhu Ran: [What do you think? Just incredibly mushy]
Huang Shujie: [How mushy exactly?]
Zhu Ran: [Like, one second he’s cursing at me, and the next his voice becomes eight hundred degrees softer when talking to Zhou Anran]
Zhu Ran: [But I have to say, this sister-in-law of yours is nice]
Huang Shujie: [Of course!]
Huang Shujie: [My Luo Ge has such high standards, how could anyone he chooses be anything less than great?]
Huang Shujie: [But what you’re saying is making me even more curious]
Huang Shujie: [Forget it, I’m not saving for my summer vacation travel fund anymore. I want to go to North City next week, and I haven’t been to A University yet]
Huang Shujie: [Ruirui, are you coming?]
Tang Jianrui: [Count me in!!]
Zhu Ran: [Come on over]
Zhu Ran: [He’ll be done with his matches this week, so he should have time to treat us next week]
Tang Jianrui: [But I’ve almost spent all my money for this month, can someone lend me some for the plane ticket first?]
Zhu Ran: [Ask your Luo Ge to lend you some]
Zhu Ran: [As long as it doesn’t involve his wife, he’s still very generous]
Zhu Ran locked his phone screen and, noticing a timeout on the court, turned his head slightly: “Zhou Anran, ask Yan Xingqian and the others if they’re free. Tang Jianrui and Huang Shujie might come over next week. If they’re free, we can all get together.”
Zhou Anran nodded: “Alright, I’ll ask them tonight.”
After the timeout, the Law School team substituted two players.
The two substitutes weren’t overwhelmed, but as rotation players, their skills were slightly inferior to the starting lineup.
After they entered the court, the Law School team was still trailing, and the score gap continued to widen.
At the end of the first quarter, the score was 12-20, with the Computer Science department leading by 8 points.
During the quarter break, Chen Luobai walked straight to the spectator stands, picked up the water bottle from Zhou Anran’s lap, opened the cap, and had just taken a couple of sips when he felt a soft, delicate hand grasp his hanging hand.
He looked down, somewhat surprised, but his lips curved involuntarily: “What are you doing?”
It was the first time Zhou Anran had made such an intimate gesture towards him in front of others, especially in front of thousands of spectators.
The embarrassment level was off the charts, but her fingers still intertwined with his without hesitation, her voice soft.
“Charging you up. Good luck in the next quarter.”
Chen Luobai’s grip on the bottle tightened, feeling as if his heart was suddenly filled with something, or as if something had gently tickled it.
He looked down at the girl’s reddening ears: “Holding hands probably can’t charge me up anymore.”
Zhou Anran froze, staring at him blankly.
Chen Luobai suddenly leaned in close, whispering against her burning ear: “Come out during halftime and let me kiss you?”
Zhou Anran: “…?”
Even as the second quarter officially began, Zhou Anran’s face was still burning.
This guy was getting more and more outrageous.
To say such things to her in public.
Thankfully, he had lowered his voice.
Zhou Anran glanced sideways; Zhu Ran was looking down at his phone, not paying any attention to her side.
He probably didn’t hear… right?
If Zhu Ran didn’t hear, then others shouldn’t have heard either… right?
A sharp whistle sounded on the court, and Zhou Anran turned her gaze back to see the referee call a blocking foul on a Computer Science player.
She forcefully pushed down the jumbled thoughts that a certain someone had stirred up and continued to watch the game intently.
The two Law School players who were initially overwhelmed had returned to the court.
Whether it was something Chen Luobai said to them during the quarter break, these two players regained some of their form after the start of this quarter, no longer falling out of sync with Chen Luobai’s rhythm.
Combined with Chen Luobai’s reasonable ball distribution, shooting when he should and passing when necessary, both offense and defense began to flow smoothly again.
However, the Computer Science team had several strong players who worked well together.
In the second quarter, the two teams suddenly found themselves in a deadlock. The Computer Science team didn’t allow the Law School to gain much advantage, and the Law School didn’t let them widen the score gap further.
At the end of the second quarter, both teams had scored the same number of points in the quarter, maintaining the 8-point difference.
As the game entered halftime, players from both teams headed towards their respective locker rooms.
Zhou Anran bit her lip, her fingers tightening on her bag strap, then loosening, tightening again, and loosening once more. Finally, she turned to Zhu Ran and said, “I’m going to say something to him, okay?”
Zhu Ran seemed completely unconcerned, just nodding casually: “Sure.”
Zhou Anran stood up, ignoring the numerous gazes that fell on her, and stubbornly entered the nearby corridor.
Chen Luobai had already reached the locker room door, with most of his teammates inside. The footsteps in the corridor were chaotic, and he hadn’t heard anything, but it was as if he suddenly had some kind of intuition.
Just before entering, he couldn’t help but look back, his gaze instantly fixed.
The girl in the distance, probably seeing him turn around, also stopped in her tracks. She seemed to have hurried over, her chest rising and falling with rapid breaths.
The corridor was a bit dim, but Chen Luobai could still clearly see that her face was extremely red.
Chen Luobai felt as if something in his heart suddenly collapsed, immediately replaced by something soft filling in densely.
He knew how shy she was, so his words during the quarter break were mostly meant to tease her. He hadn’t expected her to follow him.
Just as he hadn’t expected that today, in front of so many people, she would hold his hand and say she wanted to charge him up.
Chen Luobai turned to his teammates, his tone still sounding calm, though only he knew that the hand hanging at his side had already tightened the moment he saw her.
“You guys go in first, I’ll be right there.”
The two teammates who hadn’t gone in yet looked back, saw Zhou Anran standing not far away and smiled knowingly. They teased, “Go on, go on, but don’t take too long. We’re waiting for you to come back and discuss strategy.”
Chen Luobai smiled and pushed them inside, closing the door behind them to block their view. Only then did he walk over and stop in front of the girl.
Zhou Anran didn’t know why she had suddenly become so impulsive and followed him in. Now she felt a bit like retreating.
Especially since the young man in front of her was looking at her differently than usual as if some kind of spark was burning in his eyes.
He had played the entire first half, and the collar of his jersey was already half-wet. His forehead, neck, collarbone, and arms – all the exposed skin – were covered in a fine sheen of sweat. Usually at times like this, he would exude a unique contradictory charm, with his youthful aura and pheromones competing equally.
But today, perhaps because of the way he was looking at her, the pheromone side had added a heavyweight, tipping the balance, and making him appear particularly alluring.
Zhou Anran’s heart trembled under his gaze, and she instinctively felt the urge to flee. She acted on it: “Um… good luck in the second half. I’m going back now.”
As soon as she turned, her wrist was caught in his grip.
“Where are you running to?”
Chen Luobai’s palm was incredibly hot. Zhou Anran felt as if her wrist had been scalded. Before she could respond, the young man had already pulled her into the nearby fire escape.
His face expressionless, he pushed the door closed with one hand while the other pushed her against it. Without a word, he lowered his head and kissed her.
This was the first time Zhou Anran had seen him so forceful and domineering in front of her.
Over the past month, he had kissed her plenty of times, no longer needing to coax her to open her mouth like the first time. The young man still had one hand propped against the door, while the other pinched her chin lightly, his tongue skillfully pushing past her teeth.
His breath enveloped her completely, taking all of her breath away. He swept over her teeth and the roof of her mouth, sucking hard on her tongue a few times, causing a numbing sensation.
Then he quickly withdrew.
It was a brief yet intensely deep kiss.
The young man pressed his forehead against hers, his gaze still carrying unextinguished sparks. He called her name in a low voice, as if suppressing something, then bit her lip again before continuing.
“Zhou Anran.”
“How can you be so good?”
This was the first time Zhou Anran had kissed him at school.
And in a gymnasium where countless spectators were waiting to watch him play.
Whether it was because they could be caught at any moment, or because his current appearance, so different from usual, was too alluring to not make her blush and her heart race, even though the kiss had ended, Zhou Anran still felt like her heart was about to explode.
She didn’t quite understand why he suddenly said such a thing, nor did she have time to understand. She couldn’t delay him too long. Her fingers clutched at his jersey as she softly urged him.
“Is that enough charging now? You should hurry back to the locker room.”
Chen Luobai looked down at her.
She had put on makeup today, looking different from usual – beautiful.
“Not quite enough.”
Zhou Anran: “…?”
What more did he want?
They were outside now, and Zhou Anran’s embarrassment threshold could only support her this far. She pushed at the hot, half-pressing young man: “Then there’s nothing we can do. I’m going back.”
Chen Luobai pinned her back: “Wait.”
Zhou Anran’s face was burning: “You only have ten minutes for halftime. We can kiss after the game, okay? Otherwise, you’ll be late.”
Chen Luobai had indeed planned to go back early, otherwise he wouldn’t have let her off so easily earlier. He had stopped her for another reason but now found this unexpected bonus. He couldn’t help but laugh against her shoulder: “Mm, then we’ll kiss after the game.”
Zhou Anran: “…?”
“But Anran—” Chen Luobai paused, his gaze lingering on her lips for another second before he leaned to her ear and lowered his voice: “Your lipstick is smudged.”