After dinner, Lin Zhexia returned home. Lin He and Wei Ping took turns complimenting her on winning the award.

Wei Ping said, “I told you, your talent for public speaking is obvious to everyone. Uncle has noticed it for a long time.”

Lin He was also pleased. “You performed quite well this time. Go do your homework now.”

Wei Ping held the certificate, more excited than when he got promoted. “Uncle will put up this certificate right away. Maybe facing the dining table, so we can see it every time we eat.”

Lin He was a bit speechless. “Why not put it at the front door, so everyone passing by can see it?”

“Good idea,” Wei Ping turned to ask, “What does Xiaxia think?”

The allegedly talented public speaker Lin Zhexia herself: “…I think it’s better to restrain my brilliance a bit, to avoid making others feel inferior.”

“…”

They chatted briefly.

Lin Zhexia returned to her room, put down her backpack, and unzipped it.

Her hand paused as she took out the rabbit keychain hidden in the compartment of her backpack.

She thought for a moment and placed the little rabbit keychain on her desk so it could keep her company while doing homework.

But just after putting it there, she felt uneasy and moved it into a cabinet that could keep out dust—

Soon, the official notice came that next Tuesday, there would be a sports meet jointly held with the Experimental Affiliated School. Each class actively signed up and began preparations.

The sports committee member of Class 7, usually an idle position, was suddenly busy running around.

The sports committee member called out with a list in hand: “Anyone else want to sign up? We’re still short one person for the girls’ relay.”

“No one?”

“This is such a rare opportunity to participate in sports, only once a year. Shouldn’t everyone cherish it?”

Lin Zhexia looked around at the others. Seeing no one speak up, she raised her hand and said, “I can do it. Put me down.”

In the evening after school, she and Chi Yao happened to meet He Yang at the entrance of their residential complex.

Lin Zhexia waved at He Yang: “Fellow spiritual schoolmate—”

He Yang walked over with his backpack: “I can’t believe what you said at the beginning of the semester came true. Now we’re having a sports meet together, I’ve become a spiritual schoolmate.”

The three walked together.

He Yang asked, “What events did you both sign up for?”

Lin Zhexia: “I signed up for the relay.”

He Yang turned his head: “What about my bro Yao?”

Chi Yao tossed two cold words at him: “Basketball.”

He Yang swore, “I’m in basketball too. I was planning to shine on my own, but now with you there, it’ll be hard for me to show off tomorrow.”

Lin Zhexia nodded, agreeing wholeheartedly: “When it comes to showing off, you definitely can’t outdo him.”

Chi Yao didn’t say anything.

But he made a small gesture, he occasionally did—his hand reaching around the back of Lin Zhexia’s neck, fingers spread, lightly squeezing in a threatening manner.

This time was different from the last. Last time his fingers had been cold from the popsicle—this time they were burning hot.

Lin Zhexia froze for a moment.

Fortunately, no one noticed anything unusual. He Yang continued: “How about this, Summer-bro, can I ask you for a favor?”

Lin Zhexia: “Huh?”

He Yang began fantasizing: “During tomorrow’s basketball game, could you bring me some water, help me maintain my image? Otherwise, when I come off the court with no one paying attention to me, it would be embarrassing. If possible, it would be even better if you could call out my name with feeling, creating the impression that I’m very popular.”

Lin Zhexia could still feel the sensation lingering on her neck and was a bit distracted. She hadn’t listened carefully to what he was saying, only catching the words “bring water.”

Her mouth moved faster than her brain, and she readily agreed: “Sure.”

“…”

On the day of the sports meet, everyone took buses to the large open-air stadium near the school.

Outside the stadium, cars filled the parking lot. With students from both schools combined, the venue looked extremely crowded.

The uniforms of the Experimental Affiliated School were blue, making them easy to distinguish.

Teachers were stationed at the entrance to prevent students from leaving early against the rules.

The stadium was circular, with stands around the outside and the sports field in the center.

Lin Zhexia entered with her class, endured the school leaders’ speeches, and then sat in the stands daydreaming.

The competition progressed quickly, and soon most of the morning events had passed.

Chen Lin was about to go for the long jump and asked before leaving: “What are you thinking about?”

Lin Zhexia: “I’m wondering why I agreed to someone’s very boring request yesterday.”

Chen Lin: “?”

“Never mind, it’s nothing,” she said. “Go compete. Good luck.”

After Chen Lin left, she looked at the water she had bought for He Yang and sighed.

Why had she agreed?

She knew the answer herself.

Because she had been distracted yesterday.

And the reason she was distracted was that she had recently begun to magnify certain details in her interactions with Chi Yao.

These details could easily affect her.

Lin Zhexia stopped thinking about this and took out her phone. She discovered that He Yang had sent her a bunch of messages twenty minutes ago—

I’m about to go on, Summer-bro, don’t forget—

Look for me, I’m number 12—

You can find me, right? I shouldn’t be too ordinary in a crowd, should I? Even if I am somewhat ordinary, given our years of acquaintance, you should be able to spot me in the sea of people—

Whether I can save face at Experimental Affiliated School depends on you—

I’ll treat you to milk tea tonight, eternally grateful!!!

Lin Zhexia replied: I want thirty cups.

Da Zhuang: …Never mind whether my allowance is enough, can you even drink that many??

Lin Zhexia seized the opportunity: I’ll drink three cups each month, for ten months.

After replying, she put down her phone and looked at the field.

There were many people on the field—runners on the track, referees blowing whistles, and scorekeepers recording results at the finish line.

The basketball game was arranged on the right side. The Experimental Affiliated School players had their school name written on their jerseys, making them easy to identify.

The second half seemed to be ending soon. She found He Yang dribbling and was about to take the water bottle beside her and go down from the stands when suddenly a force came from behind—a hand on her shoulder pressed her back down.

She turned around and saw Chi Yao, already changed into his jersey.

The Second Middle School jersey was black, with the number 0 written on the loose jersey. This number somehow gave off a sense of recklessness, just like the boy’s eyes that, though cold, seemed ignited by the sunlight.

The stands were arranged in tiers, with no barriers between each level.

Chi Yao was now crouching on the step above, and after pushing her back down, his hand changed course and took the water bottle from her hand.

Although Lin Zhexia wanted to break her promise, she still needed to fulfill what she had promised to He Yang, so she said, “If you want water, go buy your own.”

Chi Yao: “I don’t feel like going.”

Lin Zhexia: “…”

Thinking that he would also be competing soon, she compromised: “Then I’ll go buy you one later. Give this one to He Yang first.”

Chi Yao finally said, “I’m not trying to compete with him.”

He paused, then added in a condescending tone: “I’ll take it down to him.”

Lin Zhexia: “?”

She didn’t understand why he suddenly wanted to get involved in her water delivery arrangement with He Yang.

With an expectation she wasn’t even aware of, Lin Zhexia asked: “Why won’t you let me deliver it?”

Chi Yao glanced at her while holding the water: “Is that so hard to understand?”

It was quite hard to understand.

Lin Zhexia was about to nod when she heard him say:

“I’m petty. I don’t want to see him showing off.”

“…”

This person had such deep schemes.

Lin Zhexia was stunned by his matter-of-fact attitude and momentarily forgot to stop him. By the time she came to her senses, Chi Yao had already taken the water she had originally intended to give to He Yang and gone down from the stands.

After a while, she lowered her head, opened her chat history with He Yang, and sent two messages—

Da Zhuang, take care of yourself—

I can’t save you now.

On the basketball court, the referee blew the whistle.

He Yang stopped his attempt to rush for the ball. He bent over to catch his breath, tugging at his jersey collar to fan himself while waiting for Lin Zhexia to come boost his image.

He had it all planned out—

In a moment, he would receive that bottle of water with the most elegant and handsome posture, in front of everyone’s eyes.

He would even pretend to be cool and act like it was nothing out of the ordinary—

He Yang was just indulging in this fantasy, adjusting his breathing, when the next second he heard a familiar voice.

“Hey.”

A bottle of water appeared in front of him. Following the bottle upward, he saw his bro Yao’s excessively handsome face: “Your water.”

He Yang felt a mix of emotions: “Why are you bringing it to me?”

Chi Yao: “Is there a problem?”

He Yang: “Big problem. Look around the entire basketball court—who the hell brings water to another guy?”

Chi Yao, expressionless: “So you have more prestige than them.”

He Yang: “…Thank you so much.”

Chi Yao: “Others only attract some girls’ attention, but you’ve conquered your opponent.”

He Yang: “…I thank you very much.”

Chi Yao released his grip: “You’re welcome.”

A few minutes later, the basketball court changed players.

The scoreboard was reset to zero, and City’an Second Middle School’s match officially began.

Lin Zhexia sat in the stands. In the first half, City’an was behind. In the second half, at match point, they substituted players. Chi Yao seemed ready to go on court. Amidst a chorus of voices chanting “Chi Yao” from who knows where, she saw He Yang’s return message—

I give up—

As soon as I came off the court, many people asked me who had brought me water—

Some even wanted contact information, but I couldn’t keep up with all the requests.

The first thing Lin Zhexia caught in these lines was the phrase “I couldn’t keep up.”

She typed back: You gave it out?

Da Zhuang: Of course I did. So many people were asking, I didn’t know how to refuse, so I gave it—

“Many people are shouting Chi Yao’s name,” said Chen Lin, who had finished all her events and returned to her seat. “The most ridiculous thing is, Chi Yao hasn’t been on the court for five minutes, and even the girls from the neighboring school are trying to get information.”

Tang Shuxuan also joined the conversation: “I just heard it too. Some people from Experimental Affiliated were talking about it.”

Chen Lin was amazed: “This popularity—I never imagined that Chi Yao not only dominates our school but could even extend his influence outside.”

Lin Zhexia listened without saying anything.

Chen Lin noticed her reaction and asked: “What’s wrong? You don’t look very happy.”

Lin Zhexia looked up: “Huh?”

Then she instinctively denied it, “No, I’m fine.”

Chen Lin: “You call that fine? Your mouth is drooping.”

Lin Zhexia hadn’t even realized she was unhappy.

Her chat with He Yang was still at “I didn’t know how to refuse, so I gave it.”

At Second Middle School, except for when school first started, when some people still dared to try, afterward, no one dared to ask for Chi Yao’s contact information anymore.

Everyone gradually accepted an unspoken rule: don’t get close to Chi Yao.

But the students from Experimental Affiliated School didn’t know this, so they hadn’t faced this kind of situation for a long time.

When school first started, she had also felt a little displeased, but that displeasure was more like not wanting to share a friend.

The unhappiness now seemed very different.

Lin Zhexia thought about it and still felt she had no reason to be unhappy about this, so it must be something else: “The sun is probably too hot. I feel a bit stuffy.”

Chen Lin reached out to feel her forehead: “You don’t have a fever. Would you like to switch seats with me? My spot has a bit more shade, not so sunny.”

Lin Zhexia: “Sure, if you feel hot later, just tell me, and we can switch back.”

After changing seats, Lin Zhexia continued watching the basketball game.

To be fair, there was a reason for Chi Yao’s popularity.

Even with the crowded venue, when he appeared, everyone’s attention was automatically drawn to him.

City’an had fallen behind quite a bit in the first half, but after he went on court, the situation began to change.

The young man in the number 0 jersey broke through the opponent’s defense after going on court, creating scoring opportunities—

On the scoreboard, City’an’s score steadily climbed.

The sun was at its peak, all the midsummer light seemed to pour onto that young man on the court, passing behind his back, tearing through the opponent’s defensive network, and scoring the final buzzer-beater. The score was completely reversed.

Lin Zhexia heard screams around her: “Chi Yao—”

If she wasn’t mistaken, from the moment Chi Yao appeared on the court, the neighboring cheerleaders who had been cheering for Experimental Affiliated seemed to lower their volume. After lowering their volume, some whispers began to emerge: “Who is he?”

“From the neighboring Second Middle School…”

“They’re all shouting, Chi Yao? Which Chi, which Yao?”

“…”

After a while.

Their topic changed to: “He’s off court now. How strange, no one’s bringing him water. If I had known, I would have gone.”

Among the whispers, someone else said:

“I heard his personality is terrible, so everyone thinks he should die of thirst.”

“…”

Lin Zhexia felt speechless hearing this.

This person, Chi Yao, did have some ability.

After the basketball game ended, Chi Yao disappeared from the court.

Class 1 and Class 7 had seats far apart in the stands, so it wasn’t convenient for her to go find him.

On the field, one event followed another. Lin Zhexia watched absent-mindedly, and finally couldn’t help but secretly take out her phone and open her chat with Chi Yao.

She typed and deleted in the chat box, finally sending: What are you doing?

Two or three minutes later, her phone lit up—

In the locker room—

Changing clothes

Lin Zhexia typed back: Oh.

Then, she typed one character at a time: I thought you were chatting with many people?-

Where are these people

How strange.

Just a simple question mark and four words, and her mood improved a little.

Lin Zhexia replied to him: Just some ignorant, blind people who were accidentally deceived by you.

Chi-dog: If you’re sick, go see a doctor

Lin Zhexia sent a fist-waving emoji.

After a while, just as she was about to put down her phone and watch the competition seriously, her phone vibrated slightly in her palm.

Chi-dog: [Image]

What Chi Yao sent was a screenshot.

In the screenshot was a personal settings page, where in the “Ways to add me as a friend” section, all methods were shown as closed.

WeChat ID, card recommendation… all methods were turned off.

At the same time, He Yang was also sending her a bunch of angry messages—

Damn—

Chi Yao is too ruthless—

Refusing to add friends—

What kind of person does this?—

So aloof, such a show-off!!!—

I’m going to change mine too, I’m going to be mysterious too, I’m going to pretend like I’m annoyed by too many people adding me—

I’m changing it right now!!!!!

Lin Zhexia: “…”

She copied and pasted what Chi Yao had just sent her and forwarded it to He Yang: If you’re sick, go see a doctor.

Chen Lin was chatting with Tang Shuxuan beside her. Midway, she glanced at Lin Zhexia again, concerned about her condition: “By the way, do you still feel stuffy?”

“Not anymore,” Lin Zhexia put away her phone and said, “It seems like the wind has picked up.”