Chapter 015: Taking the Donkey Down the Slope

Shuai Bei’s pupils shook, and Ye Chaoying nearly spat out his drink.

“Um, Shuai Bei, sorry about that. Student Zhou here was in a car accident, so maybe…”

Before Ye Chaoying could finish his explanation, Xia Chiyi spoke up. “I believe what Zhou Zhexiao said. As long as we put in the effort, Ma Wenhua will definitely be replaced!”

“You guys are rebelliously cute. Sorry, but I won’t play this game with you.”

Just as Shuai Bei stood up, a man in a suit, hair slicked back with gel, rushed in. Looking excitedly at Zhou Zhexiao, he said, “Shuai Bei, is this your classmate? Is he here to watch your shoot? He’s too handsome, has too much aura! Look at these features! The lighting effects would be superb! These body proportions, perfect! He’s absolutely made for this industry!”

It seemed this man was Shuai Bei’s agent. He handed his business card to Zhou Zhexiao. “Student, please make sure to add me on WeChat!”

Seeing Zhou Zhexiao about to speak, Xia Chiyi quickly covered his mouth. “Don’t talk yet!”

Zhou Zhexiao tilted his head back slightly. Perhaps due to the reflection from the glass, Xia Chiyi’s eyes were sparkling. Zhou Zhexiao made a muffled “Mmm” sound through his nose.

Xia Chiyi stood up and said to Shuai Bei, “Buddy, look. If we lose the match on Friday, that means Zhou Zhexiao definitely can’t join the school team. Since that’s the case, he might as well accept this agent’s offer and enter your fashion circle. I know you’re cool beyond measure, Shuai Bei, but Zhou Zhexiao is absolutely the fashion world’s ideal type. Your gigs would be drastically reduced then.”

Shuai Bei looked indifferent. “Oh?”

“In the future, whatever gigs you take, Zhou Zhexiao will take too. You two can be competing products. After you sing, he’ll take the stage. Let’s see who lasts longer in the circle!”

“Just him?” Shuai Bei smiled faintly, his chiseled features exuding a natural arrogance.

Xia Chiyi didn’t back down. Meeting Shuai Bei’s gaze, he lifted his chin. “Yes, just him. Another friend is better than another rival fighting for your rice bowl.”

The agent on the side, although unaware of what was happening, chimed in, “This student’s conditions are truly uniquely gifted! What name can you make playing basketball! With his looks, entering show business later wouldn’t be a problem either!”

“Hear that?”

Even though his heart was pounding, Xia Chiyi smiled easily.

“So, even for the sake of your future modeling career, shouldn’t you consider helping us win the match? Then you can do whatever you want, and Zhou Zhexiao will be busy training, so he won’t have time to steal your cake.”

Shuai Bei stared at Xia Chiyi for a full three seconds. “How can you be so shameless, selling out even your teammate?”

“How is this selling out a teammate? It’s clearly considering both your and his futures,” Xia Chiyi said with a face full of sincerity.

Ye Chaoying took a deep breath, suddenly feeling that Xia Chiyi would score full marks in “Marketing.”

Shuai Bei scoffed coldly, turned, and left. Reaching the door of the café, he said, “I’ll play one match for you guys after Friday. After that, we go our separate ways.”

“It’s a deal!” Xia Chiyi broke into a huge grin.

Ye Chaoying leaned into his ear and whispered, “I thought we’d have to threaten him, like beat him up if he didn’t join us so he couldn’t model or something… How come he agreed so readily?”

Xia Chiyi replied, “That’s because deep down, he still wants to play basketball. Since we came to find him, as long as our attitude was decent and we gave him an excuse, he’d ‘borrow the donkey to get down the slope’ (take the easy way out/save face).”

“Oh—” Ye Chaoying nodded.

On the ride back, Xia Chiyi quietly watched out the window. He knew in his heart that what Shuai Bei said was right.

Even if they won and secured the starting lineup, as long as Ma Wenhua was the coach for even one day, he had the right to sub them out during a match.

It was truly depressing the more he thought about it. A glass ceiling hung over their heads; the future was bright, but unfortunately, there was no way forward.

“I want to use the internet,” Zhou Zhexiao suddenly said.

“Ah? You go ahead.” Xia Chiyi handed over his phone.

Zhou Zhexiao didn’t take it. “I want to go to an internet café.”

“Do you want to play games? If not, everything else can be solved with a phone. The domestic 5G network is very powerful.”

But Zhou Zhexiao insisted on going to an internet café. “I’m not used to using a phone.”

“Bro, you gotta keep up with the times!” Ye Chaoying covered his face.

Xia Chiyi stretched and smiled. “Alright, we’ve secured both Du He and Shuai Bei. We should reward ourselves with a break. Let’s go, team up at the internet café!”

Ye Chaoying took them to an internet café near the school. The three sat in a row. However, Zhou Zhexiao didn’t play games; instead, he opened a website entirely in English. Looking at the screen full of English letters gave Xia Chiyi a headache, so he turned to play games with Ye Chaoying.

After playing for a short while, they were totally wiped out, leading to the inevitable bickering.

Xia Chiyi glanced at what Zhou Zhexiao was doing out of the corner of his eye and almost sprayed his cola.

On Zhou Zhexiao’s screen, a person wearing practically nothing was shaking frantically. Zhou Zhexiao himself had his brows slightly furrowed, his right hand gripping the mouse motionless.

Looking at his serious, battle-ready expression, one might think Sadako was about to crawl out of the screen.

Xia Chiyi propped his chin on his hand, observing Zhou Zhexiao’s expression closely, feeling it was more interesting than the game.

He looked like he didn’t know how to close this kind of pop-up ad.

Perfect, time to tease him.

“Holy sh*t—Zhou Zhexiao, you insisted on coming to an internet café, was it just to watch this kind of stuff?”

Xia Chiyi’s tone was exaggerated and deliberate, his eyes wide as he looked at Zhou Zhexiao.

Zhou Zhexiao looked into Xia Chiyi’s eyes, naturally knowing he was doing it on purpose. With a click of the mouse, he clicked on it indifferently.

Instantly, the screen was filled with jiggling “water balloons.”

“If you want to watch, I’ll click for you,” Zhou Zhexiao said calmly.

“Who the hell wants to watch!”

Xia Chiyi quickly leaned over, covering Zhou Zhexiao’s hand with his right hand, guiding him to quickly find the transparent button on the pop-up ad and clicking it closed before attracting anyone else’s attention.

“I’m done using the internet,” Zhou Zhexiao said.

Ye Chaoying nodded. “Oh, okay, let’s head back then.”

Xia Chiyi had just exited his game when the same pop-up appeared in front of him. Sugary moans erupted from his headphones. Flustered, Xia Chiyi even knocked his mouse onto the floor.

Instantly, the same jiggling images filled the entire screen.

What the fck! Stop jiggling!*

Zhou Zhexiao bent down, easily picking up the mouse. Then he placed Xia Chiyi’s hand on it, mimicking his earlier action. Pressing the pad of his finger against Xia Chiyi’s fingernail, he clicked gently, closing the pop-up.

“You followed me to the internet café just to watch this?”

Xia Chiyi was checkmated by Zhou Zhexiao and was left speechless.

Zhou Zhexiao let go of Xia Chiyi’s hand but leaned on the side of his chair. The closer he got, the clearer those amber eyes became, calmly looking as if they could suck everything in.

Gulp. Xia Chiyi swallowed.

Suddenly, someone pushed Xia Chiyi’s shoulder. Ye Chaoying’s voice came through, “Let’s go. I’ve lost everything but my underwear today. Back to the dorm!”

The buzzing sound in his head suddenly stopped. Xia Chiyi touched his ear; it was a little hot.

Luckily, the lights in the internet café weren’t very bright. If Zhou Zhexiao asked, “Why are your ears red?” Xia Chiyi would really punch him… Damn, I probably can’t beat him.

Glancing at Zhou Zhexiao again, the guy acted as if nothing had happened, hands in his pockets, following behind them.

On the way to the bus stop, the loudspeaker of a clearance sale shop was blaring so loudly the whole street could hear.

“The unscrupulous factory owner ran off with his mistress and the money! We had no choice but to take clothes as wages! Clothes originally priced at 299 are all 29 yuan! 29 yuan, you can’t buy a loss, you can’t be duped! Clearance sale for 29 yuan!”

Xia Chiyi and Ye Chaoying had already reached the bus stop when they suddenly remembered something. Turning back together, they found Zhou Zhexiao standing motionless at the entrance of that clearance shop.

“What’s going on?” Ye Chaoying tugged at his own T-shirt. “That guy wears big brands from head to toe. Would he be interested in 29-yuan clothes?”

Xia Chiyi scratched his cheek. “Maybe… he hasn’t heard the story about the factory owner running off with his mistress and wants to listen to it from beginning to end.”

Ye Chaoying exhaled. “If Zhou Zhexiao hasn’t heard this household story, it is indeed a regret.”

The two walked back to the clearance shop. Just as they were about to say something, Zhou Zhexiao took a long stride and actually entered the store.

Xia Chiyi and Ye Chaoying had no choice but to follow him in.

The shop owner was an older man, sitting with his legs crossed and head down, playing “Fight the Landlord” on his phone, not even lifting his head to look at them.

He didn’t look like a worker from a bankrupt factory at all. He couldn’t even be bothered to act the part—negative review.

Xia Chiyi gently tugged the back hem of Zhou Zhexiao’s T-shirt and whispered, “Tell me what style of clothes you like. We can buy them from the official flagship store online. Not only are they authentic, but there are discounts too.”

“Don’t need brands.”

Zhou Zhexiao stood in front of a shirt imitating a certain big brand, staring at the iconic pattern for a long time.

“Stop looking, it’s just missing a leaf,” Xia Chiyi whispered.

The real one was a four-leaf clover; this knockoff only had three leaves.

“Mn.”

Zhou Zhexiao browsed the shop slowly with great patience. He was tall with long arms, easily taking down a T-shirt hanging at the highest point that had gathered a thin layer of dust.

“That style is ancient. Even my grandpa wouldn’t wear it to play croquet,” Ye Chaoying commented.

Zhou Zhexiao didn’t say anything. He patted off the dust and went to pay.

Xia Chiyi and Ye Chaoying looked at each other.

“I can’t imagine him wearing that grandpa shirt,” Ye Chaoying said.

“Maybe he just wants to experience the joy of shopping at a clearance store,” Xia Chiyi said.

Zhou Zhexiao was about to hand over cash, but the owner pointed at the QR code on the table without looking up. “Scan to pay, twenty-nine yuan. Can’t break a fifty.”