Chapter 058: Lucid Sinking

A wave of exclamations erupted from the audience stands. Even Ye Chaoying thought it was f*cking explosively cool!

Xia Chiyi turned around, hopped twice on the spot like a lively rabbit, and pointed with both hands at Zhou Zhexiao, who had passed him the ball.

Praise me! Hurry up and praise me! You must praise me right now!

“I want to bite you to death,” Zhou Zhexiao smiled.

Damn, this man is fine when he doesn’t smile, but when he does, he’s so fcking sexy.*

It was as if he was suppressing his excitement, wanting to show off his treasure in a low-key manner.

Xia Chiyi’s heart felt as if it had truly been pinched hard by something in that instant. He regretted so much now—why didn’t he jump on Zhou Zhexiao in the last quarter? High-fives are for kids; adults should hug like crazy!

Xia Chiyi’s goal exploded the scene right at the start.

In the stands, Zhang Xiulin almost screamed. That idiot Xia Chiyi… is seriously too handsome!

He had almost bypassed the entire Qincheng University team by himself.

At least no one on the soccer team had achieved such a feat!

Ke Yan gritted his teeth and glared at Meng Ting and He Zhan, “Who practiced breaking through double teams with him?!”

Meng Ting also gritted his teeth, looking suspiciously at Yang Huaiyu, “Who the f*ck practiced contact layups with him?!”

Yang Huaiyu accepted the blame, “I taught him, but I didn’t expect him to dare go head-to-head with Meng Ting!”

“It’s fine, our turn.”

Ke Yan revealed a cold expression, making an extremely tricky cut, like the arc drawn by a scimitar, and the end of that arc connected to Yang Huaiyu.

After receiving the ball, Yang Huaiyu jumped with extreme speed. Shuai Bei and Chen Chuan intercepted.

More importantly, Zhou Zhexiao jumped right behind him. The mid-air interception by three people shocked the audience into holding their breath.

Even the referees, Gao Jinshu and Ji Bo, hadn’t expected a university game… to reach such a standard!

Yang Huaiyu’s eyes held a cold light. Once he shot, whether he switched hands or used a double-clutch, the probability of being blocked by Zhou Zhexiao from behind was too high. Before landing decisively, he passed the ball to Li Shunchuan, who had come to support.

As soon as Li Shunchuan received the ball, he encountered Xia Chiyi’s defense. Li Shunchuan was actually the one who wanted to pounce and bite Xia Chiyi the most.

This brat not only made him run all over the court, but even in the fourth quarter, he still had such stamina and speed—he truly was the “little monster” Yang Huaiyu spoke of!

Li Shunchuan’s shooting motion was interfered with, but Xia Chiyi caught the cunning in Li Shunchuan’s eyes and the force that was greater than a normal shot.

“Careful—” Xia Chiyi shouted to remind his teammates. Li Shunchuan’s real goal was actually to pass.

Yang Huaiyu caught the ball in mid-air and dunked it directly into the basket.

Fast and ruthless.

He turned around, lifted Li Shunchuan up, and spun him around twice. “Beautiful pass!”

Li Shunchuan was still a bit dizzy when he landed. It seemed that compared to hugs, he was more suited for high-fives.

The pace of the game became faster and faster. With amazing teamwork from both sides, the score remained tight.

Zhou Zhexiao’s offensive speed increased, resembling Liu Suochen from last year who pulled the rug out from under Qincheng University.

He even staged a scoring performance more exaggerated than Liu Suochen’s. Just after crossing the free-throw line, he arrogantly jumped in front of Yang Huaiyu, spun 300 degrees in the air, shook off the tallest player Meng Ting, and threw a tear-drop shot in front of He Zhan.

Such body control made the entire arena boil over.

But it also ignited the raging fighting spirit of Qincheng University.

“Pay him back!” Yang Huaiyu pulled up the corners of his mouth.

Impressive.

This was a kind of detachment and sophistication different from Liu Suochen’s.

Without a big heart, one couldn’t make such a goal.

Zhou Zhexiao also looked at Xia Chiyi and lifted his chin.

Xia Chiyi was also playing high and blurted out, “You are so hot!”

Ke Yan smirked, “Alright, let’s cool you guys down then!”

He pulled up a frenzy again, passing the ball to Li Shunchuan at the three-point line. Li Shunchuan was immediately double-teamed by Xia Chiyi and Ye Chaoying. Ye Chaoying suddenly stole the ball, dribbled away, turned around, and had the ball stolen by Yang Huaiyu!

Ye Chaoying was stunned by the look in Yang Huaiyu’s eyes—a sharpness that would kill gods and buddhas alike if they blocked his way.

Yang Huaiyu dribbled towards the basket, shook past Shuai Bei, faced Zhou Zhexiao who came to help defend, stopped abruptly, jumped, and made the shot!

Yang Huaiyu looked coldly at Zhou Zhexiao, “I have no shortcomings.”

Meaning he was proficient in both layups and shooting.

“Coincidentally, me too.” Zhou Zhexiao indifferently pulled his collar to wipe the sweat hanging from his chin.

The two teams went back and forth, the score impossible to pull apart.

The game went from the last minute to the last forty seconds… thirty seconds.

The audience’s hearts were suspended in mid-air. Of the two observing professors, one clutched his collar tightly, and the other dropped his thermos but didn’t care to pick it up. Even the basketball team’s exclusive contrarian, Zhang Xiulin, showed a focused expression, fists clenched, as if the lottery numbers were about to be drawn!

—As long as the basketball team could win this time, he, Zhang Xiulin, was willing to be a vegetarian for a month!

Shuai Bei received a pass but missed the shot. He gritted his teeth and roared; his shooting really wasn’t practiced enough.

He Zhan and Meng Ting cooperated to grab the rebound and passed it to Yang Huaiyu.

As soon as Yang Huaiyu crossed the three-point line, he engaged in intense confrontation with Zhou Zhexiao. The scoring route was almost forced to the sideline. Don’t give up! Don’t give up!

When Zhou Zhexiao analyzed the gap between him and Liu Suochen, it was that he gave up on confrontation too early!

Finally approaching the sideline, Yang Huaiyu was about to pass to Ke Yan who came to support, but his sixth sense told him Ye Chaoying was on the way to steal.

His brain suddenly became incredibly clear. Time seemed to be sliced into pieces. He seemed to see the extension of countless endings. He made a no-look bounce pass, smashing the ball towards Li Shunchuan on the baseline.

Li Shunchuan received the ball. When Xia Chiyi stepped forward, he cross-stepped laterally to retreat. The dual pivot foot kept him from getting messy or falling. He jumped and shot. The ball passed over Xia Chiyi’s head and, under the gaze of countless eyes, entered the basket to score.

112 to 110. Qincheng University won against Ningchang University by a narrow margin.

Xia Chiyi looked at Li Shunchuan. The other party revealed an arrogant expression, pointing at himself, “I am the number one sharpshooter in the Southeast Division.”

Li Shunchuan originally thought Xia Chiyi would show dissatisfaction, but who knew he just looked at him with an expression like he was looking at a statue in a temple.

Then came a sentence, “Yes, you should be right now!”

Before Li Shunchuan’s drooping eyebrows could rise, Xia Chiyi added, “You can step down from the altar next March!”

“Ah! This kid is so annoying! Someone come take him away!”

Yang Huaiyu was still adjusting his breathing.

In this game, he gave it his all.

He hadn’t gone crazy like this in a long time.

Zhou Zhexiao walked up to him, still looking plain and indifferent, “Your teammates this year seem stronger than last year.”

“Thanks.” Yang Huaiyu stood with hands on his hips, carefully observing Zhou Zhexiao’s expression, “If the last quarter was tempo two, I want to know if you still have a tempo three.”

“Depends on the situation,” Zhou Zhexiao said lightly.

“Depends on what situation?”

Zhou Zhexiao looked at Xia Chiyi, who was pestering Li Shunchuan about the lateral step-back, “Depends on if he still has his own tempo three.”

The students stood up and gave them warm applause.

Although they lost by two points and had two more substitution opportunities than the opponent, everyone present felt for the first time—their basketball team was really strong.

The three soccer players in the front row leaned back against their chairs, exhaling in unison.

At this moment, the class monitor’s head suddenly poked out from the back row, “I’ve been waiting for over ten seconds. You guys haven’t started your mocking mode yet?”

Zhang Xiulin was startled, “Monitor! Don’t always appear suddenly like this; you’ll scare people into a heart attack!”

“I didn’t appear suddenly; I’ve been patting your shoulder for a while!” the monitor said grinning.

Zhang Xiulin’s other two teammates looked at him, both a bit hesitant, their brains trying to come up with some sarcastic words.

“Let’s go,” Zhang Xiulin stood up.

“Just that?” the monitor asked with a smile.

“Monitor, what else do you want me to say? That they changed two players and still lost to Qincheng University by 2 points?” Zhang Xiulin took a deep breath.

“But on our side, Xia Chiyi, Zhou Zhexiao, and Ye Chaoying are all freshmen,” Zhang Xiulin’s teammate subconsciously found a reason.

“Yeah, they are all freshmen and have already played against the third in the nation. We are also freshmen, still on the bench.”

After speaking, Zhang Xiulin put his hands in his pockets and left with his two teammates.

It was time to leave. Ling Huanzhen wanted to invite the two professors to leave first, but didn’t expect one to lean against the chair saying he needed to recover a bit more, and the other just remembered to retrieve his thermos. Ling Huanzhen, a big tall guy, lay on the ground helping the professor find his cup.

Yang Huaiyu wiped himself all over with a towel. After playing the whole game, he didn’t feel it when excited, but now his calves were shaking.

Ke Yan was right next to him, head down, “My… heart is still beating… this practice game was played like the finals…”

“Ah Yan…”

“What?” Ke Yan held a bottle of sports drink, twisted it for a long time without opening it, and then put it in Yang Huaiyu’s hand like he was venting, “Open it… for Daddy…”

“Ah Yan, it’s so good to have you…” Yang Huaiyu turned sideways, leaning on Ke Yan.

He didn’t care that much about that lost game anymore because he had teammates who matched him.

Ke Yan couldn’t support him at all and fell to the other side, landing right on Li Shunchuan.

Li Shunchuan was already frail and fell directly, like dominoes.

Finally, He Zhan alone bore the pressure of the entire team.

“Are you guys even human—”

The whole team was quiet for a full thirty seconds, still not emerging from the aftertaste of the game.

Yang Huaiyu used his last strength to open the drink and handed it to Ke Yan.

“I can’t imagine what our ending would be if Zhou Zhexiao played against me with his own rhythm from the first quarter.”

Ke Yan was just about to take a sip when this sentence completely ruined his mood, “Big shot, do you really have to scare me like this? His fourth quarter… has already refreshed my understanding. You being evenly matched with him… I f*cking started to worship you… Now you tell me he can maintain this intensity from the first to the fourth quarter?”

Yang Huaiyu whispered, “Trust me, he can.”

Ke Yan gasped. Beside them, Li Shunchuan suddenly started kicking his legs on the ground like a child denied a toy.

“Ahhhhh… Xia Chiyi… he played me for a full quarter…”

“You just realized that now? Didn’t I already remind you?” Yang Huaiyu asked helplessly.

“The problem is I’m like a dead dog now… and he’s still full of energy…” Li Shunchuan’s voice carried a hint of crying, as if time reversed to the moment he was heartbroken.

Everyone struggled to lift their eyelids and looked across. Xia Chiyi was standing with He Bin; the two were still simulating Li Shunchuan’s last shot.

Whatever was said, Xia Chiyi looked over.

Li Shunchuan suddenly had a bad feeling and muttered, “Don’t come over… don’t come over…”

Although Meng Ting was weak, he still wanted to gloat, “Based on my understanding, he will come over, he will definitely come over…”

He Zhan: “Embarrassed Li, you successfully attracted his attention. He will definitely come to drain you dry.”

On this point, the two who practiced double-team breakthroughs with Xia Chiyi had deep experience.

“But I’ve already been drained dry…” Li Shunchuan’s expression became even more desolate.

“Whatever he says to you, just answer ‘I don’t remember’.” Yang Huaiyu smiled and gave Li Shunchuan a tip.

One step, two steps, three steps… Li Shunchuan closed his eyes, pretending to be asleep, but Xia Chiyi had already arrived in front of him, bent down, and placed both hands on his shoulders.

His palms were hot. Li Shunchuan felt envious for the first time—young people really have fierce firepower.

“Li Shunchuan, Li Shunchuan are you asleep? You can’t sleep here; you’ll catch a cold,” Xia Chiyi’s sincere and considerate voice sounded.

Beside him, Ke Yan lowered his head and whispered, “Don’t look into his eyes.”

Li Shunchuan kept his head down and eyes closed, letting Xia Chiyi continue to gently shake him.

“Can you teach me your last lateral step-back? I tried several times with He Bin, and we both traveled, but you didn’t travel. It was so agile*!”

Li Shunchuan kept his teammates’ answer in mind, “I… I don’t remember…”

“Don’t remember? How can that be! That was a stroke of genius, completely beyond my expectations!”

Li Shunchuan screamed internally: Of course it had to be beyond your expectations, otherwise you would have blocked it! And if you ask me to do it again now, I can’t do it at all! That was my body’s subconscious reaction to being forced by you with no other way! You actually want me to do it again? I don’t want to do it again at all!

Saying it was a “stroke of genius”?

I think so too.

But now the gods no longer favor me, and I really don’t remember what that lateral step-back was about…

“Even Master… Jiao Yingfeng said your lateral step-back shot has the style of a general. You really are the number one sharpshooter in the Southeast Division.” Xia Chiyi squatted down in front of Li Shunchuan.

What? Jiao Yingfeng also said this lateral step-back was amazing?

Li Shunchuan lifted his eyelids and saw Xia Chiyi squatting halfway in front of him with hands on knees, looking at him with bright, expectant eyes, as if saying “Let’s go, let’s skip school and go to the amusement park.”

This is the enemy’s strategy; I must close my eyes quickly.

But Li Shunchuan’s wrist had already been grabbed by Xia Chiyi.

“Let’s go, Jiao Yingfeng is waiting for us over there? He said he wants to chat about your shooting together!”

What? Jiao Yingfeng wants to chat about my shooting?

The empty tank of stamina couldn’t possibly be overdrawn any further. As Li Shunchuan was dragged off the bench, his teammates around him let out a sigh.

“Sigh… inevitable result…”

“At least ‘Zombie Li’ doesn’t look so zombie-like anymore…”

“Truly the Ningchang ‘Brother Collector’.”

“Our last line of defense, Li Shunchuan, has finally been breached.”

At this time, Ling Huanzhen walked up to them, “Yo, Qincheng University’s ace, do you still have the energy to communicate?”

“Physical communication no, mental barely okay,” Yang Huaiyu said.

“How was it? We imitated Qingda’s playstyle from last year. Was it decent?” Ling Huanzhen asked, arms crossed.

Yang Huaiyu looked up, “What if you don’t imitate Qingda and use Ningchang University’s original rhythm?”

“What specifically are you referring to?”

“What if right from the start, you guys play at the fourth-quarter rhythm? Zhou Zhexiao goes full throttle, partnered with Xia Chiyi as dual stars, and Ye Chaoying speeds up the whole court. Could we still win?”

Ling Huanzhen smiled and pressed down on Yang Huaiyu’s head, “It’s because you always imagine ‘what if’ that even after several months, you still care so much about winning or losing against Qingda?”

Yang Huaiyu was stunned for a moment.

“I only know that before this game, Zhou Zhexiao watched your game tapes many times. Even during the one-on-ones with you these past two days, he was studying you, feeling you, adapting to you, and even learning from you. In his heart, you are a master worth putting under a microscope.”

Hearing this, Yang Huaiyu returned the same smile, “Maybe this game was also a test for Zhou Zhexiao—against an opponent like me, can he really save his stamina until the fourth quarter to explode? It seems now, if we really meet in the divisional tournament, he might have to explode in the second quarter.”

“No, from the first second, I will start destroying you.” Zhou Zhexiao’s voice came from behind Ling Huanzhen.

“Thanks.” Yang Huaiyu extended his hand to Zhou Zhexiao, “You successfully scared me.”

Zhou Zhexiao frowned but still chose to slap the other’s palm, “No need to thank me. I also played to my heart’s content.”

Yang Huaiyu knew in his heart that in a one-on-one, even if he went full throttle, he would probably be slightly inferior to Zhou Zhexiao.

It’s just that if Zhou Zhexiao’s teammates grew a little more, and if the little monster Xia Chiyi’s final help defense reaction was a bit faster, the outcome would be reversed.

Looking at Li Shunchuan again, he didn’t know what he was discussing with Jiao Yingfeng, but he kept nodding. It seemed he gained a lot too.

Shuai Bei walked up to Xia Chiyi. Just as he was about to say something, Xia Chiyi smiled, “There are still three months. You will practice well. As long as you need, I will practice with you.”

Shuai Bei was silent for two seconds, then gave a “Hmm.”

“Let’s strive so that by the divisional tournament, you can shoot three-pointers too!” Xia Chiyi showed a dazzling smile.

Shuai Bei turned away. He felt Xia Chiyi was going too far: If I can shoot three-pointers, wouldn’t you have a reason to slack off the entire game?

Ling Huanzhen walked side by side with Zhou Zhexiao and deliberately leaned close to say, “Not easy, Great Demon King—you lost the game.”

“Mm.” Zhou Zhexiao turned.

“I thought you’d be very upset.”

“Why be upset? Losing is the norm; winning is always temporary,” Zhou Zhexiao answered.

“That’s because you were imitating Liu Suochen’s playstyle. If you used your own rhythm from the start, Qincheng University might not have won,” Ling Huanzhen said with a smile.

“There are no ‘what ifs’. Basketball is a five-person sport. Shuai Bei, Du He, and Ye Chaoying still need honing. Xia Chiyi’s game experience is also slightly inferior to Li Shunchuan’s.”

Ling Huanzhen looked at Zhou Zhexiao, his expression sinking bit by bit.

Yes, Zhou Zhexiao could defeat Yang Huaiyu single-handedly, but Qincheng University’s teamwork could suppress Ningchang University.

To win, the whole team must win together. That was Zhou Zhexiao’s goal.

Shuai Bei returned to the bench and sat next to Du He. Du He still had a towel covering his head.

“Still three months, there’s time,” Shuai Bei said.

“I never knew… one day I would lose on stamina and strength…” Du He was still very dejected.

Ling Huanzhen sighed and sat down next to Du He, “Du He, what did you originally think you would lose on?”

“Not flexible enough, clumsy, too slow at dribbling past people… stuff like that.”

“Okay, next, I will focus on strengthening your dribbling breakthrough training,” Ling Huanzhen said.

“What? Shouldn’t it be stamina and strength?” Du He looked up, and the towel on his head fell off.

Ling Huanzhen put his arm around Du He’s shoulder and smiled, “Because in my opinion, you don’t have problems in those areas. In this game, Shuai Bei had to cooperate with Zhou Zhexiao’s drive-and-kick at any time, so you often had to withstand the pressure from both Meng Ting and He Zhan alone. Both sides have very high-level shooters, so the shooting percentage in our game was higher than usual. With shots come misses, and with misses come rebounds. This led to you having to fight very actively for rebounds. You being able to play fully for three quarters was far beyond my expectations as a coach.”

Du He looked at Ling Huanzhen blankly.

Shuai Bei also pressed Du He’s shoulder, comforting him, “Alright, even I am practicing shooting. The coach arranging for you to strengthen dribbling practice won’t be wrong.”

At this moment, Li Shunchuan constantly sent SOS signals to his teammates because Xia Chiyi actually dragged him to practice sudden stop lateral step-back quick shots on the sidelines.

“You shoot, I’ll defend you!” Xia Chiyi lowered his center of gravity and pulled up his pant legs with both hands.

The light in his eyes almost blinded Li Shunchuan’s drooping eyes.

Fake, right… the game is over… why still play ball… I can’t lift my arms anymore.

Li Shunchuan performed a very perfunctory lateral step-back, subconsciously dipping the ball, and it was knocked away by Xia Chiyi.

“Not like this. Your last shot was very light and brisk…”

Li Shunchuan finally couldn’t take it anymore and spoke up, “Xia Chiyi… I’m not on low HP right now; I’m dead, the kind that has exited the game.”

Xia Chiyi suddenly realized, “Sorry! Sorry! Sorry! I thought since I still had strength, I assumed you also…”

At this time, He Zhan and Meng Ting came over. One patted Xia Chiyi’s shoulder, and the other carried Li Shunchuan on his back.

“Don’t mind him, he’s just like this. Once the game ends, he immediately clears his stamina bar.”

Xia Chiyi watched them leave as if fleeing for their lives.

“Want to practice lateral step-back shooting?” Zhou Zhexiao’s voice sounded.

“Yeah. My feel is particularly good right now; I want to practice immediately.” Xia Chiyi dribbled the ball.

The game just now was too intense. Li Shunchuan’s last shot gave him a feeling of hanging by a thread, and he still hadn’t cleared his mind.

He seemed unable to do anything else right now.

“Alright, I’ll defend you,” Zhou Zhexiao said.

The two started practicing in the basketball hall.

Ye Chaoying’s voice came over, “You two practicing a bit is enough! Zhou Zhexiao, don’t indulge him too much!”

When the teammates also evacuated, only the two of them were left in the basketball hall.

Xia Chiyi continuously performed lateral step-backs, mastering this defense based on using feet as the center of gravity while paying attention not to travel with the pivot foot.

In the entire empty court, only the sound of Xia Chiyi dribbling and the friction between their sneakers and the floor remained.

Zhou Zhexiao’s eyes were cold. Xia Chiyi’s every move, every slight change in center of gravity couldn’t escape his observation. Continuous lateral retreats, constantly having the ball cut by the opponent—Xia Chiyi thought he would be annoyed, but he found himself faintly anticipating every approach from the other party.

The tighter Zhou Zhexiao’s defense pressed, the more excited a corner of Xia Chiyi’s heart became.

He felt as if he had become an overestimating hunter, luring another experienced and far-sighted predator into his trap bit by bit.

Unknown how long they played, maybe dozens of balls, maybe a hundred. Zhou Zhexiao observed Xia Chiyi’s knees, predicted the timing of his lateral step-back, and stepped forward in advance to cut the ball. But he didn’t expect that to be Xia Chiyi’s fake move. With a light crotch pull-back, he stepped back and shot.

“Hahaha, did you think I would stupidly keep practicing lateral step-backs in front of you!” Xia Chiyi scored and showed a triumphant smile.

Zhou Zhexiao was clearly fooled, his heart being tugged back and forth by the other, yet he could only say expressionlessly, “Take a shower, let’s go back.”

“Mm, go back.”

Xia Chiyi turned around. His tank top was soaked with sweat and stuck to his back, outlining the curve of his waist.

He bent down to pick up the basketball on the floor. His glutes, strengthened by equipment training, were full and resilient.

Zhou Zhexiao stood behind him, watching him silently.

Xia Chiyi reached behind, pulled out his tank top, the line of his spine extending downwards and disappearing into his shorts.

Zhou Zhexiao continued to be silent. If taking a step would pull at the flow of blood, he just wanted to be completely still at this moment.

Xia Chiyi entered the locker room and found his waterproof bag with a change of clothes.

“Exclusive use of a shower space for twenty people! Damn, these are Ye Chaoying’s pants, right? Why did this guy leave them on the water pipe again? What is wrong with him? Should I bring them back for him?” Xia Chiyi raised his voice and asked Zhou Zhexiao.

Xia Chiyi waited for a second or two but didn’t hear Zhou Zhexiao’s voice. Why is this guy so slow?

Xia Chiyi chose the innermost shower stall as usual, closed the door, and turned on the water.

When the hot water poured down from overhead, Xia Chiyi finally felt the fatigue from head to toe, and even wanted to fall asleep under the hot water like this.

He didn’t know how long he stood there when a stall far away from him was opened. The footsteps sounded like Zhou Zhexiao.

Strange, why didn’t Zhou Zhexiao choose the shower next to me?

“Zhou Zhexiao—is that you?”

After a while, the other party responded faintly, “Mm.”

Xia Chiyi gave an “Oh” and lathered his head with foam.

Zhou Zhexiao, showering with eyes closed, was about to take off the pilled wristband on his wrist. The grainy texture of the pills made his nerves tremble slightly. Before his eyes was Xia Chiyi staring closely at him.

At that moment, Zhou Zhexiao knew he had become the other’s prey, but he was still willing to be dragged by him, pushed away and pulled close.

The more sober he was, the more he understood he was sinking.

Zhou Zhexiao’s breath was suppressed in his throat. Sometimes he felt… Xia Chiyi was even loftier and further away than the O’Brien Trophy.

He put that wristband on another place. His forehead pressed against the cold tiles. After the game, a certain intense desire to possess increased exponentially. He chose to stay away from him, able to hear his voice but unable to touch him…

This could be considered the only way Zhou Zhexiao protected him.

The delicate sensation brought by the wristband’s pills made it even harder for Zhou Zhexiao to detach from the three words “Xia Chiyi”.

Zhou Zhexiao turned the shower to the max. In his mind was that pass Xia Chiyi gave him, vibrating gently on his heart.

His extended arm when shooting, his fingertips sending the basketball off, his flexible waist—everything achieved a perfect balance.

You are so hot.

Like a death warrant.

Feeling that the sound of Zhou Zhexiao’s shower was far away from him made Xia Chiyi very unaccustomed.

Before, Zhou Zhexiao always showered next to me. What’s going on today?

More space, so he got arrogant? Or is Yang Huaiyu too amazing, so this guy looks down on me, Xia Chiyi?

No, showering like this is so unpleasant!

Xia Chiyi turned off the shower, stuffed his things into the bag indiscriminately, and rushed out quickly.

He forgot a very important thing: the soles of his feet still had shampoo foam on them. The moment he slipped out, he felt like he was about to perform the cantilever from figure skating… He relied on his super agility to turn over, but his other foot was even less supportive and slipped hard again!

His heart almost spat out of his throat.

In that most critical moment, he used the waterproof bag to cushion himself and fell flat on the tile floor.

“Crash—Bang—” sounds came.

Zhou Zhexiao’s shoulders trembled. He thought it was Xia Chiyi coming to mischievously knock on his door again.

Outside the sound of splashing water, there seemed to be faint whimpering.

Zhou Zhexiao turned off the shower and turned his face to look at the corner position. Xia Chiyi wasn’t there.

Suddenly realizing something, Zhou Zhexiao grabbed a towel and wrapped it around himself, pushed open the door, and the scene before him made his pupils shake.

“Xia Chiyi—how are you!”

“You don’t need to come over! I can get up myself!”

Xia Chiyi raised his hand, gritted his teeth, elbows propped on the ground. A white towel covered his lower back; he must have covered himself immediately upon hearing Zhou Zhexiao turn off the water.

He tried to turn over. His legs tensed into lines that tightened one’s heart. The white towel was very narrow. Zhou Zhexiao only needed to squat down to see the fatal shadow.

From the back of his neck to his earlobes, Xia Chiyi’s skin gradually turned pink.

He clutched the towel and stood up, about to bend over to pick up the waterproof bag again.

Zhou Zhexiao felt the beast he had finally expelled was about to return to the mountain. He lowered his voice and said, “Stand still, I’ll get it.”

Xia Chiyi froze on the spot, motionless.

“You haven’t even rinsed the shampoo off your head, why run out?”

“…Looking for you.”

“Are you an elementary schooler?”

Xia Chiyi grumpily took the waterproof bag, put it in the shower stall next to Zhou Zhexiao’s, turned on the faucet, and started rinsing the foam from his head.

Zhou Zhexiao took a deep breath. Standing outside the stall door, he could see Xia Chiyi’s shoulders and neck. Taking a deep breath, he turned his face and asked, “Did you hurt anywhere?”

“No.” Xia Chiyi’s voice was muffled.

“With such a loud noise, are you sure?” Zhou Zhexiao asked again.

“I said no! That was the sound of the waterproof bag hitting the floor!”

Xia Chiyi completely lost the mood to shower. He rinsed hastily, put on a T-shirt and came out, finding Zhou Zhexiao still standing outside the door wrapped in a towel.

The water on his body hadn’t dried yet, sliding down from his waist and abdomen, flowing into the towel along the texture of his external oblique muscles.

Xia Chiyi’s ears buzzed, thinking it’s not like I haven’t seen it before, why am I so useless every time I see it…

Just as his foot was about to step out, Zhou Zhexiao’s voice suddenly sounded, “Step on the towel with your slippers, dry the soles before going out.”

Xia Chiyi paused, only then seeing the towel spread on the floor.

Isn’t that Zhou Zhexiao’s?

This guy loves cleanliness; how could he bear to throw his towel on the floor?

“Hurry up, I still need to wash.”

Hearing the other say this, Xia Chiyi endured the heartache and quickly stepped his slippers on it.

“Wait for me a moment.” Zhou Zhexiao raised his hand, as if to touch his head, but stopped in mid-air.

Just as he was about to withdraw his hand, Xia Chiyi leaned his head over and bumped it against his palm. Someone’s heart was bumped along with it.

“Got it.”

After speaking, Xia Chiyi went out and sat in the locker room playing with his phone.

Zhou Zhexiao turned on the water again. When he pulled off the towel from his waist, he raised his head helplessly and closed his eyes.

Xia Chiyi started a game, but his mind wasn’t on the game at all; he was basically pricking up his ears listening to the sound of water in the bathroom.

He knew sometimes Zhou Zhexiao showered very quickly, coming out in five to eight minutes.

But sometimes it would be a long, long time, so long that Xia Chiyi would be desperate and have to borrow another dorm’s toilet.

This time, sure enough, it exceeded five minutes.

Xia Chiyi, wearing sneakers, stood at the door of the shower room and shouted: “Zhou Zhexiao, hurry up, I’m so hungry.”

The other party ignored him.

Xia Chiyi was used to it and didn’t get angry, continuing to hold his phone, fingers pressing rapidly on the screen.

He played the game too poorly and got scolded.

“Hey, I got scolded… even my size was attacked!”

This time, Zhou Zhexiao had chosen the innermost stall again. Xia Chiyi didn’t want to slip again, so he could only wait outside the door. Suddenly there was a vast distance between them. He didn’t even know if Zhou Zhexiao heard him, why hasn’t he taught me how to retort yet.

Xia Chiyi simply started whistling, the tune going high and low, elongating and turning with the tide of the battle.

Zhou Zhexiao lowered his head, lips slightly parted, water dripping from the tip of his nose. Xia Chiyi’s whistling echoed in the empty bathroom. Zhou Zhexiao’s lowered voice came through with penetrating power: “Tell him, don’t use Kaisailu (enema) as lip balm!”

After speaking, Xia Chiyi vaguely felt the other party seemed to be panting a bit heavily.

Xia Chiyi happened to win this round and could righteously retort to the person scolding him: [Bro, can’t use enema as lip balm, ha!]

The other party cursed again and left.

Xia Chiyi checked the time. Zhou Zhexiao had been washing for twelve minutes this round.

So boring. Xia Chiyi just whistled the intro of “Pleasant Goat and Big Big Wolf” when Zhou Zhexiao’s warning came again: “If you whistle again, I’ll stuff the towel in your mouth!”

Xia Chiyi replied without thinking: “Which one?”

After replying, putting aside Zhou Zhexiao’s reaction, Xia Chiyi felt like banging his head against the wall.

What “which towel”?

Zhou Zhexiao only has two towels in total. One is spread on the floor for Xia Chiyi to wipe his soles, and the other is wrapped around his waist…

Definitely the one on the floor!

Could it be the one on his waist? That would be equivalent to…

Xia Chiyi gasped and turned around before Zhou Zhexiao’s warning gaze swept over, returning to the small corner of the locker room. He obediently took out his Bluetooth earphones, listening to music while replying to Ye Chaoying’s WeChat.

Ye Chaoying: [Are you two living in the basketball hall? Ling Huanzhen is treating generously for once, inviting friends from Qincheng University to eat lamb stew with vermicelli! If you don’t come, there won’t even be soup left in the vermicelli!]

Xia Chiyi: [My Emperor is bathing. If I urge him to be faster again, His Majesty will use the foot-wiping towel to gag me.]

Ye Chaoying: [Alright, take your time. Soup’s gone too.]

When Zhou Zhexiao came out dressed, he saw Xia Chiyi wearing Bluetooth earphones, eyes closed, fingers tapping gently in the air, humming “Gingerbread Man” along with the music. Except the sexy and ambiguous tune was hummed by him like a children’s song.

There was a slight water stain on the tip of his nose that hadn’t been wiped dry. The locker room’s overhead light reflected on his nose tip, as if he was shaking his head chasing a star.

Zhou Zhexiao walked over silently and stood right in front of Xia Chiyi until his nose tip brushed against Zhou Zhexiao’s clothes. He smelled that familiar orange body wash scent, opened his eyes, raised his head, and found Zhou Zhexiao right in front of him.

The moment the earphone fell out, Zhou Zhexiao reached out and caught it, then skillfully took out the battery case from Xia Chiyi’s left pocket and put the earphone in.

“Big shot, do you know how long you showered?” Xia Chiyi pointed at his wrist and asked.

Zhou Zhexiao didn’t answer but squatted down in front of Xia Chiyi.

“Twenty-eight minutes! Not counting the time before! Did you hand-wash all your clothes in there?!”

At this moment, Zhou Zhexiao’s palm clasped Xia Chiyi’s ankle. Even through the sock, Xia Chiyi could clearly feel the strength of being wrapped and supported, as well as the temperature of the other’s palm.