MTLY | Chapter 30

◎The thin, hot sound of喘息 rolled through the air.◎

Jiang Yu came back from the convenience store with a few other boys, arm in arm, and ran straight into Liang Shiyi in the corridor.

The boy next to Liang Shiyi was teasing him. “Damn, who is this? That profile picture is so cute, it has to be a girl. Tch, and she even wants to buy you milk tea.”

The moment Liang Shiyi put his phone down, Jiang Yu caught a glimpse of the avatar on the screen, a dumb-looking rabbit, exactly the same as Song Tinghuan’s current WeChat profile picture.

Li Yiliang had his arm around Jiang Yu’s shoulder and was still ranting about the game earlier. “Come on, Yu-ge, we haven’t played together in ages. Besides, your tournament is already over.”

Jiang Yu had already turned him down just now, saying he was tired and wanted to sleep.

Now the two groups had run into each other in the corridor, and the boy beside Liang Shiyi was the same one who had almost gotten into a fight with Li Yiliang last time. Face to face again, neither side liked the other, and neither would back down. It looked like the kind of situation that ended with, “Don’t leave after school, meet me in the little grove.”

But Jiang Yu and Liang Shiyi were both calm. They looked at each other, and not even a spark flew.

Yet this midterm exam had already spread through the entire second-year grade. Liang Shiyi had taken first place in the grade, the first time he had ever beaten Jiang Yu.

In the tense silence, Liang Shiyi suddenly said, “Want to play a round?”

Jiang Yu gave a soft laugh and curved his lips. “Sure.”

Li Yiliang: ?

Li Yiliang found it unbelievable.

The vibe between Jiang Yu and Liang Shiyi did not feel like “playing ball” at all. It felt more like “starting a fight.” But before this, the two of them had never been this sharp with each other.

Li Yiliang was baffled. Seeing Jiang Yu replying to messages, he asked, “Yu-ge, why do you want to play ball with that Liang guy?”

Jiang Yu was busy educating a certain “too busy chatting to do practice problems” dumb rabbit, so he didn’t answer.

Li Yiliang stroked his chin. “Could it be because he stole your first place in the grade?”

Jiang Yu looked up at him with the kind of gaze you’d use on an idiot.

Li Yiliang said, “No way. With your scores, if you added English and comprehensive science, wouldn’t you be godlike? Impossible. Holy shit, don’t tell me it’s because of Zhang Xinran?”

Jiang Yu: “…”

On the phone screen, that dumb rabbit seemed a little angry.

【You were the one who came to chat with me, so never mind, I’m not talking anymore】

Jiang Yu curled his lips.【Want to come watch the game this afternoon?】

Song Tingting:【No】

*

For the better part of the day, Song Tinghuan was in a bad mood. Whenever she had time, she hugged her workbook and drilled problems, all while quietly complaining about Jiang Yu in her heart, then obediently starting from page 24 and continuing on.

She didn’t know why, but subconsciously, she didn’t want Jiang Yu to discover a blank page when he checked her work. In fact, she even wanted to do a little better.

“Ear, you’re doing questions again? You did pretty well this time, didn’t you,” Guan Linlin said, not understanding. She felt like Song Tinghuan had suddenly been pressed with some magical top-student button.

By now, Song Tinghuan had also calmed down about her math score. It had only just barely passed, just barely. There was still a lot of room for her to work hard and improve.

Thinking of how she had taken that passing report card to find Jiang Yu that morning, she now felt a little embarrassed in hindsight.

Only 102 points. What was there to be happy about?

“Hey, Ear, don’t do it anymore. Come with me to the convenience store… fuck! Jiang Yu and Liang Shiyi!!!”

The moment Guan Linlin finished, more than half the class looked up.

Guan Linlin stared at the photo on her phone. “Jiang Yu is actually playing ball with Liang Shiyi! A once-in-a-lifetime sight. Come on, Ear, let’s go watch!”

Song Tinghuan: “…”

“Come on, don’t you want to watch?”

Song Tinghuan remembered that she had just turned down Jiang Yu’s invitation to watch him play that morning, and now she was showing up at the basketball court in the afternoon. Wasn’t that way too much of a slap in the face?

But she also seemed a little tempted to watch him play, just like Guan Linlin said, very handsome.

Mm, she meant the boys playing basketball were handsome, not that Jiang Yu was handsome.

Song Tinghuan pressed her lips together and slowly stood up.

It should be fine to go take a look, right? Anyway, she could already imagine that sea of people. Jiang Yu might not even see her.

Yes, he definitely wouldn’t see her.

Song Tinghuan quietly built herself up mentally, then was dragged all the way to the basketball court by Guan Linlin.

Sure enough, just as she had expected, the students who had come running at the news had already surrounded the court so tightly there was no room to squeeze in. Song Tinghuan and Guan Linlin could only stand on tiptoe to look.

“Come on, Ear, where should we go?”

Song Tinghuan turned and looked at the raised platform Guan Linlin pointed at. There was a statue of Confucius beside it, a little far from the court, but the height made it easy to see.

“Hurry up, let’s climb up from behind that statue and secure the high ground quickly.”

Guan Linlin clearly did this kind of thing all the time. In just a few moves, she had scrambled onto the platform. Song Tinghuan, on the other hand, was pulled by Guan Linlin and took a lot of effort to hoist herself up.

Guan Linlin said, “I told you this spot was uniquely blessed, ahhhhhhh, Jiang Yu!”

Song Tinghuan also looked toward the court and saw Jiang Yu at a glance. He was wearing a black basketball uniform, unlike the other boys who only wore their jerseys. Under it, he had on a short-sleeved white T-shirt.

From far away, Song Tinghuan could also see that he was wearing a headband today, also black. Actually, from this distance, she couldn’t really make out his face, but she just knew it had to look really good.

Suddenly, Song Tinghuan was startled by her own thought.

What was wrong with her lately? Why did she feel a little weird, always… thinking Jiang Yu looked good?

“Ahhhhhhhhh, a clean three-pointer! So handsome!!!”

Guan Linlin cheered beside her, and Song Tinghuan silently comforted herself in her heart. Yes, he really is very good-looking. Everyone thinks so. She wasn’t the only one being weird.

Song Tinghuan let out a soft breath. The strange feeling in her heart was pressed back down. She watched the boy on the court run with the ball. The reddish-brown basketball seemed stuck to his palm, obedient and well-behaved.

Her eyes curved, and the corners of her mouth slowly lifted.

On the court, the score stayed tight the whole time.

Jiang Yu really was amazing at basketball, but Liang Shiyi wasn’t bad either. The two sides were almost perfectly matched.

The boys gathered around the court exclaimed:

“Jiang Yu is fucking incredible. He’s good at studying, and he even plays ball this well. At this level he should be on the school team.”

“What’s the point of the school team? He’s basically a top-student candidate already. Didn’t you hear?”

“Hear what?”

“This midterm, there was only one perfect score in math in the entire second year.”

“Who?”

The boy nodded toward the one in the black jersey on the court. “Our campus heartthrob Jiang.”

“Holy shit.”

Another three-pointer went in, and a wave of girls screamed from the sidelines.

A boy protested, “Can you not scream? Just watch the game properly.”

A girl was unhappy. “I’ll scream if I want. You watch your game, mind your own business, okay?”

The boy was choked speechless and shot back, “It’s just that you girls are too noisy. Jiang Yu doesn’t even want to come out and play ball anymore.”

The girl snorted. “Isn’t it because you boys are too trashy, so he doesn’t want to play with you?”

The sidelines were noisy, and the situation on the court also started to change. As their stamina dropped, Liang Shiyi’s side gradually showed signs of fatigue. Jiang Yu had played in the city league before and often played full regular-game time, not to mention a live matchup like this.

Jiang Yu was practically pressing Liang Shiyi down as he played. Anyone with eyes could see it. By the end, whenever Liang Shiyi touched the ball, Jiang Yu would actively steal it, and sometimes he wouldn’t even pass to his teammates. He’d go straight through for a layup.

This wasn’t Jiang Yu’s usual style. He wasn’t this individualistic.

After scoring 11 points in a row, the gap between the two teams was completely opened up.

People by the court whispered:

“This game’s got some fire to it.”

“Who cares, it looks good.”

“Liang Shiyi’s pretty miserable too. He’s been the eternal runner-up for years, finally got first place, and now Jiang Yu is crushing him on the court.”

“Exactly. Even though he got first place, everyone knows Jiang Yu missed the English and comprehensive science exams.”

“Why did he miss them?”

“Something about a modeling competition, I think.”

…

When the 45-minute recess activity ended and the bell rang, Jiang Yu dribbled past three people in a row and sank another clean three-pointer.

The basketball bounced, rolling out of bounds one hop at a time. Breathing a little hard, he turned to look at Liang Shiyi.

Liang Shiyi’s expression didn’t look great.

Neither of them said anything, but sparks flew in their crossing gazes.

Li Yiliang had never liked Liang Shiyi. Now that he had won the game, and even won against Liang Shiyi, he was thrilled beyond reason. He looped an arm around Jiang Yu’s neck. “Yu-ge, you’re fucking awesome. You scored almost 30 points by yourself.”

Jiang Yu gave a faint laugh. He couldn’t quite describe the feeling. He had won the game, but it didn’t seem as satisfying as he had imagined.

What exactly was he unhappy about?

It definitely wasn’t because he missed the math league and first place in the grade.

What did he need those things for? Anyway, he’d only be staying in Jiangbei for the rest of his life. Scores, competitions, whatever. It wasn’t like he had planned to slack off, but he really wasn’t all that invested either.

A bold girl came up to hand him water. Jiang Yu said, “Sorry,” and walked straight toward the rest area.

By the raised platform, Guan Linlin was still not done enjoying herself, sighing over and over. “Jiang Yu was too handsome. I’m numb, really numb.”

Song Tinghuan looked at the girls handing out water by the court and, for no reason, started to feel nervous. Then she saw Jiang Yu not take it, and quietly let out a breath.

“Ear, run! What are you spacing out for?”

Guan Linlin lowered her voice to remind her, then jumped straight down from the platform. Song Tinghuan didn’t dare. When she turned back to look, the dean, Teacher Li, was already striding fiercely toward them. “Which class are you from? Get down now!”

Song Tinghuan was a little scared. If Old Li caught her, she’d probably be publicly criticized. She didn’t have time to think, so she just ran in the other direction along the platform, which was only one meter wide.

The platform was built against the teaching building. After turning a corner, Song Tinghuan saw an open window and clumsily climbed through it.

After looking around, she realized it was a storage room for sports equipment.

Soon after, Director Li chased after them. “Where’d they go? They ran off? These kids, they’re really turning the place upside down!”

Another teacher chimed in with a smile, “I heard Jiang Yu was playing ball just now.”

The veins at Director Li’s temple jumped. Again with Jiang Yu playing ball. Every time Jiang Yu played, she had to work overtime, afraid that these kids would be careless and something would happen.

Song Tinghuan hid under the windowsill in the equipment room, not daring to breathe too loudly. Only after Director Li’s voice gradually faded away did she carefully stand up.

When she got to the door of the equipment room, Song Tinghuan pulled at it and found it was locked from the outside.

Her phone rang. It was Guan Linlin.

Song Tinghuan answered and immediately heard Guan Linlin’s anxious voice. “Ear, where are you?”

Song Tinghuan frowned and puffed out her cheeks. “In the equipment room in the west zone. I think… I got locked in.”

“It’s okay, don’t be scared. I’ll find someone to rescue you!”

Guan Linlin came very quickly. She also brought Jiang Yu and Li Yiliang. Neither of them had changed clothes yet, and they were still wearing their jerseys. Through the glass, when her eyes met Jiang Yu’s gaze, dark and frosted over with ice, Song Tinghuan abruptly dropped her eyes.

The boy’s cool, somewhat aloof voice came from outside the window, and his breathing was still a little uneven. “Song Tingting, you really have some nerve now, climbing through windows?”

Song Tinghuan: “…”

Only the logistics teacher had the key to this sports equipment room, so the door couldn’t be opened. Song Tinghuan could only climb back the way she came. Luckily, there was a tall box beside the windowsill. She stepped on it, climbed through the window, and stood on the platform, looking down at Jiang Yu awkwardly from above.

Jiang Yu’s chest rose and fell slightly.

He and Li Yiliang had run all the way here.

“Stretch out your hand.”

“Huh?” Song Tinghuan looked at the hand held out to her, a little dazed.

“There are five minutes left until evening self-study. Are you planning to stand here and let the wind blow on you?”

“…”

Song Tinghuan slowly crouched down. The moment her fingers touched Jiang Yu’s fingertips, her hand was caught, and her heart gave a sudden jolt. Instinctively, she wanted to pull her hand back.

His palm was warm, almost hot.

“Scared?” Jiang Yu tugged lightly at the corner of his lips. His gaze was still unkind, but he didn’t say anything sharp again. “I’ll catch you, you won’t fall.”

His voice was even a little gentle. The wind passed by, brushing over the boy’s straight shoulders. His normally pale neck had a slight flush from exercise. Standing against the light in front of Song Tinghuan, a black headband wrapped around his forehead, with a sky full of orange-pink sunset behind him, spreading across the horizon like a wash of ink.

Song Tinghuan was a little scared, but hearing Jiang Yu say that, she became certain that he really wouldn’t let her fall.

With her hand held, she put a little strength into her legs. The moment her body lifted into the air, she fell straight into a warm embrace.

The boy’s chest was broad, and his body still carried the vigorous heat of after exercise. Song Tinghuan crashed into Jiang Yu’s arms, and Jiang Yu was driven back half a step. The thin, hot sound of his喘息 brushed against Song Tinghuan’s ear, sending a shiver hard through the back of her neck.

Author’s note:

Song Tinghuan: You… stop breathing like that.

Jiang Yu: ?

Second update done~ A tiny red packet~~