Once the Mediterranean left, Xu Qichen got a headache being mercilessly teased by a group of classmates whose names he could not match to their faces.
“Go, go, go, let’s eat.” A young man with an ordinary face and very pleasant voice grabbed his arm. Xu Qichen quickly realised that this was Ye Han’s roommate and best friend; Yang Xiaocheng.
While waiting for the elevator Yang Xiaocheng jokingly asked, “Have your stars misaligned recently? You seem to be particularly unlucky. Maybe one of these days I should bring you to the temple.”
Xu Qichen shook his head tiredly.
“Don’t worry, the freshmen only start class after military training, so you can still slack off for half a month, hahaha.”
Ai, is that supposed to be comforting?
He followed Yang Xiaocheng to the nearest canteen. Since it was dinner time, it was quite crowded. Xu Qichen did not have much of an appetite since he ate lunch late. After spending a long time looking around, he bought some fried chicken and ate it slowly while sitting down with Yang Xiaocheng.
There was a team of volunteers in blue polo t-shirts handing out campus maps and freshman guides. Their faces were all red from prolonged exposure to the sun. When they came to their table, Yang Xiaocheng didn’t even lift his head and directly said, “No, thank you.”
On the other hand, Xu Qichen calmly accepted one and put it in his bag while Yang Xiaocheng was focused on his food.
In Xu Qichen’s eyes, the canteen was a very lovely place.
When he was in college, aside from the dormitory, the place where he spent most of his time was the canteen. Where many students liked to study and write papers in the library, Xu Qichen preferred the canteen.
To him, the canteen was like a huge warm shelter, full of illusory fireworks. All kinds of noise surrounded him, combined with the warm smell of food, it weaved a warm plush blanket to wrap him in, making him feel that no matter how alone he was, he would not be abandoned here.
Yang Xiaocheng was talking animatedly about finding an internship, while Xu Qichen was responding intermittently. Then his mobile phone rang.
“Who is it?”
Xu Qichen glanced at the display, “Chen Qingyu.”
“Ai,” Yang Xiaocheng reached over with his chopsticks and swiped a piece of chicken, putting it in his mouth, “It’s already our final year, are you still intending to act like his nanny?”
What kind of description is that.
Xu Qichen smiled and answered the call. Before he could speak, the other party started, “Ye Han, have you done that thing for me? Will that freshman be coming today?”
He stabbed a piece of golden-fried chicken with the wooden skewer in his hand.
Aiya, he forgot.
“En, I was just about to say.”
The person on the other end did not realise the question had been dodged. Likely because the original Ye Han had always been overager to help, not even once did Chen Qingyu consider that he would be refused.
“That’s great, see you at the basketball court on the gym’s third floor at 7:30!”
He hung up very decisively.
“You ah, you’re failing because you always slack around and hang out with Chen Qingyu’s gang. Otherwise, you wouldn’t be targeted by the Mediterranean.” Yang Xiaocheng picked up his bowl of soup noodles and gulped the soup. “Did he ask you to do something for him again?”
Xu Qichen bit into his chicken, making his speech come out all muffled, “En. It’s nothing big, and will probably fail.”
He opened WeChat and found that his conversation with Mu Yao was at the very top.
He drafted a simple message in his mind before typing it out.
Ye Han: [Hello, I’m Ye Han. Will you reconsider the matter discussed at the hostel lobby today?]
He received a reply within four seconds.
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
Mu Yao: [Hi senior ^_^ What matter?]
Pr tf qgfafcvlcu cba ab ecvfgrajcv, bg vlv tf gfjiis obgufa.
Coafg rbwf mbcrlvfgjalbc, We Hlmtfc ajqqfv bc atf mtjaybz.
Ye Han: [It’s the matter of joining the basketball team. The captain is my friend. He said the interschool basketball season is beginning soon, but they’re still short of a centre. Since your arms and legs are long, he thinks you should give it a try. They’ll be practising at the court on the gym’s third floor at 7:30PM tonight.]
Coafg rfcvlcu atja, tf ofia atja atfgf kjr rbwfatlcu wlrrlcu. Zjsyf tf beuta ab gfjrregf tlw.
Ye Han: [My friend is sincerely inviting you over, he’s a very good person~]
Coafg tlaalcu ‘rfcv’, tf qea vbkc tlr qtbcf, gjcrjmxfv jgbecv atf ybz ab olcv atf yluufra qlfmf bo mtlmxfc, jcv qea la lc tlr wbeat.
His phone made a very loud and annoying vibration.
Mu Yao: [No.]
Ah, ouch.
Xu Qichen spat out the chicken and poked the extremely hard bone in it with the skewer.
He was rejected again. Xu Qichen had already expected this outcome.
The ability to persuade others was an enviable one. It’s a pity Xu Qichen did not have such a talent. He had always been the one being persuaded by others.
Ye Han: [Okay, no problem, I’ll look for someone else.]
Then, he added a word of thanks.
And tapped ‘send’.
“Done, let’s go.” Yang Xiaocheng stood up with his plate.
“O, okay.” Xu Qichen quickly put his phone in his pocket and followed behind Yang Xiaocheng.
His phone did not vibrate again, and Xu Qichen did not think anymore about it.
The hostel room was neither large nor small. The other two were not in at the moment. Just as Xu Qichen was contemplating asking, Yang Xiaocheng said, “When you weren’t here this morning, Zhang Xiao and Wang Yifeng told me they’ve secured internships, but it is a little far from school, so they’ll be back late.” Yang Xiaocheng’s desk was a mess. He spoke as he tidied it up, “They’ll probably find an apartment near the company in a few days. Seems like the company will keep them after graduation if they perform well.”
Xu Qichen sat at his seat and nodded, “What about you?”
“I’ve also been submitting my resume. Today I had a telephonic interview with an Internet company. I have to go over for a test tomorrow.” He arranged the books on his desk, “So I might stay up late tonight.”
Xu Qichen responded with a simple ‘o’.
The other party seemed to be the kind who frequently worried about his friends. He said, “Don’t just ‘o’, you should find one quickly too. Don’t slack anymore, or soon you’ll be the only one left in this room.”
Yang Xiaocheng’s words made Xu Qichen recall his university days. At that time, he was lonely and cold. While everyone else was busy taking the postgraduate entrance examination, civil servant examination, and teacher qualification certificate, his daily life was to face the computer and expressionlessly tap the keyboard.
He was a natural loner.
It seemed like that had always been the case. The person he liked was a social expert who was loved by everyone. He was the focus of the crowd wherever he went and was someone who could get along with anyone.
Why was he unable to become like that?
When he was young and inexperienced, he used to wonder, if I were more like everyone else, if I were less silent, would I get a little bit closer to him?
At least, when he jokes around with everyone, I would also be part of that crowd.
“Ye Han, what’s up with you?” Yang Xiaocheng waved his hand in front of him, “Are you okay? Are you sick?”
Xu Qichen shook his head and, recalling Ye Han’s setting, forced out a wide smile while flopping on the desk, “I’m fine, I was just thinking about submitting my resume.”
“Finally.” Yang Xiaocheng patted his shoulder, “Don’t worry, even though you failed a few classes, what companies are concerned about is your practical skill, so don’t worry.”
Still lying on his desk, Xu Qichen nodded.
“It’s 7:20, I’ll shower first.” Yang Xiaocheng headed for the bathroom. Xu Qichen subconsciously attempted to wave his hand, but ended up knocking over a cup of water that was placed on the desk, spilling it over his own face.
He stood up and looked at himself in the mirror. The wet hair stuck unwillingly to his face, making him look ugly and pathetic.
It’s almost 7:30PM already?
Although Xu Qichen did not complete the task assigned to him by Chen Qingyu, as a fake secret admirer, he had to go there in person to show his sincerity.
Xu Qichen wiped his face and hair. As there was no time for his hair to dry completely, he picked up a black baseball cap hanging on the bedpost and put it on backwards. “Xiaocheng, I’m heading out ah.”
Xu Qichen left the room with the map he had accepted in the canteen earlier.
The sun was lazily lingering on the dark orange skyline, procrastinating and unwilling to go, just like Xu Qichen’s current state of mind.
It took a while for him to find the gym, which was bigger than he had thought. As soon as he approached the basketball court, he heard the noisy shouting inside and the goosebump-inducing squeak of sneakers rubbing on the floor.
The front door of the basketball court was partially open. Xu Qichen stood there and peeked in.
Before he could fully take in the situation inside, he was spotted by a very buff and scary-looking young man, “Yu-ge, Ye Han is here ai!
He got a fright.
Act cheerful, act cheerful.
Xu Qichen repeated his settings in his head, took a deep breath, and gave a relatively acceptable sunshine-ish smile before he slipped into the gym and waved at everyone.
Chen Qingyu, who was dribbling the ball, saw Ye Han coming and passed the ball to another person. He came forward and said, “You’re here.” He glanced behind Xu Qichen. Although he didn’t say anything, his intention was very obvious.
“He didn’t come,” Xu Qichen straightforwardly interrupted Chen Qingyu’s anticipation, “I spoke to him, but he still refused.”
Chen Qingyu made a disappointed face and sighed. Scratching his head, he said, “Fine, I’ll ask some of the second-years to keep an eye out for potential candidates.” He patted Xu Qichen on the shoulder, “You’ve worked hard.”
Once again, he had no concept of lightness.
Xu Qichen flinched in pain, which was noticed by Chen Qingyu, “Are you not feeling well? You look dejected.”
Looking dejected was the default for Xu Qichen, not Ye Han.
Xu Qichen quickly shook his head to avoid being suspected, “No.”
“Since leaving the basketball team you seldom exercise well. Look at you, so thin, come, take the ball.” With that, he tutted at the brothers holding the ball not far away. The other party quickly understood and threw the ball on the ground. It bounced over and was caught by Chen Qingyu, who held the ball in one hand, and Xu Qichen’s shoulder in the other.
Why is this person so used to invading others’ personal space.
If he knew Ye Han was gay, would he still be so familiar?
A certain dark corner of his heart came alive.
Xu Qichen originally thought that Ye Han should have a certain amount of skill after spending some time on the basketball team. Even if Xu Qichen was not very good at sports, he would not be exposed. It was only once they began to play, that he found out that this ability was no better than his own.
He stood beneath the hoop and shot thrice, and missed all three times.
“Ai, look at you, you haven’t played for so long that you’ve fallen to this level.” Chen Qingyu looked extremely disappointed, “I told you not to drop out.”
With this miniscule amount of talent, how could he stay and torture the rest of them, thought Xu Qichen.
Chen Qingyu shook his head, “I think you should stop shooting. Your form is all wrong, you can’t have regressed so much ba.” He placed the ball on the floor. “Shoot emptyhanded for me.”
Xu Qichen raised his hands and made a shooting pose.
Although he felt apologetic, Xu Qichen must admit that his attitude was a little perfunctory.
He couldn’t even say why. He’s a pretty serious person, it’s just that when faced with Chen Qingyu, he couldn’t bring himself to be serious, only thinking of quickly getting it over with so he could escape.
“No, no.” Chen Qingyu seemed to have a different opinion, going right into coach mode, “You have to put strength in your wrist ah.” Saying so, he stood behind Xu Qichen and held Xu Qichen’s wrist with his right hand, “Use more strength here, relax, can you feel the strength I’m using here?”
This posture broke through Xu Qichen’s safety zone, making him feel extremely uncomfortable.
Relax.
Deep breaths.
Ye Han has a crush on Chen Qingyu.
Don’t expose yourself.
He repeated these words to himself over and over again, attempting to brainwash himself.
Xu Qichen was half surrounded by Chen Qingyu’s arm and yet he couldn’t run away. He had to let him grasp his wrist and teach him shooting skills.
Inexplicably, Mu Yao’s extremely ugly expression from this afternoon suddenly came to mind.
So scary.
Life is really strange. Sometimes, truly mysterious things happen.
For example, stubborn bad luck sticks to you like the stubborn gum stuck on the soles of your shoes.
Or, Murphy’s Law, that can never be evaded.
“Yes, hold your wrists like this.” Chen Qingyu picked up the ball and put it in Xu Qichen’s hand, holding his wrist, “Try it with the ball, right, right, very good…”
Bang!!!
The sound of the gym door being opened violently and hitting the wall heavily was extremely loud.
And it echoed repeatedly in the huge and mostly empty basketball court.
Xu Qichen jumped in fright and subconsciously turned to look at the place the sound had originated from.
Only to see Mu Yao, wearing all black, slowly lower his raised leg, and stand proudly.
All of Xu Qichen’s strength was scared away, and the ball in his hands dropped, hitting the floor.
Dong.
Dong.
Dong.
The perpetrator put his hands in his pocket and raised his chin.
With a very disdainful and extremely bad attitude, he opened his mouth and said.
“Hello, senior.”
Mu Yao is very cool aaa
thanks for the chapter ♡
Huehuehue
I like this ☺️
Thank you for the chapter 😀
Thanks for the chapter !! -^^)❤
hey, can I ask where ur pfp is from? thank you!
I’m also interested!
Eating vinegar I see…
ML: “Look at my bottomless vinegar jar”
MC: “…..impressive?”
thanks for the chapter~
Thank you for the chapter 🥰
I love the descriptions in this novel! You did a really great job with the translation! ❄️❄️❄️
Mu Yao- control yourself lol
Thanks for the chapter <3
I’m confused. I thought there weren’t any OOC penalties with this system?