The game ended with a wide score gap of 58 to 25.
Mu Yao was the indisputable MVP.
Xu Qichen was extremely happy. In a rare show of emotions, he even stood up and cheered with Yang Xiaocheng. On the court, the youths in white jerseys bumped chests and hugged each other, celebrating their victory in their own way.
Ah Ming waved at Xu Qichen and shouted, “Team manager! Come down and celebrate with us ah!”
“Ah?” Xu Qichen looked around and found that the row was packed on both sides, so he climbed over the railing at the front of the audience box to join them. “You guys were amazing…”
Before he could finish his sentence, Mu Yao pulled him into a hug.
With a beep, his brain went offline.
It was an intense hug full of youthfulness and hormones.
Even after he was released, Xu Qichen was still in a daze.
The youth wearing the blue headband grinned at him.
“Thank you, senior,” he tilted his head, “for sharing your luck with me.”
In the face of such enthusiasm, Xu Qichen felt at a loss. Mu Yao’s eyes were sweaty, yet even the tiny beads of sweat shining on his eyelashes looked very charming.
“It’s great that my bad luck didn’t transfer to you.” Xu Qichen did not speak very loudly, but his smile was obviously very happy.
Mu Yao jokingly said, “If you put it that way, then now that you have given me all your good luck, will you become unlucky?”
Although it was only meant as a joke, Xu Qichen shook his head unexpectedly seriously, “It’s okay.”
His tone was bland but very sincere.
“If it’s you, I’m willing.”
His heart skipped a beat.
Somehow, he always seemed to hit the bullseye.
The coach clapped, “What a great start! Take a shower, let’s celebrate later!”
“There’s an idea!”
“Yes! I want hotpot! Treat us, coach!”
“No problem!”
Mu Yao pursed his lips, looking unhappy. But Xu Qichen whispered, “Go,” so he could only leave the hall with his seniors.
Hearing someone call his name, Xu Qichen turned around to see Yang Xiaocheng waving at him excitedly as he squeezed past the crowd to get to him, “Ye Han! I just got a message, I passed the interview! I’ve got the internship!”
“Really?” Xu Qichen was very happy for him, “I knew you could do it!”
Yang Xiaocheng smiled so widely that he couldn’t close his mouth. “This is awesome, it’s the company I wanted to get in the most! I’ll definitely treasure this opportunity and work towards becoming an actual employee!” He put his arm around Xu Qichen’s shoulder and suggested, “Come! I’ll treat you to dinner~ I’m really so happy today!”
Xu Qichen nodded happily, but he immediately recalled that the basketball team was also going to eat together. Perhaps it was a little self-centred to think so, but he was worried that Mu Yao would be upset if he missed it.
When he was about to inform him via text, he suddenly had a strange feeling.
Like he was patting his dog’s head as he left the house.
Be good, I’ll be home soon.
Xu Qichen shook his head, shaking the strange image out of his head as he opened WeChat.
Ye Han: [Apologies, my dorm mate just received good news from the company about his internship. He offered to treat me to dinner and I really can’t refuse. You go ahead and celebrate properly with the others from the team tonight ba.]
He did not receive an immediate reply.
Maybe he’s showering.
Xu Qichen decided to add another line.
Ye Han: [I’ll treat you tomorrow, okay?]
Then he put his phone back in his pocket and left the hall with Yang Xiaocheng.
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.
“Have you seen the campus forum?” Yang Xiaocheng suddenly asked when they were walking.
We Hlmtfc rtbbx tlr tfjv, “Rb, kts?”
Tjcu Wljbmtfcu abbx bea tlr qtbcf, obecv j qbra jcv rtbkfv la ab tlw, “Pa’r reqfg tba, jcs mbwwfca sbe ifjnf lwwfvljafis ufar yeglfv.”
We Hlmtfc abbx atf qtbcf jcv ibbxfv.
The title: [Begging for this boy’s information! Army training male god aaaaaaah!]
The first post was a few photos from the account with ID [Silly girl enjoying life].
Ktfs kfgf jii qtbabr bo Ze Tjb bc atf olfiv lc atf mjwbeoijuf eclobgw.
They were all taken in secret. Some even had very clear images of his profile.
Xu Qichen scrolled down.
—
[I can’t think of a nickname]
No.1 2020-09-04 18:45:32
WTF, where did this celestial big brother come from? This semester’s freshmen are of amazing quality! So handsome!
—
[Fairy who likes to eat meat]
No.2 2020-09-04 18:46:54
The profile is too beautiful! I walk past the field every day but I never noticed such a handsome freshman!
—
[The man in freshman]
No.3 2020-09-04 18:48:24
Emmm… Can I say this freshman is in the class next door? I think he’s from Computing, really very handsome. When marching, all the girls’ eyes are on him. But he’s a bit cold, pretty much never speaks to girls, and doesn’t smile much.
—
[Melon-eating crowd]
No.4 2020-09-04 18:48:57
So handsome, like a real celebrity! Please dig out his information! I want to sit in on his classes!
—
[ Tomato fried tomato ]
No.5 2020-09-04 18:49:12
Grabs the wild freshman on level 3! This junior looks very cool ah! Are computing boys all so high quality? I want to watch him march~
—
…
He roughly scrolled through. By the second page, someone had already posted Mu Yao’s name, school, course, and even his timetable.
He’s really too well-liked, how bothersome (for Mu Yao).
On the bright side, nobody posted his contact information, probably because he never gave anyone the chance to accost him.
Xu Qichen handed the phone back to Yang Xiaocheng, “This post has been up since last week?”
Yang Xiaocheng nodded, “It’s popularity never went down ah, I heard you can even find his photos on Weibo now.” Yang Xiaocheng flipped to the last page of the post, “Look, the match has ended just now, yet these girls have already posted Mu Yao’s photos. Are all girls so forward nowadays?”
No wonder there were so many girls at the match today.
Xu Qichen suddenly had an ominous premonition.
“What are you thinking of?” Yang Xiaocheng waved his hand in front of his eyes, “You aren’t jealous of his popularity ba.”
Xu Qichen laughed, “That’s right. Ah, to be so young.”
“You talk like an old man.” Yang Xiaocheng mercilessly mocked Xu Qichen, “I’m bringing you to a super good buffet today, just outside the west gate. It’s new. When I ate there, I kept thinking, I have to bring you here one day.”
Xu Qichen felt very happy. Since coming to this world, he felt like he was slowly making up for all the things he lacked. Having a good friend who constantly thought of him, and was willing to share his success and happiness with him was one of the best things in life.
While they ate, Xu Qichen asked Yang Xiaocheng about the details of his internship. After all, he was the only one left in the dorm without anywhere to go, he had to do his best to catch up with the rest of them.
Yang Xiaocheng was really a good friend. He directly gave Xu Qichen the notes he had organised on internet companies and their internship recruitments.
“I arranged them according to difficulty, so you can just give them a try according to the list. Although your results are not the best, companies nowadays don’t really look at that. Your programming skills are there, and they should be more than enough.”
Xu Qichen nodded and thanked him seriously.
“Eat quickly ba.” Yang Xiaocheng looked at all the cakes that Xu Qichen had taken, “Why are you only taking desserts? It’s not worth it if you don’t take lots of meat!”
“Cakes are expensive too,” Xu Qichen said happily, “And I really like sweets.”
“Whatever. You eat, I’m going to the washroom.”
Xu Qichen nodded and continued eating the cakes seriously.
His mobile phone notification suddenly went off. It was a message from Mu Yao.
Mu Yao: [Okay… Then please keep your word, senior.]
Seeing this line of text, the image of Mu Yao looking aggrieved and disappointed suddenly popped up in Xu Qichen’s mind and he couldn’t help laughing.
Ye Han: [I will. We can eat whatever you want.]
He received Mu Yao’s reply almost immediately.
Mu Yao: [I want to eat senior’s homemade food!]
But he can’t cook in the dorm ah… Xu Qichen gave it some thought.
Ye Han: [I’ll cook for you when I can.]
Mu Yao: [Yes!]
He’s really too easily satisfied.
After keeping his phone, Xu Qichen continued his battle against the table-full of desserts.
Strangely, Yang Xiaocheng was not back yet.
Finding it odd, Xu Qichen left his seat and, after asking a waiter for directions to the washroom, went to look for him.
As he approached the washroom, Xu Qichen heard Yang Xiaocheng’s voice.
“Are you asking about this person?”
“That’s right, the person in this photo is Mu Yao, right? Can you bring me to…”
It was the voice of an adult man.
He had a bad feeling about this. So Xu Qichen pretended to have just arrived and walked in calling Yang Xiaocheng. Hearing his reply, Xu Qichen walked in smiling, “You took so long, I thought something had happened to you.”
He casually glanced at the man. He was wearing a suit and looked about 25 or 26 years old. His features were very regular, except for the scar at the corner of his left eye, which looked like a faded scar from an animal scratch.
Xu Qichen, who knew all the settings, was shocked.
In the novel, this man was Captain Ning Zheng. He was from the Heretical Population Administration and was in charge of capturing and dealing with demons.
It was a good thing he gave him a scar, because of which he could recognise him at such a crucial time.
Xu Qichen took a deep breath and looked at Yang Xiaocheng doubtfully, “This is?”
Ning Zheng reached out a hand, “Hello, you’re also a student from Ximing ba? I’m from XX Media. I heard that there was a very popular freshman in your school recently, so I came by to find out more.”
Yang Xiaocheng nodded and whispered to Xu Qichen, “I think he’s a scout or something.”
Xu Qichen nodded, making an understanding expression, “I see, hello.”
Ning Zheng gave him a friendly smile and gave the photo in his hand to Xu Qichen, “Do you know this student? If it’s convenient, could you help me meet him?”
Xu Qichen looked at the photo. With an apologetic expression, he said, “Sorry, we’re fourth years, so we really don’t know the freshmen well. He looks familiar, but we’ve never spoken, so I’m afraid I can’t help you.”
Xu Qichen naturally gave off a very serious and sincere feeling. In addition, Ye Han’s innocent looks, also made him very persuasive.
He turned and looked at Yang Xiaocheng, “Xiaocheng, do you know this freshman?”
Although Yang Xiaocheng did not know why Xu Qichen was lying, he was a bright person who immediately understood the look in Xu Qichen’s eyes.
“I’m not very familiar with him too,” Yang Xiaocheng told Ning Zheng, “Sorry, I can’t help you.”
Ning Zheng looked at them. The expression on his face relaxed. He smiled and put the photos in his hand back in the folder. “It doesn’t matter. I guessed I wouldn’t be so lucky. Sorry for taking your time.”
After a few polite words, Ning Zheng left.
“Why did you lie?” Yang Xiaocheng asked after they returned to the table, “Before you came, I almost told him I knew Mu Yao.”
Xu Qichen frowned slightly, “How did he start a conversation with you?”
“I bumped into him when I came out of the washroom and the photos in his folder scattered on the floor. I helped him pick them up and saw they were all photos of Mu Yao. I was surprised, and he asked if I was from Ximing.”
Xu Qichen nodded slowly. In a solemn voice, he broke the news, “That person lied to you, he’s not a scout.”
“How did you know?”
He ate some cake, “He looks very young, his outfit is normal, but his hands are calloused, and even have some scars. These are not the hands of an average office worker. Especially between his thumb and index finger, you probably didn’t notice, but the callouses there were especially thick.” He put down his fork, “Only someone who uses a gun often would have callouses there.”
Yang Xiaocheng was shocked.
Xu Qichen was not done, “Plus, even when he relaxed, his index finger was slightly raised. This made me very sure that his job definitely involves guns.”
“Were you always this observant?”
Xu Qichen paused. Although he knew Ning Zheng’s identity beforehand, observing strangers had always been one of his hobbies as a creative writer.
“Ah, I just thought he was strange, so I looked a little closer. Anyway, he’s not a simple person, plus he lied to us about his identity. He might have an ulterior motive.”
Yang Xiaocheng also realised this. He said admiringly, “You’re so meticulous. I didn’t think so much and almost sold our junior out.” Then he added worriedly, “We don’t know why he’s looking for Mu Yao, should we let him know about it?”
Xu Qichen nodded. Even if Yang Xiaocheng didn’t mention it, he would have notified Mu Yao.
In the original setting, although demons can have human form, due to the particularity of their blood, these demons often have extraordinary appearances, which was also one of the investigation clues for the Heretical Population Administration.
It has been five or six years since the end of the novel, and many plot points were vague, but Xu Qichen remembered that Ning Zheng began to doubt Mu Yao’s identity because he saw the forums.
He couldn’t control or change the forums, but Ning Zheng…
As per his settings, Ning Zheng’s mother was attacked by a manic wolf demon when he was a child and died protecting him. His father worked for the Heretical Population Administration and died during a chase. That is why Ning Zheng hated demons in human society, especially demons that were originally large canines.
Why did he have to write such a character ah.
What’s wrong with a nice and sweet romantic story?
Thinking like this, Xu Qichen suddenly lost his appetite. He sighed.
“What’s up? You’re frowning.”
“Nothing.” Xu Qichen sat up, “Eat ba, I’ll submit my resume when we get back.”
On the road back, Xu Qichen sent Mu Yao a message.
Ye Han: [Where are you? I have something important to tell you.]
Mu Yao replied very quickly.
Mu Yao: [What is it? I’m out, is it very urgent?]
Ye Han: [En, where are you? I’ll head over.]
Mu Yao’s location was very hard to find.
By the time Xu Qichen found the place according to Mu Yao’s directions, it was close to dawn.
As soon as he came to the door of the bar and saw the purple fluorescent sign that read Hypnotic, he started to regret his decision.
Because in his novel, all the customers in the bar named Hypnotic hidden deep in an alley were, without exception, demons.
He shivered.
Ow good job MC stoped the friend from saying anything.
Thanks for the chapter 🥰
thanks for the chapter ♡
I’m excited~
Thank u for the chapter! 😀
thanks for the chapter <3
Good job!
Thank you for the chapter 💛
Ah love this story! Thank you for your work.
Thx for the chappy