Reece looked to the side and raised his brow. “What can happen between the two of them?”
“A lot can happen! They can eat together, watch movies together, and be all lovey-dovey together!” Carlo said seriously.
“Idiot.”
“You watch if you don’t believe me!”
At this time, Ewing flipped Nie Chuan’s back collar over. From this angle, Ewing was able to see Nie Chuan’s entire back.
“Allen! You’re so silly! You wore your shirt inside out!” Ewing held his stomach as he laughed out loud.
“No way!” Nie Chuan looked down and found all the stitching on the outside. “Eh? It really was inside out…… I’ll need to get shirts with designs and patterns on them next time. These solid-colored ones are the most annoying!”
“How are they the problem? You must have put your clothes on with your eyes closed this morning! Quickly change it back! You’re embarrassing yourself!”
Nie Chuan laughed. He took off his shirt while facing Ewing and inverted it before quickly putting it back on again.
Carlo stroked his chin regretfully and said, “Why wasn’t I the one who noticed that Allen’s shirt was inside out?”
“Idiot,” Reece coldly threw this out and left.
The next morning when Nie Chuan followed Reece for morning exercise, he felt a constant and inexplicably gloomy atmosphere.
Of course, Reece had always been a person of few words. However, Nie Chuan felt that it wasn’t just an issue of few words, even his response was unusually lacking.
In the past, Reece would still pat him on the shoulder occasionally to tell him to speed up or he would slow down after running ahead and turn back to see if Nie Chuan was slacking off. Nie Chuan would sometimes wonder if Reece had eyes growing on the back of his head, otherwise how would he be able to catch him slacking off so accurately every time?
But today, Reece didn’t even look at him.
Nie Chuan felt as if he had Stockholm Syndrome. Now that Reece was no longer watching him so closely, he was uncomfortable contrary to expectation!
After finishing their morning exercise, Reece went to the side of the track where they had put water and towels and found some cookies placed there. It was unknown which one of Reece’s female admirers had contributed them.
Nie Chuan knew Reece wasn’t interested in sweets. In order to make conversation, he picked the cookies up and asked, “Hey Reece, let’s open and eat these?”
“If you want to eat, then eat it yourself.” Reece slung his towel over his shoulder and turned and walked away.
Nie Chuan hurriedly chased after him and held a cranberry cookie up to Reece’s lips. “Then you have one too! Someone made these for you with good intentions yet you’re not even willing to try a bite……”
When Reece’s gaze swept over him, Nie Chuan felt pressure. He was about to take his hand back when Reece unexpectedly opened his mouth slightly.
He’s willing to try a piece?
As Nie Chuan happily pushed the cookie over, Reece’s lips opened and he forcefully bit down where Nie Chuan was holding the cookie. Nie Chuan’s fingers were practically about to be bitten off by him.
“Aiya!” Nie Chuan abruptly retracted his hand and the cookie crumbled and fell all over the ground.
Reece turned and leisurely walked away.
Where did I even offend you? Even if you don’t want to use Chinese, you can use English to tell me ah!
Nie Chuan lowered his head and looked at his fingers. Reece’s bite marks were clearly visible. How much did he hate him to bite him like this ah!
That weekend, it was Coach Gordon who was giving guidance to Reece and Ewing. Naturally, Nie Chuan and Carlo also went.
While Reece and Ewing were going one-on-one under the basket, Ewing could clearly feel the cold and solemn atmosphere released by Reece.
After practicing with Nie Chuan for so long, Ewing’s left and right cuts had clearly become more diversified than before. However, Reece’s speed and strength suppressed Ewing and he completely controlled the rhythm of the game, rigidly restricting the range of Ewing’s movements.
Ewing was suppressed by Reece so much that he almost lost patience and fouled several times.
“Why do I feel that Reece is unhappy today?” Carlo scratched his head and looked sympathetically at Ewing’s profile.
“Just unhappy today? I think he’s already been unhappy for a long time ne,” Nie Chuan muttered in Chinese.
“Huh? Allen? What’d you say?”
Just when Carlo asked, Ewing passed Reece with a fake move. Carlo clenched his fist. “Nice One!”
Nie Chuan, however, frowned. Even he could react to that fake, how could Reece possibly not discern it?
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.
Vegf fcbeut, jr rbbc jr Sklcu abbx boo, Effmf wjvf tlr wbnf.
“Gbc’a rtbba——”
Rlf Jtejc tjv pera sfiifv bea yea Effmf kjr ilxf j rkbgv atja tjv yffc ecrtfjatfv, tlr lwqbrlcu wbwfcaew rajgailcu. Ktf tfluta bo tlr pewq mbwqifafis byragemafv atf jcuif bo Sklcu’r rtba jcv tf geatifrris xcbmxfv atf yjii vbkc.
Ewing fell to the ground, propped up his upper body and stared at Reece with wide eyes.
He understood in an instant. Reece had already seen through his fake move, he had been waiting for him to shoot and his aim was to give it to him before blocking him out!
Ewing really wanted to question Reece, just what contradiction is there between me and you! But on second thought, this was all due to his own skills being inferior, there was nothing to feel dissatisfied about. He could only pat his butt and stand back up.
Coach Gordon clapped his hands together and came up to Ewing. “Ewing, you have the highest scoring rate for three pointers in the entire team but you can’t just passively wait for the opportunity to shoot when on the court.”
“I understand, Coach.” Ewing lowered his head.
Coach Gordon nodded and continued, “So this time I had you practice with Reece to see your progress. Your ability to pass your opponent has become more diverse and flexible. With some more practice, you will be able to move even more freely on the court.”
“Yes, Coach.” Having received approval, Ewing gave Nie Chuan a thumbs up.
Nie Chuan also smiled.
When Carlo suggested everyone eat Mexican food together, Ewing raised both hands in agreement but when Nie Chuan looked at Reece, Reece only said a “I have something to do” then turned and left.
“What’s up with Reece?” Ewing asked, puzzled.
Coach Gordon stroked his chin with a smile and said in a very profound yet absolutely indecent manner, “It’s probably…… the rebelliousness and troubles of youth?”
Everyone: “……”
Reece’s cold attitude continued until the next Tuesday afternoon. Nie Chuan had followed him to the gym for exercise as usual.
Ever since the last match against CBU, Coach Gordon’s training plan had increased the intensity of the drills for strengthening Nie Chuan’s back and waist.
Nie Chuan had asked Reece, what was the effect of strengthening these two?
Reece asked in return, “Didn’t you want to practice doing crossovers in midair and the skyhook? The purpose of strengthening the waist is for maintaining your balance in midair.”
“Then can I also learn the double clutch layup?” Nie Chuan asked expectantly.
The corner of Reece’s lips curled up into a smile as he looked at Nie Chuan teasingly, “Still can’t walk yet you already want to learn how to fly?”
“……”
Even though he took a hard blow, at least this was more like the normal Reece ah!
Rather than like he is right now. He was clearly right beside him yet he didn’t give even a bit of advice or criticism.
Guidance is good, sarcasm is fine too ah!
After the day’s training was finished, Nie Chuan carried his sports bag and called Ewing. The two made an appointment in the evening for one-on-one practice.
“Why don’t we order pizza for supper?” The foodie Ewing didn’t forget to talk about eating even when he was on the other end of the phone.
“Eh? Okay, okay! I’ll have a double cheese!”
“And with pepperoni!”
“Yes! Yes!”
The past few days, Nie Chuan had been completing his training with Reece while also playing one-on-one against Ewing and found himself starving faster and faster.
At the thought of delicious pizza, his saliva almost overflowed off the tip of his tongue. However, as soon as Nie Chuan turned around, he met Reece’s cold eyes and almost choked to death on his own saliva.
“Ké ké ké!” Nie Chuan started coughing.
“Allen, What’s the matter with you?”
“Nothing….. nothing!”
Nie Chuan hung up the phone. As soon as he reached Reece’s side, Reece spoke, “I have something to do, you can go back to school first.”
“Ah?” Nie Chuan’s face was a bit bitter.
After getting used to riding in Reece’s car, having to take the bus back alone now made him feel at a loss.
Just as Nie Chuan was about to say something, Reece had already walked out of the gym while carrying his bag.
The result of this matter was that Nie Chuan, who was a bit bored while sitting on the bus, took a nap while leaning against the window.
When he woke up, he found that the sky was already dark and there were several missed calls from Ewing on his phone.
As soon as he called back, Nie Chuan heard Ewing’s shout, “Allen! Where did you go?”
“I slept through my stop, sorry!”
“Slept through your stop? Reece didn’t bring you back?”
“No, he said he had something to do so I took the bus back!”
“But…… I seem to have seen Reece on campus just now!”
“Huh?”
Nie Chuan was stunned. If Reece was just going back to school then why did he say he had something to do ne?
“Forget it forget it! Come back quickly, I’ll be waiting for you!”
“Don’t forget to order pizza!”
“I wouldn’t forget to order pizza even if I forget you!”
That night, Nie Chuan and Ewing kept practicing until even the lights on the basketball court turned off.
When he returned to his dorm room, Nie Chuan saw Zhou Bin on the phone with his girlfriend as usual. His girlfriend seemed to be crying and Zhou Bin kept comforting her with his voice lowered.
Ai, this was precisely where women were troublesome.
Nie Chuan thought that if his girlfriend cried, he probably wouldn’t have any idea what to do to make it better ba? Where could he be like Zhou Bin with 365 different ways to comfort and coax ah!
By the time Zhou Bin hung up, Nie Chuan was already lying in bed ready to go to sleep.
“Hey, Zhou Bin, I have something I want to talk to you about.”
“What is it? Did you confess to some girl without consulting me again and then got rejected?” Zhou Bin sighed helplessly, he already knew Nie Chuan’s bad points like the palm of his hand.
“…… It’s not about girls.”
“If it’s not about girls then there will be no consultation given,” Zhou Bin replied straightforwardly.
NIe Chuan almost threw the tea cup from the bedside table at Zhou Bin’s face.
“It’s about Reece! I think he’s mad at me!” Nie Chuan said very seriously.
“Oh, Reece finally can’t stand your low IQ? To be able to put up with you until now, I already admire him very much.” Zhou Bin drew a cross on his chest.
“Go to hell! I’m being serious!”
“Alright, what happened?”
“I didn’t speak more than three sentences to him today!” Nie Chuan held out his fingers.
Zhou Bin revealed a helpless expression. “In the entire school, I have never heard of anyone who can speak more than three sentences to him within a day.”
This was exactly why so many girls wanted to become Carlo’s girlfriend even though Reece was far better than Carlo in terms of both appearance and temperament and would only appreciate Reece from a distance.
“That’s not it ah! When we’re practicing together, he would always give comments and guidance!”
Don’t mention three sentences, even ten was absolutely attainable!
Zhou Bin laughed, “Ah Chuan, do you know what you sound like right now?”
“What?”
“Like you used to be spoiled by your boyfriend but then he was suddenly in a bad mood or something might have come up which is making him divide his attention so he hasn’t been doting on you and now you’re worrying about personal gains and losses!”
“Ha? What kind of terrible analogy is this!” Nie Chuan, who was laying on the bedside with his chin propped up, almost fell off the bed.
“Alright alright, no more jokes. You were never one to use your head while Reece is the type who never says what’s on his mind. In this case, just find a chance to ask him clearly! Even if you’re ordinary friends, if the other’s in a bad mood, you should still ask ba?”
“En, maybe you’re right,” Nie Chuan nodded. “Then how should I ask?”
Zhou Bin was stunned and wore a “you’re hopeless” expression. “You can ask him about some advanced mathematics problems or even invite him to watch a game with you and then find a chance to ask him ‘Hey Reece, you seem a little unhappy lately, would you like to talk with me about it?’ It’s as simple as that! Otherwise, buy some flowers and red wine when you go to see him?”
“Eh…… I’d better just find some really difficult problems to ask him ba.”
After practicing with Ewing the following evening, Nie Chuan really gathered some advanced mathematics problems and came to the door of Reece’s room. He took a deep breath and thought, Reece wouldn’t be sitting on the couch with a coffee cup watching his shadow through the crack under the door again, would he?
Nie Chuan knocked on the door but no one answered.
He knocked again with more force, but there was still no answer.
This doesn’t make sense ah, Reece wouldn’t be in the library at this time.
Could he be taking a shower?
Nie Chuan pressed his ear against the door, but there wasn’t any sound of running water coming through and there were no signs of movement in the room.
Right at that moment, someone was passing by Reece’s door and looked at Nie Chuan with suspicion.
Nie Chuan hurriedly withdrew his head.
Really truly too humiliating!
At this time, Reece was sitting by the window of the Chinese restaurant on campus. Sitting opposite him was a woman with short hair and wearing a suit who had a capable disposition.
“It seems like you came back to New York not long ago, how come you didn’t go home for a visit and have a meal with dad?”
“Isn’t dad busy with a case again?”
The woman lowered her head and laughed. “Same goes for you. CBU is clearly an Ivy League school, but you weren’t willing to go there and wanted to come here instead. You just didn’t want to be anywhere near him, right?”
“I respect him very much, but we all have our own lives.” Reece’s expression was indifferent.
“Hey, can you not talk to me with that kind of expression? It’s really not cute at all. I’m your older sister, you know! When you fought with other kids back in elementary school, I was the one who called the teacher while pretending to be mom!”
“Alright Vivian, it’s already very late now. Shouldn’t you be getting back to the hotel? Thanks for taking a detour to come see me.”
Vivian helplessly took a small box out of her purse. “This is the chocolate you asked me to bring back for you the last time I went to Switzerland.”
“Thank you.” Reece had just laid his hand on the box when Vivian took it back.
“This shouldn’t be for you. From when we were little to now, chocolate has been my interest, not yours.”
“It’s for someone else.”
At this time, Reece’s phone on the table rang and a picture flashed on the screen. A young man with black hair was squatting on the side of the road with his hands in his pockets while blowing back the bubbles that a little girl had blown. The name displayed was two characters in Chinese.
Vivian was just about to take Reece’s phone for a look when Reece covered the screen with his palm. He connected the call and used Chinese to answer, “Hello.”
“That, Reece, where are you?”
“Are you outside my room?”
“Ah, yes. I have some questions for advanced mathematics that I wanted to ask you.” When Nie Chuan said this, he felt a little guilty. “But if you’re out, then I’ll go back to my dorm!”
“I’m going back now.”
Reece was already standing up. He bent down to kiss Vivian on the cheek then, after mouthing “bye bye,” he tucked the chocolates under his arm and walked out.
Vivian was at a loss. She watched the disappearing view of her younger brother’s back before suddenly holding her forehead and smiling.
_______________
Drea: *takes deep breath* ah the smell of vinegar
MadMadamMims: Reece is a mess >< u can’t ignore him and give him chocolates at the same time, u damn tsundere.
When Carlo asked why Reece was in a bad mood… Dude, this happened because of you! 🤦♀️ And Reece too, that freakin tsundere… SIGH
Thanks for the chapter! 🙂
Damnn the smell of vinegar is overflowing! Hahaha how jealous can he get 😭
don’t destroy people’s morale because of your vinegar issues reece :< [thank you for the chapter ❤️🧡 ]
Reece is lucky that Nie Chuan is a pretty simple and straighforward guy. I bet he’d forgive almost anything if you bribed him with chocolate. Besides, there isn’t anyone to be jealous of. Nie Chuan is single. And Zhou Bin… that was a very accurate analogy. Thanks for the update!
Arggggg
I really wanna know what Reece is thinking
I wanna read his POV
Thx for the chappy