Each team sent out five players, and the game started directly as a match.
“Let’s play two quarters to warm up first,” the sports committee member commanded. “This is a friendly match. Let’s go.”
The so-called warm-up meant running and getting slightly sweaty.
Although autumn had arrived, the trees in southern cities were evergreen, and the sun shining on their shoulders still felt like summer. He Yuan liked it very much.
At the start of the game, the School of Architecture snatched the ball first. Despite being a friendly match, it was clear they weren’t planning to lose.
A fast-break score at the beginning would’ve been encouraging. The ball was in the hands of the sports committee member, who wanted to attack but was blocked by the opposing players guarding the basket.
Forced to pass, he turned and found He Yuan running to assist. But at the same time, He Yuan noticed Xiao An approaching from the side. The guy was fast, running like the wind, and with his long arms, he intercepted the pass effortlessly.
But just as Xiao An was about to take off with the ball, He Yuan was already in front of him.
Run, huh? Isn’t he like a little whirlwind?
Xiao An frowned, now flanked by the sports committee member. He dribbled while staring at He Yuan.
Suddenly, Xiao An stepped left, faking a pass. But He Yuan saw through it, snatching the ball from him with one hand.
“What a wimp,” He Yuan muttered.
The words were light, but they lit a fire in Xiao An. His eyes sharpened, and he immediately barked, “Wait!”
From that moment on, the game completely derailed.
After four quarters, both teams had embarrassingly low scores.
Whenever one of them had the ball, the other would chase them across half the court to snatch it back. Even if they couldn’t, they’d defend so hard the other couldn’t even get a rebound.
The fewer goals they scored, the more frustrated they became, and the more determined they were to utterly crush the other.
Eighteen- and twenty-year-old boys, driven by adrenaline, pushed their physical limits. Both teams were in chaos, secretly cursing the madness of their teammates.
The intensity of the match attracted more and more spectators until another court eventually cleared.
“You… you guys keep going. We’ll move to the side to practice,” the PE teacher panted, clearly done with their antics.
“Sorry,” He Yuan murmured, snapping back to reality. He remembered he was just supposed to be a sparring partner.
The opposing team couldn’t keep up anymore, all sitting on the sidelines and shamelessly drinking the School of Architecture’s water supply.
Xiao An gulped down half a bottle, while He Yuan stood opposite, watching to see if Xiao An was too drained to continue.
But instead of taking a break, Xiao An screwed the cap back on, tossed the bottle to He Xinyang, and walked forward. “Continue.”
Just keep going? Fine.
The one-on-one matches continued, with each turn rotating offense and defense.
By evening, the crowd of boys who had come to watch left, replaced by girls snapping photos from the sidelines.
Neither He Yuan nor Xiao An noticed them.
Now it was He Yuan’s turn to defend. Xiao An dribbled low, his body bent slightly, searching for an opening.
He Yuan’s focus was razor-sharp. Xiao An, despite his exhaustion, was still fast. He couldn’t outsmart He Yuan in strategy—it was proven earlier—but speed? That might work.
Xiao An suddenly jumped.
He Yuan could tell he was desperate to score, no matter what. But there was no way he’d let him. He jumped too, blocking Xiao An mid-air.
Xiao An shouted in frustration, his voice raw with effort. But He Yuan managed to catch the ball, even as Xiao An forced it downward with all his strength.
For a moment, it became a contest of who could jump higher.
They were so close that He Yuan could see the sweat on Xiao An’s eyelashes.
It was amusing, and He Yuan’s thoughts wavered for half a second.
That split-second distraction allowed the ball to be forced into the basket—with Xiao An following it.
He Yuan had no time to dodge. Xiao An collided into him with full momentum, the impact violent.
Girls screamed from the sidelines, and players from nearby courts turned to watch.
He Yuan landed on his back with a dull thud, the heat of Xiao An’s body pressing against him. The heavy breathing against his shoulder told He Yuan that Xiao An had truly used up all his strength.
It was stupid to fight like this, but strangely, it felt satisfying.
Xiao An paused for two seconds before he mustered the strength to climb off him. He didn’t get up from the ground but sat down next to He Yuan, exhausted.
For three whole seconds, they just sat there. After a few hours, they were both soaked, their chests heaving with panting, and their vision blurred by the sweat dripping down their faces.
He Yuan was so tired that he didn’t want to move at all. He hadn’t sweated this much since autumn, and now, in addition to being tired, he also felt particularly satisfied.
He had to admit that the other party was really amazing, and it wasn’t easy to make him so tired.
They just sat side by side, and no one spoke.
It was getting dark, and the shadows of the trees on the ground could no longer be seen. The sky behind the trees was a very light gray-blue.
“You’re pretty good.” Xiao An said after catching his breath.
He Yuan didn’t answer but lifted up his shirt to wipe the sweat off his face. After resting enough, he got up to get some water and tossed it to Xiao An.
“What else can you do?” Xiao An took the water. “I’ll ask you out next time.”
He Yuan raised his eyebrows and said, “I know everything you can do.”
Xiao An looked at him for a while, and for a moment, he felt that He Yuan’s way of speaking was familiar. He stretched out his hand to him. “Give me a hand.”
He Yuan pulled him up from the ground. After this game, the two of them officially got to know each other and added each other on WeChat.
“What are your plans for the evening? Want to have dinner together? I’ll treat you.” Xiao An asked.
“No.” He Yuan refused.
Xiao An probably just asked casually, and after being rejected, he gave up and said, “Then let’s contact each other on WeChat.”
“Yeah.” He Yuan responded.
The team that came with him was still practicing. He Yuan, holding a bottle of mineral water in his hand, walked to the stands and sat down.
Seeing that he was bored, he glanced at the venue just now. Xiao An and his friends had already left.
——–
The next day, He Yuan diligently logged into Deserted Island Paradise, ready to make use of the shipload of building materials he had gathered.
He had to make full use of the money he had spent.
The other three were also online, gathered around a stone table, playing Landlord with the poker cards they had dug up during their treasure hunting.
“Come on, Big Wall, four people can play.” Huahua Kindergarten said over the microphone.
Ye Miao and Xixizi weren’t there, they were probably in class at this time.
“Wait for me to build the house.” He Yuan said.
“Our Wall played the simulation life game as building a house.” Pick Up a 98k said, “When will you build a big house for us?”
“You go find the materials.” He Yuan walked over and pulled out the paint.
[A big house? Wall doesn’t want to build a house for such a lazy guy.]
[It’s so hard to broadcast a deserted island, but the result is just playing Landlord.]
[Station, someone is not eating properly.]
He Yuan controlled the burly man to come to the brick house, squatted down, and started to paint.
The color of the game items could be customized. He Yuan took a color from his palette, and the character began to paint the wall seriously.
“Today, I’ll watch the Wall; the Wall will take my place and earn a living.” He picked up a 98K and fixed the game perspective on the muscular man.
[Black-hearted anchor, report (angry.jpg)]
[Let me see how the wall is painted.]
[Who is the black-clothed person behind? Their face looks very handsome.]
He Yuan took advantage of the character to automatically paint the wall while he poured himself a glass of water. When he came back, he saw that the little man, Xixizi, had appeared on the screen. The burly man was squatting, and the black-clothed boy approached from behind, put his hand on the side of his neck, jumped, and actually sat on the broad shoulders of the burly man.
He Yuan asked the character to squat down, and the other party jumped down smoothly, making a sweaty gesture.
He found that Xixizi dared to open the microphone only when Ye Miao was not there.
For some reason, he suddenly thought of the word “affair”.
But Xixizi and Ye Miao had broken up a long time ago, and he and Xixizi had no feelings for each other.
“Aren’t you going to class?” He Yuan asked him.
“I…” Xixizi was confused, then hesitantly whispered, “Skipping class?”
When he was in junior high and high school, if the school wasn’t strict, there were indeed many students who skipped classes to go to Internet cafes.
Xixizi was probably one of them. He Yuan didn’t concern himself with other people’s children, so he just replied “Mm.”
Neither of them knew they were live streaming, and talked about the competition video that had to be uploaded in two days. Xixizi said to do something casually and give the recommendation position to Ye Miao.
He Yuan didn’t lack recommendation positions, so he agreed directly.
“It hurts so much, brother.” Xixizi took a breath. “I exercised yesterday, and I feel exhausted today.”
“It won’t hurt in a few days.” He Yuan began to add gradient colors to the wall. Speaking of which, his arms and legs also hurt a little today. It’s been a long time since he exercised so much.
[This brother is so sweet, just rely on me]
[He says it hurts! Don’t you care about him? Rub it or something!]
[Straight men have no feelings]
“It’s mainly because the other party is too strong. Brother, do you like exercise? But you work every day, so the amount of exercise should be very large,” Xixizi said.
“Recently, I mainly drive the elevator, so I don’t need to move.” He Yuan said expressionlessly.
[Suddenly I couldn’t understand what they were saying qaq]
[The other party’s conversation was encrypted]
The game perspective suddenly shook, and he picked up a 98K and finally finished playing Landlord: “Let’s go dig potatoes now, everyone!”
[No, refuse (indifferent.jpg)]
[I don’t want to watch, go dig the gun yourself]
[Don’t watch, turn back quickly, I want to listen to their whispers]
—
Xiao An felt pain all over his body as if he had been beaten, and he picked up a sparkling diamond for the Wall in the game with a grin.
Then the other party refused to accept it.
He sat in front of the computer desk, holding up one side of his face to think.
It felt like there were only two weeks left, and he didn’t have much chance to develop a relationship with the Wall. The other party looked too difficult to approach.
At this time, his mobile QQ received a new message.
Afraid of missing any unexpected messages, he now changed QQ to “receive all new messages”.
It turned out to be from Ye Miao Eating Alone.
The first sentence almost scared him to death.
Ye Miao Eating Alone: You changed your account, right?
Ye Miao Eating Alone: I saw you and your master in the live broadcast room of 98K.
Xiao An was stunned, then reacted. He picked up a 98K and started live broadcasting while playing games.
But who would have thought that Ye Miao was so coincidental and didn’t attend class properly, and watched the live broadcast.
Xiao An forced himself to calm down for a while, and finally typed.
An An: Can you not tell anyone for the time being? I will escape in two weeks.
Ye Miao Eating Alone: Escape??
Ye Miao Eating Alone: Are you not chasing Wall?
Ye Miao Eating Alone : Don’t worry, I won’t tell anyone.
Ye Miao Eating Alone: I think you two have a good chance. If you stick to it, you will definitely succeed!
