We’re moving forward! The prelude to the basketball game.

[1] 欲迎还拒 was what was used. A tsundere is a girl who actually likes the boy but acts cold towards them, which is basically what 欲迎还拒 means, when they realize they have somebody they have affection for but while still say harsh words or not admit it.

Chapter Twenty Three The Most Unlikely Couple

The remains of the sunset fell upon his body, endowing him with a halo. Wei Wei gazed at his inking brows and fell into a complete trance. After a long while, emotions surged up from the bottom of the heart. Complicated and extreme feelings arose. It was that of a heart wanting to die, a type of heart-broken indignation.

When, when were they in that type of relationship! Even though she really wanted to have that type of relationship but definitely not like this … …

But coming back to it, her initial position was to try to capture Da Shen. Now that the upgraded version of Da Shen was saying it, if she didn’t accept, didn’t she lose that way?

Accepting was a great loss, not accepting was also a great loss. This was … …

Wei Wei’s internal programming started to mess up, watching her own brain process forming an unending loop, she swiftly yelled to her self ––

STOP!

Don’t think anymore!

Don’t think about Da Shen’s words, there was no survival there. Just pretend she didn’t hear it, and quarantine it like a virus.

Wei Wei tried to brainwash herself, not realizing her ears were going up in flames. Wei Wei pretended to be composed and met Xiao Nai’s gaze: “Since there isn’t enough time, let’s bike then.”

This wasn’t compromising. It was her suddenly realizing that walking there, was definitely more attention-catching than riding there. At the very least, walking would take more time and have a high chance of seeing others. Biking was much faster. Maybe they would pass by without anybody getting a clear look at her.

Really, if there was a match today, why did he agree to meet up? Tomorrow would have been fine. And at the beginning he had said six. Seven was the start of the match. If they met at six, did he want to go to the stadium for the date?

No,no, it wasn’t a date. It’s a meetup, meetup … …

Against the light, Nai He examined her. Her defenses were really weak. Should he attack or stand down? Should he push through in one thrust or gently dissolve it?

His computing speed was always fast. In an instant, he had his decision. He peacefully called her name: “Wei Wei?”

“En?”

“Actually, my biking skills are pretty good.”

Ah? Wei Wei peered at him in confusion.

“So, your expression doesn’t have to this,” Xiao Nai slowly continued, “look like you are walking to your death.”

Wei Wei: “… …”

So her expression was already this tragic … …

Taking a healthy attitude of “it’s just along the streets”, Wei Wei got onto the bike. But the moment she got on, without feeling any special feelings, she started to regret it. Because she just realized, she was wearing a skirt today … …

Originally, the skirt went very close down to a few centimeters above the knees but after sitting on the bike, it instantly went up about ten centimeters. It wasn’t all exposed, but definitely attracted attention. In just a few minutes on the bike, there were a lot of stares.

Wei Wei was almost going to jump off the bike to have an emotional breakdown, her legs unconsciously moved back but it didn’t help. The bag she brought along was too small and couldn’t hid anything … … it was all Da Shen’s fault for being too amazing. It caused her to not think properly.

Another two male students riding bikes turned their heads to follow.

Xiao Nai suddenly hit the breaks.

Wei Wei paused before jumping down. Xiao Nai said coldly: “I’m going to buy something.”

Wei Wei looked at his upright figure walk towards a corner store at the side of the street. After a while, he came out with a large bag that he handed to her.

“What?”

“Drinks. The food today was too salty, later you’ll be thirsty.”

The food wasn’t salty, and even if it was, there was no need to buy this much. Other than drinks, there were also snacks. Wei Wei hugged the bag to herself suspiciously but after sitting down again on the bike, she found the benefit of the large bag. Hehehe, it could hide her legs.

Without the stares, Wei Wei was finally released from the awkwardness. Not having to directly face Xiao Nai, for the first time today, Wei Wei had the time to herself to think.

But there really wasn’t anything to ruminate on.

The summer breeze gently blew over. The bike travelled through the rays of the sunset, past trees burdened with blooming greenery, riding along the wide campus road … …

Everything seemed so perfect.

Wei Wei thought, I have to be more courageous.

Xiao Nai, so what if it was Xiao Nai? After he would be Xiao Nai. But to her, the present him was more Nai He. Just Nai He. And she, liked him.

There was a small slope not far away. Wei Wei licked her lips, raised her hand and gently, tightly, grabbed onto the clothes of the person before her.

The bike suddenly slowed down.

The corner of Wei Wei’s lips rose, her other hand tightly hugging that gigantic bag of snacks.

Of course, courage still depended on the time and place. At this point, Wei Wei’s courage did not include walking with Xiao Nai together into the basketball stadium under the eyes of everybody.

So, when they reached the outside of the stadium while Xiao Nai was occupied with locking his bike, Wei Wei threw down “I’llfindmyfriendstowatchtogetherandcontactyouatnightonline” and abandoned Da Shen in a flash. She still remembered to take along that bag of snacks.

While fleeing, she kept on doing mental work. She definitely wasn’t running away before the battle. It was to attack by retreating! Yes, it was to attack by retreating and being a tsundere.[1]

In conclusion, there was the legendary battle tactics.

Wei Wei entered the gymnasium from the side door.

There were still more than ten minutes before the game would start but inside it was packed. The bleachers were all full and some people were even standing. Wei Wei tried to search for her friends among the spectator seats. A few days ago, she had heard them discussing this match. They probably came as well. She didn’t find them on her first round of search. On the second round, it was Er Xi who found her first and stood up to wave her over.

At this time, the populace inside the stadium noticed her as well. The excited atmosphere visibly increased.

Wei Wei ran over to her friends and found there were no seats. Xiao Ling shoved away her boyfriend, Da Zhong, “Go down more for your seat, give the seat to Wei Wei.”

Da Zhong obediently listened and gave up his seat. Wei Wei felt a bit embarrassed as she sat down.

Er Xi was very excited to see her: “Wei Wei you came too. Today’s going to be entertaining!

“What?”

Hearing the word “entertaining”, Wei Wei felt a strangely occuring hint of guilt.

“So many pretty girls came.” Er Xi reported two names and joyously continued, “Meng Yi Ran also came, just behind up by three or four rows.”

Si Si followed up: “Wei Wei, do you still remember Meng Yi Ran? She was the one that was competing with you for the Most Beautiful of the University. At the end she won because she seemed more innocent than you!

Wei Wei: “… … Can you not use the word “compete”, okay?”

She clearly had been trying to avoid it to the best of her abilities. In Wei Wei’s viewpoint, this UA’s Most Beautiful title, was like the Strongest in Wulin title, and just as troublesome. When Wei Wei had found out that she had been forced into this kind of competition, she had been afraid for a while. Thankfully, she still had the attribute of “not innocent and pure” and therefore hadn’t been picked.

Xiao Ling inserted in: “Then isn’t today the first time the two top beauties of the university appearing at the same time?”

“Ah, seems so.”

Xiao Ling was rueful: “If I knew that Meng meimei was coming, Wei Wei you should have worn that red dress. Definitely would have destroyed her!”

“Yup yup yup, Meng meimei’s body is drastically not as good as our Wei Wei’s”

“Truthfully, our Wei Wei’s face is much more beautiful than hers’ as well. Argh, I don’t know who was the one that took Wei Wei’s picture for the judging on the sly. It was a terrible picture, especially when compared to what they took of Meng Yi Ran.”

“Yeah, and Wei Wei wouldn’t even let us upload a better photo.”

“Stop! Eat stuff!”

Wei Wei quickly passed over the snack bag to them to prevent them for going on. If others heard what they were saying, she would be disgraced.

Er Xi took over the bag for a look and immediately yelled: “Wow, Wei Wei did you get rich?. Buying this much, how much did it cost?”

“… …” How would she know?

It was good that Er Xi and the others didn’t care for her answer. They were occupied with fighting over the snacks. Xiao Ling said: “Waa, why did you buy this brand of chips? It isn’t as tasty as Lays.”

Er Xi: “There is Lays, but this flavour isn’t very good.”

Wei Wei stayed silent. Da Shen managed such a big bag in under three minutes. How can you guys expect him to pick flavors?

Si Si said: “Wei Wei is it because your interview was successful , that you are celebrating by buying snacks?”

“… …something like that.”

Embarrassed, Wei Wei took some chips to eat.

Er Xi had snacks and therefore also had love for others. She asked in concern: “Passed your interview? How was it?”

Wei Wei looked speechlessly at the ceiling. What to say? “En … … the process was a bit of a failure, the ending was an unexpected surprise.”

“Doesn’t matter if it was unexpected, passing is all that matters.” Er Xi lost her interest and started to chomp on her hips. She gossiped, “The important points is, Xiao Nai is definitely coming today!”

Wei Wei kept on eating chips. I know he is coming. He brought the snacks you are eating right now.

Si Si said: “Ugh, today’s the match between our faculty and the Engineering faculty. Isn’t Meng Yi Ran from the faculty of Music? What’s she doing here?”

Er Xi said: “Si Si, you aren’t correct now. Handsome guys are a public resource, you can’t discriminate based on faculty.”

They were there chittering and chattering, but Wei Wei didn’t really listen. Her eyes kept wandering towards the doorway as she wondered why Xiao Nai still hadn’t appeared. Just as she kept on thinking, she saw a handsome figure in a white shirt appear at the doorway.

The surroundings seemed to pause. Wei Wei could only hear the sound of her heart being in her just. She thought that, since she had seen him so much today, there wouldn’t be any excitement left. But the reality was, now her heartbeat was even faster than any other time previous when she had met him.

Her and him, after this would be different.

Just looking from a distance, not in any sort of contact, there were still thousands of strands connecting them.

When Xiao Nai entered, two similarly tall males raced straight towards him. They arched and turned their heads to look around his body, one even ran outside the doors. Wei Wei thought it was hilarious. Those two were probably the ones from the call. Were they Yu Gong and the others?

Because of the distance, Wei Wei had no compunctions about staring boldly. Xiao Nai, who had been conversing with his teammates, suddenly turned to look at the spectator seats. The person who had just abandoned a certain Da Shen along in the parking lot instinctively wanted to use the snacks to block her face. Of course, that was just a thought… ….

Xiao Nai’s gaze moved once around the seats, finally stopping in her direction. He started for a few seconds before taking back his gaze and walked into the changing rooms.

Wei Wei was unfocused for a long time. When she could focus, she heard Si Si and the others excitedly debating.

Si Si: “Who was Xiao Nai looking at right now?”

Er Xi: “Meng Yi Ran?”

Si Si: “Not sure. So many pretty girls came today.”

Er Xi: “But Xiao Nai was looking in our direction. On our side there is only Meng Yi Ran. Oh, I remember. Meng Yi Ran and Xiao Nai might know each other. The only time Xiao Nai went onstage for the school celebrations, Meng Yi Ran was also on the stage. They weren’t performing together, but they both play folk instruments. Maybe they discuss things together or whatnot.”

Xiao Ling said: “Xiao Nai might not be looking at females. Why do you guys have to think he is that base?”

Er Xi: “Please, Xiao Ling, don’t be naïve. When has Xiao Nai ever noticed the spectators? That person is usually indifferent to everybody. He must have a target.”

They were hotly debating when, suddenly, Wei Wei put her hand on Xiao Ling’s hand. She held a very solemn expression as she said: “There is only one truth.”

Her friends looked at her expectantly.

Wei Wei even more solemnly said: “He’s looking at me.”

Xiao Ling: “… …”

Si Si: “… …”

Er Xi erupted in laughter. She weakly said: “Wei Wei, you don’t know? You and Xiao Nai are the unanimous most unlikely couple!