Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Since we’d been online dating for three years and had finally reached the point of meeting in person, there was no way I would come all this way without even knowing what he looked like.

He Lin was younger than me. At first, I just thought he was a boy who had only recently finished the college entrance exams, got carried away by his hormones, and confessed on impulse.

The main reason I’d accepted his confession back then was that I really liked his voice.

I hadn’t thought this online relationship would last very long.

But He Lin was more persistent than I’d imagined.

Before I knew it, three years had passed just like that.

My little boyfriend was almost a senior in college now.

“Jiejie, I have a basketball game in a bit. Do you want to come watch?” He Lin suddenly asked.

I raised an eyebrow. In the past, I’d only ever heard him talk about how impressive he was on the court.

“Of course. I came here to see you, didn’t I?” I said with a smile.

Then my little boyfriend looked like his brain had short-circuited again.

I thought back to the few basketball games I’d watched when I was still in school and asked He Lin, “What drink do you like? I’ll bring you water later.”

“I can drink anything,” he said.

“Really?” I folded my arms and looked at him. “I distinctly remember you don’t like peach-flavored drinks.”

He Lin froze, clearly not expecting me to remember.

It had been during some casual chat before. He’d said he liked eating honey peaches, but didn’t like drinking honey peach-flavored beverages.

He Lin showed me around for a while before his phone rang. It was his teammates urging him to head over early to get ready for the game.

“Jiejie…” He looked at me as if he wanted to say something.

I smiled at him. “Go on. I know the way. I’ll come watch you in a bit.”

My little boyfriend left, looking back every three steps.

I wandered around by myself a little longer, went into the supermarket to buy two bottles of water, and then slowly made my way toward the basketball court.

There were already quite a few people gathered around.

It was a game between two departments.

Naturally, the two teams had different uniforms. One was black, and the other was purple.

The people nearby were chatting animatedly:

“How much longer until it starts? You have no idea how long I’ve been waiting for this game!”

“Right? These two departments have so many hot guys on their teams. If you didn’t know better, you’d think they picked their players based on looks.”

“Hey, that’s not fair. They’re pretty good when they play too!”

“That guy from the Finance Department…”

“…”

I was absorbed in listening to the gossip and didn’t spare any attention for my surroundings. Then, all of a sudden, someone reached over and snatched one of the bottles of water from my hand.

An excited voice rang out beside me. “Sis, it really is you?”

When I turned my head, the first thing that entered my view was a head of red hair, followed by a purple basketball jersey.

I watched my tall, strapping biological younger brother twist off the cap without another word and gulp down two big mouthfuls.

“Sis, what are you doing here? Did you see my post and find out I had a basketball game today, so you came especially to bring me water?” Zhao Xuwen said enthusiastically, his red hair blazing.

I hesitated, then stopped, my eyes fixed on the bottle of water he had already drunk nearly half of.

“You’re playing later?”

“Yeah.” My brother affectionately threw an arm around my shoulders and pointed toward someone on the basketball court. Lowering his voice, he said, “See that player in black, number nine?”

I looked over and paused.

That was He Lin.

“He’s my love rival.”

“Love rival?”

Zhao Xuwen said through gritted teeth, “The girl I like likes him. But this poser keeps insisting he has a girlfriend he’s been dating for three years.”

“I even asked around among his classmates. No one has ever seen any girl around him. Even if she’s from another school, it’s impossible for them to never meet up, right?”

“He doesn’t show off his relationship on his social media, and I’ve never seen any photos of him with this supposed girlfriend either,” I heard my dear younger brother declare with absolute certainty. “I suspect he doesn’t have a girlfriend at all. He’s just making up some fake persona at school!”

“…”

As a matter of fact, that was not the case.