Chapter 5

Chapter 5

“Sorry,” I said, with more than a little guilt in my voice. “The water I bought for you got drunk by someone else.”

That little brat Zhao Xuwen hadn’t given me the slightest chance to stop him.

“Don’t you have a bottle of water in your hand?” He Lin’s gaze shifted from my face to my hand.

I looked down at the water and paused. “But… I already drank from it.”

I’d taken a sip after leaving the convenience store. It had just come out of the fridge-who could resist that?

And the bottle very obviously looked like it had already been opened and drunk from.

He Lin lowered his eyes, his lashes falling like little fans. With his high brow bones, it gave him an oddly melancholy air.

“I can’t drink it?” His voice softened a little, somehow carrying a hint of coaxing.

My heart gave two wild thumps.

“If you don’t mind…”

Before I could finish, the water was already taken from my hand. He twisted off the cap and drank without the slightest hesitation.

He tilted his head back slightly and took several gulps. The water slid down his throat, his Adam’s apple bobbing with each swallow.

The sweat from his earlier exertion rolled down with it.

A little sexy.

He Lin drank half the bottle in one go before looking back at me. “Shall we go, jiejie?”

“You don’t need to go back?”

“No.”

I glanced toward the court. His teammates still seemed to be waiting eagerly for He Lin to return, their looks brimming with gossip.

He Lin led me away by the wrist. After we’d walked some distance, he stopped.

“Jiejie, I’m going to change in the locker room. Wait for me in the empty classroom up ahead, okay?”

He’d just played a whole match and was covered in sweat, so I had no objection.

While I waited, my younger brother sent me a message:

[Sis, my classmate said He Lin’s girlfriend was watching the game just now. Is that true? Did you see her? Is she pretty?]

…

[Pretty.]

I replied with those two words almost immediately.

I, as a person, am very good at appreciating myself.

But that annoying brat, injured and still unable to sit still, replied:

[I don’t believe it.]

[No way she’s prettier than my Yingying.]

Expressionless, I typed back: [Does she know she’s yours? Stop flattering yourself.]

Sure enough, the very next second, my foolish little brother exploded.

He sent me a long-winded accusation, but I no longer had time to deal with him.

He Lin had arrived.

He’d run over in a bit of a hurry and had changed into another outfit: dark jeans with a white V-neck T-shirt, and a silver necklace around his neck.

The necklace looked familiar.

I’d given it to him before.

What came toward me was a burst of youthful energy. He Lin still carried the faint scent of body wash, an ordinary popular brand, but it smelled very fresh.

His hair looked only half-dry.

I smiled. “Why didn’t you dry your hair before coming over?”

He Lin paused. “I was afraid you’d get impatient waiting.”

The boy in front of me already looked like a young man, but my first impression of him had been too strong. I still remembered the bright, spirited teenager he was at eighteen when he carried me through games, so there was a bit of a filter there.

“I’m hungry. Want to eat together?” I asked.

“Sure.” He Lin had no objection.

He’d studied here for three years, so he was more familiar with the area than I was. He took me to a restaurant he believed had both a nice atmosphere and good food.

Before that, I looked at the messages Zhao Xuwen had sent me.

I’d asked him about good restaurants nearby, and among the places Zhao Xuwen recommended, this one was listed prominently.

Zhao Xuwen: [Zhao Lichu, your brother is injured, and all you care about is eating?]

Then he launched into moral blackmail: [I don’t care. Pack me something to go!]

I transferred him ten thousand yuan. [Handle it yourself.]

Zhao Xuwen accepted it instantly: [Sis, your little brother will forever support your reign!]

[…]