Chapter 3
Chapter 3
This was my first time watching people box in person.
Every cell in my body was wound tight as they traded blows back and forth.
They were sparring in the ring, but the men below weren’t exactly idle either.
“Defense, defense!”
“Nice!”
“Brother Ye, that dodge was insane!”
“Yes, yes, yes! Beautiful!”
“Good punch!”
…
Fan Cheng and I got swept up in the excitement too, our clasped hands tightening without us even realizing it.
Finally, when Fan Ye’s fist landed cleanly at the side of his opponent’s chin again, the referee shouted, “Stop!”
“Yes!” Fan Cheng cried out, then leaned in close to my ear. “Not gonna lie, the only time I can ignore how oppressive my brother usually is and objectively admit he’s ridiculously hot is when I watch him box!”
Following her words, I looked toward the ring.
Fan Ye had already taken off his headgear. His hair was a little messy, and sweat slid down from his temple.
But even like that, he was still strikingly handsome-the kind of good-looking that was vibrant, open, and full of life.
The men beside the ring had already crowded over, all talking at once.
“Brother Ye, have you been secretly practicing the butterfly step lately?”
“The second half was basically a full-on slugfest!”
…
Fan Ye fiddled with his gloves absentmindedly and gave a rather perfunctory nod.
That counted as responding to his buddies.
Suddenly, he turned to look over. His eyes were bright with unmistakable pride, and he curled his lips, silently mouthing, “I won.”
That gaze… made it seem as if those two words were meant specifically for me.
It was probably just my imagination.
Fan Cheng hooked herself onto my arm with a grin. “Looks like we get to freeload another meal today!”
Happiness seemed to be contagious. I laughed along with her.
Then I pulled her aside. “You guys can go eat later. Can I go look at the apartment by myself?”
“Come eat with us. After we finish, we’ll go check out the place, and then I’ll have my brother drive you back.”
“No, no. I don’t know any of them.”
“You’ll know them after one meal.”
“Forget it…”
Before I could finish, a male voice cut in from behind us. “You don’t want to go?”
At some point, Fan Ye had come to stand behind us.
For some reason, I felt a little nervous talking to him. But I really wasn’t in the mood for a group meal, so I told the truth.
“Yeah. If it’s convenient, I can go look at the apartment by myself. Don’t worry, I won’t touch anything.”
“Come eat with us! Come on, come on.” Fan Cheng shook my arm, acting cute.
The next second, Fan Ye grabbed the hood of her sweatshirt and forced her to take a step back.
Fan Cheng broke free and glared at her brother. “What are you doing?”
Fan Ye swept a lazy glance over her. “She said she doesn’t want to go. What are you chattering for?”
“I just wanted to take Xiao Yu to eat meat!”
“Xiao Yu…” Fan Ye rolled the two words around, and for some reason, he suddenly let out a soft laugh.
Me: “?”
Then he hooked an arm around Fan Cheng’s neck and turned to leave. After taking one step, he looked back at me and said, “Give me two minutes.”
When the two of them came back, Fan Ye went straight to the rest table off to the side, as if he had something to tell his buddies.
Fan Cheng, holding her phone, was smiling so hard her eyes nearly disappeared. She linked arms with me and pointed toward the door. “Let’s go! Straight to the apartment!”
I was just about to ask what Fan Ye had told her when a ragged chorus of hoots came from the rest table.
Fan Ye quickly turned his head and glanced at us, then yelled at the table full of men, “Shut up!”
The drawn-out “Ooooh” in all kinds of tones came to an end, but all kinds of strange looks drifted over.
These people… were they doing okay mentally?