As Jian Sui Ying drove, he sent his family chauffeur a message to go and pick up Jian Sui Lin.
Xiao Lin Zi was counted as a key member in his family that everyone protected—and that certainly indicated they had high hopes for him to carry on the family"s ancestral line.
After that, he drove the car back to his own flat to sleep.
Under normal circ.u.mstances, if he was not summoned by his father, he rarely returned home. That continued on for several weeks, which resulted in not having seen Jian Sui Lin, and even more so, Li Yu.
Since they separated the first time they met, it took him no less than three days to forget Li Yu. But now, it was no good—the image of Li Yu and his red lips would appear in his mind from time to time. He seldom paid attention to high school students" examination period, however, now he looked forward for the exam to end so that he could hang out with Li Yu. Although it was unavoidable for Jian Sui Lin to come along, he was afraid that if he only invited Li Yu, he would be unwilling to.
With only three days left until the examination, Jian Sui Ying met with the director of a real estate company to discuss a business collaboration. When the two bid their farewells, Jian Sui Yin realized that he was near the vicinity of Li Yu"s school.
Just as he drove through the school, he randomly glanced to the side and happened to see a basketball court not too far off. Some students were playing, but since he only took a glimpse, he couldn"t make out who was there.
Jian Sui Ying laughed and shook his head.
He stepped on the accelerator and fled the area, but after only driving for a hundred meters and keeping his eyes on the road ahead of him, Jian Sui Ying seemed to have left his mind behind. In the end, he could no longer help it and turned the steering wheel. He stared blankly at the surveillance camera ahead, switched lanes, and returned.
Jian Sui Ying stopped the car outside of the school and strolled in by himself.
There was practically no one on the campus, making it appear especially cold and quiet—the only sounds were of the shouts and bouncing b.a.l.l.s, which came from the basketball court and blended with the vast area. But in reality, all of that was insignificant.
He slowly walked over, stood at the outside of the basketball court and watched three groups of people play. Skimming through them, he could not find a single familiar silhouette.
Jian Sui Yin laughed at himself. How could there be such a coincidence? Do you think you"re shooting a drama?
Even he didn"t know what was wrong with himself. Perhaps, it was because it had been ages since he came across someone who was extremely to his liking—looking at it from another perspective, his desire to vent also made him feel insipid. Under the pressure of such a high intensity type of work, he also hoped to have a companion that would allow him to genuinely relax and rejoice with them. That companion should look like his ideal type and make him never get tired of them, furthermore, they should not be that easy to obtain and let him enjoy the thrill of the chase. It would also be the best if they had an outstanding temperament and was a bit refined. Just as he strongly hoped to meet someone who would let him enjoy that pleasure, he unexpectedly met Li Yu.
It was not too early nor too late for him to have met that Li Yu—young, beautiful, a bit arrogant, and in line with all his fantasies. It was more exciting than when he worked on a big project. He was truly looking forward to the process of conquering that young man, as well as the moment in which he would be able to enjoy the fruits of victory.
Therefore, doing such a stupid thing as standing on the basketball court, looking forward to a pretentious encounter seemed understandable.
Unfortunately, there was no such encounter.
With that, Jian Sui Ying sighed and prepared to take his leave.
“Jian Ge?”
An unclear call came from behind him. That voice sounded young and bright, with a tone that was pleasant to hear and could drill into anyone"s heart.
Jian Sui Ying felt his own breathing stagnating as an unknown feeling rushed into his chest. It seemed he was a bit touched? It was as if a person had unknowingly achieved a wish that they had no hope of fulfilling—that certainly gave him an unexpected surprise and made his heart beat just a bit faster. Even if the other person did not know it, he nevertheless felt somewhat moved.
As Jian Sui Ying returned to his senses, he saw the boy he liked standing behind him—completely soaked. There was water dripping from his hair; the front of his pure white shirt was drenched and stuck to his chest. Who knew if it was sweat or water, but what was certain was that his face was flushed after exercising.
That healthy and vigorous appearance was something that Jian Sui Yin would still recall clearly even after many years pa.s.sed by.
When Li Yu caught sight of Jian Sui Ying looking at him, he faintly smiled, somewhat embarra.s.sed. Then, he shook the front of his wet shirt and wiped the sweat on his face with his hand. “It"s too hot.”
Hearing that, Jian Sui Ying seemed to have woken up from a dream. “Oh, yes, it"s really hot today… how come you"re still at school?”
“Instead of being bored at home, it"s better to play some basketball. Sui Lin didn"t come today.” Li Yu wiped his face and walked toward the court.
Jian Sui Ying unconsciously followed him, “Oh, I was at a meeting near here and just happened to pa.s.s by. I wanted to see if he was here or not, if he was, I was going to take him back home.”
“There"s barely anyone left here. They"re resting at home.”
“That"s right, there"s only three days left until the exam. Everyone should definitely rest up a bit.”
Since the two did not communicate much, there were naturally not many topics to talk about. Not knowing what to say, Li Yu received the basketball that a cla.s.smate threw over to him and awkwardly gave Jian Sui Ying a glance.
Jian Sui Ying himself also felt that he was standing there as an extra, but he didn"t have the heart to leave just like that.
Just then, one of Li Yu"s cla.s.smate ran over. “Hey? Are you Jian Sui Ying"s brother? The one that went to KTV that day?”
“Yes, it"s me.”
“Jian Sui Lin didn"t come today.”
“Oh, I just pa.s.sed by for a look…”
“Da Ge,[1] can you play? We want to have a three on three game, but we"re missing one person.”
Jian Sui Ying happily said, “Okay, we can play a few rounds.” This kid is quite observant.
Removing his necktie, Jian Sui Ying then placed his car keys, wallets and everything else on the ground before he rolled up his sleeves and walked over.
Li Yu looked at him with interest, “Jian Ge, you can play in those shoes and pants?”
Looking at his own outfit: a tailored suit pants and bright leather shoes, Jian Sui Ying then simply gave Li Yu a glance. “It"s not a big deal. When I was in school, I was in the basketball team.”
When Jian Sui Ying stooped in a posture as if he was going over, a boy blew his whistle. “Come, come, come, give the ball to Da Ge.”
Since he was usually busy with work, it had been quite a while since he played basketball—the moment he touched the ball, he actually felt a bit excited. He spun it a few times and did a few tricks, allowing his body to get some exercise in order to play.
After several boys gathered around, the three on three battle began. Li Yu was in the other team.
Once Jian Sui Ying started to feel a little bit of life in his hands, he slowly became familiar with those active movements, as he did before. Although he was sweating all over under the sun, his body nevertheless felt rather good. Playing with a group of children made him feel as though he was young again, especially when he collided with Li Yu from time to time, which allowed their skin to touch. Basketball was indeed a satisfying sport.
The clothes that Jian Sui Ying wore were extremely inconvenient and uncomfortable, which easily distracted him. As soon as he moved, Li Yu"s face would appear in front of his eyes. That not only caused him to suddenly become a bit absent-minded, but his movements were also slower. At that moment, he was not able to evade as Li Yu came toward him—almost striking him in the face.
Li Yu had a large stature and was said to have a body weight of no less than 72 kg. If he raced over at full speed like that, one can only imagine the pain that would follow.
When Jian Sui Ying was directly charged to the ground, he immediately felt dizzy. But before he could react, Li Yu"s entire body pressed on top of him—a sharp pain struck his ankle and he unconsciously screamed when he suddenly could not move.
Someone from the side came over to try and pick Li Yu up while shouting, “Are you okay, are you okay?”
For a moment, the scene was a bit confusing, and by the time Li Yu got up, he couldn"t steady his footing and ended up stepping on Jian Sui Ying"s leg a few times. However, Jian Sui Ying did not seem to lose his temper.
Seeing that, Li Yu was somewhat nervous as he spoke. “Jian Ge, are you okay?”
Jian Sui Ying inhaled deeply as the pain skated up his legs, “Your foot, you"re pressing down on my foot.”
Another person came from the side to help Jian Sui Ying up while Li Yu grabbed his trousers and lifted them up only to see that his ankle was indeed swelling up.
Once Jian Sui Ying was supported until he was carefully placed on the bleachers, he couldn"t help but to laugh at himself. “It"s actually no good when you"re older. Just by playing a sport and moving more than usual, I got injured.”
A boy laughed and said, “Da Ge, you are only twenty something years old. How can you talk like that? It"s common to b.u.mp into each other when you"re playing basketball. Li Yu didn"t do it intentionally.”
Jian Sui Ying forced a smile, “Can you give me a bottle of water? I"m thirsty.”
Someone handed him a bottle of water. He unscrewed the cap and leaned his neck to drink it—it took him only a few mouthfuls to empty the bottle.
Li Yu crotched down in front of him and carefully removed his shoe and sock. When he saw the red and swollen ankle, he couldn"t help but to be worried.
For some reason, Jian Sui Ying didn"t know why, but he was a bit nervous himself and wanted to pull his foot back. “It"s nothing to worry about. Just take me to the car. Trust me, the swelling will subside in a few days.”
However, Li Yu instead grabbed his foot and glanced at him, “How are you going to drive?”
Jian Sui Ying was completely dumbfounded—it was his right foot that was injured. That"s right, how am I supposed to drive?
Noticing Jian Sui Ying must have just realized that, Li Yu instructed his cla.s.smate that was standing nearby: “Go buy a bag of ice from the small shop near the entrance.” After he said that, he stood up and helped Jian Sui Ying up as well. “Jian Ge, I"ll take you back.”
Jian Sui Ying commented to himself, this is a blessing in disguise… okay, it was worth it for this foot to be twisted.
Several cla.s.smates helped Li Yu bring Jian Sui Ying to his car. Li Yu took the ice and wrapped it on Jian Sui Ying"s foot with his own necktie.
Being cooled down by the ice, Jian Sui Ying started to laugh, “It feels nice, this was a good idea.”
Li Yu looked at him helplessly, “Jian Ge, give me the keys. I will take you back.”
Jian Sui Ying threw the keys over to him. “You can drive?”
“Yeah,” Li Yu simply uttered and went to sit in the driver seat before starting the car.
“Do you have a license?”
Looking ahead expressionlessly, Li Yu stepped on the accelerator and drove off. “No.”
—
Translator"s Note:
[1] Da Ge – big brother