On Friday night, Celine and her friends hosted a party at a bar near the school.
Just as they brought out the birthday cake to blow out the candles, someone suddenly shouted, "Celine! Celine! It"s Reece Reddington!"
"Who?" Celine turned around in surprise as everyone looked in the direction of the door.
A tall, handsome figure in a light grey sweater and khaki slacks came over holding a bouquet of flowers in his hand.
Celine"s heart was beating so fast that she reached her hand to clutch onto the girl next to her, repeatedly asking, "How could Reece be here…… he didn"t come for me, he couldn"t have come for me……"
In front of everyone"s eyes, Reece walked up to her step by step.
Celine unconsciously clenched her fingers when Reece looked into her eyes. This was the first time Reece looked at her like that, it was as if she was the only person left in the world.
"Happy birthday."
Reece"s voice was like chilled champagne. Celine opened her mouth slightly but completely didn"t know what to say.
The surrounding girls exposed looks of envy and admiration as Celine"s heart raced.
It wasn"t until a friend beside her lightly touched her back that she returned to her senses and reached for the bouquet of flowers that Reece had handed her.
It wasn"t fiery red roses nor was it flirtatious pink Mary Rose, but Celine felt that this elegant bouquet of flowers was truly unique.
"Thank you, it"s really beautiful."
"Nie Chuan chose it for you," Reece said indifferently.
Celine froze for a moment then smiled while holding the flowers in her arms, "I"m already very happy that you came to say "Happy birthday" to me."
Who chose the flowers isn"t important.
Celine, who was originally angry at Nie Chuan, had already stopped blaming him at this time.
"What about Nie Chuan? He didn"t come?" Celine"s smile was full of happiness.
"I didn"t let him come." Reece"s voice remained calm.
"Ah? Why?"
"You want to know why?" Reece"s eyebrow rose as the corners of his lips sunk slightly.
Few people have seen Reece smile so his slight smile drew the eyes of everyone present.
"Huh? What"s the matter?" Celine subconsciously stepped forward.
Reece leaned down as he approached her and said in a voice that only she could hear, "Because I don"t want him to continue having unrealistic fantasies about you."
Celine"s fingers trembled. "What?"
"Because I like him."
Celine looked at the smile on Reece"s lips. In other people"s eyes, it was particularly charming but for her, it had cruelly and sharply cut through all her expectations – all her fantasies – as if everything was a joke.
"You…… are you kidding me?"
Celine"s mind was blank.
"What do you say?" Reece"s hands were in his pockets as he smiled leisurely.
"Impossible…… You…… How can you like……"
"Shh," Reece raised his finger to his lips.
"It"s impossible. This is absolutely impossible! You just don"t like me, so you……" Celine"s eyes filled with tears.
"Now that you know the truth, don"t waste your time on me. Don"t approach Nie Chuan anymore to try to get close to me either."
Reece directly pierced through Celine"s purpose during this time. Celine could only feel angry, annoyed, and ashamed.
"Liking someone is a simple thing. Don"t make things so complicated in the future."
When Reece turned to leave, Celine grabbed the corner of his sweater and said in a lowered voice, "Aren"t you afraid I"ll tell someone?"
"Go ahead. The more people you tell, the better."
Reece wasn"t afraid of what she"d say to people because no one would believe that Reece, who no one had been able to conquer so far, would like an ordinary Chinese student. Others will surely think that she was maliciously discrediting Reece because she had been rejected by him.
After Reece left, everyone surrounded Celine and asked one after another "What did Reece say to you?" and "Why did Reece leave?"
Celine took a deep breath as she squeezed out a smile. "He has other things to do! Let"s keep partying!"
At that moment, Nie Chuan was sitting on the bus home with his head leaning against the window while wondering if Celine had received the flowers that he sent yet.
He used his phone to look at Celine"s Facebook. She had already uploaded a photo of her blowing the candles out with everyone. Beside the cake was the bouquet of flowers.
Nie Chuan smiled. It was good that the flowers were sent.
He sent a message to Celine: Happy birthday.
To his surprise, Celine replied back in only a few seconds: Thank you for picking the flowers for me and thank you for letting Reece deliver them. I"m very happy.
It seems like Celine was no longer angry at him. Nie Chuan felt a lot more relieved and replied: As long as you"re happy.
Celine: I"m very curious, how did you persuade Reece to bring me flowers?
Nie Chuan touched his nose and replied with a smile: To be honest, I also don"t know how I persuaded him. He just suddenly agreed.
Celine"s head was lowered as she looked down at her phone. She typed a few lines then deleted them. Finally, she pursed her lips and resolutely sent a message: Reece said that he has someone he likes. Do you know who it is?
Nie Chuan grabbed his head and sighed helplessly. Is that how Reece rejected Celine?
Forget it, it was better to say that you have someone else you like than to directly say "I"m not interested in you" or "I just don"t like you" ba.
Nie Chuan deliberated for a long time before finally replying: He basically doesn"t tell me about his matters. We just practice together.
Celine: Well in any case, I"m glad he could come. I have some friends to greet, good night.
When he returned home, Nie Chuan ate a bowl of bone broth made by his mother. After obtaining Celine"s forgiveness, Nie Chuan felt as if life was a lot better.
In the kitchen, Mother Nie was washing dishes while chattering away. "Xiao Chuan, Reece told me that he would come back to the city every Tuesday through Thursday afternoon. If I have soup, he would come get it. Doesn"t he have cla.s.s?"
"Ah? Every Tuesday through Thursday?"
Even if Reece was a school tyrant (top student) and doesn"t need to go to the library or partic.i.p.ate in group study sessions, doesn"t he dislike this kind of running back and forth to and from the city? Just what is the matter?
"You didn"t know?" His mom turned around. "I thought the feelings between you two were good and he"d tell you everything."
"No, he didn"t tell me."
But…… no matter what he came to the city for every week, if Reece can bring the bone broth back to school for him then Nie Chuan felt that he was truly very lucky.
He needed to have a good sleep tonight because tomorrow he is going to see Coach Gordon.
Nie Chuan did his usual lifting exercises before bed then ma.s.saged his own legs. But when his palm pressed down, he inadvertently remembered the temperature of Reece"s hand as it slowly reached under the towel.
"F*ck, this is killing me."
Nie Chuan turned around and tugged the quilt. From the bedside table, he took out a piece of chocolate. After finishing it, he threw the wrapper back onto the table.
"Xiao Chuan, don"t eat candy before going to bed, alright?"
"En!"
It was already finished.
The next morning, Nie Chuan got up and ate a bowl of bone broth noodle soup. Then, according to the address of Coach Gordon that Carlo provided, he arrived at the basketball court next to the apartment. There, he indeed saw Coach Gordon in a black suit sitting on the bench beside the court with his arms and legs crossed.
As well as Carlo in the middle of a one-on-one against Reece!
This was the first time Nie Chuan saw a confrontation between the two of them.
Reece"s operation was sharp and decisive while Carlo had also changed from his usual careless att.i.tude. His defense was very rigorous, just like a net. No matter which direction Reece tried to break through he would always catch him at the last moment. This is the defensive ability that Nie Chuan didn"t have the chance to see during the last practice match. However, Reece"s control of inertia allowed him to succeed in throwing off Carlo. Carlo quickly chased after him and jumped to a staggering height.
But if he can block Reece with just that then Carlo would be too naive. Sure enough, Reece changed the dunk into a one hand shot and threw the ball into the basket from the side of Carlo"s arm.
After landing, Carlo put his hands on his hips and panted, "Ah—— ah—— you scored again!"
Coach Gordon got up and clapped, then patted Carlo on the shoulder as he said, "But your defense has already improved a lot. Reece"s balance in midair isn"t something anyone can achieve. So Carlo, when you face an opponent like Reece who"s always leaving you behind, you have to be able to respond faster."
"Yes, coach. I got it."
"Furthermore, when paired with Montenegro, you two are the most powerful pillars of support under DK"s basket."
"Yes, coach."
Watching from afar, Nie Chuan suddenly realized that he was not only far away from Reece but also from Carlo.
Coach Gordon saw Nie Chuan standing outside the court and smiled at him. "What are you standing there for? Still not coming over?"
Nie Chuan"s heart beat faster as he came up to Coach Gordon. "h.e.l.lo, Coach."
"En." Coach Gordon examined Nie Chuan from head to toe before slowly revealing a smile. "Allen, you look much st.u.r.dier than the last time I saw you, like a member of the basketball team."
Nie Chuan smiled embarra.s.sedly.
Coach Gordon turned to Carlo. "Carlo, today you will be playing against Allen. I want to see how far Allen has progressed. I also want to examine the results of Reece"s training. If the results aren"t good, I will consider whether to give Allen another training partner."
Nie Chuan wanted to open his mouth to say that Reece was already good enough. Who else can be as responsible as Reece?
But unexpectedly, Reece replied, "Yes, if the results aren"t good then you can hand him over to Carlo."
——————-
Re: *sips tea* That birthday scene is just one of my favorites in this novel, I"m glad I can share this satisfying face slapping with you readers
On a side note, I"m done with this batch of exams! Got a couple weeks of freedom before my finals so I will be trying my best to churn out chapters regularly until then ╭( ･ㅂ･)و
MadMadamMims: thank you Celine, you can exit stage left ?