Chapter 34

He likes you, doesn’t he?
It wasn’t until the next break that Shen Hua realized the fan above them had been turned off.
She looked up, noticing the other fans in the classroom were still spinning noisily. “Huh? Who turned ours off?”
Su Xiaoxiao blinked. “I think, Jin Qishan did.”
“Oh~” Shen Hua nodded slowly, a knowing smile creeping up her face. “See? He’s really good to you.”
“Oh, please. Isn’t he good to you too? Remember that time in the library? It started pouring, and you complained in the group chat that you forgot your umbrella, and he actually ran over to bring you one. Then when you didn’t reply to his messages, he went up and down three floors looking for you!”
“That’s not how it happened,” Shen Hua said, frowning at the memory. “When he finally found me, he looked super annoyed. He said, ‘Why are you here alone?’ And I said, ‘Because I am alone.’”
“Then he just turned around and left without even giving me the umbrella! Halfway down the hall, though, he came back and tossed it to me before walking off again.”
“I bet he thought I was with you,” Shen Hua added with a small grin. “He only went because he wanted to give you the umbrella.”
Su Xiaoxiao stared at her. “What? No way.”
“Think about it,” Shen Hua said, resting her chin on her hand. “You were supposed to come to the library with me that day, remember?”
Su Xiaoxiao nodded. “Yeah.”
“Then you canceled because something came up at home, but you didn’t say it in the group chat, only messaged me privately. Later, I mentioned it was raining and I didn’t have an umbrella, and since you were busy, you didn’t reply in the chat. So he must’ve thought we were together. When he got there and saw just me, of course he was pissed, he’d gone all that way for nothing and got soaked in the process.”
Su Xiaoxiao had to admit, Shen Hua’s logic did make sense. But something still didn’t add up.
“Wait,” she said, brow furrowing. “Why would he bring me an umbrella in the first place?”
“Why?” Shen Hua’s lips curved into a teasing smile. “Because he likes you, obviously.”
“Huh?”
Su Xiaoxiao shook her head furiously. “No way. No way. He likes you!”
“He so does not. He likes you!”
“No, I’m sure he likes you!”
“Fine, then I’m sure he likes you! Don’t believe me? Go ask him!”
“Ask who?”
A deep voice suddenly interrupted them. Jin Qishan had appeared out of nowhere, leaning down beside Shen Hua’s desk. “Who likes her?”
Caught red-handed, Shen Hua’s eyes went wide. She swallowed nervously.
Su Xiaoxiao felt like her entire body was on fire.
Just then, someone called from the doorway, “Xiaoxiao! Shen Yi’s looking for you, come outside a sec!”
Su Xiaoxiao shot up, head down, cheeks crimson. “I’ll, I’ll be right back.”
Jin Qishan turned toward the window, gaze darkening. “Him?”
“N-no!” Shen Hua waved her hands frantically.
“Then who were you two talking about?” Jin Qishan asked, hopping onto Shen Hua’s desk and twirling her pen between his fingers.
“We were saying that you like…”
Clack. The pen slipped from his hand and hit the floor.
Jin Qishan froze, lips slightly parted. For a split second, his expression flickered, confusion, panic, then, murderous calm.
Shen Hua felt a chill down her spine. He looks like he’s about to silence a witness.
“H-ha, ha,” she laughed weakly, pointing toward the window. “We were just joking! We meant him! We were talking about Shen Yi!”
Jin stood up just in time to see Shen Yi outside, handing Su a pink gift bag.
Su Xiaoxiao, still wearing his jacket, was smiling up at Shen Yi, sweetly, too sweetly.
Jin Qishan leaned on the windowsill and called out, “Hey! Why are you always hanging around our class?”
Su Xiaoxiao shot him a look, silently begging him not to start something.
When Shen Yi finally left, Jin asked, “What’d he want this time?”
Su hugged the pink bag. “He forgot his biology book this morning, so I lent him mine. He just came to return it.”
“Uh-huh. He came across half the building just to return a book?” Jin frowned. “There aren’t any girls with biology books in his own class?”
“Oh, shut up. Didn’t you borrow his shoe covers last time?”
“...What?” Jin blinked. “Wait, those were his? The ones you lent me for computer class?”
Su rolled her eyes. “Obviously.”
Damn it.
Jin Qishan looked down at his feet and instantly regretted everything.
Su Xiaoxiao walked back to her seat and handed the biology book to Shen Hua. “Shen Yi says thanks.”
Shen Hua lowered her gaze. “Mm.”
Su Xiaoxiao leaned in close and whispered, “He also brought you cake, strawberry, your favorite.”
Shen Hua paused, then smiled faintly. “Did you thank him for me?”
Su Xiaoxiao handed her the bag. “You can thank him yourself, you’ve got his number, don’t you?”
Shen Hua nodded.
Before long, the big day arrived, the basketball match between Class 1 and Class 7.
Class 1 wore red jerseys, Class 7 wore blue. Someone joked it was a “battle of fire and water.”
The Class 7 homeroom teacher was a newly graduated young woman, and under her direction, all the girls wore matching white shirts and black skirts to cheer on their team.
Class 1’s side looked pitiful by comparison, everyone still in regular clothes, scattered around the court.
Students from other classes gathered to watch, snickering. “Looks like the experimental class is doomed this round.”
Su Xiaoxiao realized they were already losing, before the game even started.
The whistle blew.
Immediately, Class 7’s teacher led the chant: “Class Seven!”
“Go, Class Seven!” the crowd shouted back.
“Class Seven!”
“Go, Class Seven!”
“Class Seven!”
“Go, Class Seven!”
Watching their energy soar, Teacher Cao grew anxious.
He turned to his students, raising his arms. “Come on, yell something too!”
From the back, Duan Hao muttered, “What’s the point? We’re gonna lose anyway.”
Teacher Cao’s ears perked up. “Who said that? Alright, listen up! When I shout ‘Class One,’ you shout ‘Victory,’ got it?”
Su Xiaoxiao shouted back, loud and clear, “Got it!”
“Good! Everyone, match her volume!”
He bellowed, “Class One!”
The response was weak and sluggish. “Victory,”
“Again! Class One!”
Slightly louder this time: “Victory!”
“Louder! Class One!”
“Victory!!”
Finally, the classroom came alive.
On the court, the players clashed fiercely; off the court, their classmates’ cheers collided like thunder. Both sides were fired up, like a battle of pure adrenaline.
The principal, watching from the stands, couldn’t help but smile.
This, he thought, is what youth should look like, eager, fearless, alive.
The game only grew more intense, and for the first time, Jin Qishan revealed his full strength. Every time his eyes caught Su Xiaoxiao cheering for him from the sidelines, his heart would leap out of control. Only one thought pulsed in his mind, Win.
“Holy crap, brother Shan’s insane, he’s carrying the whole team by himself!” one boy yelled as he ran along the court. “Qishan, let’s go!”
Cai Meng, hearing the shout, cupped her hands around her mouth and screamed until her throat burned, “Qishan, go! Go!”
Only when Su Xiaoxiao surrounded by other voices did she dare to let her own heart speak, pouring all the hidden affection she’d buried into that cheer.
My boy, go for it!
Su Xiaoxiao and Shen Hua held each other’s hands tightly, no longer able to focus on cheering for Shen Yi.
Instead, they joined the crowd in chanting, “Qishan, go! Qishan, go!”
Su Xiaoxiao’s voice carried through the noise, reaching Jin Qishan’s ears.
Each cry of “Qishan” sent his blood boiling, his pulse pounding, his hands tightening around the ball so hard he thought he might crush it.
He’d been training since third grade, running, working out, staying disciplined for nearly eight years. So while he looked lean, every muscle on his body was solid as iron.
The kind of body people joked about, slim in clothes, built underneath.
At first, Class 7’s players didn’t take him seriously.
But after colliding with him a few times during scrambles for the ball, they learned their mistake.
Every time Jin Qishan charged at them, their chests ached from the impact.
Damn it! This guy’s built like a rock, one hit feels like losing half your life!
“What the hell are you guys doing? Why are you dodging the ball? You trying to hand Class 1’s No. 7 a free win?”
Class 1’s No. 7, Jin Qishan himself.
“Damn it, get up there! Don’t just stand around!”
“Crap, what’s happening? Weren’t they supposed to be the weak team? Why does it feel like we’re the ones collapsing?”
By halftime, Class 1 had already taken the lead by several points.
Jin Qishan turned around, arched a brow, and smiled faintly at Su Xiaoxiao as he walked toward her.
Sunlight poured over him, gilding his figure in a soft, golden glow.
To Su Xiaoxiao, it felt like time slowed to a cinematic crawl, each of his steps deliberate, steady, impossibly dazzling.
Thump, thump, thump,
Her heartbeat roared in her ears. So this was what people meant by “a heart pounding like a drum.”
Just two steps away from her, Ma Jinlong suddenly threw an arm around Jin Qishan’s shoulders.
“Shange, you’re a beast!” he laughed, handing him a bottle of water. “Come on, drink up.”
Jin Qishan took the bottle, but his gaze never left Su Xiaoxiao.
She grew nervous under his stare, quickly looking away and pretending to fidget with her fingers.
Then, a flash of red filled her vision, his jersey.
Of course it was him.
“You were amazing out there, Jin Qishan,” Shen Hua said with a smile.
He merely grunted in response, twisted the cap with a sharp pop, and gulped down several mouthfuls of water.
Then, without hesitation, he shoved the bottle into Su Xiaoxiao’s hands. “Hold this for me.”