Chapter 47: The Court, Water

Chapter 47: The Court, Water

Ye Lanyue: "Tch, what kind of person is that..."

Xie Yao: "Looking down on everyone, Jincheng Foreign Language School thinks they're some elite institution and thus superior to others."

Tan Xiaoyou: "I hate people like that. Lin Yao did well to stand up to them. Their school has already been eliminated, yet they act like this is their home turf."

Everyone took turns mocking them, not wanting their good mood to be ruined by irrelevant people.

Soon after, they started handing out various cheering props to their classmates from No. 3 Middle School, including Lin Yao.

Finally, when everything was done, they all sat down.

Zhou Yuwei quietly tugged at Lin Yao's sleeve: "Lin Yao, you know Xiao Ning likes Shi Yu, right? Does she see you as her rival?"

"W-What?" Lin Yao, who was drinking water, almost choked.

She quickly looked back at Shi Nian next door. Fortunately, Shi Nian was talking to the PE teacher and hadn't heard Zhou Yuwei's words.

Lin Yao hurriedly covered Zhou Yuwei's mouth: "Keep your voice down. What rival... there's nothing going on."

Xiao Ning had disliked her since junior high, even before she knew Lin Yao and Shi Yu were acquainted.

Wait a minute...

Lin Yao looked at Zhou Yuwei in surprise: "You said... Xiao Ning likes Shi Yu?"

Zhou Yuwei wore an expression of genuine concern: "Yes, I've known for a while that Xiao Ning has been chasing Shi Yu across schools. How could you not know? Lin Yao, what's wrong with you? You don't have any sense of urgency. Be careful Shi Yu gets taken away."

"Don't talk nonsense... about him being taken away. I... I have nothing to do with Shi Yu."

Lin Yao couldn't stop Zhou Yuwei fast enough; her face turned bright red, and her clear eyes filled with moisture.

She had managed to keep her secret from everyone in the school, and no one would connect her with Shi Yu.

Even Shi Nian, who lived with her, didn't know.

Only Zhou Yuwei, ever since she was awakened and freed from the original narrative, kept saying that Shi Yu liked her.

Initially, Lin Yao didn't care, but now, after hearing it so many times from Zhou Yuwei, she couldn't help but take it seriously.

Zhou Yuwei nodded: "Oh, if you have nothing to do with him, then guess who the girl was, caught twice running away wearing Shi Yu's school jacket?"

Lin Yao: "Why should I guess?"

Her face flushed, and she buried her head, pretending to be oblivious, too embarrassed to look at Zhou Yuwei.

Lin Yao knew very well who the girl was.

Moreover... Zhou Yuwei had seen her hanging the school jacket behind the classroom door.

Lin Yao glared at Zhou Yuwei petulantly.

How could she be so mean, asking such obvious questions?

"Lin Yao, that glare makes my heart melt. You're so cute... no wonder someone treasures you." Zhou Yuwei couldn't resist pinching Lin Yao's cheek.

She took out her phone to show Lin Yao: "Look, see for yourself. I'm not joking about this. These people... they're betting on it in the school forum."

Betting?

Curious, Lin Yao took the phone and looked.

The school forum featured a hot topic with a huge title: "Guess Who—Will the Girl Shi Yu Likes Show Up at Today's Basketball Finals?"

The post mentioned that the girl seen twice secretly meeting Shi Yu had never been seen in public.

Everyone was speculating about her identity.

And they were betting on whether she would appear at the basketball finals to give Shi Yu water.

[It's our school tradition; girlfriends always bring water during basketball games.]

[This game against No. 5 Middle School is crucial. That girl will definitely be there to cheer for Shi Yu.]

[Exactly. I heard that the rumored girlfriend of the school bully, Lin Yao from Class 13, went to cheer. There's no reason why Shi Yu's girlfriend wouldn't.]

When Lin Yao saw her name in the discussion section, her first reaction was panic—had her relationship with Shi Yu been discovered?

But upon closer inspection, she realized her name was linked with Qi Yanye, and she sighed in relief.

Indeed, the plot lines of the original story were not easily altered. Even though she hadn't pursued Qi Yanye to spite Shi Nian this time around, others still assumed she liked Qi Yanye.

They even speculated she would bring water to Qi Yanye during the game.

Lin Yao bit her lip, hesitating.

Could this be why Shi Yu insisted she bring him water on the court?

Did he see the posts linking her name with Qi Yanye?

"Tell me, will you bring water to Qi Yanye or Shi Yu later?"

Zhou Yuwei didn't miss Lin Yao's hesitation and smiled, pressing a bottle of cold water against her face.

Lin Yao let out a soft cry as the frozen mineral water bottle chilled her.

She took the mineral water bottle from Zhou Yuwei's hand and whispered, "Why are you sending it? So many people are watching."

Lin Yao wanted to give up.

But... that day in the hospital, she had agreed to Shi Yu.

Did she count as agreeing?

Or could she claim that Shi Yu forced her to agree, so it didn't count?

As Lin Yao was still struggling with this, a sudden burst of intense screams erupted around her.

Looking down, she realized that the basketball players from both schools were starting to enter the court.

First out were the No. 5 Middle School Basketball Team.

All tall and lanky teenagers in black jerseys, they exuded a cool and somewhat villainous vibe.

Among them, the ink-blue hair stood out the most.

The moment he appeared, the applause grew even louder.

Shen Chaowen waved in the direction of the cheering crowd, his amber eyes scanning the area before finally landing on the spectators from No. 3 Middle School, their opponents.

Lin Yao, caught by his strikingly beautiful gaze, felt a jolt in her heart and quickly pretended not to notice, lowering her head.

"Wow, Shen Chaowen is actually looking at us."

"The school bully from next door must be provoking us!"

"I heard he's secretly dating Shi Nian. He must be looking for her..."

Shi Nian, still held back by the PE teacher, didn't hear the chatter from the audience.

But Lin Yao heard every word clearly.

Instead, Zhou Yuwei nudged her gently, "Why is Shen Chaowen always looking over here? His expression looks quite fierce."

Lin Yao felt guilty...

How could it not be fierce?

He had just been knocked unconscious by her relay baton.

Even if... she could say it was due to an underlying health issue, she had indeed caused Shen Chaowen to lose face.

Seeing her, he probably wished he could tear her apart.

Lin Yao had been avoiding everyone from No. 5 Middle School these past few days, never daring to meet Shen Chaowen's gaze.

She wondered why this guy was here today, despite being sick, still participating in the game.

Just then, Shi Nian returned after talking to the teacher, noticing Shen Chaowen's intense gaze and Lin Yao's ostrich-like avoidance. She immediately understood.

She smiled and explained softly to Lin Yao, "Shen Chaowen said this is the last basketball game of high school, and he doesn't want to lose to us or leave any regrets, so he insisted on playing. He asked Martin, and as long as he isn't hit by a basketball, he should be fine."

Hearing the words 'hit by a basketball,' Lin Yao felt guilty.

That day, she had hit Shen Chaowen's head with a relay baton, causing him to faint.

"Just kidding," Shi Nian ruffled her hair.

Recently, for some reason, Shi Nian also enjoyed ruffling Lin Yao's hair.

"Even if he gets hit by a basketball, it's no big deal. That day, he just happened to have an episode. Now that he's taken his medication, there won't be any issues."

Lin Yao: "..."

Lin Yao didn't expect even Shi Nian would tease her like this.

She couldn't help but wonder if this was some family tradition, both siblings enjoying ruffling her hair.

"Look, our team is coming out!"

Still dazed, Lin Yao was suddenly grabbed by the wrist by Shi Nian and Zhou Yuwei beside her.

Caught between them, she instinctively followed where they were pointing.

Emerging from the narrow passage were tall and lanky boys, all over 1.85 meters, exuding a youthful charm.

Even with someone like Qi Yanye, who had the protagonist's handsome face from the original book, or Lin Jingtao, a future male idol, Lin Yao's eyes were drawn to the last one walking in, his demeanor casual yet cold.

Wearing a white jersey underneath an unzipped black school jacket, the wind blew through the passage, scattering the black hair on Shi Yu's forehead.

Underneath his disheveled bangs, his clear and deep eyes looked in her direction, becoming even darker and brighter.

Her heart skipped a beat.

Then it began to race uncontrollably.

Unconsciously, she pressed the ice-cold water bottle against her chest.

The No. 3 Middle School Basketball Team's starting lineup was drawn opposite the entrance passage.

As they walked past the audience,

Lin Yao saw Shi Yu suddenly lift his thin eyelids, his indifferent gaze turning toward her.

So close—she was sitting in the first row, close enough to clearly see the deep emotions hidden in Shi Yu's eyes as he lifted them, seemingly lazily.

Lin Yao felt her heart skip a beat once again.

Even more intensely than before.

She suddenly felt as if something was about to burst forth—

Then, she saw Shi Yu walk toward her under everyone's watchful eyes, extending his hand over the railing.

He gave no chance for the little green tea to hesitate about offering the water.

Nor did he give her a chance to evade or act coy.

Shi Yu's distinct hand, with its prominent knuckles, reached over the metal railing in front of the first row and opened palm toward her.

"Water."

He said in a low, hoarse voice.