Chapter 21

Chapter 21

It was a compliment delivered in a childlike tone—utterly unabashed.

Pei Yan had heard countless people praise him, either directly or indirectly; of course, he’d also overheard others curse him or gossip about him behind his back—but he’d never cared.

It wasn’t worth caring about.

He didn’t need to be swayed by others’ emotions.

Yet, it turned out, exceptions existed for everything.

Perhaps because this remark hadn’t been addressed to him but overheard, its impact was inevitably different.

Thinking of how the speaker was only a third-year high school student, Pei Yan mused, *Still just a kid.*

The second half.

Just as Pei Yan had predicted, although Shen Ju continued guarding Ma Rui, Ma Rui had adapted from his earlier experience. Shamelessly exploiting his inability to match Shen Ju’s physical strength, he repeatedly pushed the boundaries of fouling—breaking through the defense multiple times and allowing his team to narrow the point gap.

Pei Yan, the primary scorer in the first half, was tightly marked.

His scoring dropped noticeably in the second half.

Though Ma Rui’s team revolved around him, their coordination was surprisingly solid.

In stark contrast, Ke Cheng’s side was a haphazard assembly—some players unfamiliar with one another, others harboring mutual friction. Even playing basketball felt awkward: their teamwork was rough, disjointed. Had it not been for their strategic plays and the fact that, aside from Shen Ju, each player possessed strong individual skills, they wouldn’t have held on through the first half.

But now, the second half looked equally precarious.

The score was tight—tighter than in the first half.

And time was running out.

Only one shot remained.

Win or lose hinged entirely on this final play.

Fortunately, Pei Yan regained possession.

But he was closely guarded, with no clear opening to shoot. Out of the corner of his eye, he spotted Ma Rui breaking through Shen Ju’s defense once more—even if it meant committing a foul—and charging straight toward him.

Only about ten seconds remained.

If Ma Rui’s team secured the ball now, they could completely reverse the game’s momentum.

And Pei Yan was completely boxed in.

Pei Yan glanced down, bent his wrist, and dribbled.

Then, feinting, he suddenly passed the ball to Pei Haochuan—

“Catch it!”

Pei Haochuan, too, was guarded and in no position to shoot.

Yet his location was ideal for a secondary pass.

Pei Haochuan clicked his tongue.

The ball barely grazed his hands.

He raised his arm and passed it to Shen Ju—

Shen Ju stood beyond the three-point line.

Instinctively, he leapt and shot—

“You really don’t know how to play?”

Pei Yan had asked Shen Ju during solo practice.

Shen Ju looked slightly embarrassed. “I haven’t played much, but I’ve secretly practiced the moves. Does that count?”

“In our school—I mean, at Yude—a senior invited me to join back in my second year.”

“He said I had strength and could definitely shoot the ball incredibly far.”

“But in the end, I declined.”

Pei Yan didn’t ask why he’d refused.

Yet, in that final moment, he passed the ball to Shen Ju.

*Thump—*

The ball struck the backboard.

Then, under everyone’s watchful eyes, it dropped cleanly through the hoop.

A three-pointer.

It went in.

Even if they’d merely prevented Ma Rui’s team from scoring in those final moments, they would have won. But sinking a three-pointer at the buzzer ignited an immediate wave of cheers across the court.

Shen Ju stood there, breathing heavily.

Strands of hair on his forehead clung, soaked with sweat—but his eyes shone brilliantly.

The instant the ball swished through the net, he whirled around to look at Pei Yan, a wide grin spreading across his face, his small white teeth gleaming—clearly overjoyed.

Shen Ju dashed over to Pei Yan almost instantly.

“I made it!”

He skidded to a stop before Pei Yan, then grew momentarily shy. “Bro—did you deliberately have Pei Haochuan pass it to me? What if I’d missed?”

Ke Cheng, beaming, called for someone to bring water.

Pei Yan took the bottle and handed one to Shen Ju first.

Noticing Shen Ju unscrewed it and immediately handed it back, Pei Yan couldn’t help but laugh.

He took the bottle back. “It wouldn’t have mattered if you’d missed.”

“Huh?”

Pei Yan brought the mouth of the water bottle to Shen Ju’s lips. "Here, have a sip first."

Shen Ju instinctively raised both hands, holding onto the bottle as Pei Yan held it, and took a sip.

Only after he drank did he realize something was wrong.

"Huh?"

Pei Yan gave a low laugh and said, "If I still had to worry about whether you could make the shot, then wouldn't all our previous efforts have been in vain?"

"Keep this one. I'll open another for myself."

The water bottle had finally found its final destination.

On the other side.

With a thud, Pei Yan slammed the basketball down in front of Ma Rui and the others. Ke Cheng, Han Chengfeng, and Guan Mulin also came over.

"What, you lose and think you can just leave?"

Han Chengfeng snorted. "We’re letting you go?"

Ma Rui’s face was iron-blue, his teeth clenched. "What do you want, then?"

"It's simple. Apologize."

Ke Cheng said, with his hands in his pockets.

Guan Mulin also spoke up, "You haven’t forgotten what you said and did before the game started, have you? If you lose, you apologize. Such a simple principle, surely it doesn't need to be taught?"

"That's right!"

Han Chengfeng snorted, thinking to himself, *Is the sun rising from the west?* Guan Mulin was actually speaking up for him—

Before he could finish the thought, he saw Guan Mulin pull Shen Ju over.

"............"

The phrase "had been overthinking it" hit Han Chengfeng like a ton of bricks.

Guan Mulin didn’t even spare him a glance.

Shen Ju was quite "unwilling," pulling his arm out of Guan Mulin’s grasp and muttering under his breath: "What are you pulling me for? Don’t pull me; I can come over by myself."

Guan Mulin had already learned to automatically filter out what Shen Ju said. At this point, Shen Ju needed them to give a "reaction" so that the persona he was building could be maintained in their view. If it were just his "solo act," then whether he performed this task or not made little difference. So the key lay in how they were affected by Shen Ju’s persona performance—

As far as Guan Mulin himself was concerned, the goodwill he offered was not received, or even met with scorn and suspicion of ulterior motives. Probably after a few times, he would keep his distance appropriately.

He would remember Shen Ju’s status and keep a distance from him.

If Shen Ju did not actively seek trouble with him, then he would not do anything unnecessary either.

But his backing down might not keep Shen Ju from becoming even more dissatisfied, or might even make him intensify his actions—Guan Mulin could imagine that maybe Shen Ju would push his advantage and do something even more excessive. Everyone's patience has a limit, and moreover, Guan Mulin was not alone. The hassles and troubles Shen Ju directed at him would eventually cause Shen Ju to "suffer the consequences of his own actions."

And Guan Mulin, in this process, would realize who was truly good to him, who gave their all without holding back, and so......

Guan Mulin couldn’t help but shudder.

This kind of pre-ordained "fate" really left him speechless.

If he were ignorant and unaware, if he couldn't hear the conversations between Shen Ju and 996, would everything he was now speculating about actually happen?

Then what about Shen Ju? What was his reason?

This wasn't even a matter of a thankless task anymore. To exaggerate a bit, this was something that would land him in a "hopeless situation."

What was Shen Ju thinking?

For what reason did he have to submit to this control and accept this task?

Did he not know that his acting wasn't very good, that it was stiff and awkward? What must it feel like to force himself to play the role of a bad guy?

Guan Mulin asked himself—he could not do it.

He remembered his grandfather's words—perhaps Shen Ju desired something.

For the first time, Guan Mulin deeply realized that his and Shen Ju's lives being swapped was not just a simple mistake. It's not that growing up in a wealthy family means having no troubles, but he had grown up in an environment where anything could be easily obtained and easily achieved. He truly would not have had to put himself in such a situation, to desperately seek something.

So at this moment—

"Okay, okay, okay."

Guan Mulin was immensely indulgent. "You come over by yourself."

"Did I pull you too hard? Did I hurt you?"

Shen Ju: "............"

Sometimes he truly couldn't figure out what the problem was. Could it be that his acting wasn't good enough, that he needed to try harder?

But never mind that for now. Shen Ju looked at Ma Rui.

Without a word being spoken, Ma Rui's expression was already extremely ugly.

He had always been at odds with the two guys from the same alley—one he couldn’t beat in a fight, the other he couldn’t outscore in exams, and he was always being lectured about them. Now the one he couldn’t beat had somehow flown up the branch and became the child of a wealthy family. Even if Ma Rui refused to admit it, his heart felt like it had been soaked in a pickling jar. If you squeezed it hard enough, you could definitely wring out some sour liquid.

The taunts he’d thrown out earlier had now turned into slaps across his own face.

There was no way Ma Rui would take this willingly.

But no matter how unwilling, he could only grit his teeth and bow his head to apologize.

Otherwise, he’d lose even more face.

By the time Ma Rui left, his expression was too awful to look at.

Shen Ju thought about how he and Jian Yi were no longer at the same school and couldn’t help but frown. He wanted to take out his phone to send a message to Jian Yi, but someone bumped into his shoulder.

"Little bro! Let’s go! I’m treating everyone to dinner tonight!"

Han Chengfeng said excitedly, though with a hint of regret. "School starts tomorrow—tonight is our last chance to cut loose!"

Guan Mulin clicked his tongue inwardly. Who are you calling "little bro"?

"Perfect timing—I'm hungry too. Count me in."

Han Chengfeng tsked and pointed at himself. "I mean, Class President, you actually want to eat my treat? What, are we on food-buddy terms or something?"

Guan Mulin: "Then are we on basketball-buddy terms?"

Guess not.

But since we’ve already played ball together, grabbing a meal together shouldn't be a big deal!

"Fine then."

Han Chengfeng puffed his chest out, feeling quite proud about treating everyone.

Duh—he who treats holds the leverage; by treating, he’s taking the lead!

Thinking this, he invited Ke Cheng and Pei Haochuan too.

Let them all owe me one!

No need to invite Pei Yan anyway—he wouldn’t dare not treat him.

With all this distraction, Shen Ju never got the chance to take out his phone. Plus, Pei Haochuan and Han Chengfeng started going back and forth, Ke Cheng egged them on, Han Chengfeng dragged him into it, Guan Mulin was torn between sides and eventually just shut his mouth, while Pei Yan simply tuned it out to avoid the annoyance. In all the commotion, there was never a good moment.

By the time things settled down, it was already very late.

*He’s probably asleep by now, right?*

Shen Ju lay on his bed, thought about it, and decided not to disturb him.

Anyway, it’s just like tattling to some elementary schooler—it can wait until tomorrow.

He just wanted to give Jian Yi a heads-up not to engage with Ma Rui lately.

But then again, Jian Yi wouldn’t go out of his way to engage with Ma Rui anyway. Shen Ju nodded to himself, put down his phone, and fell asleep.

However, on the first day of school the next day, Jian Yi was cornered in an alley by Ma Rui and his crew.

Old grudges plus fresh resentment—

Ma Rui had long wanted to teach Jian Yi a lesson. After being humiliated by Shen Ju the day before, he was even more eager to take brutal revenge on Jian Yi!