After eating takeout for several days, his cousin finally couldn't stand it. On the way home from school, he asked Zhan Jingrui if they could eat something else today.
Zhan Jingrui asked him what he wanted to eat, and he showed him a restaurant on his iPad.
It was a Japanese restaurant.
Fine. It was rare for him to make a request, so Zhan Jingrui drove him out.
The two weaved through the city, stopping and starting in traffic.
When they encountered a red light again, Zhan Jingrui stopped the car and was quietly waiting, looking ahead, when suddenly, a rustling sound came from the gap in the car window.
He turned to look and saw a young woman standing outside the window, wearing a red vest with the words "XX Real Estate Company" written on it.
The woman held a thick stack of flyers and was stuffing one into his car.
The car had privacy film, so outsiders couldn't see inside, but Zhan Jingrui could see her clearly.
It was her again.
He Yao.
He Yao, who had taken leave today and didn't go to class. He Yao, who had said she was going to the hospital because her grandmother was sick.
She was distributing flyers in a real estate company uniform.
The red light lasted a full 70 seconds. After stuffing the flyer into his car, He Yao quickly ran to the car in front.
As soon as she finished stuffing the flyer, the driver rolled down his window and angrily threw it back at her.
She showed no expression from beginning to end. She picked up the crumpled flyer, stuffed it into her pocket, and then ran to another car.
Zhan Jingrui picked up the flyer she had handed him and looked at it. It was a very low-end property, which he definitely didn't need.
He had given his white hair to her.
The next day, when he went to school, for some reason, before sitting down, Zhan Jingrui subconsciously glanced at He Yao's empty seat.
Perhaps because he saw her changing her tactics every day and got used to it, he was vaguely looking forward to what act she would put on today.
Thinking this, he quickly forgot about it as he immersed himself in the ocean of knowledge.
When he remembered again, class had already started.
The teacher didn't ask the class monitor if anyone was absent, so it seemed no one was.
Zhan Jingrui wanted to glance over, but realizing it was a bad habit, he suppressed it.
His deskmate, however, was silently observing He Yao.
Upon noticing her arrival, he couldn't help but mutter excitedly to himself.
"My goddess is back in class, finally back. It seems her grandmother is fine. I'm so happy for her!"
"She tied her hair up today. Wow, so beautiful. How can she be so pretty? Flawless from any angle, too perfect!"
"The way she writes seriously makes me want to compose a poem for her. She's so beautiful, her handwriting must be beautiful too. I wish I could have a few words with my goddess sometime."
Thanks to him, Zhan Jingrui knew that He Yao had bought her books.
It seemed her work yesterday had been effective.
His deskmate, longing to interact with He Yao, would always create opportunities for himself once he had this thought.
Soon, the opportunity arrived.
On Friday afternoon, during the third period, which was physical education, Zhan Jingrui and the basketball team members, including his deskmate, were playing on the court as usual. His deskmate was distracted.
He kept turning his head to look to the side, and he missed several passes to Zhan Jingrui, causing their team to fall far behind.
Zhan Jingrui, who had been competitive since childhood, disliked things he wasn't interested in, but once he liked something, he strived for perfection.
He loved playing basketball and would never allow his team to lose to others.
So, during halftime, he went to confront his deskmate.
"Can you play? If not, let someone else play. What are your eyes for?"
His deskmate knew he had played poorly today and apologized to him with a grin.
"It's just that I don't usually have a chance to interact with He Yao. I was thinking, today during PE, she's sitting over there alone... Hey, if I threw the ball over, would she help me pick it up?"
Hearing this, the other players nudged his deskmate in the chest with their elbows.
"Didn't realize you had such high standards. You've only been here a few days, and you've already set your sights on her?"
His deskmate, with an air of overwhelming possessiveness, shielded his teammates with his arm.
"No looking. I'm telling you, I liked her first, I said it first, I made the first move. None of you are allowed to take her from me!"
There's an unwritten rule among men.
Whoever sees her first, makes the first move, it implicitly becomes theirs, and others won't compete with him.
Everyone joked, "She's the prettiest in our class. I was thinking about it too... but forget it, I'll let you have her."
"Then we'll be waiting for your wedding candy. Let's see how long it takes you to win her over. Go for it."
"You always misjudge the force when you shoot. Don't miss the throw and hit her. Why don't you let Zhan Jingrui throw it for you? Our team's points are basically all thanks to him."
"Exactly. Don't try to chase a girlfriend and cause an accident instead."
Everyone laughed. Zhan Jingrui appeared bored and didn't join their conversation.
He turned and took a couple of sips of mineral water. When he returned, the topic had ended.
Soon, they were back on the court.
Now, no one cared about the score anymore; everyone's attention was on his deskmate.
They passed the ball back and forth to him, winking and signaling him to throw it towards He Yao.
His deskmate was initially a little shy, but after being teased several times, he finally mustered the courage and raised the basketball in He Yao's direction.
However, the opposing player didn't understand his intention. Seeing him raise the ball, he instinctively went to snatch it.
With an excessive force, a loud "bang" echoed as the basketball hit a chair in the corner of the stands.
In the corner, only He Yao was sitting there, head bowed, clutching her left shoulder in pain.
On the basketball court, everyone exchanged glances, stunned for a few seconds, and then collectively panicked.
Everyone except Zhan Jingrui ran towards her.
The school doctor couldn't treat her, so He Yao was sent to the hospital.
The third year of high school had six days of classes a week. On Saturday morning, his deskmate came to school, looking dejected.
As soon as he sat down, the students in front and behind him surrounded him, full of gossip, asking what had happened yesterday and how He Yao was.
"Nothing much, she accidentally got hit by a basketball and fractured her left shoulder."
"Ah? Then you're in trouble. You'll have to take responsibility. You've only been here for less than a week, and you've already sent her to the hospital. Xu Zheng, did you do it on purpose?"
His deskmate, with mixed feelings of joy and sorrow, shooed away the gossips and leaned in to whisper to Zhan Jingrui, discussing with him.
"Brother Rui, can you..."
Before he could finish speaking, Zhan Jingrui coldly interrupted him, "No."
"I haven't even said what I wanted to do yet, and you're already..."
He opened an extracurricular book on aerospace, refusing to communicate.
"It's not a big deal. Listen to me finish, I promise I won't bother you..."
"You already are bothering me."