"Lu Yao."
Hearing Jiang Bai call his name from behind, Lu Yao turned around, confusion in his eyes. "What is it?"
Jiang Bai took out a sky-blue headband and held it out to Lu Yao. "Here. Don't let sweat sting your eyes again."
Seeing Lu Yao hesitate, Jiang Bai added with a smile in his eyes, "It's not a gift. I'm just lending it to you for now. Wash it and return it to me later."
Only then did Lu Yao take the headband and tie it around his forehead.
The cold, exquisitely featured boy looked even more striking with the sky-blue headband, which emphasized his superior bone structure and sharply defined features.
Hearing their conversation, the people nearby were stunned.
"Didn't Jiang Bai have a cleanliness obsession?!"
"It's not just you who remembers. I remember too—the whole school remembers!"
Everyone at the school knew Jiang Bai had a cleanliness obsession, so they all tacitly avoided borrowing his things. Even if they failed to borrow anything, they would still earn everyone's disdain and get scolded for being clueless. Yet now, Jiang Bai had actually taken the initiative to lend Lu Yao one of his personal belongings—a headband. He had practically insisted on lending it to him.
Word spread from one person to ten, then from ten to a hundred, instantly sweeping through the spectator stands around the court.
"My idol has been giving the transfer student way too much special treatment lately."
"To be fair, the transfer student wearing that headband? One word: badass!"
"So Jiang Bai's cleanliness obsession depends on the person, huh?"
"Waaah, I want to touch my idol's headband too. Just touching it would be enough. Wearing it? I wouldn't dare dream of that."
"After Lu Yao put it on, it completely highlighted his amazing facial lines. His proportions are ridiculously good too. He really has that naturally star-like face."
Meanwhile, Lu Yao and Lu Qi on the court had no idea what the surrounding spectators were discussing. They faced off once again.
Lu Qi dribbled the ball, constantly trying to break through Lu Yao's defense, but Lu Yao was agile and firmly kept him contained.
One attacked while the other defended. After they had been clashing for a while, both of their movements began to grow larger.
Trying to widen the distance between himself and Lu Yao, Lu Qi braced against him. Just as he was about to use his superior stamina to force his way through and shoot from where he stood, Lu Yao's foot slipped slightly, and he fell to the ground.
"Crack."
The watch on Lu Yao's wrist struck the floor.
Lu Qi did not notice that Lu Yao had fallen. He jumped up and quickly threw the ball, only realizing what had happened when he began to come back down.
He did not even care whether the ball went into the hoop. Thinking he had accidentally knocked Lu Yao over, he crouched beside him in alarm, looking utterly at a loss. "What happened? Are you okay? Did I hit you just now? Are you hurt anywhere?"
Lu Yao said, "I'm fine. I'm not hurt."
Seeing the watch face covered in mottled cracks and its hands no longer moving, Lu Yao frowned.
Lu Qi noticed that the watch had broken too.
Seeing Lu Yao frown as though he was upset, Lu Qi suddenly remembered the melodrama he had accidentally watched the night before. In it, the male lead had broken the watch that the female lead's mother had left her—the only keepsake she had—and the female lead had been devastated over it.
Lu Yao's watch was probably something just as important as a keepsake. Seeing the traces of age on its strap, Lu Qi became even more convinced of his guess.
What was he supposed to do? It seemed he had caused trouble!
Lu Qi cautiously looked up at Lu Yao, his voice full of guilt. "I'm sorry."
Confusion surfaced in Lu Yao's eyes. What was there to apologize for?
Lu Yao said, "It has nothing to do with you. I was the one who slipped."
!!!The female lead last night had said the same thing when she was angry!!
Lu Yao was angry?! He did not intend to forgive him for his stupid mistake!
Lu Qi suddenly remembered something terrifying. In that drama, the female lead had cut off contact with the male lead for five years because of that incident. He had watched until the end last night and never even saw them get back together.
If Lu Yao did not intend to forgive him, then he might end up with the same fate. At the thought of Lu Yao treating him like a stranger, Lu Qi nearly broke down on the spot.
"Beep—!"
Lu Yao had just gotten to his feet when he heard the PE teacher's whistle calling everyone together before class ended.
The PE teacher said, "Move it, get over here and line up. Then class is over."
Hearing the teacher urge them on, Lu Yao jogged over immediately.
Watching Lu Yao leave without even acknowledging him, Lu Qi was devastated. Lu Yao really was angry at him. He did not even want to talk to him anymore.
Because he thought he had broken Lu Yao's watch, Lu Qi spent the entire day looking absent-minded and listless.
Seeing him like that, Ye Muqing waved a hand in front of him. "Brother Qi, what's wrong with you? You look like you've lost your soul."
After a while, Lu Qi finally spoke slowly. "What? Did you call me?"
Noticing Lu Qi sitting in the back row looking distracted, Lu Yao frowned slightly. What was wrong with him?
Lu Qi secretly glanced at Lu Yao by the window and saw him frowning. He wailed miserably inside. It seemed that watch really was important to Lu Yao. This time, he had truly caused a disaster.
Lu Qi thought about it for nearly the entire day. When he got home that evening, he tossed and turned in bed, as anxious as an ant on a hot pan. The moment he saw the alarm clock on his bedside table, he immediately thought of Lu Yao's watch.
He took a deep breath and abruptly got up. No, whether he faced it or avoided it, the outcome would be the same. Running away would not solve anything.
"Knock, knock."
Hearing the knock, Lu Yao said, "Come in."
It was already eleven at night. Who would be looking for him so late?
Holding his breath, Lu Qi gathered his courage and turned the doorknob.
"Lu Qi? Come in. Why are you standing at the door?"
Normally, if Lu Qi heard Lu Yao call him by name instead of calling him brother, he would definitely be unhappy about it. But now, he had no mind to think about such things. There was only one thing in his head: how could he get Lu Yao to forgive him?
Standing at the door, he suddenly bowed at a ninety-degree angle and apologized solemnly, "I'm sorry for breaking such an important watch."
Lu Yao said, "...What important watch?"
Lu Qi said, "The watch that broke during PE class today."
Lu Yao let out a muffled laugh, then started chuckling softly. He took the watch from a drawer. "If you mean this one, I bought it last year at the bookstore outside Mountain City No. 1 High School for twenty yuan."
T-twenty yuan?
Lu Qi's eyes widened in shock.
Lu Yao explained with amusement in his voice, "And you didn't break it. I told you today that I slipped and fell by accident. It had nothing to do with you."
Hearing that, Lu Qi instantly let out a long breath of relief. Great. The huge weight on his heart could finally be put down.
"Wait, then why did you look so serious when you saw the watch was broken?!"
That was exactly why he had misunderstood all day.
Lu Yao said, "Wouldn't you feel bad if something you spent money on broke?"
Lu Qi said, "..."
He, Lu Qi, had suffered for an entire day over a mere twenty yuan?!
Once the misunderstanding was cleared up, Lu Qi belatedly began to feel embarrassed. His face turned red as he stammered out an excuse, then fled back to his room in shame.
Thinking of how absent-minded Lu Qi had looked that day, Lu Yao chuckled softly.
"What an idiot."
***
The hottest topic among the boys at Huiying High School was that nava, the arrogant and unreasonable luxury brand, had released another new limited-edition watch: the Tianwan Series. Only certain people who received an invitation to the Tianwan private sale for new products would be qualified to buy it.
The moment nava released this news, it immediately sparked heated discussion online and opposition from watch enthusiasts. But no matter how much the outside world questioned it, nava seemed to have no intention of changing this brand strategy.
When Ye Muqing heard that Lu Qi, someone who had never cared about watches, had actually bought nava's newly released watch, he excitedly grabbed his hand. "Brother Qi, Lord Qi, sell me the watch. As long as you're willing to sell it, name your price."
Lu Qi flung his hand away. "Do I look like I'm short on money?"
Although nava's new watch was nowhere near as expensive as those watches worth tens of millions, for an everyday series watch, its price was still close to ten million.
Ye Muqing looked grief-stricken. "Don't you not care about watches? That watch is wasted in your hands. You don't even understand what makes it good."
Lu Qi said, "That's why I don't plan to keep it for myself. Don't even think about getting your hands on it. I'm not giving it to you. If you really want one, go buy it yourself."
Ye Muqing said, "..." If he could get the new product's private-sale invitation, would he be begging that bastard Lu Qi?!
As Li Guigu passed them in the corridor, he happened to overhear their conversation.
A trace of unwillingness and jealousy flashed in his eyes.
Just to get nava's previous limited-edition watch, he had needed to go to great lengths to please Chu Jiaojiao. Yet people like Lu Qi could effortlessly obtain anything they wanted.
Huiying High School had only one requirement regarding classroom discipline: do not interfere with the teacher's normal lessons. As for whether students listened or not, that was entirely up to them.
After all, if these young masters and heiresses wanted to study, they could spend a fortune at any time to hire the nation's best teachers. But if they did not want to study, meddling too much would only bring trouble upon oneself.
Lu Yao slept through more than half the class. Even after Lu Qi and Ye Muqing returned from outside the classroom, he was still lying facedown on his desk, not fully awake.
In his groggy state, Lu Yao vaguely heard You Yu, who sat beside him, asking Ye Muqing for a favor, only to be refused.
Lu Yao kept his eyes closed and propped up his forehead. After clearing his head a little, he slowly opened his eyes.
Seeing Lu Yao wake up, You Yu, who had been pleading with Ye Muqing, suddenly had an idea and turned to Lu Yao expectantly.
"Deskmate, can you..."
Lu Yao's voice was calm and flat. "No."
You Yu said, "...I haven't even finished talking."
Lu Yao said, "But I can reject you in advance."
Although Lu Yao had already refused You Yu before he could state his request, You Yu latched onto him anyway.
Lu Yao finally could not take it anymore after You Yu had spent the entire afternoon persistently nagging beside his ear.
He opened WeChat on his phone and shoved it into You Yu's hands. "Do it yourself."
Then he lay facedown on the desk again, out of sight and out of mind. He finally understood why Sun Wukong sometimes got so irritated with Tang Monk.
Jiang Bai had taken leave today because he was feeling a little unwell. As he carried a glass toward the kitchen to get some water, he saw what appeared on his phone screen, and his face instantly went pale.
"Smash."
The glass slipped from his hand and shattered on the floor with a loud crash.