Chapter 23

"Lu Yao."

Hearing Jiang Bai call his name from behind, Lu Yao turned around, his eyes holding a trace of confusion. "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 accentuated his excellent bone structure and sharply defined contours.

Hearing their exchange, the people nearby were stunned.

"Didn't Jiang Bai have a cleanliness obsession?!"

"Not just you. I remember it too. The whole school remembers!"

Everyone in the school knew about Jiang Bai's cleanliness obsession, so they tacitly avoided borrowing his things. Not being able to borrow them was one thing, but they might also earn everyone's disdain and get scolded for being tactless. Yet now, Jiang Bai had actually taken the initiative to lend Lu Yao one of his personal belongings—a headband. He had practically rushed to offer it to him.

The news 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 that 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 touch it. I wouldn't dare dream of wearing it."

"After Lu Yao put on that headband, it totally brought out his amazing facial lines. His proportions are ridiculously good too. He has the kind of face that was born to be a celebrity."

Meanwhile, Lu Yao and Lu Qi on the court had no idea what the spectators around them were discussing. They faced off once again.

Dribbling the ball, Lu Qi kept trying to break through Lu Yao's defense, but Lu Yao was nimble and firmly kept him at bay.

With one attacking and the other defending, their prolonged standoff and collisions gradually made both of their movements more forceful.

Trying to widen the distance between himself and Lu Yao, Lu Qi pressed 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, 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 swiftly shot the ball, only noticing Lu Yao on the ground as he began to land.

He did not even care whether the ball went into the hoop. Thinking he had accidentally knocked Lu Yao down, he crouched beside him in panic, looking helpless. "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 cracks spread across the watch face and the hands inside stop moving, Lu Yao frowned.

Lu Qi noticed that the watch was broken too.

Seeing Lu Yao frown as though he were upset, Lu Qi suddenly remembered a melodrama he had happened to watch 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 very likely something just as important as a keepsake. Seeing the traces of age on its strap, Lu Qi became even more convinced of his conclusion.

What should he do? It seemed like he had really screwed up!

Lu Qi cautiously looked up at Lu Yao, his voice full of guilt. "I'm sorry."

A hint of confusion appeared 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 in that drama had said the exact same thing when she was angry!!

Lu Yao was angry?! He was not going to forgive him for his stupid mistake!

Lu Qi suddenly recalled something terrifying. In the drama last night, the female lead had cut ties with the male lead for five years because of that incident. He had watched all the way to the end and still had not seen them get back together.

If Lu Yao did not intend to forgive him, then he might end up facing 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. Hurry over here and line up, then class is dismissed."

Hearing the teacher urge them on, Lu Yao jogged straight over.

Watching Lu Yao leave without acknowledging him, Lu Qi was heartbroken. Lu Yao really was angry with 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 distracted 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 absent-minded, Lu Yao's brows drew together slightly. Was something wrong with him?

Lu Qi secretly glanced at Lu Yao by the window. When he saw him frowning, he wailed miserably inside. That watch really was important to Lu Yao. He had truly caused a huge disaster this time.

Lu Qi agonized over it for nearly the entire day. That night, after returning home, he tossed and turned in bed, as restless 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 to his feet. No, a knife was a knife whether he stuck his head out or pulled it back. Avoidance was not a solution.

"Knock, knock."

Hearing the knock, Lu Yao said, "Come in."

It was already eleven at night. Who would be looking for him this late?

Holding his breath, Lu Qi gathered his courage and turned the doorknob.

"Lu Qi? Come in. Why are you standing in the doorway?"

If it had been any other day, hearing Lu Yao call him by name instead of calling him brother would have made Lu Qi unhappy. But now, he had no mind to think about that. There was only one thing in his head: how could he make Lu Yao forgive him?

Standing in the doorway, he suddenly bowed at a ninety-degree angle and apologized in a tragic tone, "I'm sorry for breaking such an important watch of yours."

Lu Yao said, "...What important watch?"

Lu Qi said, "The, the watch that broke in PE class today."

Lu Yao let out a muffled laugh, then chuckled softly. He took the watch from his drawer. "If you mean this one, I bought it for twenty yuan at the bookstore by Mountain City No. 1 High School's gate last year."

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, I slipped and fell myself. It had nothing to do with you."

The moment Lu Qi heard that, he let out a long sigh of relief. Great. The huge weight on his heart could finally be lifted.

"Wait, then why did you look so serious when you saw the watch was broken?!"

That was why he had misunderstood all day.

Lu Yao said, "Wouldn't you feel bad if something you bought with money broke?"

Lu Qi said, "..."

He, Lu Qi, had suffered for an entire day over a measly twenty yuan?!

Once the misunderstanding was cleared up, Lu Qi belatedly felt embarrassed. His face turned red as he stammered out an excuse, then fled back to his room in shame.

Thinking about how distracted 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, that arrogant and unreasonable luxury brand, had released another new limited-edition watch: the Tianwan Series. Moreover, only select people who received an internal purchase invitation for the new Tianwan release would be eligible to buy it.

The moment nava released the news, it immediately sparked heated online discussion and opposition from watch enthusiasts. But no matter how the outside world questioned it, nava showed no sign of changing its brand strategy.

Hearing that Lu Qi, who had never been interested in watches, had actually bought nava's newly released watch, Ye Muqing, a veteran watch enthusiast, 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 the price of nava's new release could not compare to those sky-high watches worth tens of millions, for an everyday series watch, it still cost nearly 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 how good it is."

Lu Qi said, "That's why I'm not keeping it for myself. Stop thinking about the watch. I'm never giving it to you. If you really want one, buy it yourself."

Ye Muqing said, "..." If he could get that internal purchase invitation for the new release, would he need to beg that bastard Lu Qi?!

As Li Guigu passed by them in the corridor, he happened to overhear their conversation.

A trace of unwillingness and jealousy appeared in his eyes.

Just to get nava's previous limited-edition watch, he had needed to go to great lengths to curry favor with Chu Jiaojiao. Yet people like Lu Qi could so easily obtain everything they wanted.

Huiying High School had only one requirement when it came to classroom discipline: do not disrupt 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 lavishly at any time to hire famous teachers from across the country. But if they did not want to study, interfering too much might only bring trouble upon oneself.

Lu Yao slept through more than half the class. Even when Lu Qi and Ye Muqing returned from outside the classroom, he was still lying facedown on his desk, not yet awake.

In his drowsiness, Lu Yao seemed to hear You Yu, who sat beside him, asking Ye Muqing for some favor, only to be refused.

Lu Yao kept his eyes closed and supported his forehead, taking a moment to wake himself up before slowly opening his eyes.

Seeing Lu Yao wake up, You Yu, who had been begging Ye Muqing, had a sudden idea and turned to look at Lu Yao expectantly.

"Desk mate, can you..."

Lu Yao's voice was calm and flat. "No."

You Yu said, "...I haven't even finished."

Lu Yao said, "But I can reject you in advance."

Although Lu Yao had refused You Yu before he could even make his request, You Yu latched onto him anyway.

Lu Yao finally could not endure You Yu's relentless nagging in his ear all afternoon.

He unlocked the WeChat page on his phone and shoved the phone 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 could sometimes get so irritable with Tang Monk.

Jiang Bai had taken leave from school today because he was feeling unwell. As he carried a glass toward the kitchen to get some water, the sight on his phone made his face turn pale in an instant.

"Smash."

The glass slipped from his hand and shattered on the floor with a loud crash.