Pei Huaiyi

"Was he badly hurt?"

"I don't know about that."

Cen Xia sat up and rotated his wrist, which ached from the position he'd just been in. He looked toward the cheering crowd over there. "He's been injured, so he must be pretty average at basketball now."

"Average?"

It was a question, but it wasn't Ding Yiheng's voice.

Someone sat down beside them. He wore a basketball jersey and athletic shorts, and a thin layer of sweat gave his exposed skin a glossy sheen.

Above that was a face whose exceptional bone structure Cen Xia had praised. A bead of sweat rolled down his prominent brow bone without touching his eye.

The first thought that popped into Cen Xia's head was, This guy definitely doesn't need sunglasses.

Ding Yiheng was nearly scared to his knees. They'd been gossiping behind the man's back, and he'd heard them!

Then he looked at his bro. Not only was he completely unashamed, he was staring straight into the man's eyes.

Ding Yiheng closed his eyes in utter despair. He wondered how many of Pei Huaiyi's punches the two of them could take. He'd probably go down after one. Cen Xia should be a little better off, but he definitely wouldn't last more than three.

Once they were lying on the ground, unable to move, would some kind soul call them an ambulance?

He was already close to wondering how many days they'd spend in the hospital, but Cen Xia greeted Pei Huaiyi without blushing or missing a beat.

"Hi, what a coincidence! You're here to play basketball too?"

Pei Huaiyi leaned back in the position Cen Xia had just been in and looked at him. "What were you just saying about me?"

Cen Xia played dumb. "I didn't say anything." He hadn't named names. Even if the King of Heaven himself showed up, he still hadn't said a thing.

Pei Huaiyi wasn't going to argue with him about that. Having finally caught him, he lifted his chin. "When do you have an episode? Let me see. A video would work too."

Cen Xia: "..."

Is there something wrong with this guy's brain? Why does he ask me that every time he sees me?

Cen Xia believed what Ding Yiheng had said now. This guy really had been injured-in the brain!

One look at his expression told Pei Huaiyi that the kid in front of him was definitely cursing him in his head, but he didn't care. He went on, "Let's add each other as friends. I want to see."

Not only Cen Xia, but even Ding Yiheng overcame his fear of getting beaten up and looked at Pei Huaiyi with a constipated expression.

It was one thing for this guy to be rude, but he was also so... rude.

When Pei Huaiyi saw the strange expressions that appeared on both their faces at the same time, he belatedly realized it wasn't a good way to ask. He hurried to make his position clear.

"I don't mean to discriminate against you or disrespect you. I just heard Ling Xian say you're really scary when you have an episode. I like collecting this kind of thing, so I asked."

Cen Xia: ...

And saying it like that is polite and respectful to me?

For the first time, Cen Xia thought, someone had left him completely speechless.

The feeling was unbearable. He wanted to curse the guy out, but he couldn't-if he did, he couldn't beat him in a fight. But if he didn't curse him a little, bottling it up felt awful.

Ding Yiheng looked at Cen Xia sympathetically. Good bro, I might not completely understand how you feel, but I want to curse him out too!

Pei Huaiyi felt he'd been clear and respectful enough. He even thought he was being very well-mannered when he asked for the other man's opinion. "So, how about it? Add me as a friend? You only need to send me one video... two would work too. I'm afraid one video won't be clear enough."

Pei Huaiyi's matter-of-fact tone made Cen Xia so angry his brain was starved of oxygen.

Well done, Pei Huaiyi. Who would've thought? You're a man of both words and martial arts. You've got a sharp tongue, and you're good at fighting too.

There's a reason your family sent you into the army when you were little. Otherwise, someone like you would have a hard time living to adulthood! Thank your parents! They've given you life twice!

Ding Yiheng hurriedly helped him calm down from behind. "Deep breaths, deep breaths!"

Cen Xia recovered and said weakly, "Do you have to see it?"

Pei Huaiyi thought seriously for a moment and nodded. "I want to see just what a human has to do to scare someone into having nightmares for three days."

Cen Xia didn't even have the energy to laugh in speechless disbelief. ...Pei Huaiyi, thank your parents again. They've given you life three times, or I would've beaten you to death just now...

Fine, you want to add me as a friend? No problem! Once we're friends, there's plenty of time ahead!

Cen Xia gritted his teeth and pulled out his phone. Having successfully added him as a friend, Pei Huaiyi's face lit up.

Only then did Ding Yiheng sense something was off. He looked at Pei Huaiyi, then at the crowd still cheering by the basketball court.

"If you're here, who's playing over there now?"

Pei Huaiyi was in a decent mood at the moment. He raised his eyes and took a quick glance, then looked away and said casually, "I think it's He Wangsheng."

"I saw him arrive when I left the court."

Ding Yiheng was shocked. "The president can play basketball too?!"

Cen Xia's eyes widened in surprise too. Rich people really were different: multitalented, with a hand in art, academics, and sports.

Pei Huaiyi gave a scoff without even looking up. "Him? He's an all-around star."

There was some sarcasm in that remark.

Cen Xia thought, Oh. He's got quite a few hands!

"The president's playing basketball? No wonder so many people are gathered around." As Ding Yiheng spoke, he pulled up the list of second-year contestants published on the official website and searched it carefully, but didn't see the president's name.

"Is he good at basketball?" Cen Xia asked.

As the saying went, a mouth that had eaten someone's food spoke softly, and a hand that had taken someone's gift came up short. Pei Huaiyi was very patient at the moment. "He's pretty good."

"How does he compare to you?"

Pei Huaiyi paused. "I'm better, of course."

Cen Xia didn't believe him. He didn't think Pei Huaiyi had sounded all that confident.

Pei Huaiyi could tell, but he only gave a soft snort. If Cen Xia didn't believe him, so be it.

Ding Yiheng said longingly, "I really want to go watch."

What did the president look like playing basketball? Did he sweat like they did? Ding Yiheng had always suspected that the president was a robot who lived on batteries every day.

Cen Xia glanced at the noticeably larger crowd by the court, then looked around. "Go on. Haven't you noticed there's no one left around us?"

"...Those guys move fast."

Ding Yiheng asked him, "Are you coming?"

Cen Xia waved a hand. "No. It must be really crowded with that many people."

Ding Yiheng ran off to watch the excitement. Pei Huaiyi stayed where he was, fiddling with his phone, his neatly trimmed fingertips tapping at the screen as though he were replying to a message.

Cen Xia didn't want to sit so close to him. He was afraid he wouldn't be able to suppress the urge to beat him to death, so he silently moved to another chair.

Once he'd left Pei Huaiyi's side, not only was the air fresher, but his chest didn't feel as tight either.

Pei Huaiyi really was his bane.

[Baby, are you coming home tonight? Mom made your favorite dish~]

Pei Huaiyi stared at the message on the screen. His fingers typed and deleted, but he still couldn't think of an excuse to turn his mom down.

It wasn't that he was unfilial. The main thing was that his mom really had no talent for cooking. Not only did she lack talent, her skill points were in the negatives. But his mom didn't have many hobbies, and cooking happened to be one of them.

His dad spent eleven and a half months out of the year in the army, leaving no one to share the burden with him.

Pei Huaiyi rubbed his hair irritably. He really didn't want to eat braised pork with dragon fruit anymore!

After thinking it over, he brought out the most classic excuse.

[I made plans to go out with a friend, so I won't be coming home this week.]

Less than two seconds later, she sent him a voice message.

His mother was from the south. She didn't have the soft, lilting speech of the Wu region, but her tone was still gentle when she spoke.

"Which friend are you going out with? Does Mom know them?"

Pei Huaiyi spent a second going through his gang of fair-weather friends in his head, then another second ruling them out. None of them were reliable.

Shi Ze was all right, but their families knew each other. If his mom called, he'd definitely be found out.

As he fretted over whom to use as an excuse, he suddenly caught sight of someone sitting nearby out of the corner of his eye.