After school, under the hoop on the basketball court, a few Class 1 guys were gradually finding their rhythm together.
Even more girls were watching along the sidelines than at noon, most of them stopping just to get a look at Tang Yu.
With an audience watching, Tang Yu’s touch on the court got better and better.
He was a bit sensitive about his pride…to put it bluntly, he liked to show off a little. Most teenage boys are probably like that to some degree. The more eyes on him, the more he wanted to perform well.
For the past few minutes, Tang Yu hadn’t missed a single shot.
Seeing this, Wu Jianqi was completely stunned. “Not bad, Tang Yu! Looks like we can actually dream about taking first place in basketball!”
Tang Yu didn’t bother being modest, accepting the praise with a grin. “Was there ever any doubt?”
While they were playing, Bai Yuenian sat on the steps by the sidelines, grinding through practice problems.
Every time he finished a few questions, he would look up at the basketball court, as if some exceptionally attractive reward were waiting for him over there.
The blue and white in the sky faded into sunset, bathing the court in a warm yellow glow from behind that seemed to wrap everyone in a soft filter.
If the girls by the basketball court were there to watch Tang Yu, the girl near the academic building was strictly there for Bai Yuenian.
Holding a pink envelope, she hesitated for a few paces before finally stepping forward, her face flushing red. “Senior! This… this is something I wrote for you, I wrote…”
BANG!
Not far away, Tang Yu, who hadn’t missed a shot until now, completely fumbled a pass from Old Feng. The ball slipped out of his hands and bounced away toward the sidelines.
Old Feng made a move to chase after it, but Tang Yu cut him off. “I’ll get it.”
The basketball happened to stop right at the bottom of the steps. As Tang Yu bent down to retrieve it, he caught sight of Bai Yuenian’s spotlessly clean sneakers right next to the girl’s dainty canvas shoes.
He silently turned his head away, pretending he hadn’t seen a thing, and dribbled the ball back to rejoin the practice.
Only this time, he kept losing his focus while shooting. The scene from a moment ago kept replaying in his head on a loop.
Was that girl giving Bai Yuenian a love letter to confess her feelings?
Even though Bai Yuenian was the main top in the original novel, he was still just a high schooler right now.
Looking at the story’s current timeline, Bai Yuenian did have a childhood friend in his life, and they were supposed to have a super sweet dynamic…otherwise, there wouldn’t be so many massive thread towers dedicated to shipping them on the forum.
But before things actually happened, everything was subject to change.
Take the whole Liu Ziyue situation, for example.
So it suddenly occurred to Tang Yu: Could Bai Yuenian… still be straight right now?
Was Bai Yuenian actually harboring a secret crush on the main bottom or not?
Was he even gay?
Honestly, based on his observations over the past two days, Bai Yuenian seemed completely normal! There wasn’t a single hint that he was secretly pining for him.
Even though they had ended up sleeping in the same room on the very first night they met, that was only because of circumstances.
Bai Yuenian was injured and didn’t want his parents to worry…that made perfect sense! The same would apply to Tang Yu himself…
Back then, if he ever got beat up outside, he would’ve thought the exact same thing and hidden out at Xie Tianyi’s place instead.
Since Bai Yuenian was so normal, the question came right back: Would he accept that girl’s love letter?
Tang Yu’s mind was practically overflowing with dense bullet-chat thoughts.
Under the hoop, he pulled off a crisp fake out, using the turn to steal another glance toward the steps.
The girl was pretty…short hair, cute, fair-skinned. It was hard for any normal guy to reject a girl like that! She was a total sweetie!
There was no way Bai Yuenian could reject her, right? But… what if he did reject her?
Could that mean he was very likely following the original plotline and falling for the main bottom after all?!
Please no! How embarrassing would that be!
As the main bottom, Tang Yu was watching Bai Yuenian’s side with absolute intensity. If Bai Yuenian accepted the girl’s confession, Tang Yu would be completely freed from his fate of bearing a child in the original plot…a win-win for everyone!
Tang Yu couldn’t help muttering internally: Accept her! Quickly, accept her! If a girl this sweet doesn’t make your heart flutter, mine’s about to!
The next second, over by the sidelines, Bai Yuenian said something that caused a strange reaction from the girl.
She looked at her love letter in complete confusion, then suddenly had a moment of realization. She bowed to Bai Yuenian, looking deeply grateful, and then… skipped away cheerfully, fully leaving him behind.
Huh? What just happened?
Tang Yu stood frozen in place. Did Bai Yuenian seriously reject a girl that sweet?
And why wasn’t she even sad about being turned down?!
They had been playing for quite a while now, so Old Feng walked over and waved a hand in front of Tang Yu’s face. “Earth to Tang Yu.”
Tang Yu snapped out of it. “Huh? Did I drop the ball again?”
“We’re calling it quits for now, taking a short break before heading home,” Old Feng said helplessly. “Were you really watching that intently?”
Tang Yu immediately shot back, “Who was watching intently?!”
Old Feng replied, “I didn’t even say what you were watching. Why are you so eager to deny it?”
Tang Yu: “…”
The group packed up their gear and sat by the sidelines to rest for a bit.
Wu Jianqi glanced at Tang Yu’s thoughtful expression and assumed he understood what was going on. “If you ask me, our Yuenian usually acts like a human ice cube. That underclassman must be a new transfer student who didn’t know any better, which is why she gave him a love letter.”
Thinking Tang Yu might be jealous, Wu Jianqi tried to clarify the situation…only to be unexpectedly met with Bai Yuenian’s agreement.
The young man chimed in casually, “It’s probably because I don’t fit in very well.”
Everyone: “…”
What nonsense are you talking about?
Bai Yuenian put away his homework. “Besides, my family background is pretty ordinary, and I don’t have a large social circle. I’m not like He Cheng from the international class, who always has a ton of friends around him every day.”
Everyone: “???”
Why is this conversation taking such a weird turn?
And what does this have to do with He Cheng? Why bring him up all of a sudden?
Also, YOUR family background is ordinary?! Then whose family ISN’T ordinary?!
Bai Yuenian’s father was in politics…a high-ranking official without a doubt, making Bai Yuenian a top-tier privileged youth born with a silver spoon in his mouth. And his mother was a nationally renowned medical expert. Calling this household “ordinary” was an absolute stretch!
Though Bai Yuenian rarely spoke much, he wasn’t usually one for humblebragging like this either! What was he trying to pull here? They couldn’t wrap their heads around it!
Bai Yuenian slung his backpack over his shoulder. “So, because I don’t have many friends, I must seem kind of hard to approach. That’s probably why I’ve never received a love letter before.”
Everyone: “…”
Bai Yuenian added, “If it weren’t for that transfer student today, I might have gone my whole life without ever getting a love letter.”
Everyone: “…”
Sorry! We promise we’ll never think you’re a guy of few words again, master scholar!
The other classmates just felt like Bai Yuenian was acting off today. But to Tang Yu’s ears, those words carried an entirely different weight.
Comparing it like that, Tang Yu felt Bai Yuenian was actually kind of pitiable. He Cheng’s family was in business, so plenty of kids his age in the business network were in the same circle…some were even in the international class with him, hanging out every day.
Bai Yuenian, on the other hand, was different. His one and only childhood friend had suddenly turned cold toward him out of nowhere. Who could handle that kind of shift easily?
Having rested enough, the guys grabbed their backpacks and walked toward the school gate together.
Just before they parted ways, Old Feng couldn’t hold back his curiosity any longer. “Yuenian, what on earth did you say to that girl earlier? How come she didn’t look sad at all after being rejected, and even thanked you?”
Bai Yuenian stole a quick glance at Tang Yu before speaking calmly. “It was nothing. I just pointed out a few grammatically incorrect sentences in her love letter and helped her fix them.”
Everyone: “…”
The world of a top student is truly beyond comprehension!
Tang Yu: “…”
Oh, he finally gets it now!
In the original novel, Bai Yuenian had extreme obsessive-compulsive traits: his belongings always had to be neatly arranged, his shoes had to be pristine…
Over the past two days, Tang Yu had uncovered another quirk to add to Bai Yuenian’s list: his exam papers couldn’t have any unnecessary creases.
Looking at it now, did he have OCD regarding love letters, too?! So that was the real reason he hadn’t accepted it!
If anyone else did something like that, Tang Yu wouldn’t have believed it for a second. But since it was Bai Yuenian, he found it terrifyingly plausible.
Yep, that made complete sense!