Tan Qingze rolled his eyes at him. “If you’re that bored, I can go tell the professor to give you some extra work.”
“Hey! All right, all right, I won’t ask anymore. I won’t!”
Tan Qingze walked off the court and wiped his neck with a towel. He glanced at the time, picked up his water bottle, and prepared to leave.
Before he had a chance to turn around, he heard a chorus of surprised exclamations from behind him.
“Is that Jiang Lezhi?”
“She’s alone?”
“What year is it? Jiang Lezhi actually came to the court!”
Lin Zhiyang, who had been joking around with Tan Qingze earlier, cleared his throat and looked toward Jiang Lezhi with a face full of anticipation.
If Tan Qingze was extremely famous among the girls, then Jiang Lezhi was another Tan Qingze among the boys.
Back when Jiang Lezhi was undergoing military training in her first year, the confession wall, the school forum—everywhere was filled with posts asking for information about her.
Unfortunately, Jiang Lezhi had never paid any attention to the boys who asked for her WeChat. Because of that, for a while, she was even hung up on the confession wall and vilified.
Lin Zhiyang still remembered what they had said about her back then: 【A mute acting all high and mighty!】
Because of that one sentence, news of Jiang Lezhi’s inability to speak spread throughout the entire school. It was not as if literally everyone knew, but all those who loved joining in on the excitement knew that among the new first-year students was a beautiful little mute.
After the matter had festered for some time, Jiang Lezhi’s roommates joined forces with many other girls to condemn the person responsible.
They also dug up the fact that the person who had said those words had gone berserk on the confession wall after repeatedly being rejected when asking Jiang Lezhi for her WeChat.
The person involved later posted a video apologizing, and only then was the matter considered settled.
Even now, however, quite a few people still referred to Jiang Lezhi as that beautiful little mute.
They generally did not dare say such things in public, though, because whenever the girls heard it, they would curse them out. If it was serious enough, they would even take photos and post them on the confession wall, the forum, and other places, joining together to condemn them.
Perhaps because of her condition, Jiang Lezhi rarely wandered around campus alone. Far too many people knew her, and on top of that, she could not speak, so there were many things she had no way to refuse or explain.
Now, seeing Jiang Lezhi at the court—a place she had never come to before—and seeing that she was alone, they were beyond shocked.
The girls in the stands recognized Jiang Lezhi as well.
Unlike the fierce infighting among female college students described in those online videos, whenever the girls at school saw Jiang Lezhi, they instinctively felt the urge to protect her.
For one thing, no one disliked a pretty girl. For another, when so many people had vilified Jiang Lezhi back then, they had all been among those who protected her.
After arriving at the court, Jiang Lezhi kept searching the court with her eyes. Her expression was exceptionally anxious.
Had Tan Qingze already left?
Someone in the stands whispered, “What’s wrong with Jiang Lezhi?”
“She looks so panicked. Should we go ask her?”
“Not yet. Let’s watch for now. If something happens, we can still run over in time!”
Lin Zhiyang and the others looked toward Jiang Lezhi as well. At that moment, most of the gazes had fallen on her.
Jiang Lezhi searched for a long time before finally spotting Tan Qingze with his back turned to her. Her expression brightened!
She ran toward him at a quick trot.
Hearing the commotion behind him, Tan Qingze draped the towel over his shoulder and glanced back.
The girl who had just been about to smash a streetlamp by the roadside was now standing before him.
Tan Qingze took two steps backward.
Seeing that Jiang Lezhi’s target was Tan Qingze, Lin Zhiyang ran over as well.
Jiang Lezhi stopped in front of Tan Qingze. She pulled out her phone, typed quickly, and then held it out before his eyes.
She looked at him expectantly.
He caught sight of the words on the screen: 【Can I take up a little of your time?】
Tan Qingze instinctively felt a little irritated, but when he looked into her eyes, he simply could not bring himself to refuse.
Lin Zhiyang’s gaze moved back and forth between Tan Qingze’s and Jiang Lezhi’s faces. In the end, he covered his mouth in shock.
“You—you two!”
The marks on Tan Qingze’s and Jiang Lezhi’s lips were exactly alike. Both of their lips were split, red, and slightly swollen.
If that was a coincidence, Lin Zhiyang would not believe it even if he were beaten to death!
Lin Zhiyang was suddenly at a loss for words. He gazed at Jiang Lezhi with a heartbroken expression.
Tan Qingze could figure out with his toes what kind of nonsense Lin Zhiyang was about to spout. He grabbed Jiang Lezhi by the wrist and led her away.
Left behind, Lin Zhiyang watched their retreating figures, his heart shattered into pieces.
Their beautiful Jiang Lezhi, who looked like a little fairy, had kissed Tan Qingze!
And they had kissed so passionately!
Her lips had even been bitten until they were split like that…
Damn!
The girls in the stands had been dumbfounded throughout the entire scene. Even now, they had not recovered.
How had two people who had never had any interaction at all ended up walking away hand in hand…
They had been rejected…
The male idol had dragged the female idol away!
Damn!
After leaving the others’ line of sight, Tan Qingze released Jiang Lezhi’s hand. He looked down at her with an arrogant air. “What is it?”
Jiang Lezhi did not know how to explain. She reached out, trying to take Tan Qingze’s hand, but he nimbly dodged her.
Jiang Lezhi could only write another line of text.
After reading it, Tan Qingze’s brows drew together. “Young lady, do you think I’m very free?”
His patience was almost completely exhausted.
She had actually asked him to catch her once again at the place from last night…
Tan Qingze did not even want to comment on the meaninglessness of something like this. He gave Jiang Lezhi a cold look.
Not wanting to speak with her any further, he turned around and prepared to leave.
Who could have expected Jiang Lezhi to wrap herself around his arm? Her eyes were filled with pleading. She opened her mouth, but although no sound came out,
Tan Qingze understood what her lips were saying—
Please.
Jiang Lezhi was so anxious that she was almost about to cry. She gripped his arm with great strength, as though she had seized hold of a life-saving straw and was absolutely unwilling to let go.
“It’s impossible for me to accompany you in playing this boring game. I still have things to do. If you want to play, find someone else.”
Ten minutes later, Tan Qingze was standing beneath the streetlamp where he had caught Jiang Lezhi the night before.
He drew a deep breath.
Fine, just this once!
She might really have something urgent to deal with. Though he felt that standing here like a stake, looking like an idiot, was absurd!
Once again, Jiang Lezhi slid down from the slope.
Since this time it was not an accident, both of them were prepared. Thus, when Jiang Lezhi threw herself into Tan Qingze’s arms, neither of them fell.
As they held each other, Tan Qingze caught the pleasant scent coming from the girl. It smelled like lemons.
Jiang Lezhi took a deep breath, her heart pounding. She was so nervous that her back had begun to sweat.
She kept hold of Tan Qingze’s arm, her entire body rigid.
Jiang Lezhi parted her lips and tentatively tried to make an “ah” sound.
But the sound she had imagined did not come.
Once again, she had done something futile.
Jiang Lezhi released Tan Qingze in despair. At that moment, her emotions nearly collapsed completely. She could no longer hold herself back, and tears streamed down her face.