Not long after the semester began at Peking University, a basketball game was held on campus.
Lin Wutong was dragged along by her roommate to act as a fangirl, and she even had two bottles of water shoved into her arms.
“Tongtong, hold these for me for a second, I want to take some photos.”
“Okay.”
A huge crowd had gathered to watch the game, most of them girls.
Amidst the chaotic waves of cheers, the name Lin Wutong heard the most was Ji Ciye.
Ji Ciye.
There was probably no one at Peking University who didn’t know his name.
Not only was he blessed with striking good looks, but his family background was also completely out of reach.
Rumor had it that his father was in politics and his mother was in business, and even their dog lived in a golden kennel.
Naturally, that last bit was completely made up.
In short, blessed with both immense wealth and influence, he was undeniably heaven’s favored son.
Yet he was remarkably low-key and casual, so people rarely had the chance to see him around.
With a rare public appearance like this, everyone was giving it their all to catch his eye.
Beside her, Du Weiwei complained, “Everyone’s screaming Ji Ciye’s name. I can’t even get a clean video of my Zhou.”
The corners of Lin Wutong’s lips curved slightly as she offered a reminder, “You can mute the background audio.”
“Oh, right!” Du Weiwei suddenly realized. “I almost forgot about that. Good thing you reminded me.”
However, as she continued filming, she quickly switched sides. “Ji Ciye really is drop-dead gorgeous.”
“Playing basketball like a peacock showing off its feathers.”
Among everyone on the court, he was the most striking—so handsome he seemed to exist on an entirely different layer of reality.
After another roar of cheers, Du Weiwei turned to look at the girl beside her who was watching the game intently, asking with a trace of excitement, “Tongtong, did you see Ji Ciye’s abs just now?”
A moment ago, when Ji Ciye had leapt up to dunk, the sweeping motion had sent the hem of his jersey flying.
His lean, taut, porcelain-white waist had been laid bare for all to see.
The surroundings were too noisy, so Lin Wutong simply shook her head gently, indicating that she hadn’t noticed.
There were other players on the court, so it was only natural that her eyes had wandered elsewhere.
Du Weiwei didn’t dwell on the topic and turned back to keep filming.
Her boyfriend, Zhou Xuyan, was on the same team as Ji Ciye.
So after the game ended, she used a backdoor connection and brought Lin Wutong along.
In the backstage lounge, several guys were talking and laughing.
Hearing the commotion at the door, they all turned to look.
Someone teased, “Junior Du, here to visit?”
It wasn’t Du Weiwei’s first time here, and she answered with a smile.
Zhou Xuyan walked over, stopping in front of her to ruffle her hair. “Skipping class again?”
“No,” Du Weiwei said, speaking to him in a petulant, affectionate tone. “I don’t have class this afternoon, so I came over to watch.”
A teammate chimed in with another tease, “I’m heading out first. You two take your time showing off your love.”
“Don’t rush, wait for me.”
They left with casual banter, leaving only one person still sitting in the quiet corner.
He hadn’t moved, his eyes glued to his phone.
Du Weiwei handed a bottle of water to Zhou Xuyan. She had brought two, so one was left.
Zhou Xuyan casually passed the other bottle to Ji Ciye.
Ji Ciye reached out and took it. “Thanks.”
Having just finished an intense workout, his voice carried a low, husky rasp, his posture relaxed and nonchalant.
As he unscrewed the cap, his wrist exerted a bit of force, the raised veins looking strikingly powerful.
When he tilted his head back to drink, his pale Adam’s apple bobbed in a sharp, defined motion.
Seductive without even realizing it.
Ji Ciye had kept his head lowered until now, only just noticing that there was another girl beside Du Weiwei.
By the time he looked over, Lin Wutong had already pulled her gaze back.
Thus, she didn’t notice his gaze lingering on her for an extra two seconds.
Only then did Du Weiwei remember to introduce her roommate to Zhou Xuyan. “This is my good friend, Lin Wutong.”
Zhou Xuyan greeted her with a smile.
After a brief exchange of pleasantries, he added, “We won the game, so we’re heading out to celebrate in a bit. Want to come hang out with us?”
Knowing it was a group of guys, Du Weiwei asked, “Would that be inconvenient?”
“Not at all.”
To make it more convincing, he turned to look at Ji Ciye, who was sitting nearby. “What do you say, Ye?”
Ji Ciye gave a soft hum. “It’s fine.”
Having received the captain’s confirmation, Du Weiwei abandoned all hesitation. “Great, then Tongtong and I will come along.”
She turned to ask Lin Wutong, “Tongtong, you don’t have tutoring lessons today, right?”
During her trial afternoon for that tutoring gig last time, Lin Wutong had felt it wasn’t a good fit and had already turned it down.
“Not for now.”
“That’s awesome, it’s a plan then,” Du Weiwei said, beaming with excitement.
Zhou Xuyan told them he’d drive them later and asked them to sit tight for a moment while he went to take a shower first.
Having finished browsing on his phone, Ji Ciye headed into the shower room as well.
Only the two girls remained in the spacious lounge.
Du Weiwei opened her photo album, intending to organize the photos she had just taken.
As she scrolled through, she arrived at the last video she had recorded.
She tapped to play it for a moment, and right when the clip reached Ji Ciye’s dunk, she quickly paused it.
How could she not share such a good find with her bestie?
She held the phone up before Lin Wutong like she was presenting a treasure. “Tongtong, look at this.”
Lin Wutong peered at the screen with curiosity.
At that exact moment, the video resumed playing.
Those porcelain-white, lean muscles flashed across her vision once more.
The phone had zoomed in during recording, making it far more visually impactful than seeing it from a distance in person.
Lin Wutong’s eyelashes fluttered, and she instinctively averted her gaze.
Du Weiwei was carefree by nature, always speaking whatever came to mind. “No way, I have to make Old Zhou work out too.”
Just as she spoke, Zhou Xuyan approached while drying his hair with a towel, asking with a laugh, “Make me work out what?”
“Abs, of course.” Du Weiwei waved the phone screen toward him.
Zhou Xuyan chuckled helplessly. “Why are you joining in on the frenzy too?”
Du Weiwei stated the facts in all seriousness. “I’m not just jumping on a bandwagon! Listen to the voices in this video—every single one of them is going wild, drooling over him.”
To back up her claim, she turned to Lin Wutong beside her. “Right, Tongtong? Doesn’t everyone just love Ji Ciye’s abs?”
Before Lin Wutong could answer, footsteps approached from down the hall.
The young man had already changed out of his jersey, now wearing a black sleeveless T-shirt and casual pants. The whole look was crisp and effortlessly clean.
Damp strands of hair fell lazily across his forehead, lending him an extra touch of unruly charm.
Recalling the topic they had just been discussing, Lin Wutong felt an inexplicable twinge of guilt.
She lowered her eyelashes, not daring to meet his eyes.
Zhou Xuyan, on the other hand, was the first to poke fun. “Ye, you came out at the perfect time. Looks like you gained quite a few more wives today.”
In the video, those fangirls were still screaming “Hubby—”
“Ji Ciye—”
The two sounds echoed one after another.
Ji Ciye let out a soft chuckle. “Is that so?”
Even though she knew her own voice wasn’t among those cries, Lin Wutong still felt her ears warm at that faint, airy laugh.
Then she heard his lazy drawl: “How come I didn’t know I had a wife?”
Hearing those words, Lin Wutong was taken aback.
Ji Ciye… was he single?
Yet all the campus gossip she had heard was about his exploits.
They said that ever since his freshman year, the suitors around him had never ceased.
They also said that among his many pursuers, the only ones who ever stood a chance were the bright, flirtatious, and glamorous beauties.
In short, there were all kinds—except the well-behaved.