He Ruizhe was startled and immediately looked around in all directions.
“Where is she?”
Why didn’t he see anyone?
Aside from the sports majors from the neighboring school, the only person in the direction Jiang Xu was looking at was Xie Ran from the art department.
And the latter happened to be Jiang Xu’s roommate.
He didn’t see a single cute-looking girl anywhere.
There were plenty of girls who had come to the sports facility. Even though He Ruizhe was a playboy who played with relationships, he would never disparage any female’s appearance, firmly believing that everyone had their own unique traits. Yet among the numerous girls who had come to watch the match, he simply couldn’t tell which one was Jiang Xu’s bet subject.
He poked Tan Hao with his elbow and asked, “Haozi, did you see her?”
Tan Hao looked bewildered. “I don’t know either.”
He Ruizhe stared wide-eyed. “Didn’t you tag along when we went to play ball that day?”
Tan Hao rubbed the bridge of his nose with a guilty conscience. “I don’t remember what she looked like.”
“Besides, there was a whole group of girls that day. Who knows who Axiu actually gave his QQ to.”
He Ruizhe chuckled as he said, “Turns out he gave her his QQ? My brother doesn’t touch Q once in eight hundred years. He probably only agreed to give it so he wouldn’t strip away those girls’ face.”
Right after that, he added with a smug look, “Hao, you’re going to lose for sure.”
Tan Hao smiled lightly, emotions flashing past the depths of his eyes. “If I lose, I’ll let you do whatever you want with me.”
He Ruizhe let out a rakish whistle, wearing the expression of someone who had already won the bet.
As the very person being wagered upon, Xie Ran was just about to look away when his gaze collided with Xie Ran, who had turned his head over.
Wang Wenjing had already left to warm up with his friends.
With smiling eyes and curved brows, Xie Ran flashed a smile at him.
Right after that, Jiang Xu watched as the other person carried a plastic bag and made his way over along the aisle in front of the first row of the bleachers.
The distance between the two of them wasn’t far.
Before long, Xie Ran wove through the crowd and stood right in front of them.
After politely smiling and greeting the others, he pulled a bottle of mineral water out from the plastic bag and handed it to Jiang Xu.
“I saw you holding a drink all this time without drinking it.”
“Do you drink mineral water?”
Jiang Xu’s gaze landed on the mineral water held within those slender, pale-white fingers, but he didn’t reach out to take it.
Seeing this, Xie Ran assumed the other person was worried this had already been drunk from, so he took the initiative to explain, “Unopened, I bought it specially for you.”
Jiang Xu raised his eyelids slightly, his voice very calm with a slightly upturned tone, “Bought for me?”
Didn’t he say he didn’t have time to deliver water to him?
Why was he saying now that he bought it specially for him?
Was Xie Ran really unaware that the person he was tricking was him?
Xie Ran nodded. “Yes.”
“Young master, do me the honor.”
Lowering his eyelashes, Jiang Xu reached out and took that bottle of water. “Thanks.”
Without a second word, he tossed the drink He Ruizhe had bought him straight into the trash can, unscrewed the bottle cap, tilted his head back, and took a drink of water.
As he drank, his Adam’s apple bobbed up and down, and the slightly heaving veins on his neck exuded pure sex appeal.
After finishing his water, Jiang Xu tightened the cap back on.
Using the back of his hand, he lightly wiped the corner of his lips.
Clearly doing the exact same motion as Wang Wenjing and everyone else who drank water, Xie Ran always felt that the vibe the other person gave off was different; it was practically like the stark contrast between a Taobao buyer show and a model show.
With his hands lowered by his sides, Jiang Xu held the mineral water.
Raising his head, he saw Xie Ran staring at him, fixed him with his pitch-black eyes, and asked, “What is it?”
Xie Ran shook his head and said with a smile, “Nothing.”
Seeing Jiang Xu toss his drink away, He Ruizhe let out an Aiya sound and grumbled, “Bro, why did you throw the drink away? If you aren’t going to drink it, you could’ve given it to Haozi. He loves this kind of modern chemistry science and technology drink.”
Tan Hao replied, “I really owe you a huge thanks.”
Xie Ran glanced at He Ruizhe and pulled another beverage out from the plastic bag.
“I have some here. Do you guys want any?”
Teacher V had just told him to come over and deliver water to him, so he could use this identity along the way to scout out the enemy’s situation.
“Yes, yes.”
“I’m actually a bit.”
He Ruizhe shamelessly wanted to reach his hand into the plastic bag to fish out a drink. The next second, Jiang Xu’s eyes darkened slightly, a murky ripple flashing across them as his cold voice rang out, “He Ruizhe isn’t thirsty.”
“Don’t give it to him.”
Pausing mid-reach, He Ruizhe looked up in bewilderment.
Catching Jiang Xu’s gaze, he made a sharp U-turn with his words, “I’m actually not all that thirsty.”
“Thank you.”
Xie Ran responded, “It’s fine even if you’re not thirsty.”
“I have an extra bottle of drink right here.”
Jiang Xu took over, “Give it to me.”
He Ruizhe was puzzled. “Bro, don’t you hate drinking beverages?”
If he wasn’t going to drink it, he could give it to them.
They wanted to drink it.
He had bought a bottle before coming, thinking he’d buy another one later when he wanted a drink.
Now that Xie Ran had proactively bought and delivered it to their doorstep, it saved them the trouble of running back outside later.
Jiang Xu said with an expressionless face, “I want to drink it now.”
He Ruizhe’s tears flooded down once more.
A man’s heart was truly impossible to guess.
His twenty thousand yuan went down the drain for nothing.
Rubbing his chin, Tan Hao smiled silently, clearly mocking He Ruizhe for taking a hit.
It looked like Jiang Xu held grudges.
Xie Ran had no objections, pulling out a green plum iced tea from the plastic bag and handing it to Jiang Xu. “I didn’t know what you liked, so I bought this according to my own taste. It’s very sweet and quite good.”
He Ruizhe chimed in, “Sweet? He doesn’t.”
He doesn’t like sweet things.
Before he could finish speaking, he encountered Jiang Xu’s gaze once again.
For some reason, his mouth shut itself very obediently.
“It’s fine,” Jiang Xu said calmly. “I’m not picky.”
Xie Ran expressed his delight. “Really? Not many people around me like drinking green plum iced tea.”
“It feels like people who drink this beverage are quite niche; most people just drink Coke, Sprite, iced black tea, or Pulse.”
To think Jiang Xu’s taste matched his so well.
He Ruizhe had no words.
Jiang Xu wasn’t picky?
He refused to believe it.
The sense of crisis regarding his position as a guardian angel rose in his heart once more, and he couldn’t shake the feeling that Xie Ran was going to replace him and Tan Hao in the future.
He Ruizhe sighed suggestively, “Ah, I want a taste too.”
Xie Ran feigned curiosity while actually probing the situation, “Didn’t any girls deliver water to you?”
The imperial-sister-style beauty sitting next to He Ruizhe during the match had already left, and right now his side was occupied by Tan Hao and the others.
Hearing this, He Ruizhe said, “There originally were, but they didn’t come.”
“They said they had to accompany their girl besties and didn’t have time to come over.”
Xie Ran set his mind at ease, confirming that Teacher V was definitely He Ruizhe without a doubt.
Because that was exactly how he talked to the other person on his Penguin account too.
Tan Hao teased, “When has our young master He ever had only one girl delivering water to him?”
“Go on, get lost,” He Ruizhe tossed his hair. “I’m very devoted.”
Tan Hao remarked, “Regarding your claim of being devoted, I’d like to drop a big question mark.”
Rolling his eyes, He Ruizhe said in a sickeningly sweet tone, “Brother Hao wouldn’t be jealous, would he?”
Tan Hao made a retching motion. “So gross.”
Bickering was an everyday occurrence for the two of them, making Xie Ran unable to hold back his suppressed laughter.
He tilted his head toward Jiang Xu, his clear and melodious voice carrying a slight tremor from his smile, “Are they always like this?”
Jiang Xu nodded. “Ever since we were kids.”
Xie Ran sighed with emotion, “A bickering pair, just like my friend and his girlfriend.”
Jiang Xu asked, “Your friend?”
Xie Ran nodded. “Yeah, the one who strolled around the sports field with us earlier, the one playing against you guys right now named Wang Wenjing.”
With deep, profound eyes, Jiang Xu stared at Xie Ran, “You know he has a girlfriend?”