Heart racing

Heart racing

Chen Jiayu found the key to Xiang Zhixing's downfall, and the two reached a certain "reconciliation".

Of course, such a reconciliation is not so simple. Xiang Zhixing is very stubborn, and it is unlikely that a complete agreement can be reached with him.

But Chen Jiayu discovered that as long as he praised him and Shen Muwei more, his attitude would quickly change completely.

Scratching his head or his ears turning red:

"Really? No, I don't think so. I don't think so. I'm not good enough for her. She's beautiful and outstanding."

Chen Jiayu despised him.

It wasn't really an agreement; Xiang Zhixing only said he would consider it, but demanded that he not go around in front of Shen Muwei anymore, otherwise he would not consider it again.

Chen Jiayu reluctantly agreed, asking how long he needed to consider it and whether he could get the answer he wanted.

He answered that he didn't know, but promised he would consider it.

Chen Jiayu felt that this was a stopgap measure and that he didn't really want to consider his proposal.

He threatened Xiang Zhixing: "If you lie to me, I will expose you to your girlfriend."

Xiang Zhixing initially didn't want to talk to him, but his attitude softened when he heard him mention the word "girlfriend." He said, "I just said I'd think about it, not that I'd definitely say yes. Don't go back on your word if I refuse."

Chen Jiayu felt that this person was being a scoundrel. In his mind, if someone was considering it, it meant that the success rate of the matter was as high as 80%. If he told him in the end that he was unwilling, wouldn't that be like playing a trick on him?

With no other solution in sight, Xiang Zhixing could only tell the truth: "What you see is just my past glorious achievements. I haven't played basketball for many years. Let alone playing basketball, I only started exercising again in September. You want me to play in the league now? Isn't that ridiculous? Even if you do recruit me, it won't help because I'm not good enough now."

Chen Jiayu hesitated. After thinking for a while, he rested his chin on his hand and asked, "So what do you want?"

Xiang Zhixing said he would try practicing for a while first, and if it didn't work, he wouldn't force himself. He also told him not to have too high hopes for himself and to accept the possibility of rejection. Furthermore, he told him not to bother Shen Muwei during this time, otherwise he would completely disregard the relationship.

As a result, Chen Jiayu, who had originally used Shen Muwei as a bargaining chip, had no choice but to agree. He had initially thought that Xiang Zhixing was faking it, but he had indeed seen Xiang Zhixing fail to make a single shot that day. In addition, Xiang Zhixing told him that he hadn't played basketball for a long time.

A league match requires not only good skills but also good stamina. Looking at Xiang Zhixing's current state, he didn't seem like he could play. He could only imagine the surprise Xiang Zhixing might bring him based on his past heroic performances on the field, and consider it a possible reward for him in the end.

That was settled, and Chen Jiayu promised Xiang Zhixing that he would never harass Shen Muwei again.

Both of them were very busy in the second half of the semester, busy with exams and studies, so they didn't have much time to meet. They would try to find time to play basketball together every Sunday afternoon.

What troubled Shen Muwei was that Xiang Zhixing didn't seem to have any talent in this area. To be fair, he had been practicing for more than half a month, and although they could only meet to practice on Sundays, he shouldn't have made no progress at all.

Shen Muwei sat in the corner of the court, drinking water and carefully observing his posture. There was no problem, it could be said to be perfect, but the shot was entirely based on probability. His three-step layup was still as bad as a yellow, indescribable blob, and even his dribbling was a mess.

After a long silence, she silently accepted the fact that Xiang Zhixing had no athletic talent.

Never mind, it doesn't matter anymore. Let's just treat it as fun. After all, sports aren't necessarily for utilitarian purposes; the main thing is to improve physical health. Running and jumping around keeps you fit.

Shen Muwei calmly accepted this fact.

As December arrived, Hui City was suddenly swept by a cold wave. The winter was filled with endless damp rain, and the sun had not been seen for more than half a month.

In previous years, it usually started snowing close to the Lunar New Year, but now, in the middle of the month, weather forecasts are already issuing warnings that it will snow soon.

With Christmas approaching, the school doesn't encourage celebrating Christmas, but it doesn't oppose students celebrating it either. Many student organizations have invited her to participate in club activities, but she dislikes the damp weather in the market and declined.

The snow was slow to fall.

Shen Muwei's hopes of seeing snow gradually faded, and her basketball training activities with Xiang Zhixing gradually changed from once a week to only when they had time, and perhaps only twice a month.

The training time decreased, but Xiang Zhixing inexplicably visited her more often. Sometimes he would bring her food and fun things, and sometimes he would come to pick her up if they had arranged to go out together.

In the early winter of Hui City, when the cold wave lingered, Shen Muwei would often have a strange feeling when she looked at his figure standing downstairs in the dormitory building. This feeling would inexplicably envelop her heart, and her heart would beat faster involuntarily the moment she saw him.

On Christmas Eve, Xiang Zhixing took Shen Muwei out to dinner. On their way back, they happened to see someone confessing their love in front of the basketball court.

The scene was quite grand, with electronic candles on the ground and colorful balloons tied to the basketball hoop all around, shivering in the cold wind and bumping into each other, as if they too were celebrating this confession.

There's more to this story about electronic candles.

The incident started when some students placed real candles on the artificial grass in the middle of the playground. The wind was very strong that day, and within a few moments, a large part of the playground was on fire.

Later, the school explicitly banned the use of real candles and encouraged students to use electronic candles for confessions of love.

Students must strictly adhere to this rule; however, even if they do not, they will still have credits deducted if they are caught by the monitoring system.

Shen Muwei hadn't seen a confession like this in a long time. She didn't know if it was because everyone's pace of life had accelerated or if everyone was paying more and more attention to their current lives. Many times, people would rather hold their phones and beg for a relationship than actually go out and make new friends.

She stood on the outer edge, looking in. Fortunately, the girl didn't seem to mind the sudden confession. If the girl had shown even the slightest bit of embarrassment, she would have wanted to run in and take her away.

Soon, amidst cheers, the girl and boy hugged each other.

But this situation didn't last long. Suddenly, a girl ran out from the side and questioned the male protagonist about what he was doing.

Shen Muwei paused in his act of putting roasted chestnuts into his mouth. Ah... the heartwarming confession scene had turned into a drama...

Such a scene was obviously more eye-catching, and many people who had left after seeing a typical confession scene came back to watch the excitement.

Squeezing and jostling, Shen Muwei was soon unable to see what was happening inside. To make matters worse, with people pushing and shoving, Shen Muwei was squeezed into Xiang Zhixing's arms. The candied chestnut was sandwiched between the two of them, fortunately without falling onto the wet ground.

She asked Xiang Zhixing to give her a "live broadcast" of the situation.

Xiang Zhixing: "Girl number one is crying..."

"Girl number two is also crying... The boy is explaining... Such a fake reason... The two girls are comparing timelines together..."

Shen Muwei exclaimed how wonderful it was, feeling that her trip today was worthwhile, and she would accept it even if she froze to death.

Seeing her gossipy look, Xiang Zhixing couldn't help but laugh. He bent down and wiped the chestnut crumbs from her mouth: "Want to sit on my shoulders and watch?"

Without thinking, Shen Muwei agreed, and before she could react, she was lifted up by Xiang Zhixing after only slightly cooperating with him.

Once she sat on Xiang Zhixing's shoulders, she realized that she was quite conspicuous. Xiang Zhixing was very tall, and she was also quite tall. The two of them, stacked vertically, instantly became the focus of attention.

She patted Xiang Zhixing's arm again, telling him to put her down.

Xiang Zhixing did as she was told, and after putting her down, he asked her, "Why aren't you looking anymore?"

Despite the strong wind, Shen Muwei's face grew increasingly red, and she even felt sweat on her back.

"Too many people are watching, it's so embarrassing, I... I don't want to watch anymore, let's go back."

"Really not watching anymore? Didn't you just say you wanted to see the finale?"

Shen Muwei tugged at the sleeve of his down jacket: "Really, let's not watch anymore, let's go."

On the day he returned, Xiang Zhixing had no idea why she suddenly wanted to leave; he simply went along with her wishes and left.

Shen Muwei wandered back to her dormitory and sat at her desk, looking somewhat lost.

The dormitory was warm and cozy with the air conditioning on, but it was also very dry.

When Zhao Ranzhu returned from the library, she saw Shen Muwei sitting in a daze with her face flushed pink. She thought Shen Muwei had gone out drinking with Xiang Zhixing.

As a result, Shen Muwei grabbed her and asked, "Piggy, I've discovered something very strange."

"you say."

"I've noticed that my heart races whenever I see Xiang Zhixing. Sometimes, if I get too close to him, I suddenly feel really hot. Can you tell me if I'm sick?"

"Oh dear, this is much more serious than being sick. Winter break is just around the corner, and I might end up lovesick."

Shen Muwei's face still showed shock and disbelief.

"Please, tell me, I'm not... I shouldn't be... I absolutely can't be..."

Zhao Ranzhu patted her hair and told her, "Silly girl, it's normal that you've fallen for him. Don't put too much pressure on yourself."

Shen Muwei widened her eyes and forced a smile at her: "I'm going to sleep now, I'm sleepy."

Zhao Ranzhu stopped her: "Hey, why are you leaving already? We haven't finished talking yet, let's chat a little longer."

Zhao Ranzhu's gossip-loving heart had just been ignited by her, and this person was already going to bed. Wasn't that a bit too fast?

Shen Muwei said with a mournful face, "Give me a break, I haven't sorted things out yet."

Before Shen Muwei could sort out her thoughts, Xiang Zhixing extended an invitation to her, saying that he was free and wanted her to help him with his training.

Shen Muwei said she wasn't going, making up a flimsy excuse. She was very upset and didn't really want to see Xiang Zhixing.

Xiang Zhixing sounded a little disappointed on the other end of the phone, but still told her that he knew.

Shen Muwei was reading in the library, but after looking at the book for a long time, she hadn't turned a single page. She decided to take a look anyway, just a quick look, in a corner where he wouldn't see her.

Making a decision seemed to take only a second. She quickly packed her schoolbag, grabbed the scarf draped over the chair, and rushed to the indoor basketball court.

She left in a little hurry because she was afraid she wouldn't make it in time and that Xiang Zhixing would leave.

She rushed as fast as she could and still made it. She deliberately didn't go through the main entrance, but chose a small door instead. Before she got very close, she saw Xiang Zhixing throw a beautiful three-pointer.

His eyes nearly popped out of their sockets.

It took her a long time to process this. Was the training camp recently really that effective? Has he improved that much? She put aside her earlier worries and was only excited to learn that the training camp had been effective.

She immediately ran a few steps forward, and just as she reached the small door, she saw Xiang Zhixing perform a spectacular crossover dribble and disappear in a flash.

Shen Muwei shook her head and counted the days. It had only been a little over a week since she had helped him train. How could he be so amazing? Could it be that his bloodline had awakened?

She couldn't care less about her annoyance; she was so excited she wanted to run over and give him a hug.

Then she saw that Xiang Zhixing wasn't the only one on the court; there was another boy who looked somewhat familiar.

For a moment, Shen Mu couldn't remember who he was.

"Brother Xing, I'm begging you! You've already recovered, haven't you? Just reconnect with the team after a while, and you'll be perfectly fine playing in the league next year!"

What league?

"Brother, you're my brother, I'm begging you! It concerns the team's honor, please come back quickly! If you don't come back, we're really going to lose the league!"

Shen Muwei saw Xiang Zhixing throw the ball with a backhand, and the ball went straight into the basket. He smiled confidently and arrogantly, as if he were a completely different person from before.

"No, I'm still too weak."

Chen Jiayu: "..."

Just as Xiang Zhixing was about to run to retrieve the ball, he turned around and saw Shen Muwei standing by the small gate.