For several days, his younger cousin could no longer stand the takeout, and on the way home from school, he asked Zhan Jingrui if they could eat something different today.
Zhan Jingrui asked him what he wanted to eat, and he searched for a restaurant on his iPad to show him.
It was a Japanese restaurant.
Fine. It was rare for him to make a request, so Zhan Jingrui drove him out.
Through traffic jams and stops, the two traveled through the city.
When they encountered a traffic light again, Zhan Jingrui stopped the car and waited quietly, looking ahead. Suddenly, a rustling sound came through the gap in the car window.
He turned his head to look and saw a young woman standing outside the window, wearing a red vest with the words "XX Real Estate Company" written on it.
The woman held a thick stack of flyers and was trying to shove one into his car.
The car was fitted with privacy film, so outsiders couldn't see inside, but Zhan Jingrui could see her clearly.
It was her again.
He Yao.
He Yao, who had taken leave today and not attended class, He Yao who said she was going to the hospital because her grandmother was sick.
Wearing the real estate company's uniform, she was handing out flyers here.
The red light lasted a full 70 seconds. After shoving the flyer into his car, He Yao quickly ran to the car in front.
As soon as she put the flyer in, the driver rolled down the window and angrily threw it back at her.
She showed no expression from beginning to end. She picked up the crumpled flyer, stuffed it into her pocket, and then ran to another car.
Zhan Jingrui picked up the flyer she had given him and glanced at it. It was a very low-end development project that he definitely didn't need.
It was given to him for nothing.
The next day, when he went to school, for some reason, before sitting down, Zhan Jingrui subconsciously glanced at He Yao's empty seat.
Perhaps because he saw her changing her act every day and had gotten used to it, he felt a slight anticipation today for what kind of drama she would put on.
Thinking this, he quickly forgot about it as he immersed himself in the ocean of knowledge.
When he remembered again, class had already started.
The teacher didn't ask the class monitor if anyone had taken leave, so it seemed no one had.
Zhan Jingrui felt like turning his head to look, but realizing it was a bad habit, he suppressed it.
However, his deskmate was silently observing He Yao.
Seeing that she had arrived, he couldn't help but mutter excitedly to himself.
"My goddess is back in class, finally back. It seems her grandmother is fine. I'm so happy for her!"
"She tied up her hair today. Wow, she's so beautiful. Why is she so pretty? No matter from what angle, she's flawlessly beautiful, so perfect!"
"The way she writes seriously makes me want to compose a poem for her. She's so beautiful, her handwriting must be just as lovely. I wish I could say a few words to my goddess someday."
Thanks to him, Zhan Jingrui knew that He Yao had bought the books.
It seemed her work yesterday had gone well.
His deskmate longed for some interaction with He Yao. Once a person has this thought, they will always create opportunities for themselves.
Soon, the opportunity arrived.
On Friday afternoon, during the third period, which was sports class, Zhan Jingrui and the basketball team members, including his deskmate, were playing on the court as usual. His deskmate was distracted.
He kept turning his head to look to the side, and he missed several passes to him, causing their team to fall far behind in points.
Zhan Jingrui, having a strong competitive spirit since childhood, never liked things he wasn't interested in, but once he liked something, he strived for perfection.
He loved playing basketball and would never allow his team to lose to others.
So, during halftime, he went to settle accounts with his deskmate.
"Can you even play? If not, get someone else. What are your eyes for?"
His deskmate knew he had performed poorly today and apologized to him with a sheepish grin.
"It's just that I usually don't have the chance to interact with He Yao. I was thinking, during sports class today, she's sitting over there alone... Hey, if I throw the ball over to her, do you think she'll help me pick it up?"
The other team members heard this and nudged his deskmate in the chest with their elbows.
"Didn't realize you had such high standards. You've only been here a few days, and you've already set your sights on her?"
His deskmate, with an air of overwhelming possessiveness, put his hand in front of his teammates.
"No looking. I'm telling you, I liked her first, I spoke up first, I made a move first. None of you can snatch her from me!"
There's an unwritten rule among the male group.
Whoever sees her first, whoever makes a move first, implicitly becomes theirs, and others won't compete with him.
Everyone joked, "She's the prettiest in our class. I was thinking of... but never mind, I'll let you have her."
"Then we'll wait for your wedding candy. Let's see how long it takes you to win her over. Go for it."
"You're always misjudging the force for your shots. Don't throw the ball and miss, and end up hitting her. Why don't you let Zhan Jingrui throw it for you? Our team's points are basically all scored by him."
"Exactly. Don't try to chase a girlfriend and cause an accident."
Everyone laughed. Zhan Jingrui seemed bored and didn't participate in their conversation.
He turned and took a few sips of his mineral water. When he returned, the conversation had ended.
Soon, they were back on the court.
This time, no one cared about the score anymore; everyone's attention was on his deskmate.
They passed the ball back and forth to him, winking and gesturing for him to throw it towards He Yao.
At first, his deskmate was slightly shy. After being teased several times by everyone, he finally gathered the courage and raised the basketball in He Yao's direction.
However, the opposing player didn't understand his intention. Seeing him raise the ball, he instinctively went to snatch it.
With an overabundance of force, there was a loud "bang," and the basketball hit a chair in the corner of the stands.
In the corner, only He Yao was sitting there, head bowed, clutching her left shoulder in pain.
On the basketball court, everyone looked at each other, stunned for a few seconds, and then collectively panicked.
Except for Zhan Jingrui, everyone ran towards her.
The school doctor couldn't help, and He Yao was sent to the hospital.
The third year of high school had six days of classes per week. On Saturday morning, his deskmate came to school, looking dejected.
As soon as he sat down, his classmates in front and behind him surrounded him with gossip, asking what had happened yesterday and how He Yao was.
"Nothing much, just accidentally hit by a basketball. Fractured her left shoulder."
"Ah? Then you're in trouble. You'll have to take responsibility. You've only been at this school for less than a week, and you've already sent her to the hospital. Xu Zheng, did you do it on purpose?"
His deskmate, with mixed feelings of joy and sorrow, waved those people away and leaned in to whisper to Zhan Jingrui to discuss something.
"Brother Rui, can you..."
Before he could finish speaking, Zhan Jingrui coldly interrupted him, "No."
"I haven't even said what I wanted to do yet, and you're already..."
He opened an extracurricular book on aerospace, refusing to communicate.
"It's not a big deal. Just listen to me finish, I promise I won't disturb you..."
"You already are disturbing me."