SEBLS Chapter 28

Update schedule has been moved to Fridays at 4 pm!

Translator Xena’s other works: https://ko-fi.com/xenatl/gallery
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………………

Since Wen Jia was not sharp enough, he was easily fooled by Zhuang Wu.

In fact, Zhuang Wu wasn’t afraid that Wen Jia would know that he liked Qin Qiyue and then blame him. Regardless of whether he was blamed or not, Zhuang Wu wanted to wait until Qin Qiyue fell in love with him and then see how Qin Qiyue would feel about a confession.

In the next few days, Zhuang Wu went to school as usual. Originally, he was very happy that he and Qin Qiyue were deskmates. However, after being deskmates for a while, Zhuang Wu found that there was not much difference between sitting at the same desk with Qin Qiyue or not, because the two of them had no topics to talk about… It wasn’t that they had no topics but that whenever Zhuang Wu would find topics to talk about, Qin Qiyue willingness to respond to him became another problem.

The only time he could talk to Qin Qiyue was when the other was explaining questions to him after class.

Hu Jianlong finished explaining one type of question on the blackboard and then gave everyone another question of the same type. Zhuang Wu picked up his pen and wanted to answer the question, but his eyes couldn’t help but glance at Qin Qiyue.

It seemed that after becoming deskmates, they not only had no topics to talk about but he was also easily distracted and found it difficult to concentrate on seatwork.

Because they were close to each other, Qin Qiyue quickly caught Zhuang Wu’s gaze. He frowned, but did not look at Zhuang Wu. He just reminded him, “Zhuang Wu, stop looking at me.”

“Hmm… that’s a bit difficult to do.” Zhuang Wu joked, “Who made you so handsome that I can’t help but be attracted to you?”

Qin Qiyue’s ears turned red. He ignored Zhuang Wu and continued to solve the problem.

Seeing that Qin Qiyue didn’t respond to his attack any further, Zhuang Wu was not very happy, but there was really nothing he could do. He always disrupted Qin Qiyue’s thoughts when he was serious. It was okay once or twice, but if it happened too many times, Qin Qiyue would definitely be annoyed. After all, Qin Qiyue didn’t like him yet.

After class, Qin Qiyue still had no intention of paying attention to Zhuang Wu. He kept his head down and did his homework. Zhuang Wu was really speechless. Where did Qin Qiyue get so many homeworkto do every day?

Zhuang Wu moved closer to Qin Qiyue and said in a rather bored tone, “Gege, the last class this morning is PE. Can you teach me how to play basketball today?”

Qin Qiyue refused without hesitation, “No.”

“Why!” Zhuang Wu exclaimed.

“After I teach you, will I still have time to play by myself?” Qin Qiyue’s tone was indifferent.

“So, Gege.” Zhuang Wu curled his lips, “You think teaching me basketball is a waste of your time.”

“Mn.”

“……”

As expected of Qin Qiyue, so direct. Zhuang Wu chuckled in his heart.

Since Qin Qiyue was so determined, it would be impossible for him to get Qin Qiyue to agree in a short time, so Zhuang Wu had to give up in disappointment.

Winter was nearing, that’s why the temperature recently has been low. When Qin Qiyue was playing basketball on the sports field, Zhuang Wu was sitting on the artificial grass lawn next to the basketball court watching them play. He didn’t understand the rules of basketball, but every time Qin Qiyue made a shot, Zhuang Wu thought he was very good.

It was a pity that the person playing basketball with him was not himself.

His dazed look was soon noticed by Ji Zhixian who was standing next to him. Ji Zhixian was originally talking to someone else, but when he saw Zhuang Wu, he smiled apologetically at the group of people, then half-knelt down next to Zhuang Wu.

“Why do you keep looking at the basketball court during these past PE classes?” Ji Zhixian was curious. “Do you want to play basketball, or are you watching…”

Ji Zhixian didn’t say the last words “Qin Qiyue”. He had a very strange premonition. Zhuang Wu’s attitude towards Qin Qiyue didn’t seem like that of a good brother or an ordinary friend. It was more like something else…

Zhuang Wu subconsciously wanted to answer that he was looking at Qin Qiyue, but then he remembered that Qin Qiyue had not fallen in love with him yet. If he said it like that, would Qin Qiyue be angry if he knew about it?

In the end, Zhuang Wu lied. “I want to play basketball.”

Hearing this, Ji Zhixian, who had originally looked a little nervous, seemed to breathe a sigh of relief.

“You want to play basketball? I can teach you.” Ji Zhixian smiled at him.

Zhuang Wu stared at Ji Zhixian in a daze and couldn’t help feeling a little emotional. Ji Zhixian was really a very good friend. When they were good brothers in the previous life, Ji Zhixian had helped him in many ways. But now, it seemed that he had gradually pushed away this very good friend because of Qin Qiyue.

The person he like was important, but Zhuang Wu didn’t want to lose a good friend just because he revolved around the person he liked every day.

Zhuang Wu pursed his lips and responded, “Thank you, Ji Zhixian, but there’s only one basketball court, how will we play?”

“It’s not full, we can join them,” Having said that, Ji Zhixian stood up, “Get up.”

“Wait.” Zhuang Wu called out. “But I don’t know how to play. What if I fail to play well and hold you back?”

“I told you I’d teach you. Of course I know you don’t know how to play. Don’t worry. You’ve never held me back.” Ji Zhixian comforted him.

After Ji Zhixian’s consolation, Zhuang Wu was no longer so worried. He nodded and walked towards the court with Ji Zhixian.

Ji Zhixian was quite popular in class, so they were not upset with his interruption. But when they saw Zhuang Wu next to Ji Zhixian, one of them couldn’t help but ask, “You two are playing?”

“Yeah.”

Everyone gathered around, but in the end no one said anything. Only Qin Qiyue, who was among them, looked not too good.

Zhuang Wu really didn’t know anything about basketball. After playing for a while, the ball accidentally hit Ji Zhixian’s head because of Zhuang Wu. Luckily, Zhuang Wu didn’t use much force when throwing the ball because they were near each other so the impact was not heavy. Ji Zhixian only felt a slight pain on the back of his head.

When the ball hit Ji Zhixian on the head, Zhuang Wu was shocked and apologized quickly, “I’m sorry… Ji Zhixian, are you okay?”

Ji Zhixian turned his head. “It’s okay. It’s easy to get hit when playing basketball. Besides, you haven’t learned it yet. It’s nothing.”

Despite what Ji Zhixian said, Zhuang Wu still felt very guilty. He should have just watched from the side. Not only did he not learn anything, but he also let Ji Zhixian get hit by him for nothing.

Just as they were about to continue, Zhuang Wu walked around behind Ji Zhixian and whispered, “You guys play, I’ll just watch from the side.”

Hearing Zhuang Wu say that he wouldn’t play anymore, Ji Zhixian simply clapped his hands. “It just so happens that I don’t want to play anymore either, let’s go together.”

If he didn’t want to play, Zhuang Wu couldn’t force him to play, so Zhuang Wu said okay and left the basketball court with Ji Zhixian.

Staring at their departing backs, Qin Qiyue felt inexplicably annoyed, but he couldn’t tell exactly why he was annoyed.

“Qin Qiyue?” One person called him, “Why are you distracted? Keep playing.”

Qin Qiyue threw the basketball into the man’s hand and said without turning his head, “I’m done.”

“???”

Why did they leave one by one? What happened all of a sudden?

After returning to the classroom with Ji Zhixian, Zhuang Wu was still apologizing, “Ji Zhixian, I’m really sorry.”

Ji Zhixian sighed.  “Don’t say sorry anymore. I really don’t want to hear you say this again. It’s just a ball hitting my head. It’s no big deal. Don’t take it personally.”

With Ji Zhixian’s constant comfort, Zhuang Wu finally felt less guilty.

After this incident, Zhuang Wu suddenly felt that the gap between them seemed to have dissipated a little, and they could actually chat freely.

But before they could talk for long, the classroom door was pushed open. Zhuang Wu raised his eyes and found Qin Qiyue walking towards them.

Ji Zhixian was sitting in Qin Qiyue’s seat while Zhuang Wu was sitting in his own seat. Since Qin Qiyue was back, Ji Zhixian naturally made way, but after making way, he still didn’t want to leave.

“Zhuang Wu, come to my seat,” Ji Zhixian said.

Zhuang Wu glanced at Qin Qiyue. He didn’t know why, but Qin Qiyue’s face was frighteningly cold at the moment. Who knew what would happen if he stayed with Qin Qiyue.

Moreover, he had finally managed to start a conversation with Ji Zhixian again. What if he didn’t go to Ji Zhixian’s place and their friendship became distant again?

After hesitating for a while, Zhuang Wu went to Ji Zhixian’s seat.

Although he looked displeased, Qin Qiyue still didn’t say anything. He just sat down after Zhuang Wu and Ji Zhixian left their seats. He didn’t look in Zhuang Wu’s direction, but just quietly wrote on practice tests.

They came back early while the physical education class wasn’t over yet. The PE teacher had something to do today, so he let them move freely. However, not many people returned to the classroom. There were only Zhuang Wu, Ji Zhixian and Qin Qiyue in the classroom at this time. Therefore, the voices of Zhuang Wu and Ji Zhixian chatting could be heard clearly inside the whole classroom but it was not easy to distinguish what they were saying.

Because they knew there were other people in the classroom, they deliberately lowered their voices.

Qin Qiyue was doing the questions, but his mind was not on it. He felt from the bottom of his heart that those two people were really noisy.

For lunch, Zhuang Wu went to the cafeteria with Ji Zhixian. Zhuang Wu was normally not able to eat with Qin Qiyue. The reason was very simple: Qin Qiyue did not want to eat with him.

Since he could be together with Ji Zhixian today, they naturally came together.

After returning from the cafeteria, Zhuang Wu finally returned to his seat.

As soon as he sat down, Zhuang Wu heard Qin Qiyue say in a not very friendly tone, “The lunch bell hasn’t rung yet, there’s no need for you to come back yet.”

Zhuang Wu didn’t understand what Qin Qiyue meant. “Why do I have to wait until the lunch bell rings before I can come back?”

Qin Qiyue stopped talking.

He didn’t know why Qin Qiyue was unhappy, but he could tell that Qin Qiyue was in a bad mood. He wanted to wait until Qin Qiyue calmed down before talking to him, but he couldn’t resist his curiosity. “Gege, what’s wrong with you? Why are you always angry lately? Friendly reminder: being angry all the time is bad for your health. ”

“……”

“Zhuang Wu.” Qin Qiyue put down the pen in his hand and finally let his sight face Zhuang Wu, “What’s our relationship?”

If asked how he felt about Qin Qiyue, Zhuang Wu would answer without hesitation that he liked him, but the question was what kind of relationship they had.

After thinking for a while, Zhuang Wu replied, “Friend.”

Qin Qiyue nodded slightly and asked, “What about you and Ji Zhixian?”

“We are friends too.” Zhuang Wu was a little confused as to why Qin Qiyue asked such a question.

When Qin Qiyue heard Zhuang Wu say that Ji Zhixian was also a friend, he sneered. “So you like me, and him, too.”

“???”