WAYCAV Chapter 25

As soon as Su Zhiyan got back to his dorm, he received a message from his high school friend.

[Li Shuo: Hey genius, I have two tickets for next Tuesday’s basketball game at the city stadium]
[Li Shuo: Something came up and I can’t go /crying face]
[Li Shuo: I remember you liked playing basketball, wanna go? It’d be a nice break from studying]

Su Zhiyan thought about it. Professor Yang had just sent him several papers yesterday to prepare for November submission.

He wasn’t exactly free these days, and besides, he wasn’t interested in basketball games.

He was about to reply when another message popped up.

[Li Shuo: These two tickets were super hard to get!! They’re really popular!!]
[Li Shuo: I had to ask so many people to help me get them /sobbing]

Su Zhiyan raised an eyebrow. Were they really that precious?

[S: Sure, how much? I’ll transfer the money to you directly.]

Even though he wasn’t interested, Shen Nianjing really liked playing basketball. It would be the perfect excuse to ask him out on Tuesday.

[Li Shuo: You’re actually talking about money? You’re treating me like a stranger /angry]

After exchanging a few more messages, the two tickets ended up in Su Zhiyan’s hands.

He took a screenshot and sent it to Shen Nianjing.

[S: Are you free next Tuesday evening? Want to go watch a basketball game?]

After sending it, he started reading the papers Professor Yang had sent while waiting for a reply. But almost ten minutes passed and there was still no response.

Su Zhiyan: ? Not home yet?

He switched to the chat window.

[S: Did you plug your internet cable into the Atlantic Ocean again?]

Su Zhiyan couldn’t even focus on reading the papers anymore. He checked his phone every few minutes.

If Shen Nianjing didn’t reply in another ten minutes, he would just make a video call directly.

He’d never seen someone who had to “go invisible” for a while every time they chatted online.

Maybe sensing Su Zhiyan’s threatening anger, Shen Nianjing’s side finally showed some activity.

A period.

[Dreamcatcher: .]

Su Zhiyan frowned at that symbol, feeling the long-lost urge to strangle this person.

[S: What does the period mean?]

[Dreamcatcher: …I need to think about it.]

[S: You don’t have classes Tuesday afternoon or evening, and I remember your tutoring jobs are all on weekends]

The other side stopped replying again, playing dead.

Since when did this guy become so indecisive? Su Zhiyan shook his head and put his phone down. Usually Shen Nianjing either refused outright or came up with some flimsy excuse. Why was he being so difficult this time?

Could it be that he was going to start avoiding him again? Su Zhiyan kept spinning his pen, glancing at his phone.

[S: If you’re not going, I’ll just post on the campus forum and ask around]

He pressed his lips together, suddenly feeling moody.

[Dreamcatcher: Going]

Su Zhiyan looked down at the zombie-like response and snorted.

[S: Finally stopped playing dead.]
[S: Meet at Stadium Gate A at 1:30pm the day after tomorrow.]
[Dreamcatcher: WeChat transfer]

Su Zhiyan thought this guy was pretty self-aware.

He held down the voice message button, “My friend gave them to me, you don’t need to transfer money.”

Then he refunded the transfer.

Tuesday was a beautiful day with clear skies, giving off that crisp autumn feeling.

Su Zhiyan put on a brown hoodie and light-wash jeans, looking like a high school student standing outside the venue.

Shen Nianjing arrived quickly. Su Zhiyan saw a tall figure crossing the crosswalk and running toward him from far away.

“Not bad, you’re not late today.”

Shen Nianjing wore a face mask and avoided eye contact, giving a low “mm” in response.

Su Zhiyan pulled out his ID from his pocket and patted Shen Nianjing’s shoulder, “Come on, let’s go in!”

Shen Nianjing’s left shoulder stiffened. After realizing what happened, he quickly followed.

“There are so many people.” Su Zhiyan looked around, feeling a bit uncomfortable with crowded places.

If it wasn’t for Shen Nianjing, he probably would never come to events like ball games or music festivals.

Shen Nianjing’s gaze drifted to the back of Su Zhiyan’s head. His hair fell smoothly and glossily on his fair neck, looking incredibly well-behaved.

He silently sat down next to Su Zhiyan.

The people around them were all excitedly discussing teams and players. It was noisy and lively everywhere, making their quiet corner stand out dramatically.

Very awkward.

“Did you lose your voice?” Su Zhiyan turned his head.

From when they met until now, Shen Nianjing had said so few words he could count them on one hand, not even ten words total.

Su Zhiyan clearly felt how stiff he was.

Could a basketball fan actually get nervous watching games in person?

“My vocal cords are still intact, thanks for your concern.” Shen Nianjing’s voice came out muffled from behind his mask.

Su Zhiyan: “…”

Playing dead online and acting aloof offline.

Had this guy been reading some old-school campus novel about cold and aloof male leads lately?

Su Zhiyan felt goosebumps all over. He never expected Shen Nianjing to have the same hobby as Su Zhiyao.

After the game started, the atmosphere immediately got everyone pumped up. There were screams, cheers, and encouragement everywhere. Many people around them kept talking like live commentators, discussing the game situation and analyzing strategies.

Su Zhiyan unconsciously got caught up in the atmosphere, his mood rising and falling with the ball on the court.

“Go! Charge charge charge!!”

“So cool!”

Among the overwhelming cheers around them, a familiar voice mixed in.

Su Zhiyan turned to look at Shen Nianjing. This guy had taken off his mask at some point and was so excited his face was flushed red, his eyes bright as he watched the court.

Tch.

Just as he thought, it was all an act.

Su Zhiyan smiled and turned his attention back to the game.

When the game ended, everyone was still caught up in the excitement.

“Ahhh I want to watch another game!” Shen Nianjing crumpled up his mask and tossed it into the trash can like shooting a basketball.

Su Zhiyan trailed behind him. “If you like it so much, why did you hesitate when I first asked you?”

Shen Nianjing almost tripped over his own feet and face-planted right there.

“Uh…” He scratched his head and looked up at the sky, “There must be water in my brain.”

Su Zhiyan almost wanted to applaud him.

This guy’s skin kept getting thicker.

After leaving the venue, it was dinner time. The two found a newly opened barbecue place in a nearby mall.

Shen Nianjing placed pieces of meat on the grill one by one, avoiding Su Zhiyan’s direct gaze.

“What’s wrong with you today?” Su Zhiyan asked calmly.

Shen Nianjing’s hand shook and he almost flicked the meat away.

“Huh?” He looked up, pretending nothing was wrong, “What do you mean?”

Playing dumb.

It was really a shame this guy didn’t go into acting.

Fine, keep your secrets. Su Zhiyan simply stopped asking and focused on eating, downing four big pieces of meat and two chicken wings in one go.

The barbecue seasoning was a bit salty. He reached for the plain water at the edge of the table when a pink cold drink suddenly appeared in front of him.

Strawberry soda with lemon and mint on top.

Shen Nianjing handed the drink to him without even looking at him, then picked up the tongs to flip the food on the grill.

Such a dedicated grill-master.

“…” Su Zhiyan lowered his head and took a sip of the cold drink.

Sweet and tangy, very refreshing.

“When did you order the drink?”

Shen Nianjing coughed lightly, “I didn’t order it, it came with the set meal.”

Su Zhiyan: “…” Don’t think I don’t know we both ordered a la carte!?

“Okay then.” He had nothing to say, so he praised, “This set meal is pretty good, I like it.”

The hand holding the barbecue tongs suddenly paused, then silently transferred the grilled meat and vegetables to his plate.

Su Zhiyan felt this new barbecue place tasted pretty good, except the dipping sauces were disappointing.

The original flavor was too salty, and the spicy one wasn’t spicy at all.

It would be great if they had chili sauce.

He sighed, feeling deeply regretful about barbecue for the first time.

“Here.”

Shen Nianjing had left his seat at some point. Su Zhiyan was completely absorbed in struggling with the grilled meat on his plate and didn’t notice at all.

When Shen Nianjing came back, he had a handful of small barbecue sauce packets, just like a kid whose parents sent them to get ketchup at KFC and came back with a whole pile.

Su Zhiyan’s eyes lit up, “Where did you get these?”

“There’s a condiments section on the menu, you just didn’t see it.” Shen Nianjing sat down and squeezed chili sauce and barbecue sauce onto a clean plate.

The fragrant, spicy, and savory barbecue sauce on the grilled meat, paired with the ice-cold strawberry soda.

Su Zhiyan smiled faintly, feeling like he had been eating for nothing earlier and was now even hungrier.

The sizzling sound of grilling meat was quite pleasant. Thanks to the powerful exhaust fan above, there wasn’t a trace of smoke between them.

Shen Nianjing propped his face with one hand and watched Su Zhiyan eating contentedly, then suddenly squinted, “I’ve noticed you’re really picky about food.”

“Hm?” Su Zhiyan looked up, the food in his mouth not yet swallowed.

“You only drink milk from specific brands, you pick out peanuts and coriander from noodles, and you won’t eat rice if you can tell it’s leftover.”

He leaned back lightly against his chair and continued counting Su Zhiyan’s picky eating habits, “Your favorite dessert flavor is strawberry, and you won’t touch anything chocolate.”

“You can even taste the difference between ‘plain boiled water flavor’ and ‘mineral water flavor’ in fruit.”

“And now, your appetite gets worse when barbecue sauce is too salty and not spicy enough.”

“Tsk.” Shen Nianjing’s eyes were full of amusement.

“Su Zhiyan, you’re so hard to please.”

Su Zhiyan was stunned and snorted.

“You’re really getting bold now.” He raised his soda and took a big gulp, “I haven’t even settled accounts with you for being so scared of me before.”

“And now you’re criticizing me to my face?” he muttered quietly.

Hearing this, Shen Nianjing leaned forward, his voice low but full of shock, “Why does me being afraid of you count as something I owe you?”

His eyes were bright, and even from the angle where the overhead light was blocked by the exhaust hood, Su Zhiyan could see them clearly.

“What about you following me around like a stalker?”

Shen Nianjing rarely took the initiative to chat like this, much less brought up multiple topics.

Su Zhiyan was a bit confused.

“Now it’s my turn to ask if you’ve lost your voice?” Shen Nianjing tilted his head like Su Zhiyan had done and raised an eyebrow.

“?” Looking for a fight.

Su Zhiyan snorted coldly.

He’d really been treating this bastard like a human these past few days. Give him an inch and he takes a mile.[mfn]三天不打，上房揭瓦 (sān tiān bù dǎ , shàng fáng jiē wǎ) – three days without a beating, and a child will scale the roof to rip the tiles (idiom) / spare the rod, spoil the child. I’m not familiar with this idiom so I had to find a different one that still makes sense.[/mfn]

“Screw off! Stop making false accusations. Go fill your own pits first.” He shot back, then felt inexplicably guilty.

“Don’t interrupt my meal.”

After saying that, he dug into the double berry dessert that had just arrived.

Su Zhiyan stuffed a spoonful of ice cream into his mouth. The smooth, cool milk spread in his mouth, calming his heart slightly.

He had never told Shen Nianjing about the erotic dreams. Although he kept saying Shen Nianjing was hiding things from him, wasn’t he doing the same?

But wet dreams were such an embarrassing thing that he’d never mentioned it to anyone, let alone the person involved.

Hmph.

Su Zhiyan took the freshly grilled chicken wing that Shen Nianjing handed over.

Bastard, for the sake of a good night’s sleep, he’d let this debt slide for now!

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