Chapter 602: Courtside Gossip

After watching Yu the Elder close the door and leave, An Ning finally breathed a sigh of relief and said into the phone, “What did you call me for?”

On the other end of the line, Jiang Xia ventured a guess, “Were you just trying to scare someone?”

“No, I call it reasonable risk avoidance.”

“Risk? What risk were you in?”

“The risk of being told I’m crazy. Say, do you think all people get naggy when they get old? I wonder if I’ll be like that.”

As An Ning’s thoughts began to wander, Jiang Xia’s voice pulled her back.

Jiang Xia had called to formally invite An Ning to dinner.

“Dinner sounds fine, but we’re not going to run into any more trouble, are we?”

“Probably not.”

Jiang Xia didn’t dare tell her he’d already run a background check on the restaurant they were going to, from its fire safety and construction materials all the way to its kitchen hygiene.

“Alright then, let’s give it a shot.”

An Ning agreed, and Jiang Xia said he would come pick her up that evening.

After hanging up the phone, An Ning picked up her novel and continued to read.

She nodded as she read. ‘Not bad, not bad. Hahahaha, this is interesting.’

After eating lunch at the school cafeteria, An Ning decided to go for a walk to digest, then head back to her office for a nap before Jiang Xia came to pick her up.

Her walk eventually led her to the athletic field.

A burst of cheering drew her over. It turned out two departments were in the middle of a basketball game.

Cheers, shouts of encouragement, the THUMP-THUMP-THUMP of basketballs, and the sight of sprinting figures all converged into a potent scene of vibrant youth.

With nothing else to do, An Ning looked for a place to watch the game. When she couldn’t find a good spot, she ended up climbing onto a set of parallel bars and perching on top.

She wasn’t rooting for any particular team; she just cheered along whenever someone scored a basket, especially if it was a spectacular shot. She looked even more engrossed than the other spectators.

“Hey, what’s your major?”

“Me?” An Ning thought for a moment. “Math.”

“Ohhh—that explains it.”

‘What’s that supposed to mean? If you’ve got something to say, spit it out.’

Slightly annoyed, An Ning shouted down, “What’s wrong with the math department?”

“Huh? Nothing’s wrong with it! You guys are all our school’s top geniuses; you’re just not known for being athletic.”

An Ning desperately wanted to refute that, but then she thought back to her old classmates from the math department—the ones who wore glasses, who walked into doors while reading, who looked like they were on death’s door during the 800-meter run.

‘Whatever. Better to be magnanimous and not sweat the small stuff.’

An Ning went back to watching the game. When it ended, the team from the Physical Education Department won the championship, just as everyone expected. The boy wearing the captain’s armband accepted the trophy and raised it high.

“Thank you, everyone! On this glorious day, I’d like to ask a special person a special question.”

“Ooooooh!”

“Aaaaaah!”

The catcalls made the young man pause for a second, but spurred on by an even louder wave of jeering, he held the trophy high and walked toward the crowd of fans.

A long-haired girl, the target of the crowd’s teasing, covered her face in embarrassment as her friends pushed her forward from behind.

Perched on the parallel bars, An Ning hadn’t expected to witness a scene straight out of a novel just by watching a basketball game. ‘So it’s true, art really does imitate life.’

She excitedly stood up on the bars to get a clearer view.

The boy and girl met in the center of the court. His teammates, who were clearly prepared, swapped the trophy in his hands for a bouquet of flowers. He then dropped to one knee and made his bold confession.

“Li Yuanyuan, will you be my girlfriend?”

The applause died down.

An Ning, who had been cluelessly clapping along, suddenly felt like an idiot.

‘What happened? Why did the girl’s expression change? Why did everyone stop clapping? Did I miss something?’

Having missed the crucial detail, An Ning was dying of frustration.

Down below, the boy gave an awkward smile and grabbed the girl, who had just turned to run.

“Sisi, I misspoke! It didn’t mean anything, please forgive me! I really like you. Will you be my girlfriend?”

‘Sisi? Yuanyuan?’

‘He called her the wrong name!’

An Ning slapped her thigh. SMACK! ‘This is exciting!’

‘This is way better than a novel!’

“Hey, student up there! Don’t get so excited you fall off.”

A student below offered a kind warning. An Ning, still worked up, called back, “Thanks! I’m fine, I’m fine.”

The student below backed away from the parallel bars and whispered to a friend, “Is she really in the math department? She doesn’t have the vibe. Seems more like she’s from the journalism department.”

An Ning overheard but couldn’t care less. Her full attention was on the drama unfolding on the court.

The student named Sisi had an awful look on her face, yet she seemed unwilling to leave.

He was a senior from the Physical Education Department, a campus heartthrob who was handsome, a great basketball player, and supposedly from a wealthy family.

The vanity of becoming his girlfriend outweighed her embarrassment. The girl lowered her head and turned away, her eyes a little red.

Seeing this, the boy pulled her into an embrace and stroked her head. “Don’t be upset. It won’t happen again, Sisi.”

The surrounding crowd, sensing the shift in mood, began to cheer again, celebrating the newly formed couple.

Just as the rather melodramatic public confession seemed to be concluding, An Ning, feeling not quite satisfied, started to climb down from the bars.

“Wu Cheng, what about me?”

‘Another twist!’

With a heave, An Ning hoisted herself back up.

From the edge of the crowd, a breathtakingly pitiful beauty walked toward them, step by step. In the center of it all, Wu Cheng immediately let go of Sisi and stared at the approaching figure.

“Yuanyuan?”

‘Whoa—now the whole gang’s here.’

‘This is intense!’

An Ning whipped out her phone, dialed Jiang Xia, and began a live play-by-play.

Jiang Xia, who was in the middle of a mall inspection, had an earbud in and a smile on his face. He was just as invested in the gossip, anxiously following along and peppering her with questions.

“What’s happening now?”

“Is Yuanyuan winning or is Sisi winning?”

“Yeah, I agree. Yuanyuan probably has the upper hand.”

Watching the farce unfold below while listening to the voice on the phone, An Ning was overcome with a sense of pure bliss.

“Jiang Xia, what are you doing right now?”

“An inspection? And you’re still gossiping with me?”

“Okay, you get back to work. I’ll give you the update tonight.”

An Ning hung up. Down below, the war between two women and one man had reached its final, decisive moment.

It turned out that Li Sisi and Li Yuanyuan were cousins on their father’s side.

Li Yuanyuan was the ex-girlfriend. After they broke up over a misunderstanding, the guy started pursuing Li Sisi, only for Li Yuanyuan to have second thoughts.

Under the watchful eyes of the crowd, Wu Cheng chose his ex, Li Yuanyuan, adding a rather nauseating line: “The one I’ve always liked is Yuanyuan.”

The girl named Sisi, her face streaked with tears, no longer had any love in her eyes—only hate.

“If you’ve always liked her, then why did you lead me on?! Tell me… Why did you lead me on?!”

Wu Cheng’s actions earned him the scorn of the students around them. What should have been a romantic confession had devolved into a sordid love triangle.

“Sisi, don’t be like this. You have to understand me. You can’t force love.”

His words made even An Ning join the crowd in a chorus of boos. ‘What a disgusting scumbag.’

“You’ll both regret this!”

Li Sisi turned, covered her face, and ran away through the crowd.