Chapter 18 Chapter 18
"Brother Shuo, catch the ball!" The lights on the outdoor basketball court were very bright. Cheng Yuhang made a passing gesture. Wen Shuo came back from his brief distraction and reached out to catch the ball passed by Cheng Yuhang. The opponent made a celebratory gesture. Then Wen Shuo attacked, bypassed the opponent's defense and broke into the basket. With excellent bounce and hand muscle memory movements, the basketball slipped out of his hands, stayed in the air for a moment, and then fell into the basket cleanly.
After more than an hour of exhilarating exercise, Cheng Yuhang had a great time. Wen Shuo wiped the sweat off his face with his jersey, picked up his sports drink, said hello to the people on the court, and was led out of the court with Cheng Yuhang's arm around his shoulder.
This is a paid basketball court in the community. Wen Shuo's home is not far from Cheng Yuhang's. Although they didn't make an appointment in advance, it is common for them to meet on the court, and today was no exception.
Wen Shuo likes the feeling of sweating freely on the basketball court at night. That feeling of freedom is his unique way to relieve stress.
The two walked outside the basketball court. A handsome black and red Kawasaki was parked in an open space not far away. Cheng Yuhang took out his car keys and suddenly seemed to think of something. He asked, "If it's not urgent, can you lend me the car for a few more days?"
Wen Shuo was looking down at his phone. Hearing this, he said without even looking up: "Whatever."
"Okay." Cheng Yuhang was quite happy. He swung the key on his index finger, lifted his leg and straddled the motorcycle, reaching for his helmet. "Why don't you just sell me this bike? It's just been gathering dust in your garage every day. I've been riding it to school so handsomely these past few days. I've been getting a lot of attention. Yesterday, I even picked up a girl on the way home. I've been flirting with her for two days, and it feels like I'm almost there, haha..."
Wen Shuo was still staring at his phone, and said calmly, "Well, be careful."
Cheng Yuhang laughed heartily and patted Wen Shuo on the shoulder: "Which 'safe' are you referring to? Don't worry, I always wear a condom, so it's not unsafe."
Wen Shuo's typing fingers paused for a moment. Normally, it wouldn't be a big deal for boys to say something overly blunt and explicit to each other. But today, Cheng Yuhang seemed to think Wen Shuo was a little unhappy.
"It's up to you, just don't take the school bus from now on." Wen Shuo put away his phone and said, "Let's go."
After he finished speaking, he turned around and left, leaving behind Cheng Yuhang's question "Do you want me to give it to you?"
After returning to the empty house, Wen Shuo turned on the light, changed his shoes, and walked to the refrigerator to get some water as usual when he caught a glimpse of Jiang Lan's note on it.
Every time he went on a business trip, Jiang Lan would write him a long paragraph. Wen Shuo was used to it. He patiently read it and then stuck the note back to its original place.
Feeling a little hungry after exercising, he opened the refrigerator door, randomly picked out some food, heated it up in the microwave, ate it standing in front of the island, and then went to the bathroom to take a shower.
During this period, Wen Shuo checked his mobile phone many times, but there was no expected message on it.
At the basketball court that night, Zhou Qi sent a message saying that he wanted to borrow his test paper to copy, and they also chatted about something else.
For example, Ren Li.
Zhou Qi [Boss, Ren Li seemed to want to discuss something with you during evening study today. Did she come to you?]
He had just asked casually, but the speaker had no intention, while the listener took it to heart. Although Zhou Qi quickly changed the subject, Wen Shuo inexplicably cared about this sentence.
He was very curious about what Ren Li wanted to do with him.
Perhaps because he was eager to know the answer to the question, after returning home, no matter what Wen Shuo was doing, Ren Li's figure would always appear in his mind.
During this time, he also opened the chat dialog box with Ren Li, wanting to take the initiative to ask her what she wanted to say to him, but he felt that his behavior was inexplicable, and finally threw the phone back on the bed.
The clock silently pointed to half past ten. By this time, Ren Li had already returned home, washed up, and was ready for bed. Wen Shuo had no interest in playing games anymore. He sat at his desk, headphones on, listening to music intermittently. His phone screen lit up at the perfect moment.
This time it's Ren Li.
Pear【Are you there】
It was a familiar opening. Wen Shuo felt that every time Ren Li came to talk to him about something, her tone was exactly the same, and she would disappear immediately after finishing her business, refusing to say a single extra word.
He replied.
W【Um, what’s up?】
Even the dialogue seemed familiar.
On the other side, Ren Li was still writing and deleting text, and didn't send a single word for a long time.
Wen Shuo waited patiently, and five minutes later, her message finally came.
Li [Is it convenient for you to talk over the phone? I think it would be easier to explain it over the phone. It’s okay if it’s not convenient for you.]
Wen Shuo pressed the call button without thinking.
He was using video mode, and as expected, after the call had been going on for a long time, Ren Li finally answered it.
It was a little dark across the street, and the light from the desk lamp gently poured down on the girl in front of the screen. Wen Shuo saw her cautiously approach the screen and tentatively said, "Hello——"
At that time, Ren Li looked like he had never seen her before. She was wearing a pink pajamas, with a small star hairpin casually pinned on her bangs. Her hair was loosely draped over her shoulders, and the light and shadow outlined a smooth contour on her face. Her entire face was not made up, and her eyes were as clear as ever, which made people think of some pure, flawless and beautiful words for no reason.
Jianwenshuo was a little dazed, and Renli tilted her head and reminded him, "Huh?"
Wen Shuo finally came back to his senses. In order to avoid looking so embarrassed, he picked up the game console on the table and cleared his throat: "What's the matter? Tell me."
Ren Li was also inexplicably uneasy the moment the call was connected. But when she saw Wen Shuo, wearing headphones around his neck, casually chatting with her while playing his handheld game console, she felt relieved.
This is just an ordinary video call. I was just overthinking it.
Ren Li thought for a moment and then told Wen Shuo about her weekend tutoring plans. She was sincere, even saying, "Contributing to your classmates is an honorable and meaningful thing." This earnest tone even gave Wen Shuo the illusion that he was actually Teacher He.
After Ren Li finished speaking, she added cautiously, "Wen Shuo, do you think this is okay?"
Wen Shuo put the handheld back on the table: "Is it because of this?"
It turned out that he just wanted to make up for his mistakes. Who knew what he was expecting just now?
Ren Li nodded: "Yes."
Wen Shuo asked back, "Do you want to participate?"
Ren Li nodded again.
Wen Shuo replied: "No problem."
So, is it that easy? It doesn't seem as difficult as I imagined. Ren Li suddenly felt that she was quite capable, and unconsciously curled the corners of her mouth: "That's great, I'll go tell Xintong right away, she can rest assured."
Wen Shuo: "Zhang Xintong is going too?"
Ren Li held her forehead with her hand. She had just explained the whole thing in detail, and had specifically emphasized that Zhang Xintong and Zhou Qi were the key tutoring targets, so she didn't know how much Wen Shuo had listened to.
"Yes, you, me, Xintong, and Zhou Qi. I think since Zhou Qi is your friend, he should have no problem."
Wen Shuo: "Why are you so concerned about Zhou Qi?"
Ren Li: ...
She doesn't care about Zhou Qi, only Zhang Xintong cares about her.
"Then let's set the time at 9:00 am every Saturday, and the location will be the PAGE ONE bookstore you mentioned last time. What do you think?" Ren Li concluded.
She had originally wanted to ask for both Saturdays and Sundays, but Wen Shuo must have his own life, so she didn't want to take up too much of his time. As for the location, that was even simpler. She remembered Wen Shuo had mentioned this bookstore before, and she thought he must like it here.
Unexpectedly, after he finished speaking, Wen Shuo asked, "PAGEONE Bookstore? Where is this place?"
Ren Li was speechless: "You mentioned last time that you were going here to buy books on the weekend."
Wen Shuo then remembered this incident.
He had never been to Page One Bookstore before; the last time he went there was just to meet Ren Li the next day, a casual remark. But now, none of that mattered. As long as Ren Li was happy, the location didn't matter.
Ren Li is indeed happy today.
She had curved eyes and shallow dimples, and when she smiled, her eyes seemed to contain infinite starlight. Wen Shuo seemed to be infected by this emotion through the screen, and even felt an absurd sense of happiness in his heart.
Meanwhile, Ren Li was busy on her phone. A short while later, a message arrived on Wen Shuo's phone.
Just now, Ren Li created a group chat, and the people in the group were the ones I just mentioned. She @ed everyone in it and excitedly announced the "good news."
Hello everyone, after friendly consultation with Wen Shuo, our study group has officially been established today! [Fireworks][Fireworks][Fireworks]]
Her words were serious yet inexplicably gentle. Wen Shuo couldn't help but curl the corners of his lips. He casually sent an expression to the group and watched Ren Li continue typing.
[The group leader will be Wen Shuo [Welcome][Welcome]. He will also set up study plans for everyone every Saturday and help everyone with their homework.]
Wen Shuo stared at the word "team leader" for a while, and couldn't help asking, "When did I ever say I wanted to be a team leader?"
Ren Li was learning the time and place from the editor in the group, and her fingers paused when she heard this. In fact, Wen Shuo had never said this. She had originally wanted to fool him, but she didn't expect Wen Shuo to remember it so accurately.
"Well, why don't you try it first? Because there's no one more suitable than you, so please, please."
As she spoke, her big eyes blinked, and she had that irresistible look on her face. Wen Shuo finally nodded and added, "It's only temporary."
Ren Li nodded: "Okay!"
So she quoted the words she had just posted from the "Team Leader" in the group, and then added a sentence at the end:
Pear [btw, Wen Shuo said he was only temporary]
Wen Shuo: ...
He had never met anyone as serious as Ren Li. Some things in this world are true, and some aren't. Wen Shuo's words just now were the latter. But Ren Li didn't bother to distinguish. She took everything seriously. She believed whatever others said.
Wen Shuo even suspected that Ren Li had been protected too well since childhood, so she now maintained pure and beautiful fantasies about everything.
It’s not that innocence is bad, but if you are soft-hearted, you will be easily deceived.
Gradually, there was movement in the group, and Zhang Xintong was the first to reply.
Xiao Wutong: [Really?! Lili, I love you so much~ But how did you convince Wenshuo?!]
Ren Li was looking up some information about Page One Bookstore when she saw this sentence. She immediately felt guilty. Thinking back to the note-passing incident tonight, she wondered if Zhang Xintong might say something in the public chat group about whether Wen Shuo liked her or not. Wouldn't that really put her in a bad light?
So Ren Li typed quickly to remind her.
[Um, Wen Shuo is also in the group... Actually, it's nothing. I told everyone that they needed help, and Wen Shuo was quite enthusiastic, so he agreed ^^]
Zhou Qi is always a step behind. He only saw the message in the group now and clicked in with a confused look on his face.
Qi【???!】
Qi [No, why did you bring me along for tutoring?]
Qi [Wait a minute, the key point of this matter is why Wen Shuo agreed to Ren Li so readily.]
Seeing that the topic that had just been diverted was being brought back again, Ren Li glanced at Wen Shuo on the video call and could only use a fake smile to cover up her embarrassment: "Hehehe..."
Seeing that no one paid attention to him in the group, Zhou Qi @Wen Shuo from the side.
Qi [@W Boss, you actually agreed to tutor someone?! This isn't your style. Were you kidnapped by Ren Li? If so, just blink.]
Zhang Xintong couldn't help it and sent a series of "knocking" emojis.
Little Wutong【@Qi Baiyan.jpg】
The group started to become noisy, and Ren Li's thoughts were still on Zhou Qi's words just now. If the other two people in the group knew that she was chatting with Wen Shuo on the microphone at this moment, she wondered what everyone would think.
The atmosphere was strange. Ren Li subconsciously raised her eyes, and Wen Shuo also looked at her at the right time. Ren Li instantly became nervous again, and said inexplicably: "Well, can you please not tell them about what we talked about today?"
Wen Shuo nodded and replied, "Okay."
The world is vast, and we are all tiny specks of dust, one in six billion. In the night sky above this city, countless radio waves converge, yet no one knows that at this moment, we all share the same frequency.
Wen Shuo felt that this was a secret unique to him and Ren Li.
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