Chapter 7: Watching the Volleyball Match, the Rival Appears

At 7:55, Ji Jinbai arrived at the classroom and saw Lu Mian waving at him from the back row: “Xiao Bai, over here…”

Ji Jinbai walked over.

Sitting in the seat Lu Mian had saved for him, Lu Mian placed Ji Jinbai’s book on his desk.

The morning class was on the General History of Chinese Art, and Professor Wang was notorious for randomly calling on students to answer questions, which always left them in a state of chaos.

“Xiao Bai, you’re finally here. You probably haven’t had breakfast yet, right? Here, I bought you some buns and soy milk.”

Lu Mian handed him the breakfast he had specially bought for him. Ji Jinbai looked at his eager eyes and didn’t tell him that he had already eaten.

“Thank you, Mian Mian.”

He sipped the soy milk slowly, recalling his time with the man last night, and couldn’t help but smile sweetly, his lips curving slightly.

Listening to the teacher drone on about the dull general history, the students below were so sleepy they could barely keep their heads up. It was truly hypnotic for them.

Lu Mian opened the school forum and casually browsed through it, casting a vote for Ji Jinbai on the rankings.

Seeing Luo Qin in the first place, he reluctantly voted for him as well, though his mouth said otherwise.

“Hahaha, Xiao Bai, look at our school forum. In the ranking of the most wanted people to pursue at Qing University, you’re firmly in second place.

Luo Qin is first, and you’re only a few votes behind him. It shows that our Xiao Bai’s charm hasn’t diminished over the years.”

While the teacher wasn’t looking, Lu Mian handed him the phone to show him the forum page. Ji Jinbai glanced at it but didn’t pay much attention. He had heard about this from Lu Mian before.

It seemed that Lu Mian still enjoyed voting for him every day. Since then, he had discovered that so many people had “ulterior motives” toward him.

But fortunately, it hadn’t caused him any trouble, so he didn’t pay much attention to it.

“Alright, the teacher is looking over here.”

Lu Mian quickly put his phone on the book and continued to enjoy the gossip with great interest.

Until a message popped up on his phone, Lu Mian clicked on it and glanced at it, his eyes lighting up, instantly wide awake.

“Xiao Bai, Xiao Bai.”

Hearing this, Ji Jinbai looked up at him, his eyes asking what was wrong.

Lu Mian glanced in the teacher’s direction, leaned over, and whispered.

“This afternoon, there’s a friendly volleyball match between the Finance Department and the Law Department. My crush is playing. Come with me to take a look, okay?”

“Your crush?”

“Do you know Luo Qin? About you having a crush?”

Lu Mian looked at him with a hint of defiance, somewhat puzzled. “Why should he know? What does it have to do with him? Does he have to meddle in everything?”

Lu Mian had never hidden his gay identity from him, but he had never been in a relationship.

As he said, if he were to find someone, it would have to be the best top.

Even Ji Jinbai, as an outsider, could see that Luo Qin had feelings for Lu Mian. Otherwise, why would he meddle in everything?

But Lu Mian was like a blockhead, completely unaware, and still foolishly approached him.

“Xiao Bai, just come with me. It’s a rare chance to see my crush up close. Just once, and we’ll be back soon.”

“Good buddy, nod your head, okay?”

Lu Mian tilted his head, his eyes sparkling, trying to persuade him with his gaze.

“Alright.” Ji Jinbai couldn’t withstand his gaze and gave in.

Finally, school was over, and Professor Wang asked Ji Jinbai to come to his office.

Lu Mian was waiting for him at the office door. Ji Jinbai walked in…

“Professor Wang, is there something you need?”

Wang Liqin valued this student of his the most. Ji Jinbai had a keen talent for painting and was his proud protégé.

He picked up an application form from the table and looked at him.

“This is the application form for the National Art League Competition. This competition is very prestigious, and winning an award would greatly enhance your resume. Our department only has three spots, and you were the first one I thought of.”

“The theme of this competition is ‘Student Era,’ and it should highlight the theme of youthful exuberance. Please fill out the application form first.”

Ji Jinbai took the application form.

“Alright, thank you, Professor. I’ll head back now.”

Lu Mian jogged over and went to the cafeteria with him for lunch.

After lunch, Ji Jinbai took a nap in the dormitory. Just as he was about to take out his pencil to sketch, Lu Mian hurriedly urged him to leave and took him to the school volleyball gym.

“Is it really that urgent? Will there be a lot of people?”

Ji Jinbai was a bit puzzled. He had never been to a volleyball match before.

Lu Mian looked at his innocent expression and said, “With my idol there, there will definitely be a lot of people. I’m not even hoping for the front row anymore. I just hope we can squeeze in. If there’s no space, we’ll watch from the steps. At least we can still see something.”

Ji Jinbai thought any spot would do, as he wasn’t particularly interested.

When they entered the volleyball gym, just as Lu Mian had said, there were many people gathered around, and cheers and shouts echoed through the crowd.

Ji Jinbai wasn’t used to being around so many people. He frowned and was about to head to a less crowded corner when he heard Lu Mian call out.

“I see my idol! Wow, he just jumped and smashed it! The opponents are stunned. Beautiful, so handsome!”

As Lu Mian continued to chatter, Ji Jinbai inadvertently looked up and locked eyes with a blond, blue-eyed boy from across the room.

The boy had been staring at him since he entered, but it wasn’t an intrusive gaze.

When their eyes met, the boy gave him a bright smile, his eyes filled with appreciation and kindness.

Judging by his uniform, he must be one of the players.

Ji Jinbai calmly averted his gaze, feeling uncomfortable with the crowded space and the loud noise that was hurting his ears.

“Damn, he’s really going all out. Doesn’t he have any sense of male virtue? Showing off his abs like that, no sense of restraint at all.”

“I hereby remove him from my list of idols… Hey, Xiao Bai, where are you going?”

“I have something to do. I’m leaving first.”

“Weren’t you fine just now? Why so sudden?”

Lu Mian asked in confusion, but Ji Jinbai didn’t respond. He turned and walked out of the gym, quickly disappearing from sight.

Lu Mian glanced at the tall, blond, mixed-race hottie on the court, thinking he was indeed handsome.

But he wasn’t his type. He didn’t realize he was subconsciously comparing him to Luo Qin.

“Hey, Zhou Xu, what are you staring at? You look so distracted, like your soul’s about to fly away. Did you hear me? We’re going to dinner together later.”

In the rest area, a teammate patted Zhou Xu, the blond guy who had been watching Ji Jinbai earlier.

Zhou Xu snapped out of it and replied in perfect Mandarin, “I heard you.”

“Where did you get the idea of fangirls? Stop talking nonsense.” Zhou Xu glanced in the direction where Ji Jinbai had left, then withdrew his gaze.

…