Upon hearing this response, Lin Xichi hesitated for a moment, somewhat caught off guard. Soon, she gave an acknowledging “oh” and a small smile tugged at her lips. With some effort, she handed him the water bottle.
Xu Fang reached out and took the bottle but then placed it on the ground, his head lowered as if lost in thought.
He had accepted so quickly, but now that he had the bottle in his hand, he didn’t know how to drink from it.
Lin Xichi massaged her sore arm and suddenly felt that her journey hadn’t been in vain. She poked the bottle with her fingertip and said with a playful tone, “If you like it, I can bring more for you tomorrow.”
“…” Xu Fang felt his scalp tingling. He didn’t know what had gotten into her today. He wanted to scold some sense into her but couldn’t find the right words, probably because of her previous expression.
He lowered his voice and tried to reason with her, “I can’t drink that much.”
“Ah…” Lin Xichi suddenly realized the problem, looking down at the brimming bucket of water. She quickly came up with a solution, saying, “It’s okay; you can take it home and drink it.”
Xu Fang: “…” That made sense.
He had just finished exercising and was indeed thirsty. Besides, he couldn’t fathom what Lin Xichi was thinking. He decided not to dwell on these things anymore.
As he thought about it, Xu Fang suddenly burst into laughter, shaking his head. He didn’t even know why he was laughing. Then he got up and sat down in the seat next to her, lifting the water bottle.
Lin Xichi watched him expectantly.
It wasn’t until he unscrewed the cap and was about to lift the bottle to start drinking that her expression suddenly froze. She finally realized—
If Xu Fang wanted to drink the water she brought, he would have to hoist that entire bucket over his head to drink from it.
The image was somewhat terrifying.
If he happened to lose his grip, the entire bucket would pour directly onto his head, or worse, the five-kilogram bottle of water would fall on him like a stone.
So, either he’d take an impromptu shower on the spot or end up in the hospital.
Neither of these outcomes was something she could bear.
“Wait a minute,” Lin Xichi exclaimed abruptly.
Seeing that Xu Fang’s movements had indeed halted, she sighed in relief. She started rummaging through her backpack, and soon, she pulled out a small straw she had accidentally taken when buying yogurt. It was a thin straw, about fifteen centimeters long.
Lin Xichi blinked and handed the straw to him. “Use this to drink.”
“…”
Have him do this here?
Surrounded by friends, most of whom were classmates they knew, and then have him sit here, holding a bucket of water, sipping through a straw?
This was equivalent to publicly branding himself as a sissy, wasn’t it?
Xu Fang glanced at her casually and didn’t engage further. He effortlessly lifted the water and took a sip, drinking about a tenth of it in one go. His Adam’s apple moved swiftly, and he used the back of his hand to wipe his lips, leaving a sheen of water on them.
Black hair, cold eyes, fair skin, and red lips.
How hadn’t she noticed before that he looked so good?
Lin Xichi stared at his actions, and suddenly, she felt thirsty too. She averted her gaze and let out a deep breath, using her hand to fan herself.
Xu Fang twisted the bottle cap shut and placed it on the ground.
“Feeling hot?” Xu Fang raised an eyebrow, noticing her actions. He then lifted his shirt to wipe the sweat from his face, revealing taut abdominal muscles. His mood seemed quite good. “I’m not hot.”
“Oh, right.” Lin Xichi glanced at him and finally let her hand drop. She lied nonchalantly, “It’s just that the water is a bit heavy, and it was hard to carry.”
“Lin Xichi.” Xu Fang suddenly called her.
“Huh?”
“Bring normal-sized water tomorrow.”
“…” Lin Xichi paused for a moment. “Oh.”
The halftime break ended, and the second half began. This time, when Xu Fang went back onto the court, he seemed much more energetic than before, continuously scoring one goal after another.
Lin Xichi watched him running back and forth on the field and discreetly looked behind her.
Xin Zidan was still sitting in the second row, and when she noticed Lin Xichi’s gaze, she gave her a friendly smile, curling the corners of her mouth.
Lin Xichi retracted her gaze.
Thinking back to what Xu Fang had said earlier, she suddenly felt that her pursuit had a head start. Once their relationship was familiar enough, even delivering a bucket of water could be a success.
But what should she do now?
She had a feeling that if she confessed to Xu Fang directly, his reaction would probably be: A friend I’ve known for years suddenly confesses to me, what should I do?
Lin Xichi watched Xu Fang on the field, scratching her head in frustration. She began to contemplate how she could make him aware of some gender differences between them.
Maybe she should follow the same approach as others when it came to praising him for his performance. That might work.
Thinking about it, Lin Xichi looked in another direction. Far away, she could see another boy leaving the court, and a girl went up to him with a bottle of water, saying something to him with clenched fists close to her chest, wearing an expression of admiration and pride.
Her cheeks were rosy, and her eyes sparkled like stars.
Kind of cute.
The boy standing across from her was tall and sturdy, and at this moment, he looked quite bashful.
Lin Xichi tilted her head, deep in thought. Then she licked her lips, raised her hand, and clumsily imitated the girl’s gesture and expression.
After exerting all his strength, Xu Fang finally left the court. He sat back down next to Lin Xichi, panting, without saying a word. He simply picked up the bucket of water from the ground and started pouring it into his mouth.
Lin Xichi took a deep breath, clenched her fist awkwardly, and copied the girl’s pose and tone, her voice slightly raised, “Wow! Pipi, you’re amazing! Truly incredible—”
Hearing her voice, Xu Fang turned his head to look at her and immediately noticed her awkward and playful appearance. He nearly choked on the sip of water he had just taken, hastily placing the water bottle on his lap and coughing hysterically.
After catching his breath, Xu Fang muttered under his breath, “I can’t believe this.”
Lin Xichi: “…”
She was never doing something like this again.
Xu Fang, still recovering from his coughing fit, asked in a subdued tone, “What’s gotten into you today?”
“Not crazy.” Lin Xichi said, feeling exasperated.
It’s just that you are so difficult to figure out!
No matter what she did, it seemed wrong.
It was really challenging.
Lin Xichi’s enthusiasm plummeted suddenly, her expression looking as if she had received a heavy blow. Her eyelids drooped, and she mumbled in puzzlement, “I gave you a bucket of water, and while others might find it strange, you didn’t scold me.”
“…”
“I praised you, but you scolded me.”
“…”
“You’re making me think.”
“…”
What on earth was this guy trying to do?
After the game ended, Lin Xichi didn’t linger around Xu Fang. Feeling dejected, she just wanted to find a place without him to contemplate her next move.
Seeing Xu Fang’s friends packing up to leave, Lin Xichi waved to Xu Fang, said her goodbyes, and returned to her original spot. On her seat, there was no sign of He Ruiliang; only Ye Shaowen was sitting there, playing with his phone.
She walked over and casually asked, “Where’s He Senior?”
Ye Shaowen didn’t lift his eyes from his phone. “Maybe he went to the restroom.”
Lin Xichi didn’t pay much attention to it and returned to her seat, thinking about her past actions towards Xu Fang. She began to realize that her current approach was probably not right. After a night of inner turmoil, she decided to pause for now and stop doing these deliberate things.
She would wait and see.
She believed that there would always be an opportunity for her to increase Xu Fang’s favorability.
On Sunday, the last game of the Engineering Department was held, a showdown between the Architecture Department and the Marine Sciences Department for the championship.
Both teams seemed significantly more serious about this game, and the number of spectators had doubled compared to the previous two days. The stands were densely packed with mostly female students.
Lin Xichi arrived at Xu Fang’s side before the game, holding her water and taking her seat in the same spot as yesterday.
Xu Fang, who was originally talking to his teammates, walked over to stand in front of her. He ran his hand through his hair, glanced at the water in her hand, and seemed to breathe a sigh of relief.
He sat down next to Lin Xichi.
Lin Xichi thought for a moment and asked him, “Are you nervous?”
“Nervous about what?”
“The prize for the championship and the runner-up is quite different. The champion gets a bicycle, while the runner-up only gets a bottle of laundry detergent.”
“Isn’t that something you should be nervous about?”
“…” True.
Although this game was primarily about participation, and the outcome wasn’t that important, Lin Xichi was still very, very happy when she heard the referee announce that the Architecture Department had won. She watched the crowd surge forward, and even Xu Fang couldn’t help but smile in the field. She also took her water bottle and joined in the rush.
Thinking that many people wanted to give water to Xu Fang, Lin Xichi’s actions quickened.
Around Xu Fang, there were indeed quite a few female students, most of whom were from his class. However, he couldn’t remember their names, so he just politely thanked them and didn’t take their water.
Xu Fang looked in Lin Xichi’s direction, but he didn’t see her among the crowd.
He looked around and soon spotted her trying to make her way through a group of people but being blocked. Eventually, she resigned herself to it and took a detour, approaching his area.
However, she was still blocked by the girls around him, unable to find an opening.
Lin Xichi thought that this guy was truly the most attractive one here. She looked around and realized that the only place where she could have some physical contact with him was behind him. She was about to move to that spot when…
Xu Fang’s eyebrows lifted slightly, and he leaned in, reaching out to grab her head and pull her toward him.
“Can’t you see me here?”
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