Chapter 127: I’m a Master of Likes (23/30)

Gou Yu was planning to join the basketball tournament, but it seemed impossible for him to play alone.

There really weren’t many basketball players in the class, and even after struggling to gather people in the class group chat, only one person reluctantly agreed.

It seemed that person was only interested in the tournament for the extra credit.

“I can’t find anyone at all…” Gou Yu slumped helplessly onto the desk.

Zhu Niao patted Gou Yu’s shoulder comfortingly.

Actually, she had a bit of a personal motive too.

Whenever Zhu Niao walked around the school with Gou Yu, sometimes she’d catch other students’ gazes lingering on her for a while before shifting suspiciously and confusingly to Gou Yu.

It was just like the discussions about her on the school forum—any conversation about her inevitably brought up Gou Yu.

Whenever their relationship was mentioned, there would always be words doubting Gou Yu or questioning why he deserved to be with her.

Although they weren’t a real couple in the strict sense, and the widely circulated story at school painted their relationship as just a show,

Gou Yu had indeed helped shield her from many meaningless social interactions.

And so far, she felt Gou Yu had done so much for her, while she had barely helped him at all.

No matter who looked at this “couple” arrangement, it seemed Gou Yu was the one who gained the most, but in reality, Zhu Niao was the one benefiting greatly.

So at the very least, she wanted Gou Yu to earn one win; whether he won or lost, she would cheer the loudest from the sidelines.

“I’ll ask around if anyone can come help.” Zhu Niao patted Gou Yu’s shoulder again. “Did they say it had to be people from the same class?”

“I don’t think so.” Gou Yu looked carefully. “They just said every class had to participate, but it seemed like people could mix.”

“That’s good then. I’ll leave it to you.” Zhu Niao gave an OK sign.

Then Zhu Niao turned to her roommates, who were still intensely debating whether the easy course teacher on the podium would be unemployed without students.

“Oi, everyone, eyes on me.”

This sentence worked like a charm. Even the roommates who were nearly discussing Zhuge Liang leading a million college students in a Normandy landing stopped to look at her.

“The situation now is that a basketball team is short on players. Can you find a way to get three guys together?”

Zhu Niao glanced at her three roommates and suddenly realized the number was just right.

“Is it okay to ask the neighboring class?” Yang Shuli was the first to respond, taking the lead like the dorm leader.

“That’s fine.”

Yang Shuli immediately video-called Xu Nian.

The call connected, and on the phone screen was the easy course teacher who seemed glued to the camera, scaring Yang Shuli into quickly hanging up.

Almost forgot Xu Nian was sitting right there in the same large classroom, even right in front of the teacher.

“Anyway, I’ll leave it to you guys. I’ll talk to Old Dog later to see if we can get two substitutes or something.”

The tournament required two substitutes. Those were probably easy to find since they wouldn’t play much but could still earn the same credits.

Zhu Niao breathed a long sigh of relief; the problem was solved.

It would have been better if she hadn’t looked up to see the teacher walking their way.

Of course, as the teacher left, the students in the front row finally relaxed, including Xu Nian and Xiao Yi’an, who were sitting together.

“You don’t need to sit next to me anymore. I don’t need your help, and I have nothing to offer you either.” Xiao Yi’an frowned, glancing at Xu Nian beside him.

“Oh?” Xu Nian looked at Xiao Yi’an with mild surprise, then turned to glance distantly at the bespectacled girl sitting next to Yang Shuli, who was also getting scolded by the teacher.

Perhaps he was a little surprised that what Ye Qingchang called “messing things up” was enough to make Xiao Yi’an so resolute.

“More friends, more paths. No one is completely useless.” Xu Nian smiled gently but moved away first.

It was as if knowing Xiao Yi’an was of no use to him, he abandoned him preemptively.

Xiao Yi’an ignored Xu Nian and opened the chat log with his white moon—the girl he adored—looking at each message.

He had straightforwardly asked to meet during her trip but was dodged.

The excuse was well-crafted; he couldn’t find any fault with it and so didn’t push further.

Still, he would meet his white moon sooner or later—it was just a matter of time.

With nothing better to do, Xiao Yi’an opened her Moments again; the latest was the shattered sea bathed in moonlight, with even his own figure appearing in it.

If only he had paid attention back then to whether anyone was taking photos, maybe he would have noticed something.

He sighed deeply just as he heard the teacher’s footsteps returning behind him, deciding to end this indulgence in his white moon’s world.

But he froze.

He saw a name that absolutely shouldn’t have appeared on this screen.

In the list of likes, one name stood out glaringly:

Xu Nian.