The internal basketball game of the camp was underway, with all the spectators being officers and soldiers from within the camp.
Qian Duoduo was the only “outsider” present.
After the first half ended, the players sat in the waiting area drinking water and resting, while the crowd fiercely discussed the just-concluded battle on the court.
Few people paid any attention to the corner where Qian Duoduo sat.
On this side.
She held a white-and-green bottle in her hand, offering it to Lu Qiming. When he didn’t immediately reach out, she seemed to realize something and tentatively asked, “Why don’t you sit down and rest for a while first?”
Lu Qiming glanced at the row of seats beside her. Finding no problem, he bent down and sat, deliberately leaving an empty seat between them to avoid his body heat overwhelming her.
“You keep it,” Lu Qiming said, his eyes sweeping over the drink in Qian Duoduo’s hand before looking at her face. “The unit prepared sports drinks for us ball players.”
“I brought my own water,” Qian Duoduo replied with a smile. “Anyway, I wouldn’t finish it all.”
Though there was about half a meter between them, the strong masculine aura seemed to permeate the air around Qian Duoduo.
It wasn’t just a simple scent but an aura radiating from within— mixed with body heat, sweat, and the simmering sexual tension under the skin.
Primal, fierce, heated, wild.
Like the scorching sun burning down on the wilderness, or clouds swirling over the sea during a storm, pressing down on one’s breath.
Nearby.
Only after hearing Qian Duoduo’s words did Lu Qiming finally take the bottle.
Drooping his eyelids, he took a quick scan and raised a brow, half in question, half to himself: “You really like coconut water.”
This question left Qian Duoduo a bit puzzled.
She paused, lifting her gaze a little to look at him. “Huh?”
Lu Qiming smiled faintly. “Last time after eating Hunan cuisine, you treated me to coconut water too. A different brand, though.”
“That’s true…” Qian Duoduo recalled for a moment and nodded.
“Coconut water is refreshing and free of additives, healthier than most sugary drinks,” she said with a slight curve at the corners of her eyes. “I can’t say I especially like it, though. Just today at noon I went with a friend to Sam’s Club, and their coconut water tastes pretty good. So I bought a whole case.”
“Sam’s Club?” Lu Qiming repeated, his tone light and slightly raised, sounding curious.
“It’s a foreign supermarket,” Qian Duoduo patiently explained, sensing his unfamiliarity. “They sell quality goods, plus some global-branded cosmetics at prices lower than the counters. Overall, it’s a good deal.”
Lu Qiming listened without expression, twisted open the coconut water cap, tilted his head back, and took a long swig.
Qian Duoduo blinked twice as she watched this scene— she could tell this PLA comrade was genuinely thirsty.
However.
With such a large gulp, could he really taste what pure, natural imported coconut water without concentrate actually tasted like?
She secretly felt a bit sorry.
“How is it?”
After reading the expression on Lu Qiming’s face, Qian Duoduo looked at the bottle in his hand again, propping her cheek with one hand, smiling faintly, “It should taste pretty good, right?”
“Not bad,” Lu Qiming evaluated objectively. “Not very sweet.”
It seemed that less sweetness was acceptable to him.
Noticing this, Qian Duoduo raised her eyebrows and casually sighed, “You really don’t seem to like sweets.”
“Maybe I just never got used to them.”
Because of the heat, Lu Qiming once again wiped sweat with his jersey. His tone was calm and casual. “Besides, I’ve never had high-quality sweets before.”
Thanks to this heat, when he lifted his shirt, the rippling muscles and the defined lines of his abs came clearly into Qian Duoduo’s sight.
She couldn’t help but widen her eyes slightly.
Before, with the distance, the visual impact was far less intense.
Those sharply defined muscle contours, the neat arrangement of light and shadow, rising and falling with each breath, as if containing infinite vitality.
Around his lower back, a faint bloodstain was visible, bright red in color, obviously the same as the drop of blood on his brow— likely from some accidental strike during the confrontation earlier.
Qian Duoduo’s cheeks flushed slightly. Not daring to look too long, her gaze drifted away but then unconsciously landed on Lu Qiming’s sharp-featured face.
Her eyes caught those two droplets of blood stuck to the upper edge of his brow.
Staring for a few seconds, her obsessive-compulsive side kicked in, and she finally couldn’t help but take out two clean tissues from her bag, holding them under his eyes.
“…”
The hand reaching into his line of sight was slender and white, skin smooth like fine porcelain.
Lu Qiming paused his sweat wiping, lifted his eyelids, and looked at the owner of the hand.
“You seem to have a small injury on your brow here…” Qian Duoduo whispered, raising her other hand to gesture toward her own face, indicating the spot. “There’s blood. Let me wipe it.”
Lu Qiming took the tissues and looked. Sure enough, the white tissue was stained with a fresh red line.
Qian Duoduo sat beside him, watching closely. “You’re bleeding. Doesn’t it hurt?”
Lu Qiming shook his head and casually crumpled the tissue into a ball, tossing it into the nearby trash bin, his tone indifferent. “Not mine. Someone else’s blood got on my face.”
Qian Duoduo nodded knowingly. After a brief pause, she lowered her voice and said, “I was just watching your basketball game. It wasn’t that fierce, no blood, but why take it so seriously?”
“Because you’re here,” Lu Qiming replied casually.
“…Me?” Qian Duoduo was stunned, brow furrowed in confusion. “What does that have to do with me?”
“Teacher Qian representing the local side moving into the camp, it’s the first time watching us play,” Lu Qiming’s dark eyes fixed on her, voice calm with no great fluctuations, “we need to perform well for you.”
Qian Duoduo: “…”
Makes sense.
“Mm,” Qian Duoduo nodded seriously. “Got it.”
Just then, a whistle blew from the basketball court not far away.
Qian Duoduo snapped back to reality.
Turning her head, the second half of the game had already started. Comrade Xiao had replaced Lu Qiming on the court as the team’s point guard.
Xiao Chenghui had been a skilled basketball player in his youth. Though his physical strength and reaction speed declined with age, he still insisted on staying active on the court.
His posture was no longer as agile as the young players, and his reaction slower, but years of court battles had given him precious, rich experience.
Four minutes into the second half, Xiao Chenghui seized a moment and, a bit off-balance, maneuvered past an opponent.
Under the intense gaze of everyone in the gym, the veteran took a step toward the basket, adjusted his body’s direction, and quickly followed with the other foot to shorten the distance.
Then he made a jump shot.
The smooth ball hit the backboard with a “pop,” but its direction veered slightly, brushing the outer edge of the rim and falling off.
“…” Xiao Chenghui landed, watching helplessly as the close two-pointer slipped away. The light in his eyes instantly dimmed.
A miss.
Disappointment and regret etched into the fine lines at the corners of his eyes. In that moment of distraction, the ball was intercepted by the opposing team.
The court was a battlefield; the tides of battle shifted in an instant. Xiao Chenghui didn’t have time to brood and quickly re-engaged in the fight.
“Xiao, that rebound was great!” A young soldier ran past him, giving a thumbs-up with a heartfelt smile.
Xiao Chenghui shook his head with a smile and jogged forward. “You gotta admit, you can’t argue with age. Even open shots can’t be held onto anymore.”
“There will be chances!” The young soldier responded, throwing the ball mid-air. “Commander Xiao, catch!”
Xiao Chenghui stretched out his arms and caught it steadily, quickly switching from defense to offense.
……
In the stands.
Qian Duoduo frowned slightly, holding her coconut water, lamenting, “Such a pity. Just a little bit off. If only Comrade Xiao had scored.”
“Besides Comrade Xiao, the others are all young lads in their teens,” Lu Qiming said, calmly watching the fierce, tight game. “For a fifty-year-old comrade to hold his own against a bunch of young peak-condition guys is already quite impressive.”
Hearing this, Qian Duoduo thought seriously for a moment, then suddenly whispered, “I get it now. No wonder you wanted to widen the score gap so much in the first half!”
Lu Qiming’s gaze shifted slightly to look at her.
“You widen the gap so that when Commander Xiao comes on, he won’t have too much psychological pressure and can really enjoy the game. This way, it protects the old comrades’ pride and doesn’t affect the game’s outcome,” Qian Duoduo mumbled, then quickly looked up at Lu Qiming. “Am I right?”
Lu Qiming silently curled the corners of his mouth, withdrawing his gaze to drink the coconut water without a word.
“What are you smiling at?” Qian Duoduo’s eyes widened. “Is it really as I guessed?”
Lu Qiming only asked abruptly, “Between us two, who’s winning?”
Qian Duoduo was stunned for a moment before realizing he meant their bet.
She thought for a moment and said, “Even though Comrade Xiao missed the shot, he did complete the step layup… You win then. A bet’s a bet. Starting tomorrow, I’ll treat you to a week’s worth of meals.”
“No.” Lu Qiming raised his brow. “Not so sure.”
At that moment, a tall young man in a jersey suddenly stood up from the waiting area bench.
Song Qingfeng rotated his neck, scanning the basketball gym. After a full circle, he finally spotted his beloved captain in a rather inconspicuous corner of the stands— with a bright-eyed young woman.
Isn’t that…?
That food blogger girl?
At first, Song Qingfeng thought he was mistaken. He rubbed his eyes and looked again—no doubt about it.
Within seconds, his expression shifted from shock to bewilderment to confusion, and finally to a slightly suggestive understanding.
A little while later, Lu Qiming returned to the waiting area, carrying an extra small bottle of coconut water with fresh packaging.
“Hey, rare visitor. Lu, you came back after all?” Song Qingfeng crossed his legs, casually swaying his basketball shoes as he sized up Lu Qiming, teasing in a low voice, “The little lady came all the way here to see you. Aren’t you gonna stay and chat some more?”
Lu Qiming plopped down on the bench, leaning his head against the wall without even looking at Song Qingfeng. “She came to see Commander Xiao.”