After Transmigrating into a Book, I Saved the Cheap Shou - Chapter 18

The moment the bell rang, the first-year final exams ended. Su Chen walked out of the exam hall, hesitating whether he should go to the second-year teaching building to find Gu Jingning. They hadn’t seen each other for over a week. Ever since they ate lunch together that day, Gu Jingning had stopped contacting him.

Was it because he had only eaten one bowl of rice with a single vegetable dish that day, making Senior think he was too shabby?

He sat down on a bench under the shade of a tree and looked toward the second-year building. The second-year teaching block was still quiet — their exams hadn’t finished yet.

An Zhixia sat down in the empty spot beside him, stretching her arms and resting them on the back of the bench while sucking on a lollipop. “The second you finish the exam, you run over here to act like a stone waiting for your husband to return.”

“……” Su Chen ignored her. Ever since they had talked things out that day, An Zhixia loved teasing him about Gu Jingning, even though the person in question was her own older brother.

“I think you still have a long way to go before you can become my sister-in-law. My brother may not look like it, but he’s actually quite delicate. He only accepts the best in food, clothing, and living conditions.” She patted Su Chen’s shoulder with a gloating smile. “Young man, you still need to work hard.”

“……”

“Sigh, my brother really is such a sinful man~”

While An Zhixia wasn’t paying attention, Su Chen snatched the unfinished lollipop from her hand, tossed it toward a trash can not far away, scored a perfect shot, then quickly sat back down and continued staring in the direction of second-year Class 1.

“…!!!”

“You! So childish! Wow, I’ve never seen anyone this childish.” An Zhixia angrily pounded on Su Chen’s shoulder. She had only teased him a little — was that really necessary? Besides, it was her own brother. So what if she didn’t want her brother to be taken away?

“You childish brat!”

Before her next punch could land on his shoulder, Su Chen had already stood up and run toward Gu Jingning.

The bell signaling the end of the second-year exams had rung. Gu Jingning and Jiang Yunhe, both wearing basketball jerseys and holding basketballs, walked out of the teaching building.

Gu Jingning was a little surprised to see Su Chen walking toward him. This was the first time Su Chen had come looking for him. Usually it was Gu Jingning who went to Su Chen’s class or they ran into each other by chance. Seeing the protagonist shou come find him made him feel pleasantly surprised and flattered.

“Senio—”

“Hey! You childish brat, compensate me for my… candy…” An Zhixia caught up to Su Chen and jumped onto his back, only to suddenly realize Gu Jingning was standing right beside him. She panicked and hurriedly climbed down.

“Bro… ah! No, Senior… Hello!” In her fluster, amid the crowd of students, she gave Gu Jingning a perfect 90-degree bow.

Gu Jingning quickly steadied her shoulders. “Junior, there’s no need for that.”

At that moment, Jiang Yunhe walked over with his basketball and grinned cheekily. “What are you doing? Enforcing discipline?”

“……”

“No, no! I was just panicking for a second…” An Zhixia didn’t want Gu Jingning to be misunderstood and turned red up to her neck in anxiety.

“Hahaha! I was just kidding, junior. Is this your friend?” Jiang Yunhe asked.

“Yes! Hello, Seniors. My name is An Zhixia — An from peace, Zhi from knowing, Xia from summer.” An Zhixia’s palms were sweaty. Her eyes were full of anticipation, hoping Gu Jingning would remember something from her name.

But she was disappointed. Gu Jingning’s gaze remained calm. He didn’t remember her at all.

Su Chen, standing to the side, looked at An Zhixia who seemed on the verge of tears. He changed the subject. “Seniors, where are you going? Aren’t you going home?”

“We’re going to play basketball. We lost badly last time! I’m taking your Senior Gu for special training so he stops catching the ball with his face.”

This guy Jiang Yunhe — why did he have to bring up his embarrassing moments?!!!

“I already said that was an accident!” Ever since what he saw that day at the café, he hadn’t slept well for a whole week. Luckily it hadn’t affected his exams.

Jiang Yunhe dodged Gu Jingning’s attack nimbly by tilting his head. He smiled brightly. “Do you two want to join? With you guys, we can play 3v3.”

Gu Jingning was about to refuse for them, but Su Chen and An Zhixia exchanged a glance and nodded in agreement.

The words he wanted to say died in his throat. Gu Jingning followed behind the group with low spirits. After that day, he had thought about it for a long time. It was probably a good thing for Su Chen to be with other people. In the original plot, he would have already been getting close to Pei Yuanqing by now.

The scene of the two of them playfully messing around earlier flashed through his mind. Although Su Chen had looked annoyed on the surface, Gu Jingning had still caught the smile Su Chen hadn’t managed to hide in time. The two of them seemed to get along very well. Someone like that would probably treat Su Chen nicely.

He looked at An Zhixia again as she chatted with Jiang Yunhe. The girl had delicate features, her brows and eyes full of confidence and pride. Although the temperature had dropped sharply recently, she was wearing a thick, warm coat but only a modified short school skirt on the bottom, revealing her fair, slender legs.

Gu Jingning frowned. He knew girls this age liked to look pretty and didn’t mind freezing, and he had seen many girls dress like this. However, no matter how he looked at An Zhixia’s outfit, he felt dissatisfied.

“What are you thinking about, Senior?”

Gu Jingning was startled. At some point, Su Chen had walked up beside him.

He glanced at An Zhixia ahead, then at Su Chen beside him, thinking: Why isn’t he staying with his girlfriend and coming over here instead?

“Nothing.”

The two walked side by side for a moment in silence.

Su Chen spoke again. “After we signed the contract that day, Senior never came to find me again. Whenever I went looking for you, you were never there either. Senior… do you dislike me now?”

“No! How could I dislike you?” Gu Jingning hurriedly denied it. He just didn’t know how to face Su Chen anymore.

After all, he couldn’t tell him that he had overheard his conversation with his girlfriend and felt he shouldn’t keep showing up around him all the time. Xu Yuxi had once told him that getting in the way of a couple would only make people annoyed.

“But we haven’t seen each other for several weeks.” Su Chen felt wronged. Before, he used to see Gu Jingning hiding in various places every few days. Now he no longer had that feeling of being constantly watched.

“I’ve been a bit busy lately. Look, I even paused my part-time tutoring job in your class.” He leaned his face closer to Su Chen and pointed at his own eyes pitifully. “I haven’t been sleeping well, dark circles are showing, and my looks have dropped.”

Su Chen’s earlobes gradually turned red. The sudden closeness caught him off guard. He stared blankly as a sharp, momentary sting flashed through the gland at the back of his neck — a place that had never reacted before — before quickly returning to calm.

Gu Jingning straightened up and noticed Su Chen’s flushed face. “Why is your face so red? Are you cold? Why are you wearing so little?”

“I’m not cold.” Su Chen’s voice sounded a little muffled.

Gu Jingning was puzzled. That didn’t look like “not cold” at all.

He took off the scarf from around his neck and wrapped it around Su Chen.

The beige scarf was soft and cozy, shielding him from the cold wind. The person tying it had a gentle expression. Even though Su Chen could reach out and touch him with one hand, he felt the person in front of him was impossibly far away.

He said in a low voice, “The scarf will get dirty from me.”

“It’s fine. I’m giving it to you.”

Su Chen said in surprise, “No, Senior! This must be expensive! I can’t accept it!” He raised his hand to take it off, but Gu Jingning pressed down on his hand. “It’s not expensive. I knitted it myself.”

Su Chen was stunned.

“I knitted it myself, so use it without worry! Today is the first time I’ve worn it. It’s yours now!”

Su Chen buried his face into the scarf. The fluffy, cloud-like fabric wrapped around his face. The scarf still carried the faint scent of lavender laundry detergent from Gu Jingning’s body. He secretly took a deep breath. The smell stimulated the back of his head, making his entire scalp tingle.

He kept sneaking glances at Gu Jingning beside him while secretly continuing his little actions.

Unknowingly, the six of them arrived at the basketball court.

Jiang Yunhe put down his things and noticed Su Chen carefully folding the scarf and putting it away in his bag. He elbowed Gu Jingning and raised one eyebrow, winking at him.

Gu Jingning couldn’t be bothered to explain. The more he explained, the more Jiang Yunhe liked to make things up. He pinched Jiang Yunhe’s chin and turned his face toward An Zhixia. “Her real girlfriend is right over there. Stop imagining things!”

“?” Earlier when he had chatted with An Zhixia and subtly asked about her relationship with Su Chen, she had openly said they were just friends. Had his good bro misunderstood their relationship?

Hahahahaha! Jiang Yunhe laughed wildly inside. He definitely wasn’t going to tell Ning the truth. His good friend should also suffer a little in the name of love!

The six of them took their positions and drew lots for teams. Jiang Yunhe, Su Chen, and An Zhixia formed one team, while Gu Jingning was teamed up with two other classmates.

“Ning! Today I’ll show you how amazing this young master’s basketball skills are. After this, you’ll be kneeling and begging me to teach you!”

He snatched the ball from Gu Jingning’s hands and ran toward the hoop. Dribbling and shooting flowed smoothly in one motion.

The game started off fine, but by the middle, Gu Jingning’s team was trailing Jiang Yunhe’s team by about twenty points.

Their stamina was clearly not on the same level as Jiang Yunhe’s muscular build. The group gradually began to struggle.

However, when the score gap grew larger, Su Chen and An Zhixia started making mistakes.

“Damn it! I’m your teammate! Me! Why are you passing to Gu Jingning?!!!”

“Senior waved at me, so I accidentally passed it to him…” An Zhixia said.

“Mhm, Senior is too good at stealing the ball,” Su Chen added.

Another three-pointer went in. Gu Jingning’s team had already overtaken Jiang Yunhe’s. Jiang Yunhe was about to go crazy.

Gu Jingning, on the other hand, had shaken off his earlier lack of interest and was now openly mocking Jiang Yunhe without restraint. Nothing was more fun than beating his trash-talking friend.

When the game ended, Gu Jingning’s team won.

Wearing a victorious smile, he floated past Jiang Yunhe and said, “Remember to bring the bet tomorrow! All three of us get a share!”

An Zhixia asked curiously, “Senior, what was the bet?”

“We originally agreed that the losers would bring breakfast for the winners for a whole week. But since you two joined later, we don’t know, so Jiang Yunhe can bring it alone.” One of Gu Jingning’s teammates added.

Jiang Yunhe was so angry he wanted to strangle the two brats. He sighed and walked over to Su Chen, who was wiping his sweat, and said through gritted teeth, “You play basketball pretty well. Let’s play together again sometime!”

Su Chen nodded, but his eyes remained glued to Gu Jingning, who was talking to the others.

Jiang Yunhe looked at Su Chen’s lovesick expression and couldn’t help crossing his arms, placing a hand on his shoulder, and sighing dramatically, “Tsk tsk tsk! You threw the game so hard the water went all the way to the sea! Leaving poor, helpless me abandoned by my teammates. Come here, let me give a pity hug to this unloved self~”

Su Chen: ……?