Chapter 43: Because It Is Addictive (Second Update)

Xia Chi-yi felt like crying without tears. Having to get up constantly throughout the night made him wonder if he should be taking some traditional Chinese herbal pills.

Before he could even lift his blanket, Zhou Zhe-xiao on the opposite bed suddenly sat up. Startled, Xia Chi-yi quickly closed his eyes, his back breaking out in a cold sweat of tension.

Xia Chi-yi tried to comfort himself: Zhou Zhe-xiao is just going to the bathroom, he's definitely going to the bathroom...

However, the sound of Zhou Zhe-xiao's footsteps clearly wasn't heading toward the bathroom; instead, he was getting closer and closer to Xia Chi-yi.

Feeling the mattress sink beside him, Xia Chi-yi's level of anxiety rivaled that of checking his college entrance exam scores. A force began to pull at his blanket, and watching his secret about to be exposed, Xia Chi-yi grabbed onto the edge with all his might.

"Zhou... Zhou..."

That handsome and sexy face appeared right before Xia Chi-yi's eyes.

"Just how many times do you need to act up before you can fall asleep?"

So every single time he went to the restroom, Zhou Zhe-xiao had been awake?

Not only that, but this guy was crystal clear on what he was doing in the bathroom?

"I don't know either..." Xia Chi-yi suddenly felt immensely aggrieved.

He felt so guilty for having imagined Zhou Zhe-xiao in such a messy, wandering way.

"Are you going to cry?" Zhou Zhe-xiao furrowed his brow, but his voice softened considerably.

"Go back to sleep, leave me alone... If worst comes to worst, just go book another room." Xia Chi-yi gave him a push.

Right now, what he needed most was for Zhou Zhe-xiao to stay as far away from him as possible.

The only thing Xia Chi-yi was grateful for was that he wasn't sharing a bed with Ling Huan-zhen. Otherwise, if the person in his mind turned out to be Ling Huan-zhen... Xia Chi-yi felt as though a bucket of ice-cold water had been poured over him, extinguishing any flame instantly.

"Next time, don't eat so many oysters." Zhou Zhe-xiao lowered his gaze, glancing briefly at Xia Chi-yi's blanket.

Xia Chi-yi hugged his knees, turned his face to the side, and mumbled an "uh-huh."

So, was this really the sheer potency of twenty-four oysters?

Zhou Zhe-xiao's palm pressed firmly down on the top of his head. "You should be happy."

"I can't even sleep, how am I supposed to be happy?"

"It means you're very healthy. A lot of people couldn't get this kind of reaction even if they ate twenty-four oysters."

As Zhou Zhe-xiao's words trailed off, Xia Chi-yi found himself torn between finding it hilarious and utterly helpless.

Zhou Zhe-xiao got up, opened the mini-fridge in the hotel room, retrieved a can of cola, walked back, and handed it to Xia Chi-yi.

"Take it."

"Thanks."

See? Zhou Zhe-xiao was just like this—he could maintain an ice-cold expression twenty-four hours a day, but he actually took meticulous care of the people around him.

The moment Xia Chi-yi's finger hooked onto the pull-tab, it was intercepted by Zhou Zhe-xiao.

"What are you doing?" Zhou Zhe-xiao asked.

"Drinking... cola..." Xia Chi-yi looked puzzled.

"Who said it was for you to drink?"

Zhou Zhe-xiao took the cola back, lifted a corner of Xia Chi-yi's blanket, and mercilessly slid the can right inside.

When the ice-cold aluminum can made contact with Xia Chi-yi's abdomen, he nearly ascended to heaven on the spot.

There was no more barbaric cooling method than this.

"Holy shit—"

Xia Chi-yi leaned forward and threw his arms around Zhou Zhe-xiao's shoulders.

Expecting to be pushed away, he was surprised when Zhou Zhe-xiao reached out his other hand, half-embracing Xia Chi-yi and gently patting his back.

"Alright, you haven't done anything wrong, and there's nothing wrong with your body, so don't be upset."

"Yeah."

"There will be many situations like this in the future. For instance, when the team's physical therapist gives you muscle care after a match, are you going to be shy then too? When you beat a formidable opponent and change clothes in the locker room, three out of ten teammates might experience something similar. Are you going to hide in the bathroom and never come out?"

Xia Chi-yi's restless heart gradually calmed down.

Feeling his body temperature drop, Zhou Zhe-xiao carefully retrieved the can of cola, making sure not to brush against Xia Chi-yi, granting him the utmost dignity.

"There's still Sprite in the fridge. Help yourself if you need it."

"I'll have to buy two new cans to replace them tomorrow," Xia Chi-yi muttered gloomily.

"Then just drink it."

With that, Zhou Zhe-xiao carried the can of cola back to his own bed.

With a snap, he actually popped it open. The sound of the "glug, glug" in the quiet room carried a powerful magic, every single gulp hammering directly against Xia Chi-yi's heart.

The blood that had just cooled down was coaxed back into restless agitation.

Xia Chi-yi silently lifted his blanket, retrieved the can of Sprite from the fridge, and tucked it back under the covers.

The consequence of sleeping too late was that the next morning, when the two of them sat across from Ling Huan-zhen eating breakfast, both looked like they hadn't gotten enough sleep.

Xia Chi-yi was listless, yawning periodically.

Zhou Zhe-xiao was even more direct: the moment Ling Huan-zhen sat down with some fruit, he discovered that Zhou Zhe-xiao directly slumped over the table to sleep.

"What on earth did the two of you do behind my back last night?" Ling Huan-zhen's brow furrowed deep enough to squash a fly.

Didn't these two brats go back to their room a little after nine last night?

Zhou Zhe-xiao muttered, "He kept getting up through the night."

Ling Huan-zhen took a deep breath. Good thing, just getting up to use the restroom.

Still, the Great Demon King had always been overbearing; in the past, he used to demand rooms with top-tier soundproofing during tournaments.

If Xia Chi-yi kept messing around all night, the Demon King might just strangle him to death.

"Xia Chi-yi, why don't you sleep with me tonight? I sleep like a log; you could set off firecrackers in the room and I wouldn't wake up." Ling Huan-zhen patted Xia Chi-yi's shoulder, genuinely trying to save his life.

Before Xia Chi-yi could say anything, the slumped-over Zhou Zhe-xiao suddenly sat up, crossed his arms, and stared at Ling Huan-zhen. "No."

"Huh? Why not? Or are you planning to play with his phone?"

"Even if he sets off firecrackers and you don't wake up, your snoring sounds like a high-speed train pulling into a station. He wouldn't get any sleep either."

Upon hearing this, Xia Chi-yi instantly snapped awake. "I... I'll just sleep with Zhou Zhe-xiao! I'll try really hard not to get up at night!"

And he definitely wasn't eating oysters anymore today!

"I don't snore!" Ling Huan-zhen clarified in self-defense.

"Oh? That's not what Jiao-jiao says."

"Jiao-jiao... does he complain about me?"

Zhou Zhe-xiao rolled his eyes and went right back to sleep.

After breakfast, Ling Huan-zhen led them off toward Qincheng University.

As soon as they stepped through the school gates, Xia Chi-yi couldn't stop uttering gasps of "Wow—"

The landscaping at Qincheng University was breathtaking, resembling a municipal park.

Due to the warm climate and spring-like weather all year round, the campus was filled with blooming flowers and birdsong.

Even Ling Huan-zhen couldn't help sighing, "What a great place for dating."

Whether it was the artificial lakes skimmed by passing birds or the ivy-draped libraries, everything possessed a leisurely, languid aesthetic.

It formed a stark contrast to Qincheng University's signature fast-break playing style.

It took them nearly a quarter of an hour of walking to reach the Qincheng University basketball arena.

Since there was a practice match today, visitors weren't allowed inside, but the moment Ling Huan-zhen appeared, the arena's administrator enthusiastically ushered them in.

The flooring material of Qincheng University's basketball court was so pristine that Xia Chi-yi almost didn't dare step onto it.

Ling Huan-zhen's appearance immediately captured the attention of everyone inside.

"Look, that's Ling Huan-zhen!"

"It really is Ling Huan-zhen!"

Ling Huan-zhen rubbed the back of his head; he was just a retired athlete, not a giant panda.

The size of Qincheng University's basketball team was truly substantial. Counting roughly, Xia Chi-yi estimated there were over thirty members, all of whom possessed exceptional physical builds.

Unlike Xia Chi-yi's wandering gaze, Zhou Zhe-xiao had kept his eyes straight ahead ever since entering, hands tucked in his pockets. That cold expression made him look even more like a coach than Ling Huan-zhen.

An assistant coach from Qincheng University warmly came forward to greet them, exchanging polite pleasantries about "welcome" before explaining that their Coach Ren and Coach Guan from Shanghai University were currently chatting in the office and would be out in a moment.

A boy with a split-bangs hairstyle trotted up to them, flashing a bright, open smile.

"Hello, Coach Ling. I'm Ke Yan, and I play as..."

Ling Huan-zhen wore a mature and steady smile. "Point guard. You're a well-known organizing guard in our Southeast Division."

With that, Ling Huan-zhen glanced back at Xia Chi-yi and Zhou Zhe-xiao, saying earnestly, "You two should learn a lot from him. Ke Yan has an incredible ability to dictate the tempo of a game!"

Xia Chi-yi certainly knew who he was; he had watched game broadcasts online last year. Back then, Ke Yan was only a freshman with limited playing time, but whenever Qincheng University fell behind and the pace dragged, Ke Yan always had a way to rev the fast-break tempo back up.

He looked at Ke Yan with unconcealed admiration, granting the latter a massive surge of psychological satisfaction.

"And this is..."

Ling Huan-zhen patted Xia Chi-yi's shoulder. "This is our newly recruited freshman. He mainly plays shooting guard, but occasionally handles the point guard position too."

"What a pity then. Our shooting guard Li Shun-chuan is feeling a bit under the weather today, otherwise the two of you could exchange some pointers."

"Ah? We won't get to see Li Shun-chuan play today?"

Seeing the light in Xia Chi-yi's eyes dim, Ke Yan felt a rare pang of guilt.

"Don't sweat it. If he's not here today, maybe you'll get to see him tomorrow?"

Although Ke Yan kept smiling brightly at Xia Chi-yi, his peripheral vision was quietly observing Zhou Zhe-xiao.

Zhou Zhe-xiao's shoulder width and arm span were top-tier among basketball players, and his aura was immensely powerful.

Ke Yan had only ever felt that kind of presence from players like Yang Huai-yu, Lu Ying-nan, and Liu Su-chen.

"And who is this cool guy?" Ke Yan tilted his head.

Ling Huan-zhen introduced him, "This kid is Zhou Zhe-xiao, also a freshman. He looks icy, but that's just because he's shy around strangers."

"Yeah," Zhou Zhe-xiao nodded like a leader on an inspection tour.

Xia Chi-yi immediately yanked on his sleeve.

Zhou Zhe-xiao looked at Ke Yan and obediently said, "Hello."

Watching the interaction between the two freshmen, Ke Yan found it quite amusing. Zhou Zhe-xiao's aura was so overpowering, yet the moment Xia Chi-yi gave him a look, he immediately reined it in. They looked completely in sync.

Sigh, if only their own team ace Yang Huai-yu could be this well-behaved!

Besides, out of all the sophomores and juniors available, Ling Huan-zhen hadn't chosen them, opting instead to bring these two along—their actual strength must be extraordinary.

At that moment, Coach Ren from Qincheng University and Coach Guan from Shanghai University walked out, accompanied by a dozen or so players from Shanghai University, instantly livening up the arena.

After another round of mutual flattery between the coaches, both teams began warming up. Coach Ren walked over with a bright smile to shake hands with Ling Huan-zhen.

"Welcome, welcome! With a CBA powerhouse power forward like you watching from the sidelines, the players are definitely going to put extra effort into the match."

"Haha, Coach Ren says he's welcoming me, but only let me bring two people to watch. That's a bit stingy," Ling Huan-zhen joked half-heartedly.