28 : Your enemy likes permisson

 After discussions, the two schools decided that the students from No. 3 Middle School would travel to No. 1 Middle School for training today. The moment the

No. 3 Middle School team's vehicle entered No. 1 Middle School, there was a commotion. It was the weekend, and many boarding students hadn't returned home.

The person they were talking about was Tan Xiuyuan, the subject of the post from not long ago.

"Why are all the rich people crowding into Xia City this semester? Are they tired of living, coming to this remote corner of the city?"

"You don't understand. Once one rich person comes here, it attracts other rich people."

"Wow! They're fucking handsome! I've seen so many handsome guys this semester."

"Tsk, I wish I could live with their faces."

"Tsk tsk, good at sports, handsome, and so rich. If he pursued me..."

"What are you thinking? Rumor has it that this returning student is gay!"

The people gathered together smiled at each other: "We're even more excited now!"

Tan Xiuyuan was a warm-hearted person. He quickly earned the title of leader on the school team after joining, was popular, and most importantly, generous.

The teacher from No. 3 Middle School walked alongside Tan Xiuyuan: "You're back as a supplementary player. I know your ability is above theirs. If we replace you with a main player right after your return, it might cause trouble."

Tan Xiuyuan smiled and nodded: "Okay, it's just a friendly match anyway."

The teacher nodded: "No. 1 Middle School's volleyball team recently added three new players. Don't worry about He Dong, but the other two are quite good. Two promising talents."

Tan Xiuyuan knew which two he was referring to. He had looked up Chen Zhoumu's information on his way back to China.

But strangely, there was relatively little information about him. He couldn't find any useful information, which wasn't important to him.

He took the information from the teacher and glanced at it casually, only then realizing why the person seemed so familiar.

He had played against Chen Zhoumu before, back in junior high school. It was

the National Youth Volleyball Championship. Tan Xiuyuan had won first place then, but he remembered the second-place finisher more vividly.

Because the person said he wasn't in good health and had played those matches while sick, yet still managed to get second place, he admired him greatly, but had only met him once.

As time passed, he gradually forgot the person's name, only to suddenly remember it now and realize that the person was the runner-up from that time.

It seems he'll have to compete with this person properly this time,

whether as an opponent or a rival.

After the students from No. 3 Middle School entered the indoor training field, everyone inside stopped what they were doing.

The teachers from both sides were exchanging pleasantries, and only after a lot of pretentious talk did they begin training.

Tan Xiuyuan, as a supplementary member, didn't train much, mainly because he was already quite strong. He turned to look over there.

Coincidentally, Chen Zhoumu, as a supplementary member from No. 1 Middle School, was also sitting to the side.

Among the students from No. 3 Middle School, he knew someone, Chi He, the successor of the Chi family. Tan Xiuyuan didn't want to deal with such a person.

That person was too cunning; the Chi family had connections in both the legitimate and criminal worlds, and none of the family members were good, let alone the successor.

But he didn't expect that the Chi family would come to Xia City.

After both sides had finished training, the teachers blew whistles to give them a break. After a short while, the two sides began sparring.

Song Shi was feeling quite hot from the sparring and was walking towards the rest area when he saw Tan Xiuyuan.

Tan Xiuyuan walked over, put his arm around Song Shi's shoulder, and headed towards the No. 3 Middle School rest area. Chen Zhoumu, who had been watching Song Shi approach, couldn't sit still any longer.

He suddenly stood up and strode over to the two of them, smiling, "Song Shi, the teacher is looking for you."

Before either of them could react, he reached out and grabbed Song Shi's wrist, pulling him towards them.

Then he felt resistance and turned to see that Tan Xiuyuan's hand on Song Shi's shoulder hadn't been removed.

"Wait." He then handed Song Shi a bottle of water, saying, "Persimmon, I bought this for you."

Standing in the middle, Song Shi seemed oblivious to the subtle competition between the two, simply taking the water from Tan Xiuyuan's hand.

He and Chen Zhoumu then walked towards the No. 1 Middle School.

After they sat down, Song Shi was about to open the bottle when Chen Zhoumu snatched it away.

The person sitting next to him looked at him with a puzzled expression: "What are you doing?"

"Drink mine." Chen Zhoumu placed the water he had prepared earlier into the other person's hand.

Song Shi was indeed thirsty; as long as he could drink water, he didn't care whose water it was. Although the other person's actions and attitude were so strange, Song Shi didn't say anything.

He only asked after drinking the water, "Where's the teacher?"

"Oh, probably went to the toilet or somewhere else," Chen Zhoumu replied, looking at the person opposite him.

After resting for a while, the teacher sitting not far away blew his whistle, and Song Shi put down the half-finished water and got up to go over.

Chen Zhoumu looked towards the rest area, just as the person there turned to look this way.

Their eyes met, and they stared at each other expressionlessly. Chen Zhoumu smiled and then unhesitatingly threw the bottle of water in his hand into the trash can next to him.

Tan Xiuyuan's eyes turned slightly cold, and then he got up and walked towards the No. 1 Middle School.

An unfriendly gaze slowly approached, then settled down beside him. "Want to chat?"

Chen Zhoumu chuckled softly. "What about?"

"You like persimmons."

It was a statement, not a question.

Chen Zhoumu pressed his tongue against his palate, slightly annoyed. "Yeah."

"Do you think persimmons would like you?"

"What's it to you?"

Tan Xiuyuan glanced at him, then casually rolled up his long sleeves, revealing his newly bought watch on his wrist.

The watch gleamed under the light as he moved, impossible to ignore.

"Whether Shizi likes you or not is none of my business, because he definitely won't like you."

"Shizi is straight."

Tan Xiuyuan fiddled with his crooked watch. "I'm different. I'm his childhood friend. Even if he doesn't confess, I can still be by his side as his childhood sweetheart."

"What about you? If it were you, Shizi would probably stay away, after all, you've only known each other for a few months."

"As far as I know, straight men probably really dislike gay men, right?"

When Chen Zhoumu saw the watch on the other's wrist, he remembered the receipt in Song Shi's bag that morning—a silver watch. Had

Song Shi ever given him a gift? It seemed not. He looked at his own wrist, where a black bracelet lay quietly.

He had begged for it. What else? The bouquet of roses he bought by chance.

He had secretly gotten it from Zhang Jingxiao that night after the other had fallen asleep.

He was still being taken good care of by Manager Liu.

He lowered his head, as if he had lost again. He didn't understand Song Shi as well as the other person did.

Nor did he have such deep feelings for Song Shi as the other person claimed. Tan Xiuyuan was right. If Song Shi knew that the person he had been living with all this time felt this way about him,

he would definitely... be disgusted, right?

Tan Xiuyuan raised an eyebrow at the other person's expression, but didn't say anything and just walked back.

He knew that Song Shi definitely didn't dislike this person now, and it was good that he came back at the right time.

Otherwise, if Song Shi really accepted the other person, Tan Xiuyuan would really regret it.

Chen Zhoumu remained in one position for a long time, until the match between the two ended and Song Shi came over and sat down before he slowly came back to his senses.

The heat source next to him kept coming from the other person's body. Chen Zhoumu turned his head and stared at the other person.

Song Shi was drinking the half bottle of water he had just drunk. His face was a little red after exercising, and his breathing was also unsteady.

His gaze went down. Because of training, Song Shi was wearing a jersey, revealing his muscular shoulders and fair skin.

Red marks from playing basketball were still visible on his wrist.

Tan Xiuyuan's words were now looping in his head again. Liking someone was a strange thing; you were swayed by their emotions, you observed their every move.

A single sentence could throw your heart into turmoil, even if it wasn't spoken by them.

But Chen Zhoumu wanted to grab the other's hand and ask, "If I liked you, what would you do?"

For the first half of his life, he had always believed he liked girls, and he had even wondered what his future partner would be like.

In the hazy distance, the face of his other half slowly became clear.

It was Song Shi.

At 17, Chen Zhoumu had finally experienced the first stirrings of love, but it fell on his deskmate.

And judging from the other's appearance, he didn't seem to like boys. Chen Zhoumu's mind went blank for a moment, and he completely forgot that Tan Xiuyuan had just said that he was the other's boyfriend that morning.

He watched as Song Shi put down the water bottle, and the object on his wrist slowly slid off with the movement.

Chen Zhoumu's extinguished hope seemed to rekindle, a sliver of it appearing on his face. He noticed the other person was wearing the same bracelet that resembled a couple's bracelet on his own.

He felt like someone who had secretly tasted a sweet treat, a silent sense of triumph washing over him.

Even if Song Shi was returning to the south, there was still over a year; during that time, he was sure to be undisturbed.

He would make Song Shi see his good qualities, especially since the other person seemed to be slowly accepting him.

Thinking of this, Chen Zhoumu's hopes returned, a smile playing on his lips.

He looked at the person sitting beside him; Song Shi was holding a phone in one hand, the other propped up on the chair.

Chen Zhoumu took out his phone, opened the camera, and subtly moved closer to him, then extended his own hand, the one with the bracelet. He

slowly approached Song Shi's hand

, tapped the shutter, and captured both hands in the frame.

Song Shi turned to look at the sneaky person: "What are you doing?"

Chen Zhoumu touched his nose guiltily: "Nothing."

There was still one last match left. After putting his phone away, Song Shi walked onto the court, his hands on his knees as he watched the No. 3 Middle School team.

This match hadn't gone very smoothly. Now it was the decisive set, and the No. 3 Middle School team wasn't bad either.

Especially that tall player, number 33.

Song Shi gritted his teeth.

The opponent served first. When Qiu hit the ball, the main attacker received it, but the opponent blocked it back. Then it was He Dong's turn to receive the ball.

Song Shi's figure darted around the court. He was the libero, and the libero's job was to prevent the ball from touching the ground.

Sitting to the side, Chen Zhoumu watched Song Shi's running figure and watched the opponent dive to receive the ball. Although he had knee pads and wrist guards, a person hitting the ground would still make a sound.

Finally, the match ended.

No. 3 Middle School won the match with a score of 16:14. Song Shi stood up and swept his hair back, revealing his shiny forehead wet with sweat.

Xu Sen blew the whistle to gather the team together, looking at them: "Tomorrow is the official competition, just maintain this level of performance. We don't need to exert ourselves too much, just go through the motions."

"Go back and rest, don't stay up late tonight and don't eat spicy or frozen food. Keep it up, good luck!"

After a hug, they dispersed.

The Third Middle School team members were packing up their things over there. Tan Xiuyuan said a few words to them and then walked over.

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