Lemon Soda Candy

The person leading Class 10 is Hu Kun, a member of No. 2 High school's basketball team. He spent most of his time training for the team and hardly knew anyone in his class, much less those in class 2.

When he led people to take over the court, he had no idea that Tang Jianrui was helping Chen Luobai to reserve a spot. 

Almost everyone in No. 2 High School knew Chen Luobai. 

He was no exception.

Not only because Chen Luobai was the star of their school, but also because their coach often lamented in front of them that Chen Luobai was a brilliant talent, and how regrettable it was that the principal refused to let him join the team, though Chen Luobai himself is also unwilling. 

At first, had Chen Luobai wanted to fight them, Hu Kun might have hesitated, be it because of the other party's achievements or family background. 

He never expected Chen Luobai to directly challenge him to let the ball do the talking. 

Hu Kun had long wanted to see just how good this top student really was to make their coach who scolded them every day repeatedly praised him. 

"One-on-one or full-time 5v5?"

Chen Luobai looked back at Tang Jianrui, "You'd prefer to get even on the field yourself, right?" 

Tang Jianrui nodded, "Of course."

Next to them, Zhu Ran raised his hand, "Me, me, me, I want to play too!" 

Chen Luobai once again turned around, "Full-time it is, then. If you guys lose, read self-criticism in front of the whole school and apologize to Tang Jianrui." 

Hu Kun: "And what happens if you guys lose?"

"Us?" Chen Luobai raised his eyebrows slightly, his tone was extraordinarily arrogant, "There's no way we'll lose."

Hu Kun was choked up at how brash he sounded, he was late in realizing that the other party had gained the upper hand in this confrontation,"If you guys lose, I will not make things difficult for your friends, admit in front of the whole school that you suck at basketball and not qualified to join the school team." 

As the fight did not escalate further, Zhou Anran, who was once again dragged by Yan Xingxi to see the excitement up close, found herself standing just one meter away from Chen Luobai at this moment.

She saw that the boy was finally smiling again, but because the coldness on his face hadn't completely vanished, the smile looked arrogant and provocative.

His tone became even more arrogant.

"Sure, as long as you have the ability." 

Hu Kun laughed in anger, "Time?" 

Chen Luobai tilted his head as if thinking something, "Next Friday, I'm busy this week."

When Zhou Anran and Yan Xingxi returned to the classroom, news had already spread that Chen Luobai would be having a match against the boys from Class 10.

Knowing that they watched the scene firsthand, Sheng Xiaowen ran straight to them from the first row to the second row, pulled Zhou Anran to sit down, and tried to hear gossip from her. 

"I heard the one who leads class 10 is on the school basketball team, is that true?" Sheng Xiaowen asked.

Zhou Anran didn't know any boys from Class 10.

The school team has their own indoor training facility, the outdoor sport grounds were generally only used by teachers and regular students, the school player never had to come there. 

Additionally, the high school league operates under a tournament system, and No. 2 High School is not hosting this season. As a result, there isn't much interest in the league at the moment, nor was there any live platform for them to keep up. Furthermore, the freshmen who just entered the school haven't had a chance to see the school team play yet. 

So Zhou Anran naturally didn't recognize anyone from the school team. 

Nonetheless, the person she saw earlier was quite tall, even taller than Chen Luobai who is 182 cm, and had a slightly more sturdy figure. During the confrontation, however, his presence was noticeably overpowered by Chen Luobai. 

"I suppose he is, he looks quite tall." 

Hearing this, Zhang Shuxian who loves to gossip, turned from her seat and joined in the conversation, "I know that class 10 guy, his name seems to be Hu Kun, he just joined the school team this year. I think he's not the main player yet, our school's main players usually consist of second year and third year students, but he should be quite good to be able to join the school team. To think that Chen Luobai dares to challenge him."

Lou Yiqi also turned around,"Chen Luobai himself is also very good at basketball, why wouldn't he dare?" 

"You're right." Zhang Shuxian then asked curiously, "Did Chen Luobai really tell those from class 10 to apologize in front of the whole school if they lost?"

Zhou Anran propped herself against the desk, her heart beating faster as she recalled the way the boy had confronted the other person just now. 

She nodded her head slightly.

Sheng Xiaowen leaned on her shoulder, smiling,"I now understand why our principal is so fond of Chen Luobai, he always turned a blind eye whenever he saw him arriving late or skipping activity. If it were not for him today, a fight would inevitably break out between the two classes. He does what the teacher would do in that situation and saves them a lot of worry. Oh, by the way, were they called over by the teacher?"

"They were, but it should be alright since they didn't actually fight." Zhang Shuxian added, "From what I've heard, Chen Luobai often accompanied his mom to go to law firm since he was young, he should have grown up with legal backgrounds, I'm sure he has considered the consequences before getting involved in the fight." 

She said with a look of regret "Ah, why wasn't I there to witness it."

Lou Yiqi reached out to lightly hit her, said angrily, "You have the nerve to say that! I told you to go eat noodles at the east gate today, but you insisted on eating at the cafeteria." 

"Isn't it because I have no money——" Before Sheng Xiaowen could finish speaking, a male voice suddenly came in from outside.

"Hu Kun is a tough one, Luo ge, are you sure we have a chance against them?" 

Zhang Shuxian instantly changed the topic, "This is Tang Jianrui talking, right? Are they back?"

Tang Jianrui has a loud voice, many people in class turned their heads at the sound, some boys even left their seats and walked over to them. 

Following Sheng Xiaowen and Yan Xingxi, Zhou Anran also turned her head to see, Chen Luobai was surrounded by a group of boys at the entrance. 

She wondered if he'd just gone to wash his face, the baby hairs on his forehead slightly damp, tiny droplets of water were running across his protruding Adam's apple on his neck, his whole person exuding in youthfulness. 

The coldness on his face has long since disappeared, he has his usual loose smile on, "Hu Kun is not that close with people in his class, and not many people in class 10 can play basketball."

"He won't challenge him in front of everyone if he's not sure." Zhu Ran replied nonchalantly, then turned to Chen Luobai and asked, "But what are you up to this week? I haven't heard you mention anything about it." 

Chen Luobai pulled out his chair and sat down, leaning his back against it, "What else can I do? I made that up to buy you some time to practice." 

Zhu Ran said to Tang Jianrui as he pulled out his own chair, "I told you not to worry. Your Luo ge is very cunning, all brawns no brains sport student like Hu Kun got nothing on him." 

Tang Jianrui disagreed, "I wouldn't describe Luo ge as cunning. I'd call him clever."

Chen Luobai laughed and kicked Zhu Ran's seat, "Hear that." 

Zhu Ran had not settled in his seat, when he heard this he simply skipped over to grab Tang Jianrui's neck, avoiding the kick, "Ruirui, you're so cruel. The one who rushed to the front just now was obviously me." 

The two of them started to fight in the back. 

A male classmate approached Chen Luobai, "Luo ge, have you decided on the team yet? If you haven't, can I sign up for it? I've never liked those people from class 10."

"Me too, me too, I also want to play."

Chen Luobai pointed to the side and said, "If you want to sign up, go to Tang Jianrui." 

The group of boys then went to surround Tang Jianrui and Zhu Ran. 

Zong Kai walked over to Chen Luobai, "Want my help?" 

Zhou Anran and her secret little feelings, hiding among her classmates, looked at him openly along with everyone else. 

He put his foot on the crossbar of the desk, the legs of the chair tilted, rocking back and forth.  

Even though she knew that he wouldn't fall, Zhou Anran still felt her heart tightened, her heart only calmed down when the legs of his chair came down. 

"No, it's a matter of grievances between two classes." 

Zong Kai nodded, "Alright, then you guys be careful, Hu Kun uses a lot of little tricks when he plays." 

A lot of little tricks? 

Zhou Anran's heart tightened again.

Chen Luobai, on the other hand, remained calm and simply nodded in response. 

"Then we'll head back to our class first." Zong Kai said as he pulled Yin Yizhen's arm. 

After taking a few steps, Yin Yizhen turned her head, "I'll be sure to cheer you on." 

Chen Luobai seemed to slightly raise his eyebrow. 

Not sure if it was because he just joked around with his friend, or was it because of her words, the boy had an obvious smile on his face.

So obvious that it dazed Zhou Anran. 

It felt as if someone had squeezed a half-cut lemon into her heart, causing a sour juice to flowed in. 

"Hey hey hey." Zhang Shuxian suddenly called out. 

Both Yan Xingxi and Sheng Xiaowen turned back to look at her.

Zhou Anran also turned around in response. 

Zhang Shuxian whispered, "Don't you think Yin Yizhen seems to have some interest in Chen Luobai?"

The clueless Yan Xingxi responded blankly, "Isn't she Zong Kai's childhood sweetheart?" 

Zhang Shuxian's eyes dropped and said nothing. 

Still leaning on Zhou Anran's shoulder, Sheng Xiaowen smiled "I don't know whether Yin Yizhen is interested in Chen Luobai or not, but I do know there are several boys in our class who are interested in Yin Yizhen. They can't take their eyes off her every time she comes over." 

While gossiping, Yan Xingxi happened to catch a glimpse of Dong Chen in the fourth row, who seemed to be looking at Yin Yizhen's back. 

She immediately turned to Sheng Xiaowen with excitement, "Tell me, is Dong Chen one of them?"

Sheng Xiaowen: "..."

Zhou Anran: "..."

Zhang Shuxian was clearly more interested in the previous topic, so she brought up the discussion again,"But if Yin Yizhen is really interested in Chen Luobai, she will have more advantages over other girls. I don't think Zhu Ran has any childhood sweetheart, so she's the only one who can use the identity as the childhood friend of Chen Luobai's best friend to follow them openly. As the saying goes, the pavilion closest to the water enjoys moonlight first², do you think she can catch up with Chen Luobai?"

The half-cut lemon in Zhou Anran's heart was squeezed again. 

Lou Yiqi raised her eyes to glance to the back, then turned around calmly,"Lao Gao is here, the evening self-study is starting, stop talking." 

Zhang Shuxian quickly turned around.

Sheng Xiaowen also returned to her seat.

For the next period of time, it was even harder for Zhou Anran to see Chen Luobai outside the classroom. 

She learned that he had found an indoor basketball facility near the school as a secret base for the boys to practice together. As soon as afternoon classes ended, a large group of boys all disappeared without a trace. 

The only girl who was able to follow them was Yin Yizhen.

Zhou Anran was not surprised by this.

What did surprise her was that a few days later, another girl joined the group.

_______

¹: Competitions held at a single area and concentrated into a relatively short time interval. 

²:A certain status or relationship that can give priority to benefits or convenience.