He reached for Shen Zhifei's clothes and said, "Come on, let's go shoot some hoops."
"What a coincidence, I'm going too." Song Xianji shook the small basket in his hand, the game tokens rattling back and forth.
"Why are you everywhere? You little tagalong." Song Lang snapped irritably.
“I was about to say that too,” Song Xianji pointed to himself, then to Song Lang, “It’s me and Feifei who are dating, not you. It’s only natural for us to be together, so why are you meddling in our business?”
"Damn it, are you looking for a beating?" Song Lang handed the game tokens to Shen Zhifei and gestured to Song Xianji, "Come on, let's talk outside."
"No, I'm afraid of the cold. Let's make it another day." Song Xianji hummed a little tune as he walked to the basketball machine, inserted coins, and turned back to challenge Song Lang: "Let's have a game. Whoever scores 520 points first wins."
“Let’s play.” Song Lang took off his down jacket and put it aside. He took three game coins from Shen Zhifei and threw them into the basketball machine. Six or seven basketballs rolled down the slope to his feet.
As he shot with his right hand, he reached with his left to catch the next ball. The basketballs kept falling into the basket, and the numbers on the scoreboard rose rapidly.
Song Xianji whistled and laughed, "Wow, your hand speed is pretty good. It's the result of years of being single and solo."
Song Lang's hand trembled, and the ball spun twice on the edge of the rim before falling with a "thud".
I didn't win.
The continuous rise in the score was interrupted, and Song Lang was furious.
Song Xianji slowly adjusted the headband on his forehead, then pressed "Start." His hand speed was comparable to Song Lang's, indicating that he was also self-taught.
The two men were banging the basketball machine loudly, seemingly competing with each other, which attracted a lot of onlookers. Shen Zhifei, however, didn't care about the result and turned his attention to the side.
Meng Fanxing was playing racing games with Hao Wei, while Xu Xiaojun had just finished a game and was standing next to them watching.
He took a few game tokens, walked over, and asked, "Want to join?"
Xu Xiaojun couldn't believe it. She thought that Shen Zhifei's indifferent attitude towards her when buying drinks was enough to explain everything. The small flame that had been extinguished was rekindled and started dancing again in her pupils.
The two of them went to the side to play the taiko drum. Shen Zhifei played very seriously, his hands holding the drumsticks were well-defined, long and strong, which made Xu Xiaojun blush.
When the song ended, neither of them had achieved a very good result.
Shen Zhifei turned his head to look at him, his handsome face melting away its icy expression and filled with smiles: "I didn't play well, so please don't laugh at me."
Xu Xiaojun quickly shook her head: "I can't either. We're both equally bad, so why would I laugh at you?"
"Really?" Shen Zhifei's gaze passed over her and went to the basketball shooting machine over there. He said, "Girls probably all like guys who are good at video games, right?"
Xu Xiaojun turned around and glanced at him. Song Lang's way of shooting basketball with his elbow pressed down and his wrist pressed down was indeed very handsome and likable.
"Song Lang must have a lot of girls who like him at school, right? Do you like him too?" Shen Zhifei's gaze returned to Xu Xiaojun.
Afraid he'd misunderstand, Xu Xiaojun said, "I don't like his type. I prefer more refined guys, like—"
Her gaze quickly met Shen Zhifei's eyes, then she changed the subject again.
“But it’s true that handsome guys like Song Lang are very popular. Let me tell you a secret,” she leaned closer and covered her mouth with her hand, whispering, “Hao Wei actually liked him, but later, because Song Lang got a girlfriend, she complained that Song Lang had bad taste, and that was the end of it.”
“Anru?” Shen Zhifei asked.
"Oh right, you know her?" Xu Xiaojun was a little surprised.
Shen Zhifei nodded, "I know a little. I heard they broke up."
“Yes, this has already spread throughout our school,” Xu Xiaojun said. “Hao Wei and I had heard that An Ru was a bit promiscuous in that area. It’s a good thing that they broke up sooner, and Song Lang’s cuckoldry isn’t too bad.”
Shen Zhifei remained silent, staring blankly at the game console screen.
Xu Xiaojun waved her hand in front of his eyes: "What's wrong with you?"
"Hmm?" Shen Zhifei snapped out of his reverie and chuckled, "I was just thinking about what you said earlier about Hao Wei liking Song Lang, and now she's with Meng Fanxing..."
"Ah," Xu Xiaojun's heart tightened, and she asked tentatively, "You don't like Hao Wei, do you?"
After all this roundabout conversation, was it just to get information about Hao Wei from her?
Shen Zhifei said very frankly, "No, I have someone I like."
Xu Xiaojun's heart sank instantly. As expected, there was still no hope. But she still refused to give up and asked, "Really?"
“I’ve liked him for many years,” Shen Zhifei put the drumsticks back in their place and said, “Song Lang is the same. He has a childhood sweetheart. They are destined to be together.”
Xu Xiaojun's gaze rose along with Shen Zhifei's movement to stand up. His handsome face gradually turned icy cold, returning to its previous indifference.
It was as if all the smiles and warmth just moments before were an illusion.
"Thank you for saying so much, I'll go now."
Shen Zhifei placed the last game coin on the machine in front of Xu Xiaojun and walked towards the basketball shooting machine.
The results of the competition are in: neither of them has reached 500 points, and they are currently engaged in what is now an unknown round of competition, their faces flushed and necks red.
As they practiced shooting for a while, their shooting touch gradually improved, but their speed couldn't keep up with the standards for scoring points. The two players became increasingly frustrated as they shot, and their arms grew sore. At this point, all they could do was vent their frustration by attacking each other personally in the game.
"You've been masturbating too much and your hands are clumsy? You're so slow with both hands. Even Yang is better than you." Song Xianji's sweaty hair hung down from his forehead, making him look a little out of breath. He kept blowing air into his forehead with his lower lip, and he was a little out of breath when he spoke.
"You have the nerve to say that? That eagle is better than you." Song Lang sneered, the basketball slipped from his hand and went in with a thud.
Song Xianji started mocking, but choked on his own saliva the next second, and their game was over.
Shen Zhifei shook his head and chuckled. Standing in front of the machine next to Song Lang, he put in the last three game coins from his small basket, ending their amateurish game with a high score of 525.
For a long time, the two men surnamed Song did not exchange a word.