Liking Someone Isn't Right or Wrong

Training continues.

Yu Heng glanced at the bench on the sidelines as he ran.

Shen Yueling and Ning Yutong sat side by side, while Meng Shirui had already left sometime earlier.

He looked away, changed direction to shake off the defender, and took a mid-range shot.

The ball bounced off the back of the rim but didn't go in.

"Tsk." Yu Heng shook his hand and retreated to defend.

My phone vibrated twice in my pocket.

He took a quick look at his phone during the brief pause when the opponent served the ball from the baseline.

The lock screen displays two WeChat messages.

He swiped the screen with one hand.

Bai Xinran: "I'm heading to the villa. I'll be live streaming again from 4 PM to 9 PM."

Qin Ya: "Report! My mom dropped me off at the villa! She's wearing stockings again today—black ones!"

Qin Ya: "Why have you been so busy these past few days? I haven't seen you for two days!"

Yu Heng grinned. "He really is wearing black."

"Yu Heng! Watch the game!" Hao Junran shouted.

The basketball grazed past Yu Heng's ear. He snapped out of his daze, turned around, and chased after the opponent's half of the court.

The training lasted another half hour before the coach blew the whistle to assemble and gave a brief talk.

"Alright, that's enough for today, dismissed!"

The team members walked off the field in twos and threes.

Ning Yutong stood up from the bench and ran over to Yu Heng: "Would you like some water?"

"It's alright." Yu Heng bent down to pick up his coat from the ground and draped it over his shoulder. He then picked up the plastic bag containing the medicine. "Let's go. I need to go back to my dorm and take a shower first. I'm all sweaty. Then I'll go to the lecture hall."

"Shall we go over there in a bit?" Ning Yutong asked.

Shen Yueling didn't say anything, but she also got up.

The three walked out of the basketball court side by side.

The evening breeze was cool.

Ning Yutong walked in front, while Yu Heng deliberately slowed down a few steps.

Shen Yueling's pace also slowed down.

The two of them put a small distance between themselves and Ning Yutong in front of them.

Yu Heng turned his head and lowered his voice: "You didn't get wet in the rain this morning, did you?"

Shen Yueling looked straight ahead and said in a calm tone, "Why didn't you wait until it snowed before asking?"

Yu Heng was taken aback.

Is he blaming himself for not paying attention to her this morning?

That's true, with the rain so heavy, he was too busy sharing an umbrella with Ning Yutong.

"I was wrong, I was wrong," Yu Heng grinned, his voice carrying a hint of flattery. "I was in a rush to go to class this morning and didn't have time to think about it."

Shen Yueling didn't reply, but quickened her pace.

"Hey," Yu Heng followed, his shoulder brushing against her coat sleeve, "Why didn't you ask me if I got wet?"

Shen Yueling didn't stop walking, her voice drifting over: "Didn't someone bring you an umbrella?"

Yu Heng's heart skipped a beat.

"How did you know?" he asked.

Shen Yueling finally turned her head and glanced at him.

"I went to bring you an umbrella this morning," she said calmly, "but I found I was too late, so I left."

After saying that, she quickened her pace and caught up with Ning Yutong ahead, without looking back at Yu Heng.

Yu Heng stood there and touched his nose.

broken.

She's angry.

Ning Yutong looked at Shen Yueling walking over, then at Yu Heng behind her, whose expression was a little stiff, and asked softly, "Yueling, are you going to the club recruitment event again tonight?"

"I'll go," Shen Yueling said, "but I'll go back to my dorm to change first."

"Okay, then I'll go back and change too!" Ning Yutong laughed, turning to Yu Heng and saying, "Shall we go now?"

Yu Heng's mind was still on the conversation they had just had, so he casually replied, "Yeah, drive carefully."

Two girls walked side by side toward the dormitory area.

Ning Yutong put her hands behind her back and turned her head to look at Shen Yueling's profile: "Yueling, you went to deliver an umbrella to Yu Heng this morning too?"

Her voice was soft, with a hint of caution.

She overheard their conversation, which is why she deliberately walked ahead.

Shen Yueling seemed to pause for a moment, and then hummed in response.

She did go in the morning. She walked to the roadside with an umbrella and happened to see Yu Heng and Ning Yutong walking over.

She turned and left, the raindrops from the edge of the umbrella dripping into her neck, feeling cool.

"I'm on the second floor, you're on the sixth floor, I'm closer than you." Ning Yutong pursed her lips, "Next time I'll walk slower."

This might sound like she's showing off, but that's not what she really meant.

She just didn't want Shen Yueling to misunderstand that she had deliberately gotten there first.

This could be considered a show of weakness. She knew that Shen Yueling was a bit arrogant, and that they both liked Yu Heng, so there was no right or wrong in this matter.

Before Yu Heng established a clear relationship with them, what were they?

Enemy? Not really.

Competitors? It doesn't seem like we're at that level yet.

After all, they've always been good friends.

Shen Yueling didn't respond; she understood what Ning Yutong meant.

Slow down?

Does that mean giving up the opportunity?

Who asked you to give way?

She recalled a break during her senior year of high school when the three of them got together to play cards, but they only had enough time for one game.

The wager in that round was that the loser would have a little turtle drawn on the back of their hand by the winner.

Yu Heng, being the landlord, won.

He first grabbed Ning Yutong's hand and drew a crooked turtle with a grin.

When it was Yu Heng's turn to draw her, the homeroom teacher suddenly appeared at the back door, and Yu Heng pulled his hand back, failing to complete the drawing.

She barely paid any attention to Yu Heng for the rest of the day, leaving Yu Heng completely confused.

Ning Yutong secretly told him that she was angry that Yu Heng hadn't drawn it on her, which she felt was unfair treatment.

Thinking about this, Shen Yueling felt a little uneasy.

A strange sense of irritability rose up again.

She wasn't annoyed by Ning Yutong, but rather a little angry with Yu Heng. What exactly did he want to do?

He's come clean with himself, but what about Ning Yutong?

Are we just going to keep her hanging like this?

She finally spoke, her voice still calm, but not as cold: "It's just an umbrella, whoever is closest can give it to you, as long as he doesn't get wet."

-

Lecture Hall 204

Yu Heng sat in the middle of the first row, with Qin Lu on his left and Ning Yutong on his right.

On the stage, the third interviewee is introducing himself.

He was a boy who wore glasses and spoke with a slight stutter.

Yu Heng didn't listen carefully.

He glanced to the right out of the corner of his eye.

Yu Heng's fingers stopped on his knee and moved half an inch to the right.

His hand touched Qin Lu's trouser leg.

Yu Heng lightly traced the fabric of the stockings with his fingertips.

Qin Lu's body tensed up instantly.

She didn't turn her head; her eyes remained fixed on the interviewees on the podium.

Yu Heng's fingers twitched again.

"Yu Heng." Qin Lu turned her head and stared at him, saying in a low voice, "If you do anything reckless again, I'll never let you touch me again."

Yu Heng was stunned and withdrew his hand.

He didn't make any further moves until the interview ended at six o'clock.

After the last person left, Ning Yutong tidied up the evaluation sheet on the table, then turned to Yu Heng and asked, "Of these people today, which ones do you think deserve to go?"

Yu Heng glanced at the list and named a few people.

They all performed reasonably well today.

Ning Yutong nodded, wrote it down, and then looked at Qin Lu: "Teacher Qin, what do you think?"

Qin Lu had already stood up and was organizing her bag.

"I have no objection," she said. "You can decide."

Ning Yutong hummed in agreement and began packing her things.

Yu Heng also stood up and stretched his stiff neck.

He glanced at Qin Lu.

Qin Lu happened to be looking at him too.

The two stared at each other for a second.

Qin Lu looked away first, picked up her bag, and said, "I'm going back now. You've worked hard."

"Take care, Teacher Qin," Ning Yutong said quickly.

Qin Lu nodded and turned to walk towards the classroom door.

The high heels clicked crisply on the floor tiles.

Yu Heng stared at her retreating figure until she walked out of the classroom.

"Yu Heng?" Ning Yutong called out to him.

Yu Heng snapped out of his daze: "Hmm?"

"Shall we go too?" Ning Yutong had already packed her things. "Are you going back to your dorm or...?"

"Let's go back to the villa," Yu Heng said. "Bai Xinran and Qin Ya are still livestreaming."

"Okay~" Ning Yutong nodded without asking any further questions. "Then Yue Ling and I will go back to the dorm first."