CH 14

A moment ago, the noisy “supporters” from the other side, who were dominating the scene, suddenly became silent. The crowded people around Kong Nianxi also gave her space, and her tall figure stood out among the “average height” of the crowd, making her feel like a crane among a flock of chickens.

Kong Nianxi stared at Xi Ning and squinted her eyes, her long and curly eyelashes casting a small shadow in the sun.

When she passed by the basketball court earlier, she unintentionally caught a glimpse of Xi Ning’s hurried figure. She remembered that the other person was not someone who enjoyed joining in the fun. Out of curiosity, she followed to take a look.

She didn’t expect to see Xi Ning rushing over to watch the boys play basketball. Not only did she watch, but she also stood in the crowd of enthusiastic fans with a support sign in her hand.

Kong Nianxi felt uncomfortable for some reason.

Didn’t Xi Ning just give her an umbrella and a cup of milk tea a few days ago?

She casually put the sign she got from Xi Ning in the arms of a girl next to her and smiled: “You were right. One should not be two-faced.”

The girl looked delighted.

The game on the court continued fiercely, with shouts, collisions, and the sound of shoe soles rubbing together blended into one chaotic noise. Within a moment, a goal was scored, and cheers came from the other side.

Kong Nianxi stepped forward and stood next to Xi Ning. Pretending to be interested, she looked at the court and scanned it with her big eyes, but she only found two players who were barely worth watching.

Although she knew that Xi Ning must have had many admirers, she rarely saw her interact closely with boys. Seeing it now, she felt inexplicably blocked in her heart.

“It seems that Miss Xi has a wide range of interests. I thought you only liked studying,” Kong Nianxi said with a light tone. Although it didn’t sound hostile, upon closer examination, it seemed to have a subtle, sarcastic edge.

Xi Ning was startled and glanced sideways. The smile on the girl’s red lips was bright and bold.

She didn’t know if she was overthinking it, but she felt that there was some kind of resentment in that sentence.

But why would she suddenly say that?

Xi Ning thought for a moment and said, “I was just dragged here…”

“Be careful!”

She hadn’t finished speaking when she sensed something approaching from behind subconsciously, and heard a scream from the audience. Before she could turn around, Kong Nianxi hugged her waist and forcefully took a step back.

Immediately after, a rotating basketball swept past her side and hit the crowd. Fortunately, a girl caught it and no one was hurt.

“Are you okay, classmate?” Xi Muyi rubbed the back of his head and stood in front of Kong Nianxi, stuttering with a pink face, unsure if it was because he felt guilty about the basketball or nervous in front of the beauty.

Kong Nianxi let go of him and glanced at him coldly. “You should apologize to her, and please be more careful in the future.”

“Okay, okay…” Xi Muyi nodded repeatedly, then turned to Xi Ning, no longer stuttering. “Sorry, classmate.” As he stood up, he even winked at her skillfully.

In Xi Muyi’s opinion, Kong Nianxi’s appearance here was obviously due to his sister’s persuasion. He was naturally excited and happy to show his presence in front of his goddess.

But Xi Ning’s expression was: “…”

Originally, she thought the basketball mishap was just an accident, but his fake wink just now made her suspect that the basketball flying towards them was a trick made by Xi Muyi to get Kong Nianxi’s attention.

But what was the point of throwing it at her?

Although she had not suffered any physical injury, as siblings, the magical damage to their relationship was still palpable.

So she turned away with a bad expression.

The subtle atmosphere was not noticed by others around them, but Kong Nianxi, who was standing close by, noticed it.

From her perspective, the boy’s wink turned into a flirtatious look, and Xi Ning’s bad mood turned into a proud silence.

Xi Muyi picked up the ball and returned to the court. The boys on the court noticed Kong Nianxi’s unexpected presence and immediately became excited, showing off their skills as if they were on drugs.

Especially Xi Muyi, he found that the goddess’s gaze was always on him, and his heart couldn’t help but beat wildly, almost tripping over himself several times due to excitement.

Compared to the intense competition on the court, Xi Ning seemed absent-minded. High school boys’ athletic competitions were not entertaining to her, and she regretted coming here to watch the excitement with Tu Xiaoyuan.

“Is he your friend?” Kong Nianxi suddenly spoke, and Xi Ning turned around in confusion. “Huh?”

Kong Nianxi said, “Aren’t you here to watch his basketball game? His name is Xi Muyi, right?”

“…” Xi Ning’s heart rang an alarm, but her expression remained unchanged, taking advantage of her poker face. “No, I don’t know him.”

“Oh?” Kong Nianxi’s lips curved slightly, tilting her head in thought. “But Xi is not a common surname, you have the same surname, and it’s quite a coincidence.”

Xi Ning’s heart skipped a beat, and she forced a smile. “Haha, it’s quite a coincidence…”

“Sister Xi!”

Fortunately, a boy ran over and interrupted them. Xi Ning breathed a sigh of relief.

The boy handed Kong Nianxi two bottles of water and a sunshade umbrella, chatted with her for a while, then turned and left.

Xi Ning deliberately turned her face away and pretended to be calm, but the skin exposed on her arm suddenly felt cold. She turned around suddenly and saw Kong Nianxi handing her one of the bottles of water.

The frozen bottle was exposed to the hot air, and a layer of mist appeared on the transparent surface.

Xi Ning was about to refuse politely, but she heard Kong Nianxi say in pain, “Ouch…” and quickly said, “What’s wrong?”

Kong Nianxi frowned slightly, and her delicate face showed a hint of pain. Her voice was so soft that it could drip with water, “My hand hurts…”

Then she saw her hand holding the water tremble slightly.

Xi Ning hurriedly took the water and frowned, “Are you okay?”

Kong Nianxi opened her palm, and the white palm had a faint redness at the bottom, with several pits in the delicate skin that seemed to have been poked with sharp pebbles on the football field when she fell.

Xi Ning felt a little guilty, thinking that she had caused Kong Nianxi to fall during the game. But…

She glanced at the other party’s slightly reddened palm again.

“It’s a bit sunny. Can you hold the umbrella for me?” Kong Nianxi slowly handed her the sunshade umbrella, her eyes misty from the pain, looking at her.

“…”

Xi Ning took a deep breath inwardly, hesitated for a moment, then took the umbrella and held it between the two of them.

The weather in this city in October was not as hot as in midsummer, but it was not mild either. The afternoon sun was still scorching.

Standing in the shade under the umbrella over their heads, Xi Ning smelled the fragrance of perfume, which was not wafting around her nose due to the short distance between them. She felt complicated emotions for a moment.

Although… but Kong Nianxi, did you choose the wrong person?

At this moment, the deafening cheers brought her attention back. It seemed that Xi Mu had lost another round, and the opponent, a boy, scored a beautiful three-pointer. The other side screamed, while their side was quiet, and by comparison, seemed dejected.

“Great job, keep it up, you must win!” Kong Nianxi suddenly praised the boy with a thumbs-up gesture. Her voice was not loud or soft, just enough for those on the court and around her to hear.

“… …”