Chapter 63

"Thanks for yesterday!"

He Chen expressed his thanks first.

Yesterday, when he shouted "Ball!", it was this classmate and school basketball team captain, Lin Xiaoran, who threw the ball to him.

"You're welcome!" Lin Xiaoran laughed: "Actually, we should be the ones thanking you; you really opened our eyes! How about it, join the basketball team and show off the infinite glory of our Chunfeng Middle School basketball team?"

"Me join? I'd better not." He Chen politely declined.

"Why?" Although Lin Xiaoran had a premonition, he was still very surprised and puzzled to hear He Chen refuse.

The school basketball team wasn't something just anyone could join.

Not to mention that he, the team captain, had personally invited him.

"I don't like to be in the limelight." He Chen explained.

"..." Lin Xiaoran's mouth twitched.

The crowd also had strange expressions on their faces.

Were their ears playing tricks on them?

He Chen actually said he didn't like to be in the limelight?

But ever since the summer vacation ended and the third year of high school began, was there a single day He Chen wasn't in the limelight? In fact, he was in it more than once a day, each time more intensely than the last.

This is called not liking to be in the limelight?

Then what is called liking to be in the limelight?

Or rather, what does He Chen consider being in the limelight?

"I've learned something." Lin Xiaoran felt He Chen was just putting on an act, and sarcastically remarked that he had learned how to put on an act.

"I'm speaking from the heart." He Chen's expression was calm, his eyes sincere.

He genuinely didn't want to be in the limelight.

After all, he was a transmigrator with a cheat, and his first superpower—the one with the potential to become his natal divine ability—was "Crane Calculation and Turtle Longevity."

He had already taken the first steps on the path of Daoist cultivation.

In the future, not to mention immortality, eternal youth was still possible.

Under these circumstances, being in the limelight and leaving behind too much visual data for countless people to watch, scrutinize, and analyze repeatedly was not what he wanted.

Of course, he wouldn't endure humiliation and live a quiet life just because he was worried about being exposed decades later.

Wouldn't that be a waste of his transmigration and his cheat?

Therefore, his mindset was: don't actively seek the limelight, and minimize his presence whenever possible. But if someone were to show off, act, or try to find trouble in front of him, he wouldn't hesitate to push back.

Pushing back isn't my wish, but I cannot let it go!

"Are you serious?" Lin Xiaoran stared at He Chen for a while, feeling that He Chen seemed to truly believe this from the bottom of his heart, and couldn't help but withdraw his hand in astonishment.

As a sports specialist and school basketball team captain, he also had a strong sense of pride; he was willing to take the initiative to invite someone who was good at basketball.

But if the other party wasn't willing, he wouldn't force it.

Otherwise, wouldn't it imply that he, the basketball team captain, lacked the confidence to lead the team well?

Sprint Class.

Under Xia Xue's gossiping gaze, Ruan Liuzheng called Qiao Yingzi outside to ask about the telescope.

"I don't know." Qiao Yingzi was stunned, her face flushing red and then turning pale.

The red was naturally because the thing her daddy did had invited an interrogation from He Chen's sister, which felt a bit like an unconventional meeting of the parents.

The pale was because she was very smart and guessed her daddy's intentions immediately. In fact, just like her mother setting up an astronomy museum for her at home, he wanted to trap her and He Chen at home so they wouldn't meet at the astronomy museum.

If her mother had done this, she would have thought it was normal.

But she had clearly explained it to her daddy, and he had said he believed in her and would support her, yet he turned around and did something that showed a complete lack of trust.

Even though she knew it was normal for her daddy to act this way from the perspective of an old father, she was still very unhappy.

She had thought that among her parents, there would always be one who understood and supported her, but who would have thought it was all just her fantasy in the end.

Seeing that Qiao Yingzi really seemed not to know about this, Ruan Liuzheng felt a slight relief, but she was still very uncomfortable, looking at Qiao Yingzi with suspicious and scrutinizing eyes.

Because this gift was not only very expensive, but the key was that He Chen had actually accepted it.

You have to know that He Chen wasn't the kind of person with shallow vision, and he had always been polite but distant when it came to gifts.

Otherwise, just relying on his face, relying on others feeding him and giving him gifts, he could have lived a life without worry, or even lived better.

But he had always refused others' feeding and gift-giving.

The only exception was her mother.

A year ago, when his father passed away, he moved into her house at her mother's invitation.

One summer vacation—no, she had pondered it repeatedly for a long time—more accurately, it was half a summer vacation, and he suddenly changed completely, becoming more formidable, but also more extroverted in personality.

Not only was he aggressive, but he actually accepted gifts.

And two at a time.

That sharp-tongued girl far away in Shanghai who looked suspiciously like her and might be related to her could be ignored; she could barely be counted as family, and the books she sent were small things not worth mentioning.

But He Chen accepting a telescope worth over ten thousand from Qiao Yingzi's father meant something was a bit off.

Although Qiao Yingzi was very unhappy, she couldn't find her daddy to vent her anger for the moment. Under Ruan Liuzheng's "sister-in-law-like" gaze, she couldn't hold up, and fortunately, the break ended, allowing her to escape back to the classroom.

After school, Qiao Yingzi immediately contacted her daddy to question him very unhappily. This made Qiao Weidong anxious, so he hurriedly came over in person to explain, offering a long round of comfort and stating that he absolutely didn't have that intention, and was simply grateful that He Chen had helped his daughter and helped him understand his daughter's immense pressure better.

Then he told his daughter that his house in Shuxiang Yayuan was already being renovated in full swing, and soon it would become her space fortress. When the pressure got too high, she could just walk a few steps from home and be there, and it would be full of space elements, so she could relax however she wanted.

Only then did Qiao Yingzi turn her anger into joy.

Time passes easily in idle moments.

In the blink of an eye, three weeks had passed.

For the vast majority of students, the upcoming National Day holiday was the most anticipated event.

But for Fang Yifan's family, from the start of school to National Day meant that from September to October, one month was about to expire, and the head of the household, Fang Yuan, was about to be released from prison and return to his loyal Fang family.

Tong Wenjie was very happy.

But whenever she thought about the reason for her excitement, she always thought of He Chen's handsome face and the sharp-tongued words he spat out, and the joy of a short separation being better than a new marriage was diluted by more than half.

She didn't want to admit he was right.

But her body's reaction was very honest, which was quite awkward.

Fang Yifan didn't have so many complex emotions.

Although he was happy that his old man was about to be released, it didn't affect him much, and his emotions were relatively stable.

But he was frowning.

Because in these three weeks, he was convinced that his childhood sweetheart and good brother Qiao Yingzi had changed her heart!

And it was very likely because of that He Chen who kept going against him and even slapped him in the face.

This made it very hard for him to hold on.

Therefore, even though his old man was about to come home, it was hard for him to greet people with a smile.

It wasn't that he didn't want to change things.

But it wasn't like before; they didn't live in the same residential complex and were quite far apart, and now they weren't in the same class, and they had to attend evening self-study, studying from morning till night, so there was simply no time to interact.

When the weekend finally arrived, he tried to make plans with Qiao Yingzi and Huang Zhitao, but was repeatedly rejected, with excuses about Aunt Song Qian being strict, effectively guarding against them and not letting her out at all.

This dragged on, and in the blink of an eye, three weeks had passed.

Seeing his good brother and his goddess moving further and further away from him, how could he still be laughing?