Chapter 124

Those few players stared wide-eyed in surprise; just watching Xia Xi's recent dribble, they could tell she was a novice—normally a novice finds it hard to make a three‑pointer without at least using the height of a jump.

Xia Xi's foot was injured; obviously she couldn't jump, so shooting a three‑pointer from a standstill? The difficulty just went up.

They felt a bit sorry for the great beauty, but they couldn't speak for Xu Yanfeng, exchanging glances with the person involved, each wondering whether he could bring himself to be harsh.

It's just adding a WeChat; no need to make things difficult……

Just as they thought that, they heard Xu Yanfeng speak: 'You shoot.'

His face was pale, his voice low, his jaw clenched and slightly raised, he looked at Xia Xi with leisurely interest.

The boys' gazes shifted from Xu Yanfeng to Xia Xi, waiting for her to create a miracle.

Xia Xi faced forward, her eyes fixed on the backboard that looked near but was actually far, palms up, holding the ball, constantly adjusting her stance and breath, aiming at the rim.

Xu Yanfeng saw her shooting form was all wrong, and he held no hope that she would make it.

Yet his feeling was strange; he couldn't tell whether he wanted Xia Xi to make the shot or not.

According to her, if she lost, she would stop bothering him from then on—wasn't that exactly what he wanted? Why then did he feel tangled, unable to sort it out, giving rise to irritation?

Xia Xi took too long preparing her move, making her seem increasingly lacking confidence. Actually, to others she seemed unsure, but she herself felt confident; before releasing the ball, she glanced at Xu Yanfeng, eyes shining: 'I think heaven favors the sincere—what do you think?'

Xu Yanfeng didn't reply, holding his coat, fingers clenched; no one knew his palm was sweating. He had never been this nervous shooting in a game.

Xia Xi narrowed her eyes like a hawk gathering strength, then suddenly put force into her wrist, tendons taut, and flung the ball hard from her hand.

The ball traced a perfect parabola in the air, heading toward the backboard.

The watching boys unconsciously held their breath; with years of basketball experience, they thought Xia Xi's recent action wasn't even a shot—it was a heave, pure brute force, lacking any technique; making it in would be uncanny.

And… it really was uncanny!

The ball hit the backboard with a 'clang', bounced back, struck the rim's edge, rolled half a circle, was about to bounce out, barely stabilized, rolled inward, and fell into the net, then hit the ground.

"Boom boom boom——"

The ball bounced repeatedly on the ground a few times, then rolled away.

"Holy shit! Awesome!"

Several boys stared wide-eyed, mouths open, clapping and shouting, more excited than if they themselves had scored.

Xia Xi had also held her breath just before; getting the expected result, she finally could exhale the breath she'd held for a long time, her heart filled with great joy, her brows and eyes opening, becoming extraordinarily radiant.

She crossed her arms, looked at Xu Yanfeng, raised an eyebrow: 'What did I just say? Heaven favors the sincere. Now you've seen my sincerity, right?'

Xu Yanfeng still said nothing.

Xia Xi feared he'd renege, so she hopped on one leg toward him. She could now dispense with the crutch, but walking was still awkward; hopping on one leg was faster.

When she stopped in front of Xu Yanfeng, her body swayed a bit; she quickly grabbed his clothing and looked up at him.

Xu Yanfeng looked down at her; she might not realize that every time she looked at someone like that, she had a pitifully charming air—something he could never say aloud.

Xia Xi pinched his sweater lightly and shook it: 'You told me to shoot; I won, so you can't go back on your word—add me on WeChat.'

This scene wasn't suitable for further watching; the boys exchanged glances, tacitly understanding, and one cleared his throat and said: 'We'll wait for you outside; don't forget the off‑campus dinner later.'

The boys shoved each other as they withdrew.

Footsteps hurried away until they vanished; inside the venue only Xu Yanfeng and Xia Xi remained, facing each other, gazing into each other's eyes, her hand still clutching his clothing, as if she would never let go should he dare to renege.

Xu Yanfeng stared at her for a moment, accepted the loss, let out a quiet sigh, took out his phone from his pocket, and in front of her released her WeChat from the blacklist.

Xia Xi watched him finish the operation, finally feeling reassured, yet fearing he might regret it later, she agreed with him: 'Don't block me again.'

"Watch your behavior." If you dare send any more nonsense, he'll block you just the same.

Xia Xi felt utterly wronged; her tone lost its earlier brightness, she went soft: 'How am I supposed to perform? You have so many trigger points—I stepped on one by accident.'

Xu Yanfeng slipped his phone back, didn't respond to her words, and prepared to leave.

He lowered his head to look at the fabric she had grabbed in her hand; though he said nothing, the meaning was clear: 'Miss, can you let go?'

Having achieved her goal, Xia Xi decided to moderate her behavior, stop pestering him lest she truly annoy him. She released her grip, and thoughtfully smoothed the fabric with her palm, ironing out the creases she had made.

But she seemed to feel, through the cloth, his firm abs—visibly tight, and the feel was indeed top‑notch.

Xu Yanfeng realized he'd been taken advantage of, furrowed his brow, brushed her hand away, and strode off.

The dinner was at Victory Tower; here the beef and lamb are superb, and the name's meaning—victory—fits tonight's theme.

Xu Yanfeng hosted, calling his roommate by phone; several teammates also brought their friends, and they set a large table lively and noisy. Imported New Zealand beef and Aubrac beef were supplied without limit, so they could eat their fill.

All present were guys; they ordered a case of beer, and even in deep winter they asked for an ice bucket—solid meat with a sip of cool drink, most enjoyable.

Xu Yanfeng couldn't eat beef, so he ordered some vegetarian dishes instead; he ate politely, chewing slowly, while his teammates recounted to those absent the feat of Xia Xi's three‑pointer.

"I truly admire Miss Xia Xi—her posture, her power, and she actually made the shot; it must be heavenly design."

"You missed one detail—she's still limping."

"Exactly, she's a one‑leg warrior."

"We really should call over those who play basketball like crap to have a look."

His phone chimed 'ding‑dong'; Xu Yanfeng swallowed the asparagus in his mouth, put down his chopsticks, took it out, and saw a WeChat message whose avatar was a red cartoon little crab.

Xu Yanfeng didn't read the message content; he first noticed her nickname had changed. Since he hadn't given her a remark, altering the nickname was easy to spot.

Her previous nickname was 'Happy Little Crab,' which matched her avatar perfectly.

Now her nickname is 'WeiaiXYF'.

Those three letters are easy to decode—they're the initials of his name.

WeiaiXYF: "I've taken lots of your photos; do you want them? I can send them to you."

Xu Yanfeng replied with four characters: 'Change your nickname.'

Xia Xi objected, arguing back: 'Senior Xu, among the 26 English letters, XYF has been bought out by you personally—can't anyone else use them?'

Xu Yanfeng edited a few characters in the chat box, deleted them, re‑edited, then deleted again.

He could already foresee that no matter what he said, she would have a reason to rebut; reasoning with her was impossible.

Xia Xi was being difficult; seeing he didn't reply, she teased again: 'If you won't let me use that, I'll just change it to "Weiai Xu Yanfeng"—surely you can't monopolize Chinese characters too. You're something else, Senior Xu.'