Chapter 45

"Hey, Lao Ma."

"Why are you bothering me!"

"Did you see that girl? Isn't she cute?"

"Where, where?"

The boy followed his friend's finger and looked over in the direction he was pointing. It was a girl who looked about eleven or twelve years old, standing at the entrance of the high school section. It was a bit cold outside, and she had wrapped a plaid scarf around her neck multiple times, blinking her eyes and looking at the bustling crowd in the distance.

"She is quite cute~"

"Is she waiting for someone? Come on, let's go take a look."

"Damn it, Qiu Ge, you're not leaving even the elementary school students alone?"

"You don't know anything, you deserve to be a virgin for life! Learn something from me!"

The boy with a round belly said and walked towards the girl. "Little sister, are you waiting for someone?"

The boy deliberately lowered his voice, adopting a cutesy tone, trying to make himself appear less suspicious, even though he looked suspicious to begin with...

"Um..."

The girl raised her head and looked at the person in front of her whom she didn't know.

"Hehe, who are you waiting for?"

The boy didn't speak, just looked at her with his clear eyes.

"..."

"I am not a bad person, okay~"

Seeing that she was hesitant, the boy hurriedly explained.

"..."

After some thought, the girl finally spoke up:

"I am waiting for my brother."

"Oh~~"

The boy looked around. "But most of the people in the school have already left, I think your brother may have already gone home?"

"Gone home..."

The girl looked at him, with a hint of loneliness in her eyes.

"It's okay, let me take you to the school to look for him. Maybe he is still in the classroom. There's no one in this school I don't know! Right?"

The boy said confidently, turning to ask his companion next to him.

"Yes, yes, yes! Our Qiu Ge has a great social life at school!"

"Really?"

The girl tilted her head, looking at the two brothers in front of her who were acting in unison.

"Haha, yes~ Do I look like the kind of person who would deceive you? By the way, what's your brother's name... Ah!!"

The boy didn't finish his sentence as he was kicked hard in the butt from behind, barely managing to stand still and avoid falling headfirst to the ground.

"Who the hell are you?!!"

He turned around abruptly, trying to see who was behind him.

"Samson Nan?"

Apparently, he recognized the person in front of him, who was looking down at him with his cold breath exhaling in the chilly air. If there was anything more bone-chilling than the winter wind, it would probably be his eyes.

"Sister!"

The girl spoke up, and exhaled a cloud of white mist through her scarf.

"Brother, you know him?"

The boy looked at him in surprise.

"Oh, he's my classmate."

He turned around, revealing a faint smile on his fresh-faced looks and walked up to her, squatting down and helping her to tidy up her scarf.

"This brother is very nice. He just wanted to take me to find you earlier~"

Raina Nan happily told him about what happened earlier.

"Haha, yes, that's right. Well, you see, it's so cold today, and the little sister is alone..."

"Really?"

Before the boy could finish speaking, he was interrupted.

Samson Nan smiled and lowered his head, whispering something only he could hear.

"Stay away from her next time. There won't be another warning..."

It wasn't advice, but more like a warning.

"..."

The boy swallowed hard, catching a glimpse of Samson Nan, who was a head taller than him, and inexplicably shivering.

"Let's go."

He signaled to the other boy next to him.

"Oh, okay..."

Sensing the tension, the two silently walked away.

...

"Brother, what did you say to him?"

Raina Nan asked him when the boys suddenly left.

"Um~" He turned his head and thought for a moment."Say it like this, 'Thank you for taking care of my sister.'"

"Hey, after thinking about it for so long, you're not trying to trick me, are you?"

Raina Nan pouted and looked at him skeptically. As two people who spent every day together, how easy was it to keep secrets from each other?

"Hehe, it's almost the same. By the way, can I get you something warm to drink?"

"Really?! I want milk tea!"

This change of topic always worked for him.

"No problem, but before that," he said, his smile disappearing.

"You have to promise me one thing."

"What is it?"

Raina Nan didn't look at him, too preoccupied with deciding what flavor of milk tea she wanted.

"If a guy tries to talk to you again in the future, don't talk to him. Do you understand?"

"Why?"

She looked at him suspiciously.

"There's no reason!"

He emphasized each word, tapping her forehead with his finger.

"Ouch! But aren't you a guy too, big brother...?"

"Can I be the same? I'm your brother!"

"Oh, okay...why are you so worked up?"

Perhaps frightened by his sudden forcefulness, her voice became quieter.

"Hey, I see someone I know!"

"Samson Nan?!"

He heard his name being called and turned around. It was William Wei and Jocelyn York.

"Hey, Wei-guy, aren't you training today?"

"Why not? I'm just taking a break and hanging out!"

"Actually, he was sent out here by his senior in their final year of high school to buy milk tea," Jocelyn York couldn't help but reveal the truth.

This seemed to be a longtime tradition in the school team, with juniors running errands for seniors, or being pranked by them on a daily basis...

"Hehe..."

Samson Nan secretly rejoiced. Even though he missed training, he ended up benefiting.

"Is this your sister? Wow, just like how Luka described her. Such a cute face and big eyes. She's a beauty!"

William Wei saw Samson Nan's sister for the first time.

"Say hello to Wei-guy,"

Raina Nan looked up at William Wei but didn't say anything.

"Say something, what's wrong?"

Samson Nan felt strange and nudged her with his elbow. He didn't remember his little sister being impolite.

"You said I shouldn't talk to guys,"

She muttered quietly.

"..."

He was speechless. She was definitely doing it on purpose, that fleeting smile just now was evidence!

"Oh, sorry about that, my sister is a little shy..."

He wanted to explain but before he could say anything, Raina Nan spoke up:

"Hello, Wei-guy!"

She smiled warmly and cheerfully.

"..."

He felt embarrassed. His little sister was deliberately defying him.

"Haha, you're so cute. I think your sister is quite outgoing!"

William Wei was won over by her and didn't dwell on it.

"Whatever you want to drink, whatever you want to eat, just order anything! It's on me!"

"Thank you, Wei-guy!"

They both ran to the counter again.

"..."

Samson Nan was speechless. When had William Wei become so generous? He'd never seen it before.

"Why did you bring your sister to school?"

Jocelyn York, who had been standing next to him, turned around and looked at him with her hands behind her back.

"Mr. Southern, who has a thing for his sister~"

"Don't give me strange nicknames!"

Samson Nan felt a headache. He didn't want to be called that behind his back.

On the other hand, with that big mouth of hers, who knows if the whole class already knew about his sister tomorrow...

"Oh right,"

Jocelyn York suddenly remembered something.

"I have some good news and some bad news, which one do you want to hear first?""What?"

She was teasing him, and he couldn't guess what it was.

"I have good news."

"Good news? Well, that is, starting tomorrow, I've decided to go to your house to help Raina catch up on her studies. Given our relationship, it's free of charge."

"Huh?"

He thought he must have misheard her.

"Why? Don't you trust me?"

"No, it's just... why?"

He didn't distrust her, after all Jocelyn York's grades were not worse than his. Being able to help Raina Nan make up her missed lessons would be great for her.

"Well, there's also bad news, you know?"

"...?"

Jocelyn York's way of doing things always left him behind, and he was inexplicably nervous now.

"Ta-da!"

She pulled out a white paper with words written on it.

[Application for basketball team's winter training: I volunteer to participate in the school basketball team's winter training, and I promise not to be absent from any training sessions (except under special circumstances).]

Applicant: Samson Nan

XX Month XX Day of XXXX

"That's what I wrote. I've already submitted a copy to the basketball management office. It's not really bad news, is it?"

She smiled contentedly, like she had succeeded in something.

"Heh..."

He chuckled helplessly.

"Did you act without permission?"

"Kind of. You can trust me with Raina's studies. If Raina isn't able to get into a respected junior high school..."

She didn't hesitate much and focused on him.

"I'll take full responsibility."

As she spoke, she smiled again.

"You just need to do what you want without any reservations, okay?"

"..."

He averted his gaze and looked out the window.

"Samson Nan, do you know..."

Jocelyn York's voice mixed with mist, seeming to slow down time. Every word was clear and audible.

"I don't want you to have any regrets."

She looked at him, unwavering.

After a while, his voice quietly broke the silence.

"Luo Jia, thank you."