“Big bro, big sis, I’m begging you, please join our school team...” Huang Li pleaded desperately with Old Han.

I sat idly in a chair in the club room, watching the sunlight outside grow brighter by the minute. I took a sip of tea. The weather really was nice today.

Old Han was holding a cup too. She gave a bitter smile and said, “Sorry. I’ve said it a lot of times already. Training with the school team is too much trouble, and I really don’t have the time...”

The tall, skinny boy sitting beside Old Han looked pretty helpless too. He took a sip from his teacup, then casually smiled at the little trap called Xueling.

Xueling was making tea for the others. He smiled back at him too. This little trap really was quite pretty. He looked soft and delicate, dressed in a loose tracksuit. His small face was neat and refined, and his soft hair hung by his ears, not too long and not too short. If I hadn’t just noticed how flat his chest was, gotten suspicious, and then spotted that slight Adam’s apple on his neck, I really wouldn’t have realized he was a guy.

The two of them were still dragging things out.

I was sitting in the farthest seat in the club room. The lighting in here wasn’t great, but the sunlight slanted in through the window and brightened the whole room.

Long-ge was sitting in a chair too, doing nothing, glancing around here and there. Our eyes accidentally met. She curled her lip at me, then boredly looked away again. Seeing how bored she looked, I suddenly really wanted to pinch her cheek.

Old Chu was getting drowsy from listening too. He stared at the table in a daze, his head bobbing little by little, almost falling asleep.

Huang Li kept trying to persuade Old Han with endless patience. After a long while, he saw that Old Han just wouldn’t budge, and he immediately looked a little hopeless.

He turned and swept his gaze over our side. He skipped right over me, then instantly put on a warm smile and said to Long-ge, “Miss, that dunk just now was seriously awesome!”

Long-ge glanced at him and said, “It was okay. Just normally awesome.”

Huang Li nodded again and again. “That dunk of yours just now reminded me of someone from a manga. His name’s Sakuragi Hanamichi. I think you’ve got real potential. If you work a little harder, you’ll definitely be like him in the end! Just think about it. If you went on court and threw down a dunk, and a whole crowd screamed for you, how cool would that be... So, are you interested in being a guest player and joining our school team?”

Long-ge looked at me, then shook her head slightly. “Not interested.”

Huang Li moved closer to her and rubbed his hands together with a grin. “Could you think it over a little more? Our school team really is short on people right now. High school’s still on break, and school hasn’t started yet, so we can’t recruit anyone at a time like this. The match is in just a few days...”

Long-ge impatiently dug at her ear. “I already fucking told you I’m not going. Why are you so damn annoying?”

I watched Huang Li choke on that and sighed. The boy sitting nearby was grinning to himself too. Huang Li shot him a glare, and the boy immediately straightened his face and reservedly took a sip of tea.

I smiled too. The people on this school team were pretty interesting.

This guy had just been cursed out by Long-ge for no reason at all. Seeing how firmly she’d refused, he figured it wouldn’t look good to keep begging shamelessly. Then he looked at Minghai. One look, and he saw that Minghai had already fallen asleep, lying sideways on one outstretched arm, sleeping with a sweet expression.

He stared at Minghai for a long while and still had no idea how to start talking to her. In the end, he let out a long sigh and dropped into a chair.

I glanced at the time. I’d originally only planned to come out and exercise for a bit, but now it was already past ten.

There wasn’t much point sitting here anymore, and Minghai had fallen asleep too. I stood up, patted Long-ge, smiled at Huang Li, and said, “We’ve all got things to do later. If you still want to play basketball, let’s do it next time. We’ll definitely join you then.”

Huang Li froze for a moment, then sighed too. I patted Minghai on the back and woke her up. She was obviously sleep-deprived. I could see a bit of darkness around her eyes, and I sighed. I had no idea what she even did at night. “Come on, let’s go. You can sleep when we get home. If you sleep here, you’ll catch a cold.”

Minghai sat there blankly in the chair for a while, then stood up. The little trap called Xueling froze with the teapot in hand and said, “You’re leaving already? The tea was just brewed...”

I smiled at him. “Next time, if we get the chance.”

Xueling gave me a shy smile and started tidying up the teacups in front of him.

Old Han drained the tea in her cup in one go, set the cup on the table, said thanks, and started heading for the door. Long-ge stood up too, scratched at her hair, and walked out. Minghai still looked half-asleep, her expression a little blank. Helpless, I patted her again, and only then did she slowly get to her feet.

“Hey, bro!”

Just as I was about to head out, Huang Li suddenly called after me. I turned back, a little puzzled. He gave a bitter smile and said, “Bro, I could tell just from standing there for a while. Those girls all listen to you more or less...”

“It hasn’t been easy keeping this school team going. To be honest, compared to the other schools, we’ve always been stuck at the bottom... I joined this school team right when first year started, and now I’m about to graduate. Honestly, I really want to get some kind of result with this team at the last sports meet. At least then I won’t leave with regrets...”

“Bro, if you can, help me talk to that girl. Aside from me, nobody here really practices much anyway. The training room’s basically like a tea room. It’s pretty relaxed...”

The little girl called Xueling heard him say the training room was like a tea room, and the hand holding the teapot suddenly trembled. His face turned bright red as he lowered his head. A tea room, huh... Looking at this little guy, and how skilled he was at making tea and all that, he’d probably done it plenty of times.

But even if he begged me, there was nothing I could do.

Old Han looked easy to talk to, but if she said she didn’t want to join, then she didn’t want to join. Pestering her was useless. She hated feeling tied down. And if you kept bothering her shamelessly, she might even blow up.

As for Long-ge, no need to even mention it. She acted carefree all day long, but if she didn’t want to do something, then she absolutely wouldn’t do it. Stubborn as hell. Not even ten oxen could drag her back.

And Minghai was even less likely. All she knew how to do all day was sleep at home. Never mind whether that body of hers could even handle basketball, her personality didn’t look like someone who loved sports either. I see her sleeping every day. At the very least, she should go out for walks. If this keeps up, her health’s going to be wrecked... Plus, the weather this morning really was nice. I’d only managed to talk her into coming after a ton of effort.

I thought about it, then said, “Telling me won’t help much. I can’t persuade them either... That girl called Han Changfeng, the one with the hood, doesn’t she come around all the time? Next time, find a chance and think of a way to ask her yourself.”

Huang Li put on a bitter smile and pleaded, “That’s all I can do then... But if you can, could you at least help me talk to her a little, bro? I’m seriously begging you...”

I agreed out loud again and again, smiled at everyone in the club room, then turned and walked out.

Ever since Long-ge moved into my place, I’d given both her and Minghai a key to the front door. Otherwise, even going downstairs to buy something would be a pain. They were probably pretty sleepy, so they headed home first.

At the doorway, only Old Han was there. She had a basketball slung at her side. The sunlight from outside fell across her face, turning one of her eyes amber. She looked out the window with an unreadable expression. When she saw me come out of the club room, she smiled and said, “What were you doing? Took you forever.”

I looked at her and smiled too. “That Huang Li guy said he’s about to graduate. He hopes to get some kind of placing at the last sports meet, and he insisted I try to persuade one of you to be a guest player.”

Old Han nodded and got to her feet, walking toward the building exit. “We’ll see. If there’s time, then maybe.”

This school wasn’t exactly big, but it wasn’t small either. Old Han and I crossed through one of the teaching buildings, then walked back to the basketball court where we’d been playing earlier.

By now, there were more people on the court. When they saw Old Han and me heading off campus, that group of boys who’d been watching from the sidelines all looked over. Quite a few of them even smiled and greeted Old Han. She had a smile on her face too and responded to them one by one.

Some other boys came up and asked Old Han to play a game with them. She refused very politely. Those boys thought for a moment, then actually pulled out their wallets and tried to pay Old Han to play with them. For a moment, both of us were caught between laughter and tears. Old Han shook her head and refused again.

But after being delayed by that bunch of boys, more and more of them started crowding over. Before long, they’d formed a circle around us. I felt helpless, and Old Han looked a little stunned too. I directly grabbed her by the arm and pulled her away. A whole bunch of boys glared at my back through gritted teeth, but they probably thought Old Han and I were a couple. Harassing someone else’s girlfriend wouldn’t look good, so after thinking it over, none of them chased after us.

Both Old Han and I were the type who were pretty homebody-ish, but couldn’t stand sitting at home all the time either. We both liked taking walks. Since we had a chance to come out and wander around, neither of us really wanted to go home. Near the school basketball court was a pretty big field. Since spring had only just begun, it was still covered in dry yellow grass, though some fresh green shoots had already started to show. There were soccer goals at both ends, and a red rubber running track circled the whole thing.

We were both pretty bored, so after talking it over, we decided to walk around for a bit. I went to the convenience store and bought two cans of cola, then walked with her along the rubber track.

This high school was still on winter break. Even though it was called winter break, winter was already almost over. The weather was still fairly cool, especially with how nice the sunlight was today. There was warmth in the wind too. Every now and then, boys and girls in pairs sat on the grass, chatting and laughing. There was also an elderly man, obviously full of energy, jogging on the track with a bright, spirited look.

The two of us held our colas and just walked silently along the rubber track without saying anything.

It should’ve been close to noon by now, but that thin layer of morning mist still hadn’t fully faded. The air carried a trace of the late-winter chill.

It felt like we hadn’t taken a walk together in a very long time—

In the slightly chilly spring wind of February, sunlight fell across our faces. In the distance, young couples stopped to talk, heads lowered as if murmuring about something. That old man really was full of energy, running lap after lap... As the two of us walked side by side, I couldn’t help but think of the past—

Come to think of it, the fact that Old Han and I have known each other this long is basically a miracle.