Playing Badminton

Ten minutes earlier—

Girls' locker room.

"Ugh, so annoying... it's stuck, ugh." Tang Keke was, as usual, struggling with changing clothes. Because of P.E. class, she had switched to a sports bra—but even the largest size was a bit too tight for her, leaving her face flushed red from the effort.

After finally managing to put it on, she noticed Bai Yuyou standing nearby, seemingly lost in thought. Bare from the waist up, her slender fingers pinched the bra as she stared blankly at nothing, even the stray hair on her head drooping like a ripe stalk of grain.

"Yuyou, your skin is so nice, so soft," Tang Keke leaned in, pinching her flesh, "What are you spacing out about?"

Bai Yuyou finally snapped out of it and put on her bra, "During lunch break... I didn’t see Ye Shuang."

"You’re really clingy with him, huh? But there’s no helping it—he had something to do outside at noon," Tang Keke said.

Bai Yuyou grew even more dejected, as if a low-pressure zone had formed around her, completely devoid of energy.

"Wow, you got even gloomier just from that," Tang Keke thought for a moment before suggesting, "Well, if that’s the case, how about after P.E. class, I’ll go with you to the infirmary?"

Bai Yuyou seemed to perk up instantly, but then hesitated, "Ye Shuang said... we shouldn’t go there casually..."

"It’s fine, it’s fine. I’ll just say I have a stomachache, and you’re there to keep me company. How’s that?" Tang Keke blinked mischievously.

Bai Yuyou nodded eagerly, no longer looking as downcast as before, "Keke... I’ll treat you to something good."

"Deal."

Unbeknownst to the two girls, as they headed to P.E. class with this plan in mind, they were surprised to find Ye Shuang gathering Class A into formation.

Neither Tang Keke nor Bai Yuyou had expected this. They exchanged a glance before rejoining the group. Bai Yuyou, in particular, couldn’t take her eyes off Ye Shuang—if not for Tang Keke holding her back, she might have lunged at him right then and there to absorb her daily dose of "Ye Shuang energy" in front of the whole class.

"Your P.E. teacher isn’t feeling well, so I’m filling in for this class," Ye Shuang said. "I’m sure you all know me by now."

Given the incident with that mother and daughter, anyone at the school who followed online news would recognize Ye Shuang—some students had even helped spread the truth online.

"Not feeling well? But the P.E. teacher is right over there," one student spoke up. The whole class turned to look—sure enough, the P.E. teacher was chatting and laughing with some student council members nearby, his sleeveless shirt revealing muscular arms that clearly didn’t belong to someone feeling unwell.

"Alright, same difference," Ye Shuang said, unwilling to admit he’d taken over the class just to play badminton with Bai Yuyou. He scanned the students and asked, "Who’s the class P.E. monitor?"

"Teacher, that’s me," Luo Che stepped forward.

Ye Shuang glanced at him and smiled. "Luo Che, lead everyone in warm-up exercises."

"Oh, sure, teacher." Luo Che had been wondering why Ye Shuang called him out, but since it was just to lead warm-ups, he didn’t refuse—not that he had any reason to.

Without a whistle, Luo Che clapped his hands to set the rhythm. "Stretches, one-two-three-four..."

The students followed along diligently, without slacking off. The reason? The smiling Ye Shuang standing behind Luo Che wasn’t someone to mess with.

In the viral video of that mother and daughter, Ye Shuang had taken them down with terrifying efficiency—kicking and punching them to the ground, leaving them wailing in pain. Rumor had it they went to the hospital but couldn’t even get a diagnosis; they’d suffered for nothing. The students could practically feel the pressure radiating off the school doctor.

During warm-ups, Bai Yuyou kept her eyes fixed on Ye Shuang, even lifting her head slightly while bending over for stretches.

But since Ye Shuang was standing behind Luo Che, Luo Che mistook her gaze for his own. His heart skipped a beat, and he straightened his posture, his voice gaining extra vigor. "Jumping jacks! One! Two!"

Once warm-ups ended, Ye Shuang dismissed Luo Che back to the group and asked, "Do you all want to run or have free time?"

"Free time—" Most students hated running, so the answer was unanimous.

Ye Shuang chuckled. "That many of you want free time?"

Of course, he wanted it too—he didn’t want to waste time watching students jog. A little warm-up was enough.

"Free time it is," Ye Shuang announced, and the class erupted in cheers.

Luo Che hesitated, about to ask Bai Yuyou if she wanted to play badminton—he knew she usually played with Tang Keke during P.E.

But the next second, he watched as Bai Yuyou and Tang Keke immediately flocked to Ye Shuang.

"..."

"Che, let’s go play ball."

"Che?"

"Where are you going?"

...

"Bro, why’d you suddenly become the P.E. teacher?" Tang Keke asked curiously.

"I didn’t see you two at lunch, so I thought I’d drop by P.E. class to see if we could play," Ye Shuang replied with a smile. Then he noticed Tang Keke’s chest looked flatter than usual and couldn’t help asking, "Isn’t that uncomfortable?"

Tang Keke blinked. "Huh?"

"Never mind." Realizing he might have overstepped, Ye Shuang quickly shifted his attention to Bai Yuyou, who was staring at him intently. "Let’s go borrow some badminton gear."

"Okay." Bai Yuyou seemed delighted. "Keke... no need for a stomachache next class..."

"What does that mean?"

"J-just happy," Tang Keke cut in hastily, seeing Bai Yuyou about to spill their plan.

"Is that so?" Ye Shuang didn’t think much of it.

As Ye Shuang led Bai Yuyou and Tang Keke to the equipment room to borrow rackets, Luo Che watched their retreating figures from a corner.

He pulled out his phone, hesitated, then opened Yinshan Academy’s official website.

[Principal’s Mailbox]

Seeing the option, Luo Che clenched his phone and began typing.

"Che, what are you doing here on your phone? We’re short one for streetball," a student called out, startling Luo Che into quickly pocketing his phone.

"Huh?"

"Huh my ass, come on."

"Got it."