Where is the love? Where is the passion?
A multitude of question marks floated through Xue Tao's mind.
Su Bai, however, focused on a different point. "Wait a sec, Old Chu. Didn't you say your girlfriend has social anxiety? How come she's not anxious today?"
"Haha, maybe that's the magic of love. Under my meticulous care, her emotional state has improved a lot lately. It feels like she's gradually graduating from her 'landmine' phase..."
Hard to say.
It wasn't that he was maliciously speculating about his roommate's situation, but Su Bai knew well that emotional control is mostly innate. The rest is pretty much set in stone after puberty.
Take that jerk Wang Haoran, for example. He was the type with nerves of steel who remained unfazed by favor or disgrace. He was a solid dude.
On the other hand, there was Chu Mingzhe's girlfriend, Leilei. Even in the beautified version Old Chu shared with the roommates—complete with his "boyfriend filter"—she gave Su Bai a headache. She was the type he'd respectfully keep his distance from, even if she were handed to him on a silver platter.
Could she really break free from her "landmine girl" state just because of Chu Mingzhe's cyber-remote-care?
Talk about nonsense.
Of course, as the saying goes, you don't slap a smiling face. Su Bai didn't rain on his parade right there. He just reminded Chu Mingzhe to go to the school gate ahead of time to pick her up, since the route from the gate to the basketball court was a bit winding.
Oh, right.
Today, Su Bai's class had drawn a spot in an indoor arena.
It might have been good luck, but good luck was unlikely.
Because this damn little arena was an indoor training hall with quite a history. It had absolutely nothing to do with the varsity team's matches; at best, it hosted department-level games, which was enough to prove its facilities were just so-so.
However, for Xue Tao, it was enough to show off. After all, given his basketball skills... other than class matches in university, he probably wouldn't have many chances to play on an indoor court in the future.
During the pre-game warm-up, Xue Tao flashily put on his No. 23 jersey. He framed a crooked shot against the basketball hoop and took a selfie with a peace sign.
[Xue Zhitao: (Lust)]
[Xue Zhitao: (Image) (Image) (Image)]
[Xue Zhitao: Wifey, am I handsome?]
[Xue Zhitao: (Meaningless Panda Man Meme)]
Meanwhile, in the girls' dormitory.
Liu Yuanyuan had just finished her afternoon beauty sleep and was still groggy.
Suddenly, seeing Xue Tao's mug on her phone, she woke up instantly.
To be honest, her boyfriend's looks... weren't particularly ugly, but they definitely weren't good-looking either.
To speak fairly, he was at the bottom of the pecking order in their dorm, Room 510.
At least Chu Mingzhe had a more standard physique than Xue Tao.
Wang Haoran had the generic look of a frail otaku, but girls who were into that type might even think he was decent-looking.
Let's not even talk about Su Bai.
Add to that Xue Tao's baffling taste in selfies, and the result was, at first glance, pretty horrifying.
After thinking for a moment, Liu Yuanyuan replied:
[Does your class have another game today? Good luck! Remember to stay safe and don't get hurt.]
Seeing his girlfriend's reply, Xue Tao's eyes widened. He immediately perked up as if he'd been injected with chicken blood.
"Sigh, having a girlfriend who cares about people is just such bliss."
The classmate next to him watched him shaking his head and muttering to himself, finding it a bit hard to handle.
*Dude, if your girlfriend cares about you so much, why isn't she coming to watch you play?*
Of course, while that was the thought, it remained in his head. He wouldn't say it out loud; that would show zero emotional intelligence.
Besides, if he refuted Xue Tao, Xue Tao would launch his counterattack with his classic opening move:
"At least I'm not single! I have a girlfriend!"
It had to be said, not being single was indeed something worth showing off... The male university student population was just too repressed.
Just as Xue Tao was pondering what pose to use to continue his posturing, exclamations from the girls on the sidelines caught their attention.
It turned out Su Bai had dunked during warm-ups, leaving the girls surging with excitement.
"He jumps so high..."
"Hey, he feels even more handsome than the basketball stars on TV."
"The God Su Bai looks even lighter on his feet today than last time. I guess he didn't go too wild with his girlfriends last night."
Su Bai's keen hearing caught the slightly awkward discussion coming from the crowd, and the corner of his mouth couldn't help but twitch.
*Damn it, they can even tell that?*
In reality, of course, it wasn't that Su Bai hadn't gone wild last night. It was probably the effect of the Body Modification Fluid. One could only say his little fangirls were observing him a bit too closely.
Actually, he had just done a small dunk without any fancy moves.
But with his current capabilities, mimicking the dunking motions of those pros wouldn't seem to be a problem.
Xue Tao glanced at the girls cheering on the sidelines, most of whom were there for Su Bai, and felt a sudden pang of sourness.
He quickly comforted himself: *Su Bai is god-tier, someone on the same level as Liu Chen'ang and Young Master Liu. I shouldn't compare myself to him. As long as I can beat the 'Shanghai Lord' Wang Haoran...*
Just then, Chu Mingzhe entered the court with a girl.
She wasn't tall, wore smokey makeup, and was dressed in a classic dark-style dress. Even from a distance, one could sense an extraordinary aura distinct from the dressing style of ordinary girls. It was kind of scary.
Up close, her looks were average.
She was in the same tier as Liu Yuanyuan, perhaps slightly inferior. Let's tentatively rate her as 0.9 Yuans.
"Old Chu is here."
"Yeah..."
Chu Mingzhe was just about to introduce his girlfriend to his roommates.
But the girl covered her face and ran away, hiding in a corner of the basketball court.
Su Bai: ...
"Old Chu, your girlfriend is pretty introverted," Xue Tao said.
"Uh, she's a bit afraid of strangers. Never mind, never mind."
"It's fine. If she's shy, let her stay by herself. No need to force it." Su Bai figured the girl was just there to watch Chu Mingzhe play anyway; whether she interacted with others didn't really matter.
As long as she didn't OD on pink Monster Energy or stage a dramatic self-harm scene on the sidelines, it was fine.
However, this sight made Xue Tao a bit overheated. He had to admit, although this "landmine girl" had weird makeup and attire, the way she covered her face and ran away in shyness was actually kind of cute...
Of course, this so-called "cute" was from Xue Tao's perspective.
He was truly starved; usually, when he swiped past a female cat on short videos, he thought it looked delicate and pretty.
To Su Bai, this girl seemed very average, and her personality looked hard to handle.
But Xue Tao was getting jealous. *Damn it, how great would it be if Liu Yuanyuan could come watch me play?*
*Wouldn't those classmates who usually mock me for being a simp to my girlfriend get slapped in the face right there and shut up instantly?*
Then, after the game, they could hold hands and show off their love.
Having completed this beautiful conceptualization in his mind, Xue Tao hurriedly took advantage of the time before the game started to send a WeChat message to Liu Yuanyuan.
Result: She simply didn't reply.
*Forget it, she's probably busy,* Xue Tao thought.
Su Bai didn't think that much of it. He warmed up in a relaxed mood until the game began.
Today's opponents were pretty strong, and the game wasn't easy.
Mainly, the feel of the wooden floor in this damn indoor court was weird, and several of the team's main scorers were a bit off their game.
So, aside from running wild in the paint, Su Bai also had to shoulder some of the offensive responsibility.
He rarely practiced his technique; he was the definition of a raw, unpolished player.
His scoring came primarily from crashing the boards for putbacks.
It left the opposing center—a strapping guy standing over 1.9 meters—staring in disbelief.
orn and Humiliation】【Forced Love】 In his past life, Lin Ran was betrayed and murdered by his girlfriend and family, while the yandere female aristocrat, who had treated him as a mere plaything, avenged him by doing in his enemies. Upon seeing the yandere female aristocrat lying in the same coffin, ready to die with him, Lin Ran realized how profoundly mistaken he had been. Reborn, he abandoned the fickle campus beauty and wholeheartedly embraced the yandere female aristocrat's arms. "Ran! If I dig out your eyes and turn them into a specimen, you'll only be able to look at me!" Lin Ran: "Darling, kiss me!" "Ran! If I break your legs, you won't run away anymore, right?" Lin Ran: "Love, hold me tight!" "Ran! If..." Lin Ran: "Hush now! Love me more!" Luo Yao: ... Seeing his scumbag dad: "Take him out!" Seeing his stepmother: "Get rid of her!" Seeing his brother: "Eliminate him!" Seeing his white moonlight: "Send that to Southeast Asia!"
with countless casualties. As a top-tier gamer, Liu Xuan volunteered to join the fight, intending to dominate with his skills, but instead he obtained the hidden class: [Pacifist]. Unable to attack. Unable to use active skills. Fortunately, with each level gained, he acquired a new passive skill. And so, armed with a body full of passives, Liu Xuan slaughtered his way through the battlefield of ten thousand races! [You attacked Liu Xuan] [You gained the debuffs: 'Poison', 'Fear', 'Burning', 'Bleeding', 'Freeze', 'Silence', etc.] [Your attack speed has been reduced by 99%] [Your armor and magic resistance have been reduced by 99%] Warriors of the Ten Thousand Races: How the hell am I supposed to fight this?!
ions, keeping it grounded and realistic】 After quitting his job, office worker Su Yang accidentally binds with the "Enjoy Life System." As the name suggests, simply by indulging in life's pleasures, he can earn random rewards from the system—no need to spend money on beautiful women or grovel before anyone. Just enjoy, and the money follows, making it all about effortless fun. The system comes with a scanning feature, allowing him to establish a favorability bond with women rated 85 points or above. Every 20-point increase in favorability unlocks additional rewards. After suffering through over twenty years of hardship, Su Yang trembles with excitement, his dull eyes suddenly gleaming with newfound hope. "Enjoy life? How hard could that be?"
he colors of other people’s emotions. Light red meant anxiety. Gray meant exhaustion. Orange meant excitement. Yellow... meant repression. At the same time, he could gain unlimited control over one of those colors. Pale cyan: relaxation. Using this ability, he started offering “two-yuan hugs,” spending an afternoon exchanging emotional-color experiences with others. Then came his final female customer of the day— a girl whose emotional color was pure black... —— A week later, Xu Chuan had become skilled at using pale cyan—Relaxation—treating it like a bottle of menthol balm whenever he needed it. That was when he discovered he had unlocked another unlimited emotional color: Purple, the color of fear. So these emotional colors refresh every week? Fine, I take it back—I’ll never call you useless again... —— Much later, after Xu Chuan had accumulated countless emotional abilities, one night, he suddenly found himself inside someone else’s dream. There, he could use the emotional colors he possessed to paint. And in her dream, he painted her a shower of pink shooting stars, spreading across the depths of the night sky...
