"Nice shot, let's go again."
As Lin Yi completed a layup, the younger students playing basketball with him cheered in approval.
Yu Shanshan sat on the sidelines with a faint smile at the corners of her lips.
Earlier, when Jiang Manni came out of the cafeteria, she had asked Lin Yi straight out for his school uniform, giving the excuse that the ground was cold.
Lin Yi simply took off his uniform jacket and handed it to her, and words couldn't even describe the look on Jiang Manni's face at that moment.
Honestly, Yu Shanshan half-doubted the taste of all the girls in the school; Lin Yi didn't look a bit worse than Qiyue, except that his hairstyle was a bit lame.
She wasn't too fond of Qiyue's type—too delicate, looking almost like a sissy. She still preferred someone more masculine, and athletic guys were pretty good too.
Lin Yi was feeling great right now; he hadn't played ball in a long time.
The bright smiles on the faces of the younger students—that carefree feeling was something only those who had lost it could truly understand.
Perhaps because Yu Shanshan was sitting on the sidelines, several of the younger players put extra effort into their game. One tall boy even tried to dunk, but not only did he miss the rim entirely, he nearly crashed to the ground.
"You alright?"
Lin Yi hurried over.
"I'm fine."
The younger student cast a stealthy glance at Yu Shanshan, and seeing that she was looking down at her phone, he let out a secret sigh of relief.
"You really need to practice properly, or how are you going to pick up girls? Watch my moves closely."
Lin Yi prepared to demonstrate for the younger boys.
One step.
Two steps.
Three steps.
Jump.
Clang—
"Damn, awesome!"
"Do it again!"
Seeing Lin Yi effortlessly complete a dunk, the younger boys were thrilled.
"Did you learn that?"
Lin Yi tossed the basketball back to the tall student, figuring he should be fine.
"Let me try."
The boy scrambled up quickly, a look of eager anticipation on his face.
Playfulness, chasing each other—this was what youth was supposed to look like.
"Get away from me, you stink."
Yu Shanshan wrinkled her nose in utter disgust.
"My clothes..."
Looking at the crumpled school uniform in his hands, Lin Yi was utterly speechless.
Yu Shanshan didn't say a word; not only had she sat on Lin Yi's uniform, but she had also eaten all his snacks.
"I'm heading back first. Thanks for the lunch."
Yu Shanshan gave a casual greeting, and the moment she stepped into the classroom, she felt Jiang Manni's gaze on her, causing her to smile inwardly.
After coming out of the cafeteria earlier, Jiang Manni had desperately wanted to text Lin Yi, but was thwarted by not having her phone with her.
Yu Shanshan clearly didn't have good intentions, and he had to warn Lin Yi.
"When on earth did you and Yu Shanshan get to know each other?"
Out on the playground just now, Wu Zheng had tried striking up a conversation with Yu Shanshan, but she had completely ignored him. Having made a fool of himself, he simply went back to the classroom.
"This morning."
Lin Yi wiped the sweat from his forehead. He had to admit, an eighteen-year-old body was fantastic; after running wild all through lunch, he didn't feel tired at all.
"Then you two are moving awfully fast."
Wu Zheng felt rather sorry for Lin Yi. The college entrance exam was right around the corner, so even if sparks were flying, it was pointless.
"You're overthinking it."
Lin Yi smiled faintly. Although Yu Shanshan had a decent personality, he had nothing else on his mind.
Going by the trajectory of his past life, Yu Shanshan was bound to take the art exams and would eventually become a major star.
He wasn't even confident about passing the college entrance exams right now, so he certainly didn't dare entertain any wild fantasies.
Why couldn't he get a cheat code?
Every other transmigrator got some kind of cheat, but not him. How unfair, he almost wanted to cry.
The pace in the third year of high school was fast, and sure enough, there was another test that afternoon. Luckily, it was his favorite subject, Chinese, so he was in the clear.
During the college entrance exam in his past life, he had scored 137 in Chinese, so he still had a bit of a foundation to fall back on.
The only sound in the classroom was the rustle of pen tips scratching against paper, and Lin Yi gradually immersed himself in the atmosphere of the exam.
Time flew by.
The moment the bell rang to end the school day, many students let out a sigh of relief—they had managed to slog through yet another day.
"Let's go. What are you dawdling for?"
Wu Zheng urged impatiently.
"You go ahead, I need to pack up some things."
Lin Yi put all his math test papers into his backpack. With barely a month left, he really had to step it up.
"Oh, then I'm off."
Wu Zheng bolted out the door; his guild was opening up a new raid dungeon tonight, and their chief MT couldn't afford to be late.
"Lin Yi."
A voice rang out from the classroom doorway.
"You go on ahead."
Lin Yi paused his movements. He didn't even need to look to know it was Jiang Manni.
Even though the events of his past life hadn't happened yet, it was really hard for him to harbor any good feelings toward Jiang Manni and Qiyue.
Even leaving aside the things that hadn't happened, if they wanted to date, they could just date—did they have to keep it a secret from him?
Perhaps Yu Shanshan was right; he was just a "tool" to be used.
"Hurry up."
Jiang Manni sounded somewhat impatient. Ordinarily, if Lin Yi had spoken to her like that, she would have already left, but today was different.
"You go first."
Lin Yi continued packing.
Jiang Manni's lips moved. Didn't they always walk home together before?
What was wrong with Lin Yi today?
"Excuse me, let me pass—"
A voice sounded from behind her. Jiang Manni turned around and saw the face she loathed beyond measure.
"Lin Yi, how much longer are you going to be?"
Yu Shanshan was wearing a baseball cap with a Pikachu pattern on it, which, paired with her delicate facial features, gave her a playful and adorable look.
"I'll be done in a second. Do you need something?"
Lin Yi couldn't help smiling. It seemed Yu Shanshan really loved Pikachu; even her WeChat profile picture was Pikachu.
"Let's walk home together."
Yu Shanshan walked toward Lin Yi, thinking to herself, *Heh, aren't you just furious?*
"Then wait for me a moment."
Lin Yi didn't refuse.
"Okay! Take your time packing, I'm not in a rush."
A flicker of amusement danced in Yu Shanshan's eyes.
"Shall the two of us go ahead?"
Qiyue asked.
As soon as he spoke, Jiang Manni felt even more irritated. Why should she be the one to leave first?!
"Lin Yi, do you really have to make us both wait for you?"
Jiang Manni said crossly.
"I still have things to do, you two go ahead."
Lin Yi looked at Jiang Manni, while Qiyue behind her was automatically ignored. When it came down to it, he and Qiyue had no real friendship to speak of.
"Brilliant—"
Yu Shanshan bit back her laughter with great effort; she just loved this scene.
Instantly, Jiang Manni's expression changed. She hadn't expected Lin Yi to say something like that.
"Then let's go."
No trace of emotion could be seen on Qiyue's face. With that, he turned and walked away.
Jiang Manni hurried after him, but before leaving, she didn't forget to glare fiercely at Yu Shanshan. Lin Yi had been perfectly fine yesterday, so this must be the handiwork of that bitch making trouble.
"They're already gone."
Lin Yi picked up his backpack and walked straight toward the exit of the classroom.
"Huh?"
Yu Shanshan was momentarily caught off guard.
"You said they were treating me like a tool, but aren't you doing the exact same thing? Although I don't know what kind of conflict you two have, this feeling of being used is really unpleasant."
Lin Yi stopped in his tracks and looked straight into Yu Shanshan's eyes without blinking.
"..."
Yu Shanshan lowered her head. Lin Yi's gaze was so sincere that it left her somewhat at a loss.
She had only wanted to rile up Jiang Manni—who told her to go running to the teachers with gossip?
"I'm leaving."
Seeing Yu Shanshan's guilty conscience written all over her face, Lin Yi knew his guess was right.
Yu Shanshan's lips moved as if she wanted to say something, but until Lin Yi walked out of the classroom, she couldn't manage to get the words out.