Translator: Dj2203
Editor: Dj2203
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The girl’s movements were beautiful; even a layman could see her basketball skills were excellent, even surpassing many boys, second only to Ji Xiaozhuo.
Such a beautiful and talented girl naturally became the focus of everyone’s attention, resulting in a large crowd of students gathering to watch whenever Class One played basketball.
The girl’s name was Wei Jia, and she had just transferred from Beijing. She spoke fluent Beijing dialect and English, was tall and slender, with dazzlingly fair skin, and wore designer clothes. Her smile revealed two dimples, making her incredibly beautiful; even at such a young age, her future brilliance was already evident.
At twelve or thirteen, it was the age of youthful infatuation, and many children had secretly started dating. In the eyes of kids this age, dating was perfectly normal. Therefore, a girl like Wei Jia naturally attracted the attention of most boys. From the second day she arrived, love letters began appearing on her desk, increasing day by day. In less than half a month, Wei Jia became a popular figure, comparable to Ji Xiaozhuo, and even topped the school beauty list.
But Wei Jia was different from the traditional school beauty; she was not at all delicate and ladylike. On the contrary, she loved sports, was sunny and positive, and enjoyed and exceled at all the sports and games boys liked, especially basketball. Her basketball skills were exceptional; most boys were no match for her, except perhaps Ji Xiaozhuo, who could still easily defeat her.
Aside from his father, Ji Xiaozhuo rarely encountered such a worthy opponent of similar age and skill, which excited him. He used to be rather indifferent to girls other than Nuo Nuo, but after a few exhilarating games and basketball matches with Wei Jia, he no longer objected to her joining their activities. Over time, he would even actively invite her along, and naturally, she would be included in post-workout meals. From then on, their group had one more member: Wei Jia, one of only two girls besides Nuo Nuo.
Nuo Nuo was a quiet, unassuming girl, easily overlooked. In contrast, Wei Jia was completely different. She was cheerful, outgoing, and easygoing, able to blend in with everyone wherever she went, like a radiant little sun. Therefore, the group members naturally preferred Wei Jia. It wasn’t that they disliked Nuo Nuo; it was simply that Nuo Nuo was too quiet, and they didn’t know how to interact with her. Thus, Wei Jia was the true darling of the group.
Because Wei Jia was capable and had a fiery temper, somewhat similar to Ji Xiaozhuo, everyone started calling Ji Xiaozhuo “Brother Zhuo” and Wei Jia “Sister Jia,” which sounded like a couple.
However, neither of them took it seriously.
A year passed quickly, and their six years of elementary school life soon came to an end. After the elementary school graduation exam, the school organized a school-wide basketball tournament. Ji Xiaozhuo’s class was the most special team because it had the only female basketball player in the entire school, who was also the recognized school beauty. Therefore, Class One’s basketball team attracted the most attention, and of course, they were also the strongest. Under Ji Xiaozhuo’s leadership, they overcame all obstacles and won the final championship.
On the night of their victory, everyone decided to celebrate together. Besides the basketball team, the only two outsiders were Nuo Nuo and the chubby Zhu Zixiao.
The class monitor, also on the basketball team, naturally took charge of arranging the event. He booked a famous restaurant and led everyone inside in a lively atmosphere. They were about to enter junior high, and in their eyes, they were already true adults. So, someone suggested that everyone have some drinks that night. This suggestion was unanimously supported, and the class monitor immediately went and brought out two cases of beer.
The crowd cheered excitedly, grabbing bottle openers to open bottles. One of them even said, “Today’s a good day, we all have to have a drink! Nobody can refuse!”
He placed a bottle in front of Nuo Nuo and winked at her. “We’re happy tonight, Nuo Nuo, have a little too. Don’t worry, beer won’t make you drunk.”
Nuo Nuo had never touched alcohol before and had no intention of doing so. Just as she was about to wave her hand in refusal, Ji Xiaozhuo, sitting next to her, reached out and took the bottle away from Nuo Nuo. “Go away, Nuo Nuo, what’s the point of drinking alcohol? We grown men can drink, girls should drink soft drinks.”
With Ji Xiaozhuo’s words, the boys naturally dared not offer Nuo Nuo any more alcohol. When it was Wei Jia’s turn, they were about to skip her too, but Wei Jia snatched the bottle away, laughing, “I’m not that weak, I can drink. You can stop treating me like a girl.”
Hearing this, everyone clapped and cheered.
“Great, as expected of Sister Jia, you’re awesome!”
“Wow, Sister Jia, you seem to have a good tolerance for alcohol.”
“666, I’m going to have a few more drinks with Sister Jia tonight.”
Wei Jia brought the atmosphere to a fever pitch, and the private room became incredibly lively. Ji Xiaozhuo was also roused by the crowd and had to pick up his glass to drink. Seeing this, Nuo Nuo tugged at his trouser leg under the table, shook her head when he looked over, and whispered, “Brother Zhuo, we’re still young, we shouldn’t drink, drinking is bad.”
Ji Xiaozhuo smiled and patted her reassuringly, “It’s okay, beer has a low alcohol content, I’ll just have a little, I won’t get drunk.”
The others chimed in, “Yeah, yeah, beer won’t make you drunk, it’s fine!”
“Little Nuo Nuo, we’re not little anymore, we don’t need to be so obedient!”
“Nuo Nuo, be a good girl and go eat your food. I’ll buy you something delicious later!”
Wei Jia said to Nuo Nuo with a smile. “Nuo Nuo, you can’t spoil the fun! I want to have a few drinks with Ji Xiaozhuo today. I want to see if I can’t beat him in drinking.”
After saying that, Wei Jia patted Ji Xiaozhuo’s shoulder. “How about it, Ji Xiaozhuo? Dare to compete with me? I don’t believe you can outdrink me.”
Ji Xiaozhuo rolled his eyes at her. “Go away, stop talking nonsense. If you want to drink, then drink.”
“Okay, I’ve been waiting for you to say that.” Wei Jia downed a glass in one gulp.
Seeing this, Ji Xiaozhuo also drank a glass.
“Great! My brother Zhuo and sister Jia are awesome! Let’s have another one!” The people around applauded and poured more drinks for Wei Jia and Ji Xiaozhuo. Wei Jia accepted every offer, clinked glasses with Ji Xiaozhuo again, and downed another glass.
Ji Xiaozhuo pointed at her with his finger, “Are you crazy today?”
Wei Jia gave him a provocative look, “If you don’t want to drink, just admit defeat. I’m not forcing you.”
Ji Xiaozhuo laughed, raised his glass, and drank a cup as well.
Their actions heated up the atmosphere to a fever pitch, and everyone in the private room joined in the drinking. For a time, it was a lively scene of clinking glasses and exchanging toasts. Only Nuo Nuo and Zhu Zixiao, who was afraid of being beaten by his father and didn’t dare to drink, sat quietly without drinking.
Nuo Nuo watched Ji Xiaozhuo drink one cup after another, pursed her lips, and finally let go of his trouser leg, lowering her head.
Zhu Zixiao sat on the other side of Nuo Nuo, seeing her expression, tugged at her sleeve, gently comforting her, “Nuo Nuo, don’t take it to heart. They’re just too happy, and they’re about to leave school, so they just want to have a nice meal.”
Nuo Nuo gave a soft “Mmm,” picked up her chopsticks, and ate her meal without looking up again.
The meal lasted from 5 PM to 9 PM, and everyone was quite drunk. No one wanted to go home; they wanted to go to a karaoke bar to sing and have more fun. But Nuo Nuo checked the time and remembered that Aunt Tang Tang was waiting for them at home, so she decided to go back first. She tugged at Ji Xiaozhuo, whose face was flushed and clearly a little drunk, “Xiaozhuo, let’s go home first. Auntie is waiting for us.”
Ji Xiaozhuo thought for a moment and was about to agree when Wei Jia suddenly pounced on him from behind, drunkenly clinging to his arm, slurring, “Don’t run away! You promised to stay until the end! Whoever goes back on their word is a dog!”
Ji Xiaozhuo had indeed said he would stay until the end, and remembering he couldn’t break his promise, he lowered his head and discussed with Nuo Nuo, “Nuo Nuo, let’s just go play for a little while, and then go home in an hour, okay?”
Nuo Nuo frowned. She didn’t want to go to a karaoke bar at all; she didn’t like that place.
Seeing that Ji Xiaozhuo still wasn’t leaving, Wei Jia grabbed his hand and pulled him to the other side, “Come on, come on, what are you dawdling for?”
Nuo Nuo stared at their clasped hands, her eyes darkening. She then looked up at Ji Xiaozhuo and said softly, “Brother Xiaozhuo, I need to go back first. I want to go back and rest.”
Ji Xiaozhuo was being urged to leave by Wei Jia and the others, and Nuo Nuo wanted to go back. Just as he was in a dilemma, he saw Zhu Zixiao standing next to Nuo Nuo and had a flash of inspiration. He then said to him, “Fatty, you take Nuo Nuo back and make sure she’s safe. If she loses even a single hair, I’ll hold you responsible!”
Zhu Zixiao looked at Nuo Nuo and nodded in agreement.
As Ji Xiaozhuo was being dragged away by Wei Jia, he turned back and waved to Nuo Nuo, “Nuo Nuo, you go back first. I’ll be back in a bit.”
Nuo Nuo neither nodded nor shook her head, just stood quietly watching them walk away until they were out of sight, still motionless.
Zhu Zixiao scratched his head, took the schoolbag from Nuo Nuo’s back, and said, “Nuo Nuo, let’s go back.”
Nuo Nuo remained silent for a long time before softly humming in agreement, then turned and went back with him.
That evening, when he got home, Ji Xiaozhuo didn’t see Nuo Nuo. Seeing that it was dark through the crack in her door, he muttered, “She went to sleep so early, she didn’t even wait for me. Oh well, I won’t bother her.”
The next day was the official start of summer vacation, and there was no need to go to school. Ji Xiaozhuo slept until the sun was high in the sky before getting up for lunch. Tang Tang poked his forehead and scolded him, “Don’t stay out so late next time you go out to play. You need to have a regular schedule. You’re all growing, you can’t stay up late and wake up late.”
Ji Xiaozhuo smiled ingratiatingly at Tang Tang, “I know, my beautiful mom, I won’t do it again. Last night was an exception.”
Tang Tang knew he knew his limits, so she didn’t say anything more and just served them some soup.
Nuo Nuo kept her head down while eating. Seeing that she hadn’t spoken, Ji Xiaozhuo asked her, “Nuo Nuo, did you go to bed so early last night?”
Nuo Nuo hummed in response.
“Oh, then come with me this afternoon. Yesterday, we planned going ice skating today, I’ll take you.”
Nuo Nuo looked up and asked him, “Who’s going?”
“Just Dawei, Monkey, and Wei Jia.”
Nuo Nuo lowered her head. “I’m not going, I want to stay home and read.”
“Don’t go! It’s only summer vacation, go out and relax! You’ll be so bored staying home all day.”
Nuo Nuo still shook her head. “I don’t really like ice skating, I’m not bored reading at home.”
Seeing that Nuo Nuo really didn’t want to go out, Tang Tang said, “Nuo Nuo likes quiet. If she doesn’t want to go out, then she doesn’t have to.”
Ji Xiaozhuo sighed and ruffled Nuo Nuo’s hair. “Alright then, I’ll just have to go by myself.”
The author has something to say:
Ji Xiaozhuo also had a chuunibyou phase. His various self-destructive antics during this phase are depicted in a later, tearful novel, much happier.
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