Wrong
You shot at the wrong basket.
After Lu Zhenqiu1 left, Ji Zibo2 looked at Jin Shuilan3 in confusion, frowning as she asked, “Why didn’t you tell her?”
Jin Shuilan tilted her head. “Let’s investigate the matter clearly first before we say anything.”
Ji Zibo thought for a few seconds, then asked her, “Are you afraid she won’t be able to take it right now?”
After all, she had just broken up; a relationship had just ended. Lu Zhenqiu appeared outwardly like the clouds are pale and the wind is light4, but they had no idea how deeply she had actually invested in the relationship. Besides, Lu Zhenqiu didn’t seem like a heartless person. To encounter something like this right after a breakup would be hard for anyone to accept.
She also didn’t want Lu Zhenqiu to back out now, as production on this radio drama5 was about to begin.
Ji Zibo understood. She said, “Alright then, I’ll start looking into it. I’ll let you know if I find anything.”
Jin Shuilan hummed in agreement. Watching Lu Zhenqiu enter the room with two other voice actors, her gaze darkened slightly. It’s not just that she won’t be able to take it right now. I have an even worse premonition.
Lu Zhenqiu was unaware of the conversation behind her. After entering the studio, she listened to them record. an assistant handed her a script, saying, “We’ll just be recording a few Easter eggs6 today. The first episode will be recorded tomorrow.”
“Okay.” Lu Zhenqiu nodded slightly and took the script. The two main actors were in the middle of a dialogue. She tilted her head, listening to the voices coming from the microphone, when Jin Shuilan walked in.
Lu Zhenqiu made some space, and Jin Shuilan sat down beside her. The only sounds in the quiet studio were the voices of the two leads and the occasional da-da-da sound. When the scene ended, the assistant came over to Lu Zhenqiu and said, “Zhenqiu, it’s your turn.”
“Coming.” Lu Zhenqiu stood up. She was about to place the script on her seat when Jin Shuilan naturally took it from her. Lu Zhenqiu glanced at her and smiled. “Thank you, Teacher Jin.”
Jin Shuilan nodded. “Go on.”
Ji Zibo made a tsk sound and leaned over. “You really look like someone standing guard while their wife is recording…”
Jin Shuilan shot her a look, and Ji Zibo swallowed the rest of her words. She cleared her throat and asked, sitting in front of the computer, “Are you ready?”
Lu Zhenqiu nodded at the person opposite her, and the two began to run their lines. The Easter eggs were also content from the novel. Ji Zibo had selected a few famous scenes to be recorded as excerpts. Lu Zhenqiu had read the novel several times over the past few days and had already memorized the lines from the script she’d just been given. It was her first time doing a scene with the other lead, so it took three takes to get it right. Ji Zibo said, “That’s not bad. It’ll be fine with a little more polishing.”
The main actor, Jingjing7, said, “Shall we do another take?”
Lu Zhenqiu, of course, had no objections and did another take with her. Their chemistry was much better than it had been at the start. Ji Zibo said to Jin Shuilan, “She gets into character pretty fast, huh? I was worried she wouldn’t be used to it at first.”
Jin Shuilan glanced at her and said, “She’s not you.”
Ji Zibo cried out in mock protest. Lu Zhenqiu had already returned; she rolled her chair back to the computer to continue with the next scene. They recorded until 9:30 PM, by which time all of Lu Zhenqiu’s Easter eggs were finished. Jin Shuilan patted Ji Zibo’s shoulder. “We’ll be heading back first, then.”
“Sure.” Ji Zibo turned her head. “Eight in the morning tomorrow. Don’t forget.”
Jin Shuilan replied, “Got it.”
The two of them left the studio and were walking out when they ran into Yu Wen8 and Tang Yingxia9. Tang Yingxia froze, standing rooted to the spot. She had been trying to find Lu Zhenqiu every day during this period—through friends, through the platform—but couldn’t get a single piece of news. She had no idea where she had moved. She had even tried to investigate based on the background of Lu Zhenqiu’s livestreams, asking friends, but got no replies. She thought she wouldn’t be seeing Lu Zhenqiu anytime soon, but she never expected her to emerge from the recording booth opposite them.
Oh, she did say she was voicing a part in Jin Shuilan’s radio drama. Is the booth across the way Jin Shuilan’s?
Tang Yingxia’s body tensed up. She prepared to walk toward Lu Zhenqiu, but Yu Wen called out, “God Xia10?”
“What’s wrong with God Xia?”
“Hey, isn’t that Teacher Jin?”
“It really is! So the production team across the way is Teacher Jin’s?”
Within the hushed voices was a small spark of excitement, as if seeing Jin Shuilan was a very happy event. A fire smoldered in Tang Yingxia’s heart. Her gaze met Lu Zhenqiu’s for a few seconds before Lu Zhenqiu looked away and left with Jin Shuilan. She clenched her hands and said to Yu Wen, “You take them over first. I have something to do.”
Before Yu Wen could even speak, she saw her walk toward Lu Zhenqiu and Jin Shuilan. Someone beside her asked, “Is God Xia going to find Teacher Jin?”
“I heard they played games together yesterday.”
“I never thought God Xia and Teacher Jin were on such good terms. I always thought they weren’t close.”
Yu Wen smiled, her voice gentle. “Let’s go in first, then. God Xia will be here in a bit.”
The others didn’t suspect a thing and followed her into the booth. Before going inside, Yu Wen turned to look back at Tang Yingxia.
Tang Yingxia tried to grab Lu Zhenqiu, but Lu Zhenqiu dodged her. She called out, “Qiuqiu11.”
Jin Shuilan took half a step forward, partially shielding Lu Zhenqiu’s body. Lu Zhenqiu turned her head. “Teacher Jin, could you give me five minutes?”
The three stood in a standoff. Jin Shuilan said, “Alright. I’ll wait for you in the car.”
“What are you doing going to her car?” Tang Yingxia asked the moment Jin Shuilan had walked away. “Where are you going?”
Lu Zhenqiu stood before her, watching her quietly, her gaze as cool as water. She remembered how she and Tang Yingxia used to talk on the phone for ages when they first got together. Every call could last for a very long time; chatting was a very pleasant thing. But now, even conversation had become torture.
She snapped back to her senses and said to Tang Yingxia, “Where I go doesn’t have anything to do with you, does it?”
“How does it not have anything to do with me?” Tang Yingxia’s tone was a little desperate. She had been searching for Lu Zhenqiu so hard these past few days she was about to explode from frustration, but every time she managed to get in touch, Lu Zhenqiu would hang up on her.
“You joined Jin Shuilan’s production team. Why? Are you trying to piss me off on purpose?”
Lu Zhenqiu frowned in anger and took half a step back. “Tang Yingxia, this is my job. And we’ve already broken up. Why would I need to piss you off?”
“Then what else could it be?” Tang Yingxia’s tone was hostile. “There are so many production teams, yet you just had to go to Jin Shuilan’s?”
Lu Zhenqiu’s expression darkened.
Noticing the change in her expression, Tang Yingxia softened her voice. “Qiuqiu, listen to me. I’ve already made things clear with Yu Wen. All that stuff on our Weibo in the past was just a joke, don’t take it seriously. If you really feel that insecure, I’ll publicly announce that we’re dating…”
“Publicly announce?” Lu Zhenqiu laughed with anger. “Tang Yingxia, do you think you’re a celebrity? You need to pick a time to go public with a relationship?”
Tang Yingxia was at a loss for words. “I—!”
“No need to go public.” Lu Zhenqiu’s voice was crystal clear and chilly. She said, “You’re fine just the way you are now. Keep maintaining your single persona12. Can’t we just gather well and scatter well13?”
Tang Yingxia shook her head. “What if I say, no?”
Lu Zhenqiu said coldly, “Then go public right now. Announce our two-year relationship. Say that you’ve been with me for a long time. Do you dare?”
Tang Yingxia knitted her brows. “I don’t understand why you have to get so hung up on this relationship. Can’t we just be together publicly now? Why do you have to be so fixated on the timing?”
Lu Zhenqiu gave her a deep look. The person before her had been so wonderful to her in a million ways; there were no sweet nothings they hadn’t whispered to each other over the phone. But right now, she only felt like she was looking at a stranger.
What she cared about was never the issue of timing, but the fact that Tang Yingxia had been hiding it all along.
When they first started dating, Tang Yingxia said she didn’t want others to disturb their relationship. She could understand and respect that. But she had always thought that Tang Yingxia would, one day, tell people that they had been together for a long time.
But now, looking at Tang Yingxia’s meaning, it turned out she had planned to hide it from the very beginning.
Lu Zhenqiu didn’t know what it felt like when disappointment reached its limit. Right now, she just found it all absurd, as if she had been in the most ridiculous relationship. She didn’t know whether to laugh or cry, and for a moment, she truly didn’t know how to face Tang Yingxia.
Seeing that her expression was off, Tang Yingxia called out, “Qiuqiu?”
Lu Zhenqiu took two steps back. Tang Yingxia reached out to grab her, but her wrist was seized by someone. It was as if they had pinched some kind of acupoint14; Tang Yingxia’s entire arm went numb with pain. She turned her head. Jin Shuilan was standing beside Lu Zhenqiu. “Five minutes is up,” she said.
After speaking, she flung Tang Yingxia’s hand away. Lu Zhenqiu’s complexion recovered somewhat. She said to Tang Yingxia, “I’ll tell you one last time: we’ve broken up. Don’t contact me again. If you really continue to pester me, I don’t mind telling everyone about our two-year relationship.”
Tang Yingxia’s face went white. Before she could even react, Lu Zhenqiu had already gotten into Jin Shuilan’s car. The car drove right past her. Her wrist, which Jin Shuilan had squeezed, was still aching. The pain connected to her nerves, and every corner of her body was screaming, was aching!
Her face dark and sullen, she returned to the recording booth. She hadn’t even sat down yet when she heard someone next to her say, “Who was that with Teacher Jin just now? She’s so pretty!”
“Oh, her? That’s Zhenqiu. She’s in Teacher Jin’s production, voicing Lu Yin15, I think.”
“I heard about that. So that’s Zhenqiu. I heard she had some beef with Teacher Zhen Yuan16 two years ago.”
“Doesn’t seem like it. She can still get into Teacher Jin’s production team now. And I heard that when they were playing games yesterday, Teacher Jin only joined the team because of her!”
“Wasn’t it because of God Xia?”
“Doesn’t seem like it. Xiao Yu17 asked Teacher Jin whose friend she was, and that Zhenqiu girl said it was hers.”
Listening to the whispers, Tang Yingxia’s expression grew even uglier. Recalling how the two of them had just left together, she narrowed her eyes and subconsciously looked up, gazing outside the booth.
After getting in the car, Lu Zhenqiu took a while to calm down before turning her head and saying, “Just now… thank you, Teacher Jin.”
Jin Shuilan’s tone was faint. “No need.”
Lu Zhenqiu lowered her eyes. “I didn’t expect her to…”
She didn’t expect Tang Yingxia to be so persistent, as if she couldn’t understand what she was saying. She had already made things perfectly clear. She really didn’t know what right Tang Yingxia had to say no.
Jin Shuilan glanced at her profile out of the corner of her eye and pursed her lips. “It’s understandable.”
After all, Lu Zhenqiu is so wonderful.
Unfortunately, Tang Yingxia had realized it too late. Or perhaps it wasn’t a late realization. She just wanted to sit and enjoy the fortune of the man from Qi18, her vanity was too great. But her own abilities couldn’t bring her the honor she desired, so she could only seek it from other sources.
For example, Yu Wen.
Jin Shuilan turned the steering wheel. “We’re here.”
Lu Zhenqiu looked out the window. They were at the entrance of the telecom company. Only then did she remember about changing her number; she had been so fuming mad at Tang Yingxia that she’d completely forgotten.
The two got out of the car and walked inside. As usual, the clerk first recommended some phones, asking Lu Zhenqiu, “You’ve been using this one for several years, haven’t you?”
Lu Zhenqiu said, “Three or four years.”
“Oh my, it’s time for a change then.” The clerk’s enthusiastic energy dispelled some of the earlier gloom. Lu Zhenqiu listened as the clerk introduced, “The few new models that just came in are great. Perfect for you young people. They look good, have fast internet speeds, and don’t lag when you’re playing games. Plus, there’s a special promotion going on right now.”
Lu Zhenqiu was at a loss. She had just come to change her number, how did it turn into a discussion about phones? But it was true that she’d had this phone for a long time. It had been stuttering a bit lately when she played games. Last time she played with Jin Shuilan, it had lagged for a moment, and she failed to heal her. She still felt guilty about it.
However, her funds were limited recently. She had only just arrived in Sanshui19 a week ago and wouldn’t get paid until next month. She said, “I’ll take another look in a while.”
“Oh, but our promotion is the best right now.” The clerk pushed enthusiastically. Jin Shuilan said, “Let’s change the number first.”
Lu Zhenqiu smiled and went with another clerk to handle changing her number. Jin Shuilan sat next to the counter and asked the clerk who had just been making the sales pitch, “What new models have come in recently?”
The clerk smiled. “These two models are very good.”
“Curved screen, a really beautiful design, and a large storage capacity. This one has over 500 GB of storage,” she said. “There are other colors, and versions with less storage too.”
Jin Shuilan looked down. It was a light blue phone. The design was indeed very pretty—light and very thin. She looked at the specs; all in all, they were decent. It was probably newly released, so the price was not cheap.
She looked at it for a few moments and asked, “Are there other colors?”
“There are,” the clerk said cheerfully. “There’s white, red, black, and purple, but we don’t have that many colors in stock right now…”
Jin Shuilan nodded, weighing the phone in her hand.
After a good while, Lu Zhenqiu came out from the back. Jin Shuilan walked up to her and asked, “All done?”
Lu Zhenqiu smiled. “All done.”
Jin Shuilan glanced at her expression. It was no different from before. It seemed Tang Yingxia’s appearance and words hadn’t affected her. This was a good sign. Jin Shuilan’s gaze gradually softened. The two of them walked out and headed toward the car. There was a basketball court not far away where a game seemed to be in progress. Just before they got in the car, they heard many people shouting, their voices loud and resonant. Lu Zhenqiu watched for two minutes. Jin Shuilan followed her gaze and asked, “You like basketball?”
“Me?” Lu Zhenqiu said. “It’s alright. I think it looks pretty cool.”
It was indeed very cool—the body leaping into the air, taut with power. Jin Shuilan nodded. “Let’s get in the car.”
Lu Zhenqiu got into the car. She was fiddling with her phone, sending her new number to her friends one by one. She also called her mother. It was the first time Jin Shuilan had heard her call her mom, and she even held her breath.
“Yeah, I moved. It’s nice,” Lu Zhenqiu said. “Is your—is my brother doing okay?”
Lu Zhenqiu lowered her eyes, her hand pressing on the edge of her bag, her fingertips slightly white. She kept fiddling with the creases on the bag’s trim while listening to the voice on the phone. After a short while, she said, “Okay, this will be my number from now on. Mmm.”
Less than two minutes later, she hung up the phone.
When they stopped at a red light, Jin Shuilan finally turned her head. “You have a younger brother?”
“Mmm,” Lu Zhenqiu said. “He’s pretty cute.”
Jin Shuilan pondered for a few seconds. “Do you go back to see him often?”
Lu Zhenqiu’s expression changed slightly, looking a bit awkward. Her gaze didn’t meet Jin Shuilan’s; instead, she turned her head to look out the window. A few seconds later, she said, “No.”
After her mother remarried, she rarely went over. It was because her stepfather didn’t like her very much, or rather, he didn’t like her mother’s past. Before she left that city, her stepfather had given her a sum of money, hoping that she wouldn’t come back so often in the future.
Lu Zhenqiu could have argued her case, but when she saw the shadow under the crack of the door, all the words got stuck in her throat. Her mother was right outside the door and knew what her stepfather was saying.
Perhaps it wasn’t just her stepfather who wanted to break from the past, but her mother as well.
Later, she had a younger brother. She only went back once on the day he was born and never went back again after that. Her contact with her mother had been on and off, but in her heart, her mother was the one who raised her. That’s why she contacted her mother the first thing after changing her number.
Jin Shuilan didn’t say anything. The light turned green, and she stepped on the gas, the car heading toward the residential complex.
It was just past ten when they arrived downstairs. After they went up, Lu Zhenqiu was about to take off her jacket to make lunch when Jin Shuilan said, “Go change your clothes.”
Lu Zhenqiu was slightly taken aback. “Huh?”
Jin Shuilan took off her gold-rimmed glasses, her gaze softening considerably. She said, “Go change into some sportswear.”
Lu Zhenqiu didn’t understand, but she did as she was told. She went back to her room and changed into a sportswear set that was light and casual. When she came out, she saw that Jin Shuilan had also changed into a pale yellow sportswear set. She had even tied her hair into a ponytail and was wearing a light gray headband across her forehead. Instantly, her whole aura was completely different from just now—brimming with youth and vitality. Lu Zhenqiu felt like she was standing in front of a university student. She never thought Jin Shuilan had this side to her. It was quite a surprise, and she couldn’t help but stare a little longer.
Jin Shuilan asked, “What’s wrong?”
She touched her face. She had just removed her makeup and only applied a bit of sunscreen. Lu Zhenqiu said, “Nothing. I just think Teacher Jin looks… very young like this.”
Jin Shuilan frowned. “Am I not young normally?”
Lu Zhenqiu shook her head. “No, you just look even younger now.”
Jin Shuilan pursed her lips, took another headband from her wrist, and handed it to Lu Zhenqiu. Lu Zhenqiu was momentarily stunned. “What’s this?”
“A headband.” It was light gray and looked to be the same model as Jin Shuilan’s. Lu Zhenqiu had never actually used one before. She took it in her hand, preparing to slip it over her head, but Jin Shuilan beat her to it, lifting her hair and saying, “You have to tie all your hair up.”
She handed Lu Zhenqiu a hair tie, and Lu Zhenqiu quickly tied her hair back in a few motions. The two stood face to face. Lu Zhenqiu asked, “Are we going for a run?”
Jin Shuilan smiled. “We’re going to play basketball.”
Lu Zhenqiu was slightly startled. “Teacher Jin knows how to play basketball?”
Jin Shuilan said as she walked, “Not very well. It’s good for venting energy.”
She asked Lu Zhenqiu, “You don’t know how at all?”
Lu Zhenqiu replied, “I learned how to shoot back in high school.”
As she spoke, she made a shooting posture, raising both hands and tossing them upward, revealing a taut waistline and a flat stomach. Jin Shuilan unintentionally glanced at the fair skin. She squeezed her bag and nodded. “Then you’re probably better than me. You can teach me later.”
Lu Zhenqiu said, “Sure.”
She asked Jin Shuilan, “Where are we going to play?”
Jin Shuilan said, “The stadium in the city center.”
You didn’t have to buy basketballs there; they were provided by the stadium. Jin Shuilan often came here during university and was very familiar with it. However, this stadium was only open to students, requiring a student ID to enter.
She parked the car. Lu Zhenqiu got out of the passenger seat and saw that Jin Shuilan was still carrying her bag. “Teacher Jin, are you taking your bag inside?”
Jin Shuilan glanced down at her bag, thought of its contents, and nodded. “Let’s go in.”
Lu Zhenqiu didn’t suspect a thing and followed Jin Shuilan inside. There was a security guard at the entrance. Jin Shuilan said something to him, and the guard looked at her, then at Lu Zhenqiu, and agreed to let them in.
Inside, there was a basketball court, a soccer field, and some equipment usually used for competitions. Lu Zhenqiu said, “What did you just say to him?”
Jin Shuilan turned her head. “I said we’re students from the nearby university, we didn’t bring our student IDs, and asked if we could come in.”
Lu Zhenqiu was astonished. “That works?”
Jin Shuilan saw her completely serious expression and was amused. She’s so easy to fool, isn’t she? Then her gaze softened. It’s because she’s so easy to fool that she was deceived by someone for so long.
A faint, sharp pain rose in Jin Shuilan’s chest. She called out, “Zhenqiu.”
Lu Zhenqiu replied, “Huh?”
Jin Shuilan smiled. “It’s nothing. Let’s go in.”
Lu Zhenqiu nodded.
The two entered the basketball court. It was noon, so there weren’t many people, just two girls in short-sleeved school uniforms playing basketball. Lu Zhenqiu and Jin Shuilan walked over, and they got a basketball out. Jin Shuilan passed it to Lu Zhenqiu. Lu Zhenqiu leaped up, and the ball fell into the basket. Lu Zhenqiu turned her head and said, “I made it! I made it!”
The commotion from the two of them attracted the attention of the two girls on the other side. They walked over, holding their basketball. The taller girl’s eyes lit up when she saw Lu Zhenqiu. She said to the slightly shorter girl beside her, “Hey, she’s so pretty. Which school is she from?”
The girl beside her shook her head. “I don’t know. The one next to her is also really good-looking. The visuals on these two are insane!”
The two of them whispered to each other. The taller girl naturally walked over to Lu Zhenqiu and called out, “Classmate, are you from a school nearby?”
Lu Zhenqiu turned her head and saw the two students from before. They had rather delicate features, faces covered in fine beads of sweat, and their smiles were sunny and cute. She said, “I’m not a student. I’ve already graduated.”
The taller girl said, “That’s fine too. Want to play a game?”
Lu Zhenqiu looked at Jin Shuilan and saw the latter smile at her, as if it was a casual suggestion. Lu Zhenqiu said, “Sorry, I’m not very good.”
“It’s fine,” the shorter girl said. “I’m not good either. I just started learning. How about we play 2-on-2?”
Lu Zhenqiu had no choice but to nod. “Okay.”
The four of them stood in the middle of the basketball court.
The taller girl was clearly very good. She dribbled the ball and zipped right past Lu Zhenqiu. Lu Zhenqiu was still in a daze when she saw her dribble the ball a few steps to the hoop, her body jumping up. Then, another figure also jumped up and directly blocked the shot that was about to go in!
So cool! Lu Zhenqiu’s eyes were filled with admiration!
Then a voice shouted, “Zhenqiu!”
Lu Zhenqiu snapped back to her senses and saw that Jin Shuilan had thrown the basketball to her! The shorter girl beside her tried to snatch the ball, but Lu Zhenqiu hugged the ball, sidestepped her, then took half a step to the side, and jumped straight up to shoot!
She didn’t know how to play basketball, but her shooting was pretty steady. In the past, she could make eight out of ten shots. But it had been a long time since she had touched a basketball. She was just testing her arm just now and hadn’t gotten the feel for it yet. She wasn’t sure if it would go in.
Lu Zhenqiu’s heart was pounding with nervousness!
Under the gazes of all four, the ball hit the rim, then spun around, and went into the basket. Lu Zhenqiu was instantly thrilled. She walked over to Jin Shuilan, her smiling eyes curving into crescents. “Teacher Jin! I made it!”
Seeing her so happy, Jin Shuilan replied with a hum. Lu Zhenqiu said, “Wasn’t that amazing?”
Like a child waiting for praise, Jin Shuilan said sincerely, “Very amazing.”
Lu Zhenqiu was happy now.
Then she saw the two girls opposite them also laughing so hard they couldn’t stand up straight. She looked at Jin Shuilan and whispered, “What are they laughing at?”
Jin Shuilan paused for a moment before replying, “You shot at the wrong basket.”
The author has something to say:
Thirty red packets, mwah.20
Lu Zhenqiu: I’m so amazing, praise me!
Jin Shuilan: Mmm, wifey is the most amazing. Even when you shoot at the wrong basket, you’re the most amazing.
Lu Zhenqiu: …
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