Chapter 36: The Premier Choice for Home

“Lin Lin!” Only then did Zuo Wenyu notice Lin Lin standing by the court. His heart surged with fervor as he forced a smile and squeezed his way to her side.

This entire basketball game and its accompanying wager had been orchestrated by Zuo Wenyu, and more than half his motivation was Lin Lin herself.

Yet his enthusiasm met only coldness. Lin Lin glanced at him with clear distaste, then moved to stand on the other side of Hua Tianyu, deliberately avoiding him.

Lin Lin despised him. He was the son of a department head at Shangjiang Jianhe University, who had used his father’s connections to scrape his way into college. Normally, he and Lin Lin would never have crossed paths, but after a university mixer, he’d met her and was instantly smitten, soon beginning to pester her endlessly.

But he was a notorious good-for-nothing, swaggering about campus with impunity. He’d toyed with several girls, and each time his father had intervened to cover things up. He was the type to get a girl pregnant and not even pay for an abortion.

At first, his harassment was confined to campus, but then, somehow, he found out about Xingyu Bar. From then on, he often led his clique from the university’s sports department to the bar, plaguing Lin Lin with his presence.

Seeing Lin Lin avoiding him, Zuo Wenyu stubbornly closed the distance again, circling around to her other side, refusing to be shaken off.

“Zuo Wenyu, can you just stay away from me? This isn’t Shangjiang Jianhe University—your father’s influence doesn’t reach me here!” Lin Lin’s patience snapped as he clung to her like a piece of gum.

“Fine, I’ll keep my distance. But sooner or later, I’ll have plenty of chances to pin you down,” Zuo Wenyu sneered. “Let me tell you a little secret: Director Qian from your university? He’s my father’s old buddy. Haha!”

Then he turned to the cluster of Shangjiang College players. “Now you’ve got two choices: lose to us and perform ‘Conquest’ in drag, or…” He pointed at Lin Lin. “She agrees to be my girlfriend!”

It was a cunning move—by shifting the stakes from the players to Lin Lin and her classmates, Zuo Wenyu had set a trap.

If Lin Lin refused and they lost, the humiliation of cross-dressing and singing would be her fault. If she agreed, he’d achieve his true goal.

“Zuo Wenyu, have you no shame?” Du Xinghao snapped, unable to hold back at Zuo Wenyu’s smug face.

Squinting his injured eye, Du Xinghao jabbed a finger at the unfamiliar players on Jianhe’s team. “Besides you and Bao Hongwen, are those other three really from your university? They’re clearly pros!”

There were only a handful of universities in Shangjiang, even fewer with athletic departments, so the various colleges’ sports circles were quite familiar with one another. According to their prior knowledge, Jianhe University’s sports team shouldn’t have been a match for Shangjiang College’s, so Du Xinghao and his friends had accepted the bet in good spirits, expecting a fair game.

But as soon as the match began, they noticed three unfamiliar faces—faces that played at a professional level, clearly having undergone proper training.

“Du Xinghao, did we ever agree not to bring in ringers?” Zuo Wenyu retorted with a sly grin.

Du Xinghao faltered. Thinking carefully, he realized they really hadn’t—only the wager and the match itself had been discussed, not the specific players.

But it was meant to be a contest between sports departments—who would have expected them to pull a stunt like this?

“Du Xinghao, we even brought you costumes—lace lingerie, stockings, nurse outfits, office wear, not a thing missing!” Bao Hongwen crowed gleefully from the sidelines.

“What size did you bring?” someone jeered.

“D-cup, of course! If you’re going to give people an eyeful, make it worth their while!”

“Gotta hand it to your cunning!”

The professional ringers joined in the heckling.

Zuo Wenyu watched his teammates banter with satisfaction. Once the laughter died down, he turned to Du Xinghao. “Don’t say I didn’t give you a chance. Convince Lin Lin to be my girlfriend, and you won’t have to wear lace or stockings.”

“Lin Lin, maybe… maybe you should just agree?” Even some of Shangjiang College’s own players hesitated. Singing ‘Conquest’ in drag was one thing, but if anyone from the university saw them, their reputations would be ruined. And really, if Lin Lin agreed, what harm would it do? College relationships weren’t unusual—she could just break up with him tomorrow!

“Get lost!” That single word was Lin Lin’s answer.

“And if you lose?” Hua Tianyu suddenly spoke, his tone unhurried.

Normally, he wouldn’t care—just a few college students making a wager, singing a song in drag, nothing to do with him.

But Zuo Wenyu kept dragging Lin Lin into the firing line, and that, he could not ignore.

“Lose? Us?” Zuo Wenyu had already noticed Hua Tianyu, and judging by Lin Lin’s attitude, their relationship was anything but ordinary.

He’d disliked Hua Tianyu from the start.

“With those five losers? Are you suggesting you’ll join them? Bao Hongwen, tell him—what’s the difference between five losers and six?” Zuo Wenyu sneered.

“One more loser, what else? Even I can do that math,” Bao Hongwen scoffed, sizing up Hua Tianyu.

“Hey, kid! Try going up against him,” the tallest of Jianhe’s players, Fan Hao, pointed at Du Xinghao. “He got blocked by me five times. You’re even shorter than him, aren’t you? Not even one-eighty? I could block you without jumping, believe it?”

“Fan Hao, be careful—you might knock him down when you block him. He’ll probably try to get compensation out of you! Seen plenty of pretty weaklings like him,” another teammate jeered.

The Jianhe players dismissed Hua Tianyu with utter contempt.

Hearing their brazen ridicule, Lin Lin felt a twinge of worry. She hadn’t been present at Xingyu Bar the last time—she’d only heard secondhand that Hua Tianyu seemed formidable, but hearsay was never the same as seeing for oneself. She figured Tian Li had exaggerated, trying to make her man sound all the more impressive.

And this was basketball, not a fight. Even if Hua Tianyu was tough in a brawl, could he handle a basketball game?

Still, Lin Lin was not the type to be cowed easily—otherwise, she and Tian Li wouldn’t have been able to keep Xingyu Bar in check.

Striding forward on her long legs, she jabbed a finger at Zuo Wenyu, shouting, “A toad lusting after a swan? Me, your girlfriend? Dream on! And if you call us losers again, watch your mouth or I’ll slap you myself!”

Lin Lin was furious—Zuo Wenyu had gone way too far this time.