Chapter 14: Where Is the White Rabbit?

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Xia Chiyi could not resist leaping onto Zhou Zhexiao’s back. He bounced heavily a couple of times, but Zhou Zhexiao’s powerful core strength allowed him to keep moving steadily even with Xia Chiyi clinging to him.

“Zhou Zhexiao, I never realized you were such a master of inspirational life advice!”

Zhou Zhexiao turned his face slightly. The tip of his nose was very close to Xia Chiyi’s cheek, as though it might brush against the soft, fine down there.

“I thought you were the master of inspirational life advice.”

“Huh?” Xia Chiyi looked completely baffled.

Hadn’t all my attempts at encouragement ended in failure? Du He only fell for your high-class, sophisticated approach.

Ye Chaoying stretched and called out, “Stop wasting time! Our next target—Shuai Bei!”

They took a ride-hailing car to Ningchang City’s commercial center. As they passed a gleaming office building, Ye Chaoying pointed at an abstract logo and said, “That photography studio is in there.”

“The staff won’t let us in, will they?”

“Of course we’re not going inside. Xia Chiyi, use that clever brain of yours. What kind of shop near an office building is most popular with white-collar workers?”

“...A coffee shop?”

“Bingo!”

The car stopped in front of a coffee shop whose sign read “Fancy Coffee.”

The three of them went inside and sat by the window.

It was not yet lunchtime, so the café was nearly empty, making the three of them especially conspicuous.

Ye Chaoying had chosen a seat with a perfect view of the people entering and leaving the office building.

Xia Chiyi was speechless. “Are we waiting here like a rabbit waiting beside a stump? What if Shuai Bei doesn’t show up even after we sit here all day?”

We might as well find his roommate. The moment he returned to the dorm, we would be notified.

...Assuming he still went back to the dorm.

“Trust my intelligence. He’s sure to show up today,” Ye Chaoying declared confidently.

Xia Chiyi threw his head back and sighed. “You really should quit basketball and become a paparazzo. You’d have a much brighter future.”

Each of them ordered a coffee. Ye Chaoying asked for a mocha, while Xia Chiyi ordered a White Rabbit latte. The two of them turned to Zhou Zhexiao, who answered lifelessly, “Iced Americano.”

Xia Chiyi took out his phone and demonstrated to Zhou Zhexiao how to scan the code and place an order.

“Like this. Open WeChat’s scanner and point it at the QR code on the table.” Xia Chiyi glanced at Zhou Zhexiao to make sure he was paying attention.

Zhou Zhexiao nodded.

“The menu’s appeared. See the plus sign?”

“Mm.”

“After adding it to the cart, tap here to pay.”

Zhou Zhexiao nodded again. The slightly curled bangs over his forehead swayed gently. Though his face remained expressionless, he was so obedient that Xia Chiyi wanted to ruffle his hair.

Propping his chin on one hand, Ye Chaoying watched the scene in bewilderment. “Zhou Zhexiao, are you this well-behaved when you play basketball too?”

“He plays like a tyrant. Two days ago, he beat Gao Qing from the provincial team until her legs went weak and she collapsed onto the floor. She nearly wet herself!” Xia Chiyi said.

Ye Chaoying laughed. “I don’t believe you.”

Zhou Zhexiao asked, “Does it matter whether you believe him or not?”

Ye Chaoying nodded. “Fine. I’m the clown.”

Xia Chiyi handed the phone back to Ye Chaoying, and Ye Chaoying suddenly realized what had happened. “You used my phone to teach him how to order?”

“Of course. That’s why I’m giving it back so you can enter the password.”

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Ye Chaoying: “...”

Not only was I the clown—I was also the one getting taken advantage of.

After a while, their coffees arrived.

Zhou Zhexiao tilted his head and stared at Xia Chiyi’s mug. It looked like an ordinary latte.

“Where’s the White Rabbit?”

“Hm?” Xia Chiyi had just lifted the mug to drink when Zhou Zhexiao’s question made him laugh.

He held the mug out in front of Zhou Zhexiao, his eyes glinting with amusement. “Take a sip. Maybe you’ll find a White Rabbit in the latte.”

Zhou Zhexiao shook his head, his expression clearly saying that he did not believe him.

“You really won’t drink it? Then I’ll drink the White Rabbit myself.”

Only then did Zhou Zhexiao lean forward. He clasped Xia Chiyi’s wrist with one hand. His fingers were so long that they could encircle Xia Chiyi’s wrist bone.

With a touch of stubbornness, he moved the other man’s cup back in front of himself and took a sip.

“Well? Isn’t it better than an iced Americano?”

“Where’s the White Rabbit?” Zhou Zhexiao continued asking.

Xia Chiyi’s smile widened. He leaned closer and studied Zhou Zhexiao’s bewildered eyes. “This latte has the flavor of White Rabbit milk candy! Can’t you taste it? It’s more fragrant than ordinary milk, and it leaves a sweet feeling in your heart.”

Only then did Zhou Zhexiao remember that there was apparently a kind of milk candy in China called White Rabbit.

“So this is a milk-candy-flavored latte. It has nothing to do with the color of any rabbit.”

“That’s right.” Xia Chiyi nodded and took a large sip.

He had forgotten that it was the spot where Zhou Zhexiao had drunk.

Zhou Zhexiao opened his mouth. He had wanted to remind him, but what came out instead was, “It’s high in calories. You’d have to run for at least twenty minutes to burn it off.”

Xia Chiyi casually patted him on the shoulder. “Come on, we’re only eighteen. Our metabolism is excellent.”

Zhou Zhexiao lowered his head and took a sip of his iced Americano. The moment the cold liquid touched his tongue, a wave of bitterness rushed up into his head, and his brows unconsciously drew together.

Xia Chiyi noticed that fleeting reaction. He took Zhou Zhexiao’s iced Americano and pushed his own latte toward him.

“When I was in elementary school, I’d get depressed whenever I didn’t score a perfect hundred on a test. Then I’d hide in my room and fish White Rabbit candies out of the jar. Later, I ruined my teeth eating them, so my mother put a seal on the candy jar. When Sheng Xingming died, I curled up in my blanket and cried. My mother bought another jar of White Rabbit candies to comfort me...”

At the mention of Sheng Xingming, Xia Chiyi’s heart tightened. Then he fell silent.

“Did it work?”

“No.”

When he did poorly on an exam, one piece of candy could make him feel better.

But when Sheng Xingming died, all the White Rabbit candies in the world could not stop Xia Chiyi’s tears.

Zhou Zhexiao glanced at Xia Chiyi and poured some of the White Rabbit latte into his iced Americano.

“That should do it. Even the most bitter coffee will have the sweetness of White Rabbit candy now,” Zhou Zhexiao said.

Although he had not mentioned Sheng Xingming at all, Xia Chiyi was inexplicably comforted.

Ye Chaoying tapped his fingers twice against the tabletop. “Hey, I’m still alive. I’m still sitting right here. I’m not invisible. This is coffee for three people, so why am I the unnecessary one?”

“Order a pistachio Starbucks drink and you won’t be unnecessary,” Xia Chiyi said.

“Should I get tiramisu and macarons too?”

“Sure!”

“Lie down and go to sleep right now. You can have anything in your dreams.” Ye Chaoying rolled his eyes dramatically.

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Another half hour passed. They had finished their coffee, and Zhou Zhexiao had taken Xia Chiyi’s phone. The guy was now playing a tile-matching game with great concentration.

“Zhou Zhexiao, I think you should really buy a smartphone,” Xia Chiyi sincerely advised.

Ye Chaoying nodded in agreement. “Exactly. Transportation, shopping, food delivery, entertainment—none of them are convenient without a smartphone.”

“I’m not buying one,” Zhou Zhexiao replied.

“Huh? Why not?”

“It takes up too much time.”

Xia Chiyi laughed. “So you’re afraid you won’t be able to resist the temptation of a smartphone?”

“No.”

“Then why?”

“If I bought one too, then even when we were standing right next to each other, we wouldn’t look at each other while speaking.”

Xia Chiyi froze for a moment. He remembered the first rule in Zhou Zhexiao’s care manual: human connection was an important means of helping Zhou Zhexiao recover from his post-traumatic stress disorder after the car accident.

Ye Chaoying was about to say something more, but Xia Chiyi slipped an arm around Zhou Zhexiao’s shoulders and said, “It’s fine. We’re good friends. We can use the phone together.”

“What if you fall in love someday? Won’t you use WeChat? Won’t you spend hours on the phone with your girlfriend?” Ye Chaoying asked.

Xia Chiyi shrugged. “I’m not dating anyone right now, am I?”

“What are you talking about? With that face and that body, you’re the dream guy of countless girls. Don’t you know that?”

Xia Chiyi’s eyes widened. “Really? I had no idea. How do you know?”

“For heaven’s sake, should you get your ears checked? During the high school league, couldn’t you hear all those people shouting your name?”

“Did they?”

Ye Chaoying realized that Xia Chiyi was not pretending. His clear-eyed innocence left him utterly speechless. He covered his face with one hand.

“Either marry basketball or spend the rest of your life with Zhou Zhexiao!”

Ten minutes later, accompanied by the sound effects of the matching game, Xia Chiyi collapsed face-first onto the table and fell asleep from sheer boredom.

Just as the phone was about to run out of battery, the café door opened, and a tall, well-muscled young man walked in.

He had short silver hair and wore sunglasses. His sharply defined features were striking and angular. Dressed in a loose hoodie with jingling accessories hanging around his neck, he looked both cool and fashionable.

He stopped at the counter and said, “A large hot Americano.”

Ye Chaoying immediately nudged Xia Chiyi with his elbow. Xia Chiyi’s shoulder jerked, knocking the mug beside his arm off the table. To everyone’s surprise, Zhou Zhexiao, who had been playing with the phone beside him, easily caught the mug and set it safely back down.

Those incredible athletic instincts and reflexes!

“That’s Shuai Bei,” Ye Chaoying whispered almost inaudibly.

Xia Chiyi had expected Shuai Bei to ignore them completely and leave the café, but the man came straight over and sat down opposite the three of them. He leaned back, and the sweep of his gaze made Xia Chiyi inexplicably excited.

This guy clearly knew how to fight! And in anime, anyone with silver hair was trouble.

Xia Chiyi nudged Zhou Zhexiao, urging him to put down the phone.

Zhou Zhexiao rubbed the cowlick on the crown of his head. Seeing the brightness in Xia Chiyi’s eyes, he knitted his brows slightly. From the phone came the familiar sound announcing game over.

Shuai Bei spoke first. “Cheng Qing said you might come looking for me. He also told me what you wanted. My answer is no.”

What a direct rejection.

“Why not? The school administrators will attend Friday’s game. This is a perfect opportunity for you to humiliate Ma Wenhua and let them know you’ve been treated unfairly. Last year, if—”

Ye Chaoying had not finished speaking when Shuai Bei removed his sunglasses and looked at the three of them as though they were idiots.

“You don’t actually think winning will get you a starting position, do you? The school administrators aren’t going to fire Ma Wenhua. They have no intention of offending Ma Hongming, the provincial team coach. I heard the vice principal’s son has no future in academics and plans to pursue a career in sports. He wants to become Ma Hongming’s protégé. Ma Wenhua is Ma Hongming’s cousin, so there’s no way he’ll be replaced.

“As long as Ma Wenhua remains the coach at Ningchang University, he’ll have eight hundred reasons to keep you nailed to the bench during every game. So what if you win?”