Chapter 30

“Instructor…”

The person coming against the flow of people from the other side of the crosswalk was tall and slim, standing over six feet tall, half a head taller than those around him. His short black hair was neat and sharp at the temples.

Unlike his usual camouflage military uniform, he was wearing a casual white and blue jersey.

At this moment, he didn’t look like a soldier or an instructor. He looked more like a regular college student, dressed in a jersey, ready to play a game.

His long, narrow eyes held a familiar coolness. An almost imperceptible aura of keeping strangers at a distance surrounded him, automatically creating a space around him.

As he approached, Li Jiao stood amidst the crowd, quietly watching him.

In her chest, where her heart was, the sound of its beating was unusually loud and rapid.

So, there really is a feeling called… heart-throbbing.

Li Jiao thought that if this were a TV drama, it would be an incredibly classic scene.

The male lead slowly approaches, the scene starts to play in slow motion, and romantic music begins to play. The surrounding crowd blurs, the female lead looks up, and the two gaze at each other for a long time…

At this moment, Li Jiao especially wanted to call Gu Pingping and tell her to wake up and come back!

Open your tiny eyes a sliver and take a good look!!

My instructor is a million times more handsome than yours!!!

Lost in thought, Zhang Jiuling was already almost in front of Li Jiao. She hurriedly dodged into the crowd, brushing past him.

After snapping back to reality, Li Jiao wondered why she had dodged.

Shouldn’t she actively try to get noticed by the instructor so he will remember her?

Pig brain.

Turning around, Zhang Jiuling had already crossed the crosswalk, turned a corner, and walked down another street.

The green light was about to turn red, emitting a “ding, ding” sound.

On the crosswalk, only Li Jiao remained. A car honked at her to remind her to move.

Looking in the direction Zhang Jiuling had gone, Li Jiao was resolute and ran after him.

Knowing Zhang Jiuling’s background in special forces, she was sure he would be very alert to being followed, so she deliberately kept a considerable distance, trailing him from far behind.

She felt like a pervert who coveted other people’s beauty and followed them around.

No, no, no, she just wanted to take a photo of the instructor to show Gu Pingping.

Leaving the bustling commercial street, the surroundings became more secluded. After several twists and turns, Li Jiao stopped following Zhang Jiuling in front of a club.

“V 9 Club,” the sign at the entrance, was bold and flamboyant, the strokes resembling dragons and phoenixes.

Even though it was in English, it had an imposing calligraphic flair.

Zhang Jiuling had already gone inside. Li Jiao hesitated for a moment but followed him in.

For the sake of beauty, no, for the sake of photos, she bravely moves forward!

The club was large, with no one at the front desk. Occasionally, she saw a few people in sportswear carrying soccer balls, badminton rackets, or small dumbbells passing by.

This must be a fitness place.

With no one to guide her, Li Jiao wandered around like a headless chicken.

“Ha!”

A sudden shout startled Li Jiao. It came from the nearby boxing gym.

Where was the instructor?

The club was enormous, not only with a boxing gym but also with tennis courts and a swimming pool, like a maze.

“Alas~”

It looks like it was a wasted trip.

“Hello, may I help you?”

A staff member suddenly asked. Li Jiao replied.

“Oh, I’m looking for someone. Could you tell me where the basketball court is?”

The instructor was wearing a basketball jersey, so he must be playing basketball, right?

“Sure, please follow me.”

After a few more turns, Li Jiao finally saw an indoor basketball court.

Pressing her little head against the protective mesh, she looked around.

On the basketball court, two teams were engaged in a heated match, one team in white jerseys and the other in black. The atmosphere was electric.

Zhang Jiuling was easy to spot—the one holding the ball and shooting it. He was wearing a white jersey with the number 16—Li Jiao’s birthday.

Li Jiao couldn’t help but feel a little excited.

On the court, Zhang Jiuling moved gracefully, dribbling the ball through layers of defense, then leaping under the hoop.

The ball went through the hoop, scoring a point!

“Oh~”

The players in white jerseys started cheering, and Li Jiao couldn’t help but feel the excitement too, cheering silently in her heart.

The instructor is amazing!

…

“Hey, who’s that girl?”

A man said,.

Others looked over and saw a pretty girl, fair-skinned, wearing a little yellow hat, who was cute and lively. She was clinging to the mesh fence, watching the game.

“She must be watching me. I’m so handsome and dashing, playing so well, I must have captivated her.”

Someone scoffed, “Yeah, right. She looks pretty; it doesn’t seem like she has eye problems.”

“Heh~”

“…”

Among the players, there were some military training instructors from Nanjing University, including Liuzi. He immediately recognized the girl—it was the one from Zhang Jiuling’s class.

He then walked over to Zhang Jiuling, who was drinking water.

“Hey, boss, look, who’s that?”

Zhang Jiuling glanced indifferently in the direction Liuzi indicated.

The girl was standing outside the basketball court, small, not even half the height of the mesh fence, wearing a little yellow hat, and bouncing around.

She looked like Super Mario jumping for mushrooms.

It seemed like something was stuck on the fence?

He frowned slightly, his long eyes narrowing.

He had felt someone following him earlier… it wasn’t an illusion.

Liuzi leaned in, gossiping.

“So, boss, why don’t you go take a look?”

“That girl is definitely here to see you. Aren’t you going to go talk to her?”

Hearing this, Zhang Jiuling glanced at him, noting his gossip-filled expression.

“Gossipmonger,” he said lightly.

“…”

Boss, I’m concerned about your love life, and you call me that. Boohoo…

“I’m telling you, on this entire court, aren’t I the most dashing? If that girl isn’t looking at me, who else would she be looking at?”

“Seriously, who gave you that confidence? I advise you to go see a doctor as soon as possible. Narcissism is a disease, and I think you are in the advanced stage!”

“Hey, you.” The man was arguing with someone beside him when he caught a glimpse of Zhang Jiuling passing by. He called out.

“Jiuling, tell me, who is that girl looking at?”

Zhang Jiuling glanced at him. The man, having just finished playing, was panting heavily, drenched in sweat, his jersey lifted to his waist, revealing his solid abs and exuding a strong masculine presence.

Zhang Jiuling stepped past him, leaving a cool remark, “Second hospital, mention Wang Haonan’s name.”

“???”

“Jiuling, what are you talking about?”

Someone nearby understood and burst into laughter.

“Hahaha, Chen Jie, the boss is telling you to get checked for your narcissism.”

“Did you hear that? He said to mention Haonan’s name for a 20% discount.”

“Hahahahaha…”

…

Outside the basketball court, Li Jiao was struggling to reach for her bracelet, which was caught on the fence. She had been so excited watching the instructor score that she flung her bag, causing the bracelet to fly out.

It was just over ten centimeters out of her reach, no matter how hard she tried.

“Come… down… now,” Li Jiao gritted her teeth, her face turning red with effort, but to no avail.

Just as she was about to give up, she felt someone approaching from behind, no more than ten centimeters away.

A warm breath hit the top of her head, and a slender hand suddenly appeared in front of her, effortlessly retrieving the bracelet.

Li Jiao instinctively turned around and saw a white jersey with the number 16 on the chest.

She looked up sharply, meeting a pair of dark eyes staring straight at her, deep and silent.

There was a familiar, faint woody scent in the air, like sandalwood, mixed with a slight hint of sweat from exercise, yet not unpleasant.

Li Jiao’s back was against the fence, her heart pounding wildly. Zhang Jiuling was very close; just half a step away, his hand still extended beside her ear.

He slightly bowed his head, casting a shadow over Li Jiao, his strong presence enveloping her completely.

The aura of male pheromones, full of charm, overwhelmed her.

“In… instructor…”

Inside the basketball court, Liuzi, who was drinking water, caught a glimpse and promptly spat it out.

“Co-co-co-cough—”

Oh my, the boss is so impressive.

“Liuzi, what happened? How can you choke on water?”

Liuzi couldn’t speak through his coughing, so he trembled as he pointed in Zhang Jiuling’s direction.

Everyone else followed his gaze and, without exception, were all stunned.

“What the—what’s going on?”

“Is the famous ice king of the unit melting?”

“No way; this is a once-in-a-century sight.”

“Jiuling, wow, this is a kabedon, right? It’s a kabedon, isn’t it?”

“Domineering CEO, tsk tsk tsk, it turns out Jiuling takes this route.”

“Hey, that girl came to see him, right?”

“…”

Zhang Jiuling glanced sideways.

Inside the basketball court, a group of grown men were gossiping with excitement, each one more thrilled than the last.

They all turned to look at this side, wearing a “bewildered” smile on their faces.

He furrowed his brows slightly, lowered his head, and his voice was deep and pleasant.

“Come.”

With that, he turned and walked towards the other side.

Li Jiao clenched her pockets tightly, her palms almost sweating. She let out a small breath, then raised her feet and hurriedly followed.

Zhang Jiuling stopped in a corner of the corridor, turned around, and the girl behind him followed suit, standing in front of him, lowering her head like a child who had done something wrong.

Afraid of scaring her, Zhang Jiuling softened his tone slightly and asked, “What are you doing here?”

Upon hearing this, Li Jiao bit her pink lips and truthfully replied, “I followed the instructor in.”

Zhang Jiuling raised an eyebrow slightly, his clear eyes revealing a hint of amusement.

“Followed me in?”

As he said this, his pronunciation slowed down, and his voice was deep and mellifluous, like a melody played on a cello, soothing to the ear.

Li Jiao nodded repeatedly, like a little woodpecker.

“Yeah.”

She really didn’t have the courage to deceive the instructor.

When the girl spoke, she was timid and gentle, not daring to look up at him. Zhang Jiuling couldn’t help but smile. She dared to follow him in but couldn’t look at him when he was speaking.

How inconsistent.

“Why did you follow me?”

After hearing this question, the girl slowly raised her head. Her beautiful eyes were bright and shining like grapes.

Quietly, she raised her right hand and held up a phone, cautiously saying, “Instructor, I have a friend who wants to see your photo.”

After she finished speaking, Zhang Jiuling remained silent, his face expressionless, quietly looking at her.

Li Jiao lowered her head again, feeling increasingly nervous. She felt like she was going to die.

She had spoken the truth, but why did it sound so fake?

Would the instructor think she was lying to him? Oh my god, she was telling the truth!

Instructor, listen to my excuse. No, trust me…

Zhang Jiuling remained silent, and Li Jiao was already playing out a melodrama of love and hate in her mind.

However, if she could manage her facial expressions better while fantasizing, it would be even better.

After quite some time passed and still no one spoke, Li Jiao began to wonder if Zhang Jiuling had left. Suddenly, his right hand loosened.

Li Jiao instinctively looked up, only to see Zhang Jiuling taking the phone. Without unlocking the screen, he casually slid his finger, opening the camera.

He raised the phone slightly, still wearing the same cold expression, not even glancing at the camera, and quickly pressed the shutter.

Li Jiao only heard a “click,” and then the phone was handed back to her.

She lowered her head, raised her hands, and took the phone with a sense of frustration. Her demeanor was akin to welcoming an imperial edict in ancient times.

“T-Thank you, Instructor.”

Zhang Jiuling didn’t reply; his expression was indifferent. He lifted his foot and walked past her.

“Go home early.”