Chapter 356 - I'm starting to like you guys

...

Xiao Zhihao finished his project with the twins earlier than expected, so he went to find Tian Le, who was playing basketball with Quinn at one of the indoor basketball courts. 

"Hey, Quinn..." Xiao Zhihao called out as he placed his backpack on the bleachers. 

"Wait! I'm going to get the ball first!" Quinn yelled as she waved her hand at him nonchalantly. Her eyes were on the basketball that Tian Le was dribbling. She had been at it for 30 minutes, and she did not even get the ball once. 

"Come on, Q. You can do better than this," Tian Le said as he goaded her to come for the ball. He had been training her since two hours ago, on her request. 

"Argh!" Quinn yelled as she charged for the ball. She always lost to the twins whenever she played against them, and she hated it. Oh, no. Wait. She won before. But only because Lyle let her win.

Xiao Zhihao watched quietly by the side, only to wince when Quinn fell down as she tried to grab the ball. 

"Quinn!" he called out as he ran over to her. "Are you alright?" 

"You need to pay attention to my footwork," Tian Le said in a stern voice. He loved Quinn, but he was not about to let her go easily. Since she asked to be trained, he would train her properly. 

"Hey..." Xiao Zhihao frowned as he got down on a knee next to Quinn, who was still lying flat on her chest. "Are you hurt anywhere?" 

Quinn shook her head as she got up to her knees. She pouted as she rubbed the tears off her face. 

"There, there..." Tian Le patted her head, and when she looked up at him, he said, "You just need more practice. Don't cry just because you fell." 

"I'm not crying because I fell," Quinn said as she sniffed. "I'm crying because I'm frustrated. I keep messing up. I hate losing!" 

Tian Le chuckled. As he helped her up, he consoled her, "Quinn, you're two years younger than them and a lot shorter. Once you hit puberty, and with a few more sessions of training, you would be able to beat them up. Well... Maybe not Lyle, cause that kid is scarily good at a lot of things. But Jack. Definitely Jack." 

"But I want to beat them now..." Quinn mumbled as they walked to the bleachers. Once she sat down, she said, "And I want to clean the floor with Jack's face." 

Tian Le could not help but laugh at her words. Quinn and Jack had been fighting each other ever since they first met, and he could not help but wonder if these two might actually end up together in the future. If they did, it would be quite a spectacle to watch. 

"You'll be able to do it, Quinn. I believe in you," Xiao Zhihao said as he pumped a fist. 

Quinn smiled and nodded. "Why are you here? Are you done with the twins?" 

Xiao Zhihao nodded. "I'm a bit hungry now, so I'm going to get something to eat while waiting for my mum. I'm thinking of the sandwich shop outside our school. You guys want to join?"

Quinn shook her head. "No, thanks. I will just practice a bit more while waiting for the twins to finish with the rest of their duties." 

Tian Le thought for a while before saying, "I'll meet you there, Zhihao. I have to go to my room to change and pick up my stuff first. Help me get two orders of bacon and egg sandwiches. I'm a little famished from the session." 

It was already Friday, which meant that tomorrow was Xiao Lei's birthday, so Han Ye had told him to stay at home this weekend. 

Xiao Zhihao nodded. They then agreed to meet at the sandwich shop. 

...

Xiao Zhihao went to the sandwich shop, and after placing his order, he waited for his order to be done quietly while playing with his phone. He was looking at his photos and came across an old photo that he took with Murong Yu. 

Well, it was a photo that Murong Yu took after taking over Xiao Zhihao's phone. The man had his arm around Xiao Zhihao, and the boy was giving him a "get lost" expression as the man grinned widely at the camera. 

"Murong Yu... You idiot..." Xiao Zhihao thought sadly as he looked at the photo of the man. "Mum has been taken away by Han Ye... Now you have no chance of being my dad anymore... And you know what... I think... I'm starting to like that guy..." 

"Order 0395."

When Xiao Zhihao heard his number being called, he immediately put away his phone and went to the counter to pick up his order. Once he picked it up, he stood outside the shop and went through the bag to look for his order---egg sandwich.

When he picked up his sandwich, he saw a small paper inside the bag and took it out to have a look. On the paper, there was something scribbled on it. 

"An address?" Xiao Zhihao thought curiously as he looked at the things that were written on the note. Below the address, there was a note "If you want to see me, you can find me here. I'd be waiting for you. I miss you, kiddo. Your favorite teacher."

Xiao Zhihao's eyes went wide open as he read the sentence at the bottom of the paper. "Is this really him?" he mumbled under his breath. His hand, which was holding the paper, was trembling slightly as he thought of the possibility of seeing Murong Yu again. 

"Zhihao!" 

Xiao Zhihao looked up when he heard someone calling his name, and when he saw Tian Le waving at him before crossing the street safely, he immediately waved back before putting the piece of paper in his pocket. 

When Tian Le arrived next to him, Xiao Zhihao smiled and handed him the sandwiches. 

"How much is it?" Tian Le asked as he took out a pack of sandwiches. 

"Don't worry about it," Xiao Zhihao said as he watched Tian Le devour an entire sandwich in two bites, and in four, a pack of sandwiches was gone. "Are you that hungry?"

Tian Le nodded as he quickly unpacked the other pack of sandwiches. "I'm starving! I was with Zhenya during lunch, and I didn't really get to eat..." 

"What were you--" Xiao Zhihao was about to ask, but he suddenly felt that he might be intruding on something private, so he merely waved his hand nonchalantly.

Tian Le had just finished eating the second pack of sandwiches when he pointed at a car that was about to drive into their school's compound. He quickly swallowed and said, "Brother Han is here. It looks like he's picking us up today. Let's go."

Xiao Zhihao nodded, and they quickly jogged back to the school.

...