My Favorite Ship Became My Sister-in-Law - Chapter 6

Since Ji Chenchuan had returned two weeks early, Shi Yue still had two weeks of classes left before the summer break. Tomorrow was Monday, and he was required to be at school by 7:50 AM.

He had originally planned to take a break from mathematics today, but a long-standing habit of persistence drove him to his desk. Before he knew it, he had finished two math papers. Checking the time, he saw it was 11:00 PM. Compared to his usual schedule, this was relatively early, but if he could sleep early, he certainly would.

Lying in bed, Shi Yue’s mind settled. He thought of Zhang Ping’s expression when he heard that Shi Yue and Ji Chenchuan had successfully secured the order. Zhang Ping had looked as though he wanted to explode with rage but was forced to maintain a fake smile. The thought made Shi Yue laugh, so he sent two WeChat messages to Ji Chenchuan.

“Chenchuan-ge, I cannot stop laughing thinking about that little uncle-in-law’s expression!” “Do you think he hated us so much in that moment? Hahaha!”

At that moment, Ji Chenchuan was sitting on the living room sofa chatting with his father about how they had secured the order. Ji Shengqiang had not expected his son to succeed and felt immensely proud. Just as Shi Yue had predicted, Ji Shengqiang happily patted Ji Chenchuan on the shoulder and praised him: “My son is truly great!”

Hearing that familiar praise and thinking of Shi Yue, Ji Chenchuan did not know whether to laugh or cry. Suddenly, his phone notified him of a message. Looking past the lock screen, he saw it was from Shi Yue.

Ji Chenchuan unlocked the phone. He had already forgotten Zhang Ping’s reaction, but after reading Shi Yue’s message, he recalled how Zhang Ping had been dying of anger while forcing a smile. It was indeed a bit funny. However, Ji Chenchuan did not like discussing people behind their backs, regardless of who they were.

“You have school tomorrow, so go to sleep early,” Ji Chenchuan quickly typed and replied to Shi Yue.

Ji Shengqiang had wanted to chat longer, but seeing it was late and that his son was busy messaging someone, he curled his lip and told Ji Chenchuan to go to bed before heading to sleep himself.

Ji Chenchuan returned to his room, placed his phone on the nightstand, and went to wash his face.

Shi Yue, holding his phone, had waited for a long time only to receive those few words. He pouted unhappily and replied, “I am already lying in bed.” After a moment’s thought, he sent another: “What time are you leaving tomorrow, Chenchuan-ge?”

After waiting for nearly ten minutes without a reply, Shi Yue assumed Ji Chenchuan had fallen asleep. Feeling a bit dejected, he was about to send a “goodnight” and go to sleep himself when he noticed how bright the moon was. It shone through the window, illuminating the wooden floor of his room. Shi Yue immediately flipped out of bed; there was something he wanted to do.

He walked to the window, stretched his phone outside, and took a photo of the full moon. He sent it to Ji Chenchuan with the text: “The roundest moon for Chenchuan-ge, who had a very successful first day of work.” “Tell me ‘thank you’ when you see this tomorrow morning.” “I am telling you ‘you are welcome’ in advance.” “Hahaha!” “Goodnight.gif”

After sending these, Shi Yue felt very satisfied. He crawled back under the covers and fell fast asleep.

Ji Chenchuan had just finished his shower and had not dried his hair yet, a towel draped around his neck. Seeing the screen light up, he picked it up. He saw another message from Shi Yue, but he did not unlock the phone to read it. Since he did not plan to reply, he turned off the screen and went to dry his hair.

At 6:00 AM, his biological clock woke him up. The first thing Shi Yue did was grab his phone to see if Ji Chenchuan had replied.

There was no reply.

Shi Yue felt a wave of disappointment and immediately sent another message. “Morning, Chenchuan-ge.” “Reply to me as soon as you see this!” “I have to hand in my phone at school and will not get it back until classes are over.”

After sending it, Shi Yue lay back on the bed and stretched his limbs comfortably. He then nimbly flipped out of bed and took his blue and white school uniform from the wardrobe. He changed into a short-sleeved T-shirt and school trousers.

Shi Yue quickly washed up, packed his things, and brought his bag to the living room. The room was empty. He knew his parents must have gone on another business trip, catching a flight in the middle of the night. On the wooden dining table, there was a small stack of money and a glass of milk.

Shi Yue took a sip; the milk was still slightly warm. His parents must have only just left. He gulped down the entire glass and checked the time.

6:20 AM. Perfect.

Shi Yue arrived at school an hour early every day. He had calculated everything precisely: five minutes to take the elevator to the underground garage for his bike, and twenty-five minutes to cycle to school. He would arrive exactly at 6:50 AM, just as the school gates opened.

This allowed him to spend forty minutes in the corridor memorizing vocabulary. In that specific environment, he could memorize words very quickly. Morning classes began at 7:50 AM, so by 7:30 AM, when other students started arriving, he had already finished his daily quota.

Shi Yue slung on his bag, put on his sneakers, and headed out full of energy. After locking his door, he looked at Ji Chenchuan’s door, thinking he should be awake by now. He checked his phone again for a reply. Still nothing. Shi Yue pouted with disappointment, pressed the elevator button, and left.

As Shi Yue cycled around the street corner, the morning wind puffed out the corners of his shirt. A ray of morning sun shone on his face, which was bright with a brilliant smile. Shi Yue was very cheerful and loved to laugh. When he smiled, his eyes curved into beautiful crescents, which was the complete opposite of the cold, aloof top student trope often found in novels. Along the way, he smiled and responded to every classmate who greeted him.

Since they were about to enter their third year of high school, Shi Yue’s grade had weekly exams every Monday. The exam ended amidst a chorus of groans.

Ji Zhiruo sat directly in front of Shi Yue. The moment the papers were collected, she impatiently turned around to ask for the answers. Other students crowded around as well, asking what the answer to this or that question was. Shi Yue recalled the problems and provided the correct answers one by one. After hearing his answers, the groans in the classroom grew even louder with cries of, “If I had only known, I should have chosen that!”

The last period was physical education. The class teacher had originally borrowed the period for extra study, but seeing how listless the students were, she let the PE teacher take the class instead. Following the usual routine, they ran three laps around the track, performed a set of calisthenics, and then were dismissed for free activities.

Two classes had PE at the same time: Shi Yue’s class and another. Since there was only one shaded basketball court, the boys from both classes played together, divided by class teams.

“Shi Yue, you know how to play basketball?” Seeing Shi Yue take the court, his classmates were shocked. The girls were especially pleasantly surprised. Shi Yue was a legendary figure at the Affiliated High School, but everyone only knew him as a genius. They had never seen him participate in sports, so they assumed he was a mental giant but a physical dwarf.

Therefore, whether out of curiosity or a desire to see him fail, a crowd of boys and girls who usually were not interested in basketball gathered to watch. In an instant, the court was surrounded by two classes.

“Nonsense. It is just basketball; anyone with hands and feet can play.” Shi Yue was not just a player; he was a slam-dunk expert, and he owed that to Ji Chenchuan. When Ji Chenchuan was in his first year of high school, Shi Yue was in the fifth grade. Primary schools dismissed earlier than high schools, and Shi Yue’s school was very close to the Affiliated High School. Every day after school, Shi Yue would go there to wait for Ji Chenchuan.

Besides studying, Ji Chenchuan had two hobbies: basketball and chess. Unless it was raining, he would usually play a game or two with his classmates before going home. Because of Ji Chenchuan, his older classmates did not mind having Shi Yue around. Seeing him wait every day, they invited him to play. That was how Shi Yue had been trained. However, after entering high school, he stopped playing because his mother, He Lin, wanted him to focus on the mathematics competition and he simply had no time.

In fact, this was the first time Shi Yue had played basketball in his two years of high school. He wondered if his skills had grown rusty.

The opposing team served, and the battle began. Under the sun, the young men were full of vitality as they dribbled, passed, and stole the ball. The atmosphere was as tense as an NBA game. Amidst two consecutive cheers, Shi Yue scored two goals in a row.

There was a large-framed boy on the opposing team named Li Chao, who was half a head taller than Shi Yue. Seeing Shi Yue score twice while they had scored zero made Li Chao very frustrated. During a scramble for the ball, he intentionally tried to collide with Shi Yue. Unexpectedly, Shi Yue dodged, stole the ball, and leaped as if he had springs in his shoes for a stylish slam dunk.

The court erupted with screams from the girls. When Shi Yue landed, he tossed his head, shaking sweat onto the ground like raindrops. He smiled, causing the hearts of the watching girls to race.

“Damn, Shi Yue, that move was way too smooth,” Shi Yue’s teammate said with a mix of envy and excitement.

“Forget this, I am not playing anymore,” Li Chao cursed and kicked the basketball with force.

The ball flew out of the court just as Ji Zhiruo and a girl with a ponytail were walking past. The ball struck Ji Zhiruo in the waist. She cried out and immediately bent over, standing perfectly still.

“Zhiruo, are you okay?” the girl, Ding Nana, asked while supporting her. Ding Nana was Ji Zhiruo’s best friend.

Seeing that he had hit someone, Li Chao walked over with his hands in his pockets, looking indifferent. Seeing it was Ji Zhiruo and knowing she was close to Shi Yue, he felt even more irritated. Instead of apologizing, he spoke crudely: “Stop faking it. It was just a light hit; what are you pretending for?”

Other students gathered around to watch the commotion. Seeing it was Ji Zhiruo, Shi Yue ran over immediately.

“Li Chao, are you crazy? You hit someone with the ball, and if you will not apologize, that is one thing, but how can you say she is faking?” Ding Nana said angrily.

“What does that have to do with you, Ding Nana? Get this straight: you are in our class, yet you follow Ji Zhiruo around like a lapdog just because she is close to Shi Yue. What? Have you become Shi Yue’s girlfriend yet? Can you not see she and Shi Yue are a thing? Idiot,” Li Chao spat with a sneer.

It cannot be denied that Li Chao was quite handsome, but his foul mouth made him very unpopular. Having her secret crush pointed out and seeing Shi Yue approach, Ding Nana’s face turned bright red with shame. She looked as though she was about to cry.

“Keep your mouth clean,” Shi Yue said, glancing at Li Chao. He supported Ji Zhiruo, ignoring Ding Nana, and asked Ji Zhiruo, “How are you?”

Ji Zhiruo shook her head and said nothing. Li Chao was not entirely wrong; Ji Zhiruo was a tomboy and was not actually that fragile. The reason she was bent over was not because of the pain, but because her period had suddenly started, and she did not dare move for fear of a mess.

Seeing her silence, Shi Yue assumed she was truly hurt. He turned his gaze to Li Chao and demanded, “Apologize!”

“Shi Yue, who do you think you are? She is faking it, and you want me to apologize? Moron.” “I will say it one more time: apologize.” “I will not.” “Will you apologize or not?” Shi Yue grabbed Li Chao’s collar and shouted.

Ji Zhiruo had not expected Shi Yue’s protective boyfriend energy to be so explosive. She stared at him blankly. In that single instant, she felt as though her love, which had slept for seventeen years, had finally awakened—like a Prince Charming kissing Sleeping Beauty’s forehead.

“I will not! Are you deaf?” Li Chao roared in a rage. “You want to fight? You think you are so great because you are number one in the grade? Today, I will beat you until you are brain dead.”

Taking advantage of his height, Li Chao swung a fist toward Shi Yue’s head.