After ninety-nine online romances, I finally met my ex in person when school started.

As evening fell, the setting sun bathed the campus of Kyoto University in a golden-red glow.

Zhu Xun Chuan parked his car outside the South Gate, went back to his dormitory, changed into a simple black and red Chicago Bulls jersey, and leisurely walked towards the bustling North District basketball court.

Having been surrounded by Xia Wanying's Maybach, Gu Qinghan's black stockings, and Xie Jinghong's red lips for days, his basic physical enhancements, while capable of holding up, still required him to sweat out some excess hormones.

The basketball court was bustling with noise, the sounds of dribbling the ball and shoes rubbing against the rubber surface mingling together.

Zhu Xun Chuan had just stepped through the barbed wire gate when he paused for half a second.

That sticky gaze is back again, damn it, it's like a piece of junk plaster!

The game was in full swing on the court. Lin Yuan was being relentlessly dominated in the paint by several big men from the Civil Engineering Department, and the score was down by a full twenty-five points.

Lin Yuan was covered in sweat, his clothes were so wet they could be wrung out, and when he saw Zhu Xun Chuan coming, he was overjoyed and waved frantically.

"Brother Chuan! Godfather! Help! These beasts have absolutely no sense of martial ethics!"

Zhu Xun Chuan, hands in his pockets, leisurely walked to the sidelines, stretched his wrists and ankles, and replaced the exhausted Lao Zhao.

Take the stage.

The Civil Engineering department's center, standing at 1.95 meters tall, glanced down at Zhu Xun Chuan and sneered, "No one else from the Chinese Literature department? They've even dragged this pretty boy into the mix?"

Zhu Xun Chuan didn't even lift his eyelids.

Serve.

Zhu Xunchuan received the ball at the top of the arc. The effects of the basic physical enhancement drug reactivated in his muscle fibers, accelerating blood flow. He lowered his center of gravity, controlled the ball with his right hand, and executed a lightning-fast change of direction, his cleats screeching as they rubbed against the rubber surface.

The school team's center only felt a blur before his eyes as a gust of wind swept past, and he didn't even have time to react and reach out to block it.

Zhu Xunchuan had already stepped into the restricted area and rose up from the ground.

He swung his arm in a wide arc, his whole body like a fully drawn bowstring, his airtime defying the laws of physics.

"Bang!"

The basketball was slammed into the hoop, the backboard groaned and shook violently.

The entire room fell silent for a second.

Then, the girls watching from the sidelines erupted in screams that seemed to tear the roof off.

"My husband is so handsome!"

"Holy crap, is that jumping ability even human? Newton must be turning in his grave!"

"I can't take it anymore! Three minutes! I need all of this man's WeChat information!"

"That's Zhu Xun Chuan, the newly crowned school heartthrob! Brother Chuan, I love you!!!"

System notifications flooded my mind, and my admiration level soared like a waterfall.

The next ten minutes became a personal showcase of Zhu Xun Chuan's overwhelming power.

His pull-up jumpers beyond the three-point line, his fadeaway jumpers with a post-up move, and his incredible mid-air slouch layups—every touch of the ball he made elicited a deafening roar from the crowd.

The burly men from the Civil Engineering department were beaten so badly they were questioning their existence. Panting heavily, they bent over, supporting themselves on their knees, too exhausted even to return to defense. The center who had just been mocking them was completely demoralized, looking at Zhu Xun Chuan as if he were a monster.

Intermission.

Zhu Xun Chuan lifted the hem of his jersey and wiped the sweat from his forehead and chin.

His well-defined eight-pack abs gleamed with perfect lines in the setting sun.

A collective gasp immediately rose from the sidelines as countless mobile phone cameras were pointed at him and snapped away, flashes going off everywhere.

Several senior students wearing super short pleated skirts and white stockings pushed and shoved each other as they walked forward. The one in the lead, with big, wavy hair, blushed and handed over a bottle of chilled Gatorade.

"Zhu Xun Chuan, can I add you on WeChat? I'll treat you to a late-night snack tonight, and I'll be there whenever you call." The senior's voice was sweet and coquettish, her eyes fixed on his abs, the implication very clear.

Zhu Xun Chuan took the towel draped over the bench and wiped the sweat from his neck.

He leaned slightly closer, a casual smile playing on his lips: "Senior, I don't have a good appetite, and eating late at night makes me indigestion. I appreciate the thought."

The refusal was crisp and decisive, yet carried a perfectly appropriate air of nonchalance.

The wavy-haired senior was not angry at all. Instead, she was so captivated by his aloof yet slightly roguish demeanor that she blushed and retreated, whispering screams to her best friend.

More and more girls gathered around, and they played for another half hour back on the court before it got dark.

The Civil Engineering students completely gave up. Brother Chuan kept calling out, and even the Civil Engineering team's center became quiet.

"I'm not playing anymore, I'm not playing anymore. Brother Chuan, your stamina is too good for the CBA. You're inhuman." Lin Yuan plopped down on the sidelines, chugging mineral water, his eyes filled with fanatical admiration.

Zhu Xun Chuan ignored the girls who surrounded him, picked up his backpack, and prepared to go back to his dormitory to take a cold shower.

As soon as I walked past the stands beside the stadium, those sticky, lingering gazes pressed against me again.

He paused slightly, his gaze sweeping over the crowd.

Behind the crowd, a girl in a white floral dress stood there timidly.

She had long, flowing hair and extremely sweet features, even retaining a youthful, undeveloped appearance, like a frightened little white rabbit.

She held a bottle of chilled Baishui Mountain beer with the cap already unscrewed in both hands, her head down, not daring to look Zhu Xun Chuan in the eye.

Zhu Xun Chuan looked at that face and felt that the features were extremely familiar, but he couldn't remember where he had seen it before.

These past few days, I've been juggling several top-tier mature women and yandere heiresses, keeping my mind constantly on edge, and I'm definitely feeling quite exhausted.

He had just finished playing ball and his mouth was dry.

The girl in the floral dress stepped forward and handed him the water with both hands.

A faint scent of gardenias wafted into my nostrils.

"Brother Chuan... Brother Chuan, have some water." The voice was barely audible.

Zhu Xun Chuan assumed it was some shy female student. This was Peking University's campus, broad daylight, and students everywhere; he had no suspicion and casually took the bottle of water.

Thanks.

He tilted his head back, his Adam's apple bobbing, and downed about half the bottle.

The cool liquid slid down my esophagus, dispelling much of the heat.

The girl watched his Adam's apple bob, and a strange, fervent light flashed in her usually downcast eyes.

Zhu Xun Chuan handed the remaining half-bottle of water back to her, slung his bag over one shoulder, and turned to walk towards the shortcut through the grove behind the stadium.

Walking through this grove of trees, it takes less than three minutes to get back to the 621 dormitory building.

A gentle evening breeze rustled through the trees, casting dappled shadows. The woods were quiet, save for the soft rustling of footsteps on fallen leaves.

As we ventured deeper into the woods, the light dimmed.

Zhu Xun Chuan suddenly felt his steps were a little unsteady.

The tree trunks in front of me began to appear as double images, twisting and intertwining. The sound of the wind seemed to be stretched out infinitely, and a sharp buzzing sound came from my mind.

What's going on? Side effects of the physical enhancement drugs?

wrong.

The dizziness came on extremely suddenly, like a tsunami, instantly stripping him of control over his body. His muscles lost strength, and even raising his arm became incredibly difficult.

This water has been spiked!

He clung to his last shred of clarity, trying to access the system panel in his mind to exchange for an antidote.

His hand had only been raised halfway when it fell limply to the ground.

His tall body lost its balance and fell forward.

It did not fall onto the hard soil.

He fell into a petite and soft embrace.

The faint scent of gardenias instantly enveloped him, tightly binding his breath.

One second before my vision was completely plunged into darkness.

A pair of cold little hands touched his cheeks, their fingertips gently tracing his features.

A whispered obsessive, morbidly fanatical voice rang in my ears:

"Brother Chuan, we finally caught you!"

……

tick tock...tick tock...

Cold water droplets fell on my face, sliding down my jawline and into my collar.

Zhu Xun Chuan suddenly opened his eyes.

A dull pain came from the back of my neck, and my brain felt as if it had been thrown into a washing machine and stirred up.

He instinctively tried to get up, but found his hands tightly bound behind his back to the chair back with rough hemp rope. His legs were also tightly bound to the iron chair legs with nylon cable ties.

The rope was tied with extreme professionalism, a tight knot that left no room for escape. Under the suppression of the drugs, even a fraction of the initial enhancement's power could not be utilized.

The focus gradually became clear.

This is a completely unfamiliar basement.

The lighting was dim, with only a single, flickering incandescent bulb overhead casting a glaring yellow glow. A damp, musty smell permeated the air, mingled with the lingering fragrance of gardenias.

The walls are covered with thick sound-absorbing foam.

On the iron table directly in front of them were a scalpel, hemostats, a sharp pair of scissors, and a row of silver needles of varying lengths.

Zhu Xunchuan's pupils contracted slightly.

Careless.

I've been hunting geese all day, and today I've been pecked in the eye by a house sparrow.