Sheng Kuang noticed Lan Bowen's expression change and asked, "What's wrong?"
Lan Bowen stared intently at someone in the distance. "Han Fengyan."
"Who?" Chen Jing, hearing the name for the first time, seemed momentarily confused. He then followed Lan Bowen's gaze and turned to look. The usually playful Chen Jing's face instantly darkened. "Damn it, it really is true that enemies meet on a narrow road."
Lin Jing knew who Han Fengyan was.
He was Sheng Kuang's former teammate, gdt's marksman, and had won two championships with Sheng Kuang, Chen Jing, and Lan Bowen.
The rumors about Sheng Kuang being a team bully started with him. When Han Fengyan left gdt, he posted a lengthy piece online. Although it didn't name Sheng Kuang directly, the text clearly referred to him. At the time, everyone believed Sheng Kuang had forced him out of the professional circle.
Sheng Kuang's performance had been at its worst then, and he had been subjected to the harshest criticism because of this incident.
Han Fengyan seemed to sense someone looking at him and turned his head. Seeing the group standing nearby, he visibly froze. He then extinguished his cigarette and walked towards them. "Long time no see, Wen Zi, Xiao Jing..."
He paused before looking at Sheng Kuang. "Kuang Zai..."
The three people he called out by name remained silent.
There were no cars passing by at that moment, making the roadside incredibly quiet.
A cold gust of wind blew, dispelling some of the alcohol's haze from Han Fengyan. After a moment of silence, he spoke again. "I heard you all left gdt and formed a new team. You've been doing quite well?"
Still, no one responded.
Han Fengyan reached into his pocket, took out a cigarette, and offered it to Lan Bowen. "I remember it was just you, Wen Zi, who smoked among us, right? It's been years, you haven't quit, have you?"
Lan Bowen didn't take the cigarette or respond. He simply stared at Han Fengyan, just as he had when he first unintentionally noticed him. However, his eyes had become dark and somber, completely devoid of his usual gentle demeanor.
Han Fengyan's hand, holding the cigarette, paused in mid-air. Seeing Lan Bowen's continued refusal, he didn't seem awkward. He calmly withdrew his hand, put the cigarette in his mouth, and asked indistinctly, "Wen Zi, did you switch to coaching? If not for your back injury, you probably would have retired a couple of years later?"
He took out a lighter, lit his cigarette, took a puff, and glanced at Sheng Kuang meaningfully. "Oh right, is Wen Zi's back injury healed? I remember he was bedridden for quite a while back then."
Chen Jing couldn't hold back and interrupted him with a hostile tone. "What the hell is it to you?"
Han Fengyan wasn't angered by the insult. He took another slow puff of his cigarette. "Xiao Jing, your temper is still so explosive after all these years. I remember when you two were in the youth training, it was Mosquito and I who discovered you and Kuang Zai. Because of your short fuse, I often had to scold you."
Chen Jing's face grew even more unpleasant. "Don't you dare bring up the past, do you have the nerve?"
Han Fengyan chuckled. "I don't have the nerve, but I think someone has less nerve than me. At least Wen Zi retired early, thanks to him, didn't he?"
Although he didn't name anyone, he looked at Sheng Kuang when he said this.
Chen Jing's face turned green with anger, and even Lan Bowen's hands, hanging by his sides, clenched into fists.
Compared to their strong reactions, Sheng Kuang appeared remarkably calm. He acted as if he hadn't heard Han Fengyan's words. He looked at a car that had driven up and stopped by the roadside and said in a low voice, "The car is here."
The group stood by the roadside without moving.
The car window rolled down, and the driver asked through the glass, "Did you call for a car?"
Sheng Kuang hummed and said to the motionless group, "Let's get in."
Only then did they react.
The car doors opened, and they gradually piled in.
Sheng Kuang was the last to get in. As he bent down, Han Fengyan, who was still standing by the roadside, suddenly remarked, "Kuang Zai has changed a lot. He's gotten a lot more timid."
"Fuck him!" Chen Jing, who had just sat down in the car, shot up.
Sheng Kuang unhurriedly got into the car, sat in an empty seat, closed the door, and said to the driver in front, "Stop at the school entrance."
"Damn it, we're just leaving like this? Let me out, let me have it out with him." Chen Jing rolled up his sleeves, looking like he wanted to jump out of the car immediately and fight Han Fengyan.
Lan Bowen remained silent. Jiang Zui and Lin Jing, who didn't know what had happened between them back then, were also silent.
Leaning back against the seat, Sheng Kuang turned his head to look out the car window in silence.
Only Chen Jing, unable to bear the anger, continued to curse. After a while, he seemed to tire of cursing, picked up a bottle of water, drank half of it in gulps, and then looked at Sheng Kuang. "Sheng Kuang, aren't you angry?"
Sheng Kuang seemed not to hear him. After a two-second pause, he replied, "Huh?"
The next second, he added, "I am angry, but what can I do? Having an episode once was enough. Am I going to have a second one?"
Chen Jing opened his mouth and immediately deflated.
A moment of silence fell in the car. They arrived at Lin Jing's school entrance.
The car stopped steadily. Sheng Kuang, who was sitting by the window, got out of the car to make way for Lin Jing.
Lin Jing said goodbye to those in the car, hugged her bag, and got out.
She glanced at Sheng Kuang but didn't say goodbye to him.
Sheng Kuang was calm, as if nothing had happened. "Go inside."
Lin Jing didn't move, wanting to say something but hesitating.
Sheng Kuang reached out and patted her head. "I'm fine. Hurry and go inside."