Chapter 40
Class 1, Third Year.
He Youyou ran in from outside and pulled Meng Ying. “Yingying, come with me to the basketball court, quick! Some guys from another school are here, saying there’s going to be a match.”
He Youyou had a thing for tanned athletes. The basketball court was part of her daily route, and she was always the first to know about any excitement happening there.
Although Meng Ying was often dragged along to watch them play, she never had much interest, no matter how many times she watched. “Class is about to start.”
He Youyou: “Next period is self-study. Come on, go with me. I’m too shy to go alone.”
Meng Ying laughed at that. “Come on, you? Shy?”
He Youyou certainly wasn’t shy, but that was only if someone was with her. Otherwise, making her yell alone on the court? She really couldn’t do it.
He Youyou shook Meng Ying’s arm pleadingly. “Please, please! This time it’s different. It’s a life-and-death battle! He Chenjiang brought people from outside, and the wager is the Little Fool.”
Meng Ying paused. “That kid from the Chi family?”
He Youyou nodded. “Yes, yes, yes, that’s him. Didn’t he lend you clothes before?”
By the time Meng Ying and He Youyou arrived at the playground, the match had already started. Meng Ying’s gaze was quickly drawn to the figures dashing across the court.
A boy watching the commotion beside them sighed. “Strange things happen every year, but there seem to be especially many this year. Since school started, how many times has the Little Fool made a spectacle of himself?”
…
Lin Yang had been sent out by his mom to buy soy sauce. Passing by the school, he suddenly saw a familiar figure.
He froze. If he wasn’t mistaken, the person who just walked into the school gate was the top student, right?
It was the weekend; what was the top student doing at school?
Driven by his gossip radar, Lin Yang unconsciously followed him.
As soon as he entered the school gate, Lin Yang saw a group of third-year students gathered around the basketball court. He caught up to Lin Xiu. “Top student, it really is you. Why did you come to school?”
Lin Xiu glanced at him. “Mn, just came to take a look.”
Lin Yang wanted to ask what he was looking at, but before he could speak, he heard Qi Yuan shouting on the court, “Chi Aibei, pass the ball to me! Don’t throw it randomly!”
Chi Aibei was like a loose cannon, running around without a fixed position, focused only on chasing the ball. He snatched the ball and shot it himself a few times, but his accuracy—missing the rim every single time—amazed even the guys from No. 6 High School.
The third time Chi Aibei airballed, Qi Yuan couldn’t take it anymore. Wang Du passed by him and gave him a thumbs up. “Good job.”
Qi Yuan had specifically sought them out, and Wang Du thought he must be tough. Turns out it was just this?
Throwing airballs every time, yet continuing to throw every time—he’d never seen such a persistent rookie.
Chi Aibei stomped his foot in frustration.
The next round, Chi Aibei listened to Qi Yuan. After grabbing the ball, he didn’t shoot it himself. Instead, he flung it outward. But the headache was that no one could catch his pass because he didn’t even check if anyone was behind him.
Qi Yuan was going crazy. His mind was filled with one question: How did Lin Xiu catch his wild throws that day?
Suddenly, a blur flew past his eyes. Wang Du was behind Qi Yuan preparing to intercept, but seeing the ball flying toward him, he didn’t react in time. By the time he did, the ball had already hit his hand and bounced away.
Qi Yuan: “…”
Wang Du: “???”
Wang Du froze after the ball hit him. He just wanted to block someone; he didn’t expect the ball to fly right at him.
Qi Yuan almost ground his teeth to dust. “Chi—Ai—Bei—what are you doing?”
Chi Aibei puffed out his cheeks aggrievedly. Why blame me if you guys can’t catch the ball?
If it were anyone else, Qi Yuan would have started cursing long ago. He took a deep breath. “Throw it accurately.”
Although Chi Aibei had been on the team for a while, this was Lin Yang’s first time seeing him play. Perhaps because he hadn’t expected Chi Aibei to actually play, seeing him make mistake after mistake was still unbelievable.
Lin Yang: “I thought he was just playing around.”
Qi Yuan’s side started defending. He Dali blocked Wang Du under the basket. Wang Du adopted a shooting posture, but as he raised his elbow, he slammed it hard into He Dali’s side. Behind him, another guy from No. 6 kicked He Dali’s ankle. Attacked from front and back, He Dali jumped, then crashed heavily to the ground.
Wang Du made a perfect shot. As the basketball landed, he glanced at He Dali lying at his feet and said flippantly, “Ooh, why so careless?”
Qi Yuan shoved the person in front of him aside and grabbed Wang Du’s collar. “You motherf—”
Wang Du didn’t struggle. He raised an eyebrow at Qi Yuan. “What? Can’t handle playing?”
Chi Aibei ran over to ask how He Dali was. He Dali shook his head. He had likely sprained his ankle, and his ribs had taken a hit; it hurt even to breathe.
He probably couldn’t continue the rest of the game. He told Chi Aibei, “Steady yourself.”
Wang Xu called someone to take He Dali to the infirmary. Chi Aibei wanted to follow, but Wang Xu stopped him. “The game isn’t over yet.”
It was a game that shouldn’t have existed in the first place, and now someone playing dirty had injured He Dali. Chi Aibei’s eyes reddened with anger. “I’m not playing anymore. They’re cheating.”
Wang Xu knew they were cheating, but there was nothing they could do. These dirty tactics on the court weren’t technically fouls under the rules.
Seeing Chi Aibei about to cry from anger, Lin Yang was just about to ask Lin Xiu what to do when he saw Lin Xiu take off his jacket and shove it, along with his phone, into Lin Yang’s hands.
Lin Yang froze. “Top student…”
Watching Lin Xiu walk onto the court, Lin Yang was bewildered… Wait, what is he doing?
The game had reached a point where winning or losing didn’t matter anymore; they just needed to vent this anger. Qi Yuan was about to comfort Chi Aibei when he saw Lin Xiu walking over. He patted Chi Aibei’s shoulder. “Look who’s here.”
Chi Aibei turned around, and a hand suddenly landed on his head. “Why are you crying?”
Chi Aibei didn’t want to cry; he was just angry. He didn’t bother asking why Lin Xiu came back; his first words were an accusation. “They’re bullying us.”
Lin Xiu: “Then bully them back.”
Chi Aibei looked up, not understanding what Lin Xiu meant. These people weren’t here to play ball at all; how were they supposed to bully them back?
Lin Xiu ruffled his hair, then turned to tell Qi Yuan, “I’m in.”
Lin Xiu hadn’t returned to the team since that first day. To Qi Yuan, Lin Xiu’s skill level was unknown. But with He Dali out, subbing in anyone else would be worse than subbing in Lin Xiu—at the very least, he could catch Chi Aibei’s passes.
Qi Yuan nodded. “Watch out for that blonde guy; his hands are dirty.”
Lin Xiu glanced at the fuming Chi Aibei. “Then let’s see who plays dirtier.”
He had seen every kind of dirty trick during those two years inside. That was where he learned to play ball, and no one there played clean. If they were talking about dirty, Lin Xiu didn’t believe anyone could out-dirty him.
After Lin Xiu entered the court, the situation visibly turned around.
Chi Aibei continued his stable performance of running wild all over the court. However, unlike before, no matter how he threw the ball—even without looking—Lin Xiu would catch it steadily.
Qi Yuan watched Lin Xiu catch another one of Chi Aibei’s “random throws.” “Damn, this chemistry. How long have you two practiced?”
Lin Xiu: “Never practiced.”
Outside the three-point line, Lin Xiu was preparing to jump when Wang Du suddenly appeared in front of him. Lin Xiu threw the ball behind him, the move so fast Wang Du couldn’t help but doubt if he was even sure someone was there to catch it.
Wang Xu caught the ball that suddenly flew at him in confusion. Just as Wang Du moved to intercept, Lin Xiu’s retracting elbow slammed hard into Wang Du’s side.
The move couldn’t be said to be exactly the same as when Wang Du sneak-attacked He Dali earlier, only that Lin Xiu’s attack had more tension and was even harder to spot as a foul. Everyone’s attention was on Wang Xu catching the ball; no one even noticed what Lin Xiu did. Only Wang Du himself knew how hard that hit was.
Wang Du’s face went pale, and he instantly crumpled to the ground.
The ball went in. Accompanied by the sound of the ball falling from the hoop, only then did they belatedly notice Wang Du sitting on the ground and Lin Xiu standing in front of him.
He Chenjiang, who had seen Lin Xiu’s entire movement, froze in place… This is their school’s top student? This is the good student recognized by all the teachers?
…This is what he meant by “bully back”?
Qin Wanpeng ran over, looking at Wang Du’s bloodless face, and asked Lin Xiu, “What did you do?”
Lin Xiu calmly repeated Wang Du’s earlier words: “What? Can’t handle playing?”
Although Wang Xu didn’t know what happened, seeing Wang Du hunched over unable to get up felt satisfying. “Exactly. You guys wanted to play, so why can’t you handle it when it’s your turn?”
Qi Yuan called a few people over. “Send him to the infirmary. Don’t let him die at our school.”
Wang Du was carried away. With one less person on He Chenjiang’s side, the game couldn’t continue, but the score was currently 3 to 5—He Chenjiang’s team was ahead by two points.
Qin Wanpeng said indignantly, “Even so, our team won.”
Lin Xiu: “So what if you won?”
Qin Wanpeng choked. He looked at Qi Yuan. “We made a bet before the game. If we won, Chi Aibei would quit the team.”
Lin Xiu looked at Qi Yuan. Those eyes clearly held no emotion, yet Qi Yuan involuntarily stuttered, “No, it wasn’t me who bet him. It was He Chenjiang who wanted to bet with me. I just got caught up in the moment.”
Lin Xiu: “Do you know what basic respect for a person is?”
These words were directed at Qi Yuan, but He Chenjiang felt like he had been stabbed.
Respect. He had never thought to use this word on Chi Aibei. To him, Chi Aibei was just an accessory, an appendage. Who would bother respecting a dispensable accessory?
But when this accessory developed a mind of his own and ran off with someone else, he desperately wanted him back. Yet even then, he still hadn’t considered whether his methods were respectful.
Qi Yuan seemed to understand the meaning behind Lin Xiu’s words and subconsciously glanced toward He Chenjiang.
Chi Aibei couldn’t decipher the twists and turns. He glared at He Chenjiang. “Don’t think I don’t know what you want to do!”
Chi Aibei suddenly jumping out interrupted He Chenjiang’s thoughts. He looked at Chi Aibei, who hadn’t spoken to him voluntarily in a long time. “What do I want to do?”
Chi Aibei huffed, lowering his voice. “You know perfectly well what you want to do. Don’t think transferring to Class 1 means you can get closer to the prize. I’m telling you, don’t even think about it. I won’t agree!”
Before this, He Chenjiang hadn’t even figured out what he wanted to do by transferring to Class 1. Perhaps he was unwilling to admit his possessiveness; even after transferring days ago, he still couldn’t let go of his pride.
Now that Chi Aibei had bluntly exposed it, He Chenjiang actually felt relieved.
That’s right, he came for Chi Aibei—for this little fool who used to pretend to be stupid and cling to him, but now suddenly ran off with someone else!
Chi Aibei stood with hands on his hips, glaring warily at He Chenjiang.
Dog, transferring to Class 1 wasn’t enough? Seeing Lin Xiu ignoring him, he actually used Chi Aibei’s name to make his presence known on the team. Wasn’t he just trying to get Lin Xiu’s attention? I can still block you!
Wang Xu whispered, “Why do I feel like the two of them are radiating the same frequency of determination, yet completely different beliefs?”
Actually, Qi Yuan felt it too. It was like two identical magnets—both positive poles, forever unable to stick together.
The boy from No. 6 High School who went to the infirmary with Wang Du ran back, shouting from afar, “Brother He, your infirmary teacher says Wang Du has a broken rib and needs to go to the hospital immediately.”
At these words, everyone’s gaze instantly focused on Lin Xiu.
Chi Aibei had zero interest in how that guy named Wang Du was doing. He asked, “How is Brother Dali?”
The boy thought, What time is it, and you still care about the guy who just sprained his ankle? He said, “He’s fine.”
Chi Aibei gave an “Oh.” Afraid they would blame Lin Xiu, he said, “Is that guy from your school calcium deficient? A light touch and his rib breaks?”
Boy from No. 6 High School: “…” Is there a possibility that it’s not a calcium deficiency, but that the guy next to you hits too hard?
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