Chapter 020: The Peacock Spreads Its Tail

The Party Secretary sighed. “After all, we are laymen. We don’t understand the mysteries of Coach Ma’s personnel choices.”

Good guy, he just directly threw the blame onto Ma Wenhua.

The Vice Principal hurriedly took out his phone and quietly sent a WeChat message to Ma Wenhua.

Xia Chiyi went to Zhou Zhexiao’s side and gently bumped him with his shoulder. “Hey, you don’t seem very interested today? When we played Gao Qing and Lyu Hang that day, you were showing off all sorts of skills!”

Zhou Zhexiao said indifferently, “If I take action, this game will enter garbage time prematurely.”

“Arrogant.” Xia Chiyi raised an eyebrow and held up a finger at him.

Zhou Zhexiao raised his hand and waved the pilling wristband in front of him, silently reminding him: Who was so nervous before the game that they were walking with same arm and leg?

Xia Chiyi remembered how Zhou Zhexiao had “scared” him and sheepishly moved away from him.

Finally, Chen Chuan and He Bin couldn’t take it anymore and called a timeout for the first time.

Xia Chiyi and the others sat in a circle, drinking water and wiping sweat.

“What strategy do you think they’ll come up with to deal with us during the timeout?” Du He asked nervously.

Ye Chaoying leaned back, acting nonchalant. “Whatever strategy won’t work. The gap in strength is too big.”

Shuai Bei glanced at him. “Although I appreciate you feeding me the ball, you should still be careful. They will definitely take this opportunity to consult Ma Wenhua, and Ma Wenhua will ask them to focus on locking you down.”

“Bring it on.” Ye Chaoying shrugged indifferently. “Unless there are two Xia Chiyis, no one can guard me.”

Xia Chiyi, who was sucking on an energy jelly, became unhappy upon hearing this and kicked him. “What do you mean? Why do you need two of me? I can lock you down by myself!”

“By yourself, you get locked down by me, okay?” Ye Chaoying leaned in front of Xia Chiyi, their eyes meeting.

“Is this a staring contest between a tortoise and a turtle?” Shuai Bei frowned, wiping his sweat and brushing aside his silver bangs.

Xia Chiyi felt itchy inside watching him. So cool. When can I go dye my hair white too!

In this precious timeout, Ye Chaoying had no intention of discussing tactics with Xia Chiyi and actually started settling scores from their high school days about who locked down whom, making everyone’s head spin.

The students in the audience were enjoying the show, but seeing Ye Chaoying and Xia Chiyi standing with hands on hips, engaged in a verbal battle like they were competing against each other, they couldn’t help but worry about them.

“Hey hey hey, the game has only been going for a few minutes, don’t have internal strife!”

“We really want you to win! Resolve conflicts after the game!”

Meanwhile, Ma Wenhua in the sanatorium was no longer calm.

When he received the news that Ling Huanzhen had come to visit Ningchang University and was invited by Principal Feng to be the game referee, he was completely stunned.

Ling Huanzhen’s arrival meant that the attention on this game would skyrocket. The more industry insiders knew, the more they would question his standards for selecting players and his coaching ability.

Originally, Ma Wenhua felt indifferent to the people cursing him on the Ningchang University forum, but now the situation was different. Even the Vice Principal sent a message asking him to think of something. The first quarter wasn’t even over, and the score gap was already over ten points. It looked too ugly.

Rushing over now was definitely out of the question. Watching the video clips sent over, the gap in strength between the two sides was huge.

He knew very well that Du He and Shuai Bei were unmatched under the basket within the team, but as long as they couldn’t get the ball, the problem would be easily solved.

Who was feeding them the ball? Ye Chaoying!

So the key now was to send people to guard that freshman named Ye Chaoying!

Ling Huanzhen blew the whistle to signal the game to continue.

As Shuai Bei expected, the opponent sent two people to shadow Ye Chaoying. Although it slowed Ye Chaoying down, it didn’t manage to contain him. Ye Chaoying continued to break through and pass, and Shuai Bei and Du He continued to dominate under the basket.

Their vigorous style of play made the boys in the audience shout and cheer constantly.

On the other hand, Zhou Zhexiao and Xia Chiyi were slacking off too obviously.

Even Ling Huanzhen wanted to blow the whistle and ask them if they could get into the zone a bit faster?

The situation on the court was also changing. Since two people couldn’t guard Ye Chaoying, they sent three people together, enclosing Ye Chaoying like a golden bell jar, completely intending to deny him any chance to touch the ball.

The students in the audience became unhappy.

“Three against one, no martial ethics! What kind of heroes are you!”

Chen Chuan sneered. “Basketball is a team sport. Forget three people, even five people going at once isn’t wrong.”

Ye Chaoying’s mentality wasn’t affected at all. He laughed, “For humble me, you sent three people to defend. What will you do for the remaining three quarters?”

“What are you arrogant about? Once we lock you down, Shuai Bei and Du He are useless!”

“Is that so?”

Ye Chaoying laughed wildly in his heart. I don’t just have Shuai Bei and Du He on my side. Be careful of getting destroyed by Xia Chiyi.

The next second, Chen Chuan, who was dribbling, found his hands empty. Xia Chiyi had unexpectedly stolen his ball!

Xia Chiyi moved very fast, rushing to the basket, face to face with He Bin.

He Bin’s defensive ability was strong. Xia Chiyi looked at him, suddenly smiled, and with a nimble behind-the-back pass, the ball went to Zhou Zhexiao.

Surprisingly, no one was guarding Zhou Zhexiao on the court. He jumped from his spot, shot, and scored.

The whole process felt lazy and effortless.

After scoring, Xia Chiyi ran over wanting to high-five Zhou Zhexiao, but Zhou Zhexiao didn’t even lift his hand.

“You could make it yourself, why slack off?” Zhou Zhexiao asked coldly.

“How can this be called slacking off? It’s clearly teamwork.” Xia Chiyi stood with hands on hips, glaring at him dissatisfiedly.

This was a game watched by Ling Huanzhen. Xia Chiyi was very happy that Ye Chaoying’s ability was seen by him, and he hoped even more that Zhou Zhexiao could impress Ling Huanzhen.

“It’s just He Bin. Shooting in front of him is like crossing a road in the early morning for you. Why didn’t you shoot yourself?” Zhou Zhexiao asked again.

Xia Chiyi sensed that Zhou Zhexiao seemed a little angry.

Indeed, with Ling Huanzhen watching the whole process as a referee, if Xia Chiyi played with all his might and displayed his actual level, getting pointers from him after the game would be a very precious experience. Therefore, Ye Chaoying, Shuai Bei, and Du He were all trying their best to perform.

But he himself didn’t seem to value this opportunity enough.

The first quarter ended. Everyone sat in their seats to recover stamina, wiping sweat and drinking water.

Probably because they weren’t very familiar with each other, they skipped even chatting.

Ye Chaoying said, “They will definitely continue to fully lock me down in the second quarter. Our shooter seems to be saving his strength. Against opponents of this level, we don’t seem to need to consider stamina distribution, do we?”

Shuai Bei said coolly, “Our shooter only made one three-pointer in the first quarter. Hey, do you not know how to load the gun?”

Du He felt a faint smell of gunpowder in the air and consciously lowered his head, pretending to wipe sweat.

Zhou Zhexiao’s face didn’t look very good. This guy’s expression was as if there were no seasoning packets in instant noodles… no, as if there were no pearls in milk tea.

“I just wanted to be… affirmed by him together with you.” Xia Chiyi leaned close to his ear and whispered.

Just like at that community basketball court, crushing Gao Qing and Lyu Hang. The way you can’t work up any enthusiasm makes me feel bored too.

Not sure if it was an illusion, but Xia Chiyi seemed to hear Zhou Zhexiao sigh beside him.

His hand reached over, suddenly clasping the back of Xia Chiyi’s head and forcefully pressing him into his embrace.

Xia Chiyi’s head felt a bit dazed from the impact against the other’s chest. Zhou Zhexiao’s voice came from above: “Then for the second quarter, however many points I score, will you guarantee to score the same amount in the remaining game?”

The corners of Xia Chiyi’s mouth slowly rose, revealing a triumphant smile. “Of course!”

Hearing this, Ye Chaoying couldn’t help but whistle. “Finally, do I get to witness Zhou Zhexiao’s strength?”

Shuai Bei snorted coldly. “Don’t act cool, or you’ll get struck by lightning.”

But hearing that Zhou Zhexiao was ready to release the seal, Xia Chiyi was so excited he wanted to run laps on the spot. Great, he could see Zhou Zhexiao’s god-tier operations again.

The second quarter began, and there seemed to be more spectators in the basketball arena.

They weren’t just there to see Ling Huanzhen; they were even more curious about the current level of the school team.

Ling Huanzhen looked in Zhou Zhexiao’s direction and raised an eyebrow, meaning: This game is making me sleepy, bring some excitement quickly.

So as soon as it started, Zhou Zhexiao held the ball alone. In the blink of an eye, he rushed to the opponent’s basket, so fast that no one returned to defend. With a casual toss, he scored.

Because it was too fast and sudden, the audience had no reaction until the basketball hit the ground, and waves of cheers erupted around.

Zhou Zhexiao looked at Xia Chiyi, placing his index finger on his lips, meaning: First ball.

Xia Chiyi shrugged, mouthing to him: Didn’t feel the thrill.

Next, Zhou Zhexiao scored three consecutive goals—hook shot, floater, left-handed layup. Whenever he held the ball, the whole venue was excited as if injected with chicken blood.

Xu Mi’s eardrums were about to be pierced by her screaming sisters.

Only Xia Chiyi knew that this guy was demonstrating the offensive skills he possessed to him.

Even Ling Huanzhen rubbed his chin thinking: Simply a peacock spreading its tail. Ten years ago, this guy didn’t love showing off this much. He really isn’t the real Sheng Xingming!

Chen Chuan and the others finally realized what was happening. The three originally defending Ye Chaoying also started targeting Zhou Zhexiao.

But it was useless. Zhou Zhexiao’s dribbling and passing people was like a kaleidoscope—spin dribble, shoulder fake, post-up crushing opponents shorter than him. In an instant, he killed his way to the basket again. Just as he jumped, the whole venue shouted frantically, as if it were an NBA live scene.

Chen Chuan and He Bin jumped up, holding back a breath to block this ball.

Really, really, really can’t let Zhou Zhexiao score anymore!

Zhou Zhexiao’s calm expression made their hearts skip a beat. He slightly retracted the ball, then sent it into the hoop between Chen Chuan and He Bin’s arms.

A cheer loud enough to lift the roof suddenly erupted in the arena.

“What was that! What was that! Retracting the ball, folding the body and unfolding again, then sending the ball in?” The sister frantically shook Xu Mi’s shoulders. “I’m dying, I’m dying. Why didn’t I think basketball players were so handsome before!”

“That’s a double clutch layup. It requires a very strong core to let him fold in the air,” Xu Mi explained, although unsure how much her best friend understood.

Listening to the boiling sound of the whole venue, Ling Huanzhen couldn’t help but sigh, thinking: Being able to heat the atmosphere to boiling point with a cold face is indeed something a certain Great Demon King would do.