Chapter 0075: Lunar New Year

“This signature is just something the team uses to milk money.” Zhou Zhexiao pinched it with his fingers, “The material is very ordinary.”

“I wouldn’t wear it to play basketball anyway. The color would probably fade after a wash.”

Zhou Zhexiao opened the small iron box. Inside were indeed many player cards of Sheng Xingming, and he started counting them one by one.

“Why are you counting these?” Xia Chiyi asked.

“To see how many bags of potato chips you bought.”

Xia Chiyi scratched his chin, experiencing social death once again.

“No need to count, one hundred and thirty-two. Later, that brand of potato chips stopped giving out player cards, so I stopped buying them,” Xia Chiyi replied.

Zhou Zhexiao picked up a card and looked at it, “Does this comply with food safety?”

“What, are you worried I would eat the card?”

“En.” Zhou Zhexiao nodded.

“How is that possible? There’s a layer of plastic sealing on the outside of the card. What kind of kid is so stupid they would even eat the plastic sealing?”

After Xia Chiyi finished showing off his collection, he put them all back into the box and pushed it under the bed.

“Is there nothing else?” Zhou Zhexiao asked.

“No more.” Xia Chiyi sat back in his seat. “Do you want to watch a game or a movie? Or do you want me to teach you how to play games?”

“A movie.”

The two put on a comedy. Although Xia Chiyi was rocking back and forth with laughter, Zhou Zhexiao didn’t seem to get the punchlines.

When Xia Chiyi went to take a shower, Zhou Zhexiao stayed in the room alone.

He looked up at Xia Chiyi’s bookshelf. The first two shelves were textbooks left over from middle school and high school, as well as some world classics. Above that were years of basketball magazines, like Global Sports Slam Dunk and Sports World. Later on, these magazines were gradually replaced by the internet, and Xia Chiyi’s magazine collection turned overseas, to things like SLAM and NBA STAFF…

Zhou Zhexiao casually pulled one out and found the cover was Sheng Xingming in his youth.

He tilted his face, put it back, and took out another one. The cover was printed with XINGMING SHENG.

There were also various special issues about Sheng Xingming, as well as commemorative issues for every year after Sheng Xingming passed away, and various hardcover editions of photo albums.

Zhou Zhexiao lowered his eyes and sighed: “Didn’t you say there were no more? There are clearly still so many.”

There was also a transparent wishing bottle on the bookshelf. Inside the wishing bottle were many stars folded from colored plastic.

Zhou Zhexiao picked it up and shook it. Surprisingly, there was a championship ring inside. Zhou Zhexiao tilted his head, rotated the wishing bottle, and discovered that Sheng Xingming’s name was also engraved on the ring.

“En?” Zhou Zhexiao tilted his head.

Xia Chiyi walked in. Seeing Zhou Zhexiao looking so earnestly at the wishing bottle, he couldn’t help but laugh out loud: “That one is fake. You didn’t think it was real, did you! A real ring would probably cost millions by now… and Sheng Qiming wouldn’t sell it either.”

“Then where did this come from?”

“Bought it online, twenty-eight point eight yuan ($4 USD), free shipping.” Xia Chiyi smiled, revealing his two canine teeth.

“Why would you buy a fake one?”

“Just as a memento, I didn’t think too much about it. Only after growing up did I understand that no matter how long you collect fake things, they have no meaning.”

“Then why didn’t you throw it away?” Zhou Zhexiao turned his head to ask.

“The championship ring is fake, but Sheng Xingming’s name is real.”

Xia Chiyi walked over and pushed Zhou Zhexiao’s shoulder. “Go, go, hurry up and take a shower.”

At night, the two slept together.

Xia Chiyi was tall, and his parents were afraid he wouldn’t be able to stretch out, so since middle school, he had always slept in a double bed.

Having gotten used to squeezing into the narrow single bed in the dorm with Zhou Zhexiao, changing back to his own large bed made Xia Chiyi a bit unaccustomed instead.

One moment he turned toward the wall, the next moment he turned toward Zhou Zhexiao, bending his legs, his knees bumping against Zhou Zhexiao’s lower abdomen from time to time.

After he tossed and turned in place for the twentieth-something time, Zhou Zhexiao took a deep breath and grabbed his knee—not to push it back, but directly pressing it against his own waist.

“No, no, no… I’ll stop harassing you, okay?”

“Just treat it as stretching.”

Zhou Zhexiao continued to maintain his flat-lying posture, having already closed his eyes.

Xia Chiyi’s tendons were stretched until they ached. Helplessly, the other party showed absolutely no intention of letting go. I really brought this upon myself.

“Hey, we’ll win a real championship ring in the future,” Zhou Zhexiao said.

Xia Chiyi froze for a moment, then revealed a huge smile, “Of course!”

After a while, Xia Chiyi asked again: “Can you let go of my leg now? I simply can’t fall asleep like this.”

But after a long time, the person next to him didn’t react at all.

Xia Chiyi carefully moved the other party’s hand away, finally straightened his leg, turned over to face the wall, and played on his phone.

Didn’t you say before that you wouldn’t be able to fall asleep unless you heard the sound of me sleeping? Aren’t you sleeping perfectly fine right now?

Truly, a man’s mouth is a deceitful ghost.

He played on his phone until it was almost out of battery before Xia Chiyi tossed it aside. Turning around, he discovered that Zhou Zhexiao was actually still in the exact same sleeping posture as before.

Does this guy really not move at all after falling asleep?

Xia Chiyi reached his palm out in front of Zhou Zhexiao and waved it. Zhou Zhexiao’s brows and eyes were very peaceful.

If there’s blame, blame the fact that you sleep too deeply.

Xia Chiyi held his breath and moved closer to the other party.

Zhou Zhexiao’s lips were very beautiful, but the more beautiful they were, the more they seemed like some kind of prohibition; once touched, he would lose everything he currently had.

Xia Chiyi touched his jaw and quickly lay back in his own spot. Yet his heart was being pulled by an invisible hook. He touched his chest, but couldn’t remove that force.

He opened his eyes, looking at the ceiling, imagining in his mind the scene of himself and Zhou Zhexiao fighting side-by-side in the top-tier arena one day.

They would maneuver through the court and win the game.

Zhou Zhexiao would lift him high up, accepting the cheers and applause of the audience.

For Xia Chiyi, this was so beautiful it was explosive.

When Xia Chiyi woke up, the side of the bed was already empty. He himself was lying sprawled in the middle of the bed, while the covers were tucked tightly around him, not letting a draft of wind through.

Xia Chiyi plugged his phone in to charge and realized the time was already 9:30 AM.

Where did Zhou Zhexiao go? Did he run out for morning exercise? Does he know the roads nearby?

Xia Chiyi turned on the phone’s location tracking and was stunned—This guy Zhou Zhexiao is actually at the wet market?

At this moment, Zhou Zhexiao was pulling a small grocery cart, following behind Jiang Ni. He watched Jiang Ni pick vegetables at various stalls, while she simultaneously told Zhou Zhexiao how to select these vegetables.

The vegetable-selling auntie asked with a smile: “Yo, Sister Jiang, is this little Chiyi? He’s grown this tall and handsome already?”

“No, no, no, how could this be that brat Xia Chiyi? He’s sleeping in at home! This is his classmate, and also my best friend’s son.”

“Oh, this young man is too handsome, and so well-behaved. I want to take him home to be my son-in-law!”

“Hahaha, it’s still early, still early, he’s only a college freshman.”

Jiang Ni still remembered how arrogant and domineering Zhou Zhexiao was when he was young. Plus, Zhou Zhexiao’s mother hadn’t complained to her any less over the years. Jiang Ni had originally prepared herself to serve a young master.

Her best friend had even called to express her utmost thanks, saying she was actually very worried that if her son knew about her new boyfriend, he would get emotional and do something stupid.

But Zhou Zhexiao was far, far better than Jiang Ni had imagined.

Emotionally stable and sensible.

At a little past 6 AM this morning, this child had gotten up for morning exercise. When he came back and saw Jiang Ni pulling the small cart to go grocery shopping, he immediately said, “Auntie, I’ll go with you.”

Clearly a child who grew up with a silver spoon in his mouth, yet he didn’t show the slightest disgust toward the wet market, just quietly following behind her.

The only childish part was that when he was curious about something, he would stand there looking at it continuously.

For example, passing by the fishmonger, he stood in front of the water tanks and kept looking.

Jiang Ni followed his line of sight and explained with a smile: “These are all river fish. You lived abroad before, so you probably ate sea fish more often.”

“En, salmon, Basa fish, silver cod; they don’t have bones.”

“This type of river fish is called sea bass; it also has few bones. Xia Chiyi loves eating steamed sea bass the most.”

“Oh.”

“That kind is called white fish, it has slightly more bones. The black one is snakehead…”

Jiang Ni identified them one by one for Zhou Zhexiao, and then Zhou Zhexiao repeated them, getting them all entirely correct.

“Auntie Jiang, let’s buy a sea bass to take back.”

“You want to eat it?”

“You just said Xia Chiyi loves to eat steamed sea bass.”

With these words, Jiang Ni liked him even more in her heart.

“How is one enough? Today we have to buy two. Don’t you have to properly taste my cooking?”

By the time the steamed sea bass was served on the table at noon, Xia Chiyi felt he might no longer be his mother’s biological son.

Jiang Ni almost served an entire fish directly into Zhou Zhexiao’s bowl.

Xia Chiyi and Zhou Zhexiao’s winter break life was very simple. Either the two watched games and movies together, or they went one-on-one at the community basketball court, but it was very fulfilling.

Before long, it was almost time for the Lunar New Year.

Zhou Rong made a phone call, asked where he was for the New Year, and if he needed money. Besides that, the father and son seemed to have no other topics of conversation. It lasted less than a minute before the sound of a woman talking could be heard; it was probably Zhou Rong’s current wife urging him to eat, and the call was hung up just like that.

Then Lin Qiao also called. She was guilty and promised that when the regional tournament took place in March, she would personally come watch the game.

Zhou Zhexiao’s reaction was very calm, and also very polite.

It was just that after hanging up the phone, Xia Chiyi could always see loneliness in Zhou Zhexiao’s eyes.

The world is big and all-encompassing, yet there seemed to be nothing that belonged to the current Zhou Zhexiao.

Just as Zhou Zhexiao lowered his eyes, Xia Chiyi suddenly jumped onto his back from behind. The sudden impact made Zhou Zhexiao stumble two steps forward.

“Say, if you carry me on your back, can you still hit a three-pointer?” Xia Chiyi asked.

Zhou Zhexiao paused. The warm breath from the boy speaking on his back kept pouring into the collar of his down jacket.

It tickled very much, but it was as if a warm breeze had blown across the desolate wasteland deep within his heart.

“I can,” Zhou Zhexiao answered very affirmatively.

Seeing that Zhou Zhexiao didn’t flip him off, Xia Chiyi got carried away and bounced around again. “Then carrying me on your back, can you still do a double-pump layup?”

“…Don’t know.”

“Then let’s try. We can just record it and send it to Pang Shuai as a New Year’s greeting video.”

“Okay.”

So Xia Chiyi found a phone tripod and set it up outside the basketball court.

With Xia Chiyi on his back, Zhou Zhexiao executed a pull-up jumper. Lying on the other party’s back, Xia Chiyi felt Zhou Zhexiao take him into the air. This was Xia Chiyi’s first time viewing his shot from such a close perspective to Zhou Zhexiao.

The trajectory of the ball was completely different from seeing it from the sidelines; it was as if it could fly.

“Ah, formidable! Double-pump! Try a double-pump!”

Zhou Zhexiao dribbled to the basket and jumped with Xia Chiyi, but the height and hang time were insufficient, making it impossible to complete the fold. The ball hit the rim and barely went in.

Xia Chiyi smiled playfully and raised his hand: “Zhou Zhexiao’s double-pump layup failed, but it’s not his fault, it’s because I’m too heavy!”

“You’re not heavy,” Zhou Zhexiao said.

“Let’s switch, let’s switch!”

“You want to carry me and do a double-pump layup?” Zhou Zhexiao turned his face and asked.

“How is that possible! I just felt the height of your jump while carrying me. Do you want to try you jumping and me shooting, to see if we have tacit understanding?”

“Okay.”

Carrying Xia Chiyi, Zhou Zhexiao jumped several times. It was either an airball or too forceful, hitting the backboard.

They practiced dozens of shots and finally made one.

Lying on Zhou Zhexiao’s back, Xia Chiyi giggled out loud.

“You made it, now it’s my turn.”

“Your turn? You want me to carry you to shoot?” Xia Chiyi was about to get down, not expecting Zhou Zhexiao to toss him right back up.

“I want to carry you and do a double-pump.”

Xia Chiyi inhaled sharply, “That’s impossible! I’m a big living person. It’s hard enough for you to dunk carrying me, and you want to do a double-pump?”

“Try it,” Zhou Zhexiao said.

Actually, Xia Chiyi didn’t want to get off Zhou Zhexiao’s back either. Plus, this guy was always able to pull off so many heaven-defying moves on the court; it was quite interesting that he finally encountered something he couldn’t accomplish.

“Alright, you try!”

Zhou Zhexiao dribbled, took a run-up, and jumped countless times.

Xia Chiyi followed him into a brief flight and rapid descent. Pressed against his back, he felt the explosive power of his entire body.

Even though it was an impossible maneuver, Zhou Zhexiao repeated it time and time again.

“Hey, you’re so smart, you didn’t help me think of a way, are you just lying on my back slacking off?” Zhou Zhexiao turned his face, leaning toward Xia Chiyi behind him.

His speaking voice was very close, his breath seeming to touch the seam of Xia Chiyi’s lips, even creating the illusion that he was about to kiss him.

The feeling of his blood being locked dead in his heart returned.

“Then since the landing speed is fast, you should release the ball faster, and make the double-pump motion smaller… just try it.” Xia Chiyi casually spouted nonsense.

He only felt his brain buzzing.

Zhou Zhexiao lifted his legs and tossed him up slightly. “Then wrap your legs tight, I’ll try again.”

“Oh.”

Zhou Zhexiao quickly dribbled again and pushed off forcefully. Xia Chiyi’s line of sight followed his arm extending toward the basket. They drifted past the basket and suddenly landed, but the ball had already been released and barely entered the basket.

Xia Chiyi froze: “No way? Impossible, right?”

“Let’s check the video.” Zhou Zhexiao’s breathing was a bit heavy, and he put Xia Chiyi down.

Xia Chiyi dragged the video to the end. The height and amplitude of this double-pump weren’t large, but the muscles all over Zhou Zhexiao’s body were tense. The tension and hormones leaped off the screen, paired with Xia Chiyi’s surprised expression looking at the basket from behind; it was too cinematic.

“Wow, you’re so formidable.” Xia Chiyi turned back to look at Zhou Zhexiao.

“So you’re not heavy at all,” Zhou Zhexiao said.

“No fair, I want to do it too!”

This time Zhou Zhexiao answered bluntly: “You can’t.”

“A man can never say he can’t! I won’t double-pump, I’ll dunk!”

“Carrying me, you can’t dunk either.” Zhou Zhexiao’s voice slowed down, carrying a bit of coaxing.

“Who wants to carry you to dunk! It’d be better to go back and eat soup dumplings! Have you watched pair figure skating?” Xia Chiyi asked.

“Never paid attention.”

“…”

Xia Chiyi found a video of pair figure skating. “Let’s do a throw lift. You throw me out, let’s see if I can dunk it?”

“We can try this.”

“Come on, come on!”

The two arrived under the basket. Zhou Zhexiao really propped Xia Chiyi up and threw him forward.

Xia Chiyi felt like he had become a basketball.

They tried several times in a row; either the height wasn’t enough, or the timing was wrong.

“I have no strength left,” Zhou Zhexiao said.

Xia Chiyi was stunned. He turned his head, widened his eyes, and said: “You are the omnipotent Zhou Zhexiao! You actually said you have no strength left!”

“How about you lose some weight over the New Year, and we’ll try again before school starts.”

“Of course not! I have to dunk it before the New Year. I still need to gain fat after the New Year!”

Zhou Zhexiao raised his hand, “Let me rest a bit.”

After saying that, this guy rested his hands on his hips and walked several laps around the court.

Xia Chiyi had a serious expression on his face, but his heart was about to blossom with laughter.

“Alright, I’ve rested enough, come on!”

Zhou Zhexiao came under the basket, lifted Xia Chiyi up, and threw him forward.

Xia Chiyi extended his arms in advance and finally completed the dunk of his dreams.

They originally said they were going to play one-on-one, but ended up playing like this for an entire afternoon.

On the way back, Xia Chiyi kept laughing while watching the video. “Let me tell you… we definitely… definitely have to get Pang Shuai to edit this for us, otherwise our images will really be completely destroyed hahaha!”

Zhou Zhexiao walked right next to him. If there were pedestrians or cars coming, he would pull him to the side.

“Is it that funny?”

“It’s really super funny! Look at your layup, doesn’t it look like Chang’e flying to the moon? And this one, it looks like you’re about to beat a drum!”

Only when Xia Chiyi’s phone completely ran out of battery did he tuck it into his coat.

“Thank you,” Zhou Zhexiao said.

“En? What are you thanking me for?”

“You were afraid I’d be unhappy because of Zhou Rong and Lin Qiao. But actually, I never expected fatherly or motherly love from them. However, they gave me the continuation of my life, so I am grateful to them. But still, thank you. I have never played basketball for the sake of happiness like I did today,” Zhou Zhexiao replied.

“Then is your thanks sincere?”

“En, sincere.”

“Then pledge yourself to me in marriage.” Xia Chiyi reached out his hands, making a demon claw gesture.

Zhou Zhexiao turned to look at him, as if seeing a Maneki-neko (lucky cat) pretending to be fierce.

“You really want it?” Zhou Zhexiao asked as he approached him with his hands in his pockets, leaning forward, looking at Xia Chiyi with those deep eyes.

Xia Chiyi executed a tactical backward lean, his throat tightening.

“Little coward.” Zhou Zhexiao snorted very lightly, turned, and walked forward.

Right, I’ve always been a coward.

If I wasn’t a coward, how could I only dare to secretly kiss you after you fell asleep?

On New Year’s Eve, the house underwent a thorough spring cleaning.

Zhou Zhexiao found many small items related to Sheng Xingming from the nooks and crannies of Xia Chiyi’s bedroom.

“What is this?”

“A keychain.”

“I thought it was a necklace. What about this?”

“An acrylic stand.”

“How does it stand?”

“Insert it into the base!” Xia Chiyi snatched it away. “Don’t break it. This kind of crystal acrylic won’t be made anymore. I finally managed to collect all twelve!”

So even if the person himself is here, he can’t touch these acrylic stands?

Zhou Zhexiao didn’t quite understand.

“What’s the use of keeping this desk calendar?”

“Because this is an official game calendar released ten years ago! Originally, if I could get the star’s signature, I could sell it to buy a laptop!”

Zhou Zhexiao tilted his head, picked up a pen from the desk, and signed the three characters “Sheng Xingming” right on it.

Xia Chiyi: “…”

Zhou Zhexiao said with an expression of matter-of-factness: “I want a laptop.”

Xia Chiyi: Where did this scoundrel come from? Sweep him out!

On New Year’s Eve night, Jiang Ni prepared a large table of dishes. Xia Chiyi pulled Zhou Zhexiao to bow and offer New Year’s greetings to his parents. Jiang Ni and Xia Mu couldn’t close their mouths from smiling and gave each of them a large red envelope (hongbao).

Xia Chiyi pinched the thickness of the red envelope and beamed with joy: “This year’s red envelope feels like it has two more bills than last year’s.”

“You kid, don’t spend money recklessly, buy some useful things,” Xia Mu advised.

“Why don’t you tell Zhou Zhexiao to spend less recklessly… born shopaholic…” Xia Chiyi muttered softly.

Holding the red envelope, Zhou Zhexiao stood there for a long time without speaking.

“Child, what’s wrong?” Jiang Ni asked worriedly.

“Nothing… it’s just that I haven’t received a New Year’s red envelope in a long time.”

Jiang Ni froze for a moment. Perhaps this wasn’t popular on the other side of the ocean, or perhaps… Zhou Rong and Lin Qiao had never cared about these customs.

“What does that matter? From now on, Uncle and Auntie will give you New Year’s money every year!”

“If he graduates in the future and earns more money than you, will you still give it?” Xia Chiyi asked.

“Even if he has wealth rivaling a nation in the future, we are still his elders.” Jiang Ni hugged Zhou Zhexiao and patted his shoulder.

After dinner, Xia Chiyi and Zhou Zhexiao kept them company, playing mahjong while the Spring Festival Gala played in the background.

Xia Chiyi originally thought Zhou Zhexiao wouldn’t know how to play. Who knew this guy not only knew how to play, but was at a master tier.

Jiang Ni and Xia Mu kept completing their hands and winning. Xia Chiyi suffered a crushing defeat, and all of this was because Zhou Zhexiao was playing tricks in the middle of it.

They used playing cards to calculate points and settled the wins and losses at the end.

Seeing that the New Year’s bell was about to ring, Xia Chiyi tugged at Zhou Zhexiao. “Hey, think clearly, I’m the one who is your teammate! Are you really going to make me lose from this year all the way into next year?”

Seeing their son’s puffed-up, angry look, Jiang Ni and Xia Mu’s stomachs hurt from laughing. In the past, when relatives came over to play mahjong, Xia Chiyi relied on his young, sharp brain to win dust-free all the way to the end. When had he ever suffered a loss like today?

Jiang Ni patted Zhou Zhexiao, “Let him win a bit, let’s let him win a bit.”

“Humph!” Xia Chiyi stared at Zhou Zhexiao with quite a bit of threat.

When the bell ringing in the New Year sounded, Xia Chiyi finally won a round.

A bombardment of various WeChat New Year’s greeting messages started on his phone.

Yang Huaiyu actually even sent him a red envelope. Clicking it open, it was 6.66 yuan, and the WeChat message read: “Bro, 666 in the New Year.” (Note: 666 is internet slang for “awesome” or “smooth”).

Liu Suchen also sent a New Year’s greeting message. Xia Chiyi originally thought it was a mass-sent message, but looking closely, it seemed to have been typed out word by word: “Wishing little friend Xia Chiyi and his saber-bearing guard Zhou Zhexiao to leave everyone in the dust in the regional tournament, overpower the heroes, and then be overpowered by me.”

Xia Chiyi replied: Hurry up and sleep, you have everything in your dreams.

He also recorded a New Year’s greeting video for Jiao Yingfeng. Jiao Yingfeng replied with one sentence: [Read]

Xia Chiyi: [Tornado-style spinning, Master, your disciple has already bowed, why is there no red envelope?]

Only then did Jiao Yingfeng send a red envelope, telling Xia Chiyi to take it and buy candy.

Pang Shuai properly edited the video Xia Chiyi and Zhou Zhexiao filmed and posted it on Weibo. The comments immediately exploded.

[Holy crap, Zhou Zhexiao’s heaven-defying jumping ability and core strength! He can actually do a double-pump while carrying Xia Chiyi?]

[Could this be composited in post-production?]

[Zhou Zhexiao carrying baby Chiyi to shoot is too cute! These two really have tacit understanding, Mom approves of you two getting married on the spot!]

[Even if the CP I ship isn’t real, it’s so sweet it makes me dizzy!]

Liu Suchen and Yang Huaiyu coincidently both scrolled past this Weibo post, and the two started arguing with each other.

Liu Suchen: [Hurry up and surrender that title of King of the Double-Pump!]

Yang Huaiyu: [On what grounds should I surrender? Why should I surrender? Tomorrow I’ll go find Ke Yan!]

Liu Suchen: [What kind of skill is it if you double-pump carrying Ke Yan? Carry me.]

Yang Huaiyu: [Do you think I’m stupid? I’d rather fly to Ningchang and carry Xia Chiyi.]

On the first day of the Lunar New Year, the home of National Youth Team head coach Xie Huai was also bustling like a marketplace. Many well-known athletes and coaches came to visit him.

Seeing his disciples, Xie Huai couldn’t close his mouth from smiling.

Jiao Yingfeng and Li Xiaoran both arrived. Xie Huai brought out his tea set again and brewed Kung Fu tea for the two of them.

After all, having been rivals in the CBA for many years, and having fought together in the Asian Championship and the Olympics, there was still a mutual appreciation between Jiao Yingfeng and Li Xiaoran. As soon as they met, they hugged each other.

Li Xiaoran sincerely invited Jiao Yingfeng to come to Qingda to be a technical coach. Jiao Yingfeng said he had taken on a disciple and currently had no career ambition, just wanting to train this guy well.

“Speaking of guards, Coach Xie, haven’t you always felt that although there are many people who play guard, truly outstanding ones are rare?” Li Xiaoran said.

Xie Huai smiled. “That’s true. Looking at your appearance, are you going to recommend someone to me? Did Qingda’s first-year class recruit a good seedling again?”

Li Xiaoran sighed. “I’m ashamed, it’s not from our Qingda. It’s someone we discovered when playing a practice match with another school… I only have footage of his match cooperating with Liu Suchen here. This off-ball movement and help-defense awareness can be called top-tier, and his personal physical attributes are also excellent. Look at the speed of this half-court dribble sprint, look… and is this three-pointer beautiful or not? He shoots as soon as he raises his hand, without the slightest drag. His dribble penetration ability is also very strong, and he even dares to go hard against our team’s Huo Cheng under the basket.”

While listening to Li Xiaoran’s introduction, Xie Huai revealed a meaningful smile.

I didn’t expect this child, in just three or four short months, to have already improved this much?

“Xiaoran, I know this child. His name is Xia Chiyi.”

“You… you know him?” Li Xiaoran was stunned.

Opposite him, Jiao Yingfeng, who had been quiet the whole time, couldn’t hide the smile on his face. What could make him want to laugh more than his former old rival specifically coming to recommend his own disciple to the head coach of the National Youth Team?

Xie Huai pointed at Jiao Yingfeng. “This is the disciple Jiao Yingfeng is training.”

Li Xiaoran froze, looking at Jiao Yingfeng. “Your… your disciple?”

“My disciple, just taught him for three months. To be able to gain your favor, as his master, I also share in the honor.”

Li Xiaoran raised his head, as if digesting this information, then took a deep breath: “My heart is at ease.”

“Why?” Jiao Yingfeng asked, amused.

“I always thought such a good child was taught by Ling Huanzhen. If it’s you, no wonder… Watching him shoot is like seeing you in your youth.”

“Haha, and thank you for giving him such a precious practice opportunity. When he came back and saw me, he kept chattering non-stop, constantly praising you. He said you not only let him watch Qingda’s practice match but also bought him drinks and snacks, and let him play basketball at Qingda for over forty minutes.”

“When encountering a good seedling, as a coach, you always want to see his depths. Ah, besides Xia Chiyi, there is another person I think Coach Xie you can also take a look at. Although I guess Ling Huanzhen and Jiao Yingfeng should have already recommended him to you… but as a former member of the national team, I also want to solemnly recommend him to you once again.”

Xie Huai closed his eyes and nodded. “How about this: I’ll count one, two, three, and the three of us will say that person’s name together.”

Jiao Yingfeng and Li Xiaoran nodded together.

“One, two, three—”

“Zhou Zhexiao!”

The three looked at each other and smiled.

“This is the video of his one-on-one with Liu Suchen, I’ll send it to you to look at. Coach Ren Xin of Qincheng University praised him as a ‘kaleidoscope on both ends of the offense and defense,’ and it’s truly not an exaggeration at all. I even find it hard to understand how an eighteen-year-old college student has such techniques and offensive/defensive awareness. Could it be that Oak Hill’s ability to train basketball players is already this high?”

As soon as Xie Huai clicked it open and saw Zhou Zhexiao’s first dunk that overwhelmed the entire court, he was stunned.

“How… how does it look so similar…” Xie Huai wiped his eyes.

Jiao Yingfeng hurriedly pulled out a tissue and handed it over.

“I’m fine, I’m fine…” Xie Huai’s eyes reddened. “Every time I see this child named Zhou Zhexiao play, I feel like I’m seeing Sheng Xingming. Back then, when Sheng Xingming was called into the national team to play in the Olympics, he told me he didn’t want to play guard, he wanted to play forward. I said… I said you’ve played guard in the NBA for so many years… why do you want to play forward?”

Li Xiaoran and Jiao Yingfeng’s emotions were also stirred up, listening to Coach Xie tell stories from the past while choking with emotion.

“He said… in the NBA, they almost never give Asian players the opportunity to play forward. He started his career as a guard, and both his player value and his positioning were welded shut at the guard position by the team. No matter which NBA team he changed to, they wouldn’t risk giving him the forward position. He just wanted to play forward; he didn’t want to rust away… He wanted to show the NBA whether he could actually play forward or not.”

“He did very well, scoring 38 points by himself, beating those star forwards of the Dream Team senseless. It was me… I didn’t catch his final shot.” Jiao Yingfeng took a deep breath.

Li Xiaoran hugged him tightly. “It’s the New Year, don’t cry.”

Xie Huai patted his phone. “Rest assured, whether it’s Xia Chiyi or Zhou Zhexiao, we will evaluate them seriously.”

“But wait, you’re the coach of Qingda. Instead of recommending your own players, you’re actually recommending Ling Huanzhen’s? Did you two make up?” Jiao Yingfeng asked playfully.

“I am absolutely irreconcilable with him.” Li Xiaoran huffed in anger at the mention of Ling Huanzhen. “I’m just afraid that Ningchang University will suffer a crushing defeat in his hands and fail to advance from the regional tournament, and these two children will be buried.”

“Isn’t it just a packet of sour bamboo shoots? He’s always been like that, not cleaning up much, leaving half-eaten food until it stinks without throwing it away.” Jiao Yingfeng bumped Li Xiaoran with his shoulder. “Look, we’re all at this age, just let it go, okay?”

“Sour bamboo shoots? He didn’t tell you the truth, did he.”

“If not sour bamboo shoots… did he steal your girlfriend?” Jiao Yingfeng revealed a surprised expression.

“In the national team’s dorms, he used Sheng Xingming’s poster to pad the table leg, and when Sheng Xingming found out, he said I was the one who padded it! I’ll never have the chance to clear this grievance in my lifetime. I admired Sheng Xingming so much, how could I possibly use his poster to pad a table leg! Later, when I wanted to exchange jerseys with Sheng Xingming, the other party responded coldly, ‘No need at all.’ If it were you, would you forgive him?”

Jiao Yingfeng froze right there. This mystery of the century was finally solved.

“No… he doesn’t deserve forgiveness.”

Zhou Zhexiao stayed at Xia Chiyi’s home until the 15th day of the first lunar month (Lantern Festival) and ate tangyuan (glutinous rice balls) of various flavors.

Before returning to school, Xia Chiyi brought out the electronic scale.

“You… you go first.” Xia Chiyi pushed him.

Zhou Zhexiao stepped on it. Xia Chiyi squatted next to it and rubbed his eyes. “You ate so much every day, how did you not gain weight? And your body fat percentage hasn’t changed much either?”

“Probably because I continued to exercise every day.”

“I exercised every day too!”

“You call waking up at 10 AM every day exercising?”

“Go away.”

Xia Chiyi took a deep breath, stepped onto the scale, and gasped sharply.

“How… how is this possible?” Xia Chiyi’s eyeballs were about to fall out.

“En, not bad, gained 6 jin (approx. 3 kg or 6.6 lbs) over a winter break,” Zhou Zhexiao said coolly from the side.

“You didn’t even gain any, how could I gain so much? I’m going to the bathroom!”

When Xia Chiyi returned, he had reduced his weight, but to his surprise, standing on the scale, 6 jin had actually turned into 8 jin!

Realizing something was wrong, Xia Chiyi suddenly turned around and sure enough, saw Zhou Zhexiao’s foot stepping on the edge of the scale.

“You bastard!”

Xia Chiyi sprang up and lunged at Zhou Zhexiao. “I’m going to strangle you!”

I almost got scared to death by him! I thought I was going to be punished to roll on a bed of nails by Jiao Yingfeng right as school started.

Zhou Zhexiao continued to maintain his core competitiveness. Even though Xia Chiyi was practically emulating Lu Zhishen uprooting a weeping willow tree, this guy still stood tall and unmoving.

“Fall down… fall down…”

“Alright.”

Zhou Zhexiao fell backward, landing right on the bed.

Xia Chiyi didn’t anticipate this and pounced right on top of him. His nose knocked against the other party’s chin, hurting like hell.

“I’ll smother you to death!” Xia Chiyi yanked the covers over and covered Zhou Zhexiao’s face.

Before he could be smug for even two minutes, with a turn of his body, Zhou Zhexiao flipped Xia Chiyi over, and the covers also enclosed Xia Chiyi’s head.

“Let me out—let me out, you big liar—”

Xia Chiyi swung his fists wildly. Through the covers, Zhou Zhexiao locked his hands and firmly pinned his wrists to the pillow. Xia Chiyi struggled in every way, engaging his shoulder and back power, and tensing his core, but there was just no way to flip Zhou Zhexiao off.

Even though he was forcibly wrapped in the covers by the other party, Xia Chiyi didn’t feel suffocated.

Zhou Zhexiao lowered his eyes without saying a word, just watching as Xia Chiyi’s head thrashed around inside the covers.

“I’m suffocating… I can’t catch my breath, I’m sweating, let me out quickly!”

Xia Chiyi tilted his head, wondering what Zhou Zhexiao was doing.

Just pinning me down like this without speaking?

Suddenly, the covers on his face, which were originally quite loose, pressed down.

Xia Chiyi’s heart leaped into his throat in an instant, because he had the illusion that Zhou Zhexiao was kissing him through the covers.

His entire body tensed up, and he didn’t even dare to breathe heavily.

Only then did he realize that the covers were entirely filled with Zhou Zhexiao’s and his own scents.

Even though they used the same shower gel, Xia Chiyi could wondrously distinguish which scents belonged to Zhou Zhexiao.

The covers pressed against his lips. Xia Chiyi tightly closed his eyes. He discovered his brain’s imagination was endless, as if he could feel Zhou Zhexiao’s lips through the covers.

But in the next second, the covers pressed down entirely—this was obviously Zhou Zhexiao’s chest.

“Wu—”

“Still playing?” Zhou Zhexiao’s voice came through muffled.

“Not playing, not playing, I already said I can’t catch my breath… let me out…”

Only then did Zhou Zhexiao roll over to the side. Xia Chiyi threw off the covers in one go, sat up, turned his face, and kicked Zhou Zhexiao once.

“What were you doing pressing on me just now? Refusing to let go for ages!”

“Kissing you,” Zhou Zhexiao said with an expression of complete calmness.

Clunk. Xia Chiyi’s face flushed so red it was about to explode.

“Kiss your sister!”

“I don’t have a sister.”

Mother goose, if you were just a bit shy, I would have believed you were telling the truth!

Looking like your heart is clear as ice and you wouldn’t be startled even if the sky fell, how do you expect me to imagine your kiss?

Unable to hold back, Xia Chiyi kicked him again, climbed up, and stood on the scale once more.

Thank goodness, thank goodness. I only gained 1 kg (2.2 lbs); this should still be within Jiao Yingfeng’s tolerance range.

Xia Chiyi no longer dared to eat and drink recklessly, nor did he sleep in anymore. He got up with Zhou Zhexiao every day for morning exercise, and the two could go out and play basketball all day. Finally, before returning to school, they brought their body fat percentages back down.

When they were returning to school, Jiang Ni couldn’t be more reluctant to part with them. She hugged Zhou Zhexiao, patted his back, and said: “Child, you have to take good care of yourself. Don’t learn from Xia Chiyi staying up late watching dramas and playing games. Maintain your good daily routine… eat fewer snacks and more nutritious things.”

Standing to the side, Xia Chiyi scratched his chin. “Mom, Mom, I am your son. You’re hugging the wrong person.”

As soon as the second semester began, the regional tournament for the Southeast Division was about to start.

__

[Author’s Note]
Yang Huaiyu: Forever the number one person to send red envelopes!
Xia Chiyi: Also the stingiest person!