Chapter 0127: I’m fine, thank you. And you?

Yang Huaiyu even very obsequiously handed over a towel. “If Coach Ling wipes off his sweat, he can be even lighter!”

Ling Huanzhen was very satisfied with Yang Huaiyu’s attentiveness: “Thanks!”

A group of tall guys gathered around the scale, looking as if they were checking if their homegrown pig had gained weight.

Even Lu Yingnan leaned in.

“Go away! Go away, no one is allowed to look!” Ling Huanzhen shooed them all away.

Having sweat like rain, he had finally lost a kilogram.

He just didn’t notice that behind him, Liu Suchen was leaning backward, the tip of his left foot resting on the back of the scale.

Yang Huaiyu stretched his neck and took a peek, “Coach Ling, are we continuing tomorrow?”

“Of course we’re continuing!” Ling Huanzhen answered decisively.

I’m going to drop weight!

Reject being greasy, starting with me!

As a result, at dinner time, the sesame paste exploded tripe was so fragrant that Ling Huanzhen downed another three bowls of rice.

Li Xiaoran covered his forehead, unable to resist reminding him: “Are you sure you can lose weight like this?”

“If I don’t eat until I’m full, how can I beat that bunch of teenagers tomorrow?”

After dinner, stimulated by a whole day of matches, Xia Chiyi was in high spirits. He had seen way too many interesting things, especially defensive techniques.

Lu Yingnan’s tight following and Ling Huanzhen’s under-the-basket defense both made Xia Chiyi feel the importance of defense.

His past training had mainly focused on speed, breakthroughs, and scoring; the effort put into defense was far from enough.

Xia Chiyi shouted energetically, “Zhou Zhexiao, let’s go play basketball!”

Zhou Zhexiao replied calmly, “Let’s go back to the dorm first; the clothes in your waterproof bag are going to go sour.”

“Liu Suchen learned that defensive technique of Ling Huanzhen’s, and Yang Huaiyu learned it too. There’s no reason I can’t learn it!”

“I know it.”

“Pika pika—” Xia Chiyi tugged at the back hem of Zhou Zhexiao’s T-shirt, utilizing his newly acquired coquettish skill.

Zhou Zhexiao turned his head and refused soullessly: “Pika.”

“I’m never lending you my phone to watch Pokémon again!”

Returning to the dorm, Zhou Zhexiao very methodically unpacked both his and Xia Chiyi’s luggage, and washed all of Xia Chiyi’s dirty clothes, towels, and wristbands that were wrapped in the waterproof bag.

Smelling the distant ocean scent of the sports laundry detergent, Xia Chiyi thought maybe Zhou Zhexiao was right.

If those dirty clothes were left to stew for a few more hours, they might have grown mushrooms.

Standing by the side, watching his limited-edition T-shirt soaking together with Zhou Zhexiao’s matching one, Xia Chiyi couldn’t help but say, “Does this count as you and me tightly embracing in the water?”

Before Zhou Zhexiao could answer, Ye Chaoying went into the bathroom to use the toilet. Without any taboo, he made splashing sounds while teasing, “Yeah, it’s practically you two taking a couple’s bath!”

Xia Chiyi immediately turned his head away and said in disgust, “Ye Chaoying, how can you be like this! I’m going to get styes in my eyes!”

Ye Chaoying slowly flushed the toilet. “You two show off your affection every day, and I haven’t complained about getting diabetes.”

Xia Chiyi suddenly became nervous. Was he and Zhou Zhexiao too obvious normally, making others notice?

“You… really think Zhou Zhexiao and I are very affectionate?”

“Yeah, of course.” Ye Chaoying nodded while opening a face mask.

“You seem pretty used to it?”

“Duh. Is there anyone in all of Ningchang University who isn’t used to it? The kings of CP, operating both in public and private.”

“Oh.” Xia Chiyi nodded. “If we make it to the NBA one day, we’ll continue operating.”

“Haha, I look forward to it.” Ye Chaoying nodded and went out.

Xia Chiyi thought to himself, On the day I go public, the expression on Ye Chaoying’s face will definitely be the most spectacular.

Zhou Zhexiao also shooed Xia Chiyi out. “You don’t do any real work here besides playing with the water.”

Xia Chiyi had no choice but to lean on the windowsill, staring fixedly at the outdoor basketball court near the student apartments, praying silently that no one would occupy the space.

Once Zhou Zhexiao finished washing the clothes, they still had to practice defense.

But his hopes were dashed; someone had already arrived on the basketball court.

From afar, the person’s figure looked pretty good, wearing a dark T-shirt and black athletic shorts. This plumber-style outfit looked a bit familiar.

Mainly, the person’s back was turned to him, so he couldn’t see their face, making it impossible for Xia Chiyi to confirm their identity.

After warming up his dribbling, this brother started practicing his shooting.

The person was probably groping for the right shooting form. From the release point seen from behind, it looked like he wanted to shoot a high-arc ball, but his accuracy was a complete mess.

After watching a dozen or so shots, Xia Chiyi was certain this guy wasn’t using a posture he was good at.

First, he stood very close to the basket, the arc of the ball very high, making seven or eight out of ten shots. Then he stepped back little by little, still maintaining the arc. But no matter how he adjusted, his accuracy kept dropping.

His roommate, Fu Chenxue, came to the window holding a bag of sunflower seeds. “Want some?”

“Yeah. Let’s see if this bro playing ball can improve his accuracy by the time we finish this bag.”

Having said that, the two started cracking seeds.

The bro on the court took another thirty or so shots, with no improvement.

“Snapped his wrist too early,” Xia Chiyi shook his head.

As if he could hear Xia Chiyi speaking, this bro realized the issue with his wrist snap and adjusted immediately, but his accuracy only improved a tiny bit.

Xia Chiyi sighed and shook his head. “Although shooting is done with the hands, leg power is very important. This bro is either tired, or he’s paying too much attention to his hand movements and neglecting his legs. If you want a high arc, you need vertical power generation from the legs to the upper limbs. If he keeps going like this, he won’t improve even if he shoots all night.”

“Mhm.” Fu Chenxue nodded without any objection. When it came to shooting, no one had more right to speak than Xia Chiyi.

Hearing a psssh sound, Xia Chiyi turned his face and saw Fu Chenxue had actually opened a bottle of cola and was chugging it down.

“Where did you get cola?”

“Saw a small supermarket on the way… bought it with the sunflower seeds.”

“Ahhh, how can you crack sunflower seeds without cola? I want some too!”

“All… gone…” Fu Chenxue pushed his cola forward a bit. “If you don’t mind…”

Just then, Zhou Zhexiao walked out of the bathroom, hung up the wrung-out clothes, and said, “I’ll go buy some with you.”

“Mhm mhm mhm!” Xia Chiyi continued leaning on the windowsill, cracking sunflower seeds while watching the bro repeat his failed shots.

This person really seemed to love basketball, tirelessly going through trial and error over and over again just for the arc of his shot.

Why doesn’t he find a coach… ah, a coach wouldn’t help either; they only teach traditional shooting forms.

But if he can’t get the high arc right, he’s not going to keep shooting like this, is he?

Don’t be fooled by the fact that shooting doesn’t require immense explosive power or speed sprints; constantly coordinating the body to generate power isn’t an easy task.

Furthermore, the more stamina drops, the lower the accuracy.

This old bro had already practiced over a hundred shots, right? If he didn’t rest soon, his shooting would only get worse.

When Xia Chiyi and Zhou Zhexiao walked downstairs, that person was actually still shooting.

His towel and water were placed on the sidelines, indicating he planned on fighting a protracted battle.

“Wait a sec, I’ll go take a look.”

Xia Chiyi patted Zhou Zhexiao’s back and jogged over.

Zhou Zhexiao raised a hand, hesitating to speak, and could only step forward to follow him.

When Xia Chiyi ran under the lights, he finally saw clearly who was practicing shooting on the outdoor basketball court.

“Lu… Lu Yingnan? What is he doing here practicing his shot out of the blue?” Xia Chiyi rubbed the back of his head.

Although Lu Yingnan’s long-range shooting couldn’t compare to shooting guards like Xia Chiyi or Li Shunchuan, it was still considered top-tier in the Division I League. Xia Chiyi couldn’t figure out why he was giving himself extra shooting practice.

“Because he wants to shoot your high-arc ball. As a defender, he feels more than anyone else that once your high arc is released, it is unguardable,” Zhou Zhexiao spoke up.

Standing on the sidelines, Xia Chiyi unconsciously watched Lu Yingnan take another dozen or so shots.

Reason told Xia Chiyi he shouldn’t make any comments about his shooting.

Teaching him how to shoot was practically equivalent to teaching him how to defend against himself.

But Lu Yingnan was too earnest, making Xia Chiyi feel a sense of pity, or perhaps mutual appreciation.

He glanced at Zhou Zhexiao beside him, remembering what he once said: In most games, it doesn’t even come down to competing on talent.

It was probably because people like Lu Yingnan or Zhou Zhexiao, despite clearly having talent, worked harder than anyone else.

“I…” Xia Chiyi hesitated.

“If you want to teach him, then teach him.”

“You don’t think I’m colluding with the enemy and betraying my country?”

The expression on Zhou Zhexiao’s face remained unchanged: “I don’t know about others, but I’ve never cared about teaching what I know to others. Even if they learn it, they won’t be better than me anyway.”

This confidence… Xia Chiyi couldn’t help but give him a thumbs-up.

Just at that moment, Lu Yingnan’s basketball rolled to the sideline. He lowered his head, resting one hand on his hip as he looked at his feet. After two or three seconds, Lu Yingnan took a deep breath. When he turned around, he saw Xia Chiyi holding his basketball.

“Tired?” Xia Chiyi asked with a smile.

Lu Yingnan paused slightly, using his wristband to wipe the sweat off his chin. “A little.”

Xia Chiyi threw the ball back to him. “Captain Lu, let’s make a deal.”

“Wh… what deal?”

“You teach me the secrets of defense, and I’ll teach you the high-arc three-pointer.”

Lu Yingnan lowered his eyes and smiled. “I don’t have any stamina right now.”

“Then tomorrow. However much you teach me, I’ll teach you.”

Xia Chiyi smiled, his eyes curving, giving Lu Yingnan an urge to immediately open a can of cat food to feed him.

“Okay.” Lu Yingnan nodded slightly.

“Then don’t blindly fumble around by yourself now. Hurry back, take a shower, and sleep. Tomorrow, we get real!” Xia Chiyi made a cheering gesture.

Lu Yingnan nodded, walked to the sideline, draped his towel over his head, and left while drinking water.

“Let’s go, let’s go buy cola.”

There was nothing better than drinking cola after a hearty game.

Xia Chiyi and Zhou Zhexiao went to the convenience store not far from the apartment, while Lu Yingnan carried his towel back to his room.

Mo Chuang came back from brushing his teeth and caught sight of his captain. “Oh, boss, went out for extra practice again?”

“Doesn’t count as extra practice, just fishing.”

“Huh? Then did you catch anything?”

“Caught something.”

Mo Chuang asked in amusement, “What kind of fish did you catch?”

“The ocean overlord kind.”

Mo Chuang scratched the back of his head. “Boss, are you still brooding over Xia Chiyi publicly turning you down today?”

“No. Even Liu Bei had to visit the thatched cottage three times to recruit Zhuge Liang. I just need to show my attitude and practice for him to see.”

Mo Chuang: “Boss… take my advice, you’re not getting any younger, overtraining is bad for your knees.”

The next second, Lu Yingnan’s towel was smacked onto Mo Chuang’s face: “I’m two weeks younger than you.”

During regular training the next day, Lu Yingnan actually reported to Coach Gu and Ling Huanzhen, pulling Xia Chiyi to a corner to teach him defensive footwork transitions.

How to combine lateral sliding steps and cross steps; how to effectively jump and intercept after sliding and cross steps; how to use both hands to interfere with the opponent when using stutter steps… it was all experience and dry goods.

Even Liu Suchen and Yang Huaiyu couldn’t resist standing nearby to steal some lessons.

“Lu Yingnan is just teaching publicly like this?” Liu Suchen stroked his chin.

Yang Huaiyu smiled with his hands in his pockets. “Probably because these things of his, for most people, are ‘Understand it upon hearing, but useless upon trying’.”

At this moment, Lu Yingnan hooked a finger at the two of them. “Come here.”

“What for?” Liu Suchen asked.

“To be sparring partners.”

“Do you think I’m stupid? Letting Xia Chiyi practice how to defend against me.” Liu Suchen lifted his chin, deciding to retreat rapidly.

Unexpectedly, Xia Chiyi rested his hands on his hips and broke out a huge smile: “Hey, this is a great opportunity for you to adapt to my defensive techniques. Otherwise… come the National Tournament, you’ll just have to wait to be sacrificed to the heavens.”

Yang Huaiyu rolled his shoulders, “I’ll go first then…”

Liu Suchen shoved Yang Huaiyu aside, revealing an enthusiastic expression. “I’ll go first. I want to see who between you and me will be sacrificed to the heavens first.”

For a full half hour, Liu Suchen could easily break through Xia Chiyi’s defense, finding the gaps in his footwork transitions.

After going back and forth like this twenty or thirty times, Liu Suchen started to feel embarrassed, terrified of dealing a blow to Xia Chiyi’s enthusiasm for learning. He asked amiably, “Little Chiyi, how about your big bro slows down a bit? Cooperate with your footwork?”

Xia Chiyi’s expression turned serious and solemn, showing a thoughtful look. Then he leaned close to Lu Yingnan’s ear and spoke.

Lu Yingnan nodded very slightly, then whispered something back to Xia Chiyi.

Following that, Xia Chiyi’s footwork transitions became increasingly fluid. In the next half hour, Liu Suchen felt a sense of stickiness. Xia Chiyi could always arrive at his breakthrough point ahead of time, and his sliding steps and changes of direction became sharper.

This little brat truly is a combat-evolution type player.

Liu Suchen slightly regretted being his sparring partner, accidentally bumping into him.

“Ugh…” Xia Chiyi frowned.

Yang Huaiyu yelled from the side: “Oh, charging foul.”

Xia Chiyi wiped the sweat from his face, revealing a smug smile: “If Qing Da does this to us, the ball is ours!”

“This guy knows how to stab people in the heart.” Seeing Liu Suchen deflated, Yang Huaiyu also found it amusing.

Lu Yingnan clapped from the side. “Good job.”

Xia Chiyi smiled, his eyes curving, and ran over to Zhou Zhexiao. “See that? How was my defense just now?”

Zhou Zhexiao had his hands in his pockets. Looking down, he perfectly saw Xia Chiyi’s sweat-beaded nose tip. His throat bobbed, and he spoke, “Mhm, very formidable.”

Liu Suchen said unhappily, “Zhou Zhexiao is right here, but you don’t use him and instead come looking for me?”

Zhou Zhexiao spoke slowly: “I’m his teammate, defending me is meaningless.”

Liu Suchen opened his mouth, then pressed a hand to his face. “What you said makes so much sense, I shouldn’t have argued in the first place.”

Lu Yingnan accompanied Xia Chiyi in practicing defensive footwork for the entire morning. In the afternoon, Xia Chiyi accompanied Lu Yingnan in practicing shooting.

Xia Chiyi was a serious person by nature, explaining everything in detail to Lu Yingnan, from the method of generating power to the timing of the wrist snap.

Not only was Xia Chiyi a good teacher, but Lu Yingnan’s learning ability was also quite formidable. His hit rate for high-arc shots kept increasing, making Li Shunchuan, who was watching from the side, continuously express his amazement.

“Xia Chiyi is practically turning stone into gold! Does anyone you teach learn this fast?”

Xia Chiyi shook his head: “Probably not. It was useless when I taught Ye Chaoying.”

Ye Chaoying, who was watching the show from the sidelines, suddenly became the center of attention. Li Shunchuan looked at him with an awkward expression, saying, “Such a good opportunity, other school teams couldn’t beg for it, yet you don’t study hard.”

Ye Chaoying’s knee felt like it had taken a vicious arrow.

“Ev… everyone has things they are good at. I will become big and strong in the areas I excel in!”

On the third day of the training camp, the Ningchang University team commenced their practice match with Connecticut. Everyone really wanted to see the true synergy between Xia Chiyi and Zhou Zhexiao, but unexpectedly, Ye Chaoying was benched. The starting shooting guard was He Bin, while Xia Chiyi took on the role of point guard.

“Coach, are you sure I’m playing?” A thin layer of sweat formed on He Bin’s palms.

Ling Huanzhen smiled. “Have you realized that, as a shooter, or playing the shooting guard position, you should rank in the top three in the Southeast Division, or top four conservatively? Shouldn’t you have a little more confidence in yourself?”

He Bin smiled faintly, “Feels like Coach Ling just fed me a massive pie (false promise).”

Who knew Zhou Zhexiao would speak up: “No need to be conservative. He Bin can make the top three.”

He Bin’s smile grew more pronounced: “I choose to believe Zhou Zhexiao.”

Ling Huanzhen frowned: “I am your coach; are my words that untrustworthy?”

To his surprise, Xia Chiyi and Ye Chaoying chimed in together: “I believe Zhou Zhexiao more!”

“Who asked you, Old Ling, to always love pouring chicken soup down the players’ throats? Who knows how much water you added to your chicken soup?” Ye Chaoying said.

Ling Huanzhen took a deep breath. “Alright, alright. The more important point is that the pace of the National Tournament will be much tighter. From the first round to deciding the final eight, there are games almost every day, and everyone’s fatigue will be much more obvious. So, whether it’s Xia Chiyi or Zhou Zhexiao, or any starting player, they won’t necessarily be able to play the full game. He Bin, you are not anyone’s shadow. The more high-level matches you participate in, the more you’ll know what you need to improve.”

He Bin took a deep breath: “I will treat the match seriously.”

Learning that they would be facing the Ningchang University basketball team today, Connecticut was itching for a fight. The warm-up atmosphere was completely different from the first time.

Jenkins gritted his teeth, staring at Zhou Zhexiao as if wanting to bite a chunk of meat off his back.

Last night, lying in the dorm, the team’s center Martin and small forward Carl had actually said that if Zhou Zhexiao entered their university, he might even become a starter in his first year. Hearing this almost made Jenkins emit smoke; he sat up so fast his head almost hit the ceiling.

When he viciously declared that if Connecticut had Zhou Zhexiao, they wouldn’t have Jenkins, Martin and Carl fell into an awkward silence. Santos, who had refrained from commenting, suddenly dropped a line: Then Head Coach Seton will just have to choose Zhou Zhexiao.

Truly fucking heart-piercing.

While stretching his legs, Arthur looked at Xia Chiyi on the other side.

Gloomy Bro beside him complained that the smell of his perfume was too strong—was he trying to fumigate the opponents into unconsciousness?

Arthur froze, a look of disappointment on his face: Are you sure?

Gloomy Bro nodded: Haven’t you noticed that every time you get close to the small potato on the other side, his eyebrows furrow?

Arthur: Is it too late for me to wash it off now?

After twenty minutes of warm-up, the agreed time for the practice match arrived. The referee blew the whistle, signaling the players from both sides to take the court.

The other teams were all watching. Qing Da’s freshman point guard Liang Tan looked expectant: “Awoooo, Southeast King vs. Connecticut! So excited!”

Liu Suchen’s lips curled up. Sitting in the front row of the audience stands resting his chin on his hand, he said, “Connecticut’s strength will definitely let us clearly see the synergy between Xia Chiyi and Zhou Zhexiao!”

Ke Yan and Yang Huaiyu leaned on the front row railing, their heads together.

“How strange. Why isn’t Ye Chaoying playing? Are they making Xia Chiyi play a combo guard?”

Yang Huaiyu glanced at Ling Huanzhen. “Maybe Zhou Zhexiao is playing as a swingman. Don’t underestimate Zhou Zhexiao’s vision for organizing offenses. And He Bin is an outstanding shooter; Ling Huanzhen can’t let him rust on the bench.”

Even the people from Southwest Aviation University assumed the posture of a military drill. In particular, Lu Yingnan had his arms crossed, looking down at the top of Xia Chiyi’s head. After a while, he let out an “Hmm?”

“What’s wrong?” Zhuo Zheng looked over expectantly. “Captain Lu, did you discover something?”

Our Captain Lu is number one; all of the opponents’ flaws cannot escape Captain Lu’s eyes.

“Nothing,” Lu Yingnan answered.

“How could it be nothing? If it made Captain Lu go ‘hmm’, it must be a big deal!”

“It’s just… I always thought Xia Chiyi’s hair whorl went to the left, but today I noticed it goes to the right.”

Zhuo Zheng: …Truly a massive deal.

Both sides took the court. Arthur looked at Xia Chiyi in front of him, smiled, and waved his hand: “Hi~”

The moment Xia Chiyi smelled his scent, he sneezed nine times in a row, startling the referee so much he didn’t dare blow the opening whistle.

On the sidelines, Ye Chaoying immediately jumped up, pointing at Arthur and outputting crazily: “Referee! This guy is using chemical weapons on his body again! Attempting to paralyze our players’ five senses!”

Referee: …

Arthur seemed to guess what Ye Chaoying was yelling about and revealed an awkward expression.

Assistant Coach Carpenter looked at the Qing Da foreign language department student acting as translator today. After the other party finished explaining, Carpenter smiled helplessly.

The game officially began. Martin walked up to Du He and bumped fists with him.

For the first time, Du He felt that as a center, he absolutely had no advantage in size whatsoever.

He remembered what Ling Huanzhen told him before taking the court: Don’t get too hung up on winning or losing the jump ball. It only determines who attacks first, and even an attack might not reach the basket. You must trust your teammates; they will set up heavy obstacles for the opponent.

“How are you?” Having gone through the previous match, Martin had a pretty good impression of Xia Chiyi and his teammates.

Subconsciously, Du He gave the classic textbook response: “I’m fine, thank you, and you?”

Martin tilted his head and replied, “Not bad.”

Perhaps Martin’s friendliness gave Du He some extra courage. He cleared his mind, delivering a critical strike during the jump ball, causing the whole arena to emit an “Oh—” of amazement.

It was just that Du He’s tip went straight to Gloomy Bro. Gloomy Bro never expected such a good thing at the opening, took the ball, and sprinted wildly.

“Sigh…” Ling Huanzhen covered his face.

He Bin defended actively. Seeing the opponent try to use a crossover to get past him, Gloomy Bro didn’t expect He Bin to be so tenacious; he almost faked him out, but He Bin caught up again.

Having learned the lesson from the previous game, Gloomy Bro didn’t dare underestimate his opponents anymore. He executed a slow step-up while dipping the ball, seemingly probing and observing, then suddenly executed a rapid crossover dribble. Bypassing He Bin, he immediately encountered Zhou Zhexiao’s help defense.

He swallowed the “damn shit” back down his throat. When Zhou Zhexiao came forward to strip the ball, he decisively passed it to Santos.

At this time, Arthur was heavily tight-marking Xia Chiyi, the two of them competing against each other. Xia Chiyi suddenly turned and ran in front of Santos.

The size difference wasn’t just a little bit. Santos would much rather engage in a one-on-one fierce battle under the basket with Zhou Zhexiao, but he didn’t expect that the one guarding him would actually be this small potato.

Santos sprinted wildly with the ball straight into the paint. Facing the defense of Du He and Shuai Bei, Santos executed a fluid double-clutch switch-hand layup.

“Careful!”

Martin and Arthur roared at the same time.

But Santos’s ball had already been knocked away. Before he even started to descend, from the corner of his eye, he caught a glimpse of Xia Chiyi’s resolute profile.

The instant Xia Chiyi landed, he used the power of his thighs and hips to lessen the burden on his ankles, immediately accelerating and sprinting with the ball.

Zhou Zhexiao predicted his running route and screened for Xia Chiyi.

Xia Chiyi looked at Zhou Zhexiao, faked out Arthur’s defense, and passed the ball to He Bin, who hit the three-pointer.

Santos looked coldly at Xia Chiyi. I actually got blocked by someone twenty centimeters shorter than me, and in mid-air at that!

Liu Suchen and Yang Huaiyu spontaneously let out a “Holy crap!”

Switch-hand layups were their most commonly used under-the-basket technique. After today, both of them would have to be extremely careful, absolutely not allowing Xia Chiyi to “pick up scraps” during a game.

Arthur was still pursuing Xia Chiyi, terrified he would suddenly receive the ball and shoot a three-pointer. But Xia Chiyi showed a special fondness for Santos, employing various tight defenses and using his wingspan to prevent him from receiving the ball. Even though Santos had a wingspan advantage over Xia Chiyi, he was still interfered with to the point that the veins on his forehead throbbed.

Furthermore, Xia Chiyi transitioned rapidly between various defensive footwork. Santos constantly hovered between a dribble drive and a charging foul; his fake moves and dribble direction changes were easily seen through by Xia Chiyi.

Several times Santos wanted to just bulldoze Xia Chiyi over, but he used all his primordial strength to forcibly hold back.

He glared at Arthur multiple times: Why didn’t you keep a close eye on this small potato! Stop letting him roll onto my plate!

Assistant Coach Carpenter frowned. He noticed that even when Xia Chiyi wasn’t shooting, he still had a strong presence on the court.

This kid’s defense… was very clingy.

As for Zhou Zhexiao, his various under-the-basket techniques gave Jenkins a heart attack. A one-handed large looping layup was so dashing it made the entire arena gasp; his legs swaying into a ‘人’ (person) shape mid-air, displaying a super-strong sense of hang time that made the young ladies of the women’s basketball team smack the railings.

Santos executed a hesitation step looking at the moon. Looking up at the basket, he paused, thinking he could fool Xia Chiyi.

Accompanying Xia Chiyi’s cry of “Too fake,” the ball was dug away right as he was “looking at the moon.”

Arthur immediately gave chase, but Xia Chiyi passed the ball to Zhou Zhexiao without hesitation.

Zhou Zhexiao cut in like a sharp blade. Facing the double defense of Martin and Jenkins under the basket, everyone thought he would pass to He Bin in the corner. Who knew he wasn’t afraid at all, executing a same-side hook double-clutch layup, breaking through these two giant mid-air shields. As the basketball passed through the net, it almost landed on Jenkins’s face.

Thankfully, Jenkins dodged quickly, otherwise he would have had to leave the court with a bloody nose. He cursed angrily on the spot.

And Zhou Zhexiao acted as if he couldn’t understand English, standing in front of him waiting for him to finish cursing, before dropping a line: “Do you leak?” (Meaning: Did you wet yourself in fear?)

Holy crap, that’s way too ruthless.

Jenkins looked ready to explode on the spot. He wanted to rush over but was hugged tightly by Martin.

You provoked him verbally first; it’s only natural for him to curse back.

Walking backward, Zhou Zhexiao left, still looking at Jenkins with those indifferent eyes.

Off the court, Zhuo Zheng exhaled a long breath. “Ningchang University is truly a good place. In the past, Zhou Zhexiao had to use his hands; now he can choke someone to death with short phrases.”

Du He and Shuai Bei boldly utilized various pick-and-roll tactics. Combined with Zhou Zhexiao’s excellent passes, He Bin shot 4 for 5, contributing 12 points in just one quarter.

Ye Chaoying stomped his feet on the bench: “Ahhhhh! I want to play too!”

Ling Huanzhen patted the back of his head comfortingly: “I’ll let you play. Don’t be anxious.”

At the end of the first quarter, Santos had only scored six points. Panting with his hands on his hips, he caught a glimpse of Xia Chiyi through the gap of his towel.

Xia Chiyi looked toward Lu Yingnan’s direction. Lu Yingnan nodded slightly, his mouth forming the words: Good defense.

Xia Chiyi lifted his chin, revealing a smiling face.

However, Mo Chuang and Zhuo Zheng felt a chill down their spines watching this, seemingly able to imagine the feeling of being stickily defended by Xia Chiyi in the National Tournament.

The second quarter began. Under Zhou Zhexiao’s coordination, the low-presence Du He and Shuai Bei gradually showcased their talents.

Du He’s under-the-basket dribbling opened up space in the paint, and Shuai Bei’s stable mid-range shooting allowed Ningchang University to bite firmly onto the score despite being besieged by the three top scorers—Jenkins, Martin, and Carl.

As for Santos, several times after breaking through Xia Chiyi’s defense, he would miraculously be caught up to by the other party again.

Compared to shooting, Xia Chiyi was experiencing the joy of defense for the first time.

The gaze Xia Chiyi directed at Santos contained a pure focus. It gave Santos a sense of tension, making it impossible for him to treat Xia Chiyi as a player twenty centimeters shorter than him.

I’m already blocking your receiving side. If your teammate wants to pass to you, they can only make a high pass, and it’s easily intercepted while it’s in the air.

I’ve already brought you to the sideline, how are you going to break through? Only the left side, right? Sorry, I’ll arrive at your breakthrough point ahead of time!

You want to force a post-up and compete in strength with me? Then I’m pulling the chair, careful not to fall.

During the match the day before yesterday, Santos was defended by Lu Yingnan to the point where he couldn’t score. He didn’t expect to meet Xia Chiyi today, as if history was repeating itself.

Santos admitted he was very annoyed, but he also discovered that when he did break through Xia Chiyi’s defense to score, the sense of accomplishment increased exponentially.

In the second half of the game, Xia Chiyi was left on the bench by Ling Huanzhen, swapping Ye Chaoying in.

“Finally my turn.” Ye Chaoying licked his lips. “If I don’t get to run soon, my legs are going to rust.”

Seeing this lineup, the Connecticut team revealed expressions of dissatisfaction, as if saying: The small potato was subbed out without even taking a single shot, are you looking down on us?

Arthur inexplicably became the target of public criticism, being wildly roasted by his teammates—it must be because his perfume was too strong that the small potato had to take refuge on the bench.

Santos’s palm covered the rose tattoo on his neck. He looked regretfully toward Xia Chiyi; he hadn’t yet completely crushed the small potato’s defensive confidence.

However, as a coach, Li Xiaoran understood why Ling Huanzhen did this: for many of the college athletes present today, this might be their only chance in their entire lives to encounter NCAA-level play. Ling Huanzhen wanted to give all his players as much training as possible. Only by personally experiencing superb techniques could they better cope with, or even apply them, in the National Tournament.

Less than ten seconds after Ye Chaoying took the court, he dribbled at high speed past half-court, stopped suddenly in the paint, and threw a no-look pass. He Bin, open on the baseline, scored a jumper.

Instantly, Connecticut’s interest was reignited, finding the newly substituted point guard very interesting.

In the audience stands, Ke Yan was also cheering wildly: “Don’t underestimate our Southeast Division point guard! He’s no worse than Lu Yingnan!”

Zhou Zhexiao’s scoring ability still placed immense pressure on Connecticut. Facing Jenkins, Zhou Zhexiao scored three consecutive times using a post-up turn fadeaway jumper. Every detail was exactly the same, even the shoulder shimmy fake was identical, yet Jenkins somehow managed to fall into the exact same trap continuously.

Xia Chiyi watched Zhou Zhexiao intently. Even though he expected it and had seen it hundreds of thousands of times, whenever he hung in the air to release his shot, Xia Chiyi was still drawn in, feeling that this guy was so handsome it made his heart tighten.

Every time Zhou Zhexiao scored, he would turn around expressionlessly. No matter how much applause he received, he didn’t care.

But his gaze would glance over Xia Chiyi. As long as their eyes met, Zhou Zhexiao would immediately turn his head away. Whether it was an illusion or not, the tips of this guy’s ears would turn a bit red.

Not long after, Zhou Zhexiao pursued the defending Santos and delivered a block comparable to heavy artillery, sending the whole arena into a frenzy.

Xia Chiyi threw off the towel on his shoulder and stood up, his clear eyes shouting: “Explosively handsome—”

After landing, Zhou Zhexiao actually spun half a circle, not knowing where he should look.

He had clearly experienced so many games in his past life, seeing countless audiences and media cheering for him, but Xia Chiyi’s enthusiasm was different.

It wasn’t just admiration, appreciation, and overflowing anticipation; there was also a love that couldn’t be contained in his eyes, a love that belonged solely to him.

His teammates rushed over and high-fived Zhou Zhexiao.

Santos rested his hands on his hips and looked at Jenkins.

Jenkins completely understood the meaning in Santos’s glance: This is the Zhou Zhexiao you complained about? Reckless, arrogant, self-centered, with no regard for tactics?

No… this Zhou Zhexiao, compared to the guy Santos met in high school…

Is completely different.

Exquisite and meticulous technique, outrageously seasoned experience when handling key possessions, and seamless cooperation with his teammates. He would even proactively set screens for He Bin, willing to act as a supporting character.

Jenkins’s throat bobbed, returning a look to Santos: He really is formidable; we have to treat him as the ace of an NCAA Final Four team.

In the audience stands, Zhuo Zheng held his head. “This guy wasn’t like this before!”

“Oh, what was he like when he was in high school?” Lu Yingnan asked.

“On that play just now, he would have disregarded the consequences because of his speed and jumping ability, and 90% of the time, he would have fouled! How could he have such a perfect jumping angle like that block just now? He didn’t even let Santos block his pursuit path! He’s playing with his brain now, instead of purely relying on his physical advantage!”

The enthusiastic teammates around them revealed speechless expressions.

“From the Jinsheng grassroots tournament onwards, Zhou Zhexiao has been playing very smartly,” Mo Chuang stated.

“I thought his seasoned experience was grinded out at Oak Hill Academy. Thinking about it carefully, that’s not right either,” Lu Yingnan said.

Zhuo Zheng nodded vigorously: “Captain, you also think it’s not right, huh?”

“You and he were in the same middle school, playing the exact same games. You’re still a blockhead, while Zhou Zhexiao is already a master. So, it seems Ling Huanzhen’s teaching method suits him better.”

Zhuo Zheng suddenly felt that all his respect and admiration for Lu Yingnan had been misplaced.

The game entered the final quarter. Ningchang University was trailing by 6 points, but they played methodically, their offensive organization not messy in the slightest.

Arthur failed a long-range shot. Rebounds were originally Martin’s advantage, but he was boxed out by Shuai Bei to the point of being unable to move, able only to watch helplessly as the ball was plucked away by Du He.

In the stands, Ke Yan formed his hands into the shape of binoculars, constantly nudging Yang Huaiyu next to him with his elbow. “What’s going on? Shuai Bei’s moves look so familiar! Did he use his heel to block Martin, just like how you deal with Zhou Zhexiao, pinning the opponent behind you?”

Yang Huaiyu smiled and nodded: “Yeah. It’s just that Zhou Zhexiao used a small hop to easily regain his freedom. But Martin doesn’t have Zhou Zhexiao’s adaptability.”

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[Author’s Note]
Do you babies know the everyday response to “how are you”?