Chapter 0128: Zhou Zhexiao: Am I still your boyfriend?

Meng Ting clicked his tongue, “Don’t you guys think Shuai Bei learns things really fast too? Just by watching and getting some pointers from Ling Huanzhen, Yang Huaiyu’s move became his!”

He Zhan couldn’t help but smack him on the head. “Call you stupid, and you really are stupid. For Shuai Bei to use it so proficiently, he definitely practiced it countless times in private!”

Meng Ting let out an “Oh—”. None of Ningchang University’s improvements were “coincidences.”

When Yang Huaiyu returned from his exchange at Qincheng University and described Xia Chiyi’s training intensity to his whole team, everyone was stunned. That level of effort couldn’t simply be explained by “heaven rewards the diligent.”

Right at that moment, Du He caught the ball and executed the technique Ling Huanzhen had just taught him yesterday on the spot. Engaging in lower-body contact, he forcibly used the strength below his knees to out-muscle Jenkins, charging into the paint to score!

Ningchang University was visibly improving across the entire roster.

In the last five minutes, Ling Huanzhen even subbed out Zhou Zhexiao and put Chen Chuan on the court to gain some experience.

“Coach, you’re subbing me in? If we lose, it’ll be embarrassing…” Chen Chuan asked cautiously.

Ling Huanzhen waved his large hand. “What are you afraid of? We’re all from the Southeast Division. Even if we lose, isn’t there still Qincheng University? For those of you on the court, just focus on playing. We aren’t afraid of winning, so what’s there to be afraid of in losing?”

Ye Chaoying leaned his head over and asked in amusement, “Coach, why would you be afraid of winning?”

“If you win, it means countless opponents will be scrambling to drag you down from your high horse. So, you must cherish every opportunity to fledge your wings.”

Xia Chiyi nodded. “Here it comes, Coach Ling’s chicken soup. Still the familiar flavor.”

Chen Chuan took the court. Before he even started moving, a thin layer of sweat had already formed on his back.

Since Ling Huanzhen made a substitution, Connecticut also subbed out Santos and brought Rudy back in.

The moment he got on the court, Rudy executed an Iverson crossover with the ball. When he bypassed Chen Chuan, Chen Chuan didn’t even react. Fortunately, Ye Chaoying reacted quickly and immediately stepped up to help defend. Rudy used a jab step, trying to fake out Ye Chaoying, but unfortunately for him, Ye Chaoying was an “old swindler” on the court himself and wasn’t easily fooled.

Seeing He Bin about to come over for a double-team, Rudy immediately threw a bounce pass to Arthur.

Finally freed from defending Xia Chiyi, Arthur seemed to have his limiters removed. Pushing off the ground, he accelerated his dribble and instantly charged under the basket!

“Careful!” The spectators on the sidelines felt their hearts clench.

Arthur mercilessly slammed the ball toward the rim. His leaping distance and height made it look as if he were going to chop the backboard down.

Sitting on the bench with a towel draped over him, Xia Chiyi was stunned: Was Arthur originally this fierce?

However, no matter how fierce the dunk, it was a different story when someone was defending.

With an explosive shout, Du He jumped up and slammed his large hand down, delivering a massive block to what seemed like a guaranteed basket!

With a bang, Arthur landed unsteadily, almost falling over.

The ball bounced onto the floor and was scooped up by Jenkins. The guy immediately went for a floater, but unexpectedly, Shuai Bei rushed over to cover the gap and slapped the ball away with another swat.

These two consecutive blocks under the basket felt like two resounding slaps to Connecticut’s face.

Watching from the sidelines, power forwards and centers like Huo Cheng, He Denglou, and Mo Chuang clapped desperately.

Seeing this scene, Ling Huanzhen covered his chin with one hand, his grin stretching from ear to ear.

Li Xiaoran slowly walked up to him and impatiently smacked him hard on the back. “If you want to be smug, then be smug. What are you pretending for?”

Unexpectedly, Chen Chuan scooped up the bouncing ball and immediately led a fast break.

Even though he had been anxious at first, once he got the ball, all distracting thoughts in his mind vanished. Chen Chuan sprinted fiercely with the ball, gritting his teeth as he drove straight to the basket.

Martin and Jenkins chased madly, both jumping up under the hoop to defend him.

To Chen Chuan, it felt like an airtight, towering wall. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw that He Bin was already blocked behind Arthur…

“Chen Chuan, pass it to me!”

Ye Chaoying’s voice came from behind.

Chen Chuan didn’t know what he was thinking. He sensed that Martin would reach out and deflect his pass. Having watched Zhou Zhexiao’s hook shots countless times, he tossed the ball past Martin’s arm right before landing. Unfortunately, the ball didn’t go in; it hit the backboard.

Sigh… so embarrassing…

The next second, a figure flashed by and cleanly tipped the ball into the hoop with a putback dunk.

Hanging on the rim with one hand, Shuai Bei looked down at Chen Chuan’s disappointed eyes and said, “What the hell are you feeling bad for!”

“Holy crap, this time I really want to call you Daddy!”

“Then call me that!”

This goal stimulated Jenkins once again.

Receiving the pass, the guy first used a half-spin misdirection to bypass Ye Chaoying, then non-stop used physical contact to squeeze past He Bin. Next, an in-and-out dribble almost faked Chen Chuan off his feet. Upon entering the paint, he faced the strong defense of Du He and Shuai Bei.

Behind him, Arthur and Rudy were shouting for him to pass, but Jenkins remained unmoved. Mid-air, he executed a double-clutch switch-hand layup. The magnitude of his movement and his extended hang time were breathtaking.

Landing on his feet, Jenkins smugly dropped a phrase: “A piece of cake.”

Arthur smiled, realizing that Jenkins couldn’t stand their consecutive failures under the basket and had personally dismantled Du He and Shuai Bei’s zone defense.

Xia Chiyi’s mouth hung half open as he continuously bumped his knee against Zhou Zhexiao beside him.

“Did you see that? So formidable! Truly formidable! But why didn’t he use that before?”

“Because with me there, he wouldn’t even have the chance to take off.”

Jenkins’s shot restored the others’ confidence.

They were the NCAA champions, after all. If they kept losing here, they wouldn’t even be able to hold their heads high when they went back.

In the final two minutes, Martin dominated the paint, consecutively blocking layups from Chen Chuan and Shuai Bei, making Xia Chiyi’s heart pound as he watched.

While strictly defending He Bin, Arthur also showed off a wave of his shooting skills. Using a jab step into a reverse lateral shift, he created space and shot unhurriedly.

That three-pointer almost made Xia Chiyi run onto the court. Thankfully, Zhou Zhexiao tightly gripped the back collar of his jersey.

After making the shot, Arthur even did a hat-tip gesture in Xia Chiyi’s direction.

Xia Chiyi shouted, “I’ve got it!”

Not to be outdone, Rudy caught the ball, executed a sudden jump-step front crossover, and swaggered past Ye Chaoying. Driving into the paint, he posted up against Chen Chuan. His shoulder shimmy was paired with a hip rotation, the fake move so realistic that after bypassing Chen Chuan, he immediately hit an extreme fadeaway jumper!

Chen Chuan rested his hands on his hips and exhaled deeply. “I feel like I still have a long way to go.”

He Bin walked over and smiled. “Being halfway up the mountain just means you can still climb higher.”

In the end, Ningchang University lost to Connecticut by 12 points, concluding the match.

From the assistant coach down to the players, no one on the Connecticut side felt happy. It was obvious they had become Ningchang University’s whetstone—the opponents used them to practice tactics and test out newly acquired techniques.

Realizing this might be their last encounter in this training camp, Santos actually couldn’t resist running over to Ningchang University’s side to challenge someone to a 1v1!

Ling Huanzhen expressed sympathy in his heart: Bro, even though Zhou Zhexiao’s physical attributes haven’t reached the level of 28-year-old Sheng Xingming yet, the experience points in his brain are already maxed out at the King tier. You can’t beat him!

Unexpectedly, Santos was looking for Xia Chiyi. He meant he wanted to break through Xia Chiyi’s defense and score a lot of points.

So this guy was still brooding over my tight defense against him, Xia Chiyi realized.

Xia Chiyi’s eyes lit up. Only an idiot would reject a sparring partner delivering themselves to my door.

No one expected there to be more entertainment after the game, and everyone cheered them on.

Just like that, under the watchful eyes of the crowd, Santos and Xia Chiyi played another 1v1 for nearly half an hour.

As they played, teammates from both sides chimed in with ideas.

On Xia Chiyi’s side, it started with Liu Suchen and Yang Huaiyu passing on their defensive experience. Later, Lu Yingnan spoke up to guide his footwork transitions, even using claps to cue him on when to speed up his defensive slides and when to quickly transition into stutter steps.

No one kept track of who scored more, but both sides played heartily, showcasing a very high level of offense and defense.

Santos was on the verge of dehydration, his chest heaving like a bellows. Resting his hands on his knees, all he could hear was the pulsing sound of his own heartbeat in his head.

Yet opposite him, Xia Chiyi, although exhausted, actually rested his hands on his hips and asked, “Come on, bro!”

Santos really wanted to raise his hand and wave, indicating he couldn’t go on.

But admitting defeat like this in front of the small potato would lose him too much face.

Fortunately, Arthur noticed. He walked over, slung an arm around Santos’s shoulders, and said they needed to go eat Qing Da’s specialty soy-sauce meat buns, or else there’d be none left if they were late.

Without a second word, Santos followed Arthur away.

Leaving only Xia Chiyi to tilt his head and ask Liu Suchen, “Aren’t soy-sauce meat buns for breakfast? Do they have them at noon too?”

Liu Suchen looked at Xia Chiyi for a long time before saying, “That was just an excuse. He doesn’t want to play with you anymore, Bro!”

“Huh?”

As soon as Liu Suchen turned around, Huo Cheng approached his side, and the two began whispering secretly.

“Xia Chiyi’s stamina is simply inhuman. With crazy direction changes like that, my ankles would’ve been wrecked long ago, but look at him, he acts like it’s nothing!”

“The way he generates power is different; it greatly reduces the burden on his ankles. The key is his stamina… the guy he was guarding is dehydrated and heading to the hospital, and he’s probably perfectly fine.”

“Yeah… this is a major problem.”

Just one practice match had filled Qing Da with wariness.

Because he had played too hard, Xia Chiyi ended up being piggybacked back to the dorm by Zhou Zhexiao.

Passing by the campus supermarket, he rested on Zhou Zhexiao’s back, raised a hand, and murmured, “I wanna eat… an old popsicle…”

Carrying both his own and Xia Chiyi’s sports duffel bags, Ye Chaoying lightly smacked the back of Xia Chiyi’s head: “Stop acting up, hurry back and rest!”

Xia Chiyi kicked his lower legs like a petulant child. “I just wanna eat an old popsicle right now… Ye Chaoying, you’ve changed. You used to buy me ice cream whenever I wanted it…”

Zhou Zhexiao looked at Ye Chaoying. “I’ll go to the supermarket with him. Help us take the bags back.”

Ye Chaoying didn’t forget to throw in a jab: “Are you going with him or carrying him? There’s a big difference.”

“…I’ll carry him.”

“Just keep spoiling him! Once you spoil him rotten, he’s going to ride right on top of your head!”

Zhou Zhexiao replied, “He’s already riding on my head right now.”

Damn it… my roommates show off their affection every day, how am I supposed to deal with this?

Ye Chaoying really wanted to throw both of their sports bags into a ditch.

Fifteen minutes later, Xia Chiyi and Zhou Zhexiao were sitting on a roadside bench. Xia Chiyi’s head was tilted back, an old popsicle stuffed in his mouth, his eyes closed. Zhou Zhexiao carefully listened to his breathing, reasonably suspecting that this guy had fallen asleep with the popsicle in his mouth.

Zhou Zhexiao pinched the popsicle stick and slowly pulled it out. The faint wet sound made him stiffen as he stared blankly at Xia Chiyi’s moisture-glistening lips.

“Hmm?” Xia Chiyi slowly turned his face to look at him. His eyes seemed unfocused, looking a bit lethargic.

The melted ice water was just about to spill from the corner of Xia Chiyi’s mouth when he suddenly sucked hard. The sound made Zhou Zhexiao’s shoulders tighten, and by the time he reacted, he had already roughly shoved the popsicle back into Xia Chiyi’s mouth.

“Mmph…”

From his teeth all the way to the base of his tongue, it was suddenly thoroughly frozen, sending tears surging to Xia Chiyi’s eyes.

He spat out the old popsicle, his psychological trauma multiplying exponentially. He felt like he wouldn’t want to eat an old popsicle for his next life either.

It was clearly Zhou Zhexiao who made the mistake, how innocent was the old popsicle!

“What are you doing!” Xia Chiyi glared at him with wide eyes.

Because of the violent coughing just now, the tip of Xia Chiyi’s nose was red, making his expression look exceptionally pitiful.

Yet Zhou Zhexiao just stared blankly at him, showing not the slightest intention of explaining.

Xia Chiyi was just about to get up to throw away the remaining half of the popsicle. Before his knees even straightened, a sudden force yanked him back. By the time Xia Chiyi registered what was happening, Zhou Zhexiao’s lips had forcefully pressed against his.

“Mmph?”

Before he could even comprehend what was happening, the tip of Zhou Zhexiao’s tongue pried open his teeth, driving straight in and sweeping frantically.

Xia Chiyi’s tongue was cold, which only made him feel more acutely how scorching hot Zhou Zhexiao’s kiss was. The sucking and biting force was so strong it made Xia Chiyi’s scalp tingle; he didn’t know where to put his hands.

Footsteps approached from not far away, and Xia Chiyi suddenly remembered they were still on the Qing Da campus.

This guy is way too brazen!

Xia Chiyi dropped whatever was in his hand, not even caring that the popsicle water was dripping onto his wrist, and pushed hard against Zhou Zhexiao’s chest. But the other party was as solid as a rock and couldn’t be pushed away at all.

It wasn’t until the footsteps grew heavier that Zhou Zhexiao suddenly released him. The tip of his tongue traced over Xia Chiyi’s upper lip—a final, reluctant yet gentle seduction. It felt as if a ocean tide was churning inside Xia Chiyi’s heart; he didn’t even know how to breathe. He kept his head down, waiting for the Qing Da students to pass by, his chest echoing with violent heartbeats, one after another.

“Annoying ghost.” Xia Chiyi kept his head lowered, flushed red from his neck to his cheeks, his ears still buzzing.

“What’s annoying about me?” Zhou Zhexiao asked.

This guy has really reached a certain level of shamelessness to actually have the nerve to ask?

“My hands are dirty.”

“Oh.”

Zhou Zhexiao pinched the tip of Xia Chiyi’s index finger and pulled it toward himself.

Even though he didn’t feel like he was using much force, it wasn’t until Xia Chiyi tried to shake him off that he realized the other party’s grip was actually quite strong.

The tip of Zhou Zhexiao’s nose brushed against Xia Chiyi’s palm, light and ticklish. His breath ghosted over it, like a kitten’s paw faintly scratching at Xia Chiyi’s heart.

“Stop messing around… there are so many students walking back and forth around here…”

“I think they love studying a lot and aren’t interested in romance.” Zhou Zhexiao’s gaze pierced through the gaps in Xia Chiyi’s fingers.

Xia Chiyi closed his fingers together, wanting to push the other’s face away, but unexpectedly, Zhou Zhexiao’s lips kissed Xia Chiyi’s wrist, biting it gently.

The desire seeping from those deep, dark eyes made Xia Chiyi want to flee, yet he couldn’t control the urge to draw closer.

“When you… took away my popsicle just now, what were you thinking?” Xia Chiyi asked.

“Thinking about talking back / kissing you.” (TL Note: 顶嘴 (ding zui) translates to “talking back,” but literally means “pushing against the mouth,” making it a pun).

Xia Chiyi froze for a full two seconds before realizing the other meant it literally.

“I knew you were up to no good! Zhou Zhexiao, did you look at some messy stuff… did you watch it using my phone?”

“If I could see messy stuff on your phone, doesn’t that mean you watched it too?”

“You’re still talking back!”

“Mhm.” Zhou Zhexiao tilted his chin up, looking at Xia Chiyi.

Tch, so arrogant.

But Xia Chiyi just happened to like this damn look of his.

“Let’s go, back to the dorm.”

Xia Chiyi stood up, and without looking at Zhou Zhexiao, slowly shuffled toward their accommodation.

“I like you so much.”

“Hmm?” Xia Chiyi swayed as he turned back to look at him.

“You defending Santos today was very handsome.”

“Really?”

“When we get back, we’re using the fascia knife.”

Having said that, Zhou Zhexiao walked ahead of Xia Chiyi.

Wh… what knife?

Isn’t that way too inhumane?

“I refuse! I reject the fascia knife!”

“Still dare to talk back?” Zhou Zhexiao glanced at Xia Chiyi.

Uh… I’d rather talk back than face the torture of the fascia knife!

---

That weekend, the training camp concluded.

While the Ningchang University basketball team was packing their luggage to prepare for the high-speed rail the next day, Assistant Coach Carpenter personally sought out Ling Huanzhen. As for what was said, no one knew.

At parting, Liu Suchen hugged Xia Chiyi tightly. “Little potato… I really can’t bear to part with you…”

Xia Chiyi patted his back. “I know, the next time we meet, we’ll be opponents in the National Tournament.”

“Before you run into me, you better not get mashed into mashed potatoes by someone else,” Liu Suchen said seriously.

Xia Chiyi tilted his head, looking at him with a sly gaze. “Liu Daji, let me guess what you’re going to do next.”

“Me? Train hard and prepare for the Nationals, of course.”

Xia Chiyi shook his head and lightly punched Liu Suchen’s chest. “You guy, you’re going to take my game tapes and study them with Yang Huaiyu and Lu Yingnan to analyze how to deal with me. Just like how you and Yang Huaiyu discussed how to beat Lu Yingnan, and how you discussed with Lu Yingnan how to suppress Yang Huaiyu.”

Liu Suchen put on a punchable “you guessed it” expression.

“But it doesn’t matter. What you can study is only the me of this moment. The more you study me, the more it will limit your imagination.”

Walking away, Xia Chiyi laughed as he backpedaled back to his own team.

Liu Suchen lowered his eyes, helplessly pinching the corner of his eye. He genuinely found it amusing: “This kid… he’s clearly showing off, but he’s speaking the absolute truth.”

Boarding the high-speed rail back to Ningchang, the players clearly weren’t as excited as when they arrived, mostly lying down quietly.

It was probably because everyone realized that the start of the National Tournament was getting closer and closer.

Xia Chiyi turned his head and saw Zhou Zhexiao’s well-behaved eyelashes curling upward like sunflowers.

He had Bluetooth earbuds in his ears. Xia Chiyi leaned over to take a look and found that this guy was actually still watching Pokémon, specifically the plot where Ash holds Pikachu in his arms and is almost electrocuted into an idiot by the villain.

Pikachu was crying, crawling to get close to Ash. To protect Ash, it suddenly unleashed its ultimate move, electrocuting the people bullying Ash into idiots.

The main theme was you protect me, I protect you, finally resulting in a world where only the villains got hurt—even more straightforward than an 8 PM melodramatic soap opera.

Soon it was night, and the lights in the cabin were turned off, but Zhou Zhexiao was still watching the story of Pikachu saving the world.

Xia Chiyi finished washing up and was preparing to climb up to the upper bunk. He thought for a moment, then leaned close to Zhou Zhexiao’s ear, taking out his Bluetooth earbud. “Pika pika… Pikachu!”

Then he bit the other’s ear.

Zhou Zhexiao’s shoulders hunched up.

Xia Chiyi pulled away, stepping on the ladder to climb up. Unexpectedly, his ankle was grabbed forcefully by someone.

“Wh… what are you doing?” Xia Chiyi bent down. This posture would be considered highly difficult even in stretching exercises.

The train sped past a platform. The flickering light swept across Zhou Zhexiao’s face, so dark it seemed to have gathered the gravitational pull of an entire universe, exploding in an instant.

He turned his face, said nothing, and forcefully bit down on Xia Chiyi’s ankle.

It hurt a lot, making his head buzz.

Xia Chiyi thought he was going to do something else, but unexpectedly, he just hugged Xia Chiyi’s phone and lay back down.

For the next hour or so, Xia Chiyi tossed and turned in the upper bunk. Every time he thought of the teeth marks on his ankle, his blood boiled, yet the instigator had fallen asleep right at eleven o’clock!

---

Back in Ningchang, they saw Jiao Yingfeng again. He had just returned from his island vacation, his skin tanned to a wheat color. Paired with sunglasses, a tracksuit, and white sneakers… it made the physique lines he had honed from playing basketball look even more fluid.

Xia Chiyi took a deep breath, praising sincerely: “So handsome—Master, if you weren’t a coach, you could be a male model!”

Jiao Yingfeng flashed a mature and charming smile, pressing a hand down on Xia Chiyi’s head. “Little kid, no matter how much you flatter me, it won’t work. Get on the scale, let’s see what Li Xiaoran has been feeding you guys.”

Xia Chiyi confidently stepped onto the scale. Although he was a bit heavier, his body fat percentage was even more ideal than before he left.

Jiao Yingfeng laughed, unable to suppress the corners of his mouth. “Not bad, not bad. It seems the intensity of the training camp organized by Qing Da was quite high. Did you gain anything from this trip?”

“Yes! Of course I gained something! It was the first time I felt that the power of defense is comparable to offense.”

Xia Chiyi babbled on, describing Lu Yingnan’s defense to Jiao Yingfeng.

Footwork transitions, body coordination, breakthrough predictions—Xia Chiyi strongly requested Jiao Yingfeng to arrange special defensive training for him.

“Can you endure the hardship?” Jiao Yingfeng asked with a smile.

“This isn’t hardship, it’s something very interesting! Predicting the opponent’s breakthroughs and receptions, making the opponent like an engine that can’t start, able only to fret helplessly! That’s just as interesting as scoring!”

Jiao Yingfeng turned his head to look at Zhou Zhexiao: “Do you think he needs to practice 1v1 man-to-man defense?”

“He learns very fast, his abilities in this area can be improved. Having too many skills is never a burden,” Zhou Zhexiao answered.

“It will be very tiring,” Jiao Yingfeng chuckled.

“I’m not afraid of being tired.”

Zhou Zhexiao replied, “I haven’t used the fascia knife on him in a long time; I miss it.”

The fear of being dominated by the fascia knife made Xia Chiyi shiver.

He looked deeply at Zhou Zhexiao, and Zhou Zhexiao looked back at him. The two stared at each other for almost five seconds before Zhou Zhexiao finally asked, “What’s wrong?”

“If you use the fascia knife on me, I will…” Xia Chiyi didn’t dare say it aloud, only threatening by mouthing the words: I’ll break up with you.

Zhou Zhexiao shifted his gaze away, looking as if he hadn’t understood anything.

---

That night, Jiao Yingfeng and Fan Qingliang sat in front of the projector screen, watching the game tape of Xia Chiyi against Connecticut, including the video Zhou Zhexiao recorded on his phone of Xia Chiyi’s 1v1 with Santos.

After watching everything, Jiao Yingfeng pushed up his black-rimmed glasses, pinched the corners of his eyes, closed his eyes, and smiled.

While organizing data notes, Fan Qingliang asked, “What are you laughing at? Do you think Ling Huanzhen should accept Connecticut’s proposal and send Xia Chiyi over as an exchange student?”

“Let’s wait until the Division I League is over,” Jiao Yingfeng smiled. “Besides, there’s still the World University Games.”

We need to let more people see him.

---

Just like that, targeted defensive training was added to Xia Chiyi’s daily regimen, including various defensive footwork transitions, arm movements, and defensive positioning.

Naturally, Zhou Zhexiao became Xia Chiyi’s training partner.

Defending against Zhou Zhexiao was an extremely arduous task.

This guy dribbled incredibly fast, executing various direction changes and fake moves effortlessly.

Even though Xia Chiyi was an expert in direction changes and fake moves himself, predicting and identifying Zhou Zhexiao’s movements was incredibly difficult.

Over and over again, Zhou Zhexiao dribbled right past Xia Chiyi. Countless clean fake moves faked Xia Chiyi out so badly he almost fell to the ground. For the first two or three days, Xia Chiyi would still stand with his hands on his hips and shout at Zhou Zhexiao: “Again!”

But after a week, Xia Chiyi could only stop Zhou Zhexiao two or three times out of ten drives. Not to mention battling under the basket—he was fundamentally no match for Zhou Zhexiao. This caused Xia Chiyi’s excitement to recede like the tide, unable to be raised again.

On Friday, after an exhausting 1v1 marking session, Xia Chiyi sat silently on the sidelines drinking water.

In the past, after training ended, Xia Chiyi would always look at Zhou Zhexiao as if looking at his own treasure, confirming over and over again that Zhou Zhexiao belonged to him.

But today, Zhou Zhexiao had been sitting beside Xia Chiyi for quite a while without receiving a single glance from him.

Xia Chiyi rested his chin on his knees, staring at the tips of his shoes, his brows furrowed, not knowing what he was thinking.

The people around him were used to him being highly energetic. Now that he suddenly stopped talking and was clearly feeling down, it made people unsure of how to comfort him.

Fan Qingliang finished brewing coffee. When he walked out holding a porcelain mug, he froze. “Little Xia… has he become The Thinker? When I went to make coffee twenty minutes ago, he was in this posture. My coffee is done brewing… and he’s still in this posture?”

Jiao Yingfeng helplessly ran a hand through his hair.

“This is unavoidable, I suppose. Xia Chiyi went through the fierce battles of the Southeast Division, and after witnessing so many top experts, he still won the championship. That was when his confidence was at an all-time high. Zhao Lingcong and Yang Huaiyu couldn’t deal a blow to him. Running off to Qing Da’s training camp, Connecticut’s second string didn’t make him retreat either, and experts like Liu Suchen and Lu Yingnan couldn’t crush him. But Zhou Zhexiao… is still different.”

Fan Qingliang asked in confusion, “How is he different? Doesn’t he also have two eyes and a mouth?”

Jiao Yingfeng explained, “Because Zhou Zhexiao is the person who accompanied Xia Chiyi as he grew. Every time Xia Chiyi strengthened a skill, Zhou Zhexiao was by his side. From switch-hand layups to two-stage under-the-basket defense, to other under-the-basket skills, Zhou Zhexiao accompanied him. This made Xia Chiyi think he was improving, that he was catching up to Zhou Zhexiao. But today, upon reaching the hurdle of defense, Xia Chiyi realized that in front of Zhou Zhexiao, he is still just a ‘baby’. That sense of accomplishment from his desperate pursuit shattered, so naturally, his mood plummeted.”

Fan Qingliang put down his coffee cup: “I’ll go have a good chat with the little guy. Defense is different from offense. The goal of defense is never to completely stop the opponent’s dribble, but to force the opponent to pass or to increase the difficulty of their shot. If he always thinks about completely preventing the opponent from scoring on every defensive possession, then he’s fallen into a defensive misconception.”

Jiao Yingfeng grabbed Fan Qingliang’s arm and whispered, “He’s old enough now; he should have the ability to think independently and digest failure himself. He can’t just wait for us to guide him on everything. Besides, compared to us, perhaps Zhou Zhexiao’s counseling will be more effective.”

Fan Qingliang revealed a speechless expression. “If Zhou Zhexiao had that kind of emotional intelligence, he would have gone a bit easy on Xia Chiyi during 1v1 practice. Would giving Xia Chiyi a little bit of confidence kill him?”

Hearing this, Jiao Yingfeng couldn’t help but laugh. “You want Zhou Zhexiao to go easy? That won’t happen unless the West Lake dries up, the Leifeng Pagoda falls, and the White Snake and Fahai become in-laws.”

Fan Qingliang smiled knowingly. “True, Zhou Zhexiao just isn’t that kind of person. He has absolutely no acting skills for going easy; if he goes easy, he releases the entire Pacific Ocean, and everyone would know. At that point, Little Xia would be even sadder.”

At this moment, Zhou Zhexiao slowly pulled out a dark chocolate bar, tore off the wrapper, propped himself up on the floor with one hand, and leaned toward Xia Chiyi, offering the chocolate stick to him.

Xia Chiyi’s eyelids were lowered, his thick eyelashes pressing down heavily, looking as if he were about to cry.

Zhou Zhexiao lightly touched Xia Chiyi’s lips with the chocolate, but Xia Chiyi didn’t react.

“You were really formidable today. In order to break through your defense, I had to maintain a tough state the whole time—not only having to battle you physically but also using my off-hand to fend you off. Doing that consumes a lot of stamina.”

Zhou Zhexiao continued holding the chocolate stick. After two or three seconds, Xia Chiyi finally spoke: “And what else?”

“You stuck to me so tightly I had nowhere to retreat. I had no choice but to continuously use my pivot foot to probe into your space. Every time I wanted to pull my foot back and use a flash step to break through, you reacted very quickly and stuck to me again. I could only continue using flash steps to fake you out… Every time I imagined in my head what fake move to use to fool you, you would see through it a step ahead.”

“If I saw through it all, how could you still break through me?” Xia Chiyi looked over, his lips pouting so high he could balance the chocolate stick on them.

“At that point, I could only rely on instinct,” Zhou Zhexiao answered.

“Oh, your instincts are pretty handy, huh.” Xia Chiyi’s expression looked even more miserable. “Then my instincts still aren’t as good as yours.”

Zhou Zhexiao stopped talking.

“Your instinct is to use contact, crossover, and step-backs! Just you wait, tomorrow when you use this trick again, I’ll make you lose everything!”

“…Oh.” Zhou Zhexiao nodded. He looked at Xia Chiyi very seriously and mouthed a question: Then am I still your boyfriend?

Even though this guy was expressionless, Xia Chiyi was absolutely certain he was nervous.

Suddenly, he wasn’t sad at all; he even wanted to laugh very much.

Xia Chiyi opened his mouth and chomp, bit off half the chocolate, then lifted his chin and said haughtily, “Depends on the situation.”

Then he stood up, patted his butt, and headed for the showers.

Xia Chiyi’s classic shower anthem, Pleasant Goat and Big Big Wolf, drifted through the door, making Jiao Yingfeng and Fan Qingliang smile at each other.

“Looks like Student Little Xia really digested his emotions on his own.”

“Of course, he’s my disciple, I understand him well.”

Only Zhou Zhexiao stood by the door, pinching the remaining half of the chocolate, his brows furrowed as if pondering some major problem.

Jiao Yingfeng walked past him holding his coffee and took a crunchy bite out of half a brown sugar biscuit.

“Great Demon King, what are you thinking about?”

“I’m thinking whether I should find other people to be Xia Chiyi’s sparring partners,” Zhou Zhexiao said.

Jiao Yingfeng stroked his chin in silence. “True… you aren’t his only opponent on the court. He needs to adapt to opponents with all sorts of styles and play methods. Otherwise, the so-called defensive practice becomes meaningless. Also, changing opponents might give him a bit more confidence.”

Zhou Zhexiao looked at Jiao Yingfeng and said, “Do you have connections?”

“What kind of connections? If it’s players from other powerhouse schools, shouldn’t you ask Ling Huanzhen for help?”

“Other powerhouse schools are already very wary of him; they won’t deliver themselves to our door to give him free experience points.”

“So…”

“What about professional players in the CBA? Bench players are fine too.”

Jiao Yingfeng stared at him with wide eyes. “Are you crazy… These people’s time is worth its weight in gold. Who would come be a sparring partner for Xia Chiyi?”

“You can sell courses. Whoever comes to be Xia Chiyi’s sparring partner, you teach them the instant three-pointer.”

Jiao Yingfeng couldn’t hold back and spat out the half mouthful of coffee he had in his mouth. “You… how did you come up with an idea like this? You’re joking, right?”

Zhou Zhexiao looked at Jiao Yingfeng and said, “I’m serious.”

---

[Author’s Note]
Jiao Yingfeng: Finally… I have actually reached the point of selling courses to raise kids…
It seems especially chilly today, is it because everyone is very busy before National Day?