Chapter 018: A New Generation, The Rise of Ningchang

“We can order again tomorrow. Don’t eat that,” Xia Chiyi replied.

Zhou Zhexiao held the takeout cup in one hand and circled the straw with the other. Although his face was expressionless, his eyes clearly conveyed the sentiment: “I don’t care, I want it.”

“It’s not healthy to drink something so sweet late at night,” Xia Chiyi continued to persuade him.

He never thought there would come a day when retrieving his own milk tea would be such a hassle.

“My metabolism is very good. Tomorrow’s milk tea is for tomorrow,” Zhou Zhexiao said.

Xia Chiyi covered his forehead. Zhou Zhexiao was certainly quick to learn and apply things, throwing the very words Xia Chiyi had said back at him.

The roommates had discussed the possibility that Zhou Zhexiao might not have had domestic milk tea across the ocean, but they never expected that while smartphones failed to conquer him, bubble tea succeeded!

“Wait a moment, let me dilute it with some hot water.”

Xia Chiyi took a deep breath, tore off the plastic seal of the milk tea, and poured a little hot water in. The black pearls rolled around, and Zhou Zhexiao looked very satisfied.

He sat in his seat, holding the milk tea with both hands, sipping intently. He looked exactly like a scaled-up version of Xia Chiyi’s little nephew holding a milk bottle.

Gradually, Xia Chiyi realized that Zhou Zhexiao didn’t just like drinking milk tea; like a child, he used his tongue to push the pearls all around his mouth, grinding them with his molars. He would play with the pearls in his mouth for quite a while before swallowing.

Forget it. In a way, this counts as childlike innocence.

“Why do you like chewing pearls so much? Is this a belated oral fixation phase?” Xia Chiyi complained in a low voice.

“Because they’re like you.” Zhou Zhexiao stopped sucking on the straw, glanced at him, and finally sucked the last of the pearls from the bottom.

Xia Chiyi, with one leg still on the ladder, almost slipped. He pointed at himself and asked, “Like me? How are they like me?”

“Soft, bouncy, and sweet.”

After speaking, Zhou Zhexiao threw the empty cup into the trash can and turned to go wash up, showing no intention of continuing the discussion.

“W-Weirdo…”

After the lights went out in the corridor, Xia Chiyi quickly fell asleep, the dorm filled with the sounds of slow breathing.

Zhou Zhexiao faced the wall, the pilling wristband on his right wrist. He pinched the small lint balls with his fingers and slowly closed his eyes.

---

The news that the school basketball team would hold an intra-team practice match spread through the forum.

Originally, the basketball team had a very low presence. However, someone posted a detailed explanation of the grievances between Ma Wenhua, Du He, and Shuai Bei on the forum, filling the students with righteous indignation. This match was jokingly dubbed by the students as “The Battle to Dismiss Ma Wenhua.”

[Did Ningchang University have a chance to appear in the divisional competition last year? We did, but unfortunately, Ma Wenhua extinguished it!]

[Respected Coach Ma, do you know you are coaching a basketball team, not a soccer team?]

[Let’s crowdfund to send Coach Ma to Qing University or Southwest Aviation University! Let’s see if these two top universities can withstand Coach Ma’s destruction!]

[Ma Wenhua, are you possessed? Pulling any two random people from the bench would be more useful than the ones you pick!]

[How much did Ningchang University pay Ma Wenhua? We’ll pay double, begging you to step down!]

…

Xia Chiyi patted Ye Chaoying’s headboard. “Brother, did you post that thread? I’m worried Ma Wenhua might assassinate you!”

Ye Chaoying put on an innocent expression. “I’ve been analyzing Chen Chuan and He Bin’s playing styles these past few days. Where would I find the time for this nonsense?”

Xia Chiyi looked skeptical.

“Besides, look at this post. It even details the purchase time and model of Ma Wenhua’s equipment. It’s obviously someone who had issues with him before. We aren’t the only ones hoping his coffin lid gets flipped open soon.”

This made Xia Chiyi even more worried. “With the forum making such a fuss, will the school leaders cancel our match to keep the peace?”

Before Ye Chaoying could speak, Zhou Zhexiao said with certainty, “They won’t. The school leaders will definitely go.”

Hearing Zhou Zhexiao say this, Xia Chiyi felt much more relaxed.

Zhou Zhexiao was sitting at his desk playing with Xia Chiyi’s phone. Recently, he had learned to search for basketball game videos on the phone. Xia Chiyi had suggested several times that Zhou Zhexiao could buy a new smartphone, but the other didn’t respond. Xia Chiyi thought he was tight on living expenses.

However, when he accompanied him to the ATM yesterday, Xia Chiyi discovered that the other’s living expenses were enough to support the entire dorm, including the bottomless pit that was Little Fatty.

And in the blink of an eye, Zhou Zhexiao transferred three thousand yuan to Xia Chiyi with the note: Phone Rental Fee.

Holy crap. Looking at the three thousand yuan, Xia Chiyi’s first sentence was: “Is this rent for a month or a semester?”

Zhou Zhexiao, chewing on the straw of his AD Calcium Milk, replied: “For the lifetime of this phone.”

Xia Chiyi asked again, “What if I switch to a new phone?”

Zhou Zhexiao replied: “I’ll pay half.”

After speaking, Zhou Zhexiao frowned. Xia Chiyi understood immediately and took another AD Calcium Milk out of the plastic bag.

Looking at this guy’s back—he was too amazing, sipping AD Calcium Milk while walking with a stride that recognized no kin.

Regarding the phone rental, according to Little Fatty’s analysis, this was likely the principle of “other people’s things are always better.”

Although Xia Chiyi told him to buy a new one, every time he watched Zhou Zhexiao browsing basketball videos, he thought he looked so well-behaved. Moreover, he never swiped to other content and was very respectful of Xia Chiyi’s privacy.

At this moment, Chen Chuan of the basketball team was fuming with rage looking at the post, constantly applying for the admin to delete it. He was genuinely worried that if Ma Wenhua was replaced, the next coach wouldn’t take care of them.

He hurriedly went to the sanatorium to tip off Ma Wenhua.

When he arrived at the room, Ma Wenhua was lying on a rocking chair in the sanatorium, admiring the sunset while having afternoon tea.

Chen Chuan said worriedly, “Coach Ma, are you going to guide us on-site tomorrow to defeat Ye Chaoying and the other two? I heard their strength is really formidable. If we lose… the starting positions will be theirs! They aren’t of one mind with you, Coach Ma!”

“That’s why I say you lack experience. Those kids in the basketball team are full of rebellion; they don’t take me, the head coach, seriously at all. Tell them to go east, they insist on going west. Ignoring them doesn’t make them reflect; instead, they run off to complain. Look at my brother; in the provincial team of * Province, his word is law. If he says someone gets cut, they get cut. Complaining is useless!”

Chen Chuan was still very worried. “But after Principal Feng watches the game… will he have any ideas?”

“Tsk… Of course, we have to listen to the principal. A game has four quarters. If they start in the first quarter, who plays in the remaining three quarters is still up to me, isn’t it?” Ma Wenhua smiled suggestively at Chen Chuan.

Chen Chuan understood. The competition was fiercer now; it was time to prove “loyalty.”

“Wait until the provincial grassroots competition starts. Let Cheng Qing bring the other members to invite me back. If we make it out of the grassroots competition, it’s due to my guidance. If we don’t, there’s a reason—after all, they drove the head coach away themselves, didn’t practice properly all summer, and didn’t consult me for selecting special recruits. Isn’t losing to be expected then?”

With that, Ma Wenhua rocked in his chair and said, “The sunset is infinitely good!”

But the unspoken second half was: It’s just near dusk.

---

On the day of the match, Xia Chiyi and the other two brought their sports gear, sports drinks, towels, and other items to the basketball arena.

Little Fatty took out his DSLR camera, claiming he wanted to use his stable base to capture classic moments of his roommates.

Along the way, second and third-year students cheered them on.

The closer they got to the basketball arena, the more nervous Xia Chiyi became, to the point where he started walking with the same arm and leg moving together.

Ye Chaoying felt he was in top form today, but Xia Chiyi was making his palms sweat. “This… what do we do? Our turret seems very nervous. He won’t shoot into our own basket today, will he?”

Zhou Zhexiao walked unhurriedly to Xia Chiyi’s side and asked, “What are you worried about? You weren’t even scared playing against the provincial team.”

“If we lost to Gao Qing, we lost. At worst, I’d call him daddy. But today concerns our future for the next four years… Don’t worry, I’ll be fine once I’m on the court.”

“I won’t let you call anyone daddy.”

Looking at the other’s stern profile, Xia Chiyi whispered, “Why don’t you scare me a bit? Once I get scared, even if Ling Huanzhen stood opposite me, I wouldn’t be nervous.”

Xia Chiyi followed behind Zhou Zhexiao.

Zhou Zhexiao suddenly stopped and said in a flat tone, “Some people say using a pilling wristband to jack off feels extraordinary.”

Xia Chiyi’s soul quaked. He stared blankly at Zhou Zhexiao.

What did this guy say? What did he just say?

Who am I? Where am I?

Right now, what Zhou Zhexiao was wearing on his wrist was that pilling wristband! Xia Chiyi used to think those little lint balls were incredibly cute, but now his blood rushed inexplicably, almost causing an incident on the spot!

“Weren’t you scared? Why do you still look very nervous?” Zhou Zhexiao asked.

So those words just now were to scare him?

Holy crap, my heart almost gave out! It wasn’t that I wasn’t scared; I was scared out of my wits!

Zhou Zhexiao said indifferently, “Forget it. Even if you shoot at our own basket, I can block it.”

That sentence was much more useful, okay!

Xia Chiyi quickly caught up, unable to resist glancing at Zhou Zhexiao’s profile. The other party was expressionless, gaze stern—a weapon of mass destruction in the abstinence department. Indeed, those words just now must have been a spur-of-the-moment attempt to scare him.

Arriving at the entrance of the basketball arena, two tall figures carrying sports bags were standing there.

The one nervously rubbing his hands was Du He.

The one with his head down, quickly texting with one hand, was Shuai Bei. His white hair swayed gently in the wind, coupled with an expression that gave zero f*cks about anyone, exuding an aura ready to unleash an ultimate move.

Great, these two didn’t bail on them.

“So slow,” Shuai Bei frowned, glancing at the three of them.

Du He licked his lips. “Haven’t played in a while, afraid my touch is off…”

“It’s fine. The touch will come back as you play.”

The five of them walked into the basketball arena, followed by a panting Little Fatty. These long-legged monsters had no consideration for a fatty’s troubles.

There were more spectators in the basketball arena than they imagined; it was almost full. Someone even held up a homemade sign that read: “A New Generation, The Rise of Ningchang.”

Seeing that sign as soon as he entered, Xia Chiyi instantly felt his blood boil.