by Dragon King
She was a bit surprised at the sight of the large group of guys. Hao Ren walked over and scratched his head in embarrassment, “They…are determined to come and watch.”
Xie Yujia’s pretty eyes blinked, and she remained silent. With her hair tied into a long ponytail, she looked extraordinarily vibrant and youthful.
Her white sneakers showcased her white ankles which were even whiter than the shoes. The color of her skin fit the description of “snow white”.
Huang Jianfeng and others, who had rarely crossed paths with the Class President, were starry-eyed when they looked at the vibrant Xie Yujia at such close range.
They had seen Xie Yujia in class, but they had never imagined that the dignified girl could be so athletic.
“Have you had breakfast?” ignoring the admiring stares, Xie Yujia asked Hao Ren.
“Not yet. We came directly from the dorms, and the cafeteria isn’t open yet,” Hao Ren answered.
“Uh-huh,” Xie Yujia nodded and ran to her bike. She lifted a bag from the basket and handed it to Hao Ren. “I got up early and bought some Baozi,” she said.
Hao Ren was amazed.
“You should eat them so that you will have the strength to practice. I’ve already eaten,” Xie Yujia pushed the buns toward him.
“Class President! We want to eat Baozi, too!” Huang Jianfeng yelled.
“Those are the last three Baozi. Besides, you are not here for practice!” Xie Yujia said, turning to look at them.
“We want to practice, too!” They continued with their demands.
Xie Yujia turned to face Hao Ren and ignored them.
“Class President, ignore them,” Hao Ren was exasperated. After eating the Baozi, he immediately felt better.
“Ok. You warm up a bit, and then I’ll show you how to play,” Xie Yujia nodded at Hao Ren briskly.
Hao Ren nodded, though he still felt uncomfortable letting a girl show him how to play basketball.
While Hao Ren was warming up, Xie Yujia picked up the orange basketball from the ground. “I’ll show you one of the basics, dribble. Dribble is more than bouncing the ball,” she said.
Xie Yujia bent her back and kept low, moving her left arm before her body in defense while her right hand pushed down the basketball deftly. The ball bounced up immediately, and Xie Yujia followed the momentum and held the ball in her palm before pushing the ball back down with a standard move of her wrist.
The movements were as smooth as exercising Tai Chi in the water. Except for the slower speed, the movements were almost as professional as those of the basketball players who were broadcasted on TV.
Seeing the stunned expressions of Yu Rong and the other guys, Hao Ren was no longer shameful for learning basketball from a girl. The Class President was a basketball expert in disguise!
“But, wait… What are the guys staring at?”
Hao Ren found their expressions quite weird and followed their gazes. It was not the basketball they were staring at but the low neckline of her t-shirt when she bent over to dribble the ball.
Beneath the white t-shirt, a portion of her white skin and even a part of the contour of her beautiful chest were exposed!
Hao Ren immediately blocked her from their view.
“Ur…” He pointed at Xie Yujia’s chest and murmured, “Your…neckline.”
Looking down at her neckline, Xie Yujia yelled in embarrassment. She stood straight immediately as she placed her left hand on the loose neckline of her t-shirt.
Her face reddened immediately. In the misty morning, her blush looked especially distinct and pretty.
“Ren, where are your morals!” Yu Rong and the others shouted indignantly.
Hearing their shameless yells, Xie Yujia’s face fell, and she bit her lip instinctively.
“Well, well, get out of here! Don’t piss off the Class President!” Hao Ren walked over to kick them away.
Yu Rong and other guys were driven out of the basketball court while still protesting; their view would be less clear through the fences.
Hao Ren returned to the court and said to Xie Yujia, “I drove them off. Class President, let’s continue.”
“Ok,” Xie Yujia was still pink in the face, but she continued, “The dribble… Uh, where was I?”
“You said that dribbling is not as simple as bouncing the ball, and then you showed me the movements,” Hao Ren said.
Seeing Xie Yujia was still uncomfortable, Hao Ren continued, “Class President, you just show me the moves. I won’t let my eyes wander to the places they shouldn’t.”
Hearing his placating words, Xie Yujia turned even redder, berating herself silently for neglecting the neckline of the t-shirt while bending to dribble the ball. In fact, she had purposefully chosen a t-shirt with a smaller neckline, but the guys apparently had sharper eyes than she anticipated.
While Hao Ren was trying to comfort her, he thought to himself, “Yu Rong and the guys are really bad for daring to peek at the Class President. Now, the view is only for my eyes.”
If Yu Rong, who was standing far away outside of the court, had known Hao Ren’s thoughts, he would have rushed in and given Hao Ren a good beating for being such a hypocrite.
Xie Yujia lifted up the neckline of her t-shirt before bending again and explaining, “I’ll show you the correct dribbling position. Keep your feet apart at a comfortable distance and bend your knees slightly. Lean your body forward and keep your head up to observe the situation on the court. Then, raise your left elbow to protect the ball.”
Xie Yujia demonstrated while explaining the key points.
During the process, Hao Ren watched the movements of her hands and feet and the white skin exposed at her neckline. Although he saw Xie Yujia’s neckline had loosened again, he kept his mind on the dribbling movement of her arms.
Afterward, Xie Yujia handed the ball to Hao Ren for him to practice. She moved his wrists and lowered his back to get him into the right position.
Xie Yujia looked natural guiding him, but Hao Ren was uncomfortable with this pretty girl standing close to him and sliding her smooth palms along his wrist. When he wasn’t following her instructions, she even moved her arm against his to correct his moves.
She was Hao Ren’s beautiful private coach.
“Despicable! Shameless!” standing outside of the fence, Yu Rong and the guys watched the intimate contact between Xie Yujia and Hao Ren on the basketball court more than ten meters away. They were burning with envy!Baozi, or bao, is a type of filled bun or bread-like dumpling in various Chinese cuisines.
99 Off-Limi
From six o’clock to seven o’clock, Hao Ren finally understood how to dribble under Xie Yujia’s earnest instructions.
He had never played basketball except for the occasions when he was dragged to the court by Zhao Jiayi. However, when he was in middle school, he had been a member of the Track and Field Team and was close with the Soccer Team. He had often acted as their temporary goalkeeper and thus was not a stranger to balls.
Despite the chilliness of the morning wind, Xie Yujia began to sweat while jogging around Hao Ren to get him into the correct positions.
Covered with a thin layer of sweat, she looked even more alluring. Her fit and beautiful figure attracted Hao Ren’s gaze while he was practicing how to dribble. After all, Xie Yujia had told him not to stare at the ball but to observe the movements on the court. Currently, Xie Yujia was the only person on the court.
Xie Yujia blushed at his stare, and she went behind him to correct his posture.
“Class President, I’ve dribbled for an hour now, and my arms are sore. When can I learn something else?” Hao Ren turned to look at her before asking.
“We are practicing the standing dribble which is the simplest technique, and we’ll turn to dribble while running after a while. Why are you so impatient?” Xie Yujia snorted and lectured Hao Ren like a coach.
“Change to your right hand!” She instructed.
Immediately, Hao Ren cha
nged the ball to his right hand and resumed dribbling.
“Good,” Xie Yujia nodded approvingly and said, “Now, I’ll show you the running dribble. The match is next week, so I won’t have time to teach you cross-overs. It will be enough if you master the speed dribble.”
She stole the ball from Hao Ren and ran to mid-court after a series of dizzying dribbling movements around Hao Ren.
“Look carefully! The key to the running dribble is the coordination between your hands and feet. You must not travel with the ball. The faster you move, the farther back the ball will be, and the greater force you will need to apply. When you are traveling in a straight line, you usually dribble once every two steps.”
Hao Ren admired Xie Yujia’s vigorous figure in her white t-shirt and the sway of her long ponytail. Thinking back to how easily she stole the ball from him, Hao Ren was ashamed of himself.
After looking around, he found that Yu Rong and the guys had left. It was not surprising since they could only watch Xie Yujia from afar and could not interact with her. One hour of that would make the drowsy guys bored.
Clap! Clap… Xie Yujia dribbled the ball back to Hao Ren from mid-court. It was quite enjoyable to watch her beautiful white legs running in the white sneakers.
Suddenly, someone whistled at Xie Yujia from outside of the court.
Hao Ren turned and saw the Basketball Team led by Xie Wanjun was passing the wired fence of the court. Some of the team members saw the pretty Xie Yujia playing basketball and couldn’t help but to whistle to show their appreciation.
“It seems like not all the players know that she is Xie Wanjun’s younger sister,” Hao Ren thought.
Xie Wanjun stopped suddenly and pointed at the guys who had whistled. “Each of you, do 50 push-ups here and now!” he shouted.
Then, he entered the open basketball court in Zone B and walked up to Xie Yujia and Hao Ren. He asked, “How was the practice?”
“Very good! He is a quick learner,” Xie Yujia answered immediately.
Taking the ball from Xie Yujia’s hand, Xie Wanjun turned abruptly and dribbled the ball at lightning speed to the net before jumping up and dunking it with a bang!
Outside the court, Zhao Jiayi gaped at the scene. He had been jogging for an hour and was soaked in sweat, but he rallied again when he witnessed Xie Wanjun’s masterful show of skill and strength.
“Get back to your drill.” Xie Wanjun caught the ball and tossed it to Hao Ren.
Hao Ren caught the ball and was at a loss for words.
Walking out of the court, Xie Wanjun turned to the guys who were still obediently doing push-ups and slapped them on their heads one by one. “She is my younger sister. If any of you dares to whistle at her in the future, you will do 200 push-ups for it. Now get up and run to the stadium to start training!” he said.
Then, he jogged with the team into the stadium. Zhao Jiayi, who was at the end of the line, turned to look at Hao Ren in the open basketball court and waved his arms at him in encouragement.
“Just ignore my brother; he’s just showing his muscles. Let’s get back to our practice.” Xie Yujia took the ball from Hao Ren and dribbled it like a professional player.
Then, she showed Hao Ren high dribble, low dribble, dribble block, and dribble turn… Hao Ren admired her thorough and professional manner. He was surprised that this well-behaved and Tri-Merit student was also good at basketball.
Xie Yujia didn’t stop the morning session until 8:30 AM when some students passed the court on their way to their classes. Xie Yujia picked up the basketball and said, “Well, we’re done now. It’s time for class.”
She looked quite cool tucking the ball underneath her arm. Against the green shades, she was like the cover girl on a fashion magazine.
“Good. Let’s go.” Slightly panting, Hao Ren nodded and showed his agreement. After all, it would be difficult for a strong person to practice dribbling for two hours without rest while carrying over 25 kilograms on each wrist.
Walking out of the court, Xie Yujia put the basketball into the basket on her bike. Then, she walked over to Hao Ren and asked, “I brought the books for today’s morning classes with me. Don’t you need to go back and get your books?”
“No! We as guys never use books in class!” Hao Ren waved his hand.
Exasperated, Xie Yujia shook her head and replied, “Ok then. I will return the basketball to my brother before we go to the cafeteria for breakfast. Then, we can head to the class.”
She rode the bike to the stadium nearby. Soon, she returned with an empty basket to the exit of the basketball court at Zone B.
“Let’s head to the cafeteria!” Xie Yujia beckoned at Hao Ren.
“You will carry me on your bike?” Hao Ren was surprised.
“Yeah! I can carry people!” Xie Yujia nodded and said, “Jump on!”
Grinning, Hao Ren scratched his head. He ran to the back seat and jumped onto it lightly.
He had thought that Xie Yujia couldn’t handle his weight on the bike. To his surprise, she adjusted the position of the paddles and rode steadily forward.
Now, Hao Ren was in a dilemma. He had thought that Xie Yujia would have to give up and let him ride, but he underestimated her and had to be carried on the back seat to the cafeteria by a girl.
Hao Ren kept his feet close to the wheel and cautiously placed his hands around Xie Yujia’s waist. He had meant to grip the seat, but it was too small. If he were not careful, he would accidentally touch her.
Xie Yujia was silent on the way. It was her first time carrying a boy on her bike. It was an impulsive act, but it was okay since there weren’t many students on campus yet.
They went into Green Hill Cafeteria and lined up to buy breakfast. Hao Ren had offered to treat the Class President to a meal to thank her for teaching him how to play basketball, and Xie Yujia gladly accepted it.
While Xie Yujia waited in line with Hao Ren, many guys glanced at her openly or secretly.
This was not surprising. In a sports t-shirt, Xie Yujia’s gorgeous figure, pretty face, outstanding temperament, and vibrant energy were too tempting to resist.
Ignoring the admiring glances, Xie Yujia got her breakfast with Hao Ren and sat down with him to eat.
Seeing Hao Ren’s ordinary clothes and looks, the guys were jealous of him and wondered how a plain guy like him attracted such a pretty girl.
After breakfast, Xie Yujia and Hao Ren walked out of the cafeteria. Coming and going together, they indeed looked like a student couple.
“Class President, you go ahead and bike to the Academic Building. I’ll walk,” Hao Ren said when Xie Yujia went over to her bike.
“Well, ok.” After a moment of consideration, Xie Yujia rode the bike toward the Academic Building. She knew Hao Ren was afraid that the girls in the class would gossip about them if they were seen on a bike together.
Hao Ren looked after Xie Yujia’s figure and thought, “Even on a 100-yuan bike, a pretty girl like her can still make such a beautiful scene.”
“Hey!” Hao Ren was suddenly disturbed by a loud yell.
He turned and saw Zhao Jiayi standing behind him, covered in sweat.
“Damn! What are you doing here?” Hao Ren asked.
“I’ve been here for a while. I saw you in the cafeteria but didn’t want to interrupt you guys,” Zhao Jiayi said while wiping the sweat off of his forehead.
“There is nothing between the Class President and me!” Hao Ren turned and walked toward the Academic Building.
Zhao Jiayi walked along with him. He threw an arm around Hao Ren’s shoulder and said, “Nothing? Do you think I’m blind? Xie Yujia rode the bike, and you sat on the back seat. You’re really good at this. How come no pretty girl is carrying me on a bike?”
“You saw it?” Hao Ren asked him.
“Of course. I just finished the practice and was about to head to class when I saw you guys. Damn! I chased you guys halfway here, but neither of you heard me calling.”
Imagi
ning Zhao Jiayi chasing them in sweat while they rode forward breezily, Hao Ren felt sorry for Zhao Jiayi.
Zhao Jiayi bumped Hao Ren with his brawny hip. “Go for her! It seems like Xie Wanjun willing to let you pursue his sister,” he said.
“Well. Not now.” Hao Ren threw off his sweaty arm.
In class, everyone had known that Xie Yujia was Xie Wanjun’s younger sister, and it became a hot topic among the students in the classroom.
The guys who had been secretly admiring Xie Yujia lamented about the surprising news while silently giving up their plans to pursue her. They congratulated themselves for not acting rashly.
After all, it would take more than an ordinary guy to handle the sister of such an influential figure.
Now, the girls understood why the overbearing Lin Li from Class Three wasn’t able to do anything to Xie Yujia; it was because Xie Yujia’s brother was a figure who was more powerful than Huang Xujie!
After the Mechanical Drawing Class, Xie Yujia packed up her stuff, ignored the glances cast her way, and walked out of the classroom with her good friend and dormmate Ma Lina.
Her ponytail swayed innocently, but in other people’s eyes, she was no longer an ordinary Class President.
The gossip spread to other classes when the guys at school began to talk about how Zhao Jiayi, who was only 1.7 meters tall, had suddenly joined the basketball team. It seemed like guys could gossip just as well as girls.
Thanks to Hao Ren, Zhao Jiayi was famous; he was in such high spirits that he didn’t care about the nature of the gossips. He just couldn’t wait for next week’s match to begin.
However, Hao Ren remained calm the whole day. After his afternoon classes, he went back to the dorm to change before taking the bus to LingZhao Middle School.
He didn’t care about all the gossip at the school since tonight’s Parent-Teacher Meeting was his top priority…
100 Experiencing Another Life
East Ocean University was only several bus stops away from LingZhao Middle School. Sitting on the rickety bus, Hao Ren leaned his arm against the window and rested his head on his palm. His gaze fell on the band-aid on his elbow.
