by Dragon King
Chen Dali’s shouting turned into roaring. However, Hao Ren, Xie Wanjun, and Zhao Jiayi were like a fantastic iron triangle. One of them could always get the rebound, one of them was constantly making horrifying dunks or blocking shots, and one of them was a ball-snatching machine who could always deliver the ball to his teammates for scoring.
Half of the game was almost finished, and the tallest and strongest player on the side of Jinghua University, Chen Dali, finally gave away his Center position to focus on defending Hao Ren!
There would be no chance for Jinghua University to win if they couldn’t break the iron triangle.
“Ren, catch the ball!” Zhao Jiayi made a smooth behind-the-back pass, and the ball accurately fell into Hao Ren’s palm.
“Cut to the inside lane! Pass it if there is no opportunity to score!” Hao Ren remembered Xie Yujia’s instruction vividly and tried to break through the defense line with the basketball.
Boom… A ‘tank’ came to him out of nowhere!
He turned around and saw Chen Dali dashing over madly with a twisted face.
Boom!
Their shoulders collided; Chen Dali was even stronger than Xie Wanjun with his two-meter height.
Xie Yujia opened her eyes wide and held her fists tight on the stands. Her nails even sank deep into her skin!
Xie Wanjun had already cut into the inner lane and was waiting for Hao Ren’s ball; he was nervous in this situation as well.
Bang… Out of almost everyone’s expectation, Chen Dali was knocked away!
He backed up five or six steps before falling onto the floor and sliding to the outside of the court, unbalanced.
He turned to the referee, but the referee signaled everyone to carry on with the game.
Hao Ren passed the ball successfully to Xie Wanjun, and there went another exciting dunk!
The game carried on, and Chen Dali had his eyes on Hao Ren again.
Bang! Chen Dali was flipped aside in another crash.
“Referee! It was a foul!” he stood back up and shouted to the referee.
However, the referee shrugged in disagreement. That seemed to be a reasonable collision. If anything, Chen Dali’s malicious intent was more noticeable.
Chen Dali returned to the court madly; he couldn’t figure out how this ‘shorty’ was that heavy. Chen Dali felt like Hao Ren’s feet were rooted to the floor. It was absolutely impossible to knock him over. On the other hand, Hao Ren could easily knock him away with just a little movement.
Bang! Chen Dali, who was strong as a hill, was knocked away again in another collision.
“Referee! He made a ball collision!” Chen Dali cried out since he couldn’t stand it anymore.
This referee was invited from the East Ocean City Referee Association.
He couldn’t stand Chen Dali anymore either and said to him, “I will give you a foul if you do this kind of fake moves again!”
“What fake? I was knocked over by him…” Chen Dali yelled as he was pulled back by his team. It was really irrational for this Captain to argue with the referee.
As the game went on, Chen Dali kept on defending Hao Ren. However, whenever he tried to crash into him on purpose, he would immediately get bounced back.
His movement of being knocked over appeared to be extremely exaggerated; the referee got annoyed by him gradually, and the audience all hissed at him as well.
“Six, you come and defend him!” finding this strange, Chen Dali shouted at one of his teammates.
When Hao Ren got the ball again, it was this Six, who was about eight centimeters shorter than Chen Dali, who started to defend him.
The two teams were hostile to each other at this point, especially when Jinghua University was many points behind. All their players were a bit furious, and Six’s defense was a bit overdone as well.
He smashed his arm heavily into Hao Ren’s shoulder while Hao Ren was dribbling with his knees bent, and Hao Ren immediately got knocked a few steps back.
Hiss… The referee whistled and signaled the collision foul.
The audience burst into an uproar.
The captain of Jinghua University team, Chen Dali, was just about to argue with the referee. Then, he suddenly realized, “Wait a minute…I got knocked back when I collided with this ‘shorty’, yet Six who is shorter than me could knock him over… Doesn’t this show that my contacts with him are all fake?”
He swallowed his words while the audience realized the irony and hissed at Chen Dali again.
The fact was, he was over two meters while Hao Ren was only a bit over 1.7 meters. Physically, his arms were even thicker than Hao Ren’s legs. No one would believe that Hao Ren could knock him over instead of the other way around.
Everyone thought Chen Dali was overly dramatic with his acting, including the referee.
Pa! Hao Ren scored a penalty shot, and the entire gym cheered again.
Xie Wanjun secretly raised his thumb at Hao Ren.
“That player in the No.1 Jersey from Jinghua University is too sneaky. He couldn’t win in skills, so he is going for collisions and putting dirt on Hao Ren. With a fake move like that where he backed up six to seven steps out of the court? Who would even believe that’s real?” Zhou Liren said angrily on the south stands.
“Yes… Too fake… Just too fake…” the guys beside him agreed.
The coach of Jinghua University, who was sitting in the corner, looked really bad. He thought the special training on the island did a lot to improve the team members in both strength and skills. The goal of this ‘friendly match’ with East Ocean University was to take the edge off of East Ocean University’s spirit and get off on a flying start for the National College Basketball League this year.
However, instead of a flying start, Jinghua University was being defeated right from the start. Despite the poor points they have gotten, their players were getting injured, and they were the ones asking for it. Vice President of the University, Lu Qing, who was on the opposite side of the stadium, was smiling.
“Xie Wanjun, as the Coach as well as the Captain of the team, is indeed the best in the country! Also, Chen Dali is such a shameful bastard since he went for fake injuries and fakes fowls in this disadvantageous situation,” he thought.
135 The Basketball Babies
Beep… Halftime.
Hao Ren was covered in sweat, and he followed Xie Wanjun to the side of the court to rest.
Zhao Jiayi also walked proudly to the resting area to wipe his sweat off under the public’s gaze.
Dang, dang, dang.
Music started playing.
When all the basketball players and the audience were just about to take a break and grab a sip of water, Lu Linlin and Lu Lili jumped onto the court in their tight thin mid-sleeved shirts and red short skirts.
They were holding four pom-poms.
Everyone looked straight at them, especially the guys in the audience.
Six pretty girls followed Lu Linlin and Lu Lili onto the court before they started their hot dance.
“Pu…”
Hao Ren couldn’t help but spit a mouthful of water out.
No wonder he hadn’t seen the sisters lately; it turned out that they have been practicing the dance.
Hao Ren had no idea that they became members of the cheerleading team…
He looked behind the sisters at the other six pretty girls but didn’t find Lin Li. Hao Ren then realized that the former Cheerleader Captain had been completely ruled out of the team.
This was Lu Linlin and Lu Lili’s first show. They brought up the excitement with their nice figures and hot dance. The guys were crazily whistling at them to attract their attention. Even a glimpse was to die for.
“So pretty…”
“Very pretty…”
“I haven’t seen them before… What are their names?”
“I’m going to ask around after the game… I can’t believe that I have no idea our school has such beautiful twin sisters…”
&nb
sp; “Wasn’t Lin Li the Cheerleader Captain before?”
“Damn, take a good look! How can Lin Li compare with them?”
“Ah… I’m so jealous of the Basketball Team… Obviously, you will get to see a lot of pretty girls as long as you can play basketball…”
The discussion could be heard here and there along with the whistling.
Lu Lili was dancing and bouncing rapidly as she waved the pom-poms up and down. She said to Lu Linlin, “Sister, this is so embarrassing…”
“What’s embarrassing about it? Just think of it as if you are dancing for Gongzi,” Lu Linlin answered as she danced.
“Um…Alright…” Lu Lily looked towards Hao Ren as she waved her slim legs and arms.
Hao Ren was holding a bottle of water when he realized that the sisters were both staring at him. He couldn’t help but feel a chill run down his spine.
After the seven-minute dance was over, all the guys were having trouble taking their eyes away from Lu Linlin and Lu Lili.
Even Yue Yang couldn’t help but praise to Hao Zhonghua, “There are so many pretty girls at East Ocean University. Those two little girls are especially beautiful.”
Hao Zhonghua glimpsed at her and said, “Don’t be jealous. I never fell for anyone while I studied here although pretty girls were pursuing me as well.”
Yue Yang smiled in admiration at his fast reaction.
Lu Linlin and Lu Lili walked to the side of the court and put down their pom poms. They went over to talk to the players of East Ocean University with the other cheerleaders.
Seeing two super pretty girls coming their way with six other beauties, the big guys on the basketball team all panicked.
“Gongzi, are you thirsty?”
“Gongzi, are you tired?”
Lu Linlin and Lu Lili walked to Hao Ren’s side; one held up a bottle for him while the other wiped off his sweat with a towel.
This made Hao Ren even more nervous because all the guys in the audience were looking at them at this moment.
Zhou Liren, who was whistling at the two girls crazily, almost bit his own tongue when he witnessed this scene.
Zhao Yanzi from the stands also saw this scene; her eyes were wide open, and her mouth was tightly closed. Electric currents were shooting out of her robot-like eyes.
Xie Yujia looked down quietly, though grandma couldn’t help but turn around to ask Hao Zhonghua and Yue Yang, “Ren is this popular at school?”
“Mom, it’s nothing. There are always girls around when kids play basketball,” Yue Yang explained.
She was actually saying this to comfort Xie Yujia. She felt sorry for Little Carrot who was ‘abandoned’ by Hao Ren for those two girls. Yue Yang had decided to give him a thorough interrogation after the game.
Yue Yang had already considered Xie Yujia as Hao Ren’s girlfriend. She only agreed to that arranged marriage with Zhao Yanzi because she wanted to get along with the family.
The game started again after halftime. Lu Linlin and Lu Lili went up to the stands to sit beside Lu Qing. Everyone still had their eyes on their slim legs; either in admiration or jealousy.
“Ah… Those two beautiful girls are Vice-Principal Lu Qing’s granddaughters?”
Who would dare to have a thought for the Vice-Principal’s granddaughters! The guys who were determined to pursue the girls immediately gave up this idea.
Yue Yang, who was also paying attention to the sisters, saw them sitting beside Lu Qing and knew that there must have been a special relationship between them. After some consideration, she realized that they were the Lu Qing’s granddaughters. She originally planned to keep a low profile and go back after the game; however, she decided to talk with Lu Qing afterward. Yue Yang could tell that Little Carrot liked Hao Ren, and she didn’t want her to be wronged.
On the other side of the stands, Zhao Hongyu decided to have a talk with Lu Qing after the game as well as she looked at the pretty sisters chatting happily. Although the sisters were paying a debt of gratitude, it made Zi look really bad as they acted so close to Hao Ren in public. It was too much even though they were trying to get on East Ocean’s good side.
Just when they were both thinking about this, Chen Dali got knocked over again by Hao Ren while he was trying to defend him.
This time, even the players on his team showed disdain at Chen Dali’s act. “What a Captain! He keeps making these fake moves to the extent that it has got boring. Does he want everyone to think that the reason he is losing this game is that he is not as strong as the short Power Forward?”
However, when the other players on Jinghua University’s Basketball Team ran into Hao Ren while he was defending or dribbling, they would always knock Hao Ren back a few steps. This had made Chen Dali very embarrassed, yet he couldn’t explain it. Therefore, he had to give up on defending Hao Ren.
The Captain’s panicked movements had brought down Jinghua University’s spirit to another degree.
Hao Ren got all the rebounds in the game while Zhao Jiayi kept on getting the ball as the Point Guard. Zhao Jiayi had slowly become the most active player on the court.
He could always appear at the most needed places and score through the gaps. This had made him the second scorer after the Small Forward.
The difference in score got bigger and bigger. This game was easier for East Ocean University yet more difficult for Jinghua University.
Zhao Jiayi had completely stolen the show with Hao Ren’s assistant and his excellent skills. Some of the girls were starting to look at him with admiration.
Since the winning token was already safely in their pockets, Zhao Jiayi stopped playing conservatively.
At this moment, the competition was more like an exhibition match due to the significant difference in scores.
Pa! Zhao Jiayi threw the ball to Hao Ren who was standing outside the restricted area.
Hao Ren was used to dashing inside for the rebounds, so he was a little confused when taking charge of the ball.
From over the shoulders of two Jinghua University players who were running madly towards him, Hao Ren saw that Zhao Yanzi was looking at him full of expectation.
Jump shot!
Hao Ren threw the ball out without further hesitation.
He hopped up as the ball drew a long curvature in the air. The air filled up his baggy jersey as he slowly landed on the ground; his firm legs were exposed as the shorts got blown up a little by the air as well.
Boom! It was an accurate and straight score!
Three-pointer!
Woah! The stadium was filled with cheering once again.
Not only Zhao Yanzi on the east stands but also Xie Yujia on the west stands were astonished.
Hao Ren’s jump shot posture was awesomely handsome!
Pa! Pa! Pa!
To pay Hao Ren back, Zhao Jiayi, who was already the center of the game, kept feeding Hao Ren the basketball in different ways, and Hao Ren kept scoring after seeing Grandma’s smiley face, Xie Yujia’s nervously clenched fists, Zhao Yanzi’s brightened eyes, and Lu Qing’s kind smile.
Bang… bang… bang… bang…
The ball kept sliding into the basket from Hao Ren’s hands.
He made four three-pointers in a roll and got the team 12 points!
Compared to how arrogant Chen Dali was at the beginning of the game, he now looked as if he was about to have a breakdown.
“How many freaks are there hiding in East Ocean University’s Basketball Team?!” he thought.
Ring…
The game came to an end, and East Ocean University took a lead of 25 points at 86:61!
The entire Jinghua University team was crushed in spirit as they returned to the courtside with their heads down.
Their coach glimpsed at the score, broken-hearted.
This would be the kind of scores between a first-class team and a second-class team…
He looked back at his team and saw how they had gone from extremely confident before the game to completely devast
ated now. The coach knew that this game had completely erased the outcome of that specialized training. At the same time, it would probably take over half a year for the elite team of Jinghua University to recover from this game.
“Chen Dali, Jinghua and East Ocean University, who won?” Xie Wanjun suddenly shouted at Chen Dali with a smile on his face.
Xie Wanjun was no ordinary person. As the Captain of East Ocean University’s Basketball Team, he did not forget about Chen Dali’s sneers from before the game!
“This time… You won.” Chen Dali gritted his teeth.
Xie Wanjun laughed out loud.
Xie Wanjun noticed that they were packing up their belongings depressingly and had quietly gone back to the fitting room. He knew that in the next few years, Jinghua University would never be able to defeat East Ocean University again!
This game was like a dagger, stabbing into their hearts.
136 Let’s Have a Talk
East Ocean University and Jinghua University had been competitors on the basketball court for years. Now that Jinghua University was here to pick a fight, East Ocean University was able to win with a large lead, out of everyone’s expectation. The Basketball Team just lost a few of the main forces, yet they were able to guard their host game. The entire stadium became the heaven of celebrations.
Xie Wanjun sighed deeply as all his pressure immediately disappeared. It was his decision to kick Bai Zhixiong and the guys out of this game, so there was a lot of pressure on him to win this game against Jinghua University.
And now, Zhao Jiayi’s rapid improvement made him stand out, and Hao Ren’s hidden potential made him unbeatable at rebounds and three-pointers. All these showed that his original decision was right!
“Great work guys! Dinner is on me!” Xie Wanjun waved at the cold bench as well. “You guys are coming too! Zhixiong! Come apologize to Zhao Jiayi!”
Hearing this, the four of them on the cold bench knew that they still had a chance to play for the team; they all ran over hurriedly.
“You are the big hero today, Ren! Join our team officially!” Xie Wanjun patted his shoulder again.
