Chapter 4 (2/2)

“You’re the square root of two!”

“Don’t gun at each other anymore.” Zhang Yuan waved, separating the both of them. “No matter how tall you are, you can’t touch the net even if you jump. And all of you barely have any scoring rate to speak of.”

“Don’t give us anymore psychological blows.” He Luo sighed. “Before the one accepting the ball can stand straight, the other five opponents have already swarmed the player.”

“Why must you stop? You can take another three steps,” Zhang Yuan said.

“Might as well just buy a lottery ticket, the possibility of winning is bigger.”

*

During the game, He Luo was responsible for dribbling the ball across the court. According the boys’ a.n.a.lysis and strategy, she kept her hand steady and did not allow the opponents the opportunity to steal it from her. Once the opposing team’s genius got the ball, the five of them would swarm her.

“Don’t worry about the rest,” Zhang Yuan said. “Let them steal. The boys will stand behind the net and play interference. Even though it’s not very fair, it’s better than you girls losing and then crying.”

“Homme fatale.” With a flirtatious look and smile, someone lifted Zhang Yuan’s chin.

“Kao! Is your head filled with water?” He pushed him aside. “Isn’t it just shouting one or twice?”

In the first half, the game ended 5:4 with cla.s.s 6 leading by one point.

“This is probably thanks to my hard work.” Tian Xin’s nose was stuffed with paper towels. She giggled. When they reached a tie in the game earlier, the opponent somehow tossed the ball into her face during a pa.s.s. Her nose immediately bleed.

“Yaaaaa!” Tian Xin once sung opera so her voice was loud and clear. “They purposely injured me!” She did it a sing-song manner, almost like she was singing a folk song.

“In the old days, when the whip reached my body, my mother will only shed her tears…” Zhao Cheng Jie exhausted his throat singing remorsefully on the sidelines. Sing This Folk Song For The Party was the representative song Tian Xin would sing at every cla.s.s meeting.

The referee was a third year student and was so annoyed by all the noise that he made an impatient wave. “Fine, fine. Cla.s.s 1 made a foul, cla.s.s 6 gets a free throw.”

Tian Xin avenged herself and scored the free throw. The students applauded. “Good, punish the enemy!”

Both sides were still in a deadlock after ten minutes of the second half pa.s.sed. The end of May saw Chinese white poplar tree leaves fluttered all over, even the girls’ footsteps have become light and powerless. He Luo wiped the sweat on her forehead. Her four sisters have already surrounded the opponents. The opposing team’s genius was still the most experienced in the bunch and calmly dribbled the ball, forcing He Luo to trail behind her, dragging her opponent running from one side to another. She was rather pleased with herself…

“You could try steal her ball from behind.” He Luo remembered Zhang Yuan’s advice. “She’s on a completely different level, so she’ll definitely underestimate you. But you can only use this method once because she’ll definitely be on her guard later.”

The timing was now! The girl took a step to the right, the basketball pa.s.sing from her left hand, about to make her shot. In a flash, He Luo slapped the ball with strength.

She touched the ball! In the next moment, the basketball was already in her hands. Don’t run with the ball in hand, control the rhythm, dribble the ball in front of the right foot… Zhang Yuan’s advice, one by one, entered her mind. He Luo had never been this quick at dribbling before, ditching all her opponents behind her. She broke into the third quarter, the sound of wind pa.s.sing by her ear mixed in with Tian Xin’s clear voice.

What was it, she could no longer tell. She only saw Zhang Yuan’s figure moving behind the net. A dark-blue striped s.h.i.+rt, black pair of jeans, black Nike basketball shoes.

Her courage amplified. Holding the ball with both hands, she took one step, and then another, and gently jumped, sending the ball into the net with ease.

The ball was in! Yes! He Luo’s entire face was lit from her smile. She shook the victory sign at Zhang Yuan.

Why was there no applause?

“Really, how embarra.s.sing,” he said, turning around. He shook his head as he sighed.

Eh. Wasn’t he standing behind the opponent’s net, acting as the homme fatale? A stunned He Luo immediately realised.

In the half-time, both teams have already switched courts.

“Did we win or lose?” When they entered the cla.s.sroom, lazy cla.s.smates who didn’t watch the game asked.

“Look yourself.” He Luo didn’t have the patience to answer.

Zhang Yuan said, “Don’t ask.”

It was too embarra.s.sing. He Luo slumped over her desk, hiding her head in her arms. The audience were laughing non-stop earlier. “The girl from cla.s.s 6 is too funny, she actually scored in her own net!”

“What was funnier was there were cla.s.s 1 players trying to stop her.”

Their referee-senior patted Zhang Yuan’s back and said, “After a month, let s.h.i.+mei [female junior] put on a performance game. We can laugh all the way to the college entrance examination.”

“He Luo, don’t be like this.” Bai Lian sat next to her, gently comforting her. “It’s just losing. We’re not as good as our opponents, it’s not your fault.”

“Wasn’t I very embarra.s.sing?” She hid her head even more.

“No. You’re very humorous.” It was Zhang Yuan’s voice.

She felt a sudden coolness on her neck, causing her to gasp and immediately sit straight. She met his seemingly-laughing eyes. He was holding up a red bean ice cream. The plastic wrap was still coated with ice.

“You manage to score a three pointer in this compet.i.tion is already very good. You and her are the only ones.” Zhang Yuan raised his eyebrows and put on an exaggerated Northeast accent. “Really, girl, it was so funny!”

He Luo burst into laughter. Her heart felt very warm.

*

As promised, Zhang Yuan helped her revise physics. “Your practice book is so new, no wonder you failed.”

“Yours is also very new.” He Luo glanced at him.

“I already know how to do it, why should I waste my time? It’s like me sleeping during cla.s.s, but I already know how to write the infinity symbol.” Zhang Yuan remembered how she was embarra.s.sed that winter.

“You’re making fun of me again!” He Luo s.n.a.t.c.hed his practice book from him. “I’ll randomly choose a question and see if you can get it right.”

“Hey, it’s me tutoring you. Why did it turn into you testing me?”

“Aiya, it’s bleeding.” He Luo’s index finger stung from a paper cut.

“Idiot! Luckily you’re not s.n.a.t.c.hing a knife, if not you’ll become the female version of Yang Guo [from Jin Yong’s Return of the Condor Heroes].” Zhang Yuan took out a bandage from his pencil case.

“Why do you seem to have everything, is this Doreamon’s pocket?”

“Isn’t it because of all of you!” Zhang Yuan helped He Luo put on the bandage, rolling his own sleeves out of the way. “Whose claws are so long, it’s fortunate that they didn’t tear my flesh away with it.”

“Ah, I never heard you talk about it. Did it bleed?” She showed him her short finger nails. Not a murder weapon.

“Don’t leave the nails long if you’re playing basketball. It’ll split and hurt a lot.”

“Oh. I’ll apologise on their behalf. I’ll treat you to some tonics.”

“That’s only right. What do I get?”

“You eat what you lack in.” He Luo smirked. “Pork skin then! Layers and layers of them.”

“Then your fingers, won’t you have to eat pig’s feet?”

The small OK gesture she made seemed to cause blood flow around her compressed wound, straight to her heart. He Luo’s thumb supported her chin, her lips coincidentally touching the bandage. She could smell the faint medicine scent. It was the kind of kindness that was close to her.

In a flash, she felt refreshed a thousand times over. He Luo also rolled up her sleeves and opened up the practice book. “Since you dare to give me a paper cut, I’ll fight you to the death!”

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