Translator: Atlas Studios
Editor: Atlas Studios
Qin Ze landed nimbly. He looked around, and his eyes landed on his agitated friends, Zhang Mingyu and his stunned teammates, and the silent audience.
He walked over to the side of the court and picked up the ball that had landed underneath a girl who was watching. He nodded towards the girl, who seemed either disdained or annoyed, and took a deep breath. “We won!” He shouted.
Old Wang’s face was all red as he shouted with all his might. “We won!”
Liu Ziqiang, “We won!”
“Ahhhhh!” Zhao Baliang yelled out forcefully, but he had not done much the whole time.
Outside the court, Li Liang and a few students from dormitory 304 cried out excitedly.
“Don’t leave after school today; I’m treating everyone to a massage!” Li Liang jumped and shouted as if the back of his head did not hurt anymore. No matter if Zhang Mingyu had been planning this, he was the reason it started. The others were avenging him, and even though he was not on the court, he had felt uneasy and nervous the whole time.
Glory to them!
There were applause and cheers, and the audience finally came to their senses—it even grew over time.
The students were excited. That was an exciting basketball match. There were plot twists and tested everyone’s mental game; it was like a roller coaster ride.
It also etched Qin Ze’s name into their minds. His stealthy interceptions, his powerful blocks, and his perfect three-pointers… he even ended it off with a slam dunk.
For such an interesting student, he was really low-profile.
The cries and cheers were the exact opposite of Zhang Mingyu and his team’s mood. Their faces were gloomy as if their pets had died.
They lost!
They lost to a bunch of novices who barely knew how to play basketball.
Nothing was embarrassing about losing the game, but the bet was the issue here.
If they have known, they would not have made the bet.
They were all regretting their decision. They wanted to go back in time, slap Zhang Mingyu, and ask him to take his words back.
“Thank you, system!” Qin Ze said quietly to himself after he received the notice of completion from the system.
“You’re welcome; you traded for it with points.”
“That’s not what I meant.” Qin Ze looked up, his emotions hard to read as he stared at the sky. “Thanks for giving me the chance to make a name for myself.”
“I’ve never imagined that I would liven up a crowd!”
Zhang Mingyu walked over to Qin Ze with a gloomy expression. “We’re all classmates. Leave a little leeway, and we’ll admit that we were wrong. We’ll apologize. Just forget about the bet, and we can be friends,” he said softly.
Qin Ze did not react.
Li Liang walked over. “Would we still need the police if apologies worked?”
“Yeah, my bro has a bump on his head, and you want to brush it over with an apology?”
The straight-hair youngster was upset. “Don’t push it. Didn’t you guys throw it at my face, too? Even if we called you grandpa, dare you accept it? Think of the consequences of offending Mingyu.”
Zhang Mingyu dismissed him. “Of course, it won’t just be an apology. Is ten thousand dollars enough?”
Li Liang scoffed. “I’m not short on money. How about I give you all ten thousand each, and you all call us grandpa ten times each.”
Li Liang was a rich second-generation heir, and his monthly allowance was thirty thousand dollars. His only interests were clubbing and hanging out with girls. His savings were quite substantial, and he would often treat Qin Ze and the others to meals.
Zhang Mingyu narrowed his eyes. “Twenty thousand.”
“Scram!”
“Thirty thousand!” He ignored Li Liang and stared at Qin Ze. “I’ll give you another twenty thousand under the table, and we’ll call it a day and take it that the bet did not happen.”
The school prince did not look happy, but he was still rather calm. Backed by his elite family background, he was calm and collected when he ran into things. Since young, he had a gang of cronies that did his bidding because of his substantial allowance. He had essentially not faced any setbacks.
There was nothing that money could not solve in the world. If there was, it was because there was not enough money.
Fifty thousand was the equivalent of a year’s savings for some office workers in the metropolitan cities.
Li Liang remained silent, his fists clenched. He did not care for the money, but his roommates came from working-class families; how could they not be moved?
“Forty thousand!” Zhang Mingyu added on with poise. He intended to use money to break down the fragile psychological barriers of these commoners.
Zhao Baliang, Liu Ziqiang, Old Liu, and Spring Chicken’s visions crossed. They were all silent. They were tempted.
Zhang Mingyu sneered. “Fifty…”
“Shut up!” Qin Ze cried out. “Call us grandpa, here and now!”
Actually, he wanted to ask him to Alipay them.
However, he did not want to give Zhang Mingyu the chance to tempt him any further.
Li Liang’s face turned red as he looked agitatedly as Qin Ze. “Call us grandpa.” He echoed.
“Call them grandpa!” Someone shouted out in the crowd.
It spread like wildfire. “Call them grandpa, call them grandpa.”
The cries reverberated in the air.
The tens of thousands had nothing to do with them. They just enjoyed the drama. They just wanted to support them.
The cries loomed in the air.
Zhang Mingyu’s dashing face turned red. He looked at Qin Ze before he turned and left.
The rest of the basketball team left angrily as well.
Don’t go; we’re not done yet!
Qin Ze wanted to stop them, but he sighed to himself. It was not outside of expectation for Zhang Mingyu to break the bet. This was a time when people did what they wanted, and keeping bets were highly optional.
However, did Zhang Mingyu not lose anything? That was not true. If he kept the promise, he would become the butt of the joke; but some would applaud him for sticking with the promise.
It was a mixed review.
However, if he refused, he would still be a joke; and no one would admire him. It was nothing but a joke.
For Zhang Mingyu, it was a loss since he did not care for the tens of thousands of dollars.
For Qin Ze and the others, they lost tens of thousands of dollars.
“Qin Ze, I’m your man in the future.” Li Liang cried out as he leaped towards Qin Ze.
Qin Ze moved away as he kicked his friend on the butt. He shouted at Liu Ziqiang. “Second Battalion Commander, where are your Italian cannons? Attack.”
Li Liang did not care for the money. What he wanted was vengeance, and that was done well. Qin Ze’s decision cost them a fortune, but it solidified their friendship.
Between money and friendship, Qin Ze chose the latter.
Li Liang would not cut him off if he chose money, but the former would be unhappy. There was a chance that they would fall out after a few years.
Some things could not be bought with money, not with tens of thousands of dollars. His friendship with his roommates was one example.
For a regular friendship, Qin Ze would probably cave for a few thousand dollars, not to mention tens of thousands.
“My treat tonight.” Li Liang announced with a laugh as he rubbed his butt.
Liu Ziqiang and the others were a little disappointed, but they were happy.
However, they put it behind them since it was a windfall.
The school forum…
“OP, where’s the video? We want to watch the video!”
“Hurry and upload it! I can’t wait!”
“I’m waiting for Qin Ze and the others to call them grandpa. Haha, the city folk are full of antics. Country folks like me are just here for the drama.”
“Qin Ze might not necessarily lose.”
“Don’t kid around, he definitely lost. Else, I’ll castrate myself on live stream.”
The replies never stopped. There were three to four replies a minute.
At this moment, the original poster appeared. “Err… I think you might wanna be more careful when you speak. The match has ended, and I’m announcing the result: Qin Ze has won!”
The post exploded after about five minutes.
“What?”
“That can’t be.”
“OP, don’t mess with us.”
“OP, you’re killing us; that can’t be true. I’m naive; don’t lie to me.”
The original poster sent a stunned emoji. “It’s true. The match is over, and Qin Ze won. Zhang Mingyu went back on the back and took off. It’s true. I didn’t take a video because I was busy talking to you all. But others did! Someone will probably post the video later, just you wait.”
Half an hour later, someone posted in the school forum. “Qin Ze shows Zhang Mingyu up again; Zhang Mingyu takes off after, going back on his promise.”
Attached was a twenty-three-minute video.
The original poster pinned it at the top!
Within ten minutes, the video had been viewed more than ten thousand times, and there were at least thousands of replies.
As the school forum exploded, Qin Ze changed into a fresh set of clothes outside his room and hurried into the office. He was ten minutes late.
“Where did you go?” Professor Lee asked, dismayed.
“I’m sorry I’m late; I was playing basketball with my classmates,” Qin Ze apologized.
Professor Lee’s face was gloomy, but he did not say much and asked Qin Ze to return to his seat. Yang Chen, who had been hoping for the professor to lose his temper, was disappointed.
At five, before Professor Lee dismissed everyone. He clapped his hands to catch everyone’s attention.
“Before you all leave, I have one thing to announce…” Professor Lee paused as he looked at Qin Ze. “Qin Ze, you’ll be in charge of this group; Yang Chen will support you. Is that okay?”
Qin Ze was stunned. He was about to speak when Yang Chen cut in, standing up anxiously. “Professor Lee, Qin Ze’s new and unfamiliar with things. How can he be in charge?”
“I think he’s doing well.” His dad did it; how can it not be good?
“Yesterday’s work was not tough, other than the amount of information. It’s not a surprise that he did well. Letting him take charge of my group’s risk assessment the moment he gets here might be a problem. Given his standards and his knowledge, he might hold back our progress,” Yang Chen said loudly.
Qin Ze stood up and replied loudly, “Don’t worry, Professor Lee, I’ll work hard.”
Professor Lee nodded, ignoring Yang Chen. “I’ll assign the mission for today then. Other than the risk assessment model that you have all been building, there are also the profits margins of the foundation and the finishing touches on the combinatorial analysis which is the investors’ interests. Try your best to come with an easy-to-understand infographic for the information. Go look up more information, and check in with the relevant people.”
He emphasized ‘relevant people’.
“I understand,” Qin Ze replied.
With that, he took a look at Yang Chen who looked like he wanted to eat Qin Ze alive.
Qin Ze understood his anger. The new guy of two days actually displaced him and became the leader, and that was linked directly to their final cut—their profits.
Qin Ze gave him a triumphant look.
We shall see who triumphs. I have the system to help me with this.