Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
“We’ll all have the chance to play next week. We must not lose to girls now…” A large 1.73-meter-tall center forward patted the shoulders of his two teammates. “I’ll slug it out with the tank inside. You guys play to the best of your abilities. Try to slip past Lin Yujing and duel against the ordinary girl one-on-one.”
“Brother Shuo, will you be able to resist the tank… alone…?” The scrawny point guard looked toward the menacing Qiao Bixia anxiously.
“I’ll have to try even if I can’t!” The center forward, Brother Shuo, smiled determinedly. “Many people are watching. I don’t mind sacrificing myself. The most important thing is that we win.”
Another boy with a medium build pushed up his small glasses. “We have to maintain our composure. We should only fight with our bodies if we can’t outmaneuver them.”
“You guys can do as you see fit. I can’t guarantee anything else…” Brother Shuo wiped the tip of his nose. He had a determined look. “But you can count on me for the rebounds.”
“That’s the spirit. You live up to your reputation as the Akagi Takenori of class 2-7.”
“This is going to be an interesting game.”
The match started. Small Glasses passed the ball over to the scrawny point guard and organized an attack.
At the same time, Brother Shuo started to slug it out with the tank in the free-throw lane.
The two of them leaned into each other manically. They wanted to squash their opponent with their spirit from the moment the match started.
They had an explosive start. No one could differentiate their genders.
The scrawny point guard clenched his teeth as he looked at Brother Shuo’s pained expression and passed the ball back to Small Glasses.
Lin Yujing immediately stepped forward to guard him.
Small Glasses lifted the corner of his lips and made feinted to the right. He then turned his body to the left and dribbled the ball in an attempt to break past Lin Yujing.
Bam.
The ball got stolen.
“I got interrupted the first time I dribbled the ball?” he thought.
He stood still in a daze in the same position. He did not know when Lin Yujing had taken action.
The stolen ball coincidentally rolled toward the ordinary girl’s feet.
She picked it up and tossed it toward Lin Yujing without thinking.
Lin Yujing received the ball and aimed toward the hoop. She jumped weightlessly after making minor adjustments in her stance and shot the ball with both hands.
Twang.
The ball hit the rim and was deflected high up into the air.
Suddenly, the roar of a tiger rang out.
“It’s mine!” Qiao Bixia suddenly straightened her body and jumped in front of Brother Shuo.
Brother Shuo also forcefully leaped into the air.
However, Qiao Bixia’s reach was visibly half an arm longer than Brother Shuo’s.
She cupped the basketball with her right hand and fiercely pushed it into her left hand.
Bam!
She grabbed the ball with both hands.
Thump!
She landed on the ground.
“Again!” she roared, passing the ball back to Lin Yujing. “Shoot again!”
Lin Yujing collected herself and adjusted her posture once more. She raised her hands and prepared to shoot.
However, Small Glasses leaped toward her.
“Impossible, I won’t give you another chance,” he thought.
But he saw Lin Yujing pull her body back.
“A feint?” he thought.
Small Glasses saw Lin Yujing fake a shot. Lin Yujing then dribbled the ball two steps away from him before jumping once again.
She made the shot as Small Glasses landed on his feet.
Her movements unfolded smoothly. The ball traveled in an elegant arc.
Whoosh.
The ball fell through the hoop.
The spectators immediately erupted with surprised exclamations.
No one would have cared if it was a boy who had made these feints and shots.
However, Lin Yujing had made the shot in a fluid motion. Furthermore, her posture was elegant and pleasing to the eyes. The spectators exclaimed involuntarily.
Some of the girls who had heard the news and rushed over squealed.
“How could she be this good at playing basketball…”
“I thought that girls would always be unsightly when playing basketball… I was wrong…”
“Hmph, you only realized now? None of the boys dare to chase after her, but look, many girls are…”
On the court, the determined three-man team from Class 2-7 was dumbfounded.
“That’s the way to play.” Qiao Bixia brought her fist to her palm. “You can shoot freely with me around.”
“Yes.” Lin Yujing hopped lightly in her original position. It seemed as though she was still warming up.
The team of boys threw the ball in once again.
This time, the scrawny point guard dueled the ordinary girl. He effortlessly slipped past her with his speed alone and made a shot.
“Ahhh!” Even though Qiao Bixia was far away from the scrawny point guard and had no way to get into position, she let out a loud roar and pounced forward anyway.
She defended against the shot with a soundwave with the spirit of a fierce tiger.
The scrawny boy felt his arms turn limp from shock. The basketball slipped out of his hands as he made a shaky shot. It looked like it was going to be an airball.
Fortunately, Qiao Bixia was out of position. Brother Shuo easily found a good position and waited for the ball.
He was about to receive it when a skinny arm appeared from out of nowhere. The arm flicked gently upward and flung the ball up into the air once again.
Brother Shuo, flustered, rushed forward to catch the ball.
However, the tank had already returned to her position.
“Here!” Qiao Bixia extended her arms and hit the ball outward as if she was spiking a volleyball.
The ordinary girl picked it up once again and did not dare to halt her momentum. She passed it to Lin Yujing.
Lin Yujing chose to dribble the ball and break past the other team this time. However, Small Glasses had learned from their previous encounter. He was hot on her heels and was willing to get physical.
In the end, Lin Yujing chose to jump forcefully and make a layup. It felt incredibly forced.
“The backboard!” Small Glasses jumped to block the trajectory of Lin Yujing’s shot.
He was confident that he could block this ball.
Brother Shuo had jockeyed for a position and was prepared to catch the rebound.
However, while in the air, Lin Yujing’s arm that was about to shoot the ball upward suddenly fell as she passed the ball gently toward the unguarded Qiao Bixia.
Qiao Bixia seemed to move on instinct. She received the ball and jumped, scoring from the free-throw line.
“Nice!” Qiao Bixia waved her arm as she said, “This team is too weak. Let’s pass some balls to Mengxi.”
“Sure.” Lin Yujing gently wiped off her sweat. She hopped toward her original position and raised her hand as a signal to the ordinary girl.
“Ah… Can I do it…” The ordinary girl was a little nervous.
The team of boys tossed in the ball once again.
Brother Shuo was anxious. He dribbled the ball and leaned backward after catching it.
He ran straight into the tank!
He could not worry about his reputation as a man now. He leaned forcefully against Qiao Bixia with his lower back and dribbled the ball as he squeezed toward the area under the hoop.
However, he could not advance even after squeezing his way all around the free-throw lane.
Just as Brother Shuo hesitated to jump forcefully or pass the ball…
Thump.
Lin Yujing’s skinny arm reached over from out of nowhere and stole the ball.
The ordinary girl once again scooped up the ball as if it was attracted to her.
She nervously passed to Lin Yujing when she saw the scrawny point guard spiritedly approach her.
Lin Yujing was not anxious to attack this time. She dribbled the ball and moved side to side, forward and backward.
She changed directions and turned her body in one fluid motion. It seemed like she was flaunting her skills.
She quickly attracted the attention of the two players outside the three-point line. Small Glasses and the scrawny point guard automatically pincered her from both sides.
The unguarded ordinary girl ran to a position that she was relatively more familiar with. She was not confident. She did not know whether to raise her hand to ask for the ball or not.
However, Lin Yujing had already passed the ball toward her.
It was neither fast nor slow. The speed was ideal.
The ordinary girl caught the ball, aimed at the hoop, and then threw the ball out with both hands.
Whoosh.
Even though her form was not graceful, the ball still went through the hoop.
“Nice!” Qiao Bixia knocked Brother Shuo aside and fetched the ball that had already fallen through the hoop. She threw it toward the scrawny point guard with force. “Hurry up, I can’t wait to rough Oil Barrel up.”
A few minutes later, the girl team emerged victorious with a score of 5 to 1.
The determined three-man team from class 2-7 hung their heads low. They grabbed their bags and left without saying a word.
“Brother Shuo… Basketball is not fun at all.”
“Yeah… Forget it. Main team or not, let whoever wants to play go.”
“Let’s go study.”
“Alright.”
That team of boys had once been so determined.
Now they quit playing.
However, no one paid any attention to them.
The people watching the match were all fascinated by Lin Yujing’s style of basketball.
She was weightless and agile. She was not weaker than the best point guard on the boy’s basketball team.
More importantly, she did not play selfishly despite how strong she was. She was always actively creating chances for her teammates.
She was also very active in her defense.
Furthermore, she did not come into any physical contact with the boys throughout the match. She stole the ball and broke past her opponents cleanly.
No one had seen such a refreshing style of basketball both in or outside of school.
Outside the court, Jiang Qinghua’s expression gradually turned serious after witnessing the match.