The Tenth High School held an annual basketball tournament—not exactly a formal competition, but mainly a way for students to balance work and play. However, as modern exemplary students, they could show ten times the enthusiasm for anything unrelated to studying.
So, when Hu Hanghang rallied in the class chat, asking who wanted to participate in this year's basketball tournament, the boys became instantly eager.
Li Xiang: "Me me me me me! I've wanted to play in a tournament for ages!"
Fang Chengcheng: "Count me in. As long as it's not studying, I'll do anything—even as a sub!"
Chen Sirun: "What's so fun about studying? All I want to do is play ball."
Xu Yichuan: "I suspect you're making a double entendre, and I have the evidence."
Lin Tiao, quietly watching the group chat: "..."
Boys' love for basketball was like girls' obsession with handbags and makeup, so after just one night of discussion, Hu Hanghang had already organized the roster for this tournament and posted it in the group chat, even adding everyone's position.
Hu Hanghang: "Song Yuan as shooting guard, Chen Sirun as center, Xu Yichuan as point guard, Liu Sheng as power forward. Li Xiang, Fang Chengcheng, Hu Hanghang, Wu Wang, and Yu Yifan are the substitutes."
Hu Hanghang: "Any objections to this lineup?"
Lin Tiao glanced at the list and didn't see Jiang Yan's name. Plus, it seemed like they were still missing one position, and the group chat was already buzzing with chatter.
Li Xiang: "Pangpang, have you been out of the game so long you forgot the number of starting players and positions?"
Hu Hanghang: "Shut up! I'm just trying to avoid scaring you all by revealing who the small forward is."
Wu Wang: "Big words there! I'm curious who this 'big star' is."
Chen Sirun: "Is it the school tyrant?"
Everyone: "..."
Liu Sheng: "Are you nuts? There's no way the boss would play in such a small tournament."
Wu Wang: "Sirun, wake up. I've been classmates with the boss for years, and aside from exams, I've never seen him participate in any group activities."
Chen Sirun: "So, who's our small forward?"
Amused, Lin Tiao scrolled through the chat, took a few screenshots, and prepared to send them to Jiang Yan. Then, a familiar name popped up in the chat, followed by the default fish emoji that the system used.
Jiang Yan: "I'll play."
The previously lively chat went dead silent, and then exploded with emojis and reaction gifs, reaching 99+ new messages in just a few seconds.
Wu Wang: "My mom's calling me for dinner. I'm out."
Li Xiang: "I've been going to bed early these days. Goodnight."
Liu Sheng: "Uh, my phone's low on battery. It's about to shut down."
Fang Chengcheng: "Did I just see something unbelievable?"
The next second, a message popped up in the group: "Fang Chengcheng has been removed by the admin."
Everyone: "..."
Watching their hilarious reactions, Lin Tiao couldn't help but laugh, then exited the chat to send Jiang Yan a message.
Lin Tiao: "Classmate Jiang, you might as well give up on trying to clear your name. Redemption isn't likely in this lifetime. In their eyes, you're already the cold, ruthless school tyrant."
Jiang Yan: "..."
Although Jiang Yan had replied in the group, many of the boys in Class 18 still clung to a sliver of hope, thinking maybe he wasn't actually joining the tournament—that he might have just been joking.
But that hope was soon dashed.
During lunch break in the new week, Hu Hanghang gathered the confirmed players, holding a basketball. "Alright, guys, let's go warm up on the court. The game is next month."
A few boys stood up, but as they glanced at the "school tyrant" sitting still at his desk, they breathed a sigh of relief.
Thank goodness, they thought. He was probably just joking—there's no way he would actually join a little tournament like this. It was simply impossible.
The boys, confident and pumped, left the classroom.
After Lin Tiao finished a problem, she noticed Jiang Yan still sitting there with his phone, unmoving. She leaned over and asked, "Why aren’t you going with them to the court?"
"I'll go in a bit," Jiang Yan replied. "Let them savor what it's like when I'm not there."
"...”
—
After Lin Tiao finished half of her worksheet, Jiang Yan finally moved to get up. She turned her head and saw him grabbing his backpack, surprised. "Aren't you going to the court? Are you ditching class?"
"I'm going to change," Jiang Yan said, reaching over and giving her head a light rub. "Why are you acting all silly?"
Lin Tiao pushed his hand away and glanced around. It was lunch break, and everyone was busy with their own things—some were napping, others were on their phones. No one was paying attention to them. She let out a sigh of relief and looked up at him. "Do you want me to go with you?"
Jiang Yan raised an eyebrow, a teasing tone in his voice. "I’m not exactly at the point where I need a caretaker."
Lin Tiao waved her hand expressionlessly. "Just get lost already."
Jiang Yan chuckled softly, pinching her warm earlobe with his thumb and finger. "Rest up here. We have physics class this afternoon."
"..."
Oh, for crying out loud.
Lin Tiao felt her intelligence had just been insulted. Without looking at him, she deadpanned, "Get going. This is where our relationship ends."
Amused by her serious yet adorable expression, Jiang Yan couldn’t resist poking her cheek. "Alright, I'm off."
Lin Tiao couldn't be bothered to pay him any more attention.
Unfazed, Jiang Yan left the classroom shortly after. Not long after he left, Lin Tiao got a message from Meng Xin and headed downstairs to meet her.
When Jiang Yan arrived at the basketball court, Hu Hanghang and the others had just finished a short scrimmage. They were sitting on the rubber court, chatting, with a few water bottles scattered around them.
"Pangpang, do you think the school tyrant will actually show up?" Liu Sheng still remembered the incident at the Ninth High School when Jiang Yan first enrolled. "I’m terrified he’ll see how bad we are and just slam-dunk us right into the hoop."
"Same here," Li Xiang raised a hand. "If Pangpang hadn't posted the lineup in the group last night, I’d have seriously considered dropping out."
Chen Sirun sighed. "What’s so great about basketball anyway? Studying is way better."
Hu Hanghang, Song Yuan, and Xu Yichuan: "..."
They, too, were puzzled as to what horrendous crime Jiang Yan had committed to make these guys so terrified of him.
After chatting for a bit, Chen Sirun felt thirsty. He reached for a water bottle beside him and took a big gulp. From where he was sitting, he had a direct view of the court’s entrance.
Just then, a familiar figure walked in.
"Cough—splutter!"
The water he had just chugged went half down his throat, while the other half sprayed onto everyone around him.
Sitting across from him and taking the brunt of the spray, Li Xiang jumped up and wiped his face. "What the heck, Sirun! What are you doing? Your name’s Sirun, not ‘Moisturize!’"
As he wiped his face and stepped back, he suddenly bumped into someone’s shoulder. "Oops, sorry, man."
He turned around and found himself face-to-face with Jiang Yan's cool, indifferent gaze. "..."
The group that had been chatting and laughing instantly felt as though they were choking on fate itself, rendered completely speechless. One by one, they fell into line, standing to the side more obediently than if they’d been caught by the principal.
"..."
Jiang Yan seemed used to it; he walked over to the side, placed his backpack on the bench, took off his school jacket, and revealed the red jersey underneath.
He looked over at the group of guys standing to the side and turned his head to ask Hu Hanghang, “How’s your practice been going?”
“Not bad. Want to run a scrimmage with us?” Hu Hanghang glanced at the numbers. “We’ve got all five of us subs here.”
“Alright,” Jiang Yan nodded.
Of the starting lineup Hu Hanghang had set yesterday, there were two guys who didn’t usually interact with Jiang Yan much, and the moment they heard they’d be scrimmaging, they started trembling.
But with the match set up, they had no choice but to play.
The five-on-five game started quickly. Right before they went on, Jiang Yan switched positions with Xu Yichuan, moving from small forward to point guard.
The point guard often plays a leading role on the court, with many teams relying on the point guard to set the offensive rhythm.
But Jiang Yan still leaned more toward scoring, especially when he teamed up with Song Yuan—one played shooting guard, the other forward, and their coordination was seamless.
This time, though, he wanted to observe his teammates more closely. This game wasn’t just a competition between two classes; there were personal rivalries mixed in.
He couldn’t lose—losing wasn’t an option.
It was lunchtime, so the court was lively. Many girls were watching with their boyfriends, but soon enough, everyone’s eyes were drawn to Jiang Yan in his red jersey. Before long, a crowd had formed around their part of the court.
Jiang Yan focused mostly on observing, so he scored sparingly. But his passes and dribbling angles were sharp, which drew rounds of applause from onlookers.
The guys in Class 18 were all pretty good players. The ones Hu Hanghang picked were tall, and while they couldn’t match Jiang Yan’s cool elegance, they were still pretty appealing. Besides, for some reason, girls just have a thing for guys playing basketball.
By halftime, some girls even gathered the courage to bring them water.
Though it was just a warm-up game, the girls made it feel like an NBA match.
Lin Tiao was on her way back from the school store with Meng Xin when they passed by the court. Despite the distance, they could hear the cheering inside.
Meng Xin, a lover of crowds, quickly finished her ice cream, tossed the wrapper into the nearby bin, and dragged Lin Tiao toward the court. “Come on, let’s check it out!”
Lin Tiao let herself be pulled through the crowd. She spotted a familiar figure sprinting across the court and glanced at the swarm of girls around them. “...”
Meng Xin scanned the court and nudged her. “Hey, isn’t that your school tyrant?”
Just as she finished speaking, the “observation-only” school tyrant executed a flashy dunk, ending the scrimmage with style.
The surrounding screams erupted like a tidal wave.
Lin Tiao noticed some girls approaching to offer water, and a few even surrounded Jiang Yan, excitedly chatting away.
"..."
Damn it.
Lin Tiao couldn’t take it anymore. She released Meng Xin’s arm, cut through the crowd, and just in time, heard a girl’s sweet voice close by. “Jiang, you played amazingly just now! I’ve always been interested in basketball too, though I’m not very good.”
Jiang Yan was busy jotting down some observations he’d noted and wasn’t paying much attention to her words.
Thinking he was being shy, the girl pressed on. “Maybe we could exchange numbers, and you could give me some pointers sometime?”
Teach, my foot, Lin Tiao thought to herself, striding up and grabbing Jiang Yan’s arm. She raised her brows at the girl standing in front of them, exuding the air of a queen.
“He’s not teaching.”
Comments