Chapter 102: Brother Qiu, Zhang Yifei Scored Five Baskets in Twenty Minutes

Knowledge and ambition should soar in youth; once, one pledged to be among the finest in the world.

...

Monday, October 14.

The Monday flag-raising ceremony was one of the most indispensable parts of school life.

Even Bai Qingxia, who had been granted the privilege by her homeroom teacher, Liu Wei, of skipping the big break exercises, still had to go to the playground on Mondays for the flag-raising ceremony.

But Bai Qingxia disliked standing in a dense crowd.

Or rather, she disliked the feeling of being surrounded on all sides by people, especially from behind.

As the music began, Zhang Bowen, the class sports committee member in a blue-and-white school uniform, picked up the class placard and lazily shouted at the classroom door, “Downstairs!”

Zheng Yifeng was still snoring.

Chen Fei, as always, pushed at his shoulder. “Zheng Yifeng, get up! Honestly, I’m done with you. You sleep all day!”

Lu Yuanqiu also shook off his drowsiness, rose from his seat, and Bai Qingxia, seeing the boy beside her stand up, followed after him, trailing close behind like a little attendant.

Even on the short walk to the playground, the little cliques within the class were divided with striking clarity.

After all, walking alone felt awkward; at times like this, even people who were not very familiar with one another would try to walk side by side, creating the illusion that they were not alone.

Once downstairs, Lu Yuanqiu, still half-asleep, walked a few steps and then stopped.

When he turned back, a girl with her head lowered suddenly bumped into his chest.

Bai Qingxia stepped back, looked up at Lu Yuanqiu with reddening ears, and kept both small hands clenched in front of her.

“So you were following me all along. I was just turning around to see where you’d gone.”

Lu Yuanqiu rubbed his eyes as he spoke.

Seeing the girl’s restrained manner, he smiled and pushed at Bai Qingxia’s back, sending her to walk in front of him.

“Pushcart style!”

Lu Yuanqiu barked softly, bending forward behind her as he shoved her along.

This girl only became more talkative and natural when they were alone together in private.

Once they were in public, she became painfully restrained.

He did not know when he would be able to help her grow confident; on that road, Lu Yuanqiu felt the task ahead was long and arduous.

“Lu Yuanqiu, what are you doing...”

Being pushed along by the boy, Bai Qingxia was both anxious and embarrassed.

Lu Yuanqiu pushed her for a few seconds, then stopped and said, “If you hide behind me again next time, I’ll use my finishing move—pushcart style. Scared yet?”

The girl faced him with her head lowered, both hands still clenched before her.

Lu Yuanqiu wore a serious expression. “Soldier Bai Qingxia, I want to hear your answer!”

Seeing that his voice had drawn the attention of others, Bai Qingxia anxiously swayed her legs and said, “...I know. Let’s go.”

She still did not say whether she was scared, but from the expression on her little face, she probably was.

Lu Yuanqiu was satisfied and flicked the pink hair clip on her head. “Move!”

On the playground, the boys and girls stood in separate lines.

Lu Yuanqiu and Bai Qingxia were both relatively tall in their respective lines, so they ended up standing in the back row.

The girl turned to glance at the boy beside her and quietly adjusted her position, lining herself up with him on the same row.

After the national flag had been raised, Ge Ritian, the director of the senior year, took the microphone and walked up to the flag platform, his belly protruding as he said, “Two things, everyone.”

“First, our Seventh High has always attached importance to the all-around development of students in morality, intelligence, physique, aesthetics, and labor. Recently, we’ve partnered with the nearby Xingmei Cinema to hold an intramural basketball tournament. The championship team has very generous prizes, and the team’s top scorer—in other words, your MVP—will also get extra rewards. The first match is this afternoon after school. Those of you who are free, come and watch and show your support.”

“The cinema will also send staff to hand out discounted movie vouchers. Everyone who comes to cheer will get one.”

The students on the playground immediately began buzzing with discussion.

Lu Yuanqiu turned his head toward the direction of the eleventh graders. The students were packed densely together, a sea of blue-and-white uniforms, but he did not see the person he wanted to see.

Ge Ritian continued, “Second, starting tomorrow, the big break will include running drills. Everyone has to run, all right? Don’t let studying wreck your bodies. Health is the capital of revolution!”

As soon as he finished, the noise across the playground grew even louder. Some were excited, some wailed in misery, and some cursed under their breath.

But the students who had been cursing quickly found themselves in a face-to-face, deeply emotional stare-down with their own homeroom teachers.

Ge Ritian lowered the microphone, clutched his backside, and walked off the podium muttering, “This horse-hard dragon hemorrhoid ointment doesn’t work either...”

...

After the fourth period in the afternoon, only a handful of people remained in Class 28 of Senior Year Three.

Bai Qingxia had run off as soon as class ended; no one knew where she had gone.

Lu Yuanqiu changed into his jersey at his seat and looked at his four teammates, smiling as he asked, “You guys nervous?”

In his previous life, he had not taken part in the basketball tournament, and the fifth player on the team was probably filled in by Liu Buneng. He did not know how that match had ended, or how far Class 28 had made it.

Zheng Yifeng was expressionlessly pulling off his pants, while Wang Haoran snorted and flicked his middle part. “Nervous my ass. It’s only two quarters, twenty minutes total. Didn’t expect the first match to be against Class 29, though.”

The basketball tournament began with competition within each grade. Only after determining first place among the seniors, the juniors, and the sophomores would the three grade champions draw lots. In the first round of the semifinals, one team would get a bye, and the other two would face off.

In the final, the semifinal winner would compete with the bye team for the championship.

Gao Qiang also laughed. “What’s there to be nervous about?”

As he spoke, he picked up a bottle of mineral water and tried to drink, but his hand kept shaking so badly that the mouth of the bottle could not find his mouth no matter what.

Zhong Jincheng, dressed in his jersey, looked up from his seat with a panicked expression. “I can’t do this, guys. I feel like I’ve got no strength. I’m going to the bathroom to fire one off and get my condition back. Wait for me!”

Lu Yuanqiu glared. “Hurry the hell up! It’s about to start!”

“Relax! This time I’m on double speed!”

Office.

Liu Wei had packed her things and said to Su Miaomiao, “Miaomiao, are you ready yet?”

“Ready, ready!”

Su Miaomiao smiled sweetly, slung on her small black handbag, and immediately trotted over to hook her arm through Liu Wei’s.

Liu Wei sighed. “Sigh, let’s go cheer on those five brats. I bet Zeng Yan already went down with her own class.”

Hearing Liu Wei still grumbling about her lifelong rival, Su Miaomiao covered her mouth and laughed.

A little over ten minutes later, Lu Yuanqiu and the others headed downstairs. Wang Haoran was so angry he was swearing. “What’s taking that guy Zhong Jincheng so long?!”

Lu Yuanqiu was just about to make a snide remark when he suddenly ran into Cao Shuang, who was also wearing a basketball uniform. His jersey was green.

“Yo! Brother Qiu! That pink is wild!”

Cao Shuang was trying hard not to laugh.

Lu Yuanqiu glanced at the “culprit” behind the choice of jersey, Wang Haoran, and gave a dry chuckle. “Which match is your class in? Which court are you playing on?”

“We’re third, on the south court.”

Because so many classes were competing today—ninety in all—both the north and south courts had been requisitioned, and even that was not enough, so the games had to be divided into sessions. Lu Yuanqiu’s group was in the second match.

At that moment, Cao Shuang suddenly stepped forward with a solemn expression. “Brother Qiu, Zhang Yifei’s first game is already over. In twenty minutes, he dunked five times. Even the referee teacher was stunned.”

Gao Qiang clicked his tongue. “So what?”

Lu Yuanqiu—”

Before he could finish, Zheng Yifeng, eyes narrowed, reached out and tugged at Gao Qiang’s arm.

Gao Qiang cleared his throat and shut his mouth.

The end.