"I really don't know how to play." If we lose, you'll definitely blame me.
"Come on, let's play!" Mu Yang's voice joined in.
Yan Shu raised her head, glanced at Mu Yang, then at Xiao Wei, then at the boy glaring at her, and then turned her gaze back to Mu Yang, who smiled encouragingly at her.
Yan Shu sighed and had no choice but to step out from under the shade of the tree. She went up to the boy and said, "Let me tell you beforehand, I really can't play. Xiao Wei is really good at basketball, so don't blame me if we lose."
The boy ignored her and walked straight up to Mu Yang: "Let's begin."
So, two team members were chosen from the other boys, and the competition officially began.
"Scissors, rock, paper!" Xiao Wei's scissors met Yan Shu's rock.
"Yay, I won!" Yan Shu jumped up happily. "We're serving!" She turned to the people behind her, only to find that they all looked at her with disbelief, so she could only smile sheepishly.
"Give it to me." Yan Shu passed the ball to one of her teammates, who received it not far from the basket, dribbled, and jumped...
"Bang!" The ball went in! The crisp sound left everyone in the audience speechless; the boy had actually dunked!
"No way." Hearing everyone say this in unison, the boy turned around and smiled with satisfaction at the petrified expressions on their faces.
"Boring." Xiao Wei's words immediately ruined his good mood.
As a result, Yan Shu's team got off to a good start, taking a two-point lead, and the battle resumed.
The boy intercepted the ball that Xiao Wei passed to another teammate, dribbled to the basket, and went for a layup, but Mu Yang jumped up at that moment, ready to block the shot.
No problem. The boy smiled slightly, turned around a bit, and made a layup. The ball went in.
"Showing off." Immersed in the admiring gazes of the crowd, he was once again enraged by Xiao Wei's words. He turned his head and glanced at her, thinking, "We'll see."
He received a pass from his teammate, saw that the player had already cut inside, and pretended to make a long pass. Everyone hurriedly returned to defend, but they didn't expect him to jump and shoot, and the ball went straight in! Beyond the three-point line!
"Great!" Everyone cheered.
He glanced at Xiao Wei across from him, "What else do you want to say?"
"Good luck, dog."
He nearly coughed up blood! He glared at her fiercely, and his teammate patted him on the shoulder, saying, "You're really amazing."
"Sure thing." He smiled slightly and waved to the other team. "Bring it on."
Xiao Wei dribbled the ball, easily dodging Yan Shu's defense, and passed it forward. Mu Yang caught it steadily under the basket, jumped, sidestepped the boy's block, and shot—it went in.
Dribbling, passing, Yan Shu jumped up, but the ball seemed to have a life of its own, slipping from her hands and landing in the hands of the opponent behind her...
"Oh, I'm sorry." After someone scored on her, Yan Shu quickly apologized to her teammates.
"It's okay, it was just a slip-up," the teammate laughed.
He received the ball, but Xiao Wei intercepted it unexpectedly, and he hurriedly passed it to the boy. The pass was beautiful and fast, but it ended up in the opponent's court.
"I'm sorry," Yan Shu apologized.
"Ah, it's okay. Just a slip-up." The teammate still smiled. But the boy started to get a black line on his forehead, then two, then three...
Yan Shu caught the ball and shot, a beautiful arc, but it didn't even touch the rim, going straight into someone's arms.
I'm so sorry!
"Ah, ah, it's okay. It was just a slip-up." The teammate's smile faded.
"Hey!" the boy rushed up to her, "Idiot!"
Yan Shu looked at him with a wronged expression. "I told you long ago that I can't play ball, and you're blaming me."
Xiao Wei, Mu Yang, and their teammates worked closely together, dribbling skillfully and passing accurately. Xiao Wei showed off his three-point shooting skills, while Mu Yang organized a smooth offense and scored repeatedly.
The other team, led by a boy, decided to showcase their individual skills to the very end. Indeed, their excellent technique earned them many points, but due to Yan Shu's mistakes and their own exhaustion, they couldn't keep up. When the final whistle blew, he heard the score in disbelief—they had lost! No way!
"Got it?" Xiao Wei walked over. Her eyes were bright after her workout. "Don't be too arrogant."
Mu Yang simply smiled modestly: "Basketball is, after all, a team sport."
He stormed over to Yan Shu, who was panting beside him, and yelled at her, "Why didn't you tell me how stupid you are!"
Yan Shu looked up: "I told you I'm stupid. Xiao Wei is a key player on the school team. You didn't listen, and now you're blaming me..."
"You're stupid!" he interrupted Yan Shu abruptly. "Come here to practice at seven o'clock tomorrow morning." He refused to believe that with his skills, he couldn't train a top-notch player. With that, he picked up the basketball and was about to leave.
"Hey, how can you do this!" Yan Shu said, feeling wronged. She hadn't intended to practice.
"Xiao Shu, let's go get some Coke," Mu Yang said, his voice tinged with amusement.
"Hey kid, aren't you coming along?" Xiao Wei was delighted and called out to the boy in her clear voice.
The boy turned his head and looked at Xiao Wei, who had a bright smile on her face.
"Yang Sen, so you just moved here?" Mu Yang asked the boy after taking a sip of his cola.
He glanced at Mu Yang and nodded: "I live with my grandmother."
"Where are your parents?" Yan Shu had barely finished speaking when Yang Sen's face darkened: "Busy!"
Yan Shu realized she had said the wrong thing again, so she lowered her head and tried to drink her cola without saying a word. Although the sun was blazing outside, the air conditioning in the ice cream shop was a bit chilly, and the overhead fan was spinning. There were very few people in the ice cream shop at this time. The owner sat behind the counter, watching TV idly with the volume turned up very loud.
"Xiao Shu is a bit slow and not very good at speaking."
"Mu Yang..." Yan Shu protested, calling out Mu Yang's name. Even though she was stupid, there was no need to say it like that.
"I can tell."
"What grade are you in?" Xiao Wei asked, taking a sip of her iced milk.
"Next semester, I'll be in my final year of junior high and will transfer to the No. 1 Middle School here."
"That's my classmate," Xiao Wei said, extending her hand. "Welcome to No. 1 High School."
Yang Sen shook hands: "Who are you?"
"Mu Yang is the student council vice president, and he's the president. Should we give you some special consideration?"
"Just drop out next semester. What's the point?"
Xiao Wei gave a cold look: "You're really not cute."
"Boys shouldn't be described as cute in the first place."
"What's wrong with you?" Xiao Wei muttered, then continued drinking her iced milk without saying a word.
Mu Yang chuckled, "Let's go. Xiao Shu, you haven't finished your homework yet, have you?"
Ah, Yan Shu remembered. If it weren't for that sentence, she probably would have forgotten about the homework today. She smiled sheepishly.
"Goodbye, Yang Sen." Mu Yang stood up. Yan Shu also said goodbye to him. Xiao Wei didn't say anything; she had already walked to the shop entrance to wait.
"Hey," Yang Sen suddenly said, "Go practice at seven tomorrow morning." There was a hint of malice in his tone.
Xiao Wei's home was reached first, leaving only Yan Shu and Mu Yang on their way home.
"That person is really strange." Yan Shu frowned.
"who?"
"Who else is forcing me to practice? -- What are you laughing at?"
Mu Yang smiled and shook his head. "No. It's just that Yang Sen is a very interesting person."
"Sigh," Yan Shu lowered his head helplessly. He was the one who was rather perverted.
"It's good for you to play; it'll help you get exercise. Your athletic performance will improve too."
"Mu Yang, you're joking, right?" Yan Shu looked at Mu Yang, who just smiled and said, "Isn't this better?"
"Muyang, you..." Yan Shu sighed, "Don't be so concerned about my grades, okay?"
What's wrong with me?
Yan Shu glanced at him and shook her head: "It's nothing." She kept her head down and walked her own path, instead of kicking the stones that rolled to her feet.
Watching her walk with her head down, Mu Yang suddenly said, "Having a sister like you, I, as her older brother, have to worry about things."
"Oh," Yan Shu replied, continuing to walk with her head down without speaking, but in her heart she thought, "You're only a few months older than me."
Chapter Two
September 1st is always a very exciting day.
Freshmen are always curious as they step into a new stage of life, looking at their new school with wide eyes, as if they have taken a step into the adult world.
And one of the classrooms in that teaching building, which was being peered at by the freshmen, was also very lively—just as lively as the other classrooms that housed the older students—especially when they were graduating.
Even for graduating classes, the start of the new semester was the same. Some students were venting their frustrations from the past two months, while others were finishing their assignments before the teacher announced they were due.
"Muyang, can I copy your homework?"
Yan Shu looked toward the source of the sound and saw several people rapidly shaking their pens. She glanced into her schoolbag and saw her summer homework inside.
"Are you done?" Xiao Wei's voice came from behind. The person had already sat down next to her.
"Hmm." She nodded. In fact, she never missed a day of homework, and she had been quite diligent this summer.
"Good morning." The student sitting in the front row turned around and greeted her, then suddenly exclaimed with a look of horror, "Oh no, Yan Shu, you've gotten a tan!"
As soon as he said that, people gathered around.
"Yes, yes. You've gotten quite tanned."
"But she's also lost weight."
Xiao Wei frowned, puzzled. "I hadn't noticed you'd gotten so dark."
Yan Shu could only manage a forced smile, inwardly cursing Yang Sen. It was all his fault; he made her get up early every day to practice, leaving her exhausted and injuring her hands several times. One time, she finally couldn't take it anymore and stayed home to sleep. But unexpectedly, she was dragged out of bed. Opening her eyes, she found Yang Sen standing before her bed with a stern face.
"You...how did you get here?"
Yang Sen laughed, revealing a set of white teeth. He stepped aside, and Mu Yang, standing behind him, smiled at her: "He brought it."
"Get out of here!"