"Then we have nothing more to say, bye-bye." Meng Fanxing covered her cheek, gasped for breath, and ran away.
"Damn it! You stop right there!" Song Lang took off chasing him, while Meng Fanxing ran wildly against the wind. The two had been inseparable since elementary school, when they were punished to run laps together. When they really put their lives on the line, neither of them was any worse than the other.
That day, Meng Fanxing ran as if he had lost half his life, as if the one chasing him was not Song Lang, but a vicious big dog.
Yu Mingtao stroked his chin, looking thoughtfully at the two idiots who had inexplicably started an endurance race on the playground: "Da Sen, do you think... they've made up?"
Zhou Sen said nonchalantly, "Who cares about them? They both have to come to the inter-school basketball tournament anyway."
The inter-school basketball tournament is scheduled for April. It is a friendly competition jointly organized by 34 high schools in the city in response to the call for quality education. Although it is called a "friendly competition", it is said that the city basketball team will scout reserve players during the competition. This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for some people to show their skills. Therefore, this year's competition can be considered to be very exciting.
Song Lang, Meng Fanxing, and Zhou Sen joined the school basketball team as early as their first year of high school, so they naturally had to participate in this competition.
Just before the start of the competition, a new player joined the school team, making the three of them feel as disgusted as if they had stepped in dog poop.
The paratrooper was none other than Gu Fengkai, who had a deep-seated grudge against Song Lang.
"What are you doing here?" Zhou Sen asked irritably. Like Song Lang, he didn't have a good attitude towards this guy.
"You come to the team not to play basketball, but to play against me?" Gu Fengkai replied nonchalantly, his undisguised provocation fixed on Song Lang beside him.
They fought twice last year, and he didn't come out on top either time. He's held a grudge ever since, and now that he's finally got his chance, he's determined not to let Song Lang get away with it.
The coach whistled to signal them to continue training and get used to the new players as soon as possible, but throughout the day, Gu Fengkai deliberately targeted Song Lang every time, constantly getting close to him. His movements were dirty and clearly hostile. When Song Lang jumped to dunk, Gu Fengkai hit him hard in the ribs, causing him to fall off and land next to the basketball hoop.
"Da Lang!" Meng Fanxing called out subconsciously. Seeing that Song Lang was alright, she turned around and grabbed Gu Fengkai by the collar fiercely, her fist raised. "Are you fucking crazy?!"
Gu Fengkai showed no intention of fighting back, only grinning with a wicked grin: "Go ahead and hit me. If you throw this punch, none of you will be able to participate in the league."
"Xingzi, let go!" Zhou Sen came over and persuaded Meng Fanxing to the side. "It's not worth it for him."
Gu Fengkai laughed even more wildly, which made Meng Fanxing so angry that she cracked her knuckles and wanted to poke his eye sockets with her fingers to vent her anger.
Song Lang, clutching his chest, leaned against the basketball hoop and watched Gu Fengkai push through the crowd as he walked over. He coldly uttered, "Trash."
“If you think I’m trash, you can quit now.” Gu Fengkai leaned closer, his face almost touching his, and whispered, “Let’s not beat around the bush, I’m not going to give you a chance to join the city basketball team.”
In fact, Song Lang never intended to join the city team. He just treated basketball as a hobby and never thought about turning professional. But he couldn't tolerate Gu Fengkai's blatant provocation. If he quit, wouldn't that be admitting defeat?
He stared intently into those eyes so close to his face, then suddenly exerted his strength, slamming his forehead into Gu Fengkai's nose. "Do you think I'm afraid of you, you son of a bitch!"
Gu Fengkai was hit so hard he saw stars and slumped to the side, yelling, "Fuck your mother—"
Song Lang kicked him hard again, and seeing that the two were about to fight, the basketball team members quickly broke them up.
The coach, who had gone out to get a glass of water, came back and immediately blew his whistle, shouting, "What's going on? What are you doing?!"
The team members, who had formed a circle, shook their heads and waved their hands, saying, "It's nothing, it's just a joke."
"Song Lang, you just wait, we'll see you on the court." Gu Fengkai said ruthlessly, got up, snatched the basketball from Zhou Sen's hand, took three steps and made a layup that went in the air, then walked away without looking back.
Zhou Sen was displeased: "Coach, the competition is in three days. Bringing in players at this time, and not even substitutes, is this a joke?"
The coach waved to him and said, "Don't worry about this, just train hard and don't let it affect you. Anyway, the city team selects players based on individual ability, not on winning or losing games, and not on connections or any of that nonsense."
His words implied that he couldn't do anything about the paratroopers, and that the team members had no choice but to swallow their anger even if they didn't accept it.
"Look at all your long faces. Even if Gu Fengkai is being ridiculous, he wouldn't joke about the school's honor. You're all representing No. 18 Middle School in this competition, so don't get any ideas."
"Tch, Coach, you seem to have some misunderstanding about the character of the person surnamed Gu."
As it turns out, Gu Fengkai's character is indeed utterly despicable.
In this league, No. 18 Middle School and No. 5 Middle School were vying for the last spot in the top eight. It was a critical moment of life and death, but Gu Fengkai played like a lone wolf. He never cooperated with his teammates, and even if he really had to pass the ball, he would never pass it to Song Lang.
Song Lang could only get possession of the ball through steals and rebounds. What should have been a 5v5 game turned into a difficult 4v6 situation because of Gu Fengkai.
"Damn it, this bastard did it on purpose! He's a mole from No. 5 Middle School, isn't he?!"
Meng Fanxing, sitting on the bench, watched the field with growing anxiety.
Before the words were even finished, chaos erupted under the basket of the Fifth Middle School team. The referee blew the whistle to call a timeout and then waved to the sidelines to indicate that someone was injured.
Meng Fanxing's heart skipped a beat, and he dashed over there. When he got there, Shen Zhifei was already in the center of the crowd, holding Song Lang in his arms, pressing down on Song Lang's sweaty hair with one hand, and glaring coldly at Gu Fengkai next to him.
Gu Fengkai felt a chill run down his spine from the stare, while at the same time feeling that this person who had suddenly appeared looked somewhat familiar.
They seem familiar.
"What's wrong? What's wrong?" Meng Fanxing was quite frightened by Song Lang's deathly pale face. Ignoring their ongoing ambiguous cold war, she squatted down and asked, "Where the hell are you hurt? Speak up!"
"Can't you even look at yourself?" Song Lang gripped Shen Zhifei's hand tightly, his voice trembling as he spoke through gritted teeth.
Meng Fanxing then noticed that his foot was unnaturally tilted to one side, probably dislocated.
No one could explain how he dislocated his shoulder, but Song Lang saw it clearly.
Gu Fengkai kicked him in the chaos as he landed after jumping to grab a rebound. By the time he saw it, it was too late to dodge, and he took the hit head-on. The pain was so intense that he felt like killing someone.
Shen Zhifei, who was sitting in the front row watching the game, rushed up immediately, his eyes filled with worry.
"It's okay, it's okay, it doesn't hurt." Song Lang forced a smile, trying to reassure Shen Zhifei, but this only made the other person feel more distressed.
"Bear with it, school..."
"The doctor will be here soon." Shen Zhifei grasped his hand; the identical black bracelets on their wrists were close together, gleaming and particularly conspicuous.
Meng Fanxing frowned, looking at this and that, then sighed and worriedly took off her thin coat and covered Song Lang, who was covered in sweat, saying meaningfully, "Be careful, the floor is cold, don't fucking catch a cold."