Chapter Sixteen: Greenhorn VS Veteran

  At the end of September, the dusk was tinged with a faint sadness. The small town of Shu Yun was in a quiet and peaceful atmosphere. The sound of car horns on the road seemed to be particularly careful at this time. However, the basketball court of Shu Yun Middle School was somewhat out of place with this harmonious scene. In the eyes of the students, the early autumn sun in the late afternoon was no longer so scorching, and there was a gentle breeze, which was just right for playing basketball.

  Yan Lingfeng monopolized a basketball board alone, his left hand not yet fully recovered, but after days of bitter practice, his right hand was already skilled in dribbling. Reborn Yan Lingfeng possessed a physique far superior to that of ordinary people. Conquering the NBA was a dream from his past life, but his weak physique made it an unattainable fantasy. Who says Chinese people's physiques are not suited for basketball? Who says Chinese guards can never reach the top of the world? As time passed, Yan Lingfeng's gaze became completely focused on basketball. To realize his dreams, he had to start now. To become an excellent point guard, being able to dribble skillfully with both hands was the most basic requirement. Although his left hand injury limited his chances of participating in games, it made him aware of a glaring weakness - his right hand hardly ever dribbled. Misfortune can be a blessing in disguise.

  The selection mechanism of Chinese basketball used to be rigid, selecting professional basketball players always took a mold to measure the same, height restrictions blocked the way forward for many basketball enthusiasts, and Yan Lingfeng, who was reborn, saw hope. A CHBA that can attract the attention of professional basketball teams, even NBA teams! As long as you can make a name for yourself in high school basketball games, the road ahead will become brighter.

  "Ling Feng, once you've recovered, we'll definitely have no problem getting the championship. What's the point of practicing so hard?" Sun Feiying shouted from another court where she was practicing her jump shot.

  "My goal is not just the school basketball championship!" Yan Lingfeng replied loudly.

  "Oh? Are you talking about the school team? We might not have much hope, but for you, the door to the school team is wide open!" Sun Feiying said with a smile as she shot a three-pointer from afar.

  "It's useless to say these now, tomorrow I still can't play, the third class of high school is not so easy to deal with. If you lose the ball, the door of the school team will be completely closed." Yan Lingfeng reminded.

  "This, you can rest assured, after three games, I found that as long as we brothers are united in heart, no one can stop our forward march!" Han Dengyun said with a big smile.

  "I hope so." Yan Lingfeng sighed and continued to dribble the ball.

  The next morning, the sky was clear and sunny, with a gentle breeze blowing. Xiang Qing Yun shivered as she wrapped her shoulders, saying: "It's not even October yet, how can it be so cold?"

  Han Tianyun, plump and fat, wearing a basketball uniform just like Xiang Qingyun, didn't feel the cold at all and said carelessly: "After you go on the court and move around, you'll naturally not feel the cold anymore. Hurry up and warm up, I'm going to talk to your sister."

  Xiangzi Yan glared at Han Dengyun and scolded: "Who wants to talk to you? How can your face be so thick!"

  Han Dengyun hung his head and muttered, unable to speak, but he had already experienced such blows many times before. His face was long accustomed to it, and the kind laughter of the eighth class didn't faze him at all. He turned around and went on stage to warm up.

  Yan Lingfeng had already removed the gauze, exercising his slightly swollen left hand, which still hurt a bit. He continued to sit on the bench, hiding the strength of Class 8. Looking at the time, the competition was about to begin, he called the five people who were warming up on the field to his side and said: "The Art of War says..."

  "Cut it out, we're not at war, what's with the military strategy?" Fu Zijun interrupted Yan Lingfeng who was about to launch into a long speech.

  Yan Lingfeng sent a sanitary eye with a helpless expression and continued: "I watched the game of Class 3, Grade 2 yesterday. Their strength is not as weak as everyone imagined, especially that No. 3 Zhang Meng. Whatever you do, don't let him speed up. I suggest Feiying put most of her energy on defense today. As long as she can suppress this Zhang Meng, we'll win half the game."

  Sun Feiying's gaze swept around the other side of the field where the second and third classes of high school were warming up, and she said disdainfully: "Is that the little runt?"

  Yan Lingfeng nodded and said, "Zhang Meng's breakthrough speed is even faster than the No. 1 of Class 5, and he has a good mid-range shot. His weakness is that he is a bit short, but once the ball reaches his hands, it's like it's reached its final destination. Yesterday's game, I hardly saw him pass the ball, almost single-handedly defeating the fourth class of high school."

  "What about others?" Zhao Senming asked.

  Yan Lingfeng shook his head and said, "This is a typical one-man team, just like the Lakers now. As long as the opponent strangles Kobe to death, it's very difficult to win the game." (At this time, the shark had already swum east to the Heat, and the Lakers began their three-year slump)

  "Don't insult my idol, Zhang Meng, huh? See how I annihilate you today!" Sun Feiying said viciously.

  The referee blew his whistle, indicating that the game was about to start.

  Although the 76ers had become mediocre by '04, possibly due to their fondness for Iverson, the high school class of '03 chose black 76ers jerseys as their battle attire.

  Sun Feiying walked calmly up to Zhang Meng and stretched out her hand saying: "Hello senior."

  Zhang Meng sneered and ignored Sun Feiyang's outstretched hand, saying: "We're all fighting for a top four spot, don't bother with these empty formalities. Just wait to be blown up by me later."

  Sun Feiyang's narrow eyes narrowed into a slit, coldly saying: "You're Ai Mi, right? Today I'll tell you why Iverson will never surpass Kobe!" He ignored the arrogant guy and turned to walk away.

  Zhang Meng clenched her fists and didn't say anything else.

  Standing with Handengyun in the middle circle preparing to jump, the opponent's No. 11 is not short at all, a height of 1 meter 85 is already unattainable for ordinary people, but standing next to Handengyun who is tall and fat, he looks very thin and small.

  Basketball hasn't reached its peak yet, and No. 11 has already stretched out his arm and jumped up. Having learned from the previous game, how could Handeng Yun fall for the same trick again? With a loud shout, as if a thunderbolt had burst forth on a clear day, his sturdy body directly collided with him, sending No. 11 flying to one side, and easily deflecting the ball back to his own half of the court.

  Zhao Senming took a step forward, controlling the ball in his own hands, waving his hand to signal everyone to attack and prepare for the first offense.

  Although Zhang Meng, who is only about 175cm tall, is the shortest among the starting players of Class 3 of High School, the one playing as a controlling defender is No. 5, who is 180cm tall. As soon as Zhao Senming controlled the ball, No. 5 immediately pounced on him.

  "Immature." Zhao Senming snorted, shielding the ball with his body and advancing to the front court. The opponent's No. 5 was clearly no match for Zhao Senming's strength, and was continuously pushed back by him from the opponent's half-court all the way to their own three-point line.

  As the team commander, Zhao Senming didn't think of going solo against his opponent. He habitually hung the ball into the interior line, and Han Dengyun received the basketball. The opposing side was clearly wary of this tall player who stood at 1.95 meters. Number 7 immediately let go of Fu Zijun outside the three-point line and ran over to assist number 11 in defense.

  Han Dengyun held the ball and didn't understand, saying to No. 7: "Don't you realize that someone is missing?"

  No. 7 on the left, No. 11 on the right, two people sandwiched Han Dengyun tightly. No. 7 sneered: "If you have the ability, pass it to that No. 9, if he can make a shot beyond the three-point line, it would be strange."

  Han Dengyun nodded and said: "You're really clever."

  Before the words were finished, Han Dengyun suddenly exerted force and jumped up, hooking the ball over the two men's heads with a small hand movement towards the basket. Fu Zijun jumped up and cursed loudly: "Stupid big guy, are you blind? I've been empty for half a day!"

  After hearing the clear sound of the basketball swishing through the net, Han Dengyun shook his big butt and ran back to the backcourt, ignoring Fu Zijun's roar.

  No. 11 and No. 13 stared at each other in dismay, neither of them had expected that this big fellow who looked so clumsy would have such agile movements.

  Whoever gets the inside track will win the world, this is an eternal truth on the basketball court. Looking at Han Dengyun's back, Zhang Meng seems to have believed Sun Feiyang's words a little earlier.

  "I'm not that easy to deal with, I'll see if you can withstand me!" After a brief daze, Zhang Meng quickly came back to his senses and shouted loudly: "What are you all standing there for? It's our turn to attack now!"

  It seems that the task of No. 5, who plays as a defensive back, is to bring the ball over half court and then pass it to Zhang Meng, and then stay at half court waiting for defense or intercepting the opponent's fast break.

  Zhang Menggang had just received the ball when Sun Feiyang stuck close to him and whispered, "If I hadn't wanted to test your skills, I could have intercepted that pass earlier."

  Indeed, the passing intention of No. 5 was very obvious and not fast, so No. 3 had no way to refute Sun Feiyang's words and could only use actual actions to give an answer.

  With lightning-fast dribbling, Zhang Meng looked for a breakthrough in the gap, but facing Sun Feiyang's almost impenetrable defense, she had to choose a forced shot with time running out. Sun Feiyang, who had been waiting for a long time, smiled lightly and swung her right hand just as Zhang Meng's basketball was about to leave her fingertips.

  "Boom!"

  "Buzz!"

  The basketball was directly slapped out of bounds by Sun Feiyang, and the referee's whistle sounded immediately.

  Sun Feiying smiled, Zhang Meng coldly laughed.

  "This hot pot tastes pretty good, doesn't it?" Sun Feiying asked with a smile.

  "You've already committed a foul once!" Zhang Meng's face turned iron-gray as he walked past Sun Feiying and headed towards the free throw line.

  "What?" Sun Feiyang hastily turned his head to look at the referee's gesture.

  "Foul? What foul did I commit? Did you see clearly, teacher?" Sun Feiyang explained with his hands spread out.

  Yan Lingfeng shook his head helplessly, wondering if this referee had watched too many NBA games. Was he going to bully the underdog in a high school basketball game as well? Sun Feiying's block was clean and neat, no matter what angle you looked at it, there was no contact with Zhang Meng's body, unless the referee was blind.

  Sun Feiyang wanted to continue arguing, but was held back by Zhao Senming, who whispered: "These old men and teachers are all familiar with each other, occasionally leaning a bit one way or another is nothing, it's just 2 points, what's the big deal?"

  "Black, it's too black," Sun Feiyang gritted his teeth in anger. "Forget it, for the sake of victory, I'll swallow this breath."

  Zhang Meng scored two penalties and tied the score.

  Having learned a lesson from the previous time, No. 5 of the opposing team stayed honestly in their own half-court when Zhao Senming dribbled the ball, wisely not going up to look for trouble again.

  Zhao Senming easily dribbled past half court, old routine again, still hanging in the paint, Han Dengyun smiled and received the ball, turned around and made a shooting motion, two black figures immediately jumped into the air, Han Dengyun muttered: "Assists are also data, cheap for you this skinny monkey once!"

  The basketball flew straight to the left baseline, where Fu Zijun was about to sit down and take a break. Unexpectedly, Han Dengyun passed the ball over, and he accidentally failed to catch it. The basketball heavily hit his chest, almost knocking him out of bounds.

  "Ah! Use a bit less force, can you?!" Fu Zijun still had the spare time to rub his sore chest that was bumped into. Number 7 had already determined that Fu Zijun wouldn't shoot, thinking that Han Dengyun passed the ball because he was afraid of being blocked by him.

  Fu Zijun adjusted his shooting posture patiently, then lowered his head to confirm whether he was outside the three-point line. With a sunny smile at the corner of his mouth, he lightly swung his arm and shot the ball out.

  There was no need to watch the ball at all, as soon as Fu Zijun shot, he was certain that this ball would definitely go in, and he walked towards his own half with his right hand raised high.

  "Brush!"

  Without a hint of hesitation, the basketball went straight into the hoop.

  No. 7 and No. 11 locked eyes again, the two people seemed like a pair of lovers from their past life, staring at each other in silence, was this new class really that hard to deal with? Everyone could shoot three-pointers, even from such a distance, were these still students from Yunyin Middle School?

  Yan Lingfeng sat on the sidelines, anxiously scratching his ears and cheeks, watching his teammates galloping around on the field. He didn't seem to be in a hurry at all, but that was just a facade. Especially when facing such an arrogant yet pitiful class, not taking advantage of them would leave him feeling somewhat unfulfilled.

  Zhang Meng's face had turned as black as coal, he never thought that every player on the opposing team could easily break through their defense line, how could this game be played? Now the key to whether Class 3 of High School can win or not is all concentrated on him, if he can continue to score or cause the opposing team members to foul, then there is still a chance for this game, but if his offense is frozen like that last time, Class 3 of High School will surrender now.

  No. 5 had no vigilance at all in his passing, he was used to this way of passing, dribbling to the top of the arc and then directly slanting a pass to Zhang Meng on the right side of the three-point line, it had always been very smooth, the opponent's indulgence also left him with a fatal habit, Sun Feiying decided to give him a lesson this time, let him understand that passing was not so simple. The basketball hadn't even left No. 5's fingertips when Sun Feiying started his move.

  The ball was floating slowly towards Zhang Meng when a flash of yellow intercepted its trajectory, No. 5 hastily turned his head, and a huge "8" gradually disappeared from his line of sight...