Chapter 17: The Inter-School Basketball Match (3)

  Lin Xiaoyu heard someone calling her name and turned around to take a look.

  A girl wearing a lab middle school uniform stood behind her. A white short-sleeved uniform top with some light green edges revealed her fair hands, a light green uniform skirt just covered her knees, revealing a slender calf, and on her feet, she wore a pair of black women's leather shoes that exposed a short section of white socks.

  She had willow eyebrows and apricot eyes, peach cheeks and cherry lips. The hair on the nape of her neck was gently swaying in the breeze, looking a bit disheveled, but this did not affect her elegant and refined face at all. Nor could it cover up her smile as gentle as spring breeze.

  This lovely girl is Yan Nan. Lin Xiaoyu had never seen Yan Nan, a girl with a bit of boyish charm, dress up like this before. Looking at this 100% beautiful girl, Lin Xiaoyu was taken aback for a moment.

  "What's wrong? Little Yu, don't you recognize me?" Yan Nan looked at Lin Xiaoyu and saw her dazed expression after seeing his appearance, and for some reason, he felt a sweet feeling in his heart.

  Upon hearing Yan Nan's familiar voice and tone, Lin Xiaoyu immediately regained her composure. She walked forward with a smile and said: "Really can't recognize you at all. First time seeing you dressed like this." Usually, Lin Xiaoyu saw Yan Nan wearing sports clothes, but now this Yan Nan who was dressed in a skirt and looked gentle and quiet really surprised Lin Xiaoyu, no wonder she couldn't find Yan Nan's figure just now.

  "Are you guys done with the competition? There were too many matches today, I was looking for you just now but couldn't find you anywhere, and only saw you just now." Yan Nan said, glancing at Lin Xiaoyu's teammates who had already walked far away.

  "Today is our school's high school team match, I have a match tomorrow." Lin Xiaoyu replied.

  "Oh, I see. So, do you have a match tomorrow? I'll come and watch you." Yan Nan said to Lin Xiaoyu.

  "Our match is at three o'clock tomorrow afternoon," said Lin Xiaoyu.

  "Alright, I'll meet you at the basketball court tomorrow afternoon at 3 o'clock." Yan Nan said, stretching out his hand from behind his back, holding a bottle of drink. "Here, I brought this for you, thinking you'd have a game."

  "No need, thank you. I didn't play basketball today so I'm not thirsty." Lin Xiaoyu felt a little grateful to Yan Nan for bringing her a drink.

  "Here, take it. I was going to give it to you anyway. Can't you drink if you don't play ball?" Yan Nan somewhat regained her tomboyish tone.

  "Alright, I'll take it. Thanks, Xiao Nan." Lin Xiaoyu took the bottle of soda. Lin Xiaoyu and Yan Nan played basketball together every weekend, so Yan Nan knew that Lin Xiaoyu liked to drink Sprite.

  "Alright, your teammates have all gone far away. You'd better hurry up and catch up with them, or else the school bus will leave without you and you'll have to walk back home." Yan Nan pouted cutely in the direction where Lin Xiaoyu's teammates had left.

  "Alright, I'm leaving. See you." Lin Xiaoyu turned her head to glance at her teammates who were quickly walking towards the teaching building corner, then turned back to say to Yan Nan.

  "Alright, see you tomorrow." Yan Nan said with a wave of his hand to Lin Xiaoyu.

  Lin Xiaoyu waved at Yan Nan and then turned around to catch up with her teammates in a jog.

  Sitting on the school bus, the fake coach stood in the aisle of the big bus and gave a summary of today's game to the team members. It was supposed to be a summary, but it was actually some nonsense. The players sitting on the bus didn't listen to his words with much attention.

  Yang Tianxiao stared straight at Lin Xiaoyu with his eyes fixed on her.

  Lin Xiaoyu was stared at by Yang Tianxiao's strange gaze and asked in confusion: "What are you doing? Why are you looking at me like that?"

  Yang Tianxiao looked at Lin Xiaoyu for a while before saying: "Xiaoyu, you're quite capable, hiding it from me for so long."

  Lin Xiaoyu was confused by Yang Tianxiao's strange words: "Deceive you? What do I have to deceive you about?"

  "Don't pretend, I just saw a girl in an experimental school uniform looking for you. She even gave you this bottle of Sprite. Not bad, Lin Xiaoyu. When did you find a girlfriend from the Experimental Middle School? You didn't even tell me, you're not being very considerate." Yang Tianxiao said, pointing at the bottle of Sprite in Lin Xiaoyu's hand.

  Lin Xiaoyu finally understood what Yang Tianxiao meant, Lin Xiaoyu explained: "That's not my girlfriend, that's a friend I met while playing basketball, and heard that I came to Shiyan Middle School for the competition, so she came over to take a look."

  "I don't believe it. Not a girlfriend yet so intimate, and even ran over to deliver drinks for you." Yang Tianxiao had an expression of disbelief.

  "You don't believe me and there's nothing I can do about it. She is just a good friend of mine. Peak Brother has also met her." Lin Xiaoyu said with an unpleasant tone.

  "Don't bring up Feng Ge and I'll believe you. Hurry up and admit it, Xiao Yu." Yang Tianxiao said with a very sly smile to Lin Xiaoyu.

  "It's not, then it's not. What's good to admit?" When Lin Xiaoyu thought of his girlfriend's words, three equally beautiful and elegant female faces suddenly appeared in his mind. Lin Xiaoyu immediately gathered his thoughts and stopped thinking about anything.

  Lin Xiaoyu has now begun to feel a curiosity towards the opposite sex, but Lin Xiaoyu's heart really hasn't had any thoughts of having a girlfriend.

  "You'd be laughed at even if you admitted it." Yang Tianxiao continued to make noise in Lin Xiaoyu's ear, "By the way, that girl who brought you a drink is really beautiful, she's the prettiest I've seen today at Experimental Middle School. Xiaoyu, you're making me jealous..."

  Lin Xiaoyu decided to ignore Yang Tianxiao, who had the potential to be a gossipmonger, and turned her head towards the window, watching the scenery outside the window flying backwards in the sunset.

  Lin Xiaoyu was warming up on the court, wearing the black No. 15 jersey issued by the school. The blue plastic floor of the Experimental Middle School made Lin Xiaoyu feel very comfortable running around. The orange "White Chocolate" street dance wind shoes on Lin Xiaoyu's feet occasionally made a "squeaking" sound on the floor. The red and white net, which was slightly longer than usual, made the "swish" sound of Lin Xiaoyu's empty shots even clearer and louder. Today, Lin Xiaoyu felt that her condition was extremely good.

  The referee's whistle sounded, and the orange basketball was thrown into the air, with two players standing on either side of the center line jumping up to tap the slowly falling ball towards their teammates. At this moment, the first inter-school basketball match of Feicui Middle School also began.

  Lin Xiaoyu sat in the audience seat, watching the start of the game.

  Zhu Cheng did not let Lin Xiaoyu play, in Zhu Cheng's basketball consciousness, playing basketball is a specialty of tall people, and Lin Xiaoyu, who is the shortest and thinnest in the team, is certainly not a player recognized by Zhu Cheng. If it weren't for Lin Pingfeng strongly demanding that Zhu Cheng recruit Lin Xiaoyu to the team, Zhu Cheng would have probably kicked Lin Xiaoyu out of the basketball team long ago and replaced him with someone over 1.8 meters tall.

  In the junior high school basketball team, there were two players that Zhu Chenggong thought highly of. One was a tall and thin boy who was nearly 1.9 meters in height, which is extremely rare among junior high school students. This fit perfectly with Zhu's understanding of basketball, where physical height determines skill level. Therefore, without hesitation, Zhu designated the 1.9-meter-tall boy as the core player of the team, even though he wasn't very skilled at dribbling or shooting hoops.

  Zhu Cheng's other love is a 1.8-meter-tall fat man, who loves to score by relying on his physical strength in the paint, which is Zhu Cheng's favorite way of playing basketball. Since Zhu Cheng likes himself, this fat man with his own shadow also becomes Zhu Cheng's love.

  In the first game of the Emerald Four, Zhu Cheng successfully sent all his favorite players to the starting lineup. Yang Tianxiao, who is 1.78 meters tall, was the point guard on the court, which is because Yang Tianxiao's height is the fifth in the middle school basketball team.

  "Hey, is your coach crazy or something? Why didn't he let you play as a defender?" Yan Nan said to Lin Xiaoyu with some dissatisfaction.

  Yan Nan had already appeared when Lin Xiaoyu and the others arrived at the stadium, still wearing Xinghua Middle School's light green uniform, sitting next to Lin Xiaoyu.

  "This might be the coach's tactics." Lin Xiaoyu looked at the changes on the field and replied somewhat helplessly.

  "What tactics, I see your coach is like a big clumsy bear, what tactics can he have." Yan Nan's casual remark accurately and aptly described Zhu Chenggong, the fake coach.

  Lin Pingfeng, sitting next to Lin Xiaoyu and Yan Nan, was amused by Yan Nan's phrase "big silly bear". He couldn't help but glance at Zhu Chenggong, who looked a bit tense on the sidelines, feeling that Yan Nan's words were extremely accurate.

  Lin Pingfeng couldn't help but smile as he watched the middle school basketball players from his own school on the court. The shortest, Yang Tianshuo, was almost as tall as the opposing team's center. The 1.9-meter-tall player on their team was even more so, with the opponent's defender barely reaching his nose. However, this advantage only looked good on paper, and once the game started, the tall players from Feicui Middle School were quickly dragged down by the opponents' speed. By the end of the first quarter, Feicui Middle School was already trailing by 15 points.

  "Alas, how could there be a coach who doesn't understand basketball like this?" Lin Pingfeng glanced at Lin Xiaoyu beside him, who was intently watching the game on the court. He thought to himself: "If I could play on the same team as Xiaoyu, the match would definitely be easier to win."

  "Xiao Yu, what are those two fat and thin headed guys in your team doing on the field? Everyone else is almost scoring a goal while they haven't even run back to their own half yet." Yan Nan said something astonishing.

  "Fat and Thin Heads". Lin Pingfeng had a feeling of wanting to spit out his food when he heard Yan say this phrase. Lin Pingfeng knew that Yan Nan, this pretty little girl, was talking about the two Zhu Chengyongs on the court. Those two people looked like they wouldn't be able to play ball at all, and just running back and forth on the court had exhausted them to death. Basically, they didn't contribute anything on the court. Lin Pingfeng really didn't know how the coach could put these two people in key positions. His own teammate, Lin Xiaoyu, played so much better than them.

  "In fact, our players on the court can catch up with the score, but unfortunately they played too hastily and didn't pass the ball to the inside line," said Lin Xiaoyu.

  "No, that's not right. Yang Tianxiao is not used to playing as an organizer and doesn't know when to pass the ball." Lin Pingfeng agreed beside him, "If only Xiaoyu could play, it would be a good fight."

  Lin Xiaoyu did not speak after hearing Lin Pingfeng's words, and he continued to watch the game on the field. In his heart, Lin Xiaoyu yearned to go on stage, but that coach didn't give Lin Xiaoyu a chance.

  During this period of time, the opponent's shooting percentage began to decline, and Yang Tianxiao took advantage of the opportunity to continuously score strong points, forcing the score closer.

  Suddenly Yan Nang pulled Lin Xiaoyu's clothes and whispered: "Xiaoyu, lend me your coat to wear for a while."

  "What's wrong? Are you cold?"

  "No, our school's vice principal is just over there, I'm afraid he'll see me wearing the uniform and recognize me as a student from Experimental High School."

  "Are you skipping class? Didn't you say you had a physical education class?" Lin Xiaoyu was somewhat surprised that Yan Nang skipped class to watch her play basketball.

  Yan Nan pouted and said in a cute voice, "I lied to you, I had class this afternoon, but since it was boring watching you play basketball, I came to watch you instead. Hurry up and give me your jacket, the instructor is looking over here."

  Lin Xiaoyu picked up the coat that Yang Tianxiao had placed beside her and handed it to Yan Nan, but was met with Yan Nan's refusal: "I don't want to wear someone else's, take off yours and give it to me."

  Lin Xiaoyu had no choice but to take off her own coat and give it to Yan Nan. Lin Xiaoyu looked at Yan Nan, who was wearing her coat, and thought that Yan Nan looked great in anything she wore. At this moment, her own coat on Yan Nan's body seemed a bit loose, but it made Yan Nan, the beautiful girl, show off a kind of cute charm.

  Today's weather isn't cold, with a gentle breeze occasionally blowing through Yan Nan's hair. She was wearing the jacket that still held Lin Xiao Yu's body temperature, and she could faintly smell the familiar scent of Lin Xiao Yu on it. Yan Nan felt very comfortable. From time to time, she would slightly turn her head to steal a glance at Lin Xiao Yu, who was intently watching the game on the field. She thought she should say something to Lin Xiao Yu, but Yan Nan didn't say anything.

  This season belongs to the gentle breeze of early summer, and this dancing wind with a youthful aura can't help but convey those feelings that belong to youth.

  The first half of the game ended at this time. The Emerald Middle School junior high school basketball team was eight points behind their opponents.

  At halftime, Zhu Gan, the fake coach, was still talking nonsense, spouting basketball terms he didn't even understand himself. He continued to ramble on until the whistle blew for the second half, when he finally stopped his pointless speech.

  "Everyone, play well and pay attention to defense. Attack decisively and ensure a high hit rate." Zhu Chenggong shouted as he sent his ace players onto the field.

  Lin Xiaoyu was still sitting on the stands by the court.

  "This big silly bear is talking nonsense, pay attention to defense, attack decisively, guarantee a hit rate, anyone can say these words. Not a single practical tactic was mentioned, just empty talk." Yan Nang said discontentedly beside Lin Xiaoyu.

  Lin Xiaoyu looked at Yan Nan who seemed a bit unhappy and said apologetically, "Xiao Nan, I'm sorry. You came to watch the game but I didn't get to play."

  "It's okay, it's all that stupid coach's fault. If you could play, your team would definitely win." Yan Nan comforted Lin Xiaoyu.

  The situation in the second half was still basically the same as in the first half. The tall players of Feicui Fourth Middle School's junior high school basketball team were still running around on the court, and only Yang Tianxiao led the team's offense, which ensured that Feicui Fourth Middle School's junior high school basketball team did not fall behind in score.

  In the third quarter, when it was about to end, one of the "fat thin heads" of the Feicui Fourth Middle School junior high school basketball team, who had been running around on the court for more than two quarters, finally couldn't hold out and ran to the sidelines to ask Zhu Chenggong to substitute him.

  This has put Zhu Chengong, the fake coach, in a difficult situation. Originally, being behind in score had already made Zhu Chengong's heart a bit anxious. Now, one of his trusted players, that big fatso, can't play anymore, which makes Zhu Chengong even more anxious. Although that big fatso doesn't score much on the court, when Zhu Chengong sees such a tall and stout body in his own team on the court, he feels a bit more at ease.

  Now that the big fat guy can't play, Zhu Cheng had no choice but to find the tallest substitute in the substitutes. When Zhu Cheng called out the name of the tallest player on the middle school basketball team sitting on the bench, this tall and thin player had a tense expression, his face was pale and terrifying, it seemed that this player was already nervous about his debut.

  Lin Pingfeng looked at the player who was called up and was so nervous that he stuttered, then said to Zhu Chenggong: "Coach Zhu, replace Lin Xiaoyu with this substitution."

  Zhu Cheng looked at Lin Pingfeng with confusion and asked: "Who is Lin Xiaoyu?"

  Lin Pingfeng pointed at Lin Xiaoyu who was still sitting in the stands and said, "It's him, he plays basketball pretty well."

  Zhu Chenggong called Lin Pingfeng to call over Lin Xiaoyu, Zhu Chenggong took a look at Lin Xiaoyu who was just about the same height as his chin, slender figure, this kind of player belonged to the type that Zhu Chenggong thought was the worst at playing ball. "You're not even tall, what's the point of playing basketball? Others will hold the ball high and you can't reach it."

  Then Zhu said to Lin Pingfeng: "Our team just took out a center, we should add a tall one, so Li Qing you go on."

  "What's the use of being so tall?!" Lin Pingfeng looked at this fake coach who didn't even understand basic basketball knowledge and felt a bit annoyed, "On the court, their own team's shortest Yang Tianshuo is almost as tall as the opponent's tallest, what's the point of having such a big height difference if they're still going to lose?"

  At this time, the player who was sent on the field by Zhu Cheng's fake coach walked in front of Zhu Cheng and said with a stutter: "Coach... coach, let Xiaoyu go on the field, he plays much better than me, and now I feel my legs are all soft..."

  Zhu Cheng looked at the tense player and had no choice but to let Lin Xiaoyu take the field. Although he let Lin Xiaoyu play, Zhu Cheng didn't hold out much hope for this short player, thinking that this game was probably lost anyway.

  "Come on, Xiaoyu!" Lin Xiaoyu entered the court amidst Yan Nan's cheering.

  Lin Xiaoyu, who had just come on the court, was a bit nervous. After all, it was her first time representing the school in such a formal full-court match. As soon as she came up, she was broken through by the opponent's defender and scored a basket.

  Zhu Cheng saw that Lin Xiaoyu was easily scored by the opponent as soon as he came on, and considered whether to replace this useless little guy.

  Yang Tianxiao passed the ball to Lin Xiaoyu at the baseline, and when he walked past Lin Xiaoyu's side, he whispered to Lin Xiaoyu: "Don't mind this goal, Xiaoyu, this game is yours."

  Lin Xiaoyu nodded and began to slowly dribble the ball across half court.

  Lin Xiaoyu, who was originally a bit nervous, felt the tension slowly disappear with the rhythm of the basketball bouncing in her hands.

  Lin Xiaoyu controlled the ball with her own rhythm, slowly operating on the three-point line.

  Just now, Lin Xiaoyu watched from the sidelines and had a good understanding of the opponent on the field. Lin Xiaoyu knew that the person marking Yang Tianshuo was a weak point, so he slowly waited for Yang Tianshuo to get into position before passing him the ball.

  Zhu Chenggong, standing by the court, saw Lin Xiaoyu come on and take the ball, operating continuously outside the three-point line without starting an attack. He couldn't help but shout loudly from the sidelines: "Give it to the center in the paint, pass it to the center for an attack!"

  Lin Xiaoyu, who was not far from Zhu Xingpeng's success, seemed to have not heard his coach's loud shouting. He still slowly controlled the ball, which made Zhu Xingpeng, who was still shouting, very annoyed.

  Lin Xiaoyu's slowly controlled ball suddenly flew quickly out of Lin Xiaoyu's hands and into the hands of Yang Tianxiao, who had just run out of an empty space. After getting the ball, Yang Tianxiao easily scored at the bottom of the basket.

  "Good!" The players of Feicui Four in the stands burst into applause, Lin Xiaoyu and Yang Tianxiao, who ran back to the midfield, gave a simple high-five celebration before starting to defend seriously.

  The opponent's defender was about the same height as Lin Xiaoyu, and he had just easily broken through Lin Xiaoyu. Feeling that Lin Xiaoyu was a weak point, he again dribbled past Lin Xiaoyu. When this defender accelerated to the right with the ball in his right hand, Lin Xiaoyu flashed forward with one hand. The defender felt empty-handed, and when he turned around to look for the ball, all he could see was that Lin Xiaoyu had already taken the ball and run towards his side, with no one left in defense.

  After Lin Xiaoyu came on the court, the situation on the field changed dramatically. The Emerald Four Middle School basketball team's previous aimless offense was gone, and all the players on the court easily scored under Lin Xiaoyu's guidance.

  The opponent's offense has become disjointed, and the defensive back in Lin Xiaoyu's defense can only use all his strength to protect his own ball from being stolen by Lin Xiaoyu, let alone organize an effective offense.

  Soon after the fourth quarter just started, Feicui No. 4 Middle School basketball team turned over the score.

  Lin Pingfeng and Yan Nan looked at Lin Xiaoyu on the court, who was like a great general taking the head of an enemy as if he were taking something out of his pocket. He easily passed the ball to his teammate in an empty position to score, and when there was no empty space, Lin Xiaoyu would easily shake off the defender guarding him and score with a layup.

  At the end of the game, the scoreboard showed a score of 61 to 43. The Emerald Middle School junior high school basketball team won by seventeen points. The referee responsible for flipping the scoreboard stood on the right side of the scoreboard from the third quarter onwards, as he had been constantly flipping the right side of the scoreboard, while the left side was only flipped twice.

  Zhu Cheng stood at the edge of the court, feeling a bit stunned. He couldn't believe his eyes when he put that little guy, yes, Lin Xiaoyu, on the field. At that time, Zhu thought today's game would end in defeat, but Lin Xiaoyu started to lead his team to score, and the opponent who had been pressing their team for most of the time was defeated without any chance to fight back.

  Zhu Cheng looked at the little player named Lin Xiaoyu, who was like a sprite on the court, moving freely and confusing the opponent. Zhu Cheng had already forgotten his usual calm and composed demeanor.

  When Zhu Cheng saw Lin Xiaoyu facing an opponent who was more than half a head taller than himself, he casually made two fake moves and almost shook the tall guy to the floor. Then, with ease, he threw the ball with one hand and scored two points. This left Zhu Cheng's big mouth agape for a long time. Only then did Zhu Cheng realize that height seemed not as important in playing basketball as he had imagined. If his self-proclaimed ace players were compared to Lin Xiaoyu, they might be worse than the tall guy who was almost shaken to the ground...

  (PS: If you like it, please recommend or collect it, thank you?)