Chapter 65: The Distance Between Ideals and Reality

  After training, Lin Xiaoyu slowly ran to the basketball hoop, jumped up with force, and her slightly tired body rose into the air. Her raised hands firmly grasped the basket...

  Lin Xiaoyu likes to hang on the basket for a while after finishing each ball, Lin Xiaoyu feels that this can make herself feel extremely relaxed, her legs suspended in mid-air, making Lin Xiaoyu feel like she's floating in the air, feeling incredibly comfortable all over.

  Team members have seen Lin Xiaoyu's repetitive actions after each game, so no one pays attention. Yan Nan is still watching Lin Xiaoyu from the stands, while Lin Cijie, the wild and untamed female manager who is collecting basketballs, always mutters to herself whenever she sees Lin Xiaoyu doing this action: "Foolish people have seen a lot, but they've never seen anything like this."

  Lin Xiaoyu grasped the basketball hoop with both hands, letting her body relax to its lightest state, closing her eyes, not thinking about anything, just relying on her body to feel the gentle breeze blowing by in mid-air. At this moment, Lin Xiaoyu felt as if she was suspended high above a cloud, floating in the blue sky, feeling so wonderful...

  When Lin Xiaoyu felt that her hands holding the basket were a bit numb, she would open her eyes and slowly let go of her hands to land on the ground.

  Since the last warm-up match at First Middle School, Coach Bian Guohui's training has become more targeted. Every day, team members are required to repeatedly train according to his tactical arrangements.

  Last time, the warm-up match against First Middle School ended in a 13-point loss for Experimental Middle School. However, no one from Experimental Middle School was discouraged by that game, as it was just a warm-up match and both sides had held back their strength.

  However, the dark horse of the Experimental Middle School basketball team, Xiao Haifeng, became the most eye-catching figure in that game. His speed made the tall players from First Middle School suffer, and Xiao Haifeng was like a mud eel, drilling in and out of First Middle School's interior line, making their usually solid defense a mess. Xiao Haifeng scored 36 points in that game, which was almost half of Experimental Middle School's total score. After this game, the coach of First Middle School must have listed Xiao Haifeng as the most threatening new force from Experimental Middle School this year.

  This year, the First Middle School also added several good players. Yang Tianxiao, a good friend of Lin Xiaoyu, was also very eye-catching in the game, and another small forward who partnered with him performed well too. That forward, Lin Xiaoyu knew, was Chen Yongzhi, the one who had injured him. Chen Yongzhi and Yang Tianxiao, two new first-year students, added a pair of sharp attacking wings to the First Middle School, and it was because of their combined efforts that they scored over 40 points, which made it impossible for Experimental Middle School to catch up with the score.

  At the time when Lin Xiaoyu was hanging on the basket, another court had a boy with a gentle voice constantly throwing baskets. He always stepped on the three-point line and jumped to throw, his shooting posture was not standard and didn't look good. The boy's shooting posture was a bit like a girl's push shot. However, if you pay attention to the ball thrown by this boy, you will find that the basketball thrown out by this boy with this girl-like posture always maintains a very stable flight trajectory in the air, and all have a very high hit rate.

  This soft-spoken boy is Zhang Bo, who is in the same class as Lin Xiaoyu.

  After playing with Lin Xiaoyu, Zhang Bo's level has been steadily improving, allowing him to show off a bit among his old friends. Because in the past, Zhang Bo was always the worst at ball skills, but now he is already one of the best among his friends. Zhang Bo is very short and thin, only 1.6 meters tall, with delicate skin like a girl's. In terms of height and strength, Zhang Bo is often bullied by his opponents, so on the court, he is still an average player. However, Zhang Bo also has his own advantages and strengths. He is very good at using his brain to play basketball, always avoiding physical contact that he has no advantage in, and scoring with mid-to-long-range shots. This is also one of Zhang Bo's weapons.

  This Zhang Bo seems to have a bit of Lin Xiaoyu's unpredictable shooting style, and his shooting posture is always bizarre. However, he also has an astonishing hit rate. Several times, Zhang Bo defeated Lin Xiaoyu in a cola-betting shooting competition.

  However, Zhang Bo often lacks the courage to take shots, and when opportunities arise, Zhang Bo is always hesitant before taking action. This indecisive shooting often causes Zhang Bo's hit rate to drop to a relatively low percentage. Lin Xiaoyu has repeatedly reminded Zhang Bo to be decisive and firm in his shots during games, but Zhang Bo always hesitates at the critical moment, leaving Lin Xiaoyu feeling helpless.

  What made Lin Xiaoyu even more helpless was that when Zhang Bo received the pass from him, Zhang Bo's shot was the fastest and most decisive, with a very high hit rate. This is not to say that Lin Xiaoyu's passing is much better than others, although the quality of passing is one reason, but mainly because Zhang Bo feels that Lin Xiaoyu's pass makes him feel no pressure when shooting, which is what Zhang Bo has never felt when receiving passes from others.

  Zhang Bo had a kind of idol-like trust in Lin Xiaoyu deep down. In Zhang Bo's heart, when Lin Xiaoyu passed the ball to him, it was definitely the best opportunity, so after receiving Lin Xiaoyu's pass, Zhang Bo didn't hesitate at all and always shot with a good feeling like during practice. Lin Xiaoyu had no idea that she would have such a big influence on Zhang Bo.

  Compared to the technical level on the basketball court, Lin Xiaoyu's academic performance is just the opposite of Zhang Bo's ball skills. In half of the subjects, Lin Xiaoyu struggled with the passing line, while Zhang Bo was among the top ten in each subject, making Lin Xiaoyu feel a bit embarrassed.

  This time, the middle school entrance examination results came out, and Zhang Bo received praise from many teachers with his first place in the class. Later, Lin Xiaoyu learned that Zhang Bo's original test scores were enough to be admitted to the best high school in Cuiyun City, but because the principal of Experimental Middle School was a relative of Zhang Bo, he was pulled to attend high school at Experimental Middle School.

  Lin Xiaoyu, who failed half of her courses, slipped down several places and fell to the lower reaches of the whole class. However, there was another person who accompanied Lin Xiaoyu in sinking below the passing line, and that was Yan Nan, whose score was even lower than Lin Xiaoyu's. But Yan Nan had never been concerned about her grades, so she didn't know how many points she scored until Lin Xiaoyu told her.

  Lin Xiaoyu was numb to her increasingly poor grades, and when she brought home her report card, she couldn't avoid some advice from her family members. However, Lin Xiaoyu's rebellious youth at the time made her take her parents' reminders to catch up on her studies as nothing but a distant hum in her ear.

  The teachers also talked to Lin Xiaoyu, but they all returned in vain. Lin Xiaoyu is now a little deaf to his parents' words, let alone the teachers'. Lin Xiaoyu had long been disgusted with the uniform lectures of these teachers. However, one teacher's words still made Lin Xiaoyu reflect a lot, that was the young English teacher Lan Hong.

  Lin Xiaoyu's English score was the only subject that achieved excellent results. Lin Xiaoyu's English test scores were almost full marks. This is a big contrast to Lin Xiaoyu's other subjects' scores. The English teacher, Lan Hong, also found Lin Xiaoyu and had a talk with her. This teaching method made Lin Xiaoyu like the teacher even more, as she didn't criticize Lin Xiaoyu at all, but instead asked about things Lin Xiaoyu liked and her thoughts on her own future.

  This English teacher's conversation was not like other teachers who sat in the office chair, holding a cup of tea and lecturing the student standing in front of them with their head down. The English teacher Lan Hong took Lin Xiaoyu to the school playground, walking slowly along the runway while starting the conversation.

  This English teacher chatted with Lin Xiaoyu like a friend, making Lin Xiaoyu feel that she was not facing a teacher, but a friend like Yi Lishi. Lin Xiaoyu didn't feel any teacher's airs about this English teacher at all. Lin Xiaoyu also spoke very calmly about her own thoughts to this big sister who didn't seem like a teacher, expressing her disgust towards those complicated and out-of-touch textbook knowledge, and how she hated being restricted by the bell ringing every day, feeling like she was in prison...

  The English teacher, Lan Hong, listened quietly to Lin Xiaoyu's words, and did not rebuke her student for having such a strong dislike for learning. After listening to Lin Xiaoyu pour out her heart like a friend, she fell silent for a moment before looking at Lin Xiaoyu seriously and saying: "Actually, when I was in school, I had the same thoughts as you do now. I always felt that what I liked couldn't be found in school education... but later on, I discovered that there is an unimaginable gap between reality and ideals, a long and arduous journey. In real life, it's hard to live according to one's own will. It's like the ideal and reality are two small islands far apart and heading in opposite directions. The ferry to reality has a big ship with a constant stream of passengers, while the boat to the ideal island is a small, unmanned wooden boat. Those who go to reality only need to work hard to get on that big ship and they can reach the island of reality smoothly; but those who pursue their ideals have to rely solely on their own strength to reach the island in that small wooden boat. The gap between these two is obvious at a glance. Those who go to reality can sit comfortably on the big ship and enjoy rich food and comfortable accommodations all the way to their destination; while those who pursue their ideals have to fight against the unknown winds and waves alone on that desolate little wooden boat, with an uncertain future ahead. This is the gap between reality and ideals."

  Lin Xiaoyu didn't say a word after hearing the English teacher's words. Lin Xiaoyu knew what the two small islands of reality and ideal in the English teacher's mouth referred to, and also knew the difference between a large ship and a small boat on the sea. Lin Xiaoyu knew that she had already set foot on the small boat that was about to set sail with her own strength. Lin Xiaoyu didn't know if she should continue, and then used her own strength to row the oars of the small boat... Lin Xiaoyu was a little confused...

  "Are you on a solo canoe or a big boat?" Lin Xiaoyu asked back at the English teacher Lan Hong.

  Lan Hong fell silent for a moment, her eyes slightly dim as she said: "After encountering a big storm on the solo boat, I was blown back to the original shore. Later, I boarded a large ship... After arriving at Reality Island, I found that the scenery I saw on Reality Island was not as beautiful and colorful as what I saw during that short journey on the solo boat."

  Lin Xiaoyu fell silent again after listening to her English teacher Lan Hong.

  The young English teacher, Lan Hong, patted Lin Xiaoyu's shoulder like an amiable older sister and said slowly: "Originally, as an educator, as a teacher, I should have pointed you in the direction of that big ship without hesitation, because in today's society, that is the truth, that is the direction. But I couldn't guide you this way, your decision is yours, I don't have the right or the ability to choose your life path for you..."

  After listening to the English teacher's words, Lin Xiaoyu slowly raised her head and looked at the sky which was already dusk. The sunset was slowly falling into the building group. Lin Xiaoyu felt that by her ears seemed to ring out He Yong's shout of "Is there still hope" at the end of "Garbage Field". That desperate and unwilling cry had been echoing in Lin Xiaoyu's mind...

  Suddenly Lin Xiaoyu felt like lighting up a cigarette, even though she hadn't learned how to smoke yet...