Insufficient balance

  The campus after the holiday is always quiet. The cheerful laughter that used to appear in the campus, full of youth and vitality, seems to have disappeared into some unknown black hole in the school.

  The silence in the campus at this moment is an effect that cannot be achieved by teachers who repeatedly ask students to keep quiet on ordinary days. The empty desks and chairs, which are still neatly arranged, no longer have students who make discordant noises. However, this silence lacks the vitality of a school on ordinary days, making the entire campus as calm as a peaceful lake, quietly passing with time. Only the timely ringing of the class bells reminds people in the vicinity that these buildings surrounded by high walls and large iron gates are a school cultivating future pillars for the motherland.

  The bicycle shed was empty, making it hard to imagine the usual scene of students' bicycles packed tightly together in rows during class hours. Now, there were only a few lonely pillars supporting a large rain shelter, and leaves that had blown in from the trees outside had not been swept away because the students who normally took turns cleaning up were on holiday. The school was as quiet as an abandoned castle.

  However, the school's basketball gym still echoes with youthful voices as the school team players are actively training for the upcoming middle school basketball tournament.

  "See you later, Xiao Yu. You should head back soon too." Zhang Jialin, carrying a sports backpack, and Xiao Heifeng, with his already drenched jersey slung over his shoulder, bid farewell to Lin Xiaoyu, who was still dribbling the ball on the court.

  "Alright, see you later. I'll be leaving in a bit." Lin Xiaoyu said goodbye to the two of them before continuing to dribble the ball towards the three-point line.

  Dribbling.

  Emergency stop.

  Jump up.

  Take action.

  Lin Xiaoyu made a quick stop jump shot near the 45-degree angle one step inside the three-point line.

  The basketball thrown by Lin Xiaoyu rotated in the air, drawing an arc like a bridge and flying towards the basket. However, the ball did not enter the hoop as Lin Xiaoyu had hoped, but instead bounced off the inner side of the rim twice before popping out and rolling away from the court.

  The orange basketball rolled to the edge of the court and landed right next to Lin Cijie, the team's female manager who was picking up things at the edge of the court.

  The ball was slowly bouncing on the ground next to Lin Cijie, but she seemed not to have noticed that there was a basketball rolling slower and slower at her feet, and continued with what she was doing. At this time, everyone in the gym had left, leaving only Lin Xiaoyu and Lin Cijie. Lin Xiaoyu clearly saw the ball lightly touch Lin Cijie's heel, but Lin Cijie pretended not to have noticed the ball, without any intention of passing it to Lin Xiaoyu.

  Lin Xiaoyu could see that this barbaric girl was intentionally unwilling to pick up the ball for herself, so Lin Xiaoyu didn't ask for her help either. Without a word, she ran from one side of the court to the other sideline to pick up the ball and then ran back to continue her practice.

  So several times the ball bounced to Lin Cijie's side, Lin Xiaoyu had to run over to pick it up herself. The two people with a bit of a past issue were silently doing their own things in an environment where they seemed not to recognize each other.

  A crisp swishing sound echoed through the somewhat quiet stadium, and Lin Xiaoyu slowly lowered her raised hand after making a hollow shot.

  One hundred made. Lin Xiaoyu silently counted in his heart that this shot was the one hundredth jump shot he had practiced today. After every training session, Lin Xiaoyu would always practice an additional one hundred shots before heading home, so the last shot he made was equivalent to the end-of-training bell for him.

  Lin Xiaoyu relaxedly jogged to the basket, lightly jumped up, grabbed the rim with both hands, and let her body hang suspended in the air. This was something Lin Xiaoyu would do every time after finishing a game, which made her feel extremely relaxed, just like a cup of milk before bedtime, making every pore on Lin Xiaoyu's skin experience a subtle feeling at the moment her feet left the ground.

  At this time, the gym was left with only Lin Xiaoyu alone. Lin Cijie, who had been collecting things by the court earlier, had already disappeared without a trace. Lin Xiaoyu had been focusing on completing her 100 shots and didn't have the leisure to pay attention to that arrogant girl. For Lin Xiaoyu, the departure of that arrogant girl was absolutely a comfortable thing. No wonder Lin Xiaoyu felt that her later shots were getting better and better, probably because the departure of that arrogant girl was also one of the reasons.

  After her hands holding the basketball hoop felt a bit numb, Lin Xiaoyu lightly jumped down from the basket, walked to where she put her bag and tidied up her things a little, then walked out of the stadium and locked the door.

  It's winter now, although the weather in Feicui City, a southern city, is not too cold. However, signs of winter are slowly appearing everywhere in Feicui City. At this time, it's just over six o'clock, but winter nights always arrive relatively early. In summer, the sun should still be above the horizon at this hour, but now the sky has already become very dark and the streetlights have started to light up gradually.

  Lin Xiaoyu carried her own bag and slowly walked out of school. After playing ball, Lin Xiaoyu felt that her stomach was already a little growling, so she quickened her pace and ran towards the delicious food that should be on the dining table at home.

  There was a small path in the school that led to Lin Xiaoyu's home, which many students would take after school. However, since it was currently a holiday period, there were hardly any passersby on this small alley. The streetlights had just turned on and were still a bit dim, making the alley seem somewhat eerie under their faint glow. But Lin Xiaoyu didn't mind; she thought the soft orange-yellow streetlights that appeared every twenty or so steps along the alley were quite poetic.

  "Don't be afraid, brother, I just want to take you out for a few drinks and chat... haha... I don't have any malicious intentions, okay?" A very light and flirtatious male voice echoed in a secluded alley.

  "Come on, don't be afraid little girl." The other two men, also dressed in a sloppy manner, chimed in with lewd smiles. These three ruffians blocked a girl in the middle of the alley after walking past her.

  The girl had long hair that fell to her shoulders, and her tall figure made her slightly taller than the three boys. However, her slender and petite body looked somewhat isolated and helpless under the dim streetlights. Just by looking at how tightly she grasped the strap of her small bag, it was clear that this girl was being blocked by these three men with ill intentions in this remote area, and she felt a bit anxious inside.

  "Get out of my way, I don't know you and I don't want to go drink with you." However, the girl seemed to have a stubborn tenacity in her nature, and she coldly glared at the three men blocking her path.

  "Wow, this chick is quite spicy, but I like it." The man standing in front of the girl sneered with a rogue smile. As soon as he spoke, his two companions immediately echoed him, their hoarse and rough voices sounding particularly jarring and unpleasant in the quiet alley.

  Lin Cijie's heart was in a mess at this moment, she didn't expect to encounter such thugs when she took the shortcut through the alley. Looking at the three men with malicious faces, Lin Cijie felt extremely nervous and scared, but she was a calm girl. Although her heart was racing, she was constantly observing her surroundings and thinking of ways to escape. However, this desolate alley was almost devoid of pedestrians, and the sky was getting darker by the minute. Lin Cijie felt like the dim streetlights beside her, lonely and helpless in resisting the darkness...

  "Come with us, little girl." The thug in front of Lin Cijie reached out to grab her wrist. Lin Cijie dodged away like a startled rabbit.

  That rascal saw Lin Cijie dodge away from him, and he gave a wink to his companions. The three of them gradually closed in on the circle surrounding Lin Cijie.

  Watching their ferocious faces getting closer and closer to themselves, Lin Cijie felt like she was slowly falling into a dark abyss, despair slowly approaching her own footsteps.

  "Hey, Xiaoru. What are you doing here? Hurry up and come back with me, everyone is looking for you." A voice appeared in the alley.

  Those three thugs were a bit surprised when they suddenly saw someone appear and stopped their steps from approaching Lin Cijie.

  Lin Cijie saw a figure appearing in the alley, and the appearance of this person made Lin Cijie feel as if she had seen the dawn in the dark night, feeling surprised and full of hope.

  Lin Cijie took advantage of the three people's inattention and immediately ran out of their encirclement, running to the back of the figure that had just appeared. Lin Cijie did not notice that the name "Xiaoru" mentioned in the shout earlier seemed not to be her own name.

  PS: Yesterday didn't update because the network had a problem and missed the update time, really helpless. Today updated two chapters to make up for it hehe, hope everyone continues to support.