Chapter 58: First Exposure of Sharpness

  Lin Xiaoyu found that the basketball coach seemed to emphasize the players' basic skills training, and after a week of training, Lin Xiaoyu felt like she hadn't touched the ball once on the court, but instead was doing footwork drills and turning steps with empty hands as instructed by the coach.

  However, Lin Xiaoyu did not feel that such training was too boring like other team members. Lin Xiaoyu felt that this week's training seemed to have understood some of the details of dribbling and also knew how to better limit the opponent's movement when moving. However, Lin Xiaoyu only had such a feeling, and as for whether she had made progress or not, Lin Xiaoyu herself did not know, because it was only one week of training, which would not have such quick results.

  Although it's doing such simple and somewhat tedious basic training, it doesn't mean that such a simple action won't consume physical strength. Every day, Lin Xiaoyu feels that this kind of training is not much easier than playing a 40-minute full-court game. Especially when staying in a specified motion, maintaining balance in a difficult motion for one or two minutes is far more tiring than doing a hundred repetitions of the action.

  Today, Bo Guohui finally brought the basketball to this court. The team members were a bit excited when they saw the basketball, because they knew they didn't have to repeat those dull and tasteless basic movements anymore. After all, competing on the basketball court is what makes basketball fun.

  "Today we're going to have a group match, to test your original strength and determine what position you should play in the basketball team. I'll arrange for each of you to play on the court for a few minutes, so perform well." Bian Guohui announced today's training content with a basketball in his hand.

  The players heard that today's training content was actually group confrontation, and everyone's eyes sparkled with excitement. The dull training of the past few days had made them eager to play a game, their hands itching to get on the court. Now they only had one thought in mind: to enjoy themselves on the basketball court, and if they encountered an unlucky teammate who came to defend against them, they would not hesitate to score beautifully in front of him, so as to leave a good impression on the coach.

  Wang Rui had such an intention, he took a look at Lin Xiaoyu who was standing beside him with no expression on his face, thinking: "Finally got the chance to humiliate this guy who joined the basketball team through the back door, let him experience the cruelty of the basketball court."

  Guo Hui immediately announced the list of players who took to the field first. The list included several new players who had just been recruited into the basketball team, including Wang Rui, but Lin Xiaoyu's name was not on it. This time, there were five new students in the first year of high school, including Lin Xiaoyu. Since Lin Xiaoyu was not named to take the field, the other four new players were divided into two teams, with two of them joining six second-year veteran team members on the court to start the game.

  Lin Xiaoyu saw that she didn't need to go on stage herself, so she snuck away and ran to the spectator's stand and sat down beside Yan Nan. Every time Lin Xiaoyu sat down beside Yan Nan, drenched in sweat, Yan Nan, who usually liked cleanliness, didn't mind at all, and would often chat and laugh with Lin Xiaoyu, teasing her playfully. If it were any other boy sitting beside him, Yan Nan would definitely chase him away with a cold face without hesitation.

  Wang Rui glanced at Lin Xiaoyu, who was sitting next to a very pretty girl on the stands. Wang Rui became even more convinced that Lin Xiaoyu had some kind of relationship with Bian Guohui and was only brought into the basketball team for that reason, because among the five new students, only Lin Xiaoyu didn't get to play on the court, probably because Bian Guohui was afraid that this good-for-nothing Lin Xiaoyu would make a fool of himself on the court. Wang Rui thought to herself in her heart, and at the same time felt regretful for not being able to thoroughly humiliate Lin Xiaoyu on the basketball court.

  But soon Wang Rui didn't have the mind to think about Lin Xiaoyu's affairs, because after the group confrontation began, his opponent was a dark-skinned boy who was also in high school with him, and Wang Rui knew that his name was Xiao Haifeng.

  The court has been back and forth for several rounds, at this time Wang Rui felt like swallowing a stone, feeling extremely uncomfortable, because his basketball level, which he had always thought was high above the rest, became nothing in front of Xiao Haifeng with dark skin.

  Left side.

  Right side.

  Front.

  Wang Rui was easily broken through by Xiao Haifeng's three attacks from different directions, Wang Rui felt that Xiao Haifeng was like a mudskipper, making it difficult to stop his advancing speed. What's even more frightening is his unpredictable changes, which are basically against the normal principles of playing ball, making Wang Rui feel like an idiot in front of Xiao Haifeng, with only his eyes barely keeping up with his pace, while his hands and feet could only make some futile and useless fouls or send the ball that had been hit into the bottom line.

  Wang Rui, whose self-esteem had been hurt, immediately wanted to regain his face in his own strong offense. But Wang Rui was disappointed again soon after. In front of this black boy who was almost the same height as himself, or even a few centimeters shorter, Wang Rui felt that his usual strength to push away opponents seemed to hit a stone wall, and he found it hard to move half a step towards the basket. When Wang Rui was unable to squeeze in, he was caught off guard by Xiao Haifeng, who easily stole the ball from behind him.

  Wang Rui felt his face burning like fire, he didn't dare to look at the coach who was standing on the sidelines holding a notebook and recording something. Wang Rui knew that neither of them could defeat that little black kid whose physical condition wasn't even as good as theirs.

  At this time, Bian Guohui called a timeout. Bian Guohui asked Xiao Heifeng and several grade two players to leave the court. Then Bian Guohui read out a string of player names, and the last name was surprisingly Lin Xiaoyu, who was still chatting with a girl named Yan Nan in the stands.

  Lin Xiaoyu heard the coach let herself play and walked onto the court amidst Yan Nan's "come on" voice.

  "Lin Xiaoyu, are you playing a controlling defender or a scoring defender?" Bian Guohui stopped Lin Xiaoyu who was about to run onto the court. Bian Guohui remembered that in middle school, Lin Xiaoyu played as a controlling defender, but now Lin Xiaoyu's height had increased significantly and he had the physique of a scoring defender, so Bian Guohui asked him his preference.

  "I don't care about any position." Lin Xiaoyu still had an attitude of not caring about anything. Lin Xiaoyu can now basically play any position, but when it comes to the center position, Lin Xiaoyu still rejects it from the bottom of her heart, because she dislikes using brute force to play basketball the most, although sometimes playing with brute force is still effective.

  "You have to choose a position too." Bian Guohui said somewhat impatiently.

  "I'll play point guard then." Lin Xiaoyu still liked the feeling of playing point guard, a position he idolized "White Chocolate" Jason Williams. He was the mastermind behind the team's offense on the court.

  Wang Rui's self-esteem had been severely damaged by Xiao Haifeng, and he originally didn't have any face left on the basketball court. In less than ten minutes, Wang Rui allowed Xiao Haifeng to score over a dozen points in front of him, which was simply humiliating. Wang Rui really wanted the coach to substitute himself out of the game at this time, because he no longer wanted to stay on the court for another moment.

  Suddenly, Wang Rui saw the coach shouting for a timeout and then replaced Xiao Haifeng, the black kid who humiliated him, with another player. Wang Rui felt a sense of relief in his heart, thinking that he no longer had to watch this black kid score freely in front of him, and he didn't want to recall the painful feeling of quietly walking to the basket, picking up the ball, and passing it out again.

  Suddenly, he heard that the coach's last substitute player was Lin Xiaoyu. Wang Rui suddenly had a feeling of joy and excitement. It was as if a bolt of lightning had split open the heavy clouds that had been weighing on his heart, giving him a sense of renewed brightness.

  Wang Rui let out a long sigh from his chest, watching Lin Xiaoyu slowly walk onto the court. Wang Rui had never made up his mind as firmly as he did now. This determination was to thoroughly humiliate Lin Xiaoyu, who always seemed to be at odds with him no matter how he looked at her.