Qin Yufan had calmed down, and even the slowest person would have realized what was happening by now.
He stepped forward and patted Zhang Xinghua's chest: "Yeah, Hua Zi, Brother Pei is absolutely right."
He raised his voice again: "Even if we can't find anyone better than you in the future, with me, Da Fan, here, taking down those bastards from No. 5 Middle School will be a piece of cake. Don't forget what my name is, I'm the iron tower in the paint!"
Zhang Xinghua looked at the group of people, her eyes welled up with tears, and she almost couldn't hold back her emotions.
He raised his hand and rubbed his eyes hard, choking back tears as he said, "Brother Pei, Brother Kai, Da Fan, you will always be my brothers."
"Of course," Tong Kai said with a smile. "Don't act so pathetic and make yourself a laughing stock."
"Mm." Zhang Xinghua nodded, forcefully suppressing the heat in her eyes.
"Alright, it's nothing serious." Pei Zhi released Zhang Xinghua's shoulder, saw that many people on the court had left, glanced at his watch, and waved to the others, "Class is about to start, you guys go back first, I'm going to have PE class with Shi Chen later."
"Okay, we're leaving now," Tong Kai said.
He hooked his arm around Zhang Xinghua with one arm and Qin Yufan with the other. The three of them said goodbye to Pei Zhi and then went back arm in arm.
Pei Zhi watched their backs as someone carrying a basketball slowly walked up to him.
Pei Zhi glanced at him sideways, "You only arrived after the fight was over?"
Shi Chen threw the ball to the ground and patted it, then lowered his head and said, "I ran into Pei Xi on the way and we exchanged a few words."
Pei Zhi was taken aback. "Pei Xi is back?"
"Yes." Shi Chen nodded. "She asked me to tell you."
Pei Zhi gave a soft "hmm," looked at the ball in his hand, and said softly, "Hua Zi said he's transferring schools and has to leave before the competition."
Upon hearing this, Shi Chen continued what he was doing, only humming in response.
Pei Zhi looked up at him and found that he didn't seem surprised at all.
He frowned and asked, "You already knew?"
“He told me first.” Shi Chen nodded, raising an eyebrow at him.
Pei Zhi clicked his tongue upon hearing this, seemingly both surprised and unsurprised, and casually remarked, "So you're the captain after all."
"He's just too scared to tell you."
"You're playing the good guy again," Pei Zhi said dismissively.
Shi Chen stopped what he was doing, hugged the ball to his chest, and looked at Pei Zhi again.
A smile flickered in his peach blossom eyes, and he said with certainty, "I bet you told him to stop being so dramatic and that our team can keep going without him."
Pei Zhi: "".
After a long while, he frowned incredulously and asked, "...You put a listening device on me?"
Shi Chen curled his lips and shook his head slightly, giving off an expression that said, "You're easy to guess."
He tossed the ball to Pei Zhi, raised an eyebrow, and asked him, "Let me ask you, do you even believe what you're saying? I bet even Da Fan doesn't believe it."
Pei Zhi: "..."
After a moment of silence, he gritted his teeth and said, "Would it kill you to say less?"
Shi Chen shrugged innocently.
Everyone knows that those seemingly lighthearted words were just meant to comfort Zhang Xinghua.
He looked at Pei Zhi, his expression unusually serious. "Pei Zhi, you know I'm not making sarcastic remarks."
Pei remained silent.
After a long pause, his brows furrowed, his expression hardening. "No matter what, this is the last game, and we must win."
He looked at Shi Chen and said seriously, "Please notify everyone in all the groups that if anyone wants to join the team, let me know anytime. See you at the court after school."
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