Chapter 59
Magnolias bloom and fade, and in the blink of an eye, the height of summer has quietly passed. The sun in Shanghai is no longer so intense, but even so, the whole city is still shrouded in warmth, and you will still be covered in sweat if you exercise a little.
The basketball tournament at Shenhai High School proceeded as scheduled during the start of the school year. In the nearly 2,000-square-meter gymnasium, the air conditioning was turned up to the maximum, providing a cool and comfortable environment for the students participating in the game and the parents who came to watch.
Jiang Huaiyu had the words "Senior Three (Class One)" pasted on the back of his jersey. He entered the field with his teammates. The boy had long limbs and a tall and straight posture. He wore a sports headband on his forehead. Although everyone was wearing the same white and red jersey, most of the eyes in the stands were still fixed on him.
As Jiang Huaiyu was adjusting her wristband, she could feel the unpleasant gaze of someone beside her.
He plays power forward.
In previous years, he did not participate in basketball games, so this position would naturally be filled by someone else. This year, he signed up, and during training, because of his good three-point shooting and his height advantage, the coach assigned him to this position.
Ke Zhirui, who originally played power forward, was somewhat dissatisfied, and in today's final, that dissatisfaction seemed particularly strong.
Jiang Huaiyu ignored him. The boy with red lips and white teeth raised his head, his gaze sweeping over the parents' seats. After finding Song Jingliang and Jiang Lan, he raised his hand and waved.
Jiang Lan disregarded her composed and elegant image, smiling brightly like a young girl, raising her arm high in response to her son. Song Jingliang, being more reserved, nodded with a smile in his eyes.
Jiang Lan lowered her arm and whispered to Song Jingliang, "Why is Xiao Bao wearing jersey number 24... Is he a Kobe fan?"
"No way, Xiao Bao wasn't that interested in basketball before." Song Jingliang suddenly became alert: "Da Bao is a Kobe fan?"
Jiang Lan: "No, not really. Last year during Chinese New Year, I asked Da Bao if he wanted a basketball signed by an NBA star, and he said he didn't like NBA stars."
Song Jingliang: "Then why is it the 24th?"
Jiang Lan: "I don't know."
...
Class One's opponent was Class Four, and He Yan was among them, winking and making hand gestures to Jiang Huaiyu.
The cheerleaders entered the field to warm up the crowd, and the team members warmed up on the sidelines. Class 1 and Class 4 did not have the same physical education teacher, so they each took on the role of coaches and were instructing their respective team members.
"First, we need to hold the rebounds. Ke Zhirui should pay attention to getting back on defense and not rushing forward blindly. Second, seize the transition opportunities and be more flexible, both mentally and physically. Third, pass the ball to Jiang Huaiyu. He has been scoring a lot of three-pointers in the past few days, so just play normally today."
"Trust your teammates. Help on defense and cover for each other. We're a team. If we execute these strategies well, our class will definitely win. Even with Old Zhang from Class 4, I could easily beat him when I was at Beijing Sport University!"
Ke Zhirui picked at his ear, his tone somewhat impatient: "I know, I know, pass the ball to Jiang Huaiyu. Hey Teacher Li, you didn't take a bonus from the board of directors, did you?"
Teacher Li looked somewhat embarrassed.
Jiang Huaiyu's parents are members of the school board. Ke Zhirui's point is that he only let Jiang Huaiyu play power forward because he received a bribe.
At Shenhai Middle School, the vast majority of students come from well-off families. They are well-traveled and knowledgeable, and traveling abroad is commonplace for them. Their monthly allowance is equivalent to a teacher's annual salary. In fact, there are a few students who can put a teacher out of work with just one phone call. Therefore, the students here are difficult to manage.
Being a teacher is a job that requires risking your life, but fortunately, Shenhai Middle School offered money to cover it.
For the sake of money, Teacher Li suppressed her anger and smiled: "Everyone has seen how well Jiang Huaiyu has played these past two days. Of course, Ke Zhirui also played very well..."
Ke Zhirui scoffed, not intending to listen to the teacher at all, and turned to leave.
Jiang Huaiyu picked up a bottle of water and handed it to him: "Teacher, have some water."
"Oh, thank you!" Teacher Li wiped her sweat, took the bottle of water, and tried to change the subject to ease the awkwardness: "Jiang Huaiyu, are you a Kobe fan?"
Jiang Huaiyu: "...No."
The conversation died down.
Fortunately, the match started. As the players from both teams entered the field, Ke Zhirui glanced at the red number 24 as he walked past Jiang Huaiyu and chuckled, "Isn't this thing dead?"
Jiang Huaiyu turned her head, her gaze calm: "Watch your mouth."
Ke Zhirui shrugged.
The whistle blew, and the game began.
The screeching of sneakers against the floor created a constant din. The boys on the court were full of energy. Because Jiang Huaiyu had scored the most points in the previous games, the opponents were clearly keeping an eye on him. After missing several shooting opportunities, Jiang Huaiyu decisively passed the ball to the small forward. However, Ke Zhirui suddenly jumped out to steal the ball. The small forward couldn't dodge in time and collided heavily with him. He Yan immediately seized the opportunity, broke through the zone defense of Class 1, and made a beautiful three-pointer.
"Damn it! Ke Zhirui! Are you out of your mind?" the small forward couldn't help but curse.
Ke Zhirui's expression was not good: "Jiang Huaiyu and the others failed to defend themselves, is it my fault?"
After two quarters, because Ke Zhirui kept fighting with his teammates for the ball, Class 1 fell behind by a significant margin. Even He Yan noticed this and gave Ke Zhirui the middle finger.
"You damn troublemaker, thanks!"
Ke Zhirui's teammates gave him a cold shoulder, with the small forward being particularly blunt: "You just have a problem with Jiang Huaiyu playing power forward, right? Is the position that important? You used to play power forward every time, so why don't you score? You're bad at the game but have a big addiction to it. If it weren't for Jiang Huaiyu playing power forward this year, our class wouldn't have made it to the finals at all!"
The small forward added, "I think He Yan from Class 4 is right, you are indeed..."
"Stop." Jiang Huaiyu didn't want to hear that word anymore, pinched her brow, and looked at Ke Zhirui.
If it were Lu Mingxiao, how would he handle it?
Jiang Huaiyu glanced at the stands and saw a girl who had given Ke Zhirui water was waving a small banner vigorously in their direction.
"Your girlfriend is watching," Jiang Huaiyu said. "Losing is embarrassing, but winning is better than not sharing the prize together, isn't it?"
Dr. Jiang's miraculous healing brought Ke Zhirui back to his senses in the second half. After Jiang Huaiyu made two three-pointers, the score finally took the lead, but Class 4 kept close behind, and the gap was very small.
Only 5 seconds remain.
Jiang Huaiyu received the ball and, facing the block of He Yan and another opponent, he pulled up and jumped at the three-point line—the ball drew an extremely high arc in the air…
Lights on, goal!
The whistle blew, and Class One won.
The small forward excitedly ran over and hugged Jiang Huaiyu, and the other teammates cheered and jumped for joy. Ke Zhirui's grumpy face lit up with joy, and he went over to try to join in the celebration, but in the chaos, he was hit hard by an elbow and fell to the ground. Just then, the cameraman came over, and the camera was projected onto the big screen, causing the whole audience to burst into laughter.
"Who?!" He scrambled to his feet angrily. "Who deliberately bumped into me? Jiang Huaiyu, was it you?!"
Jiang Huaiyu: "I don't know."
Class One stood on the podium last, with Jiang Huaiyu, who was standing in the middle, holding the trophy. They took a photo with the school leaders who presented the award. Jiang Lan was waiting on the sidelines with flowers in her hands. When she saw her son coming over, she went up to him with a happy face and her eyes were full of pride.
"Xiao Bao, when did you become so good at basketball? You were so cool on the court just now..."
Jiang Huaiyu paused slightly as he wiped the sweat from his brow.
He's good at basketball because he's practiced a lot this year. At first, Lu Mingxiao dragged him and his classmates to play basketball, and later, he dragged Lu Mingxiao out to play basketball so that Lu Mingxiao could relax.
Lu Mingxiao is good at basketball, and he learned a lot from him.
Song Jingliang, who was standing at a distance exchanging pleasantries with the principal, suddenly sighed.
The principal's heart tightened, and he quickly asked, "Does Chairman Song have any different opinions on what I just said?"
"No, it's fine."
He sighed because he saw the shadow of a wild boar in the little cabbage.
These two children seem to have separated, yet they also seem inseparable.
...
September in Ancheng was already autumn, and the students of Class 5 officially became members of the graduating class. In fact, they had already started school in mid-August. The start of school was filled with a deluge of test papers and exercises. In September, Lu Mingxiao entered the first examination room for the first monthly exam.
He sat in the last row of the first examination room, his gaze fixed on the first desk.
There sat a female classmate with a round face and round eyes. She and the typical STEM whiz behind her used to take turns sitting behind Jiang Huaiyu. Now that Jiang Huaiyu has transferred schools, they have started taking turns sitting at the first table.
The bell rang, and the proctor began distributing the exam papers. Lu Mingxiao finished writing his name and started answering the questions.
He spent the entire holiday receiving tutoring from a teacher in Shenhai. The elderly teacher, who was very experienced, said with satisfaction, "You are the second most gifted child I have ever taught."
Lu Mingxiao asked instinctively, "Then who was the first one?"
But he already had the answer in his heart.
The old teacher said, "You wouldn't recognize me even if I told you."
Lu Mingxiao twirled his pen, smiling, "How would you know I don't recognize it if you didn't tell me?"
"His name is Jiang Huaiyu, and he is a student on our side."
“Jiang Huaiyu, I know him…”
...
On the day the monthly exam results came out, Lu Mingxiao logged into the game and sent the report card to Jiang Huaiyu. Unexpectedly, during the afternoon class time, Jiang Huaiyu's avatar was lit up and she replied with an emoji instantly.
【JHY】: [Petting the puppy's head.jpg]
Lu Mingxiao perked up and replied quickly.
[AAA Game Booster Xiaoming]: Gotcha! Playing on your phone during class!
【JHY】: Basketball game in the morning, afternoon off.
[JHY]: Our class won. [Image]
The image was loading, and Lu Mingxiao could vaguely make out the outline of someone holding a trophy.
He thought it was Jiang Huaiyu who sent him the photos, and excitedly clicked on them...
It is a photo, but it's a photo from the neck down. The boy is wearing a red and white jersey with a red "24" on it. His arms are long and slender, and his fingers holding the trophy are delicate and beautiful.
[AAA Power Booster Xiaoming]: [Crying] [Crying]
[AAA Boosting Xiaoming]: Boyfriend, I haven't seen your face for four months. I'm dreaming that I'm going to run out of content.
【JHY】：……
【AAA Power Booster Xiaoming】: Just kidding! Anyone can do it!
Jiang Huaiyu stared at the two cheeky wavy lines and could almost picture Lu Mingxiao's wicked grin.
With his eyebrows slightly raised, his eyes full of smugness, and his thin lips curving upwards, the left corner of his lips curving slightly higher, this boy with deep-set eyes and brows has a special attraction when he smiles mischievously. Parents who see him will mutter that he is a bad boy.
【JHY】: Well, let's see how you use your hands then. Use tissues sparingly.
[AAA Boosting Xiaoming]: Jiang Xiaoyu, what is the special meaning of the number 24?
【JHY】: Can't guess?
【AAA Boosting Xiaoming】: Of course I can, I can even guess the corresponding number is 29.
Author's Note:
It's the number of strokes in the name. Jiang Xiaoyu considered using 6, since it's capitalized as Lu, but she was afraid it would be too obvious and Lao Song's blood pressure would rise. [666]
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