Chapter Ninety-Six: A Startling Scene

When Cheng Xiaoyu turned back, he had already expected ridicule. One of the few advantages of being an older man was a thick skin. So when he walked back toward his own class’s side of the court as if nothing had happened, he immediately felt a wave of hostility wash over him.

This time Huang Liang finally had a weapon to use against him. Dribbling the ball with one hand, he laughed and said to Cheng Xiaoyu, “That was an A-plus act you put on. Even our captain, Chen Jiajun, can’t win over Goddess Su, and you still had the nerve to try flirting with her. Why don’t you take a piss and look at your own face?”

A few onlookers around them started laughing too.

To Fudan Affiliated High School, Su Yuxi was the kind of existence one could only admire from afar. For years to come, she would remain an evergreen topic among every student who had once shared a campus with her. No matter how much time passed, you might forget your homeroom teacher’s name, or who had been class monitor, but you would never forget that girl who had once lived in every boy’s dream.

People would gossip about whether she had married, become a mother, and descended into the mortal world. They would wonder what kind of life she had gone on to live. And privately, they would ask themselves whether they were now worthy of her unparalleled brilliance.

She was such a special presence, so special that in the eyes of everyone who had ever seen her, she left behind a dazzling and indelible mark.

And Cheng Xiaoyu? Setting aside his less-than-stellar appearance, his grades might have improved a little, but his former image of stupidity was still deeply rooted in everyone’s mind. More importantly, there were all those edited photos of him circulating online under the label of the sleazy guy, turning his every appearance into a punch line, a target for teasing, a clown in everyone’s eyes. That alone made him irredeemably negative in public perception.

Compared with Su Yuxi, the difference between her and Cheng Xiaoyu at that moment was not just vast; it was beyond imagination. Just putting the two in the same thought was enough to make people laugh.

Before Cheng Xiaoyu could launch into one of his verbal counterattacks, he saw a graceful figure in Wang Ou’s wide-open eyes.

Cheng Xiaoyu turned around and looked at Su Yuxi in surprise. Her eyes, clear as a blue lake, were filled with a faint warmth. The curve of her lips was perfect, like a crescent moon. Perhaps this was the smile of an angel. It swept away every shadow in Cheng Xiaoyu’s heart.

Su Yuxi smiled lightly and said, “I was just asking why you would do something so childish. I never said I wouldn’t play with you. I don’t know why you’re angry.” Her tone was not coquettish, but it carried unmistakable intimacy.

Cheng Xiaoyu felt her gentle warmth and smiled too, his eyes bright with life. Shaking his head, he said, “I’m not angry. I just didn’t want to cause you trouble. I didn’t want to make you hate me even more.”

Su Yuxi took a neatly folded handkerchief from her pocket and reached out to wipe the sweat from his forehead.

Everyone froze at once, staring in disbelief at the scene before them as if a comet had just struck the earth.

The entire gymnasium fell silent. Only the dull thumps of a basketball rolling across the wooden floor could be heard, along with the heavy breathing that had not yet settled.

Tall glass windows on both sides of the gym let in quiet sunlight, each beam stirring the fine dust in the air. The neatly arranged hoops on either side stood like stone warriors from antiquity, guarding Su Yuxi as though she had fallen from heaven into the mortal world.

Those wide-open eyes and gaping mouths all testified to the sheer impossibility of what they were seeing, and more than that, to their inability to accept it.

As if by long habit, Su Yuxi put the Hermès handkerchief back into her pocket, then turned and fixed Huang Liang with a sharp look. “Who starts with the ball?”

Huang Liang’s brain had already gone blank. He had completely forgotten about the jump ball, and stammered, “You... you start.” Even as he spoke, he was still holding the ball, with no intention of passing it to Su Yuxi.

Su Yuxi stepped forward and, without the slightest politeness, knocked the ball from his hands. Only then did Huang Liang come to himself. His face turned red as Guan Gong’s, as if he had been drinking. Only one line floated through his mind: I actually get to play ball with Goddess Su!

He completely failed to notice that his girlfriend, Fan Wenjuan, was already burning with jealousy, her face dark as iron, glaring at him.

At first Fan Wenjuan had been proudly showing off to the circle of classmates she got along with, boasting that Huang Liang obeyed her every word and had gone all out to stand up for her after being verbally crushed by Cheng Xiaoyu. But now her boyfriend was standing there like a toad, shamelessly staring at Su Yuxi with a fawning expression.

She did not dare feel jealous of Su Yuxi. She simply did not have the right. So all she could do now was hate Huang Liang for being so useless, for making her lose face completely.

Su Yuxi took the ball, dribbled twice, stepped to the center line, and passed it to Cheng Xiaoyu. Cheng Xiaoyu called out to Wang Ou, who only then snapped out of it, muttering, “This has to be an illusion. This has to be an illusion.” Then he started to move into position.

Cheng Xiaoyu passed him the ball. Wang Ou reached out but failed to catch it. Turning back toward Su Yuxi, who was trailing behind him, he laughed and said, “Haha, I must be dreaming. Otherwise how could I miss that pass?”

Su Yuxi had occasionally overheard Cheng Xiaoyu talking on the phone, so she naturally guessed this was Wang Ou. Her memory had always been extraordinary, and she immediately said, “Brother Wang Ou, play well. We can’t lose!”

Looking at the charmingly smiling Goddess Su, Wang Ou could not help slapping himself across the face. Only when he clutched at the stinging cheek did he finally realize that this was real.

Possession changed to Huang Liang’s side, which was even worse for Cheng Xiaoyu’s team. Du Hai quickly inbounded the ball to Huang Liang, who easily shook off the slow-turning Cheng Xiaoyu and drove into the lane for a jump shot and a score.

Cheng Xiaoyu patted Wang Ou on the shoulder. “You’ve got the stamina. You handle full-court man defense and rebounding. I’ll cover the support. Leave the shooting to my sister.”

Wang Ou stared, eyes bulging. “Su Yuxi is your sister? Damn it, why didn’t you ever say so?”

Cheng Xiaoyu had no time to explain. He shoved Wang Ou and said, “Hurry up and pressure him.” Then he moved directly into the lane to defend. His fitness was poor, so he could only narrow his defensive range. Fortunately, this was a half-court game, which played to his advantage.

Su Yuxi did not seem to want to get too close to the boys. She widened the spacing a little and waited for a chance to steal the ball. Wang Ou’s pressure was still fierce, but with Su Yuxi on the court, the opposing side had somehow erupted with double their usual energy, showing off all kinds of dribbling and passing tricks. Before long, the score had become four to zero.

Cheng Xiaoyu had stayed in the paint the whole time and had not come out once. He needed to wait for a chance to grab a rebound or force an error.

Although Su Yuxi did not press tightly, she moved very actively, usually positioning herself on the opponent’s passing lanes.

The three players on the other side were clearly all very selfish. They all wanted to show themselves in front of Goddess Su, rarely cooperating with one another and relying instead on individual breakthroughs to score.

This time Huang Liang received the inbound pass, dribbled between his legs, then turned to shake off Wang Ou. Using his speed, he burst past Cheng Xiaoyu and scored again with a three-step layup.

The three of them exchanged high-fives in celebration. Because Goddess Su was on the court, they kept their language restrained and did not use any excessive taunts to provoke Cheng Xiaoyu.

Cheng Xiaoyu was not especially tense. He encouraged Wang Ou, saying, “Keep it up. Play like this. Once they make a mistake, move closer to the paint. You and I can form a joint defense. Since they’re all playing solo, they’ll be easy to catch out.”

He did not need to encourage Su Yuxi. He felt that the two of them did not even need to speak to understand each other.

Sure enough, Huang Liang tried the same trick again, attempting to get past Wang Ou first. But Wang Ou had not expected that Cheng Xiaoyu would suddenly rush out of the paint as he turned, and with one swipe knock the ball from Huang Liang’s hands. Unfortunately, the ball went out of bounds.

Cheng Xiaoyu shook his head, thinking his luck was a little rotten, and retreated back into the lane.

Du Hai, standing on the sideline, inbounded the ball to Huang Liang again. This time Huang Liang chose to pass to He Tao, but Cheng Xiaoyu had already noticed He Tao’s movement and stepped out of the paint ahead of time, positioning himself in the passing lane.

Cheng Xiaoyu stole the ball easily, then flicked a quick pass with his right hand to Su Yuxi. She caught it and immediately took a shot from beyond the three-point line. The orange ball traced a beautiful arc and dropped cleanly through the net.

The two of them were so in sync they looked like players who had been sharing the court for years.

Applause swept through the gymnasium, as if this were Cheng Xiaoyu’s home court.

The group that had always been at odds with Cheng Xiaoyu all wore dark expressions. Even if Huang Liang’s side eventually won this game, it would still feel bitterly dull.

When it was Cheng Xiaoyu’s turn to inbound, he told Wang Ou to stand at the center line and quickly pass the ball to him. Huang Liang and the other two assumed the ball would definitely go to Su Yuxi, so they paid no attention to Cheng Xiaoyu at all.

By the time Cheng Xiaoyu caught the ball, dribbled quickly, and entered the paint, they finally moved to intercept. Cheng Xiaoyu pretended to shoot, baiting Huang Liang into raising his hands to block. Huang Liang was smart enough not to jump, but he had not expected Cheng Xiaoyu to pull a trick and slip the ball between his legs to Su Yuxi, who had cut into the lane. Su Yuxi made the layup and scored.

After that, Cheng Xiaoyu’s team pressed the advantage and scored three straight baskets, tying the game. All five points had been made by Su Yuxi.

Huang Liang and the others then changed tactics, assigning He Tao to mark Su Yuxi closely and never leave her side.

This time, when Cheng Xiaoyu received the ball, he could only pass to Wang Ou. Wang Ou was not good at ball handling, and his shooting was weak too. He could only rely on his court sense and passing.

Wang Ou’s basketball skills were not terrible, though. He drove into the paint, relied on his springiness, forced up a shot, and made it. They had taken the lead.