029. The Basketball Game
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The school’s basketball games were organized by departments without regard for grade levels, which meant that sophomore Chen Yao found himself on the same team as junior Dong An.
Lin Nan had never been interested in basketball. As a child, he preferred watching table tennis, volleyball, and even billiards. Basketball? No way! He didn’t understand the rules at all. Why did the audience cheer just because someone tossed a ball into a hoop? It baffled him!
If it were football, that would be different—only a few goals scored in a whole match. High-level table tennis matches could make him hold his breath. But basketball was just a dizzying blur that made no sense whatsoever.
Under Chen Yao’s enthusiastic persuasion, a few people from Lin Nan’s dorm headed to the basketball court after lunch.
“Looks like a lot of people.” Lin Nan peered through the chain link fence, but even on tiptoe, his short stature only allowed him to see a mass of bodies.
Tu Junhui yawned behind him. He’d recently bought a new computer and had been pulling all-nighters playing the latest single-player games, resulting in dark circles under his eyes.
Xiong Da, seeing Tu yawn, caught the yawning bug himself and let out a hefty yawn too. He seemed to be on a streak with a mobile game that had some midnight event going on. Lin Nan couldn’t fathom why mobile game events had to happen late at night.
Lin Nan, on the other hand, played games on a budget—not because he didn’t want to, but simply because he had no energy. Ever since that magic spell to enhance his reflexes kicked in, he realized that concentrating made him more fatigued. He could only manage to play two games at a decent level before feeling completely wiped out.
Must be a side effect of the magic, right?
“Basketball…” With a lack of enthusiasm, he stepped through the fence and onto the basketball court’s boundary.
Today there were three matches going on simultaneously, and the court was packed with students cheering loudly, along with a bunch of players warming up in their jerseys.
“They’re all so tall!” Lin Nan glanced around, his face filled with envy as he stared at the players on the court, sighing, “So big and muscular…”
“Your point of view is a bit strange,” Tu Junhui flexed his arms in a mock bodybuilding pose, proudly boasting, “What about your roommate? Isn’t he muscular?”
Lin Nan looked at Tu’s biceps, pinched them, and replied with a pout, “You’re just fat.”
Truth be told, while Tu looked chubby, his biceps were pretty solid. After a few nights of running, Lin Nan discovered that this hefty guy actually had amazing stamina—he could jog for kilometers without breaking a sweat, not at all like the typical couch potato he’d imagined.
“I’m just a muscle guy hidden under a layer of fat! Unlike you with your twig arms and legs like a girl.”
With that retort, Lin Nan gave up in defeat.
He actually had muscles! Especially in his calves—they were long and firm. His biceps could barely bulge, but ever since that fever, all his muscles had vanished, leaving him with arms and legs that looked just like a girl’s—smooth and soft.
His jogging had left him utterly exhausted every time, yet it hadn’t helped his stamina at all. Running one lap had him gasping for breath, and building muscle? Forget about it!
The basketball court was buzzing with at least a hundred students. Some were clustered in corners, clearly “coerced” by counselors to be here, while most were like Lin Nan—wandering around curiously, waiting for the games to start.
After a round of surveying, Lin Nan finally spotted Chen Yao warming up on the court along with his senior, Dong An.
Both of them were players on the basketball team.
“Chen Yao!” Tu Junhui shouted.
Chen Yao turned to acknowledge them with a nod before going back to practicing his shooting.
Lin Nan had no idea what position Chen was playing. He’d heard terms like center, forward, and guard, but explaining it to someone who knew nothing about games was like trying to describe the jungle to an alien. Basketball? No clue!
There were seats around the court, but the ones closest to the action were already taken. The trio managed to squeeze into a far corner for a decent view.
“Where’s everyone else?” Lin Nan noticed none of his classmates had shown up yet and turned to spot Li Na hidden in the crowd behind him.
Tu Junhui shrugged, “It’s not a singing competition. Of course, people like you, who don’t get it, wouldn’t be interested.”
True enough. If it weren’t for Chen Yao’s persistent nagging, Lin Nan wouldn’t have dragged these two along.
They didn’t have to wait long for the game to start; after about five minutes, the whistle blew.
Lin Nan had high hopes for Chen Yao, but after watching for a bit, he realized Chen seemed destined to be a benchwarmer. The ball hardly ever came his way, let alone an opportunity to make a shot! Their team was being dominated; the basketball hardly left Chen’s half of the court.
“This is boring.”
Listening to the crowd cheer around him, Lin Nan glanced over to see Tu Junhui getting pumped up and then noticed that Xiong Da had slipped away without him noticing.
“Go! Steal it from him! Missed! Rebound! Rebound! d*mn, a bunch of colorful pencils have grown so big!” Tu Junhui was hyped, cheering and cursing like he wanted to jump in himself.
Lin Nan didn’t understand why he was so emotionally invested. Honestly, he was rather bored.
Just as his mind wandered, the crowd erupted in cheers, startling Lin Nan into turning back to the court, just in time to see a pretty good-looking player soaring into the air, one hand clutching the ball, ready to slam dunk.
But louder cheers suddenly drowned out the noise; Chen Yao leaped up in sync, swatting that would-be showy dunk away with a swift smack.
Lin Nan blinked in surprise while Tu Junhui squealed, “Whoa! Chen Yao, not bad! Aerial block! Cool!”
As Chen Yao landed and turned to look at Lin Nan’s section, Lin Nan quickly turned back, mimicking Tu’s excited expression and clapping vigorously for Chen Yao.
He might have been clueless about what just happened, but the moment was undeniably cool.
Gradually, Lin Nan began to feel the game’s atmosphere. Although he still didn’t get it, he found himself holding his breath during each shot, and Chen Yao’s play improved. He snagged several rebounds, reclaiming control of the ball.
Still clueless about the game’s intricacies, all he knew was that it looked awesome.
“How about that?” During halftime, Chen Yao wiped sweat away as he approached Lin Nan, beaming, “I only showed thirty percent of my power today.”
“Dong An was amazing!” Lin Nan promptly replied without a second thought.
“Clearly, you have no taste.” Chen Yao wiped the sweat from his forehead, trying to tempt him further, “How about it? Interested in learning basketball with me?”
“Not interested at all.”
“It could help you grow taller.”
“Tu Tu, I’m skipping our run tonight,” Lin Nan suddenly remembered his earlier words, “Chen Yao, teach me how to play tonight!”
