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We walked over and high-fived each other. Ouyang was not as excited this time; he smiled and said, "We made it to the top sixteen! The common folks are cheering, I'm really happy today..." He even started singing, bouncing around as if he wanted to fly. I quickly held him down with A Fei, saying, "Ouyang, our journey is still long. This is just the top sixteen. It's just like when the City High League started; we will soon enter the knockout stage of the main competition. The real contest is about to begin, and we need to fight for the finals."
Then we agreed to meet at the school gym in the afternoon and went our separate ways. After getting home, I opened my computer to play Street Basketball. Jiang Lingfeng sent me a video invitation, so I closed the game and video-called him. "Jiang, how did the Street Basketball Championship go? The preliminaries should be over by now?" Jiang Lingfeng was very concerned about our Street Basketball Championship progress. "Yes, we just finished the preliminaries today, and we made it to the main event! Captain, how's the national team's training going?" I asked him. Jiang Lingfeng stretched lazily and replied, "It's okay; it's much more intense than Team's training. You get used to it. By the way, you guys brought Ouyang along for the competition, right?"
"Yeah, but it's not that we brought him; he insisted on joining us. If it weren't for him, we probably wouldn't have participated in SB this year; it's too exhausting," I quickly corrected Jiang Lingfeng.
After chatting for a while, we had dinner. On our way to school in the afternoon, A Fei asked me what our minimum goal was for participating in the Street Basketball Championship. Without thinking, I said it was to be Defending Champion. A Fei smiled and pointed out that he was asking about my minimum goal, not my ultimate goal. I chuckled and clarified that my minimum goal was indeed Defending Champion—specifically for the city championship. As for the ultimate goal... well, that would also be Defending Champion but for the National Championship. However, since the big competition had just begun, we should take it step by step.
Once we arrived at the school gym, we started a new round of practice. Ouyang was as excited as if he had been injected with adrenaline, showing no signs of fatigue. We practiced until evening before sitting down. "Team members, it seems we haven't decided who our captain is yet," Ouyang suddenly said. A Fei and I exchanged glances and nodded; yes, we needed to choose a captain who could call timeouts during games and represent us three swordsmen in draws.
"A Fei, you're the vice president of Junior High School; among us three swordsmen, your name carries weight. It seems this captain position should belong to you!" I patted A Fei on the shoulder. A Fei smiled calmly and said, "I can't be the organizer; you're our backcourt engine and most qualified to replace Jiang Lingfeng as captain..." We both started to defer to each other.
"Alright, alright! Let's vote to decide," Ouyang interrupted us. A Fei and I could only nod helplessly. "Those in favor of Ouyang Shangqiang as captain raise your hands!" Ouyang called out his name but didn't raise his hand himself. Neither did we raise ours. Ouyang chuckled and said, "Hehe, I don't think I'm fit for this captain role; even if you make me captain, I'm not capable enough."
"Okay then! Those in favor of Yu Chengfei as captain raise your hands!" I raised my hand, and Ouyang did too—two votes—but A Fei didn't raise his hand himself. "A Fei has quite a following!" Ouyang continued, "Now those in favor of classmate Xiang Jie as captain raise your hands!" As soon as he finished speaking, both Ouyang and A Fei raised their hands simultaneously.
"What are you two doing..." This scene left me dumbfounded; for a moment I didn't know how to respond. "Jiang, actually A Fei and I have already discussed this; you're the most suitable for captain because your organizational leadership is what we need," Ouyang said firmly while patting my shoulder.
I felt a bit emotional with tears welling up in my eyes as I hugged both of them tightly: "My silly brothers! Why are you so selfless? What qualifications do I have to be a good captain? I..."
"Jiang, you need to learn to grow into a leader slowly; we all support you and believe in you..." A Fei encouraged me by patting my back. I made a firm decision; their trust in me as captain meant I absolutely couldn't let them down. I released them and turned towards the court: "Alright! Team members, let's continue our glory!" A Fei and Ouyang clapped my shoulders from behind: "Yes! Captain!"
That night I once again struggled with insomnia, feeling confused about how I became captain so suddenly. However, really—though being captain comes with heavy responsibilities—the thought of leading my team like Jiang Lingfeng did to strive for honor excited me a bit. That means tomorrow I'll represent our three swordsmen in the draw; hopefully my lucky touch will bring us a good draw.
The next day we stood early at Lake City Park's entrance. "A Fei, Ouyang! Are you ready?!" I mimicked last year's Jiang Lingfeng's pre-game catchphrase.
"Ready!" They both responded in unison quite cooperatively.
Then we marched confidently onto the battlefield. After a while, other teams from the top sixteen arrived—each with their unique styles—but upon closer inspection, I realized none of last year's teams were present at all. Why hadn't I seen any old friends this time? Could it be that they were hurt after being eliminated last year? It's possible.
"Team members! Welcome to our 01 Fourth Fever Sports National Street Basketball Championship main event draw ceremony! After two rounds of brutal preliminary eliminations, we've narrowed down from sixty-four teams to sixteen teams now! I'm sure everyone standing here today is an elite..." The emcee had excellent speaking skills; I almost fell asleep listening to him. Fortunately today wasn't too hot; otherwise I'd definitely suffer from heatstroke.
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