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墨書 Inktalez
The three away games are finally over. I let out a sigh of relief and continued to work hard, determined to defend our home court. I slept soundly last night, but when I woke up this morning, I found my neck was really sore. It hurt every time I moved. Oh no! Based on logical reasoning and my sleeping position, it seems I've slept wrong and have a stiff neck. Every movement was agonizing, so I had to get out of bed with my neck tilted. Luckily, I didn't have school today; otherwise, I would have been in big trouble. "Mom, hurry up! Your son is about to turn into a zombie!" I rushed out of my room to find my mom. "What’s wrong? Stiff neck?" she asked as she walked over. "Yes, yes! I twisted my neck while sleeping last night." My neck wouldn't move at all. "Come sit down; I'll give you a massage; it will help," she said as she pushed me onto the sofa and started massaging my neck. "Ah!" I cried out as my mom's hands worked on my neck, moving it from side to side. "Hey? It feels better! Mom, you’re quite skilled!" I shook my head left and right. After lunch, I dove into the computer and noticed that Shuai Dong and Pang Hao were both online. I quickly logged off QQ and left. "Are we playing Street Basketball today?" I opened the voice chat. Shuai Dong replied, "Sure! Which area?" Pang Hao hesitated a bit, saying, "I’m not very good; I might hold you back..." "No worries! Just take your time and you'll get the hang of it," we said as we formed a team and played for the entire morning.
In the afternoon, Shuai Dong suggested going to Anime City. At Anime City, we saw many anime characters, and Shuai Dong even asked me to take a picture with him next to Kyo Kusanagi; we took a lot of photos. After playing for a long time, it was already evening. "How about we go eat Spicy Hot Pot?" I suddenly craved it. "Sure!" It felt good to relax today; the recent matches had been too intense. We arrived at the Spicy Hot Pot restaurant, but because it was peak dinner time, it was packed with people. We finally found a table to sit down at. "Pang Hao, you hold our seats while Shuai Dong and I go pick ingredients." So Shuai Dong and I went off to choose our food. When we returned with our selections, we found Pang Hao standing aside. "Huh? Why are you standing here? Didn’t we tell you to hold our seats?" Both Shuai Dong and I were confused. "Well, some people came over there and told me to get up right away; they were pretty rude about it," Pang Hao said with his head down, his face flushed red. "Damn! That’s just unreasonable!" Shuai Dong got angry. "I’ll go check it out!" He rushed toward the table we had occupied earlier. We were worried he might act impulsively and followed him.
There were three people at that table—men in their forties with beards. "Excuse me, but this table seems like it was occupied by us first!" Shuai Dong asserted confidently since he believed he was in the right. One of the men replied, "Kid, we're hungry too; we need to eat as well." Another thin man added, "We also want to eat! Besides, we were here first!" Shuai Dong stood his ground again. "Forget it; let’s find another table," Pang Hao whispered while tugging at Shuai Dong's shirt lightly. "Get lost! Kid, don’t make me angry!" one of the burly men shouted angrily. "But..." Shuai Dong tried to argue again until I covered his mouth and pulled him outside the restaurant. "What are you doing?" he complained about being dragged out.
"Didn’t your teacher teach you anything? Stay away from unreasonable people like that; don’t you fear getting beaten up?" I scolded him in a stern tone. Shuai Dong was defiant and tried to walk back into the restaurant again. We finally found another table after some effort, but Shuai Dong seemed particularly frustrated during this meal; he looked like he wanted to eat six beef balls in one bite.
After finishing our meal, we went for a stroll on the street. "Shuai Dong, do you think we can take revenge against City No. 1 in our upcoming match?" I gazed at the stars above us and asked him. "How would I know? I'm not part of Team Team, but we'll definitely cheer for you," he replied with a smile.
After a whole day of playing around, I was exhausted by the time I got home—it was almost nine o'clock! After washing up, I lay down in bed but noticed something strange: no one was online tonight; it felt dull... Oh wait! I have Xia Ying's phone number... Hehe! After dialing her number, it seemed like Xia Ying was just waking up from sleep when she answered groggily, “Hello? Who is this?”
"Lazy pig! Are you already asleep?" I teased her playfully without realizing how mischievous that sounded—though compared to Xia Ying's level of mischief, mine felt weak by comparison.
"Who are you?! You're crazy!" she replied irritably.
"Okay okay! It's me—Xiang Jie," I said when I saw she was genuinely annoyed.
"Huh? How did you get my number?" she asked curiously.
I pretended to be serious: “I don’t know; maybe some kid announced their phone number in class...”
"You actually wrote it down!" Xia Ying exclaimed in surprise.
"Alright then! Go back to sleep; don't let me disturb your dreams," I said suddenly losing interest in teasing her further.
"I can't sleep now; I'll keep you company for a bit," she replied cheerfully.
"Fine... Okay! Bye!" Just then there was a loud click as she hung up on me... Sigh... Time for bed again.
It was Monday—the day of our home game against City No. 1! When I arrived at school and just dropped off my backpack, Xia Ying wobbled in looking tired.
"Hey! What happened?" I joked.
She yawned and replied: “It’s all your fault! After hanging up last night’s call, I couldn’t sleep until two in the morning listening to music.”
"That’s ridiculous! You’re being overly dramatic," I said skeptically.
"Yeah yeah... I'm just exaggerating," she admitted while rubbing her sleepy eyes before resting her head on her desk and falling asleep.
Seeing Xia Ying looking so exhausted made me feel a twinge of guilt—sorry about that, Xia Ying.
I walked toward the gym when Sha Xiaomei approached me: “Xiang Jie!”
“Hello there! What can I do for you?”
“Stop joking around! Is Cheng Fei getting discharged after removing his stitches?” Sha Xiaomei asked with concern.
“Yes; you won’t see him for quite some time,” I replied casually.
Sha Xiaomei lowered her head for a moment before saying “Oh” softly before walking away—hmpf! Not even a thank you? How rude!
When I reached the gymnasium, I realized that once again, I was the last one to arrive.
“Xiang Jie! Good morning!” Bing Ge greeted me as he walked over.
“Not really early; you guys got here way before me,” I replied before joining practice.
“Where did Junze go yesterday?” I called out to Qiu Junze.
“Oh! Just stayed home sleeping,” he answered casually.
“Pretty carefree huh? What about Zhongqi Senior?”
“He didn’t go out either; he practiced basketball with me and Yingjie,” Bing Ge laughed.
At that moment, feeling particularly awkward yet admiring their dedication reminded me of Wang Jinxie's spirit!
Before long Teacher Qiu arrived: “Good morning everyone!”
He called out enthusiastically: “This is our home game; don’t be nervous—just play well regardless of winning or losing.”
Cheng Zhongqi looked serious as he practiced shooting: “Three people per group for shooting practice,” Teacher Qiu instructed us firmly since we needed to improve our shooting percentage against City No. 1—they weren’t invincible if we adjusted our state properly!
After losing last time against them—we had to win this match!
“City No. 1 has arrived!” Teacher Yin announced as they entered through the gym doors slowly revealing familiar faces one after another.
“Coach Qiu! Nice seeing you again!” their coach greeted warmly while shaking hands with Teacher Qiu who responded: “Yes indeed—Coach Qu arrived quite early…”
Just wait until later when they won’t be smiling anymore—City No. 1 lost against Hejiang Middle School previously with two wins and one loss!
Rumor has it that match was extremely intense—they had three players fouled out yet still lost by six points!
As both teams warmed up together—I shot an intimidating glare at my opponent from last time who merely smirked back at me while shaking his finger mockingly as if taunting: “Staring won’t help—you’ve already lost!”
Today I'll show him what I'm capable of—I’m not just here for passing!
With all my strength—I slammed the ball against the backboard—but oh no!
The ball ricocheted back hitting Ouyang Shangqiang who had been dribbling with his head down: “Ouch!” He winced slightly while rubbing his head saying: “Xiang Jie—next time don’t shoot so hard—you almost knocked me out!”
“Oh sorry Ouyang—I didn’t see you there—I used too much force…” Surprisingly enough—I realized my shooting skills weren’t half bad since my aim turned out pretty accurate despite hitting him!
The match was about to start soon—both teams arranged their starting lineups—I was named starting Shooting Guard while Ouyang took point guard position—Zhongqi Senior sat on the bench!!
Why wasn’t Zhongqi Senior starting?! He’s our core player!
He’s always been among our main starters every game—I really couldn’t understand Teacher Qiu’s reasoning behind this decision—it felt odd starting off with only first-year players like us!
Bing Ge and Zhang Ruizhi remained as our inside duo while Zhang Yingjie played forward position instead!
As soon as the game began—Ouyang and I being first-year newcomers full of energy lacked experience—we needed Zhongqi Senior leading us through this!
Glancing over at Zhongqi Senior sitting calmly on the bench—it seemed like nothing mattered much whether he started or not…
During the first quarter—the opposing team’s inside players struggled against Bing Ge and Zhang Ruizhi who performed excellently together!
Zhang Ruizhi blocked shots impressively while Bing Ge grabbed four rebounds during that quarter alone—it appeared they prepared thoroughly beforehand!
By quarter's end—we led by three points—but Zhongqi Senior hadn’t played yet!
“The Point Guard position needs stronger defense—Xiang Jie—you must stick closely to their shooting guard preventing any chances!” Teacher Qiu instructed firmly before announcing: “Zhongqi—you’re subbing in for Ouyang now!”
Finally—it was Zhongqi Senior’s turn on court!
Just then—the bell rang signaling class change—the gym began filling up gradually with teachers and students alike making things lively again!
“Jie—go for it!” Shuai Dong cheered from afar along with Pang Hao joining in support too!
“Don Juan—don’t embarrass yourself in front of us girls!” Xia Ying chimed in encouragingly as well—seeing her worn-out face made my heart warm unexpectedly…
As Second Quarter commenced—with Zhongqi Senior now leading us—the pace stabilized allowing us ample time before shooting within five seconds remaining each play ensuring steady rhythm throughout…
My opponent attempted faking moves past me before shooting—but thankfully—I reacted quickly disrupting his shot just before he jumped resulting in fouling him twice earning free throws instead…
Teacher Qiu swapped me out replacing me with Ji Fang—a rarely used third-year student who usually kept quiet yet trained diligently during practices…
Ji Fang entered court smiling slightly—not showing excitement nor pressure whatsoever—a calm demeanor that astonished everyone around him…
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