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墨書 Inktalez
We cheered as we walked out of Sangyue High School's gymnasium. I stood on the school playground, taking a deep breath of fresh air. Although the intensity of the sun made me feel dizzy, it still felt quite refreshing. Turning around to look at Zhongqi Senior, I found him also closing his eyes and breathing in the air. To the right of the entrance of Sangyue's gym was a large sycamore tree that shielded us from the glaring sunlight. A Fei walked over to the trunk of the sycamore tree to cool off. "Hey! Ai II, what's going on? Are you reluctant to leave? Do you want me to rent a camper for you to stay under this tree? A tent would work too!" I teased him. A Fei laughed and patted my shoulder. We walked out of the school gate and boarded the bus back to school. On the bus, Teacher Qiu was all smiles, as if he could finally breathe a sigh of relief. However, it wasn't time for us to relax yet because the upcoming matches would be even tougher.
When we returned to school, it was noon. A Fei and I walked into the classroom where Xia Ying, Shuai Dong, and Pang Hao had gathered around. Shuai Dong shouted, "Welcome back our class's twin stars from first year!" This Shuai Dong always loved to show off. "So what happened? Did you make it to the semifinals?" Pang Hao asked. I pretended to look deep in thought and sighed lightly. Xia Ying quickly chimed in, "It's okay, it's okay! Heroes aren't judged by success or failure! You are all the best new stars; come back stronger next year." I slowly lowered my head: "I didn't expect that we fought until the end in an away game but still lost to Sangyue. We really feel unwilling, but... since we only lost by three points, we advanced to the top four with a total victory margin of two points!" Suddenly, I lifted my head sharply. "Really!" Shuai Dong and the others cheered excitedly. "You little rascal Xiang Jie, how could you tease us like that?" Xia Ying said angrily. A Fei smiled silently and walked outside the classroom; he must have gone to tell Sha Xiaomei right away. Hmph! What a guy who prioritizes romance over friendship! I'm really happy not just because we advanced but also because I enjoy this relaxed atmosphere.
After returning home that evening, I felt particularly exhausted, as if my bones were about to fall apart. I lay on my bed and played a song called "Flying to Someone Else's Bed." I felt this song belonged to that kind of non-mainstream decadent style, but listening to its melody was quite nice, so I downloaded it to listen. I logged onto QQ and set it to invisible mode. Looking at my space updates, Sha Xiaomei had posted: "Today he has finally gotten one step closer to his dream; I'm really happy for him!" The hidden meanings in her status were full of affection; it was unbearable! Cookie also updated her status: "Hmph! That guy!" Huh? Who is she talking about? It must be some clueless fool who has annoyed her again. Returning to QQ status, Ice Man was offline while Cookie was online. I greeted her: "Cookie, are you there?" She replied, "Yes, what are you up to?" "Listening to music; I'm exhausted today but super happy! You know what Cookie? Our team has advanced to the top four in the city high school basketball league!" I excitedly shared my joy with her. She replied, "Hmph! What's so great about that? If you're capable, show me when you make it to the City Finals." Wow! She's already calling herself 'my lady.' But her temper is much worse than Empress Cixi's! "Alright! Just wait and see; let's make a bet: if we make it to the City Finals, you have to show up for me and give me a kiss, okay?" I joked with her, but unexpectedly she replied very quickly: "Okay! Who's afraid of whom? It's settled then; I don't believe you can make it to the finals; I'll always look down on you!" Cookie's words ignited my fighting spirit; we started bickering until past eleven at night.
The next day at school, A Fei talked with me about the NBA playoffs. I had watched the replay too, so we analyzed together: In the Eastern Conference, LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, and Chris Bosh led Miami Heat past Chicago Bulls into the finals; overall it seemed like Rose was struggling alone. A Fei was most surprised by the results in the West: Dirk Nowitzki led Dallas Mavericks surprisingly defeating defending champions Los Angeles Lakers led by Kobe Bryant and Pau Gasol! I was also surprised; however, given that Lakers' stars were aging—Kobe, Fish, and Gasol—this result was acceptable. Besides, I'm neither a Hot Fire fan nor a Lakers fan or a Bulls fan either. If Hot Fire faced off against Bulls in the finals again, wouldn't that be a rematch of 2005-2006 finals? Interesting—would Hot Fire reclaim their title or would Bulls seek revenge? I felt Hot Fire had a good chance; it seemed like LeBron was about to ascend.
When we reached school gate, a familiar Aston Martin sports car suddenly drove up. Zhao Bin got out of the car and waved goodbye to his dad before walking toward school. When he reached us at the entrance, he stopped and said, "Yu Chengfei! I heard you defeated Sangyue High School; well done!" Zhao Bin's actions surprised us greatly; we politely smiled at him without saying anything. Zhao Bin was acting unusually today—he seemed like a different person than before. Zhao Bin smiled again and continued: "Zhao Ziyang is my cousin from my uncle's side; he's only one year older than me. We often mess around together. Our school is better than theirs; he never accepted that fact until now." So that's how it is—Zhao Bin still has quite a playful side! A Fei stepped forward: "Zhao Bin, do you not hate me anymore?" This A Fei really knows how to bring up old issues when others have moved on! Zhao Bin smiled: "Hey man, I'm not unreasonable either; seeing Sha Xiaomei so happy with you made me let go of any grudges." It felt like Zhao Bin had matured suddenly; his tone sounded much more mature.
After entering our classroom and sitting down, Xia Ying was doing homework. "What’s going on? Didn’t finish last night's homework?" I teased her playfully: "I didn’t know Sister Yingying could also procrastinate on homework!" Xia Ying didn't even look up: "It's all because of you!" Because of me? What did I do? Blaming me for not finishing homework is just unreasonable! The first class was Chinese class with our homeroom teacher. During class time, I couldn't help but sneak out my newly bought comic book and placed my textbook on top while secretly reading underneath it when suddenly someone elbowed me in my arm—it must be Xia Ying bothering me again about reading comics! “Go away!” I said without looking up at her. She pushed my shoulder again: “Be good; don’t be naughty.” Still not looking up at her response made her push me again: “Hey! Are you done yet?! … Teacher! You’re here…” Annoyed as I turned around towards her direction only to find our homeroom teacher Ms. Zhang watching me closely.
"Xiang Jie student, do you have an opinion about me?" Ms. Zhang asked calmly—a calmness that made one feel scared. “No no no! How could I have an opinion about you?” I stammered nervously as Ms. Zhang continued kindly asking me: “Then do you find me unpleasant?” “No no no! Teachers are diligent gardeners; they are beautiful people.” I hurriedly flattered her with good words when she suddenly changed from a friendly face into an extremely serious one yelling at me: “Then why are you reading extracurricular books during class time?! Is it because what I'm teaching isn’t as exciting as comics?!” Ms. Zhang’s friendly demeanor shifted dramatically into sternness as she scolded me harshly in front of everyone in class before letting me sit down while she elegantly walked back towards the podium.
After sitting down Xia Ying quietly said: “I reminded you several times just now; you just wouldn’t listen—you got scolded because of that!” She sympathetically sent me two words… “Deserved!” Then she turned towards the podium listening attentively in class while I snapped back at her angrily: “Get lost! Are you satisfied watching me embarrass myself? From now on don’t bother reminding me—I don’t need your help!” My anger flared up because being scolded by Ms. Zhang in front of everyone really hurt my pride deeply.
Xia Ying looked surprised and slightly confused at me while I refused to look back at her and turned away focusing on class instead.
On our way to training at gymnasium in morning A Fei said: “I saw you getting angry with Xia Ying during class earlier; actually it's really not Xia Ying’s fault—she just wanted to remind you kindly—you know being like this will hurt her feelings?” After hearing A Fei’s words suddenly made him sound like an old woman nagging—I ignored him completely heading straight for gymnasium instead.
Once we arrived at gymnasium everyone else had already gathered there too including Teacher Qiu who just arrived as well—it should be today’s final match between Yuhai High School and Twenty-Four Middle School—the previous match saw Domain Sea defeating visiting Twenty-Four Middle School 88-84 on their home court—today would see if Twenty-Four Middle School could reclaim their spot in top four on their home ground.
We trained diligently while Ji Fang’s foot seemed fully healed now—during training he even spontaneously performed an impressive dunk earning cheers from everyone present—previously introverted Ji Fang gradually opened up under our team’s influence just like how once proud Kobe transformed later on feeling that sense of teamwork with us all around him.
Speaking of which regarding semifinal matchups—I hope we meet Twenty-Four Middle School again so we can compete against Thunderbolt once more!
At noon after classes ended—I bumped into Xia Ying who was getting lunch in cafeteria—accidentally noticing her eyes were red—had she really cried? After Xia Ying finished getting food she left while Gu Mei Jiao approached—I told A Fei and others they should eat first while I quickly stopped Gu Mei Jiao asking: “Hey Mei Jiao what happened with Xia Ying? Her eyes seem swollen—is someone bullying her?” Gu Mei Jiao looked puzzled too saying: “I don’t know either—she’s been gloomy since after first period ended—when she came out from restroom during lunch break—I noticed signs she might’ve cried—but no matter how Rongrong and I asked her she always insisted nothing’s wrong—it’s confusing.” Could it really be because of what happened when Ms.Zhang scolded her during class?
After getting lunch ready—I dashed over sitting directly across from Xia Ying—when she saw me lift her head glaring before picking up her tray walking away leaving just me awkwardly sitting there alone—A Fei came over carrying his tray sitting down beside me saying: “Jie—you know girls’ hearts are actually very fragile sometimes even an unintentional cold word can hurt them…”
“Alright alright Mr.Expert don’t preach here anymore let’s eat!” Interrupting his speech made me think back how A Fei used to be so low-key quiet person—it’s surprising he became this articulate now—I wonder if Sha Xiaomei had any influence here?
After finishing lunch—we headed straight out from cafeteria towards classroom—the weather felt humid today but without sun—a hazy atmosphere suggested rain might come tonight—I wondered if three hours later during our semifinal match would there be bright sunshine?
In afternoon training session Teacher Qiu announced: “We received news during lunch break—the last two semifinal matches have concluded—Twenty-Four Middle School defeated Yuhai High School 79-69 securing their place advancing into semifinals with an overall score of 161-57 eliminating Yuhai High School while another match saw Experiment Three winning 99-90 against Chengdong achieving double victory advancing strongly into semifinals—their opponent will be Hejiang Middle School—we will meet Twenty-Four Middle School again in semifinals…”
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