School No. 10 held a basketball tournament every year. It wasn’t a particularly formal competition — mainly a way for students to achieve some balance between study and leisure.
But as outstanding students of the modern era, anything unrelated to academics could always summon ten times the enthusiasm.
So when Hu Hanghang called out in the class group chat asking who wanted to join the basketball tournament, the boys in the class fell over each other to respond —
Li Xiang: Me me me me me!! I’ve been wanting to play a tournament forever!!
Fang Chengcheng: Count me in! As long as it’s not studying, I’ll do anything! Even a substitute spot!!
Chen Sirun: What’s fun about studying! I just want to play ball!!
Xu Yichuan: …I suspect you’re doing something inappropriate and I have the evidence.
Lin Tao, quietly reading through the messages: “……”
The enthusiasm boys have for basketball is roughly equivalent to the obsession girls have for bags and makeup. So within just one evening of discussion, Hu Hanghang had compiled the starting lineup for the tournament and posted it in the group, with each person’s position noted —
Hu Hanghang: Song Yuan (shooting guard), Chen Sirun (center), Xu Yichuan (point guard), Liu Sheng (power forward). Li Xiang, Fang Chengcheng, Hu Hanghang, Wu Wang, Yu Yifan — we five are substitutes.
Hu Hanghang: Any objections to this lineup?
Lin Tao looked through the list and didn’t see Jiang Yan’s name. It also seemed like one position was missing. The group was already buzzing about it —
Li Xiang: Pangpang, have you gone so long without playing that you’ve forgotten how many starting players there are and which positions they cover?
Hu Hanghang: Get lost! I just didn’t want to tell you who the small forward is in case it scares you to death.
Wu Wang: Well aren’t you bold — let’s see who this legendary figure is!
Chen Sirun: It’s not the school tyrant, is it?
Everyone: ……
Liu Sheng: Are you unwell? Would a legend like him come to a small-time tournament like this?
Wu Wang: Sirun, wake up. I’ve been in the same class as the man for years. Apart from exams, I’ve never once seen him join any group activity.
Chen Sirun: ……So who IS the small forward?
Lin Tao was cheerfully scrolling through the chat and snapped a few screenshots, planning to forward them to Jiang Yan.
Then the next second, she spotted a familiar name — bearing the system-assigned title of “lazy fish” — posting a single message:
Jiang Yan: I’ll do it.
The previously lively group plunged into a dead silence. Then came a flood of memes in rapid succession, pushing the unread count past 99+ within seconds —
Wu Wang: My mom’s calling me to dinner. I’m out.
Li Xiang: I’ve been sleeping early for health reasons lately. I’m out too.
Liu Sheng: Anyway, my phone’s almost dead, it’s about to shut—
Fang Chengcheng: Did I just see something terrifying?
The next second, a system notification appeared —
Fang Chengcheng has been removed from the group by an admin.
Everyone: ……
Lin Tao was thoroughly amused by this whole sequence of events. She exited the chat and sent a private message to Jiang Yan —
Classmate Jiang, don’t bother trying to redeem your image anymore.
That ship has sailed.
In everyone’s minds, you are an ice-cold school tyrant who kills without blinking. (Not literally.)
Jiang Yan: “……”
Despite Jiang Yan having posted in the group, the rest of Class 18’s boys still clung to the hope that he had just been kidding. Maybe he wasn’t actually going to participate.
That hope was quickly shattered.
During the new week’s lunch break, Hu Hanghang rounded up the confirmed members and walked out hugging a ball. “Let’s go, everyone. Hit the court and get a feel for things — the tournament’s next month.”
The guys stood up with enthusiasm. As they filed toward the door, they all snuck a glance at the school tyrant still sitting at his desk, not moving — and quietly exhaled.
Good, good. As expected, the school tyrant had just been joking around. There was no way he’d actually come to a small tournament like this.
Absolutely impossible.
The group walked out of the classroom with great confidence and swagger.
Lin Tao finished a problem and noticed that Jiang Yan hadn’t moved, still sitting there with his phone. She leaned slightly toward him. “Why aren’t you going to the court with them?”
“I’ll go in a bit.” Jiang Yan said. “Let them get a taste of what it’s like without me first.”
“……”
By the time Lin Tao had worked through half a set of exercises, Jiang Yan finally stirred. She glanced over and saw him picking up his bag, and she was a little surprised. “I thought you were going to the court — are you skipping class?”
“I’m going to change.” Jiang Yan reached over and ruffled her hair twice. “Why are you so out of it?”
Lin Tao batted his hand away and looked around them.
During the lunch break, everyone was occupied with their own business — some sleeping, some on their phones. Nobody was paying attention to this corner.
She relaxed and looked up at him. “Want me to come with you?”
Jiang Yan raised an eyebrow, his tone teasing. “I’m not at the stage where I can’t manage daily life on my own.”
“……” Lin Tao waved him off expressionlessly. “Just go already.”
Jiang Yan suppressed a quiet laugh. His thumb found her soft earlobe and gave it a gentle pinch. “Stay and rest in the classroom. You have physics this afternoon.”
“……”
Damn.
Lin Tao felt her intelligence had been insulted. Without sparing him a glance, she said, “Fine, go. Our relationship ends here.”
Jiang Yan felt something in his chest stir at her deadpan, adorable display of petulance. His finger poked lightly at her cheek. “I’m going,” he said quietly.
Lin Tao refused to dignify that with a response.
Jiang Yan didn’t mind and left the classroom promptly.
Not long after he left, Lin Tao received a message from Meng Xin and headed downstairs.
By the time Jiang Yan arrived at the court, Hu Hanghang and the others had just finished a half-court scrimmage. The group was sprawled on the rubberized ground chatting, a few mineral water bottles standing nearby.
“Pangpang, do you think the school tyrant is actually coming or not?” Liu Sheng’s impression of Jiang Yan still hadn’t moved past the incident at the neighboring school during enrollment. “I’m so scared he’ll think we’re playing badly and just spike us into the basket like balls.”
“Same.” Li Xiang raised his hand. “Honestly, if Pangpang hadn’t posted the lineup in the group last night, I’d have seriously wanted to drop out.”
Chen Sirun let out a sigh. “What’s fun about playing ball. Studying is so much better.”
Hu Hanghang, Song Yuan, Xu Yichuan: “……”
Even they were baffled — what had Jiang Yan ever done that was so heinous, to make these people this terrified of him?
They chatted for a bit, and Chen Sirun started to feel thirsty. He reached sideways for the water bottle and poured a massive gulp into his mouth. He was sitting with a direct line of sight to the court entrance.
A familiar figure walked in.
“Cough — spat —”
The water he’d just gulped — half caught in his throat, the other half sprayed onto the people around him.
Li Xiang, seated across from him and the most thoroughly doused, jumped to his feet first, wiping his face. “What the hell, Sirun! Your name is Chen Sirun, not ‘spray everyone’!”
He was still wiping his face as he backed away, then bumped into someone’s shoulder. “Oh sorry man, my bad —”
He turned around and met Jiang Yan’s cool, indifferent gaze. “……”
The group, previously laughing and talking freely, fell instantly silent — as if someone had seized them by the throat. Not a sound. They quickly lined themselves up to the side, somehow even better-behaved than they were in front of Blackie.
“……”
Jiang Yan seemed used to it. He moved to the side of the court on his own, set his bag on a nearby bench, shrugged off his school uniform jacket and dropped it aside, revealing the red jersey underneath.
He looked over the group of guys standing to one side, then turned to Hu Hanghang. “How did practice go?”
“Not bad. Want to run a small game?” Hu Hanghang counted heads. “We have exactly five substitutes here.”
Jiang Yan said “sure.” “Let’s go.”
Of the starting lineup Hu Hanghang had confirmed yesterday, two of them didn’t normally interact with Jiang Yan. When they heard there was going to be a game, their knees started shaking.
But a drawn arrow has to fly. You’re on the court, so you play.
The five-on-five game began quickly. Right before it started, Jiang Yan switched positions with Xu Yichuan — from small forward to point guard.
The point guard is typically the leader on the floor, and in many teams it’s the point guard who dictates the offensive strategy.
But Jiang Yan actually leaned more toward scoring, especially when playing alongside Song Yuan. The two of them — one shooting guard, one forward — had near-perfect chemistry.
Making the switch now was mainly so he could observe his teammates. The upcoming tournament wasn’t just about competition between classes — there were also some personal scores to settle.
He couldn’t lose. He would not lose.
It was lunchtime, and the basketball courts were lively. There were also quite a few girls on the sidelines who had come to watch with their boyfriends.
But attention quickly shifted toward Jiang Yan in his red jersey, and one by one, girls gathered until a full ring of onlookers had formed around their court.
Jiang Yan was mainly there to observe this game, so he scored very little — but his passing angles and dribble moves were sharp and unexpected.
The crowd around them broke into cheers every now and then.
The boys from Class 18 were a solid group — average to above average, all of them. The ones Hu Hanghang had picked were all tall, and while their looks might not match Jiang Yan’s clear, refined features, they were all decent-looking. And since girls tend to develop a mysteriously heightened appreciation for boys who play basketball, by the time the half ended, bold girls were already coming up to offer water.
What had started as a simple warm-up scrimmage took on the aura of an NBA game in everyone’s eyes, all thanks to the crowd.
……
Meng Xin had pulled Lin Tao along to the school’s convenience store. On the way back, they passed by the sports courts, and even from the pathway outside they could hear waves of cheering coming from inside.
Meng Xin was the type who loved a good spectacle. She polished off the last bite of her popsicle, tossed the wrapper into a nearby bin, and grabbed Lin Tao by the arm, pulling her toward the crowd. “Come on, let’s see what’s going on.”
Lin Tao was towed through the crowd and pushed inside. She spotted the familiar figure streaking across the court — and then took in the ring of girls pressing in from every side. “……”
Meng Xin scanned the court and slapped her on the arm. “Hey, isn’t that your school tyrant?!”
As if on cue, the school tyrant who had supposedly promised to only observe and not score went and delivered a wildly impressive slam dunk, capping off the unofficial half.
The screams surged, wave after wave.
Lin Tao watched as girls surged forward to offer water to the players, and several had already surrounded Jiang Yan completely, giggling and chattering with obvious excitement about something.
“……”
Hell no.
Lin Tao had reached her limit. She threw off Meng Xin’s arm, wove through the crowd, and came up within a step of the little gathering. She caught a girl’s cloying voice: “Classmate Jiang, you played so well just now! I’m actually really into basketball too, I’m just not very good at it.”
Jiang Yan was busy making notes on some of the observations he’d made during the game and hadn’t been paying much attention to what she was saying.
The girl, taking his silence as encouragement, continued: “Could we maybe exchange contacts? And you could teach me sometime when you’re free?”
Teach you in my dreams. Lin Tao delivered a sharp mental retort, and stepped forward briskly. She took hold of Jiang Yan’s arm and looked at the girl in front of her with an expression of absolute, regal composure — like a queen surveying her domain.
“He doesn’t teach.”
Author’s Note: Lin Tao: Is THAT why you didn’t want me to come with you? Lin Tao: Hmph. Men. Lin Tao: There are boys everywhere. If he doesn’t work out, I’ll just find another.