The school had several courts.
But the one students went to most often was still the court closest to the dormitory building, surrounded by a wire fence.
There were four basketball courts connected together.
Just after class ended, there were already two groups of students playing half-court basketball on the court, attacking and defending against each other.
Bai Yao tried hard to recall in his mind the details of playing basketball during his junior high school days.
Perhaps because of the beautification of memory filters, he clearly remembered grabbing rebounds, dunking, and shooting three-pointers while his classmates cheered!
Just as he stepped onto the court, Wang Zuhao raised the basketball and, with a light jump, threw it.
From four or five meters away, the basketball went straight into the hoop.
He proudly turned back to look at Bai Yao.
“Cool, right!”
Bai Yao only felt that he was quite skilled.
But cool?
Looking at that face, it really didn’t count.
“I think it’s just average.”
Seeing Wang Zuhao deliberately showing off in front of Bai Yao, Qiu Ye ran up dissatisfied, picked up the basketball, and also shot one from outside the three-point line.
However, ever since he fractured a bone from a fall, this was the first time he had touched a basketball.
He had absolutely no feel for it.
The basketball flew high into the air, glided down at a low angle, and didn’t even touch the edge of the rim.
“You’re not very good!”
Wang Zuhao smugly patted Qiu Ye’s shoulder.
“Little bro still needs practice.”
Other sports might be debatable, but when it came to basketball, he was a professional.
“Want to arm-wrestle?”
“That thing has no technical skill!”
“Can I try too?”
Bai Yao asked eagerly.
The two of them looked at him at the same time, both showing hesitation.
They looked him up and down.
This little boy who was only 1.65 meters tall, thin, with slender limbs—no matter how they looked at him, he didn’t seem like someone who could play basketball.
“I was also very good in junior high,” Bai Yao responded to the doubts with a blank expression.
“That was three or four years ago.”
Wang Zuhao ran to pick up the ball and threw it toward Bai Yao from afar.
Bai Yao watched the basketball enlarge in his vision.
He reached out to catch it, but seeing that the ball was about to hit his face, he instinctively panicked a little.
Because of that panic, his hands really failed to catch it.
The basketball hit his forehead, making him stagger and plop down onto the ground on his butt.
“Hiss!”
Bai Yao sucked in a breath of pain and couldn’t recover for quite a while.
Originally, because of the system, his body had become sensitive and afraid of pain.
He felt like his butt was about to split open, and his head hurt badly too.
His hands didn’t even know whether to cover his head or his butt.
For a moment he was in too much pain to speak.
“Haha!”
Wang Zuhao gloated and laughed loudly.
“You can’t even catch the ball and you still want to play!”
Qiu Ye, however, ran over quickly, crouched beside him, and asked with concern, “How is it? Does it hurt from the fall?”
“It’s… it’s okay.”
Bai Yao forcibly held his tears back.
If he cried from the pain, that would be way too embarrassing!
Seeing Qiu Ye’s concerned look toward his roommate, with the comparison there, Wang Zuhao suddenly felt a bit inhuman himself.
He walked over awkwardly and also asked with a bit of concern, “You okay?”
“……”
Wang Zuhao rolled his eyes and went to pick up the ball.
By the time he returned with the ball, Qiu Ye had already helped Bai Yao up from the ground.
This roommate’s forehead was still a little red, and his eye rims were red as if he was about to cry.
Yet he tightly pursed his lips, looking pitiful in that “about to cry but not crying” way.
Clearly a man, yet pitiful in a way that made people feel tender toward him.
At some point, Wang Zuhao’s impression of Bai Yao had become very strange.
He inexplicably wanted to get closer to Bai Yao, yet because of pride he didn’t want to flatter him.
He wanted to maintain a good relationship, yet couldn’t help speaking sharply to attract Bai Yao’s attention.
Even though Qiu Ye also had a pretty sharp tongue, why was Bai Yao willing to respond to Qiu Ye?
“Serves you right…” Wang Zuhao muttered as he continued shooting.
Qiu Ye helped rub Bai Yao’s forehead and patted the dust off his butt, asking with a helpless smile, “How about you go back and eat first?”
What?
Am I some kind of glutton?
It’s just playing basketball!
Can’t I even finish such a small task?
It’s a hundred yuan!
Bai Yao’s competitive spirit surged up.
Ignoring the pain—and even ignoring Qiu Ye patting his butt—he stared at the basketball in Wang Zuhao’s hands.
“Are you done? I want to play.”
Why suddenly insist on playing basketball?
Qiu Ye complained inwardly, took the ball from Wang Zuhao, and handed it to Bai Yao.
Holding the ball with both hands, Bai Yao recalled the glorious style of his junior-high basketball days.
He focused on the ball in his hands, slowly dribbled to get familiar with the feel, then raised the ball.
Imitating Wang Zuhao’s earlier posture, he jumped high and threw it.
He felt that his movements were smooth and flowing.
However, in other people’s eyes, his movements looked ridiculous and clumsy—jerky, like a game lagging with dropped frames.
The basketball, unsurprisingly, missed everything and fell outside the court.
Bai Yao tried to save face.
“It’s been too long since I played. I’m not familiar yet. If I play more it’ll get better.”
Qiu Ye placed one hand on his waist and nodded perfunctorily.
“Mm, impressive.”
“Of course!”
“You look stupid as hell.”
Bai Yao glared angrily at Wang Zuhao.
Once he got a reaction, Wang Zuhao became even more excited.
“Don’t believe it? Come on, you two play against me. If you can score even one basket, I lose!”
“Come!”
Bai Yao happened to need a friendly match to complete his task.
“No!”
Qiu Ye felt like the sky was collapsing.
Wang Zuhao was already a member of the basketball team—his skills and physique were both stronger than his.
And now he also had to carry a deadweight?
Bai Yao hadn’t played basketball for a long time.
Playing again after so long, although he hardly touched the ball during the whole game, running back and forth still made him quite happy.
Occasionally exercising in the sunlight for a few minutes gave him the illusion that he was very healthy.
He noticed people around watching, which made him play with even more energy—just like those restless teenage boys trying to release their hormones by sweating on the court.
“That girl is clumsy but cute.”
“Which class is she from?”
“Damn! Her legs are so long!”
Unfortunately, what he was releasing was female hormones.
[Task completed! Reward cash: 100]
Only then did Bai Yao stop running.
His little face was flushed red from exhaustion.
He wiped the sweat, bent over with hands on his knees, panting.
His hair was messy, wet strands sticking to his cheeks.
Sadly, he hadn’t personally scored a single basket!
But he had made three assists for Qiu Ye!
He tugged at the waistband of his pants.
Because of the sweat, the pants were sticking to his butt, which felt uncomfortable.
[You over-completed the task! You attracted the attention of six males! Healthy sporty girls are also very attractive~]
[Your body has become healthier!]
Bai Yao’s good mood instantly disappeared.
While wiping sweat, he looked around the basketball court and realized the girls were all watching Qiu Ye, while most of the men were watching him.
“Tch!”
Although he was usually the type who looked at beautiful girls, becoming the beautiful girl being watched made him feel annoyed.
Besides, what did “a healthier body” mean?
Abs?
Through his clothes, Bai Yao touched his stomach.
It was still soft.
“Not playing anymore?”
Qiu Ye jogged to Bai Yao’s side and asked, “Perfect timing—want to go to the cafeteria to eat?”
“Hm?”
Bai Yao frowned, then stepped away with disgust.
“Stay away from me. You smell filthy.”
“What smell of sweat?”
Qiu Ye lowered his head and sniffed his collar.
“There isn’t any, right?”
“Anyway, looking at you covered in sweat, it must smell terrible.”
“Who said that? You’re covered in sweat too, and I think it smells pretty good.”
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