Professor Li clapped his hands and solemnly announced, "I don't want anything like what happened with Yang Chen to happen again. There are only five days left until we wrap up, so keep pushing and work harder. Once it's over, we'll have a celebration dinner, and then it'll be time for you to graduate. But what happened today still needs to be dealt with. I've decided to take one thousand from Yang Chen's bonus and award it to Qin Ze."
No one objected. After all, it wasn't coming out of their bonuses.
But Qin Ze could feel the deep malice radiating from that Little Devil's eyes.
At nine thirty, Qin Ze informed Professor Li and headed out for class.
At twelve thirty, his two Securities Investment classes ended. It was right around lunchtime, and students streamed out of the classroom. In the blink of an eye, the place was empty.
The moment Qin Ze stepped out of the classroom, a tall, burly guy rushed up from behind, wrapped an arm around his waist, and dragged him back inside. The way he did it made it look like he was about to force himself on a decent woman.
Qin Ze relaxed his tense body and let himself be half-dragged, half-pulled back into the classroom.
Student Zhao Baliao pressed Qin Ze into a seat, gave a clumsy military salute, and declared in a ringing voice, "Reporting to the dorm leader, we've uncovered a traitor among us."
Li Liang and Liu Ziqiang sat boldly atop desks, looking down their noses at him.
Hearing that, dorm leader Li Liang slapped the desk and said with satisfaction, "You handled it well."
Old driver Qin Ze snapped, "Fuck off. Who the hell are you calling a traitor?"
Li Liang snorted. "You still dare talk back? Second Battalion Commander, where's your Italian Cannon? Third Battalion Commander, keep your human cannon ready at all times."
Liu Ziqiang coldly began unfastening his belt, while Zhao Baliao let out a strange, wicked chuckle.
Helplessly, Qin Ze said, "What does the organization want with me? This humble servant has joined the underground party for three years, worked diligently, sworn to defend the motherland to the death, and obeyed all organizational arrangements. I have absolutely never taken so much as a needle or thread from the common people."
Though he had no idea what nonsense his roommates were up to, he cooperated with them perfectly.
"Very well, then answer me this. What are the rules of Dorm 303?" Li Liang used a book as a judge's gavel and slammed it down hard.
Qin Ze hesitated, then honestly replied, "Four men, one heart; the bond between gay friends weighs heavier than mountains. Love only five finger maiden for life. Whoever gets a girlfriend dies first."
Several girls who were packing up their books looked over in surprise. Qin Ze was so embarrassed he wanted to cover his face.
Li Liang patted Qin Ze on the shoulder, his expression grave as he said in a low voice, "Since you know that, I won't say much more. Brother, have a safe journey. In your next life, we'll still be comrades."
Liu Ziqiang made as if to pull out his Italian Cannon.
Qin Ze was horrified. "Hold on! Organization, judge fairly! I haven't violated Dorm 303's rules! I've been wronged! I'm still a single dog! We're all single dogs, so why make things hard for another single dog... Hey, hey, are you seriously pulling it out?... I, Long Aotian, refuse to accept this."
Li Liang sneered. "Then explain yesterday's phone call. The evidence is ironclad. You are not allowed to argue your way out of this, comrade. Go in peace."
Qin Ze finally understood and rolled his eyes. "The organization's investigative work is far too sloppy and needs improvement. That was my sister, not someone I could bang, so I'm still a good comrade. Please, Second Battalion Commander, put away your Italian Cannon. Third Battalion Commander, put away your human cannon too."
"Really?"
"Truer than gold."
Li Liang beamed. "The organization misunderstood you. Little brother-in-law has been vindicated, vindicated."
"Hey, hey, that title isn't right."
"Don't panic, little brother-in-law. Listen as your brothers-in-law explain it to you. Confucius said: food and sex are human nature. The Book of Songs says: a graceful lady is what a gentleman seeks. In summary, there's only one thing to say: Single Dogs are society's failures."
"After careful consideration, the organization deeply feels that the dorm rules violate human decency and should be abolished and revised. For the prosperity of the nation and the development of society, we should actively produce outstanding descendants for our motherland. Therefore, Comrade Qin Ze, for the sake of the country and the people, you should actively recommend outstanding girls with big breasts, perky asses, and long legs to the organization."
"The dorm leader makes sense. I second the motion."
"I second it too."
Zhao Baliao and Liu Ziqiang cast their votes in favor.
"I... fuck..." Qin Ze froze, then suddenly caught on. Damn it, he had been set up again.
"Reporting to the organization, I have something to say. Devoting everything to the organization is the awareness we should possess. But dorm leader, you call yourself an old driver. You've banged countless girls from respectable families. You're a total scumbag. How could I push my sister into a pit of fire?"
Li Liang flew into a rage. "You dare call me scum? Second Battalion Commander, where the fuck is your Italian Cannon?"
"No, no, don't misunderstand. I'm not targeting you." Qin Ze said disdainfully, "What I mean is, everyone here is scum."
Don't think you're the only ones who know how to set people up!
"Looking for a beating!"
"Kill him!"
"My broadsword is already thirsting for blood!"
The four of them laughed and bickered their way out of the classroom. The sky was gray and sunless, an overcast day with a cool breeze. In the blazing summer, it was incredibly pleasant weather.
The three of them ate lunch at the cafeteria, and gaming addict Liu Ziqiang made the unprecedented suggestion that they go play basketball.
The proposal was unanimously approved.
Other than Zhao Baliao, who stuck to morning runs every day, the other three from Dorm 303 were not sporty, sunshine-loving youths, so naturally their dorm had no basketball. Fortunately, several guys from neighboring Dorm 304 liked basketball, and their dorm leader Wang Tiancheng was a basketball fanatic.
Dorm leader Wang Tiancheng sat shirtless, eating a boxed meal while leading his roommates through a dungeon. The game they played was different from the competitive games Qin Ze and the others played, and it was a serious time sink.
"Old Wang, you going to play ball?" Zhao Baliao knocked on the door and asked in a booming voice.
Wang Tiancheng's nickname was "Old Wang Next Door," shortened to Old Wang!
"Wait until I finish this dungeon. Our dorm was planning to head to the Basketball Court anyway. It's not hot today, so it'd be a waste not to play." Old Wang didn't take his eyes off the computer screen. His features were decent enough, but acne had ravaged his face with pockmarks.
Qin Ze took out his phone and checked the time, urging, "Hurry up. I've got something to do later."
He could only play for forty minutes at most before he had to go to "work."
Old Wang turned around, recognized him, and grinned. "Oh, the face-slapping legend. You're the first person who dared slap Zhang Mingyu in the face. You've become famous throughout our department."
Old Wang was good at dealing with people. He was from JX and smooth in every social situation, with a real knack for interpersonal relations. Even Qin Ze, who rarely stayed in the dorm, got along quite well with him.
Five minutes later, the eight people from the two dorms headed toward the Basketball Court together.
The Basketball Court was surrounded by an iron fence and covered a huge area. At the moment, students were sweating it out on the courts in T-shirts, shorts, and basketball shoes. In such cool weather, quite a few people were playing.
Finance University had an expensive basketball arena, but it was not normally open. It was generally only used during basketball tournaments between the various departments.
They picked an unoccupied hoop, took a few shots to warm up, and started their game.
Old Wang had about half the skill level of a university basketball team player. Being close to someone skilled had rubbed off on his three roommates, and all of them could play a bit. In terms of technique, they were more than capable of crushing Dorm 303, so they generously gave the weaker side the opening possession.
They played half-court. Four players per side felt somewhat crowded, and the most reasonable arrangement would have been three per team, but there were eight of them in total.
Li Liang checked the ball in and passed it to Qin Ze. Qin Ze dribbled symbolically for a moment before passing to Liu Ziqiang.
As soon as Liu Ziqiang caught the ball, he was quickly defended. Zhao Baliao charged to his side and roared, "Pass it, pass it!"
Liu Ziqiang passed him the ball. The instant Zhao Baliao got it, he let out a tiger's roar. He was still outside the two-point line, yet he had already begun a three-step layup. He was huge and broad-shouldered, and when he charged forward, he was as unstoppable as a human tank. Old Wang tried to block him but was knocked stumbling aside.
He took three huge strides straight to the basket, hooked the ball up, and with a clang, it struck the rim and failed to go in...
I knew it would turn out like this!
Qin Ze covered his face.
Old Wang leaped up and grabbed the rebound, nearly knocking Li Liang's skinny frame over in the process. He dribbled swiftly beyond the Three-Point Line and immediately jumped for a shot.
The basketball traced a perfect arc and slipped cleanly through the net.
"That went in too?" Li Liang cursed, "Holy shit."
Old Wang puffed out his chest proudly. "Please call me the Shooting God."
Three-pointers were Old Wang's specialty. In his own words, "For shooting, I only practice threes. For the paint, I only practice dunks." Those were the two flashy, cool skills on a basketball court that always drew girls' attention, especially dunks. But dunking was out of the question for him; he lacked the jumping ability. So he settled for practicing three-pointers.
The side that scored checked the ball in. After several passes, Qin Ze and the others had sealed off the paint completely, so the ball returned to Old Wang. He took a deep breath, ignored Li Liang's terrible vertical leap, jumped, and shot. This time, it missed and hit the rim.
Zhao Baliao ruled the boards with his physique and grabbed the ball without suspense, tossing it to Liu Ziqiang near the Three-Point Line. After Liu Ziqiang dribbled beyond the line, he charged toward the hoop, jumped, and shot. Without suspense... he missed!
"Pass the ball back to me! I was under the basket." Zhao Baliao, who had failed to get the rebound this time, complained repeatedly to Liu Ziqiang.
"There were two people next to you. No one was guarding me," Liu Ziqiang defended himself guiltily.
"Stop arguing. They're attacking." Qin Ze cut off their dispute, sighing inwardly. Liu Ziqiang had the most solid basketball fundamentals among the four of them. Zhao Baliao was strong, but he couldn't play basketball. Li Liang was a Big Tycoon whose body had been hollowed out by booze and women; it was already impressive if he touched a basketball a few times a year. As for Qin Ze himself... one brother shouldn't laugh at another. He wasn't much better than Li Liang.
"Qin Ze, go defend Old Wang. Let's switch." Li Liang jogged over to switch defensive assignments with him, explaining, "You're taller than me, and my stamina is bad. I can't keep up with him."
As if my stamina is any good.
Qin Ze grumbled inwardly but agreed without hesitation.
One of their opponents dribbled into the paint. Zhao Baliao spread his arms like a large black bear pouncing on prey, cutting off his driving lane with great force.
The guy took one look at the imposing big man and decisively passed the ball to Old Wang, who stood behind him outside the Three-Point Line.
Qin Ze had only just switched over and had not gotten close yet, leaving Old Wang plenty of room to shoot.
Old Wang jumped and released the basketball with textbook form. As everyone watched, the ball slowly rose.
In Qin Ze's eyes, the brown basketball spun from Old Wang's hand, climbing upward as it began the first step of a perfect arc. A thought suddenly surged into his mind: Maybe I can block it.
Before you continue