Qin Ze landed gracefully, swept his gaze around the court, and looked in turn at his excited teammates, the stunned Zhang Mingyu and the others, and the utterly silent students watching from all around.
He walked to the edge of the court, picked up the ball that had rolled to the feet of one of the female spectators, nodded at her expressionless face—whether it held resentment or disgust, he could not tell—then took a deep breath and shouted, "We won!"
Old Wang's face flushed crimson as he roared with all his might, "We won!"
Liu Ziqiang shouted, "We won!"
Zhao Baliao kept howling, "Aaaaah!" as though he would not be satisfied until he ruined his voice. In truth, he had been completely useless throughout the game.
Off the court, Li Liang and several students from Dorm 304 screamed and howled in excitement.
"Don't leave after school today, I'm treating everyone to a deluxe spa!" Li Liang cheered, waving his arms and jumping around. He no longer felt the pain from the swelling on the back of his head. Whether Zhang Mingyu had planned this all along or not, Li Liang had been the fuse that started today's incident. Qin Ze and the others had stood up for him, so although he had not played, his heart had been pounding with anxiety the entire time.
They had finally held their heads high!
Applause and cheers erupted. The volcanic outburst of acclaim had come late, but it only grew fiercer, lingering without end.
The Finance University students were thrilled. This basketball game had been truly spectacular, full of twists and turns, comeback after comeback after comeback. It had pushed everyone's nerves to the limit, sending their emotions rising and falling with the score like a roller coaster.
At the same time, they remembered the name Qin Ze: his ghostly steals, his thunderous blocks, his flawless three-pointers, and finally, that ferocious slam dunk.
Who would have thought Finance University had such an interesting student? He had really kept a low profile.
In stark contrast to the boiling cheers, Zhang Mingyu and the others looked as though they had lost their parents, their faces dark and grim.
They had lost!
They had capsized in a gutter and lost to a bunch of half-baked players who could barely play basketball.
Losing the game itself was nothing, not embarrassing. What was embarrassing was the bet.
They should never have made that bet.
One by one, they were filled with regret. They wished they could travel back in time and slap Zhang Mingyu across the face, making him swallow the wager he had blurted out.
After receiving the mission-complete notification, Qin Ze quietly said in his heart, "System, thank you!"
"No need to thank me. You exchanged points for this."
"That's not what I mean." Qin Ze raised his head, his expression impossible to read as he gazed at the pale sky. "Thank you for giving me a chance. A chance for a nobody to rise up."
"I never imagined I'd have a day when I could set the whole crowd on fire!"
With a dark expression, Zhang Mingyu walked up to Qin Ze and said quietly, "We're all classmates. Leave some room for others. We were wrong about what happened before, and we apologize. Let's forget about the bet and be friends."
Qin Ze did not react.
Li Liang strode over. "If apologies worked, what would we need the police for?"
Zhao Baliao snorted. "Exactly. My brother has a lump on his head, and you think a casual apology settles everything?"
The Crew Cut Youth angrily said, "Don't push it too far. Didn't you smash my face too? You want us to call you Grandpa? We dare to say it, but do you dare to accept it? Offend Mingyu, and you'd better think about the consequences."
Zhang Mingyu waved a hand, telling him to stop talking, then said flatly, "Of course it won't just be an apology. Is ten thousand enough?"
Li Liang spat. "I'm not short on money. How about I give each of you ten thousand, and you call me Grandpa ten times?"
Li Liang was still a minor Rich Second Generation. His family gave him thirty thousand a month in spending money. Aside from liking to hang around bars and hit on girls from questionable families, he had no particular hobbies. He had built up a modest little fortune and often treated Qin Ze and the others to lavish meals and drinks.
Zhang Mingyu narrowed his eyes. "Twenty thousand."
"Get lost!"
"Thirty thousand!" He ignored Li Liang, who was baring his teeth and claws, and stared at Qin Ze instead. "I'll personally give you another twenty thousand. That settles this matter. As for the bet, let's pretend it never happened."
Though the School Hunk did not look good, he remained calm inside. Backed by his excellent family background, he never panicked when dealing with trouble and always carried a certain composure. Since childhood, he had used piles of spending money to pave the way, gathering countless followers who moved at the sight of cash and struck wherever he pointed. He had basically never suffered a setback.
There was nothing in this world money could not solve. If there was, it was because you had not offered enough.
Fifty thousand in total was enough for some struggling office workers in a First-Tier City to save for an entire year.
Li Liang's face darkened, and he said nothing, his fists clenched tightly. He did not care about a few tens of thousands, but his roommates came from ordinary families. How could they not care?
"Forty thousand!" Zhang Mingyu steadily raised the stakes, intending to use money to crush the fragile psychological defenses of these commoners.
Zhao Baliao, Liu Ziqiang, Old Wang, and Virgin exchanged glances, all falling silent. It would have been a lie to say they were not tempted.
Zhang Mingyu sneered. "Fifty—"
"Shut up!" Qin Ze suddenly roared. "Call me Grandpa. Now, now!"
Actually, I wanted to say: Please transfer it through Alipay!
He did not want to give Zhang Mingyu any more chances. To be honest, he had been tempted.
Li Liang's face instantly flushed red. He looked excitedly at Qin Ze, then roared, "Call him Grandpa!"
"Call him Grandpa!" someone in the crowd shouted, eager to stir up trouble.
It was as if someone had lit a powder keg. "Call him Grandpa! Call him Grandpa..."
The cries of "Call him Grandpa" rang out without end!
What did tens of thousands have to do with them? They just loved watching drama. They had originally intended to boo Qin Ze and the others.
The repeated demands pressed down like a mountain.
Zhang Mingyu's handsome face finally turned the color of liver. He gave Qin Ze a deep look, then turned and left.
The Basketball Team members also left resentfully.
Zi Wei, don't go! Let's discuss this some more!
Qin Ze wished he could flare his nostrils and reach out to stop them. He sighed inwardly. Zhang Mingyu breaking his word was within expectations. This was not ancient times, where "a gentleman's word was worth a team of horses." They were enlightened modern people, so one should never overestimate modern people's integrity or morality. They did not even need to hesitate before acting shamelessly.
But did Zhang Mingyu truly suffer no loss? No. If he had honored the agreement, he would certainly have become a laughingstock, but some people would have praised him: a man of his word, a real man.
Praise and criticism would have been mixed.
But he had reneged. He was still a laughingstock, still a joke, except no one would praise him at all. He was just a complete joke.
For Zhang Mingyu, it was a loss. He did not care about a few tens of thousands.
For Qin Ze and the others, it was also a loss. They cared a great deal about a few tens of thousands.
"Qin Ze, I'm yours from now on!" Li Liang cried strangely as he pounced at him.
Qin Ze sidestepped, then kicked him in the butt and shouted toward Liu Ziqiang, "Second Battalion Commander, where the hell is your Italian Cannon? Blast him to death for me!"
Li Liang did not care about the money. What he cared about was the pent-up frustration in his heart, and now it had been released cleanly and thoroughly. Qin Ze's choice had cost them a substantial windfall, but it had strengthened their friendship.
Between money and friendship, Qin Ze had chosen the latter.
If he had chosen the money, Li Liang would not have cut ties with him, but a thorn would certainly have remained in his heart. It might even have become a knot that lasted for years, a crack between them.
Some things truly could not be bought with money, or at least not with a few tens of thousands. For example, the pure friendship between him and his roommates.
With an ordinary friend, forget tens of thousands—even a few thousand would have made Qin Ze kneel.
"I'm treating tonight. We're all going out for a meal," Li Liang announced cheerfully as he rubbed his butt.
Liu Ziqiang and the others were somewhat disappointed, but they were happier than anything else.
Forget it. No point thinking about it. It had been unexpected money anyway.
Campus Forum:
"OP, where's the video? We want to see the video!"
"Hurry up and post it! My blade is already thirsty!"
"Waiting for Qin Ze and the others to call someone Grandpa, hahaha. City people really know how to have fun. We country folk are just here for the show."
"Qin Ze might not lose."
"Stop kidding. He'll definitely lose. Otherwise, I'll livestream cutting off my dick."
The comments never stopped, with three or four replies appearing every minute on average.
At that moment, the original poster appeared. "Um, well... poster above, you should be more careful with your words. The game is over, and I'm here to announce the result: Qin Ze won!"
About five minutes later, the thread exploded:
"Nani?"
"No way."
"OP, stop messing around."
"Little OP, white and white, grab its two ears and lift it high, cut the veins then cut the arteries, lying still is so adorable... Screw you, OP. I may not be well educated, but you can't fool me."
The original poster sent a bewildered-face emoji. "It's true. The game is over. Qin Ze won, and Zhang Mingyu shamelessly ran off. Don't disbelieve me. I was busy talking to you guys earlier and didn't record a video, but someone else did. Someone might upload it soon, so just wait."
Half an hour later, someone posted on the Campus Forum: "Qin Ze Slaps Zhang Mingyu in the Face Again; Zhang Mingyu Fleeing in Embarrassment, Shamelessly Reneges!"
The post contained a twenty-three-minute video.
A moderator featured and pinned it!
Within ten minutes, views surpassed ten thousand, replies: 999+.
While the Campus Forum was in an uproar, Qin Ze, one of the people involved, changed into clean clothes in the dorm and hurried into the "office." He was ten minutes late.
Professor Li said unhappily, "Where did you go?"
"Sorry, I played basketball with some classmates and came late," Qin Ze apologized.
Professor Li looked displeased, but did not say much. He told Qin Ze to return to his seat. Yang Chen, who had been hoping to see him get scolded, was greatly disappointed.
At five in the afternoon, before dismissing everyone, Professor Li clapped his hands to get their attention.
"Before we get off work, I have something to announce..." After a pause, Professor Li looked at Qin Ze. "Qin Ze, from now on, you'll be in charge of this group. Yang Chen will assist you. Any problems?"
Qin Ze froze. Just as he was about to speak, Yang Chen beside him became anxious and stood up. "Professor Li, Qin Ze just arrived and isn't familiar with our work yet. How can you let him take charge?"
"I think he did very well." Professor Li silently added, His father did it. How could it not be good?
Yang Chen loudly said, "Aside from the fact that there was too much information to look up yesterday, the assignment itself wasn't difficult. It isn't surprising that he could do it well. But putting him in charge of the risk assessment for my group as soon as he arrives—given his level and breadth of knowledge, I'm afraid he won't be up to the task. If that delays the progress of our project, that would be the real problem."
Qin Ze immediately stood up and said loudly, "Don't worry, Professor Li. I'll work hard."
Professor Li ignored Yang Chen and nodded. "Then let me explain today's task. Aside from the risk assessment model your group has been building, there's also the final work on the portfolio analysis model for fund returns—that is, investor preferences. Try to summarize it into clear, data-based graphs. Go back and look up more information, and ask relevant people as well."
When he said "relevant people," he emphasized every word.
Qin Ze said, "Understood."
After saying that, he glanced at Yang Chen. The look in the other man's eyes was as if he wanted to swallow him whole.
Qin Ze could understand the Little Devil's fury. A newcomer who had only been here for two days had actually pushed him aside and become group leader. That directly affected the final bonus distribution—real, tangible benefits.
Qin Ze covertly threw him a provocative look.
The east wind blows, the war drums beat. Who the hell is afraid of whom?
I have a system. I'm proud of it.
Before you continue