Chapter 24

"What kind of expression is that?" Huo Mingzhang looked at Gu Chen's face, his palms itching as he clenched his fists. "I have nothing to do with Zhou Xiaoting. I'm warning you not to provoke Zhou Xiaoting. She's not someone you can afford to provoke."

"You should worry about yourself!" Gu Chen looked at Huo Mingzhang with faint disdain. "People who two-time never end well."

Huo Mingzhang: "..."

Huo Mingzhang took a deep breath and suppressed his anger as he followed behind Gu Chen to argue. "How am I two-timing? I've realized you're pretty good at making up rumors, Gu Chen."

"Huo Mingzhang!" The moment Zhou Xiaoting entered the basketball gym, she heard the team members say that Huo Mingzhang had followed Gu Chen into the locker room. Afraid that Huo Mingzhang would bully Gu Chen, she immediately headed toward the locker room. Before she had taken two steps, she saw Huo Mingzhang relentlessly pestering Gu Chen from behind. Zhou Xiaoting was so angry that even her voice changed. "You're not allowed to bully Gu Chen!"

"I'm not bullying him!" Huo Mingzhang felt especially wronged. "He's slandering me!"

"How could Gu Chen possibly slander you?" Zhou Xiaoting sneered, not believing Huo Mingzhang's explanation. "Gu Chen doesn't even want to talk to you!"

Huo Mingzhang: "..."

Gu Chen walked beneath the basket and began warming up by loosening his wrists and ankles. Jin Wei sidled over with a grin. "Boss, I'll help you stretch your legs~"

Gu Chen nodded. He had just sat down when, before Jin Wei could do anything, Huo Mingzhang shoved him aside. "I'll do it!"

Seeing his childhood friend's aggressive manner, Jin Wei grew a little worried. "Don't do anything crazy!"

Huo Mingzhang rolled his eyes in exasperation. "I'm just helping him stretch his legs. What could I possibly do?"

"Move aside!" Zhou Xiaoting smacked Huo Mingzhang and said with obvious disgust, "You're so rough. What if you hurt Gu Chen? I'll do it—"

Before she could finish, Tao Jiang interrupted with a loud cry. "Wow, Boss, you're really flexible!"

Everyone turned around in unison and saw that Gu Chen did not need anyone's help. He was skillfully stretching his legs and muscles on his own, his chest actually able to touch his knees.

Everyone: "..."

Zhou Xiaoting shook her head enviously. "He really is flexible." She could not do that.

After stretching, Gu Chen got up on his own. He stood where he was, twisting his waist and hips, then did several sets of high knees. He casually picked up a basketball and dribbled it between his legs a few times to get a feel for the ball. Then he dribbled to the free-throw line, rose, and took a jumper. The basketball traced a graceful arc through the air and swished cleanly through the hoop.

"Beautiful!" The basketball team members burst into applause. Though Gu Chen had joined the basketball team half a month ago and rarely chatted with anyone, acting cold as hell around people, everyone still greatly admired his basketball skills.

"He's like Rukawa Kaede!" Some cheerleaders chattered among themselves. "And he's handsome too."

Huo Mingzhang looked at the excited girls watching from the sidelines and felt an even bigger headache coming on.

"You sure know how to show off!" Huo Mingzhang snorted and stepped in front of Gu Chen. He lowered his body into a defensive stance. "We're playing for real today. You'd better not half-ass it again."

Gu Chen dribbled with his right hand and shook Huo Mingzhang off with a feint. As he jumped to shoot, Huo Mingzhang came up behind him with a block, trying to slap the basketball from Gu Chen's hands. "I told you, I'm serious today."

In that split second, Gu Chen instinctively gripped the ball tightly with both hands. Then he seized it in his left hand, dodged Huo Mingzhang's block, and forcefully twisted his left ankle, turning his body more than halfway counterclockwise to break free of Huo Mingzhang's defensive range. Before Huo Mingzhang could react, Gu Chen shot a fadeaway jumper before he had even fully steadied himself. The basketball left his fingertips and soared high, carving a perfect arc through the air before swishing through the net.

As screams and cries of "Holy shit!" suddenly erupted throughout the basketball gym, Gu Chen rotated his wrist. He looked expressionlessly at Huo Mingzhang, his gaze still as an ancient well. "Looks like your serious isn't much."

As he spoke, a faint pain suddenly spread through Gu Chen's body.

Huo Mingzhang: "..."

An intensely excited light suddenly burst from Huo Mingzhang's eyes. They shone frighteningly bright. He stared at Gu Chen with burning intensity, like a predator spotting prey it could feast on. He picked up the basketball, lowered his body into an attacking stance, and dribbled rapidly as he said impatiently, "Keep going!"

Chapter 24

With a bang, Gu Chen crashed heavily onto the floor, his body sliding across it for at least a meter. Everyone seemed to hear the harsh sound of flesh scraping violently against the hardwood.

"Mm!" Gu Chen's face turned pale as he curled into a ball, drenched in sweat from the pain. His hands clenched tightly together, his teeth gritted as his body trembled uncontrollably.

"Huo Mingzhang!" Zhou Xiaoting was the first to react and immediately rushed onto the court. As she helped Gu Chen up, she snapped at Huo Mingzhang, "Are you playing basketball, or are you trying to beat someone up?"

"I—" Huo Mingzhang stood there helplessly. He stared blankly at Gu Chen—just moments ago, they had been fiercely battling it out, but in the blink of an eye, Gu Chen had been knocked into a slide across the floor for a whole meter. Seeing Gu Chen's pale face dripping with cold sweat, even if Huo Mingzhang wanted to explain that he had not done it on purpose, he could not bring himself to say it.

"I'm fine!" Gu Chen carefully sat up from Zhou Xiaoting's arms, unwilling to take advantage of a girl. "It has nothing to do with Huo Mingzhang. I just didn't keep my footing."

In his previous life, Huo Mingzhang had often used basketball as an excuse to violently target Gu Chen. But just now, Gu Chen truly had failed to keep his footing. The plot's rejection reaction had left his entire body aching, and he could not fully focus. His foot slipped by accident, and Huo Mingzhang happened to crash into him. It had originally been a normal offensive and defensive play; Gu Chen felt there was no need to falsely accuse Huo Mingzhang.

—In his previous life, he had suffered enough from the grievance of being falsely accused and unable to explain himself. Given another life, Gu Chen did not want anything to do with these plot characters, but there was no need to let Huo Mingzhang be misunderstood.

It was not for any other reason. Gu Chen simply found this sort of behavior disgusting. He did not want to become someone he despised, doing things that disgusted him just to think about.

Huo Mingzhang had not expected Gu Chen to explain for him even while in so much pain. For a moment, his feelings were indescribably complicated.