Page 37

In that basketball battle just now, Huo Mingzhang might have been the one to provoke things first, but Gu Chen's uncharacteristic head-on response, his uncompromising counterattacks, and the expressionless trash talk after every basket were what truly escalated the tension. One attacked while the other defended, one drove in while the other blocked. Huo Mingzhang had always been confident in his basketball skills, but he had never expected that once Gu Chen truly erupted, he would be outclassed at every turn.

No matter what feints Huo Mingzhang used, he could not shake off Gu Chen's defense. And whenever Gu Chen attacked, no matter how Huo Mingzhang defended, Gu Chen always found a way around his interception to make the shot.

The longer Huo Mingzhang played, the more frustrated he became. He had only one feeling: Gu Chen seemed to know his playing habits inside and out.

More importantly, Gu Chen's shots were incredibly accurate. As long as the ball left his hand, it would swish straight through the hoop for a score. After several exchanges, Huo Mingzhang had not scored a single point. Instead, he was provoked into a fury, and his movements on both offense and defense unconsciously grew more forceful.

As for Gu Chen, for some unknown reason, he was visibly getting weaker and weaker. One moment of inattention, and Huo Mingzhang slammed into him hard enough to send him skidding along the floor. It looked painful just watching.

"Young Master Huo plays rough!" Jin Wei and Tao Jiang stepped between Huo Mingzhang and Gu Chen, blocking Huo Mingzhang's glare at Gu Chen while speaking up for their childhood friend and smoothing things over. "He's always taken basketball especially seriously since he was little. We've told him off plenty of times, but he never listens. Gu Chen, are you okay?"

"Are you okay?" Hearing Jin Wei and Tao Jiang's words, the players watching from the sidelines finally snapped out of it. Even the cheerleaders who had been chattering at the side all crowded over. Some helped him up while others asked, "Are you hurt? Do you need us to take you to the school infirmary?"

"I'm fine." The moment Gu Chen said that, pain drained the color from his face. He could not help curling up again. A man over six feet tall looked as though he wished he could shrink himself into a ball.

Huo Mingzhang suddenly came back to his senses and rushed forward without another word, pushing aside the teammates surrounding Gu Chen. "I'll take him to the school infirmary."

With that, Huo Mingzhang hoisted Gu Chen onto his back and sprinted out of the basketball gym.

The teammates and cheerleaders looked at one another. Zhou Xiaoting was the first to recover and hurried after them. "I'm going too."

After thinking it over, the other players followed as well.

When they reached the school infirmary, Huo Mingzhang carefully laid Gu Chen on the bed and repeatedly urged the school doctor, "Hurry up and check him. Did I give him internal injuries when I hit him? Does he need to be taken to the hospital by ambulance?"

It had only been a little over half a month since school started, so the infirmary had barely seen any patients. Usually, it was just sports team members coming in for sprains and scrapes. During military training, some weaker students came by for heat-relief medicine. As a result, the school doctor still remembered Huo Mingzhang, a well-known figure at the school. He could not help laughing. "Have you been reading too many wuxia novels? With your build, you think you can give someone internal injuries?"

As he spoke, he began examining Gu Chen. After checking for quite a while, he could not find anything wrong. Then he remembered who Gu Chen was.

"You again?" The school doctor turned to glance at Huo Mingzhang, frowning slightly. "Why do you always pick on this one person?"

Huo Mingzhang felt both wronged and guilty, not knowing how to explain himself. He stammered, "...We bumped into each other while playing basketball."

The school doctor understood at once and said to Gu Chen, "I can't find anything wrong for now. How about going to the hospital for a checkup?"

Gu Chen shook his head. He knew his own condition. This was not something a hospital could detect.

The school doctor frowned. "Young man, don't take your health so lightly. This is the second time, isn't it?"

As he spoke, Zhou Xiaoting and the basketball team arrived as well. A whole crowd surged into the infirmary, asking the doctor over one another, "How is Gu Chen? Is he okay?"

"So your name is Gu Chen!" The school doctor raised his brows and said, "I couldn't find anything wrong. It would be best to take him to the hospital for an examination."

"I'll take him to the hospital!" Huo Mingzhang immediately cut in, pulling out his phone to call an ambulance.

"No need." In that short span of time, Gu Chen had mostly endured the rejection reaction caused by the plot's restrictions.

Perhaps because he had at least made it halfway through the plot, or perhaps because his body was beginning to adapt, this rejection reaction was not as severe as the last one. It did not seem to last as long, either.

Seeing that Gu Chen had visibly improved, Huo Mingzhang could not help asking, "Are you really okay? Don't lie to me!"

"Why would I lie to you?" After suffering through that wave of pain, Gu Chen still sounded somewhat weak. "I'm really fine."

Huo Mingzhang gripped his phone, still wanting to take Gu Chen to the hospital for a full-body examination—Gu Chen had been in so much pain just now that it scared him.

"Don't worry about the money. I'll pay for the examination, okay?"

Gu Chen could not help retorting, "Keep your examination money! Staying out of my way would be better than anything."

Hearing Gu Chen say that, Zhou Xiaoting could not help complaining to Huo Mingzhang, "Could you show some restraint when you play? How many times have we told you? You're playing basketball, not fighting! What you did just now was a foul. In an actual game, you'd be sent off. Got it?"

Huo Mingzhang awkwardly rubbed his nose. He was too embarrassed to argue with Zhou Xiaoting, so he said to Gu Chen, "Then shall I take you back to your dorm?"

Gu Chen shook his head and climbed out of bed. "I can go back myself."

Though he said that, Gu Chen was ultimately escorted back to his dorm by Zhou Xiaoting and the other basketball team members. Their grand procession nearly startled the other students in the same dorm building. By the time Gu Chen returned to his room, Wang Miao and Xia Tian unusually did not make any snide remarks. Gu Xiu came over, his face full of worry, and asked, "What happened to my brother?"

Zhou Xiaoting had always been too lazy to pay attention to Gu Xiu. Huo Mingzhang was too embarrassed to say anything, and the others could not speak up because of Huo Mingzhang's reputation. Gu Xiu asked around, but no one responded to him, making him feel rather aggrieved. His eyes began to redden.

But at that moment, no one had the energy to comfort him.

After enduring the plot rejection reaction, Gu Chen wanted to take a shower and wash away his sweat. He sent Zhou Xiaoting and the basketball team members away, took a shower in the bathroom, then carried his two books, Tax Law and Economic Law, to the common room to study.