The boy who had once stood shoulder to shoulder with Chi Tong, carrying Ryonan with flawless chemistry, decisively announced his retirement after successfully leading the team to defend its Winter Cup title in his second year. From then on, he bid farewell to high school basketball.
Besides Sendoh, the second- and third-year upperclassmen who had once fought alongside the team also left one after another as graduation season arrived. The once bustling Ryonan Basketball Gym, filled with laughter and cheer, gradually became somewhat empty.
By now, when Chi Tong looked around, Xiangtian Yanyi was the only familiar old face left in the entire basketball club.
The boy who had once spent all day clutching a notebook, chattering away as he recorded every team's data, had now grown into a player capable of standing on his own, quietly remaining at Chi Tong's side.
Over the past two years, as veteran players departed and new players continued to join, the Ryonan basketball club had quietly undergone earth-shaking changes. The most obvious was that it had completely become Chi Tong's personal domain.
Every matter concerning the team, whether it was drawing up training plans, arranging tactics, rotating players, or directing the team on the court, was entirely decided by Chi Tong. No one dared object, nor could anyone shake his position.
Coach Tiangang Maoyi, who had once single-handedly controlled the Ryonan basketball club and burned with the desire to lead the team to a championship, had unknowingly become completely dispensable.
During games, he no longer needed to make on-the-spot calls, because Chi Tong's judgment was always precise and flawless. During training, he no longer needed to make plans, because Chi Tong's arrangements were always scientific and efficient, even more thorough than his own.
Of course, it could not be said that Tiangang Maoyi