Looking at the Sky, You...

"Hmm?" Jiang Shi turned around. Seeing the strained look on Zhu Zhan's face, he frowned.

"What's wrong?" Jiang Shi asked.

"Uncle Jiang, I probably can't do much training with you today. I'm really exhausted!" Zhu Zhan said miserably. As he spoke, he pounded his thighs, immediately feeling as though his legs no longer belonged to him from the soreness.

"What happened? Why?" Seeing Zhu Zhan like this, Jiang Shi asked with concern.

"Sigh, we played a game at noon, then I overslept and was late for afternoon practice. Coach made me run ten sets of shuttle runs. My legs can barely move now!"

Zhu Zhan made it sound utterly miserable. Just thinking about it made him feel Fang Shan was a freak.

After he was the first to finish, Fang Shan made him run two sets of shuttle runs. He had thought that was already his punishment.

He had never expected that to be only the beginning.

Once Li Ke and Wang Cheng had both arrived, Fang Shan generously gave the other school team members the day off and put the three of them through individual training, calling it "special cultivation"!

This so-called "special cultivation" included not only ten sets of shuttle runs, but also duck walks, frog jumps, fifty-meter sprints, single-leg hops, and many other forms of physical punishment. It tortured Zhu Zhan, Li Ke, and the others until they felt completely wrecked.

Li Ke was doing all right, but Wang Cheng and Zhu Zhan would probably have a hard time sleeping tonight.

That Black-Faced Fang really has no respect for his age...! Jiang Shi thought as he looked at Zhu Zhan.

"Xiao Zhan, since you're so tired today, let's put training on hold. Let's sit down, and you can tell me how your game went today!" Jiang Shi said with a smile, looking kindly at Zhu Zhan.

"Okay!" Zhu Zhan was overjoyed and quickly nodded. The two picked up their basketballs and walked over to sit on a bench beside the court.

"You won today's game, right?" Jiang Shi brushed the dust off the bench and sat down carelessly. He looked at Zhu Zhan as he spoke.

Zhu Zhan sat down as well and replied happily, "Yes, we won today, but it was a close one!"

"Oh? How so?" Jiang Shi asked.

Zhu Zhan swallowed and said, "Our opponents today were Class Six. There was a guy in their class named Zhang Jian. He was actually one meter eighty-seven! With basketball shoes on, he was probably close to one meter ninety!"

"Oh!?" This time, even Jiang Shi could not remain calm.

A seventh-grade boy nearly one meter ninety tall would be a key prospect anywhere.

"Was he good at basketball?" Jiang Shi asked.

Zhu Zhan shook his head. Thinking of the hard elbow Zhang Jian had given Li Ke and his furious appearance on the court, he said, "He can't play basketball, but he's incredibly athletic. He runs really fast, and he can jump especially high!"

As he spoke of Zhang Jian's strengths, the light in Zhu Zhan's eyes suddenly dimmed.

"Mm, but you beat him!" Seeing the light in Zhu Zhan's eyes fade, Jiang Shi's heart tightened, and he encouraged him.

"How did you know, Uncle Jiang?" Zhu Zhan's eyes lit up. He grabbed Jiang Shi excitedly.

"Haha, Uncle Jiang could tell just by looking at how excited you are. Kids your age wear all their emotions on their faces. If you'd lost at noon, you'd probably be hanging your head right now instead of happily telling me a story like this!" Jiang Shi said, patting Zhu Zhan on the head.

"Mm!" Zhu Zhan nodded vigorously.

Suddenly seeming to remember something, Zhu Zhan's eyes flashed, and he shouted, "I also have to thank you, Uncle Jiang, for teaching me! I learned so much during the game. Without your training, I don't know whether we could have won today!"

"Oh?" Jiang Shi smiled and nodded. "Then what did you learn?"

Zhu Zhan froze. Looking at Jiang Shi, he rapidly replayed the entire game in his mind.

Li Ke's dunk, Zhu Zhan's first three-pointer, the persistence in his heart when his stamina gave out, and that game-winning shot at the very end!

He raised his head and looked at Jiang Shi. Bright light flickered in his eyes—the light of confidence!

"I learned not to give up!" Zhu Zhan shouted.

At the same time, on the other side of the city, inside an upscale residential complex.

One of the villas in the complex had a small indoor basketball court.

The court was about fifteen square meters, but the free-throw line and everything else were standard. A huge fluorescent lamp on the ceiling brightly illuminated it.

A massive poster of Kobe hung on the wall of the court.

In the poster, Kobe held the ball in one hand, soaring through the air with a domineering expression on his face!

Smack! Smack!

A tall, black-haired boy stood shirtless, shooting baskets.

He wore Lakers number twenty-four shorts and a pair of Kobe's Black Mamba basketball shoes.

His body was lean and muscular, and the muscles along his calves were streamlined, full of the sense of speed.

The boy raised his head and spread his arms. The basketball spun toward the hoop.

That confident face belonged to Li Ke!

"Huff, huff..."

Li Ke took a deep breath and looked up at the hoop just as the basketball rolled in.

He nodded in satisfaction, bent over, placed both hands on his knees, and panted.

"That bastard Fang Shan was clearly targeting me!" Thinking about Fang Shan's physical punishments that afternoon, Li Ke gritted his teeth and muttered.

Suddenly, discomfort stirred in Li Ke's nose, and he frowned.

"Hiss..." He reached up and pinched his nose. Feeling the faint pain there, Li Ke thought of that guy Zhang Jian.

The guy who had leaped high and collided with him fiercely in midair.

His pupils contracted sharply. Li Ke suddenly stood up, walked over, and picked up the basketball from the floor.

"Next time, I'll show you what basketball is!" Li Ke raised his head to stare at the hoop, a bright gleam suddenly bursting from his eyes.

Meanwhile, in another part of the city, inside a residential neighborhood.

There was a basketball court here. Though there was only one court, both sides were lively, split into several groups playing fiercely.

A boy over one meter eighty and close to one meter ninety tall slowly walked over with a basketball in his hands.

The boy was exceptionally tall, so everyone on the court glanced at him, whether intentionally or not.

The boy surveyed both sides of the court, his face expressionless.

"My name is Zhang Jian. Can I join you?" Walking straight over to one of the groups playing ball, the boy called out.

The people playing looked at one another.

The boy lifted his head and looked at the sky.

I want to learn basketball! Zhang Jian shouted in his heart. The hand clutching the basketball tightened more and more.

"When you understand why you play basketball, your skills can truly transform, and you'll become fearless on the court!" Jiang Shi thought as he looked at Zhu Zhan's youthful face.