Five Shots, Five Makes

Seeing Zhu Zhan walk over with a basketball in his arms, the young man sitting by the court hurriedly called out to him, "Hey, man, want to play with us? Let's do three-on-three!"

Hearing his companion call out, the four people playing two-on-two on the court stopped as well and looked toward Zhu Zhan.

Zhu Zhan turned to look at them. He was somewhat tempted, but after a brief pause, he still shook his head slightly to decline.

The others seemed unwilling to give up. The young man off the court even hurried over, intending to drag Zhu Zhan into the game by force. Apparently, he really did not want to wait on the sidelines for his turn.

The young man ran up, grabbed Zhu Zhan's arm, and hurriedly said, "Brother, come play with us. It's more fun with everyone together. Come on, come on."

As he spoke, he pulled Zhu Zhan over without waiting for an answer. Three-on-three was naturally more interesting than two-on-two, since they could play a proper half-court game. Seeing Zhu Zhan being dragged over, a tall young man on the court said, "Come on, brother, play with us. We can do a half-court game now."

Even after hearing that, Zhu Zhan shook his head again in refusal.

Seeing that Zhu Zhan still would not agree, the sturdy young man who had dragged him over asked in confusion, "Come on, man, didn't you bring a ball over here because you wanted to play? What's wrong with playing together?"

Zhu Zhan nodded.

His constant silence, with nothing but shaking and nodding his head, had the short, sturdy young man frantic. He hurriedly said, "Man, can't you just make up the numbers? Let's play for a while. Isn't this perfect?"

Zhu Zhan looked at them and said softly, "I haven't warmed up yet."

"Huh?"

As soon as Zhu Zhan finished speaking, the five of them looked at one another before bursting into laughter.

The short young man who had dragged Zhu Zhan over laughed so hard he bent forward and back. He slapped Zhu Zhan forcefully on the shoulder and said, "What are you talking about, man? Warming up? You think we're playing in a professional league or something? Warm up for what? Come on, let's start."

As he spoke, the man grabbed Zhu Zhan again and tried to pull him onto the court.

Zhu Zhan still shook his head and said to them, "I can only play after I warm up. You guys go ahead. If my friends don't come later, then we can play together."

After saying that, he dribbled the ball toward the other half of the court.

The five young men watched Zhu Zhan's retreating back and exchanged looks again, all wearing strange expressions. One of the young men standing on the court snorted and said to the other four, "Fine, forget it if he doesn't want to play. Let's keep doing two-on-two and rotate. I bet this guy probably can't even play."

With that, he called the others over to check the ball and resume their game.

Zhu Zhan had not gone far, so he naturally heard what they said. However, he did not turn back. He had always been a man of few words, much less someone who argued with others.

What they thought had nothing to do with him, especially when they were just strangers.

Arriving at the empty half-court, Zhu Zhan warmed up by dribbling while waiting for Jiang Shi and Zhang Yuqing to arrive. After making several short dribbling runs back and forth across the court, he felt his body warming up.

The others had burst into laughter when they heard that he needed to warm up before playing, but Zhu Zhan paid them no mind. He was simply strict with himself.

To him, basketball was not something for amusement or casual entertainment after meals. From the time he first encountered basketball in elementary school, through middle school, then high school, and soon college, basketball had become his faith.

His goal was the professional court.

To become a qualified professional player, he had to be strict with himself. That had also been the first lesson Coach Black-Faced Fang taught them after they entered Jinghai No. 2 High School.

No matter what sport one pursued, one had to learn to maintain good physical health. Only then could one continue moving toward one's goals. So many athletes had been ruined by injuries. Thus, from the day Zhu Zhan vowed to pursue his dream of becoming a professional player, he had already been doing this.

"Uncle Jiang, and that demoness... why aren't they here yet?" Feeling that his body had warmed up, Zhu Zhan looked into the distance, but still saw no sign of Jiang Shi or Zhang Yuqing. He shook his head slightly and thought, Then I'll practice my shooting first. After yesterday's game, I feel like my grasp of rhythm and breathing has improved again, though I'm still not very familiar with it.

Nodding to himself, Zhu Zhan dribbled the ball toward the three-point line at the corner.

Turning around and setting his feet beyond the three-point line, Zhu Zhan did not rush to shoot. Instead, he dribbled as he coordinated with his breathing, searching for his rhythm. In his mind, he could not help replaying the game-winning shot from the end of yesterday's game over and over.

After dribbling for a while, Zhu Zhan's eyes suddenly lit up. He immediately caught the ball with both hands and sent it flying toward the hoop with a swish.

The ball traced a beautiful arc through the air and dropped straight through the net.

His very first shot went in cleanly, and Zhu Zhan could not help feeling delighted. Sure enough, this was the feeling.

"That's right, this is the feeling. I have to hold onto it tightly." Thinking this, Zhu Zhan hurriedly jogged a few steps to retrieve the ball and walked back beyond the three-point line. This time, he chose the spot directly in front of the basket.

"Thump! Thump! Thump!"

After the ball bounced against the ground several times, Zhu Zhan's eyes flickered. He adjusted his breathing and shot the ball again.

"Swish!"

The ball fell through the net for the second time. Two consecutive shots, neither even touching the rim, had gone straight into the net.

Zhu Zhan hurriedly retrieved the ball again and kept shooting.

At the five shooting spots around the three-point line, he made all five shots.

After making five shots, Zhu Zhan did not stop. He felt that his understanding of that sensation was becoming clearer and clearer, so he began another round of shots from beyond the right corner three-point line.

Zhu Zhan was completely immersed in his own rhythm.

What he did not notice was that the five young men who had been playing two-on-two on the other half of the court had all stopped, their eyes fixed on him.

Seeing Zhu Zhan repeatedly sink three-pointers from beyond the arc as though he were putting on a show, the short, sturdy young man who had dragged him over swallowed hard. He looked at his companions and subconsciously said, "Which one of you just said... that he couldn't play basketball? Damn, if this counts as not knowing how to play, then what the hell are we?"