Take a Deep Breath

Professional basketball was a dream, but that dream was still too distant for him. The Gaokao was his reality. If he worked hard to get into a good school, then even if he could not make it onto a professional basketball court in the future, he would still have the ability to give his mother a better life.

After ten that evening, Zhu Zhan closed his book, stretched hard, and lay on his bed. He glanced at the yellowing poster on the wall before falling asleep early. Going to bed early, waking early, and never staying up late had long been his habit.

Early the next morning, after getting up and washing, Zhu Zhan saw breakfast on the table. His mother, Wei Qun, had already gone out.

After finishing breakfast and cleaning up, Zhu Zhan left for school.

When he entered the classroom, Li Ke was already there. Zhu Zhan could not help feeling surprised. Seeing him come in, Li Ke hurriedly waved him over. "Xiaozhan, come here, hurry!"

Zhu Zhan walked over to Li Ke and asked quietly, curious, "Why are you here so early today?"

One look told him that Li Ke was drenched in sweat, his face flushed red. He had clearly just finished some intense exercise. Li Ke picked up the water cup beside him and took a drink before looking at Zhu Zhan. "Let me tell you, Xiaozhan. I made a decision last night."

Zhu Zhan asked in confusion, "What decision?"

Li Ke said, "Starting today, until the National League begins, I'm going to train for an hour every morning."

At that, Zhu Zhan's expression turned strange. He looked at Li Ke skeptically. "You... mean it?"

Li Ke slapped his chest and said proudly, "Of course I mean it. How could I be joking? Oh, right, I forgot to tell you. I trained alone today, but starting tomorrow, you're coming to school with me an hour early!"

Seeing Li Ke's uncompromising expression, Zhu Zhan rolled his eyes and shot him a glare. "No time. You can work hard by yourself!"

With that, Zhu Zhan turned and headed toward his seat. Staring at his back, Li Ke immediately flew into a rage. "Zhu Zhan! Stop right there! What kind of attitude is that? You have absolutely no awareness of self-improvement! Do you know how many guys in this whole school want my guidance? Do you know how rare an opportunity like this is?"

Zhu Zhan turned back and glared at Li Ke again, then said nothing as he returned to his seat.

After sitting down, Zhu Zhan glanced at the still sweat-soaked Li Ke and felt something stir within him. He had not expected Li Ke to make such a decision.

It seemed this guy had truly resolved to go all out for this year's National League.

In that case, he certainly could not let himself fall behind.

Zhu Zhan quietly clenched his fists, took a deep breath, and thought, I have to work even harder!

Soon, the other students gradually arrived, and class officially began.

They did not have a game today. Their Class League game was tomorrow.

So at noon, Zhu Zhan and Li Ke gathered a few boys from their class for some three-on-three. Zhu Zhan and Li Ke each took two teammates. Even if it was just last-minute preparation, something was better than nothing.

It was obviously impossible to expect the others to contribute much. Still, playing together more often would at least help build some chemistry. The main burden would still fall on Zhu Zhan and Li Ke.

After school that evening, Zhu Zhan returned home as usual and first helped his mother with her work. Then he made dinner before leaving home with his basketball and heading toward the basketball court in the residential complex.

At first, he was not sure whether Jiang Shi would come today. As he was thinking about it, he spotted Jiang Shi in the distance before he even reached the court.

But today, someone was missing from Jiang Shi's side.

Zhu Zhan's eyes flickered. She did not come?

For some reason, not seeing that figure made him feel as though something was missing.

He shook his head hard, refusing to let that thought continue spreading through his mind. Taking a deep breath, Zhu Zhan quickly ran toward Jiang Shi on the court.

"Uncle Jiang!" Jiang Shi was stretching when Zhu Zhan came up behind him and called out softly.

"Ah, Xiaozhan, you're here!" Hearing Zhu Zhan's voice, Jiang Shi quickly turned around and smiled apologetically. "Sorry, Xiaozhan. Something important came up for me yesterday, so I couldn't make it. Oh, right, I had Yuqing come over to tell you. She told you, didn't she?"

"Oh, it's nothing, Uncle Jiang." Zhu Zhan hurriedly shook his head.

But irritation immediately rose in his heart, and Zhang Yuqing's image surfaced in his mind.

So Uncle Jiang suddenly had something to do yesterday and asked that demon woman to notify me so I wouldn't worry, but that demon woman never came? That's really... too much.

Jiang Shi looked at Zhu Zhan and asked, "Xiaozhan, what did you practice yesterday?"

Zhu Zhan said softly, "I practiced shooting, following the method you told me about—shooting within the rhythm."

Jiang Shi nodded slightly and smiled. "Mm. And how did it feel? Did you gain any insights?"

Zhu Zhan thought for a moment, then looked at Jiang Shi. "I followed the method you taught me and tried to find my shooting rhythm, but that feeling wasn't very clear. When it was clear, my shooting percentage was very high, even above seventy percent. But later yesterday, it dropped to around thirty percent."

Jiang Shi immediately laughed, then asked, "And then? How did you feel?"

Zhu Zhan said, "I feel... Uncle Jiang, I really do have a feeling, but I don't know whether it's right."

Jiang Shi raised his eyebrows. "Oh? Tell me."

Zhu Zhan pondered for a moment, frowned, and slowly said, "I feel... rather than searching for that shooting feeling, it would be better to simply practice. Practice in huge amounts, until I can clearly judge the distance to the basket from anywhere on the court. As for how much force to use, I can rely on muscle memory."

Jiang Shi's brows furrowed again.

Seeing that, Zhu Zhan asked softly, "Uncle Jiang, am I wrong?"

Jiang Shi shook his head slightly and took a deep breath. "I wouldn't say you're wrong. In fact, Xiaozhan, the method you just described is how most professional players train."

Zhu Zhan was instantly startled. "What?"

Jiang Shi gave a bitter laugh. "You heard correctly. Most professional players do train this way, using huge amounts of practice to build solid memories into their muscles. But this method has one major drawback."

Zhu Zhan's eyes flashed. "Uncle Jiang, what drawback?"

Jiang Shi said, "You end up neither here nor there!"