Look This Way

Li Ke looked somewhat suspicious as he turned to Zhu Zhan. "Xiao Zhan, don't lie to me. We've been brothers for so many years. If there's a player like that, you have to introduce him to me!"

Zhu Zhan rolled his eyes and ignored Li Ke's words. I'll tell you once I've made real progress. By then, I'll definitely surpass you and give you a huge surprise.

Li Ke gave a low chuckle and continued, "Come on, Xiao Zhan. Let's keep going. Today's the Class League, so let me test your current strength first!"

Zhu Zhan nodded, and the two continued.

This time, Zhu Zhan was on offense while Li Ke defended.

Zhu Zhan took the ball and walked beyond the three-point line, dribbling it steadily as he waited for Li Ke to come up.

Li Ke walked over with a smile to defend him, then grinned again. "Xiao Zhan, if you can score under my defense, that'll prove you really are different from before!"

Zhu Zhan neither confirmed nor denied it. He said nothing and continued dribbling slowly.

In his mind, he replayed yesterday's one-on-one with Jiang Shi, as well as Xiao Ke's movements during that earlier three-on-three game. He understood that if he wanted his feints to look convincing and deceptive enough, they had to be large and exaggerated.

But after making such a big move, he still could not lose control of his body.

With that thought, Zhu Zhan's eyes flashed. He suddenly dribbled to the right and drove forward.

Seeing this, Li Ke hurriedly stepped forward and pressed directly against Zhu Zhan's body. Li Ke was physically stronger than Zhu Zhan, so once he gave him contact, it was difficult for Zhu Zhan to maintain control of his own body.

Of course, Zhu Zhan knew that as well. They had played basketball together since childhood and knew each other far too well.

So the moment he began his dribble drive, he had already anticipated Li Ke's next move. After taking that hard step, Zhu Zhan did not use the same method he had used against Jiang Shi and pull the ball straight back. Instead, the instant Li Ke closed in, he stopped his momentum and spun around with a back turn.

He lightly braced himself against Li Ke, using him as a pivot. After turning, Zhu Zhan did not drive toward the other side. Instead, he took a step back, creating distance from Li Ke again.

Li Ke's athleticism and reactions were outstanding. The moment Zhu Zhan stepped back, his eyes flashed, and he quickly pressed forward again. The instant he stepped in, Zhu Zhan bent his knees and assumed a shooting stance.

Li Ke was immediately alarmed. He pushed off hard and leaped into the air, ready to block Zhu Zhan's shooting lane. But this time, Li Ke had judged wrong. After Zhu Zhan stepped back and made the shooting motion, his feet never actually left the ground. Instead, he accelerated, blew past the airborne Li Ke, and charged straight toward the basket.

Swish!

Zhu Zhan drove beneath the hoop and casually laid the ball up. It hit the backboard and bounced steadily into the net.

When Li Ke saw the ball fall through the net, he turned around to look at Zhu Zhan as though he were staring at a monster. His mouth hung open in shock.

Li Ke swallowed hard, staring wide-eyed at Zhu Zhan. He hurried over, grabbed Zhu Zhan by the arm, and said, "You brat, tell me the truth right now. Did you really run into some expert?"

Zhu Zhan continued playing dumb, his expression blank. "What expert?"

Li Ke waved his hand sharply. "Impossible! Those smooth change-of-direction drives and feints of yours—it's like you've become a completely different person! I didn't even notice during the first Class League game. Tell me, did you really meet some expert?"

Zhu Zhan refused to admit it no matter what. He glared fiercely at Li Ke. "Are we playing or not?"

The two continued their one-on-one, and the shock Zhu Zhan gave Li Ke was nothing short of overwhelming.

No matter how Li Ke pressed him, Zhu Zhan would not say a word. An hour quickly passed, and more and more classmates arrived. After finishing their morning practice, the two headed to the classroom together.

Once he returned to his seat, Li Ke immediately flopped onto his desk and fell asleep.

Zhu Zhan rolled his eyes irritably, took out a towel, and wiped the fine beads of sweat from his forehead.

Seeing Li Ke asleep on his desk, the class monitor, Li Xue, walked over to Zhu Zhan and spoke softly. "You two really are hardworking. I saw you playing one-on-one on the court when I came in earlier. We're playing Class 1 today. Do you two starters have confidence?"

Zhu Zhan nodded and replied quietly, "Don't worry. We'll both do our best."

Li Xue said, "Doing your best isn't enough. We have to beat Class 1. Last time, look at the way that Wang Cheng from Class 1 looked at Li Ke from our class—like he couldn't stand the sight of him. Today, we need to teach them a lesson."

Seeing Li Xue looking so indignant, Zhu Zhan's expression immediately turned strange.

He glanced at Li Ke in the distance. If Li Xue had not already had a boyfriend, Zhu Zhan really would have suspected that Li Ke had gotten himself into some kind of trouble again.

After the morning classes ended, Zhu He and Li Ke ate in the cafeteria with the other classmates who had come to watch. Those who were not interested in basketball went straight back to the classroom, but most of the class, boys and girls alike, headed toward the court.

Today's game was held on Court 2. When Zhu Zhan, Li Ke, and the others from Class 5 arrived, Class 1 had not come yet. Li Ke called everyone over to the sideline, while the class monitor Li Xue and several girls went to get the uniforms.

Several people sat around the edge of the court. Li Ke stood in the middle and said quietly, "Last time, when we played Class 6, we won by the skin of our teeth. We only took the victory because of Xiao Zhan's brilliant final shot. Actually, we never should have had such a difficult game. The reason was me. So today, we have to take down Class 1 cleanly and decisively. We can't give them any chance to catch their breath—we'll stomp them into the ground!"

Hearing Li Ke say that, one boy spoke solemnly. "Old Li, don't underestimate them. Class 1 is much tougher than Class 6. Aside from Wang Cheng from the school team, several of their other players are pretty good too!"

Li Ke chuckled. "They are strong, but compared to our Class 5, they're still not enough. I didn't put in much effort against Class 6 last time, but this time will be different. Even though you guys aren't very good at basketball, with Xiao Zhan and me working together, taking them down will be easy! All right, let's go over our tactics first."

Li Ke said, "Everyone knows Class 1's main player is Wang Cheng. That guy can't compare to me, of course, but he's still got some ability. So our defensive focus still has to be on Wang Cheng. But let me remind everyone: our class only has seven people. If we commit too many fouls and get sent off, we won't even have enough players to substitute."

At that point, Zhu Zhan spoke quietly. "I should be the main one guarding Wang Cheng."

Hearing Zhu Zhan's words, everyone turned to look at him and nodded in agreement. If they were talking about who in Class 5 was best suited to defend Wang Cheng, it truly could only be Zhu Zhan.