The Smell of Gunpowder

Wang Cheng was a member of the school team and the strongest player in Class 1. In Class 5, the strongest were Zhu Zhan and Li Ke; the rest barely knew how to play basketball. If anyone else defended Wang Cheng, not only would they be unable to stop him, they might also rack up fouls and be sent off.

Class 5 only had seven boys in total. Excluding Ding Qiang, who was so short and skinny that he looked frailer than even the girls, they only had six players who could take the court. In other words, they had only one substitute. If one person fouled out, they would not even have enough players to rotate.

If another accident like Li Ke being directly ejected in the first game happened, then they would completely lose this game.

Even if no one was ejected, having only five people play the entire game without substitutions would place enormous demands on their stamina.

Zhu Zhan and Li Ke could handle it, since this was only the Class League and the physicality was not too intense. But the other three could not.

Therefore, having Zhu Zhan defend Wang Cheng was the best choice.

First, Zhu Zhan had the ability. He was also a school team player, and having him contain Wang Cheng would prevent the accidents mentioned above. Second, if Zhu Zhan defended him, Li Ke could be fully freed up to focus wholeheartedly on offense. After all, Li Ke's offensive abilities were more well-rounded.

Li Ke also looked at Zhu Zhan and smiled faintly. The two understood each other without a word.

After glancing at the others, Li Ke continued, "All right, Xiaozhan will be responsible for defending Wang Cheng. Now let's talk about how to deal with the other people in Class 1. Aside from Wang Cheng, the others have some skill too, but they aren't much to worry about. Only Jie Xiaoliang is a little stronger, so leave him to me.

Other than those two, the remaining three are up to you. Let me emphasize this: Class 1 is not Class 6, so your task in this game is to shut the others down completely. How do you defend them? That's what I'm about to focus on. When you defend them, stick your bodies right to them. Whether they have the ball or not, stay glued to them, while keeping your arms spread and raised. Understand?"

The sports committee member, Liu Yong, pushed up the glasses on his nose. Among Class 5's seven boys, aside from Zhu Zhan and Li Ke, he knew the most about basketball. Hearing Li Ke say that, Liu Yong could not help saying quietly, "Li Ke, you mean... we should use the Mad Dog Tactic?"

Li Zirong quickly turned to Liu Yong and asked, "Old Liu, what's the Mad Dog Tactic?"

Liu Yong said, "It means all of us put all our attention into defense. No matter what, we have to make them feel extremely uncomfortable at every moment. Even if they go to the bathroom, we stick to them and can't let them casually pull their dicks out. Like mad dogs, we bite down on them and never let go. That's the Mad Dog Tactic."

Li Zirong nodded, frowning thoughtfully. "But wouldn't that make it easy for us to get called for fouls? We don't have many people in our class. Once we get into foul trouble, we won't even have anyone to rotate in."

Liu Yong nodded slightly. After glancing at Li Ke, he said softly, "You're right. That's why Li Ke said we should keep our arms spread and raised while defending. We stay tight to them, but we don't reach in. As long as our hands don't make unnecessary movements, the chances of getting called for fouls will be very low. As long as we can stick to those guys from Class 1, while Zhu Zhan contains Wang Cheng and prevents them from running a smooth offense, our chances of winning will greatly increase. Li Ke, am I right?"

Li Ke immediately let out a chuckle, nodded, and gave Liu Yong a thumbs-up. "As expected of our sports committee member. You get it as soon as it's explained. That's exactly what I mean. So whether we can win today depends on you guys!"

Li Zirong, Zhai Fei, and Zhang Bo exchanged glances, then nodded heavily. "Don't worry. Leave those guys from Class 1 to us. Just like Old Liu said, even if they go to the bathroom, we won't let them easily pull their little birds out!"

Li Ke smiled confidently. "Good. As long as you can do that, I guarantee Class 5 will win this game today!"

Liu Yong sprang to his feet and held out one hand. "All right, come on! Today, we're going to crush Class 1!"

Everyone got to their feet and stacked their hands over Liu Yong's, shouting together, "Class 5 will win!"

Just then, their class monitor Li Xue and several other girls returned with the uniforms. Li Xue was not particularly tall and was a little chubby, but she was the delicate, girl-next-door sort who did not really seem fat. She had excellent grades, was good at bringing the class together, loved helping others, and was very warmhearted. So although she was just a young girl, she had been elected class monitor by all the students of Class 5 with a unanimous vote.

Putting the box of uniforms on the ground, Li Xue looked toward Zhu Zhan and Li Ke's group and asked with a smile, "How's your discussion going? Feeling confident?"

Li Ke smiled confidently and thumped his chest hard. "What's there not to be confident about? It's only Class 1. We're definitely winning today!"

Liu Yong also smiled faintly. "That's right. We'll definitely win!"

Two cute dimples appeared on Li Xue's face as she smiled. "All right, then. It's good that you're confident. We'll cheer hard for you too!"

Liu Yong said, "All right, let's get changed!"

As he spoke, everyone opened the box and found their own uniforms. Just as they finished changing, it was nearly time. Led by Wang Cheng, the people from Class 1 also arrived at the court.

The two classes stood on opposite sides. The game had not officially begun yet, but the smell of gunpowder had already spread between them. Wang Cheng in particular was filled with anger as he looked toward Class 5, especially at Li Ke.

Li Ke had already stolen away Wen Ting, the girl Wang Cheng loved, leaving him with deep resentment toward Li Ke. Then, when the school team had assembled earlier, Li Ke had also set him up over being punished for arriving late. Now, whenever Wang Cheng saw Li Ke, he could not see anyone else.

Watching Li Ke laughing and chatting on the other side, seemingly not taking the upcoming game seriously at all, Wang Cheng clenched both hands tightly into fists.