Calm and Collected

Fury surged to his head as Wang Cheng said hatefully, "Enjoy your smugness while you can. Once the game starts, let's see if you can still smile!"

Seeing Wang Cheng's furious expression, Jie Xiaoliang smiled faintly and patted him on the shoulder. His gaze also shifted toward Li Ke and Zhu Zhan as he said softly, "Don't rush. We'll help you vent this anger in a bit. If we don't beat Class 5 until they're crawling around looking for their teeth today, then this isn't over!"

Although Wang Cheng was burning with rage, he had not lost his reason. He took a deep breath to calm the anger in his heart, then looked at Jie Xiaoliang. "Don't let your guard down. Li Ke and Zhu Zhan are both members of the school team, especially that bastard Li Ke. We all know what he's capable of."

Jie Xiaoliang smiled dismissively. "Li Ke and Zhu Zhan are indeed strong. You could say Jinghai made it to the National High School Students League finals two years in a row largely because of them. But this is the Class League. So what if the two of them are strong? Basketball is a five-man sport. Just look at the bunch of losers Class 5 has besides those two. What are they going to use to win? When Yang Yi and the others were still around, I wouldn't have dared say that. But now... we can crush them so badly they won't even be able to lift their heads!"

After hearing Jie Xiaoliang's words, Wang Cheng nodded in agreement and said bitterly, "You're right. So give it everything you've got later. Today, I'm going to stomp that bastard Li Ke into the ground! He dared steal the girl I like, Wang Cheng. If I don't settle this score, I'll write my surname backward!"

Jie Xiaoliang burst out laughing. Even the pimples on his face seemed ready to split with laughter as he looked at Wang Cheng. "Cheng, even if you write Wang backward, isn't it still Wang? Hahaha!"

Wang Cheng froze, then finally realized it. He laughed awkwardly and shot Li Ke another glare. "Damn it, that bastard pissed me off so much. I'll make him pay later!"

While Wang Cheng and his group were watching, Zhu Zhan, Li Ke, and the others were naturally watching Class 1 as well. Li Ke did not care in the slightest about Wang Cheng's nearly murderous stare, but Liu Yong and the others frowned slightly.

Looking at Li Ke, Liu Yong said with a frown, "Li Ke, Wang Cheng doesn't seem to be looking at you with good intentions! We need to be careful later. That guy has never played clean, so we need to watch out in case he pulls some dirty trick!"

Li Ke smiled indifferently, then looked at Zhu Zhan beside him. "Then it'll depend on Xiao Zhan!"

Zhu Zhan nodded expressionlessly. "Leave it to me."

As a fellow member of the school team, Zhu Zhan naturally knew Wang Cheng's abilities extremely well. It was not as though Wang Cheng was especially skilled at basketball, but he was practically an anomaly on the court. Though not particularly tall, he was remarkably solidly built.

He also had a reckless streak on the court. In official school team games, he was the type of player who rarely got any playing time. Usually, when the opposing team had found a strong rhythm, Black-Faced Fang would send Wang Cheng in. His only role was to disrupt the other side's rhythm.

To successfully contain Wang Cheng, brute force alone would not be enough. It required strategy.

Over the past few days, Zhu Zhan had practiced quite a bit with Jiang Shi on defensive issues, and his understanding of defense had improved tremendously. Therefore, he was quite confident that he could contain Wang Cheng today.

Seeing that the time was nearly up, both sides began warming up.

Just then, the PE teacher Li Jun arrived at the court.

Li Jun was a first-year PE teacher. Today, he would officiate the game between Class 5 and Class 1.

Seeing that both teams had changed into their jerseys and were warming up in their respective halves, Li Jun nodded slightly. He walked to the sideline and lowered his head to check the watch on his wrist.

When Zhu Zhan and Li Ke saw Li Jun appear, they could not help exchanging a glance.

Li Ke gave a low chuckle and said to Zhu Zhan, "Didn't expect Teacher Li to be the referee today. He's pretty strict with his calls. That may not be good news for us, but it's even worse news for Wang Cheng."

Zhu Zhan nodded.

As the two spoke, a sharp whistle rang out. Li Jun, standing in the middle of the court with a basketball in hand, said, "Time's up. Both teams, take the court."

Zhu Zhan, Li Ke, and the others exchanged glances, quickly ended their warm-up, and headed toward the center line. On the other side, led by Wang Cheng and Jie Xiaoliang, Class 1's five players also slowly walked over.

When both sides reached midcourt, Li Jun held the ball in one hand and removed the whistle from his mouth with the other. He said solemnly, "Li Ke, Wang Cheng, you two captains, come choose sides."

Li Ke smiled. "No need to choose, Teacher Li. This is fine as it is."

Li Jun nodded and turned to Wang Cheng. Wang Cheng snorted and said the same, "That's right. This is just fine!"

Li Jun said, "All right, then the game begins now. Come over for the tip-off."

Li Ke and Wang Cheng stepped into the center circle, bent their knees, lowered their centers of gravity, and prepared for the jump ball.

Zhu Zhan went to the opposing half and stopped in front of Jie Xiaoliang.

Although Li Ke would certainly win the tip-off under normal circumstances, Zhu Zhan still chose to stand on the other side just in case.

"Tweet!"

At the whistle, Li Jun tossed the basketball high into the air. Immediately afterward, two figures leaped straight up, shooting fiercely toward the sky.

"Smack!"

One hand touched the ball first and immediately slapped it away with force.

That hand belonged to Li Ke.

When Zhu Zhan saw Li Ke win the tip-off, his eyes flashed as he hurriedly looked toward the ball. It landed right in Liu Yong's hands.

Liu Yong clutched the ball tightly and did not rush. Only after seeing Li Ke turn around did he pass it into Li Ke's hands.

Seeing that the ball was already in Li Ke's hands, Zhu Zhan nodded slightly and calmly moved toward the opposing half, deliberately creating space for Li Ke.

But before long, the pimple-faced Jie Xiaoliang chased after him.

Running up in front of Zhu Zhan, Jie Xiaoliang glanced at him and sneered. "Zhu Zhan, are you and Li Ke ready to get crushed?"

Zhu Zhan gave Jie Xiaoliang an expressionless glance and said softly, "Oh."