Warm-Up

"Xiao Zhan, when you were shooting before, I noticed there were some problems with your shooting form. You still have a lot of room to improve, and your build is a little slight. If you want to become stronger, you'll have to be willing to endure hardship from now on. I'll make a training plan for you, and you must make sure you carry out every part of it seriously, without slacking off. As long as you can stick with it, you'll definitely gain a great deal!"

"Okay!" Zhu Zhan's eyes lit up. He stood ramrod straight, full of high spirits, as upright as the number on his jersey!

Jiang Shi looked at Zhu Zhan and said with a faint smile, "Your body is still developing right now. I'll create a reasonable training regimen based on your physical condition. Today, I'll first give you some guidance on shooting!"

"What should I do?" Zhu Zhan asked.

Jiang Shi smiled. "You don't need to do anything today. This afternoon, just watch me shoot and help me retrieve the ball."

"Retrieve the ball?" Zhu Zhan frowned.

"Mm!" Jiang Shi nodded firmly.

"Okay, then!" Although it felt strange to him, Zhu Zhan did as he was told.

He picked up the basketball, dribbled it once, and passed it to Jiang Shi. Catching the ball, Jiang Shi dribbled over to the corner three-point line.

He held the ball with both hands and looked at the rim. His hands lifted slightly, his knees bent a little, and he lowered his body slightly.

Swish!

With a light push off both feet, he was already in the air. His arm form was flawless; his wrist flicked lightly, his five fingers spread, and the basketball spun toward the hoop.

His form was both standard and fluid!

The basketball went cleanly through the net!

Zhu Zhan stared in a daze. That shooting form was really beautiful! Thinking this, he hurriedly picked up the ball after it landed and passed it back to Jiang Shi.

The ball was still spinning after it hit the ground, which was enough to show just how strong Jiang Shi's wrists were.

Jiang Shi got the ball, lifted it slightly again, jumped, and made another clean shot.

"Two."

"Three."

"Four."

"Twenty-seven."

"Fifty-six."

Zhu Zhan watched as he retrieved the ball.

At first, Jiang Shi made minor adjustments before shooting. Later, Zhu Zhan would pass the ball into his hands, and Jiang Shi would shoot the instant he caught it. Not only was his form beautiful and standard, but what shocked Zhu Zhan even more was that his shooting percentage was around seventy percent!

Looks like I picked the right master. His shooting is deadly accurate!

After making roughly eighty shots, Jiang Shi finally stopped.

Zhu Zhan was already a little stunned from watching.

He had seen plenty of players who shot accurately before, but players like Jiang Shi, with such standard form and such a stable shooting percentage, were rare.

It was Zhu Zhan's first time seeing someone make so many shots in a row.

"Xiao Zhan, after watching me shoot for so long, what do you think are the characteristics of my shooting?" Jiang Shi asked, breathing slightly heavily.

Zhu Zhan thought for a moment. "Mm, your form is very standard, and your shooting percentage is especially high!"

Jiang Shi nodded.

"Then tell me about the flaws in your own shooting," Jiang Shi said.

"Mine?" Zhu Zhan thought for a moment and said, "My shooting form isn't very standard, and my shooting percentage isn't high either!"

Jiang Shi asked again, "Then how do you think your shooting compares to mine?"

"Compared to you?" Zhu Zhan frowned and said quietly, "I'm nowhere close!"

Jiang Shi shook his head and smiled. "No. When I was around your age, my shooting form was less standard than yours, and my shooting percentage was lower too!"

"Really?" Zhu Zhan looked at Jiang Shi in surprise.

"Let's stop here for today. Tomorrow happens to be Saturday. Come over at ten in the morning, and I'll continue teaching you. In about a month, your shooting will make a qualitative leap!" Jiang Shi said calmly as he looked at Zhu Zhan.

"Okay!" Zhu Zhan nodded without a second thought.

He returned home drenched in sweat. After opening the door, he vaguely heard his mother busy in the kitchen. He greeted her, hurried into the bathroom for a shower, then went to the kitchen, intending to lend her a hand.

Zhu Zhan's mother, Wei Qun, had taken early retirement after his father, Zhu Jun, died in the line of duty. She received six hundred yuan in pension payments every month, but that amount was nowhere near enough in Shanghai to cover the living expenses of two people and Zhu Zhan's schooling.

So Wei Qun found a cleaning job with the property management company in their residential complex. Though it was tiring and didn't pay much, it was at least close to home and made it convenient for her to look after Zhu Zhan.

She was currently in the kitchen, vigorously kneading a lump of dough. As she kneaded, she would occasionally stop and lightly pound her lower back.

When Zhu Zhan entered, he happened to see his mother pounding her back, struggling even to knead the dough.

"Mom, stop working. Let me knead the dough for you!" Zhu Zhan rolled up his sleeves.

"Xiao Zhan, if you're tired, go rest for a while. Mom isn't tired!" Wei Qun said with a gratified smile.

"Mom, I can knead dough. Go watch some TV!" After ushering his mother out of the kitchen, he began kneading the dough.

Wei Qun watched her son with a smile covering her face, her eyes full of contentment. After watching for a while, she went to wash Zhu Zhan's basketball uniform.

Once Zhu Zhan saw his mother leave, the force in his hands as he kneaded the dough unconsciously increased.

Kneading dough made his wrists sore, so it could train his wrist strength and flexibility.

Outside, as Wei Qun washed Zhu Zhan's clothes, she looked at her son in the kitchen, feeling both happy and gratified. Her son had always been sensible. He knew how to work and how to help share her burdens.

At five thirty the next morning, Zhu Zhan got up early. After doing one hundred sit-ups and one hundred push-ups in bed, he got up. His mother, Wei Qun, had already prepared breakfast and gone out to clean the residential complex. After eating, Zhu Zhan took a broom and went to help Wei Qun clean.

Wei Qun's job was to clean all the stairwells in the three buildings of their unit. Although the buildings they lived in were old seven-story structures, the workload was still astonishing. Usually, Zhu Zhan got up early to help his mother clean one building before going to school. Once, he had gotten up especially early to help her work and ended up falling behind in his studies, for which his mother gave him a harsh scolding. From then on, he got up at five thirty every day to exercise, then helped his mother clean the stairwells before heading to school.

Checking the time, he saw it was already past eight in the morning. His mother had probably finished cleaning as well. Zhu Zhan put away the broom and other tools, changed his clothes, picked up his basketball, and headed for the court.

When Zhu Zhan reached the court, he was surprised to find that Uncle Jiang Shi was already there.

"Xiao Zhan, you're here!" Jiang Shi said with a slight smile as he looked at Zhu Zhan.

"Mm, good morning, Uncle Jiang. How are we training today?" Zhu Zhan asked, looking at Jiang Shi.

Jiang Shi looked around and said, "Let's warm up first. We'll run ten laps around the court, shoot a few baskets, then do some warm-up exercises. After that, we'll start training!"

"Okay!" Zhu Zhan agreed without hesitation and immediately started running.

This kid's personality really doesn't seem like that of an athlete, Jiang Shi thought.

About ten minutes later, Zhu Zhan stood before Jiang Shi, breathing slightly heavily.

"Uncle Jiang, what's next?" Zhu Zhan asked as he looked at Jiang Shi.

Jiang Shi thought for a while, then said, "I gave it some thought yesterday and arranged a systematic training program for you. But first, I need to understand how you train with the school team. Tell me about it."