Superstar Material

"Yes." Zhu Zhan nodded.

Zhang Yuqing said nothing. Her bright, watery eyes flickered as she said, "Then I'll shoot first!"

Jiang Shi watched from the side, smiling faintly without speaking.

Zhang Yuqing picked up the basketball and walked to the first marker beneath the hoop. She glanced at the basket, brought the ball to her waist, bent her knees slightly, and slowly extended both arms upward with the motion of her body.

Swish!

The basketball spun lightly through the net without touching the rim.

Zhu Zhan, standing opposite Zhang Yuqing, stared in a daze.

Zhang Yuqing's shooting form was graceful, like a nimble young girl dancing with a sword. Not only was her posture beautiful and brimming with youthful energy, the ball even had backspin. That was proof that her wrist strength had reached a certain level and that her shooting technique was highly refined.

Zhu Zhan's astonished gaze began to fade.

Because Zhang Yuqing had already made the second shot.

Then came the third, fourth, fifth...

Although Zhang Yuqing was not very strong and her shots did not have much arc, compared to Zhu Zhan, her accuracy was so shocking that his jaw nearly hit the floor.

At the middle-school level, Zhang Yuqing's shooting was rare not only among girls, but even among boys. She truly deserved to be called a sharpshooter.

A consistent shooting form required not only diligent practice, but also certain natural physical conditions and talent. Players in the NBA like Kobe and Anthony, whose forms were smooth and elegant, all possessed a combination of talent, training, and many other factors. While most middle-school players were still throwing up shots with bizarre forms, a female basketball player like Zhang Yuqing was a breath of fresh air.

Clang!

The basketball struck the rim and bounced out.

Finally, when Zhang Yuqing reached the three-point line, she missed because she did not have enough strength. The ball bounced off the rim.

"Ah, what a pity!" Zhang Yuqing sighed with her lips pursed, sounding as though she could have made them all in one go.

"Your turn." Zhang Yuqing looked at Zhu Zhan, who was standing there dumbly.

"Buy the water, hehe!" Seeing Zhu Zhan's expression, Zhang Yuqing could not help teasing him.

"I concede!" Zhu Zhan surrendered immediately. He had originally planned to beat this little girl and then go buy the water himself, but now it seemed that even without doing that, he might not be able to win.

"Haha, if you lose, you're my little junior brother. From now on, I'll call you Little Junior Brother!" Zhang Yuqing blinked mischievously.

"You look younger than me," Zhu Zhan said.

"You lost, so you're Little Junior Brother. A loss is a loss, no cheating! You're supposed to be a man—how can you act like this?"

"Then let's compete again?"

"No! You're cheating, Zhu Zhan. You're cheating against a girl! Are you even a boy?"

"..."

Watching the two children bicker, Jiang Shi shook his head. "All right, let's start the afternoon's training."

"This afternoon's training is still simple: three sets of one hundred. This time, though, the difficulty will be raised. Xiaozhan, for every shot you miss, you'll do two push-ups. Yuqing, you'll do one."

"Okay!" Zhu Zhan nodded.

"No problem. I'm waiting to watch a certain little junior brother do push-ups, hehe!" Zhang Yuqing said with a smile from the side.

After Zhu Zhan and Zhang Yuqing warmed up under Jiang Shi's guidance, they began the afternoon's training.

Who knew that Zhang Yuqing seemed determined to give Zhu Zhan a hard time? Whenever he shot, she would always mock and tease him, causing even someone as steady-tempered as him to become slightly unsettled. Sometimes, his eagerness to finish quickly made him put too much force into his shots, sending the ball flying far away and wasting a great deal of time. As a result, during the hundred free-throw-line shots, he missed more than ten and had to do more than ten push-ups at once.

"Ah, some little junior brothers are so weak when they do push-ups. He really is a little junior brother. You should go home and eat a few more bowls of rice to build up your strength!" While Zhu Zhan did push-ups, Zhang Yuqing deliberately stood in front of him, bent down to look at him, and spoke smugly.

It had to be said that Zhang Yuqing was indeed far better than Zhu Zhan. They took turns shooting: when Zhu Zhan shot, she rested; when Zhu Zhan rested, she shot. After two rounds of one hundred, Zhang Yuqing had not missed a single shot.

Zhu Zhan supported himself with both hands on the ground and looked toward Zhang Yuqing.

That glance proved troublesome. He unexpectedly saw something he should not have, and his face reddened slightly. After one look, he hurriedly lowered his head, put all his strength into it, and quickly finished the dozen or so push-ups.

In front of Zhu Zhan, Zhang Yuqing was slightly bent over. Her toned figure, shaped by regular exercise, was especially alluring. At the collar of her jersey, a faint, deep curve was visible, and that hazy glimpse of skin was precisely what made Zhu Zhan blush.

Zhang Yuqing, however, was completely unaware of it. She only found it fun to tease this little junior brother.

After three rounds, Zhu Zhan had done nearly forty push-ups, while Zhang Yuqing had not done a single one. He had no choice but to obediently accept Zhang Yuqing's title of "Little Junior Brother."

Zhu Zhan was exhausted and panting, bent over with both hands braced against his knees. As he caught his breath, he looked at Zhang Yuqing beside him.

Though Zhang Yuqing was panting as well, she was not drenched in sweat like Zhu Zhan. Standing beside him, she used one hand as a fan to cool herself.

As Zhu Zhan looked at Zhang Yuqing, his gaze involuntarily drifted toward her upper body.

"All right, Xiaozhan, that's enough shooting practice for this afternoon. Tomorrow is Sunday, so you can come a little earlier. From now on, we'll start training at eight on weekends. I'll be waiting for you here tomorrow. Get some good rest after you go home. The workload will gradually increase, but as long as you persist, you'll definitely gain something," Jiang Shi said.

"Mm, thank you, Uncle Jiang! Goodbye, Teacher!" Zhu Zhan called out loudly.

"Hey, hey, hey, you haven't thanked me yet, Little Junior Brother. Isn't it an honor for Senior Sister to train with you?" Zhang Yuqing chimed in as soon as Zhu Zhan finished speaking.

A dark line seemed to appear across Zhu Zhan's forehead. He held back without saying anything, picked up his basketball, and headed home.

Demoness! Zhu Zhan thought.

He truly felt helpless. During the three sets of one hundred shots, Zhang Yuqing had mocked and ridiculed him nonstop. In that short hour or so, Zhu Zhan had felt as miserable as if more than ten people had been talking into his ears at once.

"Remember to buy water tomorrow!" Zhang Yuqing's voice came again from behind him.

Zhu Zhan's body trembled as he suppressed the urge to turn around and explode.

On the dim basketball court, old lights shone upon the ground as the young Zhu Zhan slowly walked away, gradually vanishing into the distance.

On the court, Jiang Shi and Zhang Yuqing stood there, quietly watching Zhu Zhan walk farther and farther away.

"Yuqing, what do you think of Zhu Zhan?" Jiang Shi asked Zhang Yuqing, folding his arms across his chest.

Zhang Yuqing patted the basketball in her hands and pouted. "He's as dumb as a rock, and he's not lively or cute at all. Always acting cool. Uncle, what do you even like about him?"

Jiang Shi shook his head after hearing that. Turning to look at the empty court, he said, "I like that kind of personality—quietly training, quietly improving. Not every player is born with the makings of a superstar!"