“I’ll play you!” Sheng Renxing stood over the half-seated boy, pointed down at him, threw out those words, then turned and walked away.
The game was paused for the mid-game break.
Sha Bi’s group stared at him, stunned by the completely matter-of-fact speed of everything he had just done. For a moment, they could not decide whether they should chase after him and fight to avenge the kick, or continue playing basketball exactly as Sheng Renxing had demanded.
In the end, their boss, sitting by the side of the court, called them over. The atmosphere outside the court was boiling too. The spectators erupted in uproar. The whistles and cheers grew even louder. They had come here for drama in the first place.
Now the drama had doubled!
Someone, disappointed that the two sides did not seem about to start fighting, even yelled, “FIGHT!!!”
At the sideline, Yellow Hair shouted, “Fuck, that was so goddamn cool!” He raised his hand for a high-five. “But why didn’t you keep beating them? Beat those fucking idiots to death!”
Sheng Renxing was not actually in a good mood. He was worried about Xing Ye’s injury. The reason he had come down in the first place was because he saw that bastard hit Xing Ye in the ribs.
And it had definitely struck the injured spot.
But the people in front of him—Xing Ye’s brothers—had not said anything, as though none of them knew Xing Ye was injured there. Sheng Renxing kept what he knew from showing on his face too.
He said indifferently, “Just beat him once and let it go? He wishes.”
Then he high-fived Yellow Hair.
“Are you stupid? If we stop now, then we were the ones who attacked first. Who knows what bullshit they’ll stir up afterward. Annoying as fuck.” Jiang Jing drank some water and frowned at Sheng Renxing. “But yeah, that was cool. Though honestly, if you’d actually started fighting just now, that would’ve been fine too.”
At least they could vent first and deal with the consequences later.
Yellow Hair froze. “Oh, so that’s why. Didn’t think of that. Whatever, keep going then! They’re playing dirty as fuck!” He lifted his shirt, revealing a large red patch along his waist. “If they really piss Grandpa off, I’ll catch them later and deal with them!”
Some students at the edge of the court saw and immediately started cheering and jeering. Yellow Hair simply turned around and flexed his abs for the audience.
A boy close by shouted with a laugh, “Don’t just show the top, motherfucker! I wanna see below!”
Yellow Hair curled one side of his mouth. “Come on, then. See you tonight! If you don’t show up, I’ll come to your class tomorrow and fuck you.”
Sheng Renxing looked away, his eyes offended by the sight. No one else paid Yellow Hair any attention.
Dong Qiu asked, “So what do we do next?”
They played dirty too, but the other side had more experience at it and the referee was blind. That was where they were losing. If they kept playing like this, the result was uncertain. He looked at Sheng Renxing. Sheng Renxing had barged in with so much confidence that he looked as though he had some secret strategy for victory. The others looked at Sheng Renxing too.
Sheng Renxing thought for a moment. “The five of us go on next.”
He circled a hand around the group.
“Mm—huh?” Jiang Jing frowned in confusion. “Xing Ye isn’t playing?”
Among their original five, Xing Ye was one of the better players. At least better than Jiang Jing.
“He’s not.” Sheng Renxing did not even glance at Xing Ye. His tone was definite as he looked directly at Jiang Jing.
They had formed a circle. Xing Ye had stayed on the outer edge the whole time. He had not said a word or joined the discussion, as though silently accepting Sheng Renxing’s decision.
Jiang Jing looked at him several times. Seeing that Xing Ye did not intend to speak and was only watching Sheng Renxing, he stopped asking. The group continued discussing strategy. Xing Ye held his body rigidly and waited for the wave of pain to pass, enduring it without showing a thing.
Even when he had taken the heavy hit, it had only looked as though he paused because he had not reacted in time. With his ribs possibly cracked a second time, he had still been able to steal the ball, dribble, break past defenders, and shoot as though he felt no pain at all. It was a response he had trained into himself over many years.
Even if his ribs snapped completely right here, he did not want anyone to discover the injury. An injury was weakness. A reaction was an opening. If people knew, they would tear him apart without hesitation. And he would do the same to them.
Only—
Xing Ye looked at Sheng Renxing. He did not know when Sheng Renxing had arrived, but it was obvious Sheng Renxing had seen what happened just now before rushing down. At that moment, Sheng Renxing had been like an enraged tiger, hostility pouring toward the boy as though Sheng Renxing himself had been struck.
Xing Ye had frozen in place and stared at him, thinking:
He knows about my injury. He knows what that pause meant.
And he’s angry because of it.
Angry for me.
At that exact moment—
The pain Xing Ye had believed he could endure suddenly went mad along with that thought, becoming almost unbearable. He tried to steady his breathing, but the mechanism he had built for suppressing pain seemed to malfunction. It hurt so badly he had to use nearly all his strength just to keep it contained. Sheng Renxing finished discussing things with the others.
“…That’s basically it.”
No one on Sha Bi’s side substituted out, including the boy Sheng Renxing had kicked earlier.
Sheng Renxing understood. Those two people sitting beside them were purely there to make up numbers and watch the show. The referee was completely useless. He had retreated far away and did not dare make a sound, much less hurry them to restart. The group spoke a little longer. Then Sheng Renxing turned and looked quietly at Xing Ye. After that sudden burst of rage, embarrassment belatedly crept in.
After one glance, he avoided Xing Ye’s eyes, fixed his gaze on Xing Ye’s collarbone, and asked softly, “You okay?”
Ever since Sheng Renxing came down, Xing Ye had only stood there silently. He had not said anything. There was no way to tell whether he was all right from his face. He looked pale, but Xing Ye always seemed pale, and Sheng Renxing wondered if he was imagining things because he knew about the injury. He waited. Xing Ye did not answer.
Sheng Renxing looked up in confusion and found Xing Ye staring at him.
“What?” he asked.
Across the court, Sha Bi’s group shouted, “How much longer?!”
“Fuck.” Yellow Hair dropped his shirt, shoved up his sleeves, and charged back toward the court.
“Let’s go.” Jiang Jing patted Sheng Renxing’s shoulder.
Sheng Renxing glanced over, then looked at Xing Ye again.
Xing Ye avoided his gaze and asked, “Got any water?”
“I didn’t bring any.” Sheng Renxing glanced at the chair. There were only four bottles there, apparently none belonging to Xing Ye.
Xing Ye nodded and held out a hand to him. “Good luck.”
Sheng Renxing glanced toward his waist and ribs. “Piece of cake.”
Smack. They slapped hands, and Sheng Renxing headed onto the court. The opening tip began.
“Xing Ye isn’t coming?” Center-Part stared at Sheng Renxing from opposite him. “Don’t tell me that hit scared him off?”
Sheng Renxing smiled. “You’ll find out.”
The whistle shrilled. Center-Part jumped first. His height advantage let him reach the ball before Sheng Renxing. With a thump, Glasses caught it.
“Well, then I—” Center-Part turned, intending to throw a threat at Sheng Renxing, only to discover Sheng Renxing had already run off.
“Fuck!”
The ball was in Glasses’s hands. Lu Zhaohua defended him, fighting for possession.
Glasses half turned, shielding the ball with his arm. He drove his elbow hard into Lu Zhaohua to push him away and take the ball. Only then did he realize he had met no resistance at all. He turned his head. Lu Zhaohua was already sprawled flat on the ground, one hand clutching his chest, expression twisted in agony.
Yellow Hair slid over from the side, looking devastated as he screamed, “What happened?! What happened?!!!”
Glasses: “?”
Sheng Renxing: “…”
Jiang Jing was still the first to understand. He shouted at the referee, “That’s a foul! You blind?”
The referee: “…”
This fucking dive is way too fake.
Center-Part came over shouting too. “Can you make your fucking flop any more obvious?!”
Sheng Renxing instantly found a real violation. “He slapped the hand just now. That’s a foul.” He demonstrated the motion to the referee. “Don’t tell me you missed that too?”
“…” In the end, the referee called the foul on Glasses.
Sheng Renxing got two free throws. He stood at the free-throw line. Raised his hands. Shot. Nothing but net.
The game resumed. Yellow Hair inbounded from the sideline. Sheng Renxing received the ball, stepped back, and shot through the gap before his defender could block him. In. The rebound battle was fierce. Players nearly tangled into a knot beneath the basket. Jiang Jing smacked the ball upward, sending it into an arc through the air.
Sheng Renxing caught it outside. Shot. Three-pointer.
…
In less than ten minutes, they had pulled twenty points ahead.
Sha Bi’s side called time-out.
As Sheng Renxing passed Center-Part, he tugged at his collar, tilted his head, and smiled. “Surrender?”
“…” Glasses shoved Center-Part away and narrowed his eyes at Sheng Renxing. “Heh, you—”
Before he could finish, Sheng Renxing walked away without even looking at him.
Glasses: “…”
Off court, Yellow Hair and the others slapped hands with him one after another. “Fuck, how are you this fucking good? Fuck! Fuck fuck fuck!”
Lu Zhaohua laughed. “Looks like we don’t even need to play dirty.”
Sheng Renxing high-fived him. “Not against these guys. Who came up with that flop?”
Yellow Hair shouted, “Me! Me me me!”
“…” Jiang Jing looked at Lu Zhaohua. “Why did you cooperate with him? I seriously thought you had food poisoning for a second!”
“It was fun.” Lu Zhaohua was still smiling.
Sheng Renxing laughed. “Same thing next round.”
“Probably unnecessary,” Dong Qiu said.
“?” Sheng Renxing looked at him and found everyone else nodding in agreement.
Five minutes later—
A boy on the opposing side suddenly clutched his stomach and collapsed.
Sheng Renxing: “?”
A little later, the referee came over after learning what had happened, wearing an expression that screamed I know nothing, I’m literally just delivering the message. “One of their players has food poisoning. They don’t have any substitutes. The game is suspended.”
Sheng Renxing: “…”
He looked across and saw them already supporting the boy between them, leaving with faces full of sorrow.
Jiang Jing said, “Then we’ll look forward to playing again next time. Hopefully nobody gets food poisoning every single time.”
The referee laughed dryly twice.
The spectators around the court had not initially understood what happened. They were still absorbed in Sheng Renxing’s ridiculously good basketball skills.
A moment later, when they saw the other team all leaving, realization hit and a massive chorus of boos erupted.
Someone yelled, “CAN’T HANDLE LOSING?!!!”
Center-Part spun around. “Who said that? Come out here!”
Glasses slapped the back of his head. “Move!”
Sheng Renxing put back on the jacket he had taken off before playing and said speechlessly, “Cowards.”
Jiang Jing laughed. “The skill gap is too huge. They can’t even touch you, let alone play dirty. Running away now still saves them a little face. Tsk tsk.”
Sheng Renxing laughed too. “Didn’t expect them to be that weak.” He looked toward Xing Ye, who was sitting down. “Well? Satisfied with your substitute?”
This was his way of smoothing over their possible argument from earlier that noon.
Meaning: I was annoyed, but I forgive you.
Xing Ye, however, stayed seated. Smiling, he crooked a finger at Sheng Renxing.
Sheng Renxing raised a brow, bent down, and leaned closer. “What?”
Xing Ye suddenly hooked an arm around his neck and pulled him in. Caught off guard, Sheng Renxing stepped forward, their noses nearly touching. He could hear people around them sucking in breaths. Sheng Renxing froze. For one instant his mind seemed to go completely blank. Heat burned from his neck all the way to his ears as he thought, What are you doing?! There are so many people here!
He struggled to pull back.
But Xing Ye’s grip was extremely strong, his fingers holding the back of Sheng Renxing’s neck.
Then Xing Ye tilted his head and whispered beside his ear,
“Come with me to the hospital.”
