Lu Mingfei, why are you slaying dragons if you're not involved!

Chapter 4 Chu Zihang

This was Lu Mingfei's first time at the basketball court.

Given his inconspicuous status in class and his disadvantaged height and physique, he had no chance of showing his face on the basketball court, let alone wasting money from the basketball gym he was running.

During physical education classes or school basketball games, he would choose to sit far away on the grass, chewing on a blade of grass and gazing at the sky, pretending to be carefree and enjoying nature, indicating that he neither liked basketball nor cared about the cheers of pretty girls.

But how could I not be envious?

As a character with little presence and no special talents, seemingly born only to be an "ordinary audience member," Lu Mingfei sometimes fantasizes about going on stage and becoming the "protagonist"...

However, it was just a thought.

Too tiring, too expensive, a waste of time and energy, and you'll be laughed at if you don't do it well... When Lu Mingfei doesn't want to do something, he can always find countless reasons.

But no amount of excuses mattered at this moment; the schedule he himself had created wouldn't care about any of that! Since it was written down, it had to be completed obediently!
"I brought this upon myself, I deserve to die."

Lu Mingfei gasped for breath, smiled wryly, looked up, glanced at the gilded sign that read "Lime Basketball Hall," and stepped into the hall as the countdown drew its final seconds, stepping through the shadows cast by the setting sun.

……

There are no seats available.

"what?!"

Lu Mingfei's heart rate, which was still high, had not yet slowed down completely when he was startled again by a remark from the basketball court manager.

"It's just the start of the holidays, and several junior and senior high school teams are having training matches. All the outdoor courts have been booked," the manager said, shrugging, before continuing to eat his sunflower seeds. "Why don't you try asking around elsewhere?"

"How can it be!"

Lu Mingfei nearly collapsed on the spot. What was going on? The school basketball court was under maintenance, and the paid basketball courts were all packed... Was the heavens trying to kill him today?

The scheduler, which had seemed quite intelligent, suddenly became rigid again. Not only did it stop planning a new venue for him, it kept counting down, urging him to hurry up and get to the basketball court!
"Well, there's nothing I can do about it, that's just how it is... By the way, what are your students' names? How many are there?"

"I'm Lu Mingfei, a high school student. I'm the only one here," Lu Mingfei said dejectedly.

"Hey, you came alone too? That's strange, your physique doesn't look like someone who plays basketball regularly."

The administrator, somewhat surprised, chatted idly while cracking sunflower seeds.

"Someone came earlier and booked the only private indoor electronic basketball court in our facility. If you really want to play, I can take you there to ask."

"I will never forget your great kindness, brother!" Lu Mingfei almost knelt down before the administrator.

"Hey, it's nothing! Just asking, whether it works out or not is another story. That guy's got plenty of money, he probably booked the whole place because he doesn't want to compete with anyone else. You probably don't have much of a chance..."

The administrator waved his hand and led Lu Mingfei along the corridor to the private indoor basketball court.

[Warning, it's time for the [Basketball Practice] plan. Please enter the basketball court immediately to execute the plan. 30 seconds countdown, 29...]

As the countdown drew ever closer, Lu Mingfei was frantic. Fortunately, the passage wasn't long, and as he got closer to the door, the "bang bang" sounds of balls hitting the ground became increasingly clear.

The sound was so dense it sounded like automatic weapons were being fired wildly!

Is this the kind of noise one person could make? You'd believe it if someone told you there were a dozen people inside throwing dozens of balls at Lu Mingfei!

"Wait here, I'll knock on the door and ask. They specifically told me not to come in directly..." the administrator said, walking to the door.

Lu Mingfei felt inexplicably uneasy. He noticed that, for some reason, the previous rapid sounds of basketballs hitting the ground had suddenly stopped, and silence enveloped him.

"Boom boom boom!"

The administrator didn't notice this. He knocked on the door and said, "Hey handsome! There's someone here who also wants to play basketball. They'd like to ask if you'd be willing to share a basketball court?"

"I'm sorry." The person behind the door replied briefly, in a flat tone, almost devoid of emotion.

"Well, there's nothing we can do, Lu Mingfei..." The administrator turned around and shook his head at Lu Mingfei.

"Isn't it a coincidence? I was just about to say that too." Lu Mingfei looked at the countdown, which only had 10 seconds left, and gave a wry smile.

"Huh?" The administrator was taken aback, then saw Lu Mingfei suddenly rushing towards him. He instinctively dodged, and then saw Lu Mingfei crashing into the door. He exclaimed in shock, "Hey, hey, the door is locked from the inside!"

The administrator's thinking was simple: what if this clueless kid accidentally hurt someone and then tried to extort money from him?

Lu Mingfei did hear what the administrator said, but his momentum did not slow down in the slightest.

Driven to the brink by the countdown, he became unusually ruthless. At this moment, he had only one thought in his mind: either he would smash the door open to avoid being electrocuted and deal with the rest later, or he would slam into the door and knock himself unconscious, so that he wouldn't feel the pain if he was electrocuted!

But this wasn't a simple choice; just as the outcome was about to be revealed, a third possibility emerged... the door opened by itself.

The door didn't open by itself; it was the person behind the door who opened it.

The sunlight streaming through the crack cast the silhouette of the person into his eyes—a muscular young man… Lu Mingfei, who was about to crash into the door, suddenly changed his expression. He wanted to smash the door, not the person!

Damaging a door might only cost you money, but injuring someone could be a much bigger problem!
But the distance between them was too close; he couldn't stop in time and could only watch helplessly as he crashed headfirst into it...

"It's over!" Lu Mingfei closed his eyes in despair.

Then he felt a pair of strong arms catch him steadily. The other person even used a very clever way to deflect the force, dragging him around half a circle before gently putting him down.

"Lu...Mingfei?" the boy who caught Lu Mingfei asked.

Could it still recognize him? But he didn't remember this voice... Lu Mingfei wanted to play dead even more, but the imminent countdown forced him to cautiously open his eyes.

He blurted out the boy's name.

"Chu... Zihang?"

……

The misunderstanding was cleared up, the door was closed and locked again.

Lu Mingfei changed his clothes, grabbed the basketball, and stood on the rubberized surface. Just as the dreaded countdown finally stopped and disappeared, leaving only him and the person opposite him on the basketball court…

He still couldn't quite believe that what was happening before his eyes was real.

Who is Chu Zihang?

That is the eternal legend of Shilan High School. This villain deserves to be punished. He remains number one on the list, and his life can be summed up with the word "awesome"!
If Chu Zihang is likened to the final boss, then Zhao Menghua, whom Lu Mingfei is trying to surpass, is just a lowly soldier kicked to death on the side of the road. As for Lu Mingfei? He doesn't even deserve to have a role.

But this being actually remembered my name, and it seems they might have even paid attention to me?
Lu Mingfei was so moved that he didn't know what to say... If he told anyone about this, probably no one would believe him!
"Chu... Senior Brother, didn't you go abroad to study at a university?" Lu Mingfei racked his brains to come up with an opening line, then racked his brains for a long time to recall, "What's it called, Gaddafi Academy?"

“Winter break,” Chu Zihang corrected, “Kassel College.”

"Oh, oh..." Lu Mingfei scratched his head, trying to find a topic, "Do foreign universities also have winter break?"

"Let it go, the timing is different." Chu Zihang was like a calm, always-answering robot, but he only answered one question and would never start a new topic.

"Well, thank you for letting me in, senior brother..." Lu Mingfei said cautiously.

"It's okay." Chu Zihang shook his head, as if it were a matter of course.

What utter nonsense about what's right and wrong! If the girls at Shilan Middle School knew what happened to them, they would only marvel at how incredibly lucky they were!

Boys can do it too!

Silence fell over the basketball court.

There was no way to have a conversation today!
Lu Mingfei was getting a little frustrated; he really didn't know what new topic to start.

The appearance of the semi-transparent characters made him breathe a sigh of relief; Lu Mingfei had never been so happy to see it since it appeared.

[WARNING: During the [basketball practice] program...]

"Then, senior brother, shall we... play basketball?"

Lu Mingfei hurriedly and clumsily started dribbling the basketball, asking cautiously.

"Okay." Chu Zihang nodded.

Lu Mingfei breathed a sigh of relief and was just about to start practicing shooting when he finally heard Chu Zihang ask a question.

"How do we fight? One-on-one?"

The legendary center from Shilan High School, who once represented Shilan High School in the city's youth basketball team and won the runner-up title in the national league, has issued a one-on-one challenge to you.

PS: Your basketball skills are zero; you've barely even touched a ball.

What is your choice?
A. readily agreed
B. Decisively refuse
C._______（Fill in the blank）

(End of this chapter)