Returning to '97, creating a new life

Xu Kai attends the Second Middle School, which is under the city's railway system.

In the 1990s, the number of children of railway workers was enormous. Even with three middle schools and three primary schools, it was still impossible to fully cover all the children of railway workers in the city.

In the 1970s and early 1990s, the systematic schools were quite popular and prestigious, supported by vocational schools. It was basically a model of sons inheriting their fathers' businesses. Even if there was no successor, there was still a vocational school as a pathway to enter the industry. It was somewhat similar to the power, tobacco and other departments a decade or two later. The term "son of a family" was the most valuable and essential stepping stone.

In the mid-to-late 1990s, a wave of layoffs swept across the country. The railway system, from large collectives to state-owned enterprises, was impacted. The prestige of schools for employees' children plummeted instantly. The days of living a carefree life without worrying about the future were gone forever, but the style of living a carefree life remained unchanged.

They don't study, skip school, and get into fights. This is even more prevalent than in some ordinary urban middle schools.

Parents with more influence within the system might place their children in key middle schools in the city, or in the Railway No. 1 Middle School, which has always had the best teaching staff and student body in the system.

From academic performance to sports and arts, No. 2 Middle School is not outstanding. With the arrival of this trend, the number of outstanding students with special talents has been decreasing in recent years. They have also been blocked by key middle schools in the city and No. 1 Railway Middle School, which has made the school a third-rate middle school and a model of being good at nothing.

Xu Kai soared into the air and dunked with one hand. Although it was just a barely passable dunk, it was still enough to shock the entire playground and make him the focus of the whole game.

In the mid-to-late 1990s, when basketball was gaining popularity in China, dunking was considered the pinnacle of basketball skills by ordinary people. Seeing it on TV was incredibly impressive, but witnessing a real dunk in person was twice as amazing.

Mr. Liu, the physical education teacher and also the coach of the school's basketball team, blinked. He knew that Xu Kai from Class 4 had grown a lot taller recently, but he didn't expect him to have such good physical fitness. For people of Asian dunking before reaching 190 cm, it is considered that they have good physical conditions.

A flicker of reminiscence crossed his eyes; it seemed that Xu Kai's three-point shooting was also quite accurate back in PE class...

"One more!"

Some students started making noise, and more and more people stopped to watch from the surrounding area and from a distance. Even the boys and girls who had crossed the playground after class to use the outdoor toilets in the corner were now paying attention, after all, it looked cool and stylish, didn't it?

"call!"

Xu Kai adjusted his breathing. Dunking is a practical skill. When he tried to practice dunking, he always started from real games, learning how to adjust his footwork during fast breaks and how to jump at the most appropriate time. He had just passed the stage of struggling to dunk, and the timing of the jump was crucial.

It wasn't quite as aesthetically pleasing as I'd hoped, and it was a bit of a stretch, but the powerful slam dunk with his hands in a bow-like motion behind his head after a running start was enough to ignite the entire campus. Classmates and boys who knew Xu Kai all gathered around to give him high-fives to express their excitement.

"Xu Kai, pay attention to protecting your hands. You can try wearing a wristband now, or when you dunk, don't pursue power. Try to avoid making solid contact with the rim..." Liu Duosheng walked over. As a physical education teacher, he had the obligation to remind his students.

"Understood, Teacher Liu," Xu Kai smiled.

"I heard you're a good shooter..." Liu Duosheng tossed the basketball to Xu Kai, who dribbled to the three-point line.

The top of the arc, a 45-degree angle, the bottom corners on both sides, just a few balls, and the school bell rings.

"Alright, how about trying out for the school basketball team?" Seeing Xu Kai nod, Liu Duosheng smiled and said, "You go to class first, I'll go talk to your homeroom teacher."

Xu Kai appeared on the playground five minutes into the fourth period.

With accurate long-range shooting, the ability to dunk, and a height of over 180 centimeters, this is just the basics. Liu Duosheng decided to use today's second phase of training to see if he could find a good prospect for the training camp. For the past two or three years, he has been just joining in the fun and serving as a backdrop for Tieyi Middle School. Liu Duosheng also wants to recreate the flourishing of talent in the 1980s.

Although they haven't had professional training, they are mentally mature. There aren't many complicated tactics in junior high school, and outside shooters need to learn even less. With confidence and accuracy, they don't need to do much positioning. In the defensive intensity between junior high students, the inside players collapse as a physical reaction, and the outside players almost always leave their man open. As long as the ball can be passed out, everything is not a problem.

After running several rounds of full-court offense and defense, Xu Kai showed enough focus on defense and did not become a liability. In fact, his explosiveness and speed ensured that when he took the initiative to lock down the opposing guard with the ball, he could exert a certain degree of pressure.

As for offense, once you're in position, you don't need to keep running around looking for opportunities. Just move around a bit, and once the offense forces the opponent to start collapsing to grab the ball and rebounds, the ball will be passed out. Of the four passes, Xu Kai scored three.

In just over ten minutes, Xu Kai earned an indispensable position on the middle school basketball team, winning Liu Duosheng's attention and the recognition of his teammates.

Who doesn't want to win? When you can't score two points in several possessions, your teammate might have a sharpshooter who can score six points with just a couple of three-pointers. Last year, in a game against Triathlon High School, the score was 31-23 in each 15-minute half.

Six points, that's a very large proportion.

As November arrived, although it hadn't snowed yet, it was already very cold, and it got dark early. Basically, by the time the fourth period ended and evening self-study started, the sun had already set.

Liu Duosheng gave Xu Kai extra tutoring and even granted him leave for the first period of evening self-study. At this point, poor academic performance became the best bargaining chip for getting leave, preventing the main subject teachers from rejecting him with a "we have to teach during evening self-study" excuse.

Liu Duosheng initially approached the task with a sense of experimentation. Having been a junior high school physical education teacher for so many years, he understood the thoughts of children at that age. He was afraid of being nagged. He believed that once you said too much of what you said, and it started to sound preachy, the other person wouldn't like to listen.

"Xu Kai, your fundamentals are good, but there's no limit to how much you can improve. You know those star players; they all need to do basic training every day..."

Seeing no trace of impatience in Xu Kai's eyes, Liu Duosheng was more willing to share his own experience; he saw 'hope' in Xu Kai.

He wasn't a professional basketball coach, and he couldn't be sure that Xu Kai's style of playing from beyond the three-point line was correct. Even NBA coaches said it was wrong, so how could he be sure? But when Xu Kai made a three-pointer, he was impressed.

"Come on, Xu Kai, show me a few sets of full-court dribbling, let me see your consistency."

"You can't just float around on the outside all the time. The closer you are to the basket, the easier it is to score. You're tall enough and strong enough, so you need to play more in the paint. Dribbling is key..."

Xu Kai did not refute Liu Duosheng; there was no need. He had no plans to pursue a professional career as long as he could develop the potential of this body. Even if he could reach the professional level in China, he would not want to take that path.

Unless he defies all odds and can make it to the NBA, as a reborn person, he would have a more accurate and direct choice.

At this stage, he has only one goal.

Students with athletic talents enter high school, and then enter top-tier high schools.

………………

Xu Kai understood the worry and guilt in his mother's eyes, which she didn't know how to express, and the words she opened her mouth to say but didn't finish.

I try to convince myself to study hard, and I try not to set up a stall or do small business and be talked about behind my back. I feel an unspeakable self-blame. I'm useless. My child is sensible and knows that children from poor families mature early. What can I say?

If you can truly get your child to focus entirely on their studies, I can handle any hardship or fatigue. Just focus on your studies, and I'll support you even if you get into university.

My child isn't cut out for it, so is he going to high school at his own expense?

That's not within the scope of this family's considerations.

It wouldn't have been a big deal; most families' children don't get into university, and starting work early isn't shameful. But when Xu Kai started setting up a stall to earn money, Sun Xiuyun felt guilty. Her weak personality, inherent kindness, and inarticulateness made her waver between hope and self-blame and worry, and the more she wanted to say something, the less she knew how.

The midterm exam results came out, and Xu Kai's score improved by several tens of points, moving her up ten places in the class, which gave her hope again.

"Xiao Kai, your family has enough savings to support your schooling. I called your teacher, Ms. Lü, and she said that if you work hard, you still have a good chance."

After cautiously probing her son, and seeing that he didn't argue back, Sun Xiuyun dared to continue. She explained that due to her level of education and personality, she didn't know how to handle her relationship with her rebellious son. When they were younger, she could fight with him, but now that he was more than a head taller than her, she was even more at a loss.

When her son reached the third year of junior high school, Sun Xiuyun felt that he had grown up, could understand reason, and had passed his rebellious phase. Only then did he try to communicate with her the educational philosophy he had heard from his sisters.

"Mom, I know. Only the top 50 or 60 students in our grade can get into high school. I'm still far from that level. I'll try my best."

Sun Xiuyun hesitated for a moment, then frowned and probed again: "Son, Mom will give you a little more pocket money every week, so don't sell those little things anymore. Use that time to do another set of test papers."

Xu Kai smiled, neither agreeing nor disagreeing. He knew all too well how to get along with his mother. When you can be her pillar of support, make decisions for her, or even make decisions for her, she will always retreat into her own little world.

At work, I have a few colleagues with whom I have a casual but not close relationship.

Go home, play mahjong with relatives, and watch TV at home.

She had no grand ambitions, no desire to see the wider world; she lived a very simple life. Xu Kai, who had lived for forty years, understood that after his father's death, what his mother needed most was to find a reliable man to start a new family, and he was a burden to her.

A single mother with a son who wants to rebuild her family has to constantly compromise her ideal standards when choosing a partner, which may result in her finding someone unsuitable and getting hurt again.

Xu Kai is back, and he has his own plans. The changes he needs need to be implemented step by step.

"Xiao Kai..." Sun Xiuyun tried to persuade him.

"Mom, I promise I can go to high school."

Learning without talent requires ten times the sweat and effort to achieve something uncertain.

His rebirth and exceptional physical attributes gave him a brighter path to success with a higher probability of being reborn.

The opportunities he remembered gave him the confidence to achieve financial freedom. Currently, getting into high school puts his mother at ease, allows him to walk the most promising path in the eyes of others, and opens up a new track for himself that he has never experienced before.

The next day, at 5:30, the alarm clock rang, and Xu Kai got up...