Returning to '97, creating a new life

"Mom, I'm going for a run."

Three and a half minutes later, Xu Kai arrived at the school.

I climbed over the wall and entered the school.

In the summer, some residents living nearby would climb over the wall or gate to come in and do morning exercises on the playground at five or six o'clock. Most of the time, the security guards wouldn't interfere.

As November arrived, the weather turned cold and fewer people were around. Apart from a few football and basketball enthusiasts from the school who were willing to come to school early to play for a while, there were hardly any people.

After warming up at school, Xu Kai took out a basketball and started practicing full-court running shots. He learned it from a video of Curry's China tour online. He wasn't that accurate, and he didn't have anyone to help him retrieve the ball. His overall shooting speed was definitely not as good as Curry's, but this method had proven to be incredibly awesome, exceeding the ceiling.

In this day and age, that's not just a ceiling, it's a training method that's several versions ahead of its time, which is incomprehensible, unacceptable, and even considered impossible to operate.

Time has proven that, although he was reborn, he did not develop his brain's intelligence, but instead was endowed with extraordinary physical abilities.

The task at hand is challenging and requires professional guidance, but Xu Kai knows it will definitely yield twice the results with half the effort.

Studying, sweating profusely, and putting in 200% effort may ultimately yield only half the results.

Most importantly, he was very clear about one thing: by the time he reached college entrance exam age, which would be three and a half years later, the university entrance requirements would be much lower, and he might even be able to get a university degree by just coasting through life.

To satisfy a mother's proud expectations of her son becoming a dragon among men, and to give her face and pride in front of relatives and friends that her son is a college student, all of this must be done without delaying one's own planned goals for a new and successful life.

It's not tough or tiring; the high-intensity exercise brings a feeling of comfort all over. His increasing physical reserves allow him to approach training with a playful attitude, giving himself a high-intensity workout early in the morning.

Around 6:10 a.m., some students arrived at school. They were willing to arrive more than an hour early to play soccer or basketball together. Studying is impossible with early mornings, but playing is fine; in their parents' eyes, getting up early to study is still the priority.

Xu Kai gave a shockingly intense lesson to the students who arrived at school early today, especially a few who were planning to play basketball. They had initially intended to play a half-game with him, but they were dumbfounded after watching for less than a minute.

At first, I thought this senior was just playing around by himself because he had no one to play with.

A minute later, even those who knew nothing about tactics understood that what the other side was doing wasn't just playing around; it was a display of strength that was beyond their reach.

He simply ran back and forth between the two halves of the field, while the ball stopped and he kept running.

The accuracy was incredible; all of them were long-range shots, yet he maintained a success rate of over 50%. He could pull up for a jump shot while moving, or dribble to the three-point line and then turn around for a jump shot after picking up the ball...

"I'll fetch the ball for you."

A junior high school boy ran over, and Xu Kai immediately recognized him as a fan of Rukawa Kaede. His clothing, hairstyle, and even the bicycle he was riding were all imitations of Rukawa Kaede.

If you like Rukawa Kaede, you're at least considered someone who knows a little about basketball among students. You can see through Xu Kai's moves and it would be best if someone could retrieve the ball and pass it to you.

Today's playground is different from others.

Many students did not enter the teaching building immediately, and surrounded the entire basketball court, which was almost full of people.

It's no longer just "Rukawa Kaede" retrieving the ball; instead, there are two people near each basket on either side, retrieving the ball and passing it to Xu Kai.

After someone retrieved the ball, Xu Kai rested for a while, took out the warm water he brought from home, slowly drank a small sip, adjusted his breathing, wiped the sweat from his forehead, and tried it out. He felt that his body did not feel tired at all.

At 6:50, the training officially began. He asked the boys in his class who had arrived at school early to help him time the shots, and they began a 20-minute shooting practice session. The shots were not limited to beyond the three-point line, but were all taken from outside the three-second zone.

He shoots while running, and after receiving the ball, he only needs to adjust slightly before shooting. Curry's training is all based on real games. Whether there is a defender or not, his shooting choices are to shoot quickly after receiving the ball. The speed from receiving the ball to shooting is very fast. When he receives the ball and shoots while running, he can most likely ignore the defender.

In the minds of middle school students, let alone shooting, let alone a decent shooting percentage, just the running for a full twenty minutes between the two halves, even if the running wasn't fast, the endurance completely shatters their perception.

Members of the basketball team also came to the school and were stunned.

The large crowd gathered on the playground before morning self-study attracted the school's attention. The school's loudspeaker announced that teachers had arrived to disperse the students, who then went into their classrooms. Xu Kai quickly put his basketball and water bottle into his backpack and jogged away from the school.

He ran home, and legends about him spread throughout the campus.

As a physical education teacher, Liu Duosheng naturally didn't need to arrive at school at seven in the morning. If he arrived at school before eight o'clock or was occasionally a little late, no one would notice.

As soon as Liu Duosheng entered the office, he was told about this. He had intended to wait until the afternoon, but he couldn't contain his excitement and decided to get up and go to the classroom of Class 4, Grade 9 in the teaching building.

Skillful.

Xu Kai was standing outside the door, leaning against the wall as punishment.

If you weren't so immersed in the physical abilities and fitness of "Superman" that you only had a 20-minute training session, you would have had plenty of time.

If it were just a matter of rushing home, having a meal, and putting on his school uniform, there would be enough time. But Mr. Xu, who is used to showering every day, couldn't stand being drenched in sweat in the morning. His mother had left for work, and he had a pot of water boiling in a large iron pot. Even without a shower, he could still feel comfortable wiping himself down with a towel soaked in warm water.

This made me late. I wasn't late for the regular class, but I basically skipped the morning self-study session.

typical.

Aside from not contacting his parents, Xu Kai is now a typical target of Teacher Lü's disciplinary actions, with escalating punishments being imposed on him.

He didn't resist or talk back to the teacher. With the intimidating presence of his height and strength, and his reputation outside, he unintentionally "cooperated" with the teacher, establishing the teacher's authority in the class. As a result, when Lü Yan dealt with other students who made mistakes, none of them resisted. They all learned from Xu Kai: "I listen to what the teacher says, and I accept the punishment."

"Hey, isn't this the celebrity who caused such a stir on campus this morning? Go stand at the gate. One class period, then you'll have to write those two ancient poems from yesterday twenty times as punishment, and hand them in tomorrow morning. Oh, and next week you'll have to clean the toilets, class monitor and labor committee member, keep track of that."

Instead of being stern, Ms. Lü made a lighthearted joke, which, without any malice, drew a burst of laughter from the class.

"Okay." Xu Kai said, "I'll stand up straight even if I get hit."

"Teacher, Xu Kai has been punished to clean the toilets all semester. If he keeps recording the time, it'll be time for the next semester." The labor committee member looked at his notebook, and his words made everyone burst into laughter again. It has to be Brother Suo, who is always stationed in the men's toilet.

"Then keep it for next semester."

The door was open. The first class was the homeroom teacher's Chinese class. Xu Kai was standing outside as punishment. Lü Yan even came out and said, "If you don't understand what we're going to talk about today, you'll be punished by copying the text fifty times."

Xu Kai stood at attention and saluted. Lü Yan rolled her eyes at him. This student, who used to be somewhat invisible, had changed a lot in the third year of junior high. Over the past two months, she found that she actually liked this student quite a bit. He gave her a feeling of being both a teacher and a friend. The most important change was that, thanks to this student's witty remarks, it became much easier for her to get along with the students in the whole class.

This achievement, coupled with Xu Kai's progress in the midterm exam, led Lü Yan to tacitly accept his occasional truancy. This kid is like a dead pig that doesn't fear boiling water; he doesn't care even if he's repeatedly scalded. His main tactic is to admit his mistakes and be proactive, but he just won't change.

The door was open, and Liu Duosheng walked to Xu Kai's side. Lu Yan, who was inside the room, caught sight of him out of the corner of her eye. She stepped down from the podium at a certain point in the lecture and walked to the door: "Teacher Liu, is something the matter?"

Liu Duosheng glanced at Xu Kai, and was about to speak when Xu Kai spoke first: "Teacher Liu, I'll come to your office after class."

Liu Duosheng nodded to Lü Yan. One went into the classroom, and the other turned to leave. Xu Kai smiled wryly. "Old Liu, you must get a beating from your wife at home. Can't you see the unfriendly look in Teacher Lü's eyes? Does she really think I'm just being punished by standing? Didn't she see the classroom door was open? Do I have to listen to the teacher's lecture and glance inside to look at the blackboard every now and then? And she has to ask me to talk to her?"

The bell rang, and the students began to leave the classroom. Almost everyone glanced at Xu Kai, who was now the class's source of amusement, responsible for nearly half of the class's laughs.

Lü Yan walked to the door and looked Xu Kai up and down: "You did well on the exam this time. With a little more effort, it's not impossible. As for the basketball team..."

In the noisy corridor outside the classroom, Xu Kai didn't tell his mother directly. He didn't mind telling his homeroom teacher, who would understand what he was saying.

"Ms. Lü, if I lead my team to victory against Tieyi Middle School's school team, would I be qualified to be specially recruited by a certain high school?"

Lü Yan stared at him for a few seconds, then said, "It's possible, but it's also quite difficult."

"I want to give it a try. My mom hopes I can get into high school."

Lü Yan paused for a moment: "Until this railway bureau competition ends, if it doesn't work out, come back and study like crazy. I'll talk to your teachers, and you can ask them if you don't understand something. There's a legitimate way. Can't you handle this kind of hardship?"

Xu Kai smiled. The word "teacher" shines above Teacher Lü's head, radiating the unique light of this generation of educators.

"it is good."