Returning to '97, creating a new life

"Teacher Liu!"

There was a surprise, but it was also expected.

What was surprising was Mr. Park's efficiency. Last night, he tacitly agreed to bring his junior high school PE teacher, Liu Duosheng, to the basketball court of a high school today.

Park In-ji: "Old Liu is here to help on a voluntary basis. Xu Kai, I don't need to explain what that means, right?"

"Outside the province?"

"At the very least, if we can achieve good results in the national competition, the higher the chances of Lao Liu getting a position at a high school."

"no problem."

Xu Kai remembered the kindness of Teacher Liu's meals, which was more important than the so-called enlightenment and the opportunity to enter the sports team. During that time, his bones were throbbing with pain, and the reborn body needed a lot of nutrition. Teacher Liu's beef, milk and fruit were undoubtedly a timely help.

Now that I have a little bit of ability, it feels wonderful to give back to Teacher Liu in the way she needs most. It's a feeling that I'm in control of my destiny.

Liu Duosheng was also very excited. He had just gone to the vice principal's office with Park In-ji. Although it was just "helping out voluntarily," the school still applied for some extra compensation for him. As for his job, it really depends on what kind of honor the high school basketball team can bring to the school.

Only with enough honors can the school apply to higher authorities for an additional physical education teacher position and transfer Liu Duosheng over.

People strive for higher positions. For a physical education teacher, working at a high school and working at the Second Railway Middle School are completely different things.

"You brat." Liu Duosheng smiled and lightly punched Xu Kai with his fist. This favor couldn't be expressed with just a few words of thanks.

Xu Kai's training enthusiasm has increased several levels, with more aggressive defense and a more self-torturing training method.

He voluntarily added extra practice sessions to his shooting drills. After all the group practice sessions were over, he would train alone on the court with several other people assisting him. Coach Park and Coach Liu would observe him from two different halves of the court. The extremely high intensity of his training was so impressive that everyone who watched had to admire him, regardless of their own opinion of Xu Kai. He was truly strong. Even after two hours of training, or even when he was at his peak physical condition, and without considering his shooting percentage, no one could complete his training method.

It's not just about physical fitness; the shooting training from the future places multifaceted demands on the body. Even if you don't seem fast, after two rounds you won't be able to guarantee even the basic shooting motion.

Dong Bin, Fei Wenxin, and Fang Jinyao all stayed behind for extra practice.

Coach Park guided Dong Bin and Fei Wenxin, teaching them footwork and post techniques.

Teacher Liu led Fang Jinyao in physical training.

During evening volleyball team training, everyone knew that the national 3x3 basketball challenge was about to begin. They envied the popularity of the sport and also felt the pressure that came with it.

Participation is the most important thing?

That's just a nice-sounding way of comforting oneself. When it comes to actually getting results, with the increased support from above for sports development, everyone from schools to teachers understands what's coming—although exams are still the main focus, if a school can achieve a significant lead in all aspects of development, it will receive many additional resources.

After training, Liu Duosheng had a private talk with Xu Kai.

"Are you still setting up a stall?"

"No, I've started a small business with a friend, and it's enough to cover my schooling and living expenses."

"That's good. You still need to take it easy. Can your body handle today's training volume?"

"It's alright, I won't force myself, don't worry, Teacher Liu."

"Yes, you've always been sensible. Just focus on the competition and don't worry about the results. I'll always have a permanent position here, no matter where I am."

"Ms. Liu, does it feel the same on a concrete surface and in an indoor gym?"

"Alright, kid, I'm counting on you."

………………

Xu Kai looked at the Motorola D470 phone in front of him, a phone that he found too heavy and bulky to even pick up and put in his pocket, and felt both amused and exasperated.

This was a gift from Fang Jinyao's family: a mobile phone worth several thousand yuan, and over two thousand yuan in network access fees and SIM card fees, which they also paid.

Gifts worth nearly ten thousand yuan, given away so casually?

I...

Considering both lifetimes combined and their monetary value, this was arguably the most valuable gift he had ever received.

"You're such a tightwad, it's a pain to even contact you when we need something, we have to wait for you to page us back. It's not like we don't have money. Jin Yao is our own brother, we're all family, just take it if we're told to." Yun Sheng pushed the box directly to Xu Kai.

Fang Jinyao chimed in, "Yeah, Xu Kai, my uncle's family sells this. They offer discounts, so it won't cost much."

Xu Kai gave a speechless smile: "I'm under a lot of pressure, Brother Yun. It's just a result I got by chance, but it's really useful."

Yun Sheng: "What others can't do, he can."

Fang Jinyao frowned: "Xu Kai, do you have to be so blunt? I'm very strong too, okay?"

Yunshang and he were childhood friends, the same age, and even went to the same kindergarten. They were extremely close: "Fang Jinyao, you really have a thick skin. Have you forgotten how badly that guard from the Provincial Experimental School beat you last year?"

Fang Jinyao panicked: "I! I won't argue with you..."

Yunshang raised an eyebrow, "What can you do to me?"

Xu Kai chimed in, "It's okay. If we lack talent, we'll make up for it with hard work. If we can't run ourselves to death, we'll run like crazy."

"That's a real blow," Fang Jinyao muttered, clutching his forehead as if he were ready to give up. A little joke, and the atmosphere among the young people became even more harmonious.

No one mentioned the phone again, as if it were just a trivial matter as a gift, and indeed it was.

Yun Sheng and Fang Jinyao both saw Xu Kai casually throw the packaging box and some product instructions into the trash can, and treat the mobile phone charger and battery the same as the pager, tossing them into his backpack.

It's squeezing, it's friction, it's scraping; only when you don't care and don't take it seriously will you behave this way.

Fang Jinyao initially thought Xu Kai was deliberately showing off, but after getting to know him, he found that this guy really didn't care. While others couldn't wait to show off, this guy always put his cell phone and pager on vibrate mode after starting school, tossed them in his backpack, and even when he did have something to do, he would pick them up with disgust.

Yes, it's disdain.

Yunshang felt the same way. After spending more time with Xu Kai, she suddenly realized that the phone she had snatched from her brother wasn't so appealing anymore.

Less than a week into the new semester, Xu Kai was singled out of the classroom by his homeroom teacher, Huang Jian, for a warning.

At the same time, Yunshang, a senior high school student upstairs, was also summoned for a talk by her homeroom teacher.

You two, it's one thing to do things secretly, but to openly show off in the cafeteria, you put food on my plate and shared a straw to drink a bottle of Coke, do you really think the teachers don't exist and the school rules and regulations don't exist?

The next day, the two kept their distance.

But Yunshang rode her motorcycle into the school again, and her unique, mature, and stylish outfit reappeared. The former high school bully was back. Gone was her neat ponytail; in its place was an even more flamboyant look. This Yunshang had been called to the school multiple times in her first and second years, even receiving school warnings, but she didn't care. No matter how many schools tried to stop her, Yunshang's parents and relatives still had connections enough to get a direct call to the principal's home.

Yunshang was simply repeating the same path she had taken in the past.

Xu Kai sighed inwardly. The privileged class, it's enviable. I've already contributed to the school before I even came here. I'm a good person. I've made such an unconventional guy behave properly. And you're still accusing me of having a puppy love.

Is that even a relationship? For me, a relationship isn't something you can just dabble in; it's something that involves a lot of hard work and challenges. This is just a budding, innocent crush. We're good buddies, or rather, good buddies with a slightly off vibe, that's all.

I am not only a good person, but also a hero. I am sweating and bleeding for the school.

On a weekend in the provincial capital, at 10 a.m., Songcheng No.1 High School held its first provincial competition.

Regardless of whether they are from the same city or not, the organizers do not have the extra manpower, resources, or funds to go down to every city. Anyway, there is no limit to the number of students registered by school, with one team quota per school. The competition will be held in the provincial capital, and the selection will be conducted in a concentrated period. Accommodation and meals will not be provided. Please register according to your capacity.

Currently, within the province, there are four weekends to determine two representative teams. The third-place team will then participate in an additional tournament based on the final elimination rounds for the national competition, with a few more spots being determined from the third-place teams across all regions.

The number of spots is currently uncertain, and there may not be any additional matches. This means that only the top two teams will be able to enter the final competition nationwide.

Upon arriving in the provincial capital and seeing the scale of the event, Xu Kai realized that his memory was not wrong; the butterfly effect was too strong. The event was quite large, and the entire organization was very professional. Most importantly, he remembered that the competition was initially sponsored by businesses, not organized by schools.

After reviewing the tournament rules, Xu Kai couldn't make heads or tails of the competition, so he gave up on the idea. He then took the train to the provincial capital early Saturday morning. There were three matches a day, each half lasting fifteen minutes, ensuring each team had at least three hours of rest in between. With this format, the matches were basically from morning till night, making the referees the most exhausted.

I have shed sweat and blood for the school.

Uh, it's just a slogan, just a slogan.

The match began. Xu Kai sat on the sidelines, arms crossed, still wearing his training clothes, squinting at the game on the court.

With the venue capable of hosting six matches simultaneously, plus the surrounding stands filled with teams from various cities within the province who were not playing, the stadium could accommodate over a thousand people.

With two players over two meters tall and being a provincial key high school, Songcheng No. 1 High School was a seeded team in the province from the moment they registered, though not explicitly designated. This was the first time there was no clearly defined seeded team; otherwise, No. 1 High School could have skipped the initial qualifying rounds and gone directly to the provincial final round-robin tournament.

Does Xu Kai need to play?

No need.

Is Fang Jinyao very important?

unimportant.

Dong Bin and Fei Wenxin were unstoppable, attacking with high balls and long strides. Some county school teams had interior players who were barely 180 centimeters tall. No matter how they played, the two of them could hold the ball and the opponents couldn't even reach it.

Not to mention the first day, all six games over the entire first week weekend were won easily. According to Dong Bin, this was the intensity of a casual half-court game at the school court.

Xu Kai didn't even take off his training jacket, and he didn't even touch the basketball.

With a perfect record of six wins, he returned to school.