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墨書 Inktalez
He took a deep breath, dribbled the ball a few times, and made the free throw. Exhaling, he went straight for the second shot and scored again! It was over! The game was basically finished! Teacher Qiu called a timeout; we were four points behind, and the situation was dire. We only had ten seconds left, and completing a four-point play in that time was an impossible task. Defeat was certain. After the opposing Shooting Guard made his second free throw, Song Huajing and Lu Lei collapsed onto the floor, shouting. The opposing coach excitedly clenched his fists and let out a long howl. After the timeout, we organized a fast break, and the opponent didn't defend well. Zhongqi Senior made a brilliant pass to A Fei, who hit a mid-range jumper. After the opposing team inbounded the ball, the referee blew the final whistle of the game. After overtime, the final score was set at 90-90, and we were dethroned from our top position by Twenty-Four Middle School.
After the game, Zhongqi Senior, Bing Ge, and A Fei stared blankly at the scoreboard, their eyes lingering for a long time. We had tasted our first defeat in this City High League, but we lost to a team with an ironclad combination—there was no shame in that! On the bus ride back, no one spoke. Once we arrived at school and walked into the classroom, Shuai Dong, Pang Hao, and Xia Ying rushed over. "How did it go? How did that 'Thunder Combo' perform? Did you win or lose?" "Can you guys let us sit down first? We're about to collapse!" I quickly sat down and rested my head on my desk. "What's wrong with you?" Xia Ying said in her usual blunt manner. A Fei slowly walked to his seat and sighed as he leaned on his desk. Zhang Yirong walked over and stood next to A Fei: "Yu Chengfei, are you tired?" Poor Zhang Yirong still hadn't given up; I wondered what charm A Fei had that could captivate both the school beauty and Zhang Yirong so completely. Sha Xiaomei and Zhang Yirong really had no taste; they couldn't see that there was an outstanding guy like me waiting to be loved.
After school in the afternoon, A Fei wanted to wait for Zhao Bin at the school gate. "A Fei, are you okay? Jianfei doesn't need your concern anymore; why are you worrying about him?" I really couldn't understand A Fei's mindset. "After all, we played against Zhao Bin before; I should apologize to him," A Fei said earnestly. This made me anxious: "A Fei, no matter how you apologize, you still fought him! Have you forgotten how he ambushed us last time? What if he hits you again?" "Jie, this is none of your business; just go back. I don't want to drag you into this anymore; this is between me and Zhao Bin." A Fei placed his hand on my shoulder emotionally. "Stop being so mushy; I'm getting goosebumps," I said as I brushed his hand off my shoulder with a smile. "Why should I listen to you? If you want me to leave, I'll just stay here and wait for Zhao Bin." With that, I parked my bike aside. A Fei saw my determination and smiled knowingly, his eyes filled with warmth.
Just then, an Aston Martin supercar came to a screeching halt by the roadside. A Fei and I widened our eyes; this car was stunning! I wondered which wealthy kid from our school owned it. Passersby were gossiping about it: "Wow! Zhao Bin's dad came to pick him up again; this car is so flashy..." What?! This is Zhao Bin's family's car! I always knew they were rich but never imagined they were this wealthy. After a while, Zhao Bin emerged from inside. "Zhao Bin, can we talk?" A Fei called out to him. Zhao Bin looked startled when he saw us two but quickly regained his composure: "What do you want?" "Zhao Bin, don't be nervous; I'm not here to fight or settle scores with you—I'm here to apologize." A Fei lowered his head as he spoke; it was rare to see him so humble. "Oh? You want to talk? Sure," Zhao Bin replied as he walked over to his Aston Martin and told his dad: "Dad, wait for me a moment; I've got something to do." He then headed towards us: "Where are we going?" "Let's go to that open space next to the school."
The three of us walked toward the open area. On the way there, I noticed Zhao Bin casually fiddling with his iPhone 4 while smirking slightly at the corner of his mouth. When we reached the open space, A Fei spoke first: "Zhao Bin, it was wrong of me to hit you; I'm sorry." He bowed his head as he said this. "It's okay; I accept your apology," Zhao Bin replied nonchalantly. "But... if you hit me once, I have to hit you back." He pushed further with a grin on his face. "Hey! Zhao Bin! Don't push your luck..." I couldn't take it anymore and shouted at him. "Jie! Don't interfere; this is between me and him," A Fei interrupted me firmly. "Oh! Such brotherly love! Shouldn't you two bow down together or something?" Zhao Bin laughed lewdly just as five or six older students rushed in—probably seniors from grade three—standing behind Zhao Bin in unison. "Brother Qu! You guys are here!" Zhao Bin greeted them.
"Yeah, we got your message and rushed over; who bullied you?" Brother Qu asked as they approached us. Now I understood why Zhao Bin had been fiddling with his phone earlier—he had been texting them for backup! Zhao Bin pointed at us: "It's them who bullied me; they beat me up last time." The seniors charged toward us ready to fight when A Fei shouted: "Wait! This has nothing to do with Jie; let him go! Also... after you've hit me, I hope you'll leave Sha Xiaomei alone." "Shut up! Fine! I'll promise not to make things difficult for your buddy," Brother Qu replied as he pointed at me: "Xiang Jie! You can get lost now." Just as I was about to charge forward, A Fei pulled me back: "Jie! Don't act rashly; just go!"
"I won't leave! I don't believe he can take me down!" I glared at Zhao Bin through gritted teeth when suddenly one of the seniors punched me squarely in the face—I fell immediately onto the ground but quickly got back up only to be surrounded by several people who began beating both me and A Fei... “Zhao Bin! Stop it! You bastard!” someone shouted as they rushed in. Upon seeing him arrive, Zhao Bin and his gang immediately stopped fighting—especially Zhao Bin whose face changed instantly: “Jianfei! What are you doing here…” “You bastard!” Situ Jianfei kicked Zhao Bin hard in response. After being knocked down by Jianfei's kick, Zhao Bin scrambled back up: “And you guys too! Brother Qu! I always thought you weren't unreasonable people—why are you following along with this nonsense?”
Situ Jianfei turned toward those seniors who were attacking us: “You guys are bullying them!” Brother Qu looked disgruntled: “Jianfei, stay out of this; I can't just watch them bully Bin!” “Bullying Bin? But what I'm seeing is a group of people bullying these two,” Situ Jianfei helped both me and A Fei up: “Jianfei! They were the ones who beat me up last time!” Zhao Bin protested indignantly. “So Yu Chengfei brought a bunch of seniors to beat you up? You've fought already today—Brother Qu—just leave this matter to me.” Brother Qu nodded reluctantly before leading his group away.
“Bin! Do you know why Sha Xiaomei is hospitalized?” Situ Jianfei asked Zhao Bin who thought for a moment before replying blankly: “I don't know; when I went to visit her at the hospital she didn’t say anything.” “Because... Sha Xiaomei has mild depression,” Situ Jianfei closed his eyes as he spoke solemnly. “What?! She only told me she wasn't feeling well!” Situ Jianfei recounted everything that happened between Sha Xiaomei and A Fei while Zhao Bin listened with vacant eyes: “No way—that can't be true; how could Sha Xiaomei choose to be with me?” “Maybe Sha Xiaomei once tried liking you but…” Situ Jianfei sighed deeply as we talked for what felt like hours—I didn't know how long it lasted but remembered that both Zhao Bin's father and my parents kept calling us one after another...
The next morning I struggled to get out of bed due to fatigue but woke up early nonetheless. Lying in bed massaging my muscles relieved some soreness; thankfully there were no visible injuries from last night’s fight—otherwise my parents would have scolded me again for sure. After some time passed and realizing school was about to start soon made me reluctantly crawl out of bed and get dressed before heading out to find A Fei who had just woken up himself—a rare occurrence since he usually never overslept like this which showed just how exhausted he must have been last night.
We rode our bikes while chatting along the way: “Good thing our away game against Shinan is tomorrow—otherwise it would’ve really taken its toll on us.” I remarked casually before asking: “By the way Ice Man—do you know who it is yet?” Suddenly A Fei asked me curiously: “Nope—not yet; I'm still investigating it myself—the only thing I'm sure of now is that Ice Man is Chinese.” Making a joke out of it I added: “Well I'm sure he's male too so your statement doesn’t help much!”
A Fei pretended not to care while rolling his eyes at my comment as we laughed together until arriving at school where we spotted Zhao Bin entering just then—we exchanged glances without saying anything because it seemed like he really needed time adjusting still.
Shuai Dong and Pang Hao were busy copying homework in class while Xia Ying focused intently on reviewing her notes when A Fei and I took our seats respectively—Zhang Yirong wandered over beside A Fei looking dazed which annoyed me greatly so I walked over right in front of her face saying bluntly: “Zhang Yirong—you might as well give up.”
“Mind your own business! Big Casanova!” Zhang Yirong shot back angrily at me causing my emotions boil over but slowly calming myself down enough saying gently: “Zhang Yirong—A Fei has already reconciled with Sha Xiaomei if you think you're better than her then feel free continuing pursuing him.” Seizing this opportunity for some light-hearted teasing towards her made her gasp in surprise before quickly recovering putting on a forced smile saying: “Oh…so what if they’re back together? Good for them—I’m not clinging onto him or anything.” With that she turned around heading back towards her seat while Ding Fang—the classmate sitting next to A Fei shook his head sighing: “Xiang Jie—you just unintentionally hurt Zhang Yirong’s feelings deeply.”
I looked surprised glancing back at Zhang Yirong who buried her head downwards apologizing silently within myself feeling guilty realizing it wasn’t intentional.
During lunchtime A Fei and I headed over towards gym class where everyone actively trained hard while Zhongqi Senior along with Ouyang approached us saying cheerfully: “A Fei Jie—how did you sleep last night?”
“Not well—it was such an uncomfortable night—I felt terrible,” I feigned pain dramatically causing laughter among them until Teacher Qiu arrived calling everyone together pulling out a piece of paper announcing: “Tomorrow we will challenge Shinan High School away—we should have no problem defeating them while Twenty-Four Middle School will host Qingzhu High School tomorrow too—they should also easily win against Qingzhu meaning our second-place ranking seems pretty much locked in.”
Teacher Qiu continued unfolding that paper stating further details regarding Group B’s match reports revealing Sangyue High School leading with four wins out of five matches followed closely by Yuhai High School along with New District Experimental High School both having three wins two losses each—the final round would see Sangyue facing off against New District Experimental High School which theoretically could determine first place however Sangyue previously defeated New District away 99-89 making their chances high thus if Sangyue wins again Yuhai merely needs victory against bottom-ranked Jiling securing second place advancing onward likely facing Sangyue during quarterfinals ahead…
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