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Teacher Qiu began to read the list, “Cheng Zhongqi, Yan Bing, Zhou Litong, Zhang Ruizhi, Yu Chengfei, Li Junhai, Qiu Junze, Zhang Jun…” I was almost suffocating, with only four names left. I wondered if I would be among them. “Ji Fang, Zhang Yingjie, Ouyang Shangqiang…” I felt despair as my heart raced. “Xiang Jie!” The last name was mine!! I made it into the Team?!! Yes!! Why did they have to put me last? That was quite a scary joke. “This time, the Team includes last semester's main players Cheng Zhongqi, Yan Bing, Zhang Ruizhi, and Zhang Yingjie, along with three first-year freshmen who just entered high school: Yu Chengfei, Ouyang Shangqiang, and Xiang Jie. The twelve of you will begin a fifteen-day training camp starting tomorrow. The other students can take a break for now. Class dismissed!” As my classmates filed out of the gym, “We are going to fight side by side this time,” said Cheng Zhongqi as he walked up to me. “Yeah, Jie, A Fei, congratulations on being selected for the Team in your first semester of high school.” Bing Ge also came over, “Hmph! Congratulations? You all made it into the Team, and I’m nothing. It’s unfair.” Shuai Dong followed behind, feeling indignant. “Alright, alright, you and Pang Hao can cheer for us as our cheerleaders.” I smiled at him, “We must win! For me and Pang Hao, we have to win; otherwise, we’d be letting ourselves down!” Shuai Dong looked at us. “Yes, definitely!”
From then on, each training session increased our physical workload significantly, and the difficulty of shooting practice gradually intensified. I felt the difference compared to the training in the Junior High School Team. No! It was completely different! The intensity had increased by a whole level. “Ai II, are you tired?” I chatted with A Fei during a break in training. “You’re calling me Ai II! When have I ever been tired?” A Fei smiled back, wiping sweat from his forehead as it dripped onto the floor. We wiped our brows and continued practicing.
When I got home, I collapsed onto the sofa. “Son, what’s wrong?” Mom came over to ask. I weakly replied, “Mom, I’m about to die.” “What’s wrong with you?” Mom slapped my back lightly. “You’re abusing children; you’re using domestic violence.” I pretended to look pitiful. “You’re just like that; if you’re tired, take a break. I’m going to cook dinner.” Mom headed toward the kitchen. Dad had gone to Uncle’s house for drinks today. I opened my computer and logged onto QQ; Xue Er was offline again, which made me feel frustrated. Both Shuai Dong and Pang Hao were online, so I sent them a QQ message: Want to play racing together? I’ll crush you guys a few rounds. Pang Hao replied: Sure, but my skills are terrible; don’t laugh at me. Shuai Dong challenged: Bring it on; who’s afraid of whom!
As it turned out, they weren’t boasting at all. Not only did I fail to fulfill my promise, but they also crushed me in several rounds. It turned out that Shuai Dong was quite skilled; he won three rounds in a row right off the bat while I didn’t win a single one—not even close! In fact, I came in last almost every time; my skills were worse than those of Pang Hao, who managed to win one round himself. Sigh… Looks like I need to be more cautious when bragging in the future.
Just as we were playing, someone added me as a friend. “Hey! Annoying! You distracted me; now I've lost again!” After losing several rounds in a row, I was furious when I saw that it was someone named ‘Flying Witch’ who added me. Looking at her profile revealed no photos and her information showed: Age 16, Female, Occupation Student, living in the same area as me.
“Hello,” I politely greeted her. “Hi,” she replied quickly with impressive typing speed. “May I ask who you are?” “Just an online friend,” she said, leaving me even more confused. “Do you know me?” “I guess you could say that.” “Then what’s your name?” “You don’t need to know that.” Wow! How could she know me if I don’t know her?! Is she trying to fool me? “How do you know me then?” “You don’t need to know; let’s just be friends?” “Alright! But I don’t want to force anyone; how should I address you?” “Call me Cookie.” “Cookie?” Haha, what kind of name is that? It’s hilarious. “That’s just my nickname; how should I call you?” Seriously?! If she knows me well enough to add me as a friend, how could she not know my name?! Is she treating me like a three-year-old? “Call me Soda. You’re Cookie, and I'm Soda. Perfect match.” I prepared to tease her further. “Haha, okay, Soda.” “Cookie,” … We chatted for a long time and had a great time together, forgetting all about our fatigue.
The next morning was gloomy again. “Sigh! Looks like it’s going to rain again,” I sighed while looking at the sky. After lunch training ended, it became increasingly overcast and heavy; after eating lunch, I had no mood to wander around aimlessly anymore and returned to class to lay my head on the desk and sleep. Before long, I drifted off into dreamland…
I seemed to see Sha Xiaomei. Yes! It was her! "Classmate, I'm really sorry about last time for being rude to you," said Sha Xiaomei, lowering her head slightly with an apologetic expression. "It's fine; I'm thick-skinned," I replied with a silly grin. Slowly raising her head with a blush on her face she said: "Then... as an apology, can I take you out to watch a movie?" "Huh?? Isn’t that too much…?" "So you're not willing to forgive me? Do you really dislike me that much?" She looked at me with those watery big eyes as if she might cry at any moment. "No no! How could I dislike you?" I hurriedly explained. "Really? Hehe! Since you're busy with training on Saturdays, how about we go on Sunday?" said Sha Xiaomei. "Okay," my heart couldn't be happier at that moment. "By the way, write down my phone number..."
“Xiang Jie, Xiang Jie, it's time for class!” Xia Ying pushed me awake. Rubbing my sleepy eyes in disbelief—phew! It was just a dream—“You were drooling while smiling just now; what were you dreaming about that made you so happy?” asked Xia Ying. "Nothing!" "Sure," seeing my evasive gaze made her expression somewhat strange and left me feeling puzzled.
The last self-study period turned into another training session where we split into teams for practice matches—one-on-one defense drills from long distance shots even including free throws—none were left out as Teacher Qiu taught us some techniques personally demonstrating how to find opportunities for breakthroughs: "We played against Chengdong High School. Last summer during the city-wide high school basketball league's round of 16 playoffs we defeated them by a large margin of 86-8; therefore we understand their playing style well—Zhongqi, Yan Bing, Yingjie and Rui Zhi should be familiar with them—but never underestimate them! Last time their inside game was clearly lacking; after experiencing their defeat last time they will surely learn from their mistakes and strengthen their inside game aiming for revenge—so everyone must not slack off at all! Did you hear that!” The deep and powerful voice of Teacher Qiu echoed throughout the gymnasium shaking our hearts—yes! We will strive hard for victory!
It was Saturday; snowflakes began drifting down from early morning transforming into heavy snowflakes soon after making it impossible to go outside—it felt stifling indoors. Opening my computer and logging onto QQ again revealed that Xue Er wasn’t online once more—huh?? This was already five consecutive days without her logging in; what happened? Just then ‘Flying Witch’ popped up online: "Soda, what are you doing? You don’t have training today right? Take some rest." How did she know that there was no training for me this morning? (Because it got canceled due to snow.) My curiosity about this witch grew stronger by the minute: "Cookie, where are you from?" Knowing full well what she would say next but asking anyway led her to respond: "From the same place as you." This girl seemed pretty cheerful; chatting with her somehow helped distract me from many worries.
In the afternoon when the snow stopped falling outside my window everything appeared white as if the entire world had transformed—a purity without any impurities… "Jie, come out and build a snowman!" shouted A Fei outside. Alright! Time for some fun before facing off against Big Back!
On Sunday morning, it wasn't snowing, but there was a kind of coldness reminiscent of icy snow, making me reluctant to move. It seems the physics teacher was right; the saying "it's not cold when it snows, but it's cold when the snow melts" really holds true. I didn't want to leave the warmth of my blanket and could vaguely hear the sound of news broadcasting. My dad was in the living room watching the morning news, a tradition that never changes. I couldn't sleep or get up, so I picked up my phone from beside the bed and logged onto QQ. Xue Er was online! "Xue Er, why haven't you been on QQ lately?" I asked eagerly. "Hmm, I've been preparing for my final exams, so I haven't been on much. I'm just here to say hi before I log off. You have exams too, so good luck studying! I'm logging off now, bye." After that, Xue Er's profile picture turned gray again. "Sigh... I finally waited for her to come online, and we barely exchanged two sentences. What a good student..." I muttered helplessly to myself. After a while, Flying Witch came online, and I greeted her: "Good morning, Cookie." "Lazy pig, it's not early! You haven't gotten up yet?" "It's too cold; I'm too lazy to get up." "Actually... I haven't gotten up either, haha." "Hmph! Then you owe me!" "What about you? Not happy? Come at me! Haha." This girl really knows how to banter, but... I enjoy sparring with her. She and Xue Er are two completely different girls—one is understanding and the other is quirky.
Before I knew it, it was Monday again. The snow had mostly melted, but it was still bone-chillingly cold. When I arrived at the school gate, I saw Sha Xiaomei pushing her bike over. "Hey, Sha, um... I'm here for school," I mustered the courage to greet her but ended up stuttering. "Yeah," she replied with a smile. It turns out she wasn't that hard to approach after all. "I'm going in first," she said as she pushed her bike inside. It really is true that being kind to others is being kind to oneself; a smile earns you affirmation instead of a frown.
Today's basketball class was very relaxed; it was obvious this was to relieve stress before tomorrow's match. Tomorrow, we will be welcoming Chengdong High School's challenge in this venue. Xiang Jie, let's go!
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