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nAfter deciding our opponents through lotto, the long awaited basketball tournament was finally about to begin. I couldn’t help but feel a bit excited. If I managed to win first place among our grade, then the class leader promised I could get a month of free food at her place.

nBut I seemed to be unpopular as the nominal captain of the team, I was also the last one to receive my uniform.

nI received the number ‘2’ uniform from Niu ShiLi and said with discontent:

n“Didn’t I say I wanted number 23, Jordan was 23…”

nNiu ShiLi waved his hands, ‘The clothing factory ran out of ink, so they could only print the 2. Are you dissatisfied?”

nIt must have been the other members who persuaded Niu ShiLi to give me a misprint. I wanted to have a fit but I didn’t want to break the team spirit this close before the tournament.

nFine, number 2 is fine. Even if I’m wearing the wrong number, my skills are still better than theirs. I’m not going to bicker with him considering Niu ShiLi took a beating from Xiao Qin in my stead.

nXiao Qin asked with a pleasing expression as she saw me place my uniform into my desk:

n“Ye Lin classmate, will you wear that when you play basketball starting from tomorrow?”

n“That’s right, why are you asking the obvious? If I don’t wear it when I’m playing basketball, when am I going to wear it? When I’m saving the world?”

nBut if I try to change up my way of thinking, it would be quite cool if there was a basketball hero.

nI even thought of who I would choose to act in the movie, Yao Ming.

nBut it would be difficult to find compatible actors with Yao Ming’s height. If worst comes to shove, I’ll let Yao Ming play the basketball hero after he transforms and I’ll let Guo JingMing play the part before he transforms.

nAs my mind wandered, Xiao Qin stammered:

n“Um, Ye Lin classmate, can I clean your uniform for you after every match?”

nA cute girl blinking her large eyes requested to wash my clothes.

nI didn’t have any reason to be unsatisfied, but Xiao Qin felt closer to a step sister than a girlfriend. And I didn’t want to give the task of washing my clothes to my sister, so I didn’t accept her request.

nBesides, Su Qiao will be living with me in a few days and she will be responsible for cooking and cleaning.

nDuring the break, I gathered our class’ basketball team and told them the starting lineup against class 2-6 based on my observations.

nNiu ShiLi will be the center and I’ll be the power forward. Pi ZeGuang will be the small forward, then You Cheng and Xu LiJun will be the two guards.

nThe reason why I didn’t go with double centers is because I have to observe Niu ShiLi’s position in an actual game, and the power forward would have the clearest view.

nAnd since we made a bet with Fu Yan Jie on the stake, it’s already good enough if he doesn’t purposely cause me trouble. I won’t expect him to assist me, so it’s better to keep my distance.

nPi ZeGuang, who’s only good at throwing from the middle, was originally a substitute. The reason why he took over Sun Yu’s position is because of his hard work… and Sun Yu has had poor performance lately. Every time he was free, he would run to be with the school doctor.

nSince my lineup was reasonable, no one had any objections. But Niu ShiLi reminded me and asked if we should change the bet.

nI believe the bet was: As long as Niu ShiLi was playing, everyone’s points other than mine would get added together than compared to my total score. The winner would be the side with more points.

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n“Using four people’s points versus yours… I feel like you wouldn’t accept it when you lose, why don’t we only compare our individual scores…”

n“No need.” I waved my hand, “I’ve played basketball much longer than you. If I win with your method, I feel like you wouldn’t accept it.”

nActually Niu ShiLi’s confidence isn’t simply because he went through a month of hell training and surpassed me in terms of skills, but because he has always been practicing together with the other team members. He can’t guarantee they won’t band together and only pass the ball to Niu ShiLi in order to make me drink Fu Yan Jie.

nWell it’s something to worry about tomorrow.

nI watched Xiong YaoYue hop around on the fields in her white volleyball uniform with red stripes and it made me look forward to tomorrow.

nThe volleyball uniform was a standard vest and shorts. Of course, it’s not strange for Xiong YaoYue to wear it as that’s her casual wear… but the class leader is also on the volleyball team and I can see her in shorts tomorrow!

nThe boys in the class all had the same thoughts as they drooled like Cerberus.

nI strolled under the shade of the old banyan tree and checked the watch on my left hand.

nBefore I could clearly read the time, Xiao Qin’s two hands… no, her two paws rested lazily on my arm.

n“Meow (^__^)o~”

nXiao Qin squinted her eyes like a cat and then rested her chin on my arm.

nShe scared me, did she use shunpo to come here?

nXiao Qin shifted her weight onto my arm and raised one of her hands to play with her non-existent cat ears.

n“Ye Lin classmate’s arm is so comfortable…”

n“Hey, we’re in school, what if someone sees?”

n“It’s fine meow~~ You can just say I’m the cat you’re raising meow~~”

n“That would make it even worse.”

nI put down my arm and Xiao Qin’s pillow disappeared.

n“Ye Lin classmate, can I… only be your secret girlfriend?”

nThe mottled shadows from the tree on her face made her seem like a character from an anime.

n“Are you not content with being my secret girlfriend? Or do you want to wear a shirt that says ‘I’m Ye Lin’s girlfriend’?”

nXiao Qin then suddenly looked towards the clothing factory as if it was a good suggestion.

nAre you actually going to get it printed? If you ignore the school rules like that, all of our points will get deducted.

n“Hey, you guys are hogging the good shade.”

nLoud Mouth came over while eating chips.

nXiao Qin, who remembered she had to pretend she wasn’t my girlfriend in front of others, could only move away from me.

n“Want any?” Loud Mouth waved her can of Lay’s chips.

n“Nope.” I rejected her offer, but Xiao Qin didn’t hold back and took a slice.

nThe two girls began crunching on chips under the old banyan tree. For some reason it reminded me of cicadas chirping in summer.

n“By the way, I saw something strange.” Even food couldn’t stop her mouth, she would die if she doesn’t gossip, “Do you guys know about the anonymous box to report teachers in front of the school?”

nI remembered there was something like that. I think when Shu Zhe’s class female teacher wore black stockings to school, a certain parent reported it, so the school prohibited female teachers from wearing black stockings to school.

n“As I was passing by the gates, I saw a really rich loli girl with two bodyguards in black suits stuffing a lot of letters into that box.”

nWait, why does those people sound so familiar?

n“Is she a foreigner?”

n“Yeah. She had golden hair, but she was wearing sunglasses, so I couldn’t see her eyes… ah, her two bodyguards were foreigners.”

nThat has to be Ai Mi. But why is she at 28 Middle and who is she trying to report?

n“Is she still there?” I asked without much expectations.

nLoud Mouth poured the last two chips from the container and shared it with Xiao Qin.

n“I think she’s gone. When she turned to look at me, she looked upset at me even though I didn’t do anything. Then she snorted and left with her bodyguards, isn’t that strange?”

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nNo, I think Ai Mi was upset at the chips in your hands. She was jealous that your mom didn’t even care when you’re this fat and can eat as much chips as you want.

nLoud Mouth said she had two bodyguards, but they weren’t memorable, then it probably wasn’t Peng TouSi, but 004 and 005. Since Ai Mi now has a craving for chips, would she try to shake off 004 and 005 to go to a convenience store and buy some junk food?

n“Oh right.” Loud Mouth spoke again after tossing the empty chip container into the trash, “One of the bodyguards also had a husky on a leash. The husky was standing on two legs while putting its front paws on the school gate, it looked pretty dumb. I had no idea where the young security guard was…”

nHe was looking for gold in the washrooms!

nThe husky was Obama! But to be honest, I don’t think there are any smart Huskies. The main characteristic of a Husky is being dumb.

nLater, I heard from Xiong YaoYue about the hole in the chain link fence in the outer fields. The one where a cat crawled through before (the kitten who was shielded by the class leader’s dress. Basically most middle school students couldn’t fit thought, but it seems someone had crawled in.

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