Chapter 74: 75

In order to dispel the Sciences classes’ rumour and to keep up their performance like yesterday, all of the players, both starters and substitutes, were warming up at the basket.

Probably also because there were reporters there. 

With the appearance of cameras, even the cheerleaders started practicing.

Old Yuan didn’t sit with the rest of the staff behind the referee, instead he was happily seated with Humanities 1 in the audience.

Kou Chen and Huo Ran passed a few balls back and forth, and then practiced shooting.

“Sciences 8 is strong.” Kou chen whispered. 

Sciences 8 had three guys on the school basketball team, and four guys on the track team. From skill, height, and physical strength, they had the complete advantage.

“Strong my ass.” Huo Ran’s reply was direct.

“You get mad at me for putting on airs,” Kou Chen looked at him. “But you’re perfectly fine with doing it yourself?”

“I’m serious.” Huo Ran looked at the Sciences 8 players. “They’re under a lot more pressure. We’re the dark horse, they’re familiar with everyone else, but they don’t have a plan against us.”

“You’re their captain, do they don’t have anything to use against you?” Kou Chen said. “What kind of captain are you?”

“I’ve never coordinated like this with any of them.” Huo Ran said. “Besides, they might not understand me enough.”

“Good thing you have me, right?” Kou Chen raised an eyebrow.

“…Yeah, you’re a god.” Huo Ran looked at him. 

The referee blew his whistle, and both teams met in the middle.

Huo Ran saw that today’s line judge was Lin Wuyu.

He still has this much free time as a third year, not only was he hanging out around the referee seat, he was also playing line judge. Good for him. 

Today they had Kou Chen jump for the ball. Kou Chen can jump well, and he would do especially good when they’re ‘in the limelight’ like this.

For Sciences 8, it was Wei Zheng jumping. He wasn’t the tallest in their class, but he was about the same as Huo Ran and Kou Chen, who were the tallest in Humanities 1.

The ball was thrown up between Kou Chen and Wei Zheng, and then the two jumped. 

Kou Chen still wasn’t experienced enough. He jumped high, half a head higher than Wei Zheng, but he was just those few milliseconds too early.

Wei Zheng jumped right on time, and the ball went to Sciences 8’s Zhang Yunhai.

Huo Ran usually yelled at people the whole match, and he rarely played to the best of his ability, but he just wanted to win this game today, no matter what.

It was the first match he was playing with Kou Chen. 

He wanted to win.

Zhang Yunhai was about to catch the ball, when an arm reached out in front of him.

The audience at Humanities 1’s spot immediately started screaming, with the cheerleaders not being in sync at all. Just in that one second, they all ditched the earlier idea of showing off what they were capable of in front of the reporters.

Huo Ran easily snatched away the ball that Zhang Yunhai should’ve caught with no problem. 

Before anyone could completely get into a competitive state, Huo Ran had already brought the ball to the opponent’s half of the court. Before Sciences 8 could catch up, he passed the ball to Kou Chen, who was following on his heels.

Kou Chen didn’t hesitate when he caught the ball, he directly went for the shot.

The ball went in.

That point excited everyone in the audience, and they yelled and cheered. 

Huo Ran pointed at Kou Chen: “If you only fucking score two points at the three point line when there’s nobody blocking you again, I’ll kill you.”

“…Did I only get two points?” Kou Chen paused.

Huo Ran shoved his head down: “Look carefully, the three point line is right here!”

“I was stepping on it?” Kou Chen grumbled. 

“Yeah.” Huo Ran said.

“Okay, I’ll be more careful next time.” Kou Chen then turned around to face him, “I said you’re done for if you yell at me!”

“Bring it on then.” Huo Ran glared at him, “Defense!”

  

Sciences 8 didn’t quite like that opening. Right after that, they did a fast break as well. The players receiving the ball barely dribbled, they only passed the ball down the court.

And then, like it was a challenge, Zhang Yunhai scored a three-pointer.

“Fuck!” Kou Chen whispered, “Did he do that on purpose?”

“Of course he did.” Huo Ran said. “He’s trying to say that he’s better than you.” 

“Trying to rile me up, are you?” Kou Chen looked at him.

“Is it working?” Huo Ran asked.

“Yeah.” Kou Chen smirked.

“What do we do?” Jiang Lei asked. 

We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.

“Stay on them.” Huo Ran said. “Even if you pass out.”

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After two fast breaks, the air became tense, and both teams started to play more carefully.

It’s not like they could do fast breaks for the entire match.

Luo Feiyu got the ball, dribbled it twice, raised it over his head and then exchanged glances with Jiang Lei before throwing it over.

Jiang Lei caught the ball, and then passed it behind him to Kou Chen as the opposing defense arrived. 

Huo Ran sweated for him. Whenever he passed like that, he missed eight out of ten times.

But today he was playing better than usual. The ball landed accurately in Kou Chen’s hands.

Kou Chen caught the ball, and then rushed towards the other side of the court like he was on fire.

“Three-pointer!” Xu Zhifan’s voice sounded from the audience. 

“Don’t step on the line—” Xu Chuan yelled too.

This time, Sciences 8’s defense was very fast. There were already three people there before Kou Chen got to the three-point line.

To prevent Kou Chen from passing the ball to Huo Ran, Wei Zheng stuck to him like glue. Huo Ran tried to fake him out twice, but to no avail.

In such a situation, Kou Chen should pass the ball to someone else. 

But for some reason, it was like Kou Chen didn’t even see that Huo Ran was completely blocked by Wei Zheng, he still passed the ball in his direction.

Insane!

Huo Ran could only rush towards the ball. He needed to grab it before Wei Zheng touched it.

It was like his life was on the line. 

Huo Ran hasn’t even tried this hard at sectionals. He literally flew forwards. The moment his hand touched the ball, he suddenly saw Kou Chen take two steps back out of the corner of his eye.

And so he twisted his wrist, and smacked the ball back to Kou Chen.

By passing the ball to Huo Ran, Kou Chen diverted the attention of Zhang Yunhai, who was on him earlier.

After stepping back and catching the ball Huo Ran passed back, he stood a centimetre behind the three-point line, jumped, and took the shot. 

The ball made it in the basket as the audience cheered and yelled wildly.

When he landed, Zhang Yunhai returned to his place in front of him.

He smiled at Zhang Yunhai.

Zhang Yunhai walked away without much of an expression on his face. 

Then, he looked at Huo Ran, speaking before he could open his mouth: “Try and yell at me now.”

Huo Ran didn’t say anything, looking at him.

“You think that counts as four points?” Kou Chen asked.

“You can take it up with the referee.” Huo Ran said. 

Kou Chen smiled, jumping a bit before asking again: “How was it?”

“Beautiful.” Huo Ran said. “But don’t take such a big risk next time, what if I didn’t get the ball?”

“Impossible.” Kou Chen nudged him with his shoulder. “I knew you could get it. You’re not the captain for nothing.”

Huo Ran tsked. 

To be honest, Huo Ran really liked this feeling.

Before, he could only feel the pleasure in defeating an opponent, but today, he felt the happiness that was brought by pulling off a successful play with a partner.

It wasn’t the normal kind that he could do with any of his teammates. 

It was like, I knew you could do it, and you also believed that I could.

The kind where you knew what to do with just a glance. Kou Chen would appear where he needed him, and he knew what Kou Chen needed from him, then he would do it.

He could see Kou Chen when he dribbled past the midcourt line, when he passed the ball, he could tell if Kou Chen was about to take the shot or pass it again, and Kou Chen also understood how they would push into the key.

That kind of feeling of ‘I’ll wait for you wherever you need me’, wasn’t something that came out of just playing together for a couple years. 

Although they did make mistakes.

Like when Huo Ran thought Kou Chen was about to shoot, and then he suddenly passed the ball right towards Huo Ran’s face.

The only way was to be faster. 

Huo Ran was only two steps away from him, he didn’t have time to react.

So the ball smacked Huo Ran in the forehead.

And then it bounced back into Kou Chen’s hands.

“Just fucking shoot it!” Huo Ran yelled at him angrily. 

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Kou Chen took the shot, it went in.

Two points.

The audience cheered and laughed.

“Don’t yell at me, don’t yell at me!” Kou Chen didn’t bother looking at whether the ball made it in or not, he immediately went over to Huo Ran and touched his forehead. He bit back a laugh and said, “I thought that since there was nobody on you, it would be safer to pass it.” 

“Was that a pass?!” Huo Ran glared at him. “That was you playing fucking squash!”

“Does it hurt?” Kou Chen asked.

“…It’s a basketball, not a shot.” Huo Ran sighed.

“You can yell at me, then?” Kou Chen said quietly. 

“Am I supposed to praise you otherwise?” Huo Ran also lowered his voice. “Can’t you hear how hard they’re laughing?”

“What if you yelling at me affects my performance later?” Kou Chen said.

“Will it?” Huo Ran retorted.

“Nope.” Kou Chen said. 

To comfort Kou Chen, Huo Ran reached out and put an arm around him, patting his back: “Okay now, Princess Chen?”

“Watch your words!” Kou Chen glared at him and then ran off.

Their scores were neck and neck in the first half, so they couldn’t do what they did yesterday. The biggest difference in score was four at one point, and it was Sciences 8 in the lead. 

After the first half, Humanities 1 was ahead by one point.

As they took a break, the audience was changing spots, and Old Yuan ran over: “Well played everyone, Keep it up!”

“Weren’t we awesome?” Kou Chen asked.

“Very awesome!” Old Yuan gave him a thumbs up. 

“Mr. Yuan, come sit,” Wu Xiaochen yelled from the audience. “Don’t bother them, they still have to discuss strategies!”

“Got it, got it.” Old Yuan happily went back to his seat.

They all huddled up and discussed various ideas. Nobody really paid attention to each other, and in the end they all looked to Huo Ran.

“Don’t worry so much.” Huo Ran wiped his sweat. The first half was pretty tough, and they used a lot of energy. “If you have the energy, keep playing. If not, we’ll substitute. We don’t need to change anything in terms of strategy, just don’t throw the ball at my face again.” 

Everyone laughed, and Kou Chen touched his forehead: “You’re so petty.”

“They’re tired too, and I bet they didn’t think we would be so good.” Huo Ran said. “They’re under a lot of pressure. It’ll be a win no matter what, so just play your best.”

“Let’s go!” They all yelled.

  

Without much strategy, they didn’t have anything else to say, so they drank some water and went to sit back down.

Huo Ran was sitting a bit too close to Kou Chen, their arms were touching and he could feel the heat and sweat on Kou Chen.

It wasn’t comfortable at all.

But he didn’t move. 

He was too lazy to, and he didn’t want to move either.

Kou Chen didn’t move either, so the two of them sat there and stared at the empty court.

“I’ll stay on Zhang Yunhai later.” Kou Chen said.

“To challenge him?” Huo Ran asked. 

“Am I that kind of person?” Kou Chen said.

“Are you?” Huo Ran looked at him.

Kou Chen laughed: “Yup, that’s the kind of person I am. I don’t like him, so I’ll stay on him.”

“Okay.” Huo Ran nodded. “I’ll leave Zhang Yunhai to him then. Don’t foul, he’s more experienced than you.” 

“Mhm.” Kou Chen cracked his finger. Crack.

“Don’t dislocate anything, how are you supposed to play basketball then?” Huo Ran said.

“Fuck!” Kou Chen startled, and rubbed his hand. “What’s wrong with you? Scaring your own player like that.”

  

The whistle sounded for the second half of the match. The audience was even more engrossed than the players, they were already screaming.

Kou Chen sure could hold a grudge. He probably won’t forget Zhang Yunhai’s three-pointer at the beginning even after they graduate.

So he didn’t give Zhang Yunhai a break in the second half. With his stamina advantage, he followed him all the way across the court, from offense to defense.

  

At the last five minutes, Zhang Yunhai was completely blocked by Kou Chen. After Huo Ran scored three times in a row, Sciences 8 substituted Zhang Yunhai out for a long-distance runner on the track team.

“Trying to match me for stamina?” Kou Chen said.

“They’re trying to tire you out.” Huo Ran said.

“They can try.” Kou Chen smirked arrogantly. “I never run out of energy.” 

“I’m sure they’ll switch him back in the last two minutes, he’s just resting.” Huo Ran said. “Keep yourself under control.”

“Mhm.” Kou Chen nodded.

He didn’t know how much stamina this track team guy had, but at the very least, he was just substituted in.

Huo Ran found that Kou Chen was a very scary opponent when he put his mind to it. 

He’d already been running around for the whole match, and he could still keep up.

But Huo Ran’s guess was correct. Zhang Yunhai was switched back in at the last two minutes. Without him, Humanities 1 had gotten a two point lead.

Both teams were different during this last minute. 

They were pretty much one step away from starting a physical brawl, and the score never changed. They went back and forth a few times, the clock was ticking, and the crowd was screaming.

Luo Feiyu’s pass was cut off, Zhang Yunhai for the ball, and in a few seconds, Sciences 8 was pushed into their key.

Humanities 1 all retreated back. Even if they gave up a chance to score again, they couldn’t let Sciences 8 get a point.

Zhang Yunhai passed the ball to Wei Zheng, he took the shot and missed, then the ball returned to Zhang Yunhai. 

Zhang Yunhai was probably planning to take his chances, so he suddenly stepped back to the three-point line.

“Kou Chen!” Huo Ran yelled. He was a bit too far away. If Zhang Yunhai took the shot, they couldn’t stop him.

Kou Chen was already on Zhang Yunhai’s heels when he stepped back. As Huo Ran shouted, he was in front of him.

“Shoot!” The audience yelled. “Three points! Shoot!” 

Zhang Yunhai gazed past the top of Kou Chen’s head, he gripped the ball with both hands, and raised it above his head.

Kou Chen jumped without hesitation, smacking his hand towards the ball, and it flew out of Zhang Yunhai’s hands.

The audience was in a frenzy, and all of the players on the court started moving.

Kou Chen was about to grab the ball as it fell, but then a figure flashed in front of him, catching the ball with astonishing speed. 

He rushed forwards before he even landed on the ground.

“Huo Ran—!” Humanities 1’s screams covered the earlier cheers, “Huo Ran—!”

“Cover him!” Luo Feiyu’s voice cracked as he yelled.

Kou Chen went around Zhang Yunhai, and followed Huo Ran. 

It was like they were all running a hundred metre race, you could almost see the sparks coming out of each and every one of them.

Huo Ran passed the three-point line, and then he tilted his head slightly towards Kou Chen.

Kou Chen quickly understood his intentions. He’ll push forward, the opposing defense will stop him, and Huo Ran will pass the ball.

But Huo Ran couldn’t look for Kou Chen, all of Sciences 8 was on Huo Ran. 

Kou Chen couldn’t say anything either. If he did, they would know Huo Ran’s plan.

But he knew that Huo Ran would pass the ball, he knew where Huo Ran would pass it, so he stepped to the right, and backed up past the three point line. Right as his feet hit the ground, Huo Ran stopped abruptly, and then jumped.

An opponent immediately jumped to block him.

Huo Ran threw the ball back to Kou Chen. 

Kou Chen caught the ball, and immediately took the shot, not even jumping.

Beside the line, Lin Wuyu extended his hand with three fingers raised.

“It went in!” Wei Choaren’s voice cracked, and only the ‘in’ was audible.

Sciences 8 didn’t give up. Nobody looked at the time, they quickly threw the ball in, and then followed up with a fast break. But when they passed the midcourt line, the referee blew his whistle, and the match was over. 

“AH—!” Kou Chen jumped up and yelled.

Then he put his arms out like he was about to hug the ground, spinned around, and yelled again: “Ranran!”

“Over here!” Huo Ran called from behind him.

Kou Chen turned and leapt forward to hug him tight. 

“Fuck!” Kou Chen yelled. “Did we win?!”

“Yeah!” Huo Ran yelled.

“We’re way too good, right?!” Kou Chen buried his face in his neck and rubbed it back and forth hard, “Right?!”

“Yeah!” Huo Ran hugged him tight. “Don’t fucking do that, you’re sweaty!” 

Kou Chen lifted his head, and then dipped it again. He bit his shoulder.

“AH—!” Huo Ran yelled. Kou Chen bit him like he was gonna eat it. He almost cried from the pain, but his yell was buried in the sea of cheers from the crowd.

“AH—!” Kou Chen let go of him, and yelled too.

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