Oh no! I've only been a freshman and I've already been targeted by a mean upperclassman.

The afternoon sun shone through the tall glass windows of the gymnasium, casting dappled shadows on the wooden floor.

Fine dust particles floated in the air, along with the distinctive sweaty smell of youthful hormones.

The physical education teacher was an old man nearing retirement, surnamed Sun. He had taught physical education for half his life, and his greatest hobby was sitting on the sidelines with a thermos cup, watching the students mess around.

"Alright, alright, free time!"

Teacher Sun blew her whistle and shouted in a strong voice, "Boys, split into two teams and play a basketball game. The losing team has to buy water for the whole class!"

"Yay!"

As soon as he finished speaking, the boys erupted in excited cheers.

For these energetic college students, nothing releases their passion better than a thrilling basketball game.

"Old Li, are you coming or not?"

As Wang Qiang took off his coat, he nudged Li Chen with his elbow.

"With a build like yours, it's a shame you're not playing center."

Li Chen glanced at the valuable Vacheron Constantin watch on his body and hesitated.

He'd be heartbroken if he wore this while playing ball and it got bumped or bruised.

"What are you dawdling about?"

Zhao Zixuan had already changed into his sneakers and was warming up on the side. "Hurry up, today I'll show you what Linjiang University's Rukawa Kaede is all about!"

"You?"

Chen Mo pushed up his glasses and ruthlessly retorted, "Your three-step layup takes longer than my grandma going to the market."

"Get lost! That's tactical delay, don't you understand?"

Li Chen smiled helplessly, carefully took off his watch, and stuffed it, along with his phone, into his coat pocket before tossing it onto a bench by the field.

"Alright, let's have some fun then."

He hadn't played ball properly in a long time, and his body was indeed itching to play.

Soon, the two teams were divided up.

Li Chen, Wang Qiang, Zhao Zixuan, and Chen Mo, the 302F4, were assigned to the same team.

Game start.

As soon as Li Chen stepped onto the field, he attracted the attention of all the girls on the sidelines.

"Look! Look! It's Li Chen!"

"OMG, he can actually play basketball! He looks so cool in a basketball jersey!"

"That height, those long legs, that face... he's practically stepped out of a comic book!"

Li Chen ignored the screams of the infatuated girls.

He stood outside the three-point line, patted the basketball in his hand, and felt the familiar texture.

With the referee's whistle, the match officially began.

The opposing center forward intercepted the ball and passed it to the defender.

That guard was clearly a show-off; after getting the ball, he started doing fancy dribbling, trying to get past the defender in front of him.

Li Chen stood still, looking at him calmly.

It's like a lion observing a monkey jumping around.

Just as the opponent dribbled behind his back, preparing to accelerate and break through.

Li Chen made a move.

His figure flashed like a black lightning bolt, instantly closing in on them.

There were no unnecessary movements.

It was just a precise prediction and a clean, decisive steal.

"Snapped!"

The basketball slipped from his grasp.

Holy crap!

A gasp of surprise erupted from the audience.

The guard hadn't even realized what was happening before he could only watch helplessly as Li Chen swept past him like a ghost, grabbed the basketball, and headed straight for the opponent's basket.

Three steps, take off.

His body stretched out in the air, forming a graceful arc.

With a slight flick of the wrist.

The basketball obediently went into the net.

"Whoosh!"

The crisp sound of the net being wiped was like the most beautiful melody.

The entire stadium fell silent for a second.

Immediately afterwards, thunderous cheers erupted!

"Awesome!"

Wang Qiang was the first to shout it out, his face trembling with excitement.

"So cool! Old Li!"

Zhao Zixuan also forgot his "Rukawa Kaede" persona and shouted while waving his fist.

The girls on the sidelines went absolutely crazy.

"Aaaaaah! That's so cool! I'm dead!"

"That steal just now was like something out of a movie!"

Li Chen landed, his expression unchanged. He merely gave his stunned teammates a smirk before turning back to defend.

The following matches almost became a one-man show by Li Chen.

A precise stop-and-shoot jump shot.

Domineering no-look pass.

An unstoppable layup.

He even managed to grab a defensive rebound over the opposing center's head.

He's like a professional player who can easily defeat opponents in a lower dimension, strolling leisurely through amateur competitions.

The more relaxed he plays, the more desperate his opponents become.

Wang Qiang and Zhao Zixuan were happy to have a relaxed job, only needing to follow along, occasionally receive a pass, and throw the ball into the basket.

Chen Mo completely abandoned any thought and followed Li Chen around the whole time, ostensibly to "provide tactical cover."

At halftime, the score had widened to an outrageous gap.

Li Chen walked to the sidelines, picked up a bottle of water, unscrewed the cap, and tilted his head back to gulp down a few mouthfuls.

Water droplets slid down his sharply defined jawline, dripping onto his chest that rose and fell with his movements, reflecting a sensual light in the sunlight.

This scene drew another low scream from the sidelines.

Hello, classmate.

A tall figure walked over and blocked the light.

Li Chen raised his head.

The newcomer was wearing a team uniform with the words "Linjiang University Basketball Club" printed on it. He was well-built, had a healthy tan, and a hearty smile on his face.

"My name is Lin Feng, and I'm the captain of the school basketball team."

He extended his hand, "I watched your match just now, you played exceptionally well."

"Li Chen".

Li Chen reached out and shook his hand briefly, his words concise and to the point.

"Are you interested in joining our basketball club?"

Lin Feng got straight to the point, his eyes filled with admiration and longing, "Your ability is more than enough to make you our team's starting shooting guard."

Li Chen had anticipated this problem long ago.

He shook his head.

"Sorry, not interested."

Lin Feng's smile froze.

He had imagined that Li Chen might be reserved or make some demands, but he never expected that the other party would refuse so decisively.

Why?

Lin Feng was somewhat puzzled, "With your talent, it would be such a waste if you didn't play basketball."

"No time."

Li Chen's reason was simple: "Playing ball is just a hobby; I have more important things to do."

For example, spending time with your girlfriend.

Looking at Li Chen's matter-of-fact expression, Lin Feng was momentarily speechless.

Refusing to join the school team, something that would be considered an honor by ordinary students, was spoken of by this guy as casually as refusing a flyer.

"Oh well."

Lin Feng sighed, somewhat regretfully.

But he clearly didn't want to give up just like that.

"Next Friday, we have a friendly match against the neighboring Polytechnic University."

Lin Feng looked at Li Chen with sincere eyes, "Those guys are very arrogant. They beat us last year, and they're still clamoring on the forum every day this year."

"Our team's starting defender sprained his ankle in training a couple of days ago and can't play."

"so……"

Lin Feng took a deep breath. "Could you... be our outside help this game?"

Just one game.

He emphasized, "If you win, I'll personally treat you and your roommates to a meal at Haidilao, all you can eat!"

Li Chen raised an eyebrow.

These conditions sound pretty good.

It's mainly Wang Qiang and his cronies. If they knew there was free Haidilao to eat, they'd probably kneel down on the spot.

He looked at Lin Feng's face, which was filled with "please," and hesitated for a moment.

"I'll think about it."