The basketball games at Nanyang University were primarily friendly matches, not for rankings.
Of course, there was also a very important reason—there were too many classes to finish all the games. It’s just for fun.
But even if it wasn’t for rankings, a game naturally brings strong competitiveness.
Li Yan and Liu Zi each posted a new update in their “fight groups.”
[Tomorrow at 4 PM, at the court.]
This update was very familiar.
The location was familiar too.
The basketball court was a place for men to fight. A place to compete for strength.
However, the next day, at 4 PM, when a team gathered at the court, they were left staring at each other.
In each team were their own brothers and former rivals.
Not to mention, last semester during the East Gate Alley fight, they almost brawled.
“What’s going on, Liu-ge?” someone asked, “A new tactic?”
“…”
Liu Zi spoke like he had a toothache: “You could say that.”
Expecting these guys to achieve something significant against Yun Ci’s team wasn’t realistic, so Liu Zi only reminded them, “Just play casually. The most important thing is…”
Everyone held their breath, waiting for his next words.
Liu Zi: “The most important thing is to be polite.”
“Huh?”
“We’re already university students. Shouldn’t we learn to treat people politely? Any problems with that?”
“…”
On the other side, Li Yan bought half a box of water and handed it to Liu Zi and his team, setting an example. He viciously handed the bottled water to Liu Zi’s team and told his own brothers, “Be polite. Can they be more polite than us? I’ll show them our exceptional manners and offer each of them a bottle of water.”
“…”
Everyone was silent.
Liu Zi cursed, never expecting Li Yan to be better prepared.
Since Yu Xun and Yun Ci hadn’t publicly revealed their relationship yet, he couldn’t show anything.
So, he turned to his team and said, “Be polite! Hurry up and say thank you!”
Some of the people dragged to the game had been playing video games in the dorm, while others had just finished class and were quite dazed. They were completely stunned.
They took the water and said, confusedly, “Th-thank you?”
The situation escalated.
Something seemed off in this world.
—
On the other side, Yun Ci was still in class.
The teacher was running over, covering a few more points.
Yu Xun was sitting next to him, asleep.
Ever since they got together, this guy had always sat next to him in class.
Gradually, the boundary between the two classes blurred, and people started testing the waters by sitting in the other’s class, until everyone began to randomly sit wherever they liked.
Yun Ci was taking notes for both of them when Yu Xun’s phone, placed on the desk, vibrated.
Without lifting his head, Yu Xun handed his phone to Yun Ci: “It’s probably Liu Zi, help me reply.”
Yun Ci took the phone and hid it under the desk.
“What should I reply?” he asked.
Yu Xun casually replied, “Anything.”
Yun Ci was about to input the birthday password.
Suddenly, Yu Xun was no longer sleepy and remembered something important. He sat up and said, “My phone password is—”
Yun Ci interrupted, “My birthday.”
Yu Xun was stunned.
Yun Ci asked, “Did you change it?”
Yu Xun said, “No.”
He thought for a moment, not remembering ever mentioning this, “How did you know?”
Yun Ci: “Someone said it when they were drunk.”
Yu Xun, now more awake, asked, “Me?”
Yun Ci: “Who else but you?”
“…”
Yu Xun asked again, “Which time when I was drunk?”
Yun Ci: “The time you kneeled and kowtowed to me.”
“…”
Yu Xun remembered. When he sobered up, his right eye kept twitching as he tried to recall what he had said and done, but he couldn’t remember. He only knew Yun Ci had carried him back. As for how and what happened during the process, he couldn’t remember.
Afraid of having said something wrong, he had been cautious in his subsequent interactions with Yun Ci.
“Besides telling you my password,” Yu Xun asked, “what else did I do?”
Yun Ci reiterated, “Kowtowed.”
Even if it was a fabricated kowtow, Yu Xun accepted it. He propped his chin and said, “Fine, I’ll do it again next time.”
While speaking, Yun Ci opened his WeChat.
Liu Zi: [Everyone’s here]
Yun Ci replied on his behalf: [Still in class.]
[Almost done.]
After replying, he threw the phone back to Yu Xun.
Yu Xun lowered his head, openly placing the phone on the desk, and sent something else to Liu Zi.
Yun Ci turned back to his textbook.
A few seconds later, the phone blocked the text on the book.
Yu Xun handed the phone back, showing the fingerprint entry page.
“Entering the password every time is too much trouble,” he said, “Just record a fingerprint.”
Yun Ci thought about it. In relationships, checking each other’s phones seemed like a basic move.
So he took out his phone from under the desk: “Okay.”
After class, they walked towards the court.
After entering university, they hadn’t gone to the court as often as before. Except for physical education classes and military training, they rarely stepped in there.
Several circles of people surrounded the court, all there to watch the game. It was packed inside and out.
Many had come to see their “collaboration.” As Yun Ci entered, he vaguely heard people discussing: “I heard those two are on the same team this time… How will they play?”
“I don’t know, but it will probably be the most disastrous cooperation in history.”
“…”
Yun Ci was still wearing the jacket Yu Xun had given him. He unzipped it and nodded to greet the others.
A few guys on the team recognized the jacket and were stunned.
It would soon be their turn to play. Li Yan was doing a simple warm-up on the side: “Honestly, I haven’t played in a long time. This game might not go well, don’t get your hopes up.”
Liu Zi: “As everyone knows, I’ve been busy with work-study and haven’t had much time to play.”
Yun Ci wasn’t too concerned about the outcome. While taking off his jacket, he said, “Just do your best.”
Yu Xun, however, seemed to care but in an odd way: “Why did you take off the jacket?”
Yun Ci: “…”
Li Yan on the side: “…”
Liu Zi on the other side: “…”
“It’s a bit sunny,” Yun Ci said with a blank expression, “and it’s inconvenient for dribbling.”
Yu Xun: “Can’t you overcome it?”
Yun Ci refused: “No.”
Soon, the referee reset the scoreboard and blew the whistle, shouting, “Next group—”
Their opponents were from the Finance Department, who had even bought matching uniforms. They seemed to get along well—at least better than Yun Ci’s team.
Maybe they did some research beforehand, as they threw a few taunting remarks at Yun Ci’s team, essentially saying they were looking forward to seeing their spectacular cooperation.
Before going on the court, Yu Xun was quite confident: “We have more experience than them.”
Yun Ci: “That’s experience in fighting.”
Yu Xun raised an eyebrow, his eyes lit up by the light, just like in high school, with a touch of sharpness: “That’s still experience, so we will definitely win.”
Once on the court, Yun Ci’s palm touched the ball, feeling the familiar warmth from being heated by the sun.
With the next whistle, the players moved forward intensely.
They didn’t get the first two balls.
The team members were too unfamiliar with each other, having never cooperated before. Often, after one person made a fake move, the other didn’t realize it was time to catch the ball, resulting in the opponents easily intercepting it several times.
From outside the court, someone commented as expected: “I told you, there’s no way they could cooperate.”
“Damn it,” Liu Zi was losing his politeness, shouting at Li Yan, “Can’t you see that was a fake move?”
Li Yan: “Didn’t quite see it.”
Liu Zi: “Damn it, I used that move to score countless times in high school—”
Suddenly, the situation on the court changed faster than the weather.
Yun Ci and Yu Xun unexpectedly cooperated with perfect synchronization, becoming familiar with each other’s every move. After adapting to the rhythm without any support from other teammates, they scored two consecutive goals, catching up with the score.
The game’s pace was fast.
Next, after a formation change, Yun Ci faked a layup. When the opponent jumped and couldn’t change direction, he twisted his wrist and made a clean and powerful back pass. Yu Xun, behind the three-point line, caught it steadily, shot, and scored.
Another goal.
They were ahead now.
This move left the defenders staring at the basket in confusion.
Yun Ci hadn’t expected Yu Xun to react to that pass. While retreating for defense, they casually high-fived.
As they brushed past each other, Yu Xun said, “You used that move in high school.”
Yun Ci was stunned.
Yu Xun continued, “But back then, Li Yan didn’t catch it.”
At that time, he thought if it were him, he would definitely catch that ball.
He never thought the idea would come true.
Now, he had indeed caught it.
Liu Zi was even more furious: “Look at them, why can they catch it!!! It’s such a familiar move, and you don’t remember it at all. What’s with your memory?”
Li Yan was also furious: “How can that be the same? What’s their rela—” tionship.
He stopped mid-sentence.
Liu Zi also realized that those two were in a not-publicly-disclosed relationship.
The tacit understanding between lovers.
“…”
“Forget I said anything,” Liu Zi said, wiping his sweat, “Let’s continue.”
But after these three balls, their team seemed to find a familiar feeling—they did notice many previously seen moves from those unsuccessful attempts.
The team that had been trash-talking about waiting for their “spectacular cooperation” gradually looked a bit blue.
Their team played more fiercely, with the score rising continuously.
Yun Ci dribbled the ball.
Feeling the heat from running and jumping.
For a moment, it felt like being back on that small court at West High.
Memories overlapped at this moment.
He suddenly realized why he used to love playing basketball so much.
Because these two groups of people were childishly and wantonly competing, this sharpness lasted throughout their high school years.
That’s why they rarely touched the ball after entering university.
…
Time’s up.
The referee blew the whistle.
The score was several points higher than the opponent’s.
Liu Zi threw the ball and shouted: “I’m so awesome, not having played for so long, and still so strong.”
Li Yan: “I’m awesome too, to be able to cooperate with someone like you.”
Yun Ci was panting, fanning himself with the hem of his shirt.
Amidst the cheers of the whole court.
Yu Xun walked over to him, passing the others.
Then Yu Xun put his arm around Yun Ci’s shoulder like a comrade, with a slight smile, saying arrogantly: “We won.”
“I told you we had experience,” he said finally, “after playing for three years, how can they compare?”
