Chapter 57 Slapping Faces Resoundingly

He Chen threw the ball back to Fang Yifan.

The second round began.

Fang Yifan slowly dribbled the ball, his brain spinning at high speed on how to break through. He couldn't afford to score zero points and get beaten 7:0 just like Ji Yangyang!

"Cousin, go for it!"

Outside the court came the encouraging voice of his cousin, Lin Leier. However, there were no cheers from his childhood sweetheart Qiao Yingzi, nor from the goddess Huang Zhitao, which left a very bitter taste in his mouth.

In the past when he played basketball, though the goddess Huang Zhitao was too "shy" to cheer him on, his childhood sweetheart Qiao Yingzi would definitely cheer and shout loudly for him.

Yet this time, even though she had clearly shown up, she remained completely silent. How could he not suspect that because his opponent was He Chen, Qiao Yingzi's loyalties had wavered, leading to the current situation?

Resentment and jealousy toward He Chen grew stronger in his heart.

He was so handsome, his grades had skyrocketed, and now even in basketball he was beginning to crush him. How was anyone else supposed to live!

Lin Leier watched anxiously as his cousin dribbled the ball on the court.

He felt that his cousin was amazing, and aside from studying, he was exceptional in every aspect, extremely knowledgeable, and possessed a super-positive mindset—far better than himself.

In this conflict, he would definitely side with his cousin and hoped his cousin would win!

Ji Yangyang had already squeezed through the crowd, standing with his arms crossed beside Lin Leier and the others. Listening to Lin Leier's enthusiastic cheers, a trace of mockery curled the corner of his mouth.

The two people on the court were both his adversaries.

In his eyes, this was like dogs biting each other; it would be best if they both suffered heavy losses and both played miserably.

However, that possibility was too low; the most likely outcome was that one would win and the other would lose.

If so, he hoped the loser would be Fang Yifan.

That's right!

Even though the person he hated the most right now had become He Chen, this time he hoped Fang Yifan would lose—and lose big, losing as embarrassingly as possible!

No other reason.

Only if Fang Yifan lost in a manner humiliating and sensational enough could it overshadow the previous "hot search" topic—which was his own humiliating incident.

Regarding this kind of attention-shifting, he was subconsciously self-taught.

Qiao Yingzi was indeed very conflicted right now.

Usually, she would definitely be cheering loudly for Fang Yifan, but right now, the Monkey Fang's opponent was He Chen. Leaving aside psychological distance, in terms of physical distance, ever since the incident at the planetarium, she and He Chen were much closer than she had ever been with her childhood friend Monkey Fang...

A true childhood friend simply cannot rival a sudden arrival from the heavens!

She could only remain silent.

Fang Yifan was still dribbling the ball, while He Chen watched with a smiling expression. He looked full of openings, but Fang Yifan treated him like a formidable enemy.

Because during the first kickoff, the way his ball was stolen was utterly baffling, which showed just how fast He Chen's hands were.

The dribbling and crossover moves he learned from Irving didn't work well against He Chen at all.

In the end, he decided to give up trying to drive past him and just shoot directly. At least that way there was a chance of scoring, which was far better than trying to dribble through, getting inexplicably stripped, and not even getting a shot off.

No sooner said than done. He directly jumped up into a standard shooting posture.

The moment the ball left his hand, an irrepressible joy blossomed on his face.

Because he felt this shot was definitely going in.

Look!

This is what you call a hot hand!

However, before he could even land, the smile on his face was almost wiped out as a hand that felt as vast as the heavens seemed about to smack directly onto his face.

The basketball he had just shot had barely taken off when it was violently swatted back by a massive block. Such a great shot, destined to go in, was actually blocked.

This wasn't even a defensive block anymore!

This was clearly a hard, resounding slap right across his face!

It hurt!

It hurt so much!

For a split second, it felt as if his face had genuinely been slapped, burning red. It was even more unacceptable than being hit in the face by He Chen's thrown basketball earlier!

This was a blocked shot!

A move in basketball carrying extreme humiliation, one that easily caused the person being blocked to lose their cool!

How humiliating!

When he landed and looked up with reddened eyes, he saw that He Chen hadn't just stood there watching the blocked ball fly out of bounds. Instead, moving faster than the ball, he had chased down the deflected basketball and was now dribbling it back.

Fang Yifan's eyes grew even redder. For a moment, he forgot the pain from the direct collision in close defense and pressed forward again in tight pursuit.

He Chen allowed him to play tight defense and directly copied Fang Yifan's pull-up jumper from moments ago.

Fang Yifan instantly leaped up with all his might, reaching out to emulate the block He Chen had just performed.

Of course, he couldn't jump quite that high, so he wasn't looking for a block, just hoping to contest the shot.

"Cousin, nice job!"

When he landed and heard his cousin Lin Leier cheering from the sidelines, a wave of wild joy washed over him. He had indeed contested it; the shot missed.

It seemed he still had a chance!

Meeting Fang Yifan's renewed, defiant gaze, He Chen smiled faintly. He didn't bother explaining that the reason he missed wasn't because Fang Yifan had contested it, but rather because this was practically the first time in his life he had ever shot a basketball, and memories of shooting from his past life had long since faded away.

Therefore, missing the first shot was completely normal.

There was no need to voice such the truth, lest Fang Yifan think he was showing weakness.

Having taken that shot and gauged the landing distance, he had regained his feel for the game.

From here on out, Fang Yifan was going to experience plenty of heart-wrenching moments!

No rush!

Let's play with him a little longer!

Fang Yifan had the ball again.

Before long, his ball was blocked and stolen by He Chen once more. Though Fang Yifan still felt miserable, he quickly adjusted, rushing over to try and contest He Chen's shot.

As long as he prevented He Chen from scoring, he wouldn't be losing, or at least he wouldn't lose too miserably!

He Chen "seemed to be deterred by him" and didn't dare shoot, opting to drive instead. The familiar feeling of bruised ribs from close-range contact rushed back to him. He quickly retreated a bit, adopting the same tactic as his earlier defense: not aiming to stop him outright, but just to contest!

This move worked again.

He Chen tried to drive past him time and again, only to be blocked in time each time.

Fang Yifan was ecstatic. As long as he didn't play overly tight defense, he could completely rely on his eyesight and reflexes to "win" through interference. Once He Chen repeatedly failed to score and grew exasperated and annoyed, there might just be a chance for him to turn the tables!

All he had to do right now was not let He Chen break through.

Fang Yifan kept his eyes glued to He Chen's dribble, ready at any moment to step forward and block the path to the basket.

Yet with such intense focus, he failed to notice the corner of He Chen's mouth curl upward. Nervous as he watched He Chen's dribble grow increasingly rapid and erratic, he sensed He Chen was about to drive to the left and hurriedly shifted in that direction. The very next second, he realized something was wrong; seeing He Chen execute a head-fake and head right, he subconsciously changed direction as well.

However, his physical coordination couldn't keep up with his reaction speed. Such a sudden, whipping left-and-right transition resulted in a loss of balance, sending him plumping down onto his rear. He could only watch helplessly as He Chen broke through and easily laid the ball in for another point.

"2:0!"

Hearing the chorus of cheers from the large group of girls, Fang Yifan, knocked flat on the ground, angrily slammed his hand against the floor.

This was precisely the way he had wanted to humiliate He Chen!

He never expected that by the second round, He Chen would use it right back on him, and to make matters worse, he had played right along with it.

It hurt!

It hurt so much!

His hand hurt!

His face hurt even more!