When Zhou Li held the basketball under the opponent’s basket, surrounded by several boys from the other class, all eyes on the court turned to him.
Zhou Li took a few steps back and decisively took the shot.
The ball arced perfectly through the air and swished into the opponent’s basket. Instantly, the girls from his class erupted into cheers.
“Zhou Li, you’re so handsome!”
“Zhou Li, you’re so cool!”
“Zhou Li is the best!”
…
Zhou Li had always been self-conscious. He often wished he could hide in a corner of the classroom. He had never experienced such attention before. Although it felt a bit embarrassing, he was a little happy and excited in his heart.
His eyes scanned the basketball court and finally landed on Gu Changheng.
Gu Changheng gave him a thumbs-up.
In an instant, Zhou Li’s little happiness turned into ecstasy, as if his entire body was filled with energy. He threw himself back into the game.
Knowing that Gu Changheng was watching him, Zhou Li didn’t want to disappoint him. It felt as if he was possessed, and he became increasingly decisive with each shot. He made fancy shots again and again, and one three-pointer after another, completely disrupting the other team’s rhythm.
The shouts and cheers from the girls in Class 3 filled the entire playground, and Zhou Li became the center of attention of the whole audience.
The friendly match ended with Class 3 winning decisively.
As soon as Zhou Li stepped off the court, he was immediately surrounded and praised by his female classmates: “Zhou Li, you were incredible.”
“Yeah, that layup… oh my god, how could you be so handsome?”
“Zhou Li, you’re basically my male god.”
…
It was rare for Zhou Li to receive compliments in his life. He felt a rush of embarrassment at the moment. As if running away, he hurried over to Gu Changheng and flashed him a shy smile.
Gu Changheng threw an arm over his shoulder. Hu hugged him and walked towards the teaching building. He said, “How come I never noticed you were this good at playing basketball?”
Gu Changheng originally just wanted to encourage Zhou Li to interact more with classmates. He wanted to drag him to play basketball so that he could walk around with his classmates more, not expecting such a pleasant surprise.
Zhou Li scratched his head, feeling a bit embarrassed. “I don’t really know.”
The class monitor was also one of the basketball players who had just played. He jogged up to them and said, “Several of our basketball teams are having a dinner tonight to celebrate our victory over Class 4. Zhou Li and Gu Changheng, both of you have to come!”
Gu Changheng didn’t respond. He glanced at Zhou Li and asked, “Are you going?”
He still remembered the last time he had taken Zhou Li out to eat dinner. After returning home, he thought about it and finally came to the conclusion that it was because Zhou Li was having trouble with money. Such group activities usually required splitting the bill.
Although Gu Changheng would love to give Zhou Li money, give him the best in the world, keep Zhou Li away from trouble, raise him to be strong and healthy, and improve his current living condition, he was worried that doing so would push Zhou Li away, given his sensitive and inferior nature.
—If you like a man, you must always take care of his self-esteem.
Sure enough, Zhou Li shook his head and replied, “I have something to do after school, so I won’t go. You guys enjoy yourselves.”
The class monitor tried to persuade him further, but Gu Changheng interrupted, “If someone has something to do, don’t force them. If Zhou Li says he can’t make it, let’s not make it awkward for him.”
With Gu Changheng’s firm stance, the class monitor couldn’t say more. He could only say that when Zhou Li was fine in the future, they would get together another time.
Once the class monitor left, Zhou Li felt an inexplicable sense of relief.
Gu Changheng suddenly asked, “Hey, Zhou Li, what are your plans for the future?”
“I don’t… don’t have any plans.”
Gu Changheng suggested, “Zhou Li, how about this? Let’s both work hard and go to the same high school. Then we can team up to play basketball together! What do you think?”
TL: In China, there are three years in junior high school (junior middle school) and another three years in senior high school (senior middle school). However, senior high school is often called high school while the junior is middle school.
