Translator: Flying Lines
“Chen Yang, you can be pleased with yourself, for now. Good grades won’t get you far. All you dorks, you study yourself dumb each day. And then what? You’re going to work for me, answering every beckon of my call when you graduate.” Zhao Ziliang gloated, pointing at Chen Yang.
Chen Yang made a sardonic grin. He had no intention of wasting his breath on this one. That being said, walking away from such taunting would be regarded as a sign of weakness.
“I won’t waste my time talking to you.”
As he finished the sentence, Chen Yang got off the bicycle, and gave Zhao Ziliang a sudden kick. Taken by surprise, Zhao Ziliang fell backwards, and whimpered on the ground, hands grasping his stomach.
“How dare you hit him, Chen Yang!” His action also gave a fright to the ex-girlfriend, who hurriedly supported Zhao Ziliang to get up. Zhao Ziliang, in the heat of his anger, pushed the girl away forcefully. She ended up on the ground.
Zhao Ziliang then struggled up and without another word, threw a punch at Chen Yang. However, it was far too slow.
Without stepping away, Chen Yang dodged the blow with a quick shift. At the same time, his elbow met Zhao Ziliang, who uttered a cry and fell sideways.
Chen An remained seated on the backseat and watched. Though Zhao Ziliang talked tough, he was no match for the truly sturdy Chen Yang. And the more furious he felt, the more he was determined to get to Chen Yang. Yet every blow from Zhao Ziliang was effectively blocked and served back, until the girl called for security.
In the dean’s office, a staff member inquired in a stern voice: “what were you two doing, fighting on campus?”
“He started it!” The girl who was pushed onto the ground by Zhao Ziliang now pointed at Chen Yang, and claimed: “I can testify. I saw Chen Yang strike first!”
What if Chen Yang did? They had another witness.
Chen An cut in: “Mr. Li. I saw the whole thing happen.”
Mr. Li, of the dean’s office, who kept a straight face until now, immediately broke into a smile and addressed Chen An genially, “Ah, it’s Mr. Chen!”
Chen An had changed into neat and clean casual clothes after he took off his sportswear. He’d not been a teacher for long, and did not look like one.
Thus Zhao Ziliang and the girl were taken by surprise when they heard this man who hadn’t spoken a word till now was a faculty member at the university.
“Actually, Zhao Ziliang started it by calling Chen Yang names. Well, you know what young men are like. They soon began exchanging blows. Fortunately no one was hurt. I think they’ve learned their lesson.”
Chen An said with a smile. A few days ago, he’d just donated a batch of new equipment to the dean’s office, and got acquainted with the staff members, including Mr. Li. As colleagues, they should naturally reserve some respect for the others’ opinion.
After all, it was just a row between two students. Besides, Chen Yang had learnt well from Chen An. Unless Zhao Ziliang took off his clothes on the spot, which would in no way add to the spoiled young man’s pride, no visible marks could be seen.
“So that’s it?” Zhao Ziliang trilled in a high-pitched, scornful tone.
Chen An gave him a glare: “Mind what you say, if you don’t want to be beaten again. I don’t care whether you’re a spoiled little prat at home; this is not your home. And the teachers are not your parents. Next time you call others names and get your ass kicked, I only have one thing to say: serves you right!”
“You——”Zhao Ziliang had never met any teacher like this; he was used to getting his way. Snubbed by Chen An’s, who was a teacher too, Zhan Ziliang faltered in his speech.
“Mind your manners. I’m a teacher.” Chen An then turned to Mr. Li and put on an exasperated expression: “Look, Mr. Li. Students nowadays seldom have any respect for their teachers!”
Mr. Li nodded in agreement. Pointing at Zhao Ziliang, he reprimanded: “what you did was wrong; so stop trying to find excuses.”
Meanwhile, Chen An took hold of Chen Yang: “Chen Yang is a student of mine. You can leave him to me, Mr. Li. I’ll make sure to give him a good scolding.” After a slight pause, he cast a glance at Zhao Ziliang and the girl, and said with a smile: “as for these two, I’m sure Mr. Li can teach them a lesson.”
Thus Chen An took Chen Yang out of the dean’s office with him. They knew the other two were not going to stay there for long either; still, it felt good to see the little brat deflated.
“Well done. For people like him, a good beating works much better than words.” Chen An gave Chen Yang a thumps-up when they were out of the door. Luckily no teacher saw it, otherwise they would be absolutely thunderstruck.
…
…
As it happened, Zhao Ziliang was the nephew of the Zhao family that Chen Yang mentioned before. He went to the same university as Chen Yang.
The difference was, Chen Yang got in by his own abilities, while Zhao Ziliang was transferred here from an overseas university through family connections six months ago. The reason that he gave up studying abroad and came back was to fight for the family inheritance. As it turned out, Chen Yang appeared out of the blue and nipped all his possibilities in the bud.
Actually, Chen An believed that the head of the Zhao family, Mr. Zhao, must have his own judgement and abilities. The problem was, the first generation of a big family were usually overly preoccupied with their enterprise and paid little attention to their offspring. As a result, these offspring tended to be unruly and pampered. They lacked the drive of the older generation, and usually had no talent except in indulging themselves. Thus they were inclined to squander the family wealth when, and if they get it.
That was why wealth seldom remained for more than three generations in a family.
Chen An did not consider Zhao Ziliang to be a worthy rival. That being said, his life right now needed some color; besides, the other was really asking for it by challenging him to his face.
“Mr. Chen, what would you say if we two classes hold a friendly match of basketball? Students can mingle a bit. Also, we can welcome your coming to the university. You won’t refuse, will you?”
A basketball in hand, the over-1.9m guy looked down at Chen An with contempt in his eyes. Chen An was okay with his own height, but the other was a professional player.
He didn’t like the feeling of being slighted, not at all.
Putting on a fake smile, Chen An glanced at the students standing behind the tall basketball teacher. Among them was Zhao Ziliang, who was apparently very pleased with himself.
So, he was changing the strategy after the defeat in their direct confrontation? Well, good for him; Chen An had thought he was devoid of any brains.
Zhao Ziliang was from the basketball class. The teacher of this this class had been a member of the national team. After retiring, he became a basketball teacher here in the university. Ever since then, he’d been the one determining factor in faculty basketball matches, and made sweeping victories anywhere he went.
“Since it’s a friendly match, why don’t we teachers join as well? It will be fun.”
Chen An’s suggestion surprised all those present. Everybody knew the big guy was good at basketball. It was difficult enough playing against the students from the basketball class, now with the big guy in, how could they have any chance of winning?
The big guy burst out laughing: “Mr. Chen certainly doesn’t lack confidence. So we’ll see you in the field. Don’t say we’re taking advantage if you lose.”
“Let’s set it a month from now.”
Chen An needed time to get some training in with his students. When he gathered everyone, he found a serious problem.
At one look, the tallest ones in class were Chen Yang and the tall boy. Apart from the girls, the others were either too thin or too short.
Compared with those hefty guys in the basketball class, students in the fitness class were in an appalling state.
Chen An sighed to himself: they were really the leftovers. Yes, he could give them some training, but the match would be held in a month. There was not time enough to train those who had no basketball basics.
“Those who can…”Chen An paused, and after a moment’s thinking, he changed to, “Those who can’t play basketball, step back.”
As if in a single motion, everyone stepped back, except for Chen Yang and the tall boy.
Chen An’s eyes twitched. With him as one player, there were only three of them. He needed two more anyway. His eyes swept across the crowd, and decided upon the other two.
With the players settled, Chen An gathered them together to ask them about their experience. Basically, most boys had played a bit of basketball before; the difference was in their level of skills.
Truth be told, the tall boy was no fan of Chen An, but he disliked being challenged by the basketball class even more. Therefore, he gladly told Chen An about himself after he volunteered.
Actually, he had played basketball since an early age. If it was not for the fact that the nerd was here, he’d have been in the basketball class. He had good overall body strength, leaping ability and explosive power, and thus was the No. 1 candidate for power forward.
Chen Yang was given the role of small forward, while Chen An himself was the point guard. The other two were the centre and guard respectively.
Chen An’s plan for the day was to select the players and decide their positions. Their training would start the next morning at eight o’clock. Yet on their first day of training, they had an unexpected problem.