With her arm linked around Yang Rong's arm, Bai Xiaochun spoke with a frown, "Ah? Chu Tian's parents died in his second year of junior high?"
[1. 2nd year of junior high would be 8th grade, around 12 or 13 years old.]
"That's right," said Yang Rong, "Furthermore, it seemed like his parents were about to do some sort of business back then. They've taken out all their savings and even put their house up for collateral. But, that accident came all of a sudden. Because of that, my deskmate was left with a life of misery. Since his parents didn't leave him any money, he had been taking on odd jobs to provide for himself while still persisting on with education all these years."
That miserable?!
Bai Xiaochun was left speechless after hearing that story. After staying silent for some time, she finally said, "If it is truly as you said, your deskmate is a very strong individual."
"If that's what you think of him, I have no objection," Yang Rong laughed, "But, if he's not strong, he wouldn't be able to last till now. Not only that, he's also an extremely good person. Honestly, if I didn't have a boyfriend already, I would most definitely become his girlfriend. I'm serious. To be able to remain standing after experiencing that sort of suffering, you cannot imagine how terrifying of a willpower a man like that possesses. He is most definitely a real man that can withstand anything, even if it's the heavens that is collapsing on him."
[2. The phrase 'heaven collapsing' or 'sky falling down' and being able to take it on or withstand it is in a literal sense. Imagine the greek god Atlas carrying on the heavens. Basically, it means that you can take on anything.]
Seeing Yang Rong's earnest expression, Bai Xiaochun pursed her lips and laughed, "That's simple. You just have to break up with your boyfriend and go after him."
"Hey, I can't do that," said Yang Rong, "I've been with my boyfriend for two entire years. My feelings for him are too deep now."
Bai Xiaochun nodded. She then said, "But, when Chu Tian's living situation is that difficult, how was he able to afford to live off campus?"
"That's because he has to work," said Yang Rong, "My deskmate works as a ghostwriter. You know, writing novels for others. The pay's quite stable. But, our school dorms had a rule that all lights must be off at 11PM. My deskmate needs to continue writing till roughly 1AM. As such, he had no other option but to live off campus if he wants to keep working."
Oh!
So that's the case!
Bai Xiaochun nodded her head again.
Suddenly, something seemed to come to Yang Rong's mind. She smiled, "Hey, Xiaochun, that's strange. Why are you so interested in my deskmate? Could it be that you're interested in him?"
"Ah?" Bai Xiaochun was startled. Her face instantly turned red, "What are you talking about?! He... he helped us fix our computers last night! We should at least treat him to a meal. That's why I'm interested in him. I only wanted to know more about him. Don't overthink stuff."
"Really?" Yang Rong ridiculed, "Then why did your face turn red?"
"That... that's because of the sun. The sun's too hot, it's normal for my face to become red from the sun."
As she said those words, Bai Xiaochun's attention seemed to suddenly shift. Her focus fixed onto the basketball court, "Hey, why are there so many people surrounding the basketball court? Is there some sort of competition going on?"
Yang Rong looked over too. She seemed to notice something and uttered in surprise, "Hey, my deskmate's over there."
What?
Chu Tian's over there?
Bai Xiaochun carefully searched the court with her eyes. Sure enough, there was a person wearing a different sort of outfit from the others on the basketball court. It was Chu Tian.
Subconsciously, the corners of her mouth perked upward. Gleefully, Bai Xiaochun said, "It really is your deskmate. Rongrong, let's go over there and see what's going on."
As she spoke those words, Bai Xiaochun began to pull Yang Rong toward the basketball court.
......
On the basketball court. Chu Tian and number 27, the fellow known as Gang Bro, were guarding each other man-to-man. Gradually, passion began to burn in Chu Tian's eyes.
He did not expect for this fellow to be this skilled. His dribbles, passes, feints and team play were all clearly of a different level than the other players.
Suddenly, number 21 sent forth a long distance pass to number 11, the fellow known as Lei Boy. Receiving the ball, number 11 Lei Boy began to run up toward the basket and leaped into the air.
Bang!
Slam dunk!
Seeing this sight, the surrounding crowd all started cheering noisily.
"Holy damn! That's a slam dunk!"
"Fuck man! Too fucking cool!"
"Damn awesome!"
"......"
Seeing the dunk, a smile appeared on Chu Tian's face.
Interesting!
He was guarding number 11 man-to-man for the entire half-court that they were playing earlier. Yet, it was only now that he discovered number 11 could dunk.
The match continued.
Chu Tian's team were cooperating with one another very well, passing the ball back and forth. But, all of a sudden, number 6 on his team missed his pass. His opponent team's number 14 snatched away the ball and immediately went for a three-pointer.
Bang!
The basketball landed on the rim of the basket and bounced off. Right when the ball was about to bounce away from the basket, an extremely tall figure soared into the air ferociously.
It was number 27, Gang Bro!
Number 27 Gang Bro caught the basketball at once and single handedly smashed it into the basket.
"Clang!"
Another slam dunk!
The two successive dunks caused the crowd to flare up with excitement.
At this moment, the smile on Chu Feng's face grew even more intense.
Quite capable!
These guys are extremely good!
It would appear that it's time to go all out. It wouldn't be considered bullying.
After having the ball dunked on their basket twice in a row, Chu Tian ran into the middle of the court. After two passes, number 23 passed the ball to Chu Tian. Chu Tian caught the ball and saw 21 coming toward him. With a feint, Chu Tian spinned past his defender. Then, he took three steps toward the basket and leaped into the air. Just like that, he dunked the ball into the basket.
"Clang!"
"Damn! Another slam dunk!"
"What the hell, do they all dunk?"
"Good gracious, exactly who are those people?"
"They're from the Basketball Club. That number 27 is called Xiao Gang. He's the president of the Basketball Club. Number 11 is called Zhao Lei. He's the vice president. As for that guy wearing short sleeves... I don't know who he is."
The three successive slam dunks caused the crowd's excitement to reach peak point. More and more people began to stay around and watch the match.
Number 11 Zhao Lei arrived beside number 27 Xiao Gang. He wiped the sweat off his face and, while panting, said, "Gang Bro, guard him tighter. That guy wasn't going all out earlier. I didn't expect that he could dunk. Look at him, he's most likely going to get serious now."
"Rest assured," Number 27 Xiao Gang licked his lip, "He will not be able to score another basket after this."
Soon, Chu Tian and the others began to run around the basketball court again. Suddenly, his teammate, number 10, managed to snatch away the ball from the opposing team's number 8 and passed it over to him.
From the corner of his eyes, Chu Tian noticed number 27 Xiao Gang, his man-to-man defense guard, came up from behind him intending to snatch the ball back. Seeing that, Chu Tian took a step forward, held the ball, crouched and made a fake pass. Number 27 Xiao Gang was tricked by his feint and squatted down to intercept his pass. At that moment, Chu Tian jumped into the air and twisted his body around in midair. Still outside the three point line, he shot at the basket.
Woosh!
A beautiful arc. The basketball swooped into the center of the basket.