บท 21: Their Attempt to Turn the Game Around
The second set of the tryout game had finally commenced.
The score was 31-6 in favor of the varsity team.
Truth be told, the newbie team only scored those six points because the varsity team took pity on them in the end.
"Prepare now," Yuze said to the second team. Jinping nodded, gathering his members in a semi-circle.
"I'll be the Power Forward," he confidently said.
"I'll be the Point Guard," another chimed.
Kai had definitely seen the guy during their orientation. He was around the same height as Jinping, only a one to two centimeters shorter, and his jersey had his last name—'Ding.'
The others quickly followed, already setting a better vibe for the second set.
After delegating their positions, the five of them walked to the court, where the varsity players were excitedly waiting for them.
Yuze blew the whistle, signaling the start of the second set.
The varsity players were more relaxed this time around, already aware of the skills of the applicants from the first set.
However, as they started playing, it was clear that this set of applicants was different from the first one.
Jinping had the ball, dribbling like an experienced player before passing it to the Ding.
Jinping then sets a screen, allowing him to go inside.
As the varsity team members were more lax, they failed to guard the guy with the ball, so he shot it near the net, making it go in.
Lina and Kun turned to each other, surprised.
"Isn't that the guy who wanted to get your number?" Kun asked, referring to the acting point guard.
Lina pursed her lips and went through his application.
"Zeren Ding," Lina muttered.
"I thought he merely applied to get to know you better, but it looks like he has something to bring to the table, too," Kun observed, regarding him as the key player of the set.
Lina nodded, flipping the scoreboard as the newbie team scored another point.
"He is pretty good," she observed. However, as the players passed by the table to get to the other side of the court, Zeren turned to Lina and threw her a wink, causing the girl to scowl.
"I take it back," Lina said as the young man flirtatiously waved at her.
Due to Zeren's flirty actions, Shang found an opening and stole the ball from him, dribbling it across the court and shooting an easy lay-up.
Shang and Jet gave each other high-fives, confidently looking at the group of newbies.
Jinping clicked his tongue and took the ball before setting up a play for himself.
"Here," an open teammate declared. However, Jinping didn't even spare him a glance.
He dribbled across the varsity team members, surpassing three of them.
However, as he arrived below the net, Shang deflected the ball from his hand, causing it to land in Jet's hand.
"Thank you!" Jet cheekily chimed before running for a fast break.
"That guy's not bad," Lina commented.
"Who? Jinping?" Kun asked. "He just got the ball stolen away."
"Yeah, but his foundation isn't too bad. He got past the other players pretty quickly."
"He seems pretty cocky, though, so his potential just diminished by ten percent," she quickly added.
Kun chuckled. "There you go again with your potential analysis."
Lina proudly smiled. "Since when have I failed with my potential analysis? That's the reason why you couldn't refute my application of being a team manager in the first place."
Kun shook his head in amusement. He truly couldn't refute Lina's words.
Lina Huang, a second-year student at Shizi High, had loved watching sports games since she was young. However, basketball captured her heart when she watched the finals of the Interhigh Nationals with her dad when she was in Junior Secondary School.
Her love grew further beyond that point, and when she reached Upper Secondary School, she wanted to contribute more to the game she loved.
So, she decided to join the male basketball team as their team manager.
At first, they denied her application since they believed a small team didn't really need a team manager.
However, after Lina analyzed each of their 'potentials,' they became intrigued.
She labeled Yuze as a 'born basketball player' while she called Kun a 'scaredy-cat with good foundation.'
In the end, they felt like they had no choice but to take the talented girl into their team.
"Who has the highest potential among this team?" Kun asked.
Lina scanned the court before taking out two applications.
"Them," she said, placing the pieces of paper on the table.
Zeren Chi and Jinping Chang.
Kun nodded, agreeing with their team manager.
Seconds turned into minutes, and the gap surprisingly got smaller.
Zeren and Jinping stood out among the players, and when they realized they could turn the game around by playing together, they started exploiting the fact.
44-22.
The lead was still pretty large, but they drastically scored better than those in the first set.
With three minutes left on the clock, Kai leaned back against his seat and wondered if he would be given an opportunity to play.
Just then, the person beside him sighed out of boredom, so he brought out a milk carton from his bag.
Kai watched as he opened the box of milk, but it seemed like the latter felt his stare, so he stopped mid-sip.
The guy, who had thick frame glasses and a wide headband that pushed his hair back, shakily gazed at Kai.
"D—do you want s—some?" he stammered.
Kai shrugged, feeling a bit flattered that he was offered a drink.
He took the milk carton from the guy and brought it to his lips. However, he halted when he smelled something sour. He looked down at the carton and saw the expiration date.
12/12/12.
Kai's eyes subtly widened. This milk carton expired during the supposed end of the world!
This could entail the end of the world to the person who would drink it!
He quickly brought it back to the owner, confusing the latter.
"Umm, you don't want it?" he asked, feeling a bit relieved since he had been waiting to drink that milk carton since morning.
"Yeah," Kai briefly said, still smelling the sour scent from where he was.
"I—I'll drink it then," the guy said, bringing it to his lips.
Kai opened his lips to interfere but pursed them back together when he realized what this could mean.
This was his chance.
"Hmm," the guy hummed in satisfaction. "Is this yogurt-flavored?" he muttered excitedly.
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