The competition venue was set at a public basketball court three kilometers away, with the final match against the Swan Village basketball team.
Swan Village had also mobilized its entire force. The villagers from both sides stood on opposite sides of the court, creating a surprisingly intense atmosphere, akin to two armies facing each other.
The basketball players had already taken to the court.
At this moment, a portly middle-aged man walked into the center of the square with a smile.
The middle-aged man signaled for everyone to quiet down, then said into the microphone, "Hello everyone, I am Director Jiang Chaoqun from the County Planning Bureau, responsible for rural development."
"I also love playing basketball, so I will be the referee for this competition."
"For this final, I hope everyone can uphold the attitude of 'friendship first, competition second,' exchange basketball skills in a healthy manner, strengthen your bodies, and compete amicably!"
"Alright, that's all I have to say. Now, I declare, the match... officially begins!"
As Jiang Chaoqun finished speaking, he stood between the players of both teams and tossed the basketball high into the air.
With the sound of a whistle, the game officially started!
When the basketball reached its highest point, players from both sides jumped to contest for the ball. Taohua Village secured possession first.
The center broke through with the ball, moving like lightning. Taohua Village scored the first point!
"Good shot!"
Seeing this, even Wu Tian couldn't help but cheer.
The game on the court was exceptionally fierce. After all, it was the finals, so the skill level of both teams was not low.
However, Wu Tian could tell that, in comparison, the players from Taohua Village had a superior edge in strength.
The two sides exchanged blows, the basketball flying in beautiful parabolic arcs, the squeak of shoe soles on the floor sharp and clear.
Witnessing such an exciting game, even the villagers who knew nothing about basketball were getting excited.
The two sides were shouting incessantly; the scene was no different from the atmosphere of an NBA game.
Forty-five minutes later, the first half ended. Taohua Village held a commanding lead of eight points.
Wang Damao was overjoyed.
In his eyes, the victory in this match was practically a foregone conclusion.
On the other side, the atmosphere in Swan Village seemed rather somber.
Jiang Chaoqun walked over to the Swan Village side and seemed to chat with some of the players.
Suddenly, the expressions of those players became somewhat peculiar.
The corners of their mouths turned up slightly, and they looked… even a bit dangerous.
Wu Tian noticed this scene and his brow furrowed slightly, feeling that something was not quite right.
With the sound of the whistle, the second half soon began in full swing.
Taohua Village still held the advantage on the court. In the first ten minutes, the initial eight-point lead was extended to sixteen points.
On a basketball court, this was an almost impossible deficit to overcome. The players from Taohua Village became more and more excited as they played, their morale completely overwhelming Swan Village.
The players from Swan Village exchanged glances. The captain nodded at them, and the players immediately understood. The sense of danger emanating from them intensified.
A Taohua Village player once again drove with the ball, then leaped up and slammed it into the basket with a powerful dunk!
This was almost a sure shot, but at that moment, an accident occurred!
The forward from Swan Village suddenly rushed forward, then tightly grabbed the Taohua Village center's leg, pulling him directly to the ground!
The shot missed. The Taohua Village center pointed at the forward and shouted, "Referee! He fouled!"
This was a very obvious foul. Normally, it should have resulted in at least a yellow card warning.
But to everyone's surprise, Jiang Chaoqun said coldly, "This is not a foul. The game continues!"
His words stunned everyone.
Wu Tian's eyes widened slightly, finding it unbelievable.
The Taohua Village center, unconvinced, said, "He clearly fouled me. How can you say it's not? I object!"
Jiang Chaoqun continued coldly, "Your objection is invalid. If you continue to speak, I will disqualify you from the game!"
The center dared not speak further, while Wu Tian couldn't help but frown.
This Jiang Chaoqun had a problem...
Wu Tian recalled Jiang Chaoqun's earlier interaction with the Swan Village members, and the seed of suspicion deepened in that instant.
Although the Taohua Village players were dissatisfied with Jiang Chaoqun's ruling, they could not afford to offend him, as he was both the referee and an official.
So, out of helplessness, they could only swallow their pride and continue playing.
Judging by the situation on the court, Swan Village's performance became increasingly inferior to Taohua Village's as the game progressed.
If the game had proceeded normally, Taohua Village would have certainly won.
But the reality was that it did not follow the usual course!
The Swan Village players began to commit fouls repeatedly and openly.
On several occasions, they even resorted to punching, preventing Taohua Village from scoring a single point for a full five minutes.
Instead, the Swan Village players were no longer playing basketball; one could just as easily say they were playing soccer or rugby.
They launched their attacks with the most brutal methods, continuously closing the score gap.
The deficit of nearly twenty points was actually overturned by ten points!
Even in this chaotic situation, Jiang Chaoqun remained silent, as if he saw nothing.
"This is too much!"
Wang Damao finally couldn't help but exclaim, "What is this supposed to mean? Isn't this clearly a biased referee?"
Wu Tian said coldly, "This match was probably unnecessary. From the very beginning, that Jiang Chaoqun intended for Swan Village to win."
Wang Damao said indignantly, "I just remembered, damn it, this Jiang Chaoqun seems to be quite friendly with the village chief of Swan Village."
"This scoundrel must have taken benefits from them, and is deliberately messing with us!"
Wu Tian's expression also turned grim. If they had lost due to a lack of skill, it would have been a justifiable defeat.
But resorting to such petty tricks made him feel annoyed, even if he wasn't directly involved.
On the court, after enduring repeated humiliation, the Taohua Village players finally couldn't contain their anger.
The center player slammed the basketball onto the ground and said angrily, "What do you mean by this! Have you no eyes?"
Jiang Chaoqun looked at the center and said, "Young man, I advise you to watch your words."
"You have already received one yellow card warning. If you commit another foul, I will give you a red card and send you off."
The center pointed at Jiang Chaoqun and shouted, "What the hell are you talking about! Do you even know what a foul is?"
"They are practically about to stab us to death with knives, and what are you doing?"
"As a referee, you should at least uphold fairness, right?"
"But what are you doing now? What kind of fairness is this!"