"Peipei, we can start now."
Five minutes later, Dai Hongyang shouted to Jiang Peipei, who was on the sidelines.
"Okay."
Jiang Peipei, acting as the referee, waved goodbye to Fang Yanxi and Huang Yuqing and jogged onto the court. She blew her whistle, and immediately, Dai Hongyang's team of male teachers from Huadu University faced off against Huang Qingsheng, a male teacher from Zhongnan University.
Huang Qingsheng was also a retired professional basketball player from the Lingnan Province basketball team. He stood well over 1.95 meters tall, a truly imposing figure. The other male teachers on his team were all over 1.80 meters, making them a formidable force overall.
In contrast, among Huadu University's male teachers, only Dai Hongyang could truly match Huang Qingsheng. While the other male teachers looked similar in stature, their presence was clearly weaker than the Zhongnan University team, and the students weren't optimistic about their own school's teachers.
"Look at Zhongnan University's overall combat strength. Not to mention Teacher Huang Qingsheng, they also have Tan Jian and Wang Zhengfei, all retired professional basketball players. But look at Huadu University; apart from our Teacher Dai, the other teachers' basketball skills, while good for ordinary people, are completely outmatched against professionals!"
"Exactly. I really don't know what the point of holding this kind of competition is. We might as well go up ourselves and beat the Zhongnan University basketball team to a pulp, which would be much more impressive."
Sitting next to Fang Yanxi and Huang Yuqing were members of Huadu University's student basketball team, and they had already started to lose hope in their own team.
Fang Yanxi shook her head and smiled. Huang Yuqing couldn't stand it any longer and retorted, "What are you guys talking about? The game hasn't even started, and you're already building up the enemy and tearing down our own morale."
"Oh, Teacher Huang, the strength is right in front of us. We have to face reality," a handsome young man turned his head and said to Huang Yuqing, shrugging helplessly. He then grinned at Fang Yanxi.
This young man was the one Fang Yanxi and Wan Yunting had met on the basketball court when they returned to school last time.
As Jiang Peipei blew the whistle on the sidelines, the game officially began. Huadu University was responsible for the left basket, and Zhongnan University for the right. Dai Hongyang and Huang Qingsheng jumped for the ball, but it was Huang Qingsheng who grabbed it. "Old Dai, sorry, we're scoring first."
Seeing Huang Qingsheng's smug and provocative expression, Dai Hongyang felt a surge of annoyance. He smiled back, not to be outdone, "You're the guests, so we're just letting you have it."
Huang Qingsheng chuckled dismissively. "Even though it's a friendly match, it's still a competition, so don't expect us to hold back!"
Dai Hongyang, guarding him, taunted, "Come on, I want to see if your skills have declined since retiring."
Huang Qingsheng had only retired last year. "Then you better watch closely..."
As soon as he finished speaking, Huang Qingsheng's eyes sharpened. This was the first time he was leading Zhongnan University to play against Huadu University, so he had to win first to boost the morale of the students who would play later...
"Old Huang..."
Seeing Dai Hongyang defend Huang Qingsheng tightly, Wang Zhengfei raised his hand. Huang Qingsheng then passed the ball to him. Wang Zhengfei leaped up and shot, the basketball perfectly sinking into the hoop for two points...
"Your turn."
Huang Qingsheng smiled provocatively at Dai Hongyang. It was clear they had some personal issues from when they were on the Lingnan Province basketball team together... (Forget it, no need to elaborate, just know they had a feud!)
"Teacher Lin, get your heads in the game..."
Dai Hongyang, dribbling the ball, tried to boost the morale of his male teachers.
"Go Huadu University..."
"Go Zhongnan University..."
Meanwhile, in the stands, students from both universities cheered for their respective school's male teachers.
"It feels like returning to the days of watching basketball games," Huang Yuqing said with a smile to Fang Yanxi as she sat below.
"Yeah," Fang Yanxi nodded. The familiar yet unfamiliar scene seemed to pull her back to the past, watching the boys play basketball. Back then, the cheers from the sidelines were from their cheerleading squad. Seeing the boys they admired playing basketball on the court, drawing cheers from countless girls, was exhilarating to think about...
However, now, she sat quietly in a corner, without that youthful innocence from before...
Perhaps it was because the game on the court lacked that one handsome figure who used to make all the girls cheer for him...
Fifteen minutes into the game, Huang Qingsheng and the Zhongnan teachers had already scored eighteen points.
Dai Hongyang's Huadu teachers, however, had only scored twelve, trailing by six points. This agitated the referee, Jiang Peipei. "I say, Dai Hongyang, you need to defend Huang Qingsheng more tightly. And Teacher Lin, you stick to Wang Zhengfei, Teacher Zhao, you guard Tan Jian..."
Seeing Dai Hongyang and his team being strategically arranged by Jiang Peipei, Huang Qingsheng, Wang Zhengfei, and the others from Zhongnan University started to mock them. Huang Qingsheng provocatively said, "I say, Dai Hongyang, are you capable of this? Don't you feel ashamed to let a female coach teach you basketball?"
"Huang Qingsheng, what did you say?"
These words angered Dai Hongyang, who pointed at Huang Qingsheng and shouted, drawing gasps from the students in the audience.
"Huang Qingsheng, who are you looking down on?"
Even Jiang Peipei was angry. Huang Qingsheng was simply too arrogant, openly discriminating against their women's basketball team.
"Heh heh, Jiang Peipei, I didn't mean it that way." Huang Qingsheng spread his hands, looking deliberately infuriating, his mouth saying he didn't mean it, but his intention was clear.
"Dai Hongyang, if you're not afraid of Zhongnan University crushing you today, then don't be our basketball team's assistant coach anymore," Jiang Peipei said angrily, snorting at Dai Hongyang.
"Fine." Dai Hongyang was also furious. He pointed at Huang Qingsheng and declared, "You guys are dead."
"Tch..." Huang Qingsheng and his team waved their hands, completely dismissing Dai Hongyang and his team.
The game continued...
Fang Yanxi watched the intense atmosphere between the two sides. She saw Jiang Peipei acting as both referee and coach for Dai Hongyang, which made her shake her head and smile, but she also felt a bit bored. She then noticed Huang Yuqing checking her phone time repeatedly. "Yuqing, are you waiting for someone?"
"Ah, yes," Huang Yuqing nodded and smiled. "I invited a friend to watch the game. They should be here soon."
Fang Yanxi smiled. "Who is it?"
Huang Yuqing gave a mysterious smile. "You'll know when they get here."
"So mysterious." Fang Yanxi rolled her eyes at her. But then, as she looked back, she saw a figure walking in through the basketball court entrance – it was Wan Yunting, who had arrived.
Fang Yanxi's expression froze. Huang Yuqing's lips curved into a smile, and she called out to Wan Yunting, "Yunting, over here..."
Seeing Wan Yunting waving, he looked over and saw Fang Yanxi sitting next to Huang Yuqing. Their eyes met, and Wan Yunting was also taken aback, not expecting her to be there.
Instantly, a smile appeared on Wan Yunting's face, and he walked over quickly. "Yanxi, you're here too."
Facing the man's natural smile, Fang Yanxi, regaining her composure, nodded her pretty face with some unease and smiled. "Yes, Yuqing and Peipei invited me to watch the game..."
"Come, Yunting, sit here..." Huang Yuqing got up willingly and pushed Wan Yunting to sit next to Fang Yanxi, making the woman even more awkward. She couldn't help but realize that Huang Yuqing and Jiang Peipei had deliberately invited them both to watch the game...