Chapter Thirty-Five: Not Convinced? See You on the Court!

Geng Haoshi let out a cold snort. “Where did this stray dog come from? Can’t you see I’m about to eat? If you want leftovers, at least wait until I’m done.”

In front of Yang Mimi, Geng Haoshi cared deeply about saving face; of course, he wouldn’t let himself be humiliated.

Though his voice was steady, inside he quaked with nerves... The cost of keeping up appearances could be deadly!

“You!” The boy in the lead clenched his fists, glaring fiercely at Geng Haoshi.

They had the advantage in numbers, so to avoid being ganged up on, Geng Haoshi hurried to change the subject. “Hey, aren’t you on the school basketball team?”

He cleared his throat and continued, “Just so you know, I’m actually on the basketball team at Tiancheng Polytechnic next door. If you don’t believe me, we can settle this at the upcoming Autumn Joint Games!”

At his words, the group paused, then burst out laughing. “So you’re from the ‘bottom-feeder’ team next door? That’s hilarious. You think you can challenge us?”

Damn, he’d forgotten about that. “Ahem, I just joined the team this year... With a genius player like me, you’d best prepare to lose!”

“You?” the lead boy sneered. “A genius? You barely look five foot seven—probably not even as tall as our goddess.” As he spoke, he leered at Yang Mimi.

Damn it, since when did Mimi become your goddess? Geng Haoshi smiled at Yang Mimi. “Don’t worry, Mimi. I’ll teach him a lesson on the court for you.”

The veins in the lead boy’s forehead throbbed again, and he looked like he was about to explode!

“What, afraid you’ll lose so badly you want to settle things with violence now?”

“You!” The lead boy raised his arm to punch, but then thought better of it: No, too many people are watching, including the goddess—I need to keep my cool. “Fine! See you on the court!” With that, he led his teammates away.

Phew, that was close! Geng Haoshi felt a huge wave of relief. If it had come to blows, he’d probably have been sacrificed heroically.

“Mimi, that guy must be your school’s basketball captain, right?” Noticing the group in team jerseys all following that lead boy, Geng Haoshi deduced as much.

She nodded.

“Heh, I guess not all basketball players are as refined and elegant as I am.”

“…” 9527 and Geng Haoshi 2.0 both broke out in a cold sweat.

Yang Mimi covered her mouth and laughed. “It seems so.”

“Second Brother... Um, I probably shouldn’t say this... but I hope you can beat them…”

“You want me to beat your school’s basketball team?”

She hesitated. “Yes... Ah! Is it wrong of me to hope my own school loses?”

“No, not at all!” Geng Haoshi shook his head vigorously.

“Maybe I should transfer to your school?”

“Yes, yes, yes!” Geng Haoshi nodded enthusiastically.

“Does that make me a bad girl?”

“Not at all!” Geng Haoshi shook his head with even more force.

And so, under Yang Mimi’s barrage of questions, Geng Haoshi alternated between nodding and shaking his head with all his might.

“…” 9527: So even goddesses can be a little neurotic.

“…” Geng Haoshi 2.0: Indeed.

After lunch, Geng Haoshi returned to the Chen Zhi Gymnasium.

Today, Yu Manman had arranged for the entire school basketball team to be excused from classes; everyone was required to undergo a full day of special training.

Inside the gym, Yu Manman still wore her striking SM outfit, whip in hand, standing before the assembled team.

“Tomorrow is the Autumn Joint Games for the ten universities. The basketball opponents will be decided by drawing lots among the team captains.”

“The rules are as follows: On the first day, according to the draw, the ten universities will pair off and play. The five winning schools advance.”

“On the second day, the five losing schools from round one will play each other in pairs. The school with the most wins moves forward. If there’s a tie, the one with the highest point differential advances.”

“On the third day, the six schools that advanced will draw lots and play in pairs, with three winners moving on.”

“On the fourth day, the final three schools will play each other in round-robins, with the top two decided by point differential.”

Meanwhile, Geng Haoshi was thinking: If we lose on the first day, then on the second day, don’t we have to play the other four losing teams? That’s four games! After all that, who has the strength for day three? This unlucky team must be here just to make up the numbers—chances are, we’ll end up as cannon fodder.

“So, we must win the first game. That way, we get a day to rest before the next round. If we can’t win the first day, honestly, with your abilities, there’s no point in continuing.”

“Mm, mm,” Geng Haoshi nodded. Looks like the beautiful coach thinks the same way I do. Great minds think alike—there must be some mysterious bond between me and this gorgeous coach.

“All right, let’s start training!”

Today’s regimen was the same: fast passing, quick punches, 50-meter sprints, set shots, rapid arm swings, and back-and-forth dribbling.

Except for still being lousy at set shots, Geng Haoshi could now complete the training without needing “powerful energy concentration.”

The intense and orderly training proceeded as usual...

After dinner, Geng Haoshi gathered the substitute players.

Though he’d only been on the team for a little over two weeks, after that infamous marathon streak on the school track, Geng Haoshi had become the de facto leader of the benchwarmers.

“Second Brother, you pulled us away from the seniors—are we going to carry out that plan?”

“We want to play soon too, but with the game tomorrow, isn’t it a bit risky?”

“Yeah, Second Brother. We’re not ready yet—we can’t win on our own.”

“What nonsense is this?” Geng Haoshi was puzzled.

“Second Brother, didn’t you call us here to launch the ‘Take Their Place’ operation?”

The “Take Their Place” operation was a half-joking plan they’d discussed: secretly giving the starters laxatives or something similar so they’d all be incapacitated, letting the subs take their spots in the game. It was just a wild idea they’d joked about, but these goofballs actually took it seriously.

“Ahem, let’s leave ‘Take Their Place’ for another time.”

“Right now, there’s something even more important we need to do.”

Geng Haoshi began to lay out his plan to them...

“Second Brother, is this really a good idea?”