Chapter Sixty-Two: Wicked Amusement

By having the players aim for the “little bird,” their accuracy with low passes improved significantly. No one had expected that a single crude remark from Lin Ling would boost the effectiveness of their training. In truth, the reason this method worked so well was that the passer relished the prospect of seeing the receiver’s misery should the ball strike his “little bird,” which made them all the more focused while aiming. On the other hand, the receivers were determined not to let their “little bird” suffer a tragic fate, so they naturally concentrated all their attention on the rapidly incoming basketball. Thus, both passers and receivers achieved a heightened state of focus, which in turn greatly improved the accuracy of these low passes.

The team continued practicing until three in the morning, finally collapsing in exhaustion and falling asleep right on the gym floor.

Gazing at the players sprawled haphazardly across the basketball court, clad only in their underwear, Lin Ling was suddenly struck by an idea. She dashed back to her room and returned with paper and pen.

As Lin Ling strolled past each sleeping teammate, occasionally jotting something down, Yang Mimi and Li Shishi exchanged puzzled glances, both suspecting that Lin Ling was up to one of her uniquely twisted pranks again.

Li Shishi cupped her cheeks in her hands, gazing at Geng Haoshi on the court floor, her face tinged with a rosy blush and a sweet smile on her lips. Suddenly, as if recalling something, she hurried back to her room.

Not long after, Li Shishi emerged with her quilt in her arms, walked straight to Geng Haoshi, and gently draped the quilt over him.

“I can’t let my senior catch a cold,” she murmured, and, lifting the edge of the blanket, was just about to slip in beside him when Lin Ling yanked her up and pointed at Geng Haoshi. “Shishi, sweetheart, with so many people around, don’t tell me you’re planning to force yourself on him right here?”

Li Shishi laughed awkwardly. “Sister Lin Ling, I just wanted to warm his bed for him.”

Lin Ling patted her on the shoulder. “Wait till you’re married for that, okay?”

“Alright,” Li Shishi pouted. “What were you writing just now, Sister Lin Ling?”

“This?” Lin Ling waved the sheet of paper in front of Li Shishi. “It’s the ‘little bird’ ranking for the whole basketball team.”

“The ‘little bird’ ranking?” Li Shishi was bewildered.

Lin Ling tapped Geng Haoshi’s groin with her toe. “A ranking for this, of course.”

Ah, so that was it! Classic Lin Ling mischief. Even though Li Shishi was generally unfazed by such things, the realization made her cheeks flush crimson.

“Oh right, our Xiao Shan is still lying there uncovered.” Lin Ling hurried back to fetch a quilt.

After covering Zhou Xiaoshan with the blanket, Lin Ling called out, “Let’s go back to bed, shall we?”

Noticing that, apart from Geng Haoshi and Zhou Xiaoshan, the rest of the team remained exposed to the chilly air, Yang Mimi spoke up, “Sister Lin Ling, shouldn’t we fetch quilts from their rooms for the others too? Otherwise, they might catch a cold.”

“No need to bother,” Lin Ling waved her hand dismissively. “They’re tough as leather.”

Yang Mimi thought to herself, I’d better get them some quilts anyway.

Seeing Yang Mimi head into the players’ room, Lin Ling turned to Li Shishi. “Looks like Mimi’s got a motherly streak… Well, let’s embrace a little selfless motherly love ourselves.”

The three girls scurried back and forth, and after seven or eight minutes, managed to cover all the remaining players with quilts.

Since Li Shishi’s quilt was now on Geng Haoshi and Lin Ling’s on Zhou Xiaoshan, Li Shishi retrieved Geng Haoshi’s quilt for herself, and Lin Ling took Zhou Xiaoshan’s back to her room.

…

Crack! Crack! Crack!

Six o’clock. Three sharp cracks—right on schedule.

Because the team was still lying on the floor, the crisp sound of the whip striking the hardwood, coupled with the vibration of the boards, instantly pulled the players out of their dreams and back to reality.

Yu Manman, still in her signature short leather shorts, midriff-baring jacket, and heeled leather boots, whip in hand, surveyed the team. “Get up, now!”

The night before, Yu Manman had listened to the commotion outside, secretly delighted that her “cash incentive” had successfully planted a seed of longing and ambition in the hearts of these cash-strapped students.

Although they had trained until three in the morning, rules were rules—six o’clock training was non-negotiable. Besides, the first line on the “Basketball Team Daily Schedule” scroll stated that practice began at six sharp. If the very first rule were broken, what would be the point of having any rules at all?

Crack! Yu Manman lashed the floor again. “Anyone who keeps dawdling, I’ll personally cut off your manhood!”

The initial three cracks had jolted the team awake, their movements still sluggish and automatic, but this last threat yanked their souls right back into their bodies.

When Yu Manman said she’d whip someone, she meant it (every player had taken at least one lash to prove it). As for her threat to castrate someone, no one had dared test her resolve.

Not daring to linger, the players hurried back to their rooms, each clutching a quilt.

“Huh? Why is my quilt pink?” Geng Haoshi only noticed upon returning to his bed that his blanket was a pink princess quilt embroidered with Hello Kitty.

“Hurry up and get dressed, then get your butts back out here!” Yu Manman’s furious roar rang in his ears. Geng Haoshi scrambled into his clothes and rushed to the court to join the others.

Yu Manman, heels clicking sharply, paced back and forth before the lineup, then cleared her throat and announced, “We are about to enter the official pre-competition phase.”

Pre-competition? Is this gorgeous coach about to send us tender youths somewhere godforsaken and deadly to become mercenaries? Geng Haoshi swallowed nervously. With her, such a thing was not beyond the realm of possibility.

…9527 sweated.

“You all know that in early June next year, the new National College Basketball League will begin.”

Geng Haoshi exhaled in relief. So this is what she meant by “pre-competition.”

9527: “Honestly, only you could have misunderstood something so obvious, dear master.”

Yu Manman continued, “This year, as always, there will be two thousand eight hundred thirty-six universities competing.”

“The rules remain unchanged: the nation is divided into four zones—east, west, south, and north—for preliminary eliminations. The top twenty-five teams from each zone, one hundred in total, advance to the preliminaries.”

“The preliminary round is split into ten groups of ten teams each, with eliminations. The winner of each group will go on to the finals, so ten teams will vie for the championship.”