Chapter 98
When Hao Ren returned to his dorm, he found the guys from the dorm on the other side of the hallway in his dorm playing cards while Zhao Jiayi, an active cardplayer, was in bed at such an early hour.
"Zhao Jiayi, how come you didn't join them?" Hao Ren asked while he put his tutoring materials on the desk.
"I need to rest early for tomorrow's practice," Zhao Jiayi said, "Are you done with your tutoring?"
"Yeah. Oh, don't wait for me tomorrow night since I need to go home," Hao Ren said.
"How much do you make tutoring each month?" Zhao Jiayi asked.
"Several hundred yuan," Hao Ren made it up.
"Quit tutoring so that you can play basketball with me every evening! We will be the best partners on the court!" Zhao Jiayi urged excitedly.
"Sorry, Point Guard, but you are on your own," Hao Ren picked up his washbasin and bonked it lightly on Zhao Jiayi's belly before going down the hallway to wash up in the public bathroom.
At half past five the next morning, Zhao Jiayi jumped up and woke up Hao Ren who was on the upper berth.
Opening his eyes drowsily, Hao Ren found the energetic Zhao Jiayi standing before him. He knew the latter must not have slept due to the excitement.
"Time to go! We will be late if you don't hurry!" Zhao Jiayi urged.
Roused by Zhao Jiayi's tugging, Hao Ren had no choice but to get up. Cao Ronghua and Zhou Liren were also woken up by the commotion and forced themselves to get up.
To their surprise, the guys in the nearby dorms had also got up.
"Geeze! It's only half past five!" Hao Ren was astonished.
"Let's go and watch Zhao Jiayi and Hao Ren practice!" Yu Rong called, walking out from his dorm in a pair of shorts.
"F*ck! There is nothing to watch!" Zhao Jiayi yelled.
"We won't watch you, Ugly. We'd like to see Xie Yujia play!" Huang Jianfeng yelled back.
Hao Ren began to sweat after understanding the reason why the guys had dragged themselves out of bed at such an early hour.
After stumbling around and finally was.h.i.+ng up in the bathroom, they rushed toward the school's main gate. It was the first time that they rushed out of the Dorm Building as soon as it was unlocked.
Xie Wanjun was already waiting at the gate with the guys from the Basketball Team. He looked down at his watch while counting down the seconds.
Zhao Jiayi, who had been chatting with Yu Rong and the others, dashed toward them.
"Three!" Zhao Jiayi was before Xie Wanjun when the latter counted down to two.
"If you are late, you don't have to join us in the future," Xie Wanjun said with a stern expression. Then, he turned to the other teammates and said, "Begin the morning jogging!"
With steady steps, he began to run while the others followed him uniformly.
Looking at shame-faced Zhao Jiayi, Yu Rong predicted, "Working under such a strict guy, I think Zhao Jiayi's good days are over."
Hao Ren chuckled before crossing the campus to the basketball court near the stadium. Yu Rong and other nosy guys followed him closely to watch them practice.
When Hao Ren came to the basketball court, he found Xie Yujia who was in a pair of sports shorts and a white sports t-s.h.i.+rt was already practicing. Her bike was parked outside
She was a bit surprised at the sight of the large group of guys. Hao Ren walked over and scratched his head in embarra.s.sment, "They…are determined to come and watch."
Xie Yujia's pretty eyes blinked, and she remained silent. With her hair tied into a long ponytail, she looked extraordinarily vibrant and youthful.
Her white sneakers showcased her white ankles which were even whiter than the shoes. The color of her skin fit the description of "snow white".
Huang Jianfeng and others, who had rarely crossed paths with the Cla.s.s President, were starry-eyed when they looked at the vibrant Xie Yujia at such close range.
They had seen Xie Yujia in cla.s.s, but they had never imagined that the dignified girl could be so athletic.
"Have you had breakfast?" ignoring the admiring stares, Xie Yujia asked Hao Ren.
"Not yet. We came directly from the dorms, and the cafeteria isn't open yet," Hao Ren answered.
"Uh-huh," Xie Yujia nodded and ran to her bike. She lifted a bag from the basket and handed it to Hao Ren. "I got up early and bought some Baozi 1," she said.
Hao Ren was amazed.
"You should eat them so that you will have the strength to practice. I've already eaten," Xie Yujia pushed the buns toward him.
"Cla.s.s President! We want to eat Baozi, too!" Huang Jianfeng yelled.
"Those are the last three Baozi. Besides, you are not here for practice!" Xie Yujia said, turning to look at them.
"We want to practice, too!" They continued with their demands.
Xie Yujia turned to face Hao Ren and ignored them.
"Cla.s.s President, ignore them," Hao Ren was exasperated. After eating the Baozi, he immediately felt better.
"Ok. You warm up a bit, and then I'll show you how to play," Xie Yujia nodded at Hao Ren briskly.
Hao Ren nodded, though he still felt uncomfortable letting a girl show him how to play basketball.
While Hao Ren was warming up, Xie Yujia picked up the orange basketball from the ground. "I'll show you one of the basics, dribble. Dribble is more than bouncing the ball," she said.
Xie Yujia bent her back and kept low, moving her left arm before her body in defense while her right hand pushed down the basketball deftly. The ball bounced up immediately, and Xie Yujia followed the momentum and held the ball in her palm before pus.h.i.+ng the ball back down with a standard move of her wrist.
The movements were as smooth as exercising Tai Chi in the water. Except for the slower speed, the movements were almost as professional as those of the basketball players who were broadcasted on TV.
Seeing the stunned expressions of Yu Rong and the other guys, Hao Ren was no longer shameful for learning basketball from a girl. The Cla.s.s President was a basketball expert in disguise!
"But, wait… What are the guys staring at?"
Hao Ren found their expressions quite weird and followed their gazes. It was not the basketball they were staring at but the low neckline of her t-s.h.i.+rt when she bent over to dribble the ball.
Beneath the white t-s.h.i.+rt, a portion of her white skin and even a part of the contour of her beautiful chest were exposed!
Hao Ren immediately blocked her from their view.
"Ur…" He pointed at Xie Yujia's chest and murmured, "Your…neckline."
Looking down at her neckline, Xie Yujia yelled in embarra.s.sment. She stood straight immediately as she placed her left hand on the loose neckline of her t-s.h.i.+rt.
Her face reddened immediately. In the misty morning, her blush looked especially distinct and pretty.
"Ren, where are your morals!" Yu Rong and the others shouted indignantly.
Hearing their shameless yells, Xie Yujia's face fell, and she bit her lip instinctively.
"Well, well, get out of here! Don't p.i.s.s off the Cla.s.s President!" Hao Ren walked over to kick them away.
Yu Rong and other guys were driven out of the basketball court while still protesting; their view would be less clear through the fences.
Hao Ren returned to the court and said to Xie Yujia, "I drove them off. Cla.s.s President, let's continue."
"Ok," Xie Yujia was still pink in the face, but she continued, "The dribble… Uh, where was I?"
"You said that dribbling is not as simple as bouncing the ball, and then you showed me the movements," Hao Ren said.
Seeing Xie Yujia was still uncomfortable, Hao Ren continued, "Cla.s.s President, you just show me the moves. I won't let my eyes wander to the places they shouldn't."
Hearing his placating words, Xie Yujia turned even redder, berating herself silently for neglecting the neckline of the t-s.h.i.+rt while bending to dribble the ball. In fact, she had purposefully chosen a t-s.h.i.+rt with a smaller neckline, but the guys apparently had sharper eyes than she antic.i.p.ated.
While Hao Ren was trying to comfort her, he thought to himself, "Yu Rong and the guys are really bad for daring to peek at the Cla.s.s President. Now, the view is only for my eyes."
If Yu Rong, who was standing far away outside of the court, had known Hao Ren's thoughts, he would have rushed in and given Hao Ren a good beating for being such a hypocrite.
Xie Yujia lifted up the neckline of her t-s.h.i.+rt before bending again and explaining, "I'll show you the correct dribbling position. Keep your feet apart at a comfortable distance and bend your knees slightly. Lean your body forward and keep your head up to observe the situation on the court. Then, raise your left elbow to protect the ball."
Xie Yujia demonstrated while explaining the key points.
During the process, Hao Ren watched the movements of her hands and feet and the white skin exposed at her neckline. Although he saw Xie Yujia's neckline had loosened again, he kept his mind on the dribbling movement of her arms.
Afterward, Xie Yujia handed the ball to Hao Ren for him to practice. She moved his wrists and lowered his back to get him into the right position.
Xie Yujia looked natural guiding him, but Hao Ren was uncomfortable with this pretty girl standing close to him and sliding her smooth palms along his wrist. When he wasn't following her instructions, she even moved her arm against his to correct his moves.
She was Hao Ren's beautiful private coach.
"Despicable! Shameless!" standing outside of the fence, Yu Rong and the guys watched the intimate contact between Xie Yujia and Hao Ren on the basketball court more than ten meters away. They were burning with envy!