"As expected of Fang Li—his skill and speed are exactly what you'd expect from a top college player."
Some of the spectators weren't from Jianghai University; they were headhunters whose daily job was to scout rising stars.
When Fang Li performed his spectacular play, the crowd erupted in cheers, and the eyes of his male and female fans sparkled with admiration.
"Love me, but I don't belong to you." Fang Li struck a stylish, dramatic pose.
Watching from the sidelines, Tang Yan nodded in satisfaction. She had deliberately arranged Fang Li's slam dunk to crush the opponent's morale—and it worked. The team led by Xia Tian looked completely deflated. Even Yan Xu, moments ago, kept shaking his head in frustration.
On the counterattack, Yan Xu took a pass and dribbled quickly down the court. His movements were fast and sharp—he evaded the defenders and jumped to shoot. His form was perfect and his shot decisive.
Bang!!
Blocked. Fang Li leapt up and delivered a clean, powerful block.
The ball bounced back into the hands of Fang Li's team.
Swish!!
A three-pointer followed.
In just one minute, the basketball team had surged ahead by five points. The audience roared in excitement, while Ye Qingxue looked utterly dejected. Only a minute had passed, and already the score gap was widening.
She couldn't imagine how this would end.
"Don't be discouraged. Pass the ball to me when you get it," Yan Xu told his teammates.
This time, Yan Xu didn't dribble alone. He passed the ball to Hu Peng—a tall, burly player who drew the defense's attention—then received it back again.
Yan Xu glanced at Fang Li but refused to pass. In his mind, only he and Hu Peng were worth trusting; giving the ball to anyone else was a waste.
But with Hu Peng tied up by defenders, Yan Xu decided to make his own move.
Bang!
The ball was stolen. Fang Li faked left, lunged right, and snatched it cleanly from Yan Xu's hands. With one smooth motion, he hurled it downcourt—not a shot, but a pass. A teammate caught it, leaped, and dunked it.
7:0. The gap widened again.
Watching Yan Xu's repeated blunders, Xia Tian looked visibly disappointed. Yan Xu could have passed, but his obsession with showing off ruined the play. His skills simply weren't strong enough to back up his ego.
Seeing the scoreboard, Ye Qingxue couldn't bear to look anymore.
The game continued. By the end of the first quarter, the score was 40:0.In the rest area, the art department team sat in silence, utterly defeated.
"This match is impossible to win," Yan Xu said bitterly. "No matter how good Hu Peng and I are, we can't carry these three."
He and Hu Peng were friends, so he avoided blaming him—but he quickly shifted all responsibility to Xia Tian and the other two.
"Yan Xu, what's that supposed to mean?" one of them shot back. "You told us to pass the ball to you, and we did. Now you're blaming us?"
"Yeah! Every time you try to show off, Fang Li steals the ball!"
Yan Xu snorted coldly. "You three don't even know how to play basketball, and you're still talking back? This game's a waste of time. Playing with you means losing for sure."
"We can still fight," someone from the art group said angrily. "We're not that easy to bully. Even if we lose, we'll lose fighting—not surrendering."
"The game's not over," Ye Qingxue added. "Who says we've already lost?"
"If we win," Yan Xu sneered, "I'll crawl around the court barking like a dog. Hu Peng, forget it—we're done. Let's see how they manage without us."
Ye Qingxue's face turned pale. She'd dealt with people like Yan Xu before. Now wasn't the time for infighting. Without Yan Xu and Hu Peng, they wouldn't even have five players—meaning they'd be forced to forfeit.
"Don't worry, Qingxue," Bingxin said softly. "We still have Xia Tian."
"But the score difference is huge, and you saw how hopeless it looked," Ye Qingxue murmured.
Xia Tian said nothing. Instead, he turned to the two male cheerleaders from the art group."You two—get changed and come on the court."
Everyone froze. Yan Xu had been expecting them to beg him to return so he could mock them again—but instead, Xia Tian called in two cheerleaders who'd never even played.
"Xia Tian, they don't know how to play," Ye Qingxue frowned.
"They don't need to fight," Xia Tian said with a faint smile. "Just stand inside and enjoy the show."
Across the court, Tang Yan noticed the substitution and shouted, "Ye Qingxue! You've run out of players? Even the cheerleaders are playing now?"
Ye Qingxue didn't respond—she simply nodded at Xia Tian.
The second quarter began.
A member of the art group passed the ball to Xia Tian. As everyone else sprinted downcourt, they suddenly froze—Xia Tian had jumped, right under his own basket.
Swish!!
The net rippled. For a moment, the court went silent. Then, everyone realized what had just happened.
40:3.
"Yeah!" Ye Qingxue and Bingxin screamed in delight.
"How is that possible?" Yan Xu stared, dumbfounded. The scene looked like a dream.
"Is that real?" Fang Li muttered, eyes fixed on the scoreboard.
"What's going on with this guy?" Tang Yan's expression turned to shock.
The audience was stunned. That kind of long-distance shot was almost impossible—but it went in cleanly. Even the headhunters who had been preparing to leave stopped and watched again.
"Don't panic," Fang Li said quickly. "He just got lucky." He gathered himself and advanced with the ball. His team moved smoothly; after several passes, the ball returned to him. He jumped for a confident mid-range shot—determined to restore morale.
Bang!!
Blocked again.
The crowd went silent. Fang Li stood nearly two meters tall, with long arms and explosive reach—yet he'd just been blocked by a man under 1.8 meters.
Swish!!
Another shot went in—from beyond half court.
40:6.
The arena was silent. For a split second, it had seemed like Xia Tian jumped two meters high—an impossible feat—but everyone had seen it clearly: he had blocked Fang Li clean.
And it clearly wasn't luck. No one could make two consecutive shots like that by chance.
"Timeout!" Tang Yan shouted.
Ye Qingxue rushed up to Xia Tian, grabbed his face, and kissed him on the cheek.
Yan Xu's face turned green. Just minutes ago, the score had been 40:0 while he was on court. Now, the moment he'd quit, the score was 6:0 in the art team's favor—and Ye Qingxue had just kissed Xia Tian in front of everyone.
Tang Yan regrouped her players. When play resumed, two tall defenders immediately surrounded Xia Tian—Tang Yan's new strategy was clear: double-team him at all costs.
But without Xia Tian's presence, Fang Li felt no pressure. The remaining players were like practice dummies, allowing him to display his skills. Soon, he went up for a three-pointer—hoping to regain the glory he'd lost.
Bang!!
Blocked again—by Xia Tian, who somehow broke free from two defenders in the paint and stuffed Fang Li's shot once more.
Swish!
Another three-pointer followed.
40:9.
The entire stadium was stunned. Three shots—all from his own half. Two clean blocks against the star player Fang Li. The basketball team's momentum had completely stalled.
"It's him," murmured Huo Wen in the stands. She suddenly remembered—wasn't he the charming guy from Ye Qingxue's birthday party?
The basketball team started to panic. When two couldn't guard him, they tried three.
But the score only kept climbing.
By the end of the second quarter, it was 40:48.
Tang Yan called another meeting. On the sidelines, Ye Qingxue and Bingxin fanned Xia Tian, offering water and massaging his legs.
When the third quarter began, everyone saw the new tactic—four defenders encircled Xia Tian, one on each side, blocking all his angles. Fang Li was left to attack alone, confident that Xia Tian couldn't possibly escape this trap.
He drove in, dribbling fast, preparing for a thunderous dunk to lift his team's spirits—
Bang!
A figure appeared in front of him like a phantom. Fang Li froze in disbelief—the ball was gone from his hands.
Swish.
Another perfect shot from Xia Tian.
40:51.
The game went on, the score climbing rapidly: 40:81.
The basketball team's morale collapsed. The audience sat speechless. Even the cheerleaders stopped dancing. Some spectators filmed the scene and uploaded it online—but no matter the angle, none of them could capture Xia Tian's face clearly. He was always in motion or looking down.
When the game ended, the scoreboard read: 40:111.
Every single point was from a three-pointer. Xia Tian had made thirty-seven in total—and didn't miss a single one.
The audience was stunned.
Yan Xu tried to slip away quietly—but the girls from the art group stopped him. Everyone had heard what he said earlier:
"If the art group wins, I'll crawl around the court and bark like a dog."