Miyu's eyes lit up, and she immediately grabbed Liu Ming's hand, asking expectantly, "Xiao Ming Ge, can you play basketball?"
"Sort of," Liu Ming said after a moment of hesitation.
He was telling the truth; his basketball skills weren't very good, but overall, he was incredibly powerful.
And with his current intelligence and physical fitness, learning basketball skills well was truly not difficult at all.
It was like when he first started, he was only good at Chinese cuisine. But when he read some foreign cooking books, he could easily learn and even improve them in better ways.
Besides, he wasn't completely clueless about basketball. The moves he used to imagine, he could now easily execute.
Hmm, thinking about it this way, his skills didn't seem bad at all.
The reason Liu Ming thought his skills were lacking was entirely because his previous body simply couldn't perform those high-difficulty moves.
But now it was different; with his super strong physical fitness, he could easily perform high-intensity moves that were previously impossible.
"Honestly, Xiao Ming Ge isn't being truthful at all," Miyu wasn't satisfied with that answer. Her eyes darted around, and she suddenly had a mischievous idea.
She suddenly pulled Tomoka in front of Liu Ming and said, "Whether you can or not, we'll know if you compete. Xiao Tomoka is the best here, so you should have a match with her."
"Eh? Eh? Eh?" Tomoka stood dumbfounded, her expression a little lost, not understanding how the situation had suddenly turned out like this.
"A match? Oh, that sounds really interesting," Maho also got excited and immediately chimed in.
"Oh~ Go Tomoka, go Big Brother!" Hinata cheered, raising her hands happily.
Liu Ming lightly chopped Miyu on the head, scolding her, "Stop egging them on."
Miyu rubbed her aching head, but she had no intention of giving up. Instead, she provocatively said, "Is Xiao Ming-ge afraid? Afraid of losing to an elementary schooler?"
After saying this, Miyu, fearing Liu Ming would strike again, quickly hid behind Airi, using Airi's tall figure to shield her.
Seeing this, Liu Ming could only glare at her helplessly.
"You don't have to be nervous. Miyu was just joking. Our heights are so different, there's no way we can compete. It's too unfair," Liu Ming gently advised Tomoka.
However, he didn't realize that his words had severely wounded the delicate heart of a girl who loved basketball.
Tomoka suddenly became serious. She looked at Liu Ming and said, "Let's still have a match. I want to tell you that basketball isn't decided by height."
Liu Ming scratched his head, speechless. Of course, he knew that playing basketball wasn't entirely determined by height.
But height was a very important factor, and he wasn't just tall. Playing against her would be completely bullying a child.
He turned his head to look at Xiao Mai, signaling her to help speak up.
Xiao Mai, however, ignored him, pulling Xiao Hina and the other two far away, preparing to watch the show.
Liu Ming was instantly dumbfounded.
He turned back, meeting five burning gazes.
Miyu and the other girls were standing behind Tomoka, staring intently at him.
Liu Ming sighed inwardly and said helplessly, "Since you're so interested, then let's have a match. But don't cry if you lose."
"Yo, Big Brother is so arrogant. Tomoka, show him what you've got! Tell him our girls' basketball team is very strong!"
Maho, always one to stir up trouble, kept cheering them on from the side.
Liu Ming rolled his eyes at her. Are all blonde twin-tailed girls this mischievous? Why is she just like Miyu?
"Saki, aren't you going to try to stop them?" Airi asked worriedly from the side.
Saki pushed her goggles up onto her hair, her gaze calmly fixed on the two.
She said, "It'll be fine. The other party is Miyu's Uncle, after all. He won't hurt Tomoka, probably."
"Probably?" Airi was stunned. That wasn't the answer she wanted.
"Yes, there won't be physical harm, but mental trauma is another matter," Saki also sounded a bit helpless.
She was a scholar, after all. Since she chose basketball, she would definitely have studied the relevant knowledge beforehand. Of course, she knew the importance of height in basketball.
Moreover, the physical differences between Tomoka and Liu Ming were too great; there was no way they could compete.
But seeing Tomoka's serious expression, she couldn't bring herself to stop them.
Standing on the basketball court, looking at Tomoka, who only reached his chest, Liu Ming felt a bit of regret.
He was such a big person, yet he was still bickering with a little girl. It really was inexcusable.
However, with things having reached this point, he could only go along with it casually.
"Big Brother, let's start," Tomoka said with a serious expression.
"Alright, you can attack whenever you want," Liu Ming stood there, his tone flat.
Hearing such an indifferent remark, Tomoka became even more displeased. Her eyes instantly sharpened, and her right hand quickly controlled the basketball.
"Thump, thump~" The basketball bounced on the ground, making a series of sounds.
Miyu and the others also quieted down, their eyes fixed on the two on the court.
Compared to Tomoka, Liu Ming was much more relaxed, standing casually near the free-throw line, with no intention of pressing or stealing.
Basketball was Tomoka's favorite sport, and seeing Liu Ming treat her beloved sport this way, even someone with Tomoka's calm and even-tempered personality was genuinely a little angry now.
She said discontentedly, "Big Brother, can't you be a little more serious?"
"Yeah, Xiao Ming-ge, what you're doing is too much. You're not respecting the game at all," Miyu chimed in.
"Oh, Big Brother, you can't be like that," Hinata said in her unique soft voice.
"Tomoka, go! Tomoka, go! Beat Big Brother!" Maho kept waving her hands.
Liu Ming was speechless. Why was he being cast as the villain again this time? Did he really have such potential to be a villain?
He looked at Tomoka, who was hesitant to attack, and said helplessly, "No matter how I act right now, can you at least score a basket first? Otherwise, all this talk is just hot air."
"You~" Tomoka's pretty face instantly flushed with anger.
"Ah, that's terrible! How can you say such things to a cute girl?" Maho said indignantly.
Liu Ming shrugged indifferently, his smug expression as if saying, "This is how I am. If you've got what it takes, score a basket and show me."
Tomoka was so angry she couldn't stand it. She jumped up on the spot, preparing to take a long shot to show Liu Ming what she could do.