“What——” Nie Chuan exclaimed.
He felt a deep sense of humiliation. Even with a heavier load, Reese could sec-kill him. His every shot was done with ease!
Nie Chuan had thought the disparity in strength between them was closing but now he suddenly felt that he was far away again.
He must work harder!
Nie Chuan, who was putting his all into doing his sit-ups, decided that he must be serious in the future! Who knew that his forehead would knock into Reece’s after a particularly forceful one.
“F*ck——” Nie Chuan held his head, his head spun and there was a ringing in his ears.
Reece caught Nie Chuan who fell backwards and knitted his brows, “Can you be any more stupid?”
Nie Chuan wanted to reply to the other: Yes.
But this kind of response was really too shameless so Nie Chuan could only choose silence.
After a long time, Nie Chuan said in a low voice, “Our luck is really good…… at least we didn’t knock noses……”
He was already imagining what Reece would look like with a nosebleed. He didn’t know why but Nie Chuan felt very invigorated, as if all the oppression he had suffered in the past had been vindicated.
“What did you say? You could’ve knocked into my nose?” Reece asked, his eyebrow quirking slightly.
“No…… not possible. What I meant was that it’s good I didn’t get a nosebleed hahaha……”
Nie Chuan turned his face to the side and saw some girls jogging past them. They should all be Reece’s fans ba. It probably wouldn’t be long before news of his “headbutt attack” on Reece spreads.
During the one-on-one practice after class in the afternoon, Nie Chuan looked at Reese opposite him who was bearing weight that was three times his but was still able to handle it with ease, and suddenly felt deeply pressured.
“You don’t need to feel under pressure. Only by carrying three times as much weight as you can we continue practicing. “
Otherwise, it will just become a one-sided crushing ma?
The pressure I’m under became even greater after you said that!
Compared to the school’s basketball court, Nie Chuan really liked Reese’s little base. It allowed Nie Chuan’s mind to be free of distractions and he felt that the time he spent practicing one-on-one with Reece would pass by the fastest yet.
“Today our focus is on Wade’s side step, also called the Euro Step. You’ve used it when you played against Owen but the biggest question now is, can you use it anytime and anywhere? Do you still remember how it felt when you first used the Euro step?”
Nie Chuan thought about it carefully. “I probably imitated Owen subconsciously because it left a very deep impression on me when he used it. Later, when I was practicing with Ewing, I also tried to use it, but the impression that Owen gave me was already fuzzy. I couldn’t move like how he did in my head and the step became disconnected.”
“That’s because what you were following was Owen’s rhythm, not your own. Imitation isn’t enough. All movements for passing opponents are nothing more than a combination of left and right cuts. You must have your own rhythm. And the Euro step would be very advantageous to you for passing defenders with large builds. Coach Gordon and I both hope you can master it.”
“Mn, I got it.”
At that moment, Reece suddenly charged at Nie Chuan with the ball. Nie Chuan had no doubt that he would go flying if he got hit by Reece and subconsciously leaned to the side. Reece brought the ball from the right to the left in the blink of an eye. When his body brushed past, there was no impact. In this way, Nie Chuan’s defense was broken through by Reece before he could even react. After tearing through Nie Chuan’s defense, Reece dunked with ease.
He turned around and looked at Nie Chuan, “Can you feel the difference between my and Owen’s Euro step?”
Nie Chuan nodded.
“So where’s the difference?”
“Owen’s range is wider, but your speed is faster.”
“Yes, these two characteristics were derived from our respective style of plays. As for which one suits you more, it depends on your own feel for the ball. Owen and I can only be considered average height in the league, power forwards and centers who are taller than us can be found everywhere.”
Reece threw the ball over and made a “pass me” gesture to Nie Chuan.
Nie Chuan dribbled the ball as he watched Reece. Every time Nie Chuan felt pressure it was the kind of pressure that was like a spring. The moment he was pressed all the way down, Nie Chuan would unexpectedly bounce back up.
Like how Nie Chuan rushed forward to defend against his opponent without the slightest intention of reducing his speed, Reece was as unmoving as Mount Tai without the slightest intention of shifting his center of gravity.
Nie Chuan could only change course but Reece quickly obstructed the direction of Nie Chuan’s breakthrough as if he had already anticipated this, causing Nie Chuan to forcefully run into Reece’s arms with the ball.
“Are you throwing yourself at me?” Reece asked.
There was no hint of a smile on his face but these words were without a doubt spoken sarcastically.
“Again.” Nie Chuan didn’t have the time for his self-esteem to suffer setbacks and continued launching several more attempts at breaking through.
Reese, however, understood Nie Chuan too well and could always defend against him flawlessly which made Nie Chuan feel very dispirited.
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
“Nie Chuan, what do you think the key to cutting someone is?”
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Reece didn’t disturb Nie Chuan’s thinking. He walked to the side of the court and took a drink of water while looking at the messages on his phone.
In his mind, Nie Chuan simulated countless possibilities of him breaking through Reece with the ball.
A few minutes later, Reece came back to Nie Chuan and said, “Do you want to give what you were thinking just now a try?”
“Of course!”
With the ball, Nie Chuan charged at Reece. This time, instead of directly compelling Reece to shift his center of gravity with his speed, Nie Chuan abruptly stopped using Kyrie Irving’s usual crossover. In that instant he broke through, he used the Euro step without any sense of disharmony when Reece was about to intercept the ball. Quickly changing direction, he pulled the ball from the left to the right, the opposite of how people usually used the Euro step, and passed Reece. He was just about to make a lay up when he was blocked by Reece.
Nie Chuan exhaled and laughed helplessly, “Aiya, I was just a bit short.”
It was just a bit. No matter how many times he breaks through, he would probably always get stopped by the other.
“You’re different from the other players who use the Euro step to break through. Your goal just now was to pass the ball to either Carlo or Montenegro under the basket, right?”
“Yes.”
“Then your goal was achieved, you did a good job.” Reece rubbed the top of Nie Chuan’s head.
Nie Chuan was very happy to get acknowledged by Reece.
“But there’s some things to pay attention to.” Reece pressed the ball into Nie Chuan’s arms and walked behind him.
“What?”
Reece’s left hand pressed against Nie Chuan’s left shoulder and his right hand supported Nie Chuan’s right elbow from below, then he led Nie Chuan’s movements.
“Because your height isn’t in a dominant position, you must pay special attention when dribbling the ball near your shoulders.”
“En!”
Reece guided the range of Nie Chuan’s movements to be even greater.
“You must pay attention to the height of your opponents.”
“En.”
“And your own center of gravity.”
Just when Nie Chuan was imagining that Montengro, the tallest person in the entire team, was standing in front of him, Reece’s cheek suddenly pressed against the right side of his face as he forcefully pushed him to the other side.
“Adjust the axis of your center of gravity.”
Nie Chuan could feel Reece’s skin pasted against his own, warm and without the slightest hint of the coldness that he exudes, and found himself completely enveloped in Reece’s arms.
He almost lost control and fell down but Reece’s hand that was pressing on his shoulder quickly supported him by the waist, firmly holding him.
“What’s wrong?” Reece seemed to be rebuking him for not concentrating.
“I…… I couldn’t react!”
Don’t press against my face! Don’t hold my waist ah!
I can’t train seriously at all with you like this!
At the end of practice, Nie Chuan received a call from Ewing. Nie Chuan originally thought Ewing was going to discuss what to eat after their evening one-on-one practice with him but unexpectedly, Ewing told him that he wanted to go to a small theater in town to watch a movie.
“Watch a movie? What movie?”
“Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles!” Ewing appeared very excited, “Don’t you have any childhood memories!”
Childhood memories and whatnot really was Ewing’s style.
Nie Chuan glanced at Reece and said in a low voice, “But I’m nowhere near campus!”
At this time, Reece had finished packing and said when he walked past Nie Chuan, “I’ll send you back.”
“Then, do you want to watch it with us? Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, childhood memories!”
“You guys can watch it, that’s not one of my childhood memories.”
“……”
Fine, they’ve always had a different appreciation for things than Reece anyway.
“After you finish watching, I’ll take you and Ewing back to campus.”
“Really? You’re being this nice?”
“If not then what time do you want to go to bed?”
Sure enough, just like Reece had expected, the movie went on until nine-thirty. When they came out of the small cinema, Nie Chuan saw the figure of Reece across the street leaning against the car door while looking at his phone at a glance.
“No way, so what you said about Reece coming to take us back to school was true?” Ewing had a look of astonishment.
“How could it not be true?”
When did Reece ever go back on his word?
Reece didn’t say anything, but Nie Chuan and Ewing could smell something very fragrant as soon as they got in the car.
Ewing found a box of take-out in the back seat. His eyes lit up, “Wow! It’s cha siu bao! Can I eat it!”
“Mn.” Reese answered softly.
Nie Chuan and Ewing began eating in large bites. Suddenly thinking of something, Nie Chuan stretched a keychain out in front of Reece. Attached to the keychain was a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle.
“Ding dong—— Donatello!”
“I’m driving.”
“I’m giving this to you!”
“A turtle?”
“It’s Donatello, from the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles!”
“Aren’t there four turtles? Why this one?”
“Because Donatello’s hobbies are mathematics, engineering and computers! He also has a calm personality and he’s able to adapt to changes! He’s the most similar to you!”
“So what you’re saying is I’m like a turtle?” Reece asked.
“This isn’t a turtle! This is a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle!” Nie Chuan emphasized once more.
“Allen! I told you not to buy that! Reece won’t like it! You’re honestly better off giving him a charger for his phone!” Ewing who was sitting in the back seat felt helpless hearing their dialogue.
“Alright……” Nie Chuan took his hand back.
Reece raised a finger and hooked the key ring. “I’ll accept your childhood.”
Nie Chuan knew that Reece would probably throw the keychain into a drawer and maybe not even take it out for a look for years, but Nie Chuan still felt very happy.
In the back seat, Ewing, who was leaning against the window, was in a deep sleep after eating his fill.
Nie Chuan didn’t feel the slightest bit of sleepiness and was humming the theme song of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles in a low voice. Afterwards, the more he hummed, the louder he got.
Beside him, Reece suddenly extended his hand over to cover Nie Chuan’s mouth.
“Mmph…… what’s wrong?”
“I don’t want this tune to be stuck in my head when I go to sleep,” Reece replied.
“……”
The next day, Nie Chuan and Zhou Bin were eating hamburgers in the school’s dining hall and heard the girls sitting in the back laughing while discussing something.
“Hey, did you know? Reece’s key chain is actually a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle! I thought he was cold, but I didn’t expect him to have this kind of key chain!”
“So he likes Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles?”
“Huh? I don’t know, I only heard that his first love from high school liked Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. This is a memory of their first love!”
“What? Who was Reece’s first love?”
Nie Chuan was holding a hamburger but found that he couldn’t take a bite.
Through numerous twists and turns, this story about a first love and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles gave rise to all sorts of versions.
Across from Nie Chuan, Zhou Bin was already laughing so hard that his stomach hurt.
“…… Ah Chuan…… what were you thinking! Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles? Haha, it really fits his image ah!”
“Where does it fit! Does Reece look like a turtle?”
“No……it’s ‘ninja’. To be able to stay with you for so long, he really is a ‘ninja among ninjas’!”
He should just give him a charging cord in the future ba……
In the following two weeks, Carlo arranged a few matches amongst the team with practically all the main players and substitutes participating.
Nie Chuan and Ewing were put in one group while Carlo, Reece and Montenegro were their opponents.
Nie Chuan didn’t feel much about this kind of grouping but Ewing was very indignant.
“What the hell! Forget about Carlo, Montenegro should have been on our team or else it’ll be empty under our basket!”
This made Peter, who got added to their side, a little embarrassed. “Hey, don’t take me for air, alright?”
Carlo patted Nie Chuan on the shoulder and said, “Allen, are you scared? You know, once Reese and I join forces, we’re unstoppable!”
Nie Chuan smiled and moved Carlo’s arm aside. “Hey, in any case you also took part in the league last year. Don’t you know that once you look down on your opponent, you will get a painful lesson?”
Ewing snorted coldly at Carlo.
Carlo pretended not to see as he lowered his head near Nie Chuan’s ear and said, “Do you know why me and Reece were put on the same team?”
“Because your low IQ pulled down the overall IQ score, so you need Reece to raise the average for the five of you?” Nie Chuan replied half-jokingly.
“Boy, you’re pulling my leg,” Carlo gently pushed the back of Nie Chuan’s head. “It’s to teach you and Ewing.”
“Teach us what?” Nie Chuan was at a complete loss.
“Teach you guys that the two of you have been sticking together too closely. It’s not okay if only you two can cooperate well together on the court!”
While chewing gum, Ewing leaned in Carlo’s direction. “You’re the one who’s jealous that Allen and I have been practicing together.”
Carlo backed away with a smile, pointed his finger to his own throat and made a slitting motion, then pointed at Ewing.
Ewing nudged Nie Chuan with his elbow and said, “Hey, we have to sort him out. Just look at how complacent he is, I really want to beat him up!”
“Of course.” Nie Chuan looked in Reece’s direction with a bit of regret, the other was adjusting his wristband.
His expression was cold. Perhaps for him, it didn’t matter which side he played on in a match amongst teammates like this ba.
But Nie Chuan felt that it would be nice to team up with Reece in matches since he had always practiced one-on-one with him. However…… as a small forward, Reece’s individual scoring ability had always been very strong. Even if he didn’t cooperate with others, he was still unstoppable.
On Nie Chuan’s side, apart from Ewing, the strongest player was the center Peter. The small forward Zack completely wasn’t Reece’s opponent. In his head, Nie Chuan was already imagining the scene of Reece wearing the black armband of death, one wave of his sickle and Zack’s blood would splatter on the spot.
“Nie Chuan, even if your teammate isn’t who you wanted, you should still bring out their strengths.” Reece said from Nie Chuan’s side.
By the time Nie Chuan reacted, Reece had already brushed past him.
_______________________
MadMadamMims: of course he displays the super corny keychain 🤣 ‘it’s from my wife’
Drea: ‘it’s a token of our love’ 🤣
♡(> ਊ <)♡
Also Thank you for the chapter! ༼ つ ◕‿◕ ༽つ
That was really cute! It doesn’t fit his image, but Reece will use the keychain because he likes Nie Chuan. He doesn’t like the movie, but he wants to spend more time with Nie Chuan, so he’ll give Nie Chuan a ride after the movie. And of course, the hands on training. I really want to know when Reece first met Nie Chuan. Thanks for the update!
Reece is like a mother taking out his kid on a playdate w/ his friend 😂
thank you for the chapter!
Hahaha Carlo being jealous is so funny 😂😂
I live for the updates on this book 😌 I can’t wait for this couple to progress 👌
And again, thank u for the chapppp!!
they are so cute — and funny
ohh nie chuan — why you easily distracted
😋
*Huh? I don’t know, I only heard that his first love from high school liked Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. This is a memory of their first love!” *
Have we finally know the time when Reece fell in love?!!!
Is this it?!!!
So Reece has been in love with Nie Chuan since high school? (If it were true.) My, my, I’m really curious when and how Reece started liking Xiao Chuan.
Me too! It’s been a while since I’ve read the later chapters so I’ve forgotten but I do hope the author goes into this to sate our curiosity 👀