“Reece…… you…… how are you back already? ” Nie Chuan quickly got up, glanced down at Reece’s bed, and moved to block the wrinkled part with his body.
“I asked, what were you guys doing?” Reece’s eyes swept over Downey.
Downey shrugged with a smile and said meaningfully, “You saw, we were messing around, ‘playing’ for short.”
Nie Chuan had the urge to kill Downey at this time.
Who was messing around with you? Who’s playing with you ah? Play by yourself ba!
“I wasn’t playing with him just now! This guy forced me to go one-on-one with him! And he’s forcing me to walk naked in the dormitory!” Nie Chuan cried.
Downey looked at Nie Chuan in amusement as he stroked his chin, “How come I remember saying that only the loser had to walk around naked? Plus, if you really didn’t want to I would have let it go. Just have a match with me, let me have a look at DK’s strength!”
Reece walked to the bedside table. He had obviously seen the wrinkled area that Nie Chuan had pressed on but turned a blind eye as he took a flash drive from the drawer and put it in his pocket. Apparently he had forgotten something, so he came back.
When he passed by Nie Chuan, he said coolly, “If you really dare agree to go streaking or whatever then I will tear it off.”
Nie Chuan’s heart jumped, that place below had already begun feeling sore.
“I……how could I agree! That’s so dumb…… hahaha…… “
“If you know it’s dumb then that’s good. Although, you probably wouldn’t lose to Downey.”
When he finished, Reece left.
Two seconds later, the room was quiet. Downey poked Nie Chuan’s shoulder with his finger in amusement. “Hey! I say, what are you so scared of him for? Or does he really pull at you there everyday?”
After reacting two seconds later, Nie Chuan flew into a rage out of embarrassment. “You’re the one who gets pulled!”
With a smile, Downey approached Nie Chuan step by step, staring into his eyes as he spoke, “But……since Reece said you probably wouldn’t lose to me, then I need to have a match even more now!”
With that, Nie Chuan was picked up by Downey.
This time, there were no conditions to speak of. He got hauled to the basketball court by Downey.
Downey borrowed a basketball from some students who were playing and threw it to Nie Chuan. “Hey, you first! Let me see how good you are!”
If it had been before, Nie Chuan would have still been a nameless person but ever since those practice matches, everyone who was familiar with the DK basketball team knew that Nie Chuan was Connor’s successor, the point guard of the team. Not to mention, Reece can be seen practicing with him every day.
Everyone gathered around one by one.
“Come on, Allen!” A girl’s voice rang out.
Nie Chuan turned to the side, and saw the captain of the cheerleading team, Lily, waving her hand. He smiled at Lily gratefully.
He was already no longer the Nie Chuan of the past, being watched by everyone was no longer an embarrassing affair.
By the regular season, the audience will be several times larger than it is now.
Downey assumed a defensive stance and said to Nie Chuan, “Come!”
Alright, Downey, you’re the one who wanted to provoke me, don’t regret it!
Nie Chuan also wanted to know what level the high schoolers that Coach Gordon took a fancy to were at!
Nie Chuan dribbled steadily as he faced Downey.
Downey’s expression was calm, he had experienced Nie Chuan’s speed for himself beforehand.
With the weights from his ankles removed, Nie Chuan’s whole body felt light. This was probably the true purpose of Coach Gordon making Nie Chuan do sprinting exercises with weights.
Nie Chuan rushed towards Downey the moment he caught the ball.
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.
Ktf mbgcfgr bo Gbkcfs’r ilqr megnfv eq. Lf kjcafv ab rff pera tbk Rlf Jtejc kbeiv qjrr tlw!
Rlf Jtejc mea ogbw atf gluta klat atf yjii fzagfwfis delmxis. Ktf lcrajca Gbkcfs ragfamtfv tlr jgw bea obg atf yjii, Rlf Jtejc vgjralmjiis mtjcufv tlr mfcafg bo ugjnlas. Gbkcfs atbeuta Rlf Jtejc kjr ublcu ab ub ab atf ifoa rlvf jcv obiibkfv mibrfis. Fcfzqfmafvis, Rlf Jtejc abbx j rafq yjmx yfobgf jmmfifgjalcu jujlc. Lf ygbxf qjra Gbkcfs, rmbglcu j ijseq.
Nie Chuan turned around. He thought Downey would fly into a rage but he didn’t expect Downey’s smile to get bigger.
“You’re quite interesting!”
Nie Chuan saw in his eyes the desire for victory and control. This intense feeling, Nie Chuan also felt when confronting Owen. Only this time, Nie Chuan wouldn’t give Downey the chance to hit him with the ball!
Nie Chuan threw the ball back to Downey imposingly. “Your turn!”
Downey caught the ball, imitating Nie Chuan’s movements by darting forward. Not only that, even his cut to the right was exactly the same. Nie Chuan also followed the movement with his shoulder, but this had actually been a feint. Nie Chuan knew in his heart that Downey was mimicking him, which may be for amusement or for ridiculing, but Nie Chuan’s nerves were already stretched taut.
Sure enough, Downey darted to the other side. Nie Chuan swept Downey’s knees through the corner of his eyes and immediately shifted his center of gravity. When Downey changed direction again, Nie Chuan had already made a response in advance and knocked the ball down.
Nie Chuan immediately turned around. This time he didn’t choose to make a lay up, instead he shot in place.
But just as his hand was about to lift the ball, he only heard a “pa” sound as Downey knocked the ball down. The other even excluded laying up the ball and, instead, turned around to directly make a jump shot!
“Oh, you’re only at this level?” Downey raised his eyebrow.
It was the same movement except while Reece was very oppressive, Downey appeared very unbridled.
Nie Chuan did not speak as he moved his wrist.
Downey threw the ball back to Nie Chuan. “Your turn! It’s a tie now! No wonder Reece was worried about your bet with me. You really might have to go streaking.”
Nie Chuan didn’t answer him and silently went to the side of the court where Lily handed him a bottle of mineral water and said with a smile, “I remember your level being higher than this.”
Nie Chuan was stunned. It was the first time a girl expressed such good feelings towards him.
“Thank you.” Nie Chuan took out small weights from his left and right wristbands and gave them to Lily, “Please hold them for me for a bit.”
Lily looked at the weights and laughed, “Sure, no problem! Go crush him!”
When Nie Chuan turned around, Downey also put away his smile.
“You didn’t go all out just now. Are you looking down on me?” Downey narrowed his eyes.
“Coach required me to wear them even when I’m not training. I just got used to them so I forgot. ” Nie Chuan patted the ball and looked at Downey. “At least from now on, I’ll be going all out.”
It wasn’t much losing to Owen since even Reece doesn’t win against him every time.
But if Nie Chuan couldn’t even win against a high school student then no matter how heaven-defying his skills were, he would feel too embarrassed to stay on DK’s team.
Nie Chuan didn’t rashly launch an attack and stood in front of Downey instead. Since practicing with Ewing, the stability of his shots had improved immensely so let’s have a try against Downey ba!
Nie Chuan cut with the ball again. When his shoulders swiveled to the left, Downey had already finished his preparations to follow, but then Nie Chuan didn’t change direction to the right and instead quickly retreated.
If it was an actual match, Nie Chuan would have passed the ball to Ewing or Reece at this safe distance, but right now he could only rely on himself.
Downey followed closely, he didn’t intend to leave room for Nie Chuan to turn around, but he didn’t expect Nie Chuan to jump in place and shoot.
Ever since he saw Owen’s pull-up jump shot, Nie Chuan had felt envious for a long time. But Ewing had been training with him so he could finally make the shot this time!
The ball’s spin was very smooth and Nie Chuan’s posture in midair was also very beautiful, but with the way he took off without preparation, the accuracy rate was certainly lower than usual.
Downey had already caught up, ready to snatch the rebound, but the ball went in steadily.
Nie Chuan clenched his fists. He was suddenly very grateful for Coach Gordon’s weight-bearing training plan. As he faced Downey now, he felt incomparably relaxed.
Downey took the ball back and looked at Nie Chuan coldly.
Nie Chuan held two fingers up at him. After one more goal, he’d win.
“Don’t get too arrogant,” Downey snorted.
It was Downey’s turn to attack. This time he came at full speed, the extent of his swivels made Nie Chuan have to be very careful in order to not get thrown off by him.
Downey’s change in rhythm that was sometimes fast and sometimes slow broke through Nie Chuan’s defense.
Nie Chuan didn’t hesitate and stuck to him closely, but couldn’t find the opportunity to block him.
The onlooking students made sounds of amazement. Lily’s eyes also widened for fear that Downey would score.
Downey suddenly jumped, his jumping ability was very astonishing.
Without Montenegro and Carlo’s support under the basket, Nie Chuan knew he had to make an all-out effort himself.
He clenched his teeth, concentrated all his strength in his legs, and jumped.
Everyone looked up with expressions of surprise, because Nie Chuan’s fingers reached the height of Downey’s ball.
In that moment, all his strength rushed to his fingertips as Nie Chuan ruthlessly pushed the ball away.
Another burst of exclamations came from around the court.
A person who had seen Nie Chuan and Peter play one-on-one at a pool party exclaimed, “This guy seems much better than before!”
Such a situation completely exceeded Downey’s expectations, Nie Chuan darted over and took the ball back. When he turned around, Downey was already defending in front of him. Nie Chuan’s dribble didn’t stop at all as he made several rapid, wide swivels with his shoulders that were like moving clouds and flowing water. Downey’s eyes couldn’t keep up, Nie Chuan had already broken through his defense and scored with a layup!
After Nie Chuan succeeded in mimicking Owen’s Euro step, Reece practically practiced with him everyday. He had practiced these moves until they were reflex, becoming a natural reaction of his body.
Downey closed his eyes and laughed. “As expected of DK!”
“You don’t have to feel too guilty. When I’m at my best, even Owen Wishaw can’t stop me.”
“What? Owen Wishaw? You mean CBU’s Owen Wishaw?”
Nie Chuan walked back over to Lily. “May I have my stuff back?”
“Oh, of course.” Lily handed him the weights.
Nie Chuan put them in the wristband and waved to Lily. “Thanks!”
“Don’t mention it, don’t mention it…… You’re completely welcome…… ”
When Nie Chuan left the court, Downey chased after him and slung an arm around Nie Chuan’s shoulder. “Hey! Where are you going? Are you gonna go eat? Take me with you!”
“No,” Nie Chuan replied.
“What? Are you mad? Worst comes to worst I’ll walk around naked to make you feel better?”
Nie Chuan still remembered Downey’s eyes during the game. This guy and Owen were the same. They were good-natured towards others but can become ruthless in a blink of an eye.
“No need. It’s already getting late. Shouldn’t you be taking the bus back downtown?”
“I’ll stay here!!” Downey said as if it was a matter of course.
“Where is here?”
“Can’t I sleep over?”
“Do you think you can squeeze in one bed with Reece?” Nie Chuan asked back.
“I can sleep with you!”
“…… I don’t want to.” Nie Chuan was speechless.
“Hey, don’t be like that! I came all this way……” Downey grabbed Nie Chuan again.
“You came all the way here to find Reece, right? What’s with you pestering me now?”
Downey could only let go. “I don’t have a place to stay.”
Nie Chuan didn’t pay him any heed as he turned and walked towards the school’s cafeteria.
He ordered a chicken curry with mushrooms for himself. Just after eating two bites, he looked up and saw Downey sitting across from him looking at him with a pitiful look.
“Hey, weren’t you very arrogant before? Please don’t act all spoiled now.” Nie Chuan was starting to wonder if Downey had multiple personalities.
Perhaps he should suggest that Reece send his cousin to see a psychologist.
“If you think I’m acting spoiled then buy me something to eat too!”
“Haha.” Nie Chuan smiled at Downey, not paying at all. Minding his own business, he ate his rice to the bottom then got up and returned to the dorm.
Downey followed him all the way to the entrance of the dorm.
Frankly, even with Downey making a show of switching faces (tn: suddenly turning hostile), Nie Chuan didn’t feel fed up with him. It seemed that his moodiness was due to Downey saying he would be sleeping in his and Reece’s room tonight? Nie Chuan felt as if his space had been encroached upon by others.
“What are you even mad about? In the end, you didn’t need to walk around naked and you even crushed me with your own skills. To be honest, looking at your face that’s just like a kid’s, I never thought you’d be that strong.”
Nie Chuan, who was about to open the door, turned around and suddenly pressed Downey’s shoulder, pushing him against the wall.
Downey didn’t react at all. Nie Chuan approached him, looked into his eyes and said, “I’m really sorry that it was me who looks like a kid that beat you. Besides, at your age, you should know that everyone has their own lives and private matters, right? So, could you please either go home or take a bus back to the city and stay there?”
Downey looked at Nie Chuan’s serious eyes and the corners of his lips curved up. He smiled with interest. “You’re really unfriendly. It couldn’t be that you’re scared I’ll occupy Reece’s attention ever since you found out I’m really his cousin, right?”
Nie Chuan also smiled. He narrowed his eyes and patted Downey on the cheek. “Stop being fake with me here. When it comes to being underhanded, you’re a lot worse than Reece. Weren’t you the one who happily came to Reece to flaunt how Coach Gordon took a fancy to you? You didn’t expect Reece to not have any reaction, so you took your anger out on his roommate.”
Downey’s smile faded as he brushed off Nie Chuan’s hand. “Believe it or not, I’ll beat you up.”
“I believe you. But Reece will beat you even harder.”
At this time, a cold voice sounded.
“What are you guys doing?”
Nie Chuan turned to see Reece standing not far away with a book. It was unknown how much of the conversation between him and Downey he had heard.
“I was expressing how I didn’t want your cousin in my room.”
“I also feel like your roommate’s being hostile towards me.” Downey added.
Nie Chuan took the key out and silently opened the door before closing it.
“Eh? Why did he close the door before you went in?” Downey asked while pointing at the door.
“You and Nie Chuan had a one-on-one?” Reece took out his key, walked to the door and asked in a tranquil voice.
“Yes, and he won. I don’t know what he’s so angry about.”
“I’ll send you to a hotel in town after I put this book down.”
“Ah, then will you stay in the hotel with me? I want to talk to you about my SAT!”
Reece didn’t reply, he merely placed the book on the bookshelf in a practiced manner.
___________________
Drea: Apologies for disappearing last week! Received summons from my midterms but I’m finally back :3
MadMadamMims: and leave NC alone at home? I highly doubt it 🤣
Thanks for the chapter!
Xiao Chian so cool >w<
We all know what his answer is 😛
Thanks for the chapter! 🙂
downey: i dont have a place to stay :'(
nie chuan: that sounds like a you problem
downey: unacceptable. heres how i will make you miserable
thanks for the chapter! that was hilarious
Ahh! Nie Chuan is really cool when he’s playing basketball. Did Lilly decide that she likes Nie Chuan now? Talent is really attractive. But hard work and skill are even more attractive. I can kind of understand what Reece sees in Nie Chuan. And I’m sorry, Lilly. But I don’t think you can compete with Reece. Thanks for the update!
Idk if she likes NC but she really loves basketball and respects the players. I like her as a side character; I read this in MTL before and live the story.