Chapter Forty-Two: Turning Defeat into Victory

Chapter Forty-Two: From Defeat to Victory

Silence, a deathly silence. Shock, a ghostly shock. Not just the students—even the teachers stood frozen, each like a statue carved from stone. For a long moment, the field remained still, until suddenly an eruption of thunderous shouts shattered the hush.

“Holy crap!”
“How is that even possible?!”
“Is he even human?!”

The girls of Senior Class 1 leapt to their feet with wild cheers, waving their arms and kicking their legs in unrestrained joy.

“Shi Bai! Amazing!”
“Shi Bai! Incredible!”

Wang Xiaolong and the rest of the team rushed to Shi Bai, some clapping him on the shoulder, others ruffling his hair. “You’ve been hiding your skills way too deep!”
“Never thought you were this good!”
“If you’d gone up earlier, we wouldn’t have had to struggle so much!”

Shi Bai just chuckled. “I told you before, but you didn’t believe me.”

The teammates looked embarrassed. Ma Xiaojiu hurried to say, “It’s all Zhang Tongtong’s fault! She misled us!”

Zhang Tongtong looked mortified. “I... I...” But no words would come out.

Meanwhile, the students of Class 6 were completely dumbfounded. The basketball rolled freely along the court, yet nobody made a move to pick it up. Usually, they might have seized the moment to steal points while the other team celebrated, but now they simply stood there, stupefied.

Their class president, Zhang Shuyi, also stood rooted to the spot, staring at Shi Bai, lost in thought. Most of all, Li Xiujie, standing at center court, regarded Shi Bai as if he were an alien, muttering to himself, “This guy isn’t human. He just isn’t human...”

From then on, the rest of the game became a mere formality. Shi Bai’s shooting skills shattered the crowd’s imagination again and again. Whether he shot with his back turned, with his eyes closed, or simply tossed the ball at random, the basketball always found its way into the hoop in the most unbelievable ways.

In the end, Senior Class 1 triumphed over Class 6 with a score of 62 to 41.

As the final whistle blew, his teammates immediately hoisted Shi Bai into the air. The girls cheered on the sidelines, feeling as though they had finally shaken off their shackles and could now sing songs of freedom. For once, they held their heads high.

The teachers hurried over in excitement. “Shi Bai, would you be interested in joining the provincial sports team?”
“What provincial team? He should go straight to the national team!”

“No! He could go to the NBA! Come on, let your teacher take you to bring honor to the country!”

The students were so stunned by the suggestion that they nearly dropped Shi Bai as they tossed him.

Shi Bai landed back on his feet and, glancing at the eager faces of the teachers, shook his head calmly. “Teachers, basketball is just a pastime for me. I don’t really want to pursue it professionally.”

Everyone around was speechless. Just a pastime? With skills like that? What does that make the pros who have trained for over a decade?

The PE teacher couldn’t help but ask, “How long have you been playing basketball?”

Shi Bai scratched his head. “Honestly... only occasionally during gym class. I don’t even have a basketball at home.”

The entire crowd turned to stone.

“You’re just showing off!” Li Xiujie couldn’t take it anymore. “You’re telling me you don’t own a basketball, only play in gym class, and you’re still this good? That’s too much!”

But Shi Bai didn’t bother with further explanations. He simply replied, “You have to admit, some people are just born different.”

The crowd nearly choked with exasperation. “Can’t you be a bit more modest?”

Shi Bai went on, “Actually, you played really well yourself—one of the best among your peers. It’s just unfortunate you had to meet me.”

A resounding note seemed to echo in everyone’s hearts.

Li Xiujie’s face turned ashen, and he clenched his fists tightly. Yet, no retort would come. After a long silence, he sighed, “He really is far stronger than I am.”

A wave of gloom passed over him. “To think, I, Shangguan Renjie, have trained since childhood, dominating the courts since middle school, always believing I was the strongest. Yet today, I met him.”

Looking dejected, he turned to pick up his bag. Just then, his little group of fans hurried over, especially the class president of Class 6. She personally wiped the sweat from his brow with a towel and comforted him:

“It’s all right. He’s only better than you at basketball. In every other way, you’re miles ahead of him!”

The other girls, seeing this, shot her looks of disdain, but quickly clustered around as well, offering comfort and water.

“That’s right! Aside from basketball, what else does he have over you?”

Hearing this, Li Xiujie’s spirits lifted. “Exactly! Even if his basketball talent is beyond mine, what about everything else? He’s not as tall, not as handsome. All in all, I’m still much better!”

He glanced at Shi Bai with a provocative smile and declared loudly, “Whatever, I’m heading home. Next week is the campus singing competition—I’ve got to prepare.”

A chorus of delighted screams erupted from the girls.

“Xiujie is going to sing? I finally get to hear him!”
“You haven’t heard him? He’s an amazing singer!”

“And he plays guitar, too! I’m telling you, he’s just so cool!”

Their voices soon drowned out the celebrations of Shi Bai’s side, attracting looks from all around.

Zhang Tongtong stopped celebrating and hurried over to discuss with Liu Feifei, “Feifei, next week Li Xiujie is entering the campus singing competition. Do you want to join too?”

But Liu Feifei shot a venomous glare at Shi Bai, her eyes filled with disgust.

Zhang Tongtong was puzzled and shook her. “What’s wrong with you?”

Liu Feifei gritted her teeth. “That guy is just revolting!”

Zhang Tongtong was taken aback. “Him?” She turned and scratched her head. “What’s wrong with him? Didn’t he just win the game?”

Liu Feifei turned her face away in distaste. “He loves showing off way too much!”

“Huh?!”

What Zhang Tongtong didn’t know was that, under Shi Bai’s system, every basketball victory translated into demerits in Liu Feifei’s eyes.

Shi Bai, noticing Liu Feifei’s strange look, walked over.

“So, how was it?” He flicked his bangs. “Wasn’t I cool today?”

Zhang Tongtong gagged dramatically. “The basketball was cool, but please, never flick your hair like that again, okay?” She mimicked his gesture.

“As long as you don’t play basketball, you’re still the coolest,” Liu Feifei’s eyes sparkled with mischief.

Zhang Tongtong nearly fainted. “Hey! What’s gotten into you? Other than basketball, what’s cool about him?”

Liu Feifei seemed not to hear, and said instead, “Next Friday is the campus singing contest. Let me sign you up, okay?”

Shi Bai was startled. “Singing contest?”

“That’s right!” Liu Feifei said excitedly. “With your tone-deaf, broken voice, I’m sure you’ll win first place!”

Everyone from Class 1 collapsed in disbelief.

Shi Bai thought it sounded fun, so he agreed, “All right!”

With that, everything came to an end. Shi Bai and the others headed home, leaving only one person standing silently on the basketball court.

It was the girl from another class, with twin ponytails and shiny braces, the same one from PE class.

“My god, he really wasn’t lying!”