Chapter 5: I Never Expected Senior Chu to Be That Kind of Person!

There's no need to choose!

Before the lingering sound of the word "one-on-one" from Chu Zihang had even faded, Lu Mingfei was nearly ready to kneel before him on the spot.

"I'm a beginner, a total beginner, Senior!"

Lu Mingfei shivered where he stood, having to keep dribbling the Basketball to avoid a warning, "I just came here for Basketball Training..."

"Basketball Training?"

Even the tone of Chu Zihang's question was faint, but this time he wasn't expressionless; Lu Mingfei clearly noticed his face twitch slightly. Was this... him wanting to laugh or what?

Actually, Lu Mingfei thought the scene was quite funny himself. What kind of status and position did Chu Zihang have?

Being known by a nobody like him, and even being let in to share a basketball court, was already something to be thankful for. How could he possibly expect someone to accompany a beginner like him in practice?

How was this any different from asking an International Mathematical Olympiad gold medalist to help a kindergartner practice one plus one?

Thinking of this, Lu Mingfei's head couldn't help but droop, and he subconsciously wanted to shrink his body.

"Don't hunch your back," Chu Zihang said.

"What?" Lu Mingfei subconsciously looked up.

"Your back, keep it straight."

As Chu Zihang spoke, his calm gaze became somewhat distant and hollow, as if... he wasn't looking at the Lu Mingfei in front of him, but at someone else.

"Son, come here, today I'll teach you how to play basketball! Believe me, my level is absolutely the highest!

Back when your dad was sweeping the city's street courts, I don't know how many pretty girls were waiting on the sidelines to hand me water and wipe my sweat! Hey, don't you go telling your mom about this.

Ahem, let's start then. First, don't stand there like a telephone pole..."

The middle-aged man's voice echoed in his ears; Chu Zihang hadn't forgotten a single word or tone of it.

That man was the first person to teach him how to play basketball.

"You can lean forward slightly, but you must keep your spine neutral to avoid hunching," Chu Zihang blinked, coming back to his senses, and said to Lu Mingfei.

"This can protect your lower back and improve your reaction speed."

Lu Mingfei was so shocked he couldn't speak—what was going on?

The word count of these two sentences alone already exceeded the sum of everything Chu Zihang had said before... but Lu Mingfei cared more about the content.

Was Senior Chu preparing to teach him how to play basketball personally?

What kind of virtue or ability did he have to deserve such an honor? This kind of thing could only happen in a dream!

Whatever, it's a fool who doesn't take advantage of a bargain!

Lu Mingfei straightened his back according to Chu Zihang's words, his upper body leaning slightly forward.

"Bend your knees slightly, lower your center of gravity, maintain body flexibility and explosive power, and avoid standing with straight legs," Chu Zihang said.

"Keep your feet slightly wider than your shoulders, toes pointing forward, splayed slightly outward in a pigeon-toed stance, with your weight on the balls of your feet..."

Lu Mingfei felt like he was listening to a basketball textbook reciting itself... The excessive shock made him unable to calm down and control his body to keep up with Chu Zihang's instructions for a moment.

But soon his helplessness was noticed by Chu Zihang, so Chu Zihang walked straight up and reached out, gesturing, "Is this okay?"

"Yes, yes, of course it is!"

Lu Mingfei came to his senses and nodded like a garlic-pounding pestle, thinking that if it were some girl here, she might have started taking off her clothes already!

Chu Zihang quickly helped Lu Mingfei adjust his posture, "With this posture, first dribble the ball vertically in place."

Lu Mingfei obeyed, but the round Basketball wasn't very obedient in his hands.

The first two were fine, but from the third one on, it started to veer off. Lu Mingfei panicked and tried to pull it back in the opposite direction, but he used too much force, and it hit his own toe, causing the Basketball to bounce away!

But a large hand was already waiting on its path; the Basketball landed right in his palm, was obediently brought back, and handed to Lu Mingfei.

"Continue," Chu Zihang said.

The embarrassment and frustration that were about to rise in Lu Mingfei's heart dissipated under these two words before they could even appear.

He didn't have time to think too much, because neither the Schedule nor Chu Zihang would give him time to let his mind wander!

"Okay," Lu Mingfei took it with both hands and continued practicing.

After dribbling only a few dozen times, a line of text suddenly appeared before Lu Mingfei's eyes.

【Through diligent practice, your 【Basketball】 level has increased, gaining 3 points of Proficiency】

So fast?

Lu Mingfei suddenly felt that dribbling had become much easier, as if the unruly, naughty child had been taught a lesson and become completely obedient!

"That's enough."

Chu Zihang observed quite carefully; not long after Lu Mingfei's Proficiency increased, he noticed the change in Lu Mingfei's dribbling and said, "Now practice the Single-handed V-dribble."

"Is... is this it?" Lu Mingfei tried.

The obedient Basketball started to rebel again, bouncing left and right, trying to escape Lu Mingfei's palm... It succeeded, but it also failed, because Chu Zihang reached out in advance again to intercept it and send it back.

"Continue."

What a mixed doubles match!

If the basketball could talk, it would surely complain with that line.

After another few dozen dribbles.

【Through diligent practice, your 【Basketball】 level has increased, gaining 3 points of Proficiency】

That feeling of rebellion turning into docility appeared again, and the corners of Lu Mingfei's mouth couldn't help but curl up... This feeling of instant improvement and becoming stronger was too wonderful and too satisfying!

Why was it that when he was Learning before, the Proficiency of those subjects, like Chinese or Mathematics, didn't increase with this kind of efficiency?

Could it be that he had a special talent for playing basketball, so the Proficiency rose quickly?

"That's enough."

Chu Zihang was still at the same pace, "Next is the Two-handed crossover V-dribble..."

Just like that, practicing, gaining Proficiency, switching items, and continuing to gain... After an hour and a half, Lu Mingfei's 【Basketball】 level was soaring at rocket speed!

"That's enough."

Chu Zihang paused, "Do you need a rest?"

"N... no need..." Lu Mingfei shook his head, drenched in sweat, panting slightly.

Rest? That didn't exist. Whenever Lu Mingfei wanted to rest, even if he just had the slightest thought or lost focus, the electric shock countdown would sound!

Come to think of it, Lu Mingfei also felt it was very strange; he had run a total of 5 kilometers by now today, spent eight hours on high-intensity Learning, and had been practicing Basketball for an hour and a half without a break...

With such a massive amount of exercise and his own physical condition, which barely involved any training, shouldn't he have collapsed on the ground from exhaustion, or even fallen asleep immediately despite the electric shock countdown?

Yet, whenever Lu Mingfei felt he was about to reach his limit, a new surge of strength would always well up within him, supporting him to continue.

This strength was very insignificant, perhaps just the last bit of moist soil at the source of a dried-up spring, but it seemed endless; as soon as a little was dug away, a little more would emerge.

"Could this be what they call willpower?" Lu Mingfei thought to himself, finding amusement in his misery, "I truly possess an iron-like will!"

"If you're tired, you can rest," Chu Zihang thought for a moment and said, "I will come again tomorrow."

"Ha, haha, I'm not worried about missing this opportunity! Senior brother, I have a reason why I must continue..." Lu Mingfei said with a bitter smile.

Seeing this scene, Chu Zihang felt a slight stir in his heart; beneath his eternal, icy, poker-faced exterior, his inner gossip-monger was activated, thinking that Lu Mingfei must have been provoked by something to be working so desperately hard.

Is it because of a girl?

Chu Zihang had paid attention to Lu Mingfei before and knew he liked a girl, even to the point that the whole school knew about it... it seemed her name was Chen Wenwen?

Given Chu Zihang's current life experience, he still couldn't understand why Lu Mingfei would push himself to such an extent for a girl he liked, but he had high character, so he chose to respect him and give Lu Mingfei a hand.

Chu Zihang observed Lu Mingfei for a while longer, and after confirming that Lu Mingfei was not overdrawing his physical strength to force himself, he said, "Start practicing shooting."

Lu Mingfei's spirits lifted; for the past hour and a half, he had been practicing how to dribble, and he was almost sick of the techniques, yet he hadn't officially shot a basket once!

But Chu Zihang did not rush to start teaching him; instead, he stood in place, stunned for a moment, before asking.

"What do you think is the point of shooting?"

"Uh... to get the Basketball into the hoop?" Lu Mingfei was stunned and said a piece of nonsense that even he felt was useless.

"Wrong."

Chu Zihang shook his head as Lu Mingfei expected, and then said an answer that Lu Mingfei would never have imagined in eight lifetimes would come out of "Senior Brother Chu's" mouth.

"It's to look cool."

Lu Mingfei: "??!"

"This is shooting." Chu Zihang picked up the Basketball, casually tossed it with one hand, and the ball swished through the hoop from the three-point line where he stood.

"This is also shooting." This time it was a standard Jump shot with a flick of the wrist.

"This is still shooting." This time it was an incredibly sharp Three-step layup followed by a Dunk!

"This is still shooting." Chu Zihang hesitated for a moment, then held the Basketball with both hands and tossed it from bottom to top.

"I know, I know, this is an Underhand free throw!" Lu Mingfei shouted.

Even with Chu Zihang's facial management skills, he couldn't help but twitch, but he kept a serious expression, "Did you notice the difference?"

"No, senior brother, you look cool no matter how you shoot!"

Lu Mingfei finally understood the fanatical pursuit of Senior Brother Chu by the girls at Shilan Middle School back then... it's good to be handsome; everything one does looks cool!

"No, what I mean is, pretty girls won't care if you make the shot; they only care about how stylish your shooting posture is... what's wrong with you?" Chu Zihang stopped his explanation.

"I just didn't expect such words to come out of your mouth, senior brother..." Lu Mingfei struggled to close his jaw, which had dropped in shock.

So, beneath the icy, poker-faced exterior of Senior Brother Chu, there is such a hidden, flamboyant inner self? He could even summarize such a theory!

I really didn't expect you to be this kind of person, Senior Brother Chu!

"... This is what my dad said." Chu Zihang was silent for a moment and explained, "I'm just repeating it."

"As expected, like father, like son!"

Lu Mingfei gave a thumbs up in praise, then scratched his hair, trying hard to recall, and finally found a scene in his memory.

"Senior brother, your dad is that middle-aged uncle who drives the Maybach, right? When I first saw him, I thought he was a dashing and romantic type in his youth..."

A gust of wind struck, and before Lu Mingfei could react, he felt his shoulders being gripped as if by a pair of iron claws!

Chu Zihang had somehow arrived in front of him in an instant and grabbed his shoulders!

The distance between the two was extremely close, so close that Lu Mingfei could clearly see Chu Zihang's pupils, and he didn't know if it was an illusion, but he always felt... Chu Zihang's pupils seemed to be glowing?

"Sen, senior brother... what's wrong?"

Chu Zihang did not speak, only staring at Lu Mingfei.

Lu Mingfei swallowed his saliva, and feeling the immense pressure, he couldn't help but instinctively start spouting nonsense, "Uh, although you are indeed very handsome, senior brother, I am truly a straight man..."

Chu Zihang lowered his eyes and spoke, word by word.

His voice was uncharacteristically filled with uncontrollable excitement.

"You, re, mem, ber, him?"

(End of this chapter)