Chapter 176: Warm Neck Hands

The outdoor basketball court at Fu Yi High is located at the northwest corner of the school.

Standing at the northern wall of the court and looking out, you can see the wide Yin River rushing beside the road.

Occasionally, boats pass beneath the river bridge.

The court surface is all concrete, with five courts arranged side by side and ten hoops total.

At Fu Yi High, the basketball club has over a hundred members, and virtually anyone who can play basketball has joined.

But at least half of them aren't truly basketball club members—most are just slackers like Li Luo, who joined but only occasionally shows up for games.

The remaining thirty or forty people, including those who've already left the club but were former Gao San seniors, are the real members and the ones responsible for organizing this basketball event.

For example, Zhu Yufei, Lin Yuan, and Zhang Guohuang from Class Eight are like that.

They three are in charge of the most remote hoop at the northwest corner, taking turns to teach students who come to try basketball how to shoot.

For ordinary boys, they're told to shoot free throws from the foul line.

If a girl can't even touch the rim from the foul line, they're told to stand right under the hoop, find the 45-degree angle that's best for bank shots, and just have fun.

Zhu Yufei and Zhang Guohuang both enjoy this immensely.

Though they don't currently have any girls they like, their hearts are still restless.

Whenever girls line up to play, they just stay put there and go nowhere else.

They occasionally show off with three-step layups, enjoying the girls' amazed glances.

As for Lin Yuan, with help from his two good buddies, he stayed here for over half an hour before slipping away to accompany Hua Xiuxiu at other club activities.

But because Zhu Yufei and Zhang Guohuang's hoop is the farthest from the court entrance,

by around three in the afternoon, few people come to queue up at their end anymore.

Especially the two hoops closest to the entrance, where members of the school basketball team show off—many girls get diverted there.

For many girls, coming to the basketball court isn't about exerting themselves shooting; it's about watching handsome guys play with flair.

So when Li Luo brought Xu Youyu to the northwest hoop, Zhu Yufei and Zhang Guohuang had already been playing one-on-one for a long time.

"Huh? Class monitor, what are you doing here?" Zhu Yufei noticed Li Luo first, raising an eyebrow, then glancing at Xu Youyu, "Isn't this… a Gao Er senior?"

"Seeing the famous student council president, you should rush over and pay your respects," Li Luo said, bluffing with borrowed authority.

"How childish," Xu Youyu rolled her eyes. "I just came to play a bit."

Some in Class Eight knew that besides being close to Yan Zhusheng and Ying Chanxi, Li Luo also had a good relationship with this Gao Er president.

They often saw the four of them eating together in the cafeteria.

On afternoons when day students left school, they frequently saw Li Luo, Ying Chanxi, and Xu Youyu walking home together.

So Xu Youyu's arrival didn't strike Zhu Yufei or Zhang Guohuang as odd.

But Zhang Guohuang curiously asked, "Isn't Yan Zhusheng with you?"

"She's having fun at the rock club."

"That explains it," Zhu Yufei nodded, tossing Li Luo a basketball. "We're taking a break—since you're a basketball club member, you take care of the senior?"

Li Luo caught the ball, gave them an OK sign, then turned to Xu Youyu: "Senior, we played once before—what do you want to do today?"

"What were they just playing?" Xu Youyu asked curiously.

"One-on-one," Li Luo said. "You want to try that?"

"I'd lose for sure."

"You can add some restrictions," Li Luo smiled. "Since you're here to play, you attack nonstop—I'll just defend."

"Not enough," Xu Youyu shook her head. "Last time you blocked Ying Chanxi so hard, I couldn't even lift the ball when you raised your hand."

"You're demanding," Li Luo rolled his eyes, tossed her the ball, then tucked both hands behind his back. "Better? I'll let you use both hands."

"Perfect," Xu Youyu beamed, nodded happily, hugged the ball, and stepped behind the three-point line. "I'm starting from here?"

"Go ahead," Li Luo stepped in front of her, hands still behind his back. "Ignore traveling rules, but you must keep dribbling—you can't just hold the ball and run, okay?"

"OK," Xu Youyu gave him a thumbs-up, brimming with anticipation. "Here I come."

Xu Youyu's personality differs from most girls'.

She's carefree and doesn't care much about feminine restraint or subtlety.

When playing basketball, she's completely unrestrained—charges straight in, no hesitation in her movements.

Unlike some girls who clutch the ball and move awkwardly.

As Li Luo thought of this, Xu Youyu attacked his left side.

Seeing her fierce assault, Li Luo froze for a moment.

In that split-second distraction, Xu Youyu slipped past his left side, dribbled fast to the hoop, gripped the ball with both hands, and threw it hard.

A perfectly angled bank shot—straight in.

"What were you staring at?" Xu Youyu asked, puzzled. "You're letting me win too obviously."

"I was trying to let you win," Li Luo smirked. "But you launched a mental attack—I got stunned right there."

"What nonsense are you spouting?" Xu Youyu, exasperated, returned to the three-point line with the ball. "Again—do at least pretend to defend, or I won't feel anything."

"Fine, fine," Li Luo laughed. "Alright, I'm ready this time."

"Here I go."

He said he was ready, but when Xu Youyu charged again, Li Luo couldn't help staring a few extra seconds.

Plus, with both hands behind his back, he couldn't mount any real defense, and Xu Youyu kept traveling freely.

So the second time, she easily drove to the hoop and scored again.

But this time, with Li Luo's minimal defense, Xu Youyu felt fully immersed—after scoring, she happily gave him a victory sign: "I scored again! Can you even play?"

"Hmph."

Li Luo returned to his defensive stance and told Xu Youyu, "I've figured out your moves—again."

So the two quickly entered round after round of offense and defense.

Under Li Luo's deliberate control, Xu Youyu had thoroughly enjoyed herself.

In just over ten minutes, she felt her mouth dry and her body burning hot.

In the dead of winter, she had already taken off her coat and still felt warm even in her sweater.

Zhu Yufei and Zhang Guohuang watched from the nearby bench, occasionally clucking their tongues.

"The way the monitor's letting her win."

"That's not letting her win—that's letting her win the whole ocean."

"Why don't we have girls like the senior to play basketball with?"

"Are you better than the monitor?"

"Alright, I don't ask for much—could I have someone like Ren Zheng or Xu Yinghuan?"

"Whoa, you just revealed yourself."

"I'm just making a comparison—otherwise, only Ying Chanxi and Yan Zhusheng could match the senior."

"Aren't they still girls around the monitor?"

"Now that you say it, you're right—he's even more annoying than the protagonist of I Am Really Not a Star."

The two chatted idly there.

The two on the court continued to trade blows.

But now Xu Youyu was too tired to keep going; she quickly called a stop to the game, and they switched from bullfighting to free throws and turtle crawls.

Finally, Xu Youyu was utterly exhausted; she waved her hand, walked over to the bench, and handed the court back to Zhu Yufei and Zhang Guohuang.

So the two grabbed the ball and returned to the court to resume bullfighting, leaving only Li Luo and Xu Youyu sitting on the bench to rest.

Drinking the water Li Luo had given her earlier, Xu Youyu gulped down a large mouthful and sighed with relief.

Then she turned to look at Li Luo and saw he hadn't brought extra water; she asked, "Want some?"

"That's not very good," Li Luo glanced at the water bottle in her hand—the bottle's mouth still seemed to bear traces of the senior's saliva—"you've already drunk from it."

"You're disgusted by me?" Xu Youyu raised an eyebrow, teasing, "I don't care—do you have a cleanliness fetish?"

"Not at all," Li Luo recalled the days he'd spent with Xu Youyu in his past life—this sort of thing hadn't been uncommon.

It could only be said that Xu Youyu was still Xu Youyu: once she accepted someone, she paid no attention to such details.

So Li Luo didn't refuse; he simply took the bottle from her hand, but didn't drink directly from the mouth—he tilted the bottle slowly into the air and caught the water with his lips beneath.

After drinking a few sips, he returned the bottle to Xu Youyu.

"What do you want to play next?" Li Luo asked. "There's badminton and table tennis over by the track field."

"Forget those," Xu Youyu waved her hand repeatedly. "I'm nearly dead from basketball—let's do something lighter."

"Then let's go check out the stalls?"

"Alright," Xu Youyu nodded, drained the bottle in one go, tossed it into the nearby trash bin, and stood up. "Let's go—consider it a patrol, with some sightseeing along the way."

"Does the student council president have any privileges?" Li Luo walked beside her toward Houde Road. "Like skipping lines or something?"

"You wish," Xu Youyu rolled her eyes. "I don't have any privileges—I didn't even plan to play. It's all your fault."

"But you were having so much fun just now," Li Luo teased with a smile. "Who was playing basketball so enthusiastically a moment ago?"

"You talk too much," Xu Youyu pouted, stubbornly retorting, "We made it clear from the start—you begged me to come play. I'm just keeping you company."

Just consider it research material.

That's what Xu Youyu thought in her heart.