Chapter 106.2 – Hypothetically
Zhou Sheng, “You’ve had something on your mind recently, Wifey.”
Yu Hao said, “If I do something stupid on the court, you must erase my memory……”
Zhou Sheng both cried and laughed, “I never wanted to use it in front of you because I didn’t want you to think that I would erase your memory at any time. It’s not like we’ve never fought before, but have I ever done it?”
Fu Liqun came over and said, “Babies, are you guys ready? Jiayou! Come!”
The three of them stacked their hands atop one another. A whistle was blown outside, and they entered the court. It was January, so their three-man basketball match began.
The lights made Yu Hao a little dizzy. The feeling of stepping onto the court was particularly foreign to Yu Hao, but Zhou Sheng said, “Don’t be nervous! We’re here!”
Yu Hao dribbled the ball and passed it to Fu Liqun. “Bang! Bang!” The sound of the basketball bouncing off the ground was like the beating of a heavy drum in his heart. The spectators all around them cheered loudly, Fu Liqun quickly passed the ball through their opponents, resulting in a slam dunk!
Yu Hao was dumbstruck. Fu Liqun’s first score gave rise to a round of crazy cheers from the audience. Previously, when they formulated tactics, practiced, and played friendly matches with their classmates, it all felt like they were just having fun. It was only when they truly arrived on court that Yu Hao realised, their team seemed to be very strong!
Zhou Sheng turned around and easily snatched the ball, then said to Yu Hao, “Still nervous?”
Yu Hao was wearing a headband, and his forehead was drenched his sweat. Their opponents knew that he was the weakest link in the team and didn’t think much of him at all, only caring about intercepting Fu Liqun. Fu Liqun made a few gestures with both his hands; Zhou Sheng suddenly passed the ball over, and Yu Hao shot from the three-point line — it went in!
There was too big of a discrepancy in strength — those from the other team were all amateurs and couldn’t match up to them at all. Zhou Sheng came over to give Yu Hao a high-five, then both of them turned around. Fu Liqun pointed at the ground, then at the backboard, signalling that the threat had been relieved so they can just play however they wanted to.
Yu Hao was led by Zhou Sheng and Fu Liqun throughout the whole match amidst the cheers. In the end, they crushed their opponents by the sheer gap in their scores. The opponents came up to shake their hands, and the match came to an end.
Yu Hao, “……”
“Where’s sis-in-law?” Zhou Sheng asked as he changed his trousers in the lounge.
“She’ll only come watch after we make it into the top 16.” Fu Liqun changed his socks, Yu Hao was still gasping for breath.
His biggest problem was that his stamina couldn’t compare to Zhou Sheng’s and Fu Liqun’s. Zhou Sheng rubbed his head and kissed his forehead, “My dear wife, don’t run so much. I told you not to be so excited.”
Yu Hao waved his hand and gulped down his water. After their match, Fu Liqun and Zhou Sheng looked like nothing had even happened. All of them went back home to study in preparation for their final examinations.
The three-man basketball matches should have started during their winter vacation, but for some reason, the organizer moved the competition forward. There were a total of six matches in the semi-finals, and the matches were spaced three days apart. Yu Hao still had to focus on his revision for the final exams. When night fell, Zhou Sheng used Yu Hao’s laptop to browse the internet, Fu Liqun memorised content for his common classes while Yu Hao sorted out the notes for his statistics course that Zhou Sheng had made for him.
Yu Hao shook his head and smiled.
“What’re you looking at?” Yu Hao got distracted and glanced at Zhou Sheng.
“Preparing for our trip to Australia during the Spring Festival.” Zhou Sheng said, “We’ll get our visas done after the basketball matches. Have you discussed it with sis-in-law on your side?”
Fu Liqun shrugged and declined to comment.
Yu Hao looked at Zhou Sheng, then at Fu Liqun.
Zhou Sheng and Fu Liqun both stared doubtfully at Yu Hao. Zhou Sheng said, “What exactly do you want to say??”
Yu Hao said, “I was just wondering, wouldn’t it be great if we could always be like this in the future?”
Zhou Sheng, “Fuck! You want a 3P???”
Fu Liqun immediately said, “Don’t be corny, Young Madam! Are you trying to make me pull aggro??”
Yu Hao laughed. Sometimes, he would feel like Zhou Sheng and him were bro-like lovers, yet also lover-like bros. A lot of their old habits were the same as before. When they were playing their matches, Zhou Sheng would come down and give him a kiss in the changing room. The opponents’ team didn’t question their relationship at all, and even said ‘you guys have such a good relationship.’ Although they lost, they actually copied Zhou Sheng and kissed one another in their own team.
Meanwhile, Fu Liqun had thoroughly earned his halo. Every time he would contribute nearly 70% of the points. At first, Yu Hao was still afraid that if he worshipped Fu Liqun too much, Zhou Sheng would get jealous. But during their third match, he suddenly realised that Zhou Sheng tossed Fu Liqun a gaze filled with admiration too. The three of them would often throw knowing smiles to one another, and Yu Hao no longer minded.
“The team today looks a little strong.” Fu Liqun placed his hand on their and said, “Did Young Master see their match last week?”
Zhou Sheng, “Nope, went to tutor. Let’s just play however ba, it’ll be the semi-finals soon.”
A team withdrew in the midst of the competition. In mid-January, Fu Liqun’s ‘Young Master Team” was about to enter the top 16.
They were given the notification outside, then both teams entered the court, and Yu Hao was immediately dumbstruck.
Their opponents were Huang Ting, Chen Yekai and Ou, Qi, Hang!”
Chen Yekai, however, was calm enough to wave at them and said, “You’re here? Let’s have a good game!”
Yu Hao, “!!!”
After every match, Yu Hao would urge the other two to go back and study, and he didn’t care about their opponents at all. When Fu Liqun looked at the list of participants, only the team names were on it, and their opponent was called “Superstar Ou Team” — he didn’t expect it to be these three guys at all!
However, Zhou Sheng quickly calmed down and said, “Start up the psychological tactics!”
Yu Hao, “What……what psychological tactics?”
Both sides went forward for their high-fives; Fu Liqun and Huang Ting high-fived.
Fu Liqun said to Huang Ting, “Officer Huang, your shoes are fake.”
Huang Ting, “……”
Zhou Sheng and Chen Yekai high-fived. Zhou Sheng said, “Chen Laoshi, your hairstyle today makes you seem like an adorable little shou.”
Chen Yekai cursed and said, “Zhou Sheng just wait, I’ll fucking let you know who’s the shou today.”
Yu Hao and Ou Qihang high-fived, “Why aren’t you spending your time studying?”
“Already got a recommendation.” Ou Qihang’s smile was incredibly radiant.
Yu Hao, “Can a recommendation compare to being admitted through the exam?”
Ou Qihang, “Recommended to Tsinghua.”
Yu Hao, “……”
The whistle blew and the match began. Yu Hao immediately felt like he had encountered a strong opponent. Chen Yekai focused on Zhou Sheng, Huang Ting guarded against Fu Liqun, while Ou Qihang was in charge of watching Yu Hao. After playing several matches, Yu Hao was no longer as nervous as he was during the preliminary rounds. As soon as both teams separated, cheers rang out from the stands!
The applause and cheers reminded Yu Hao of Zhou Sheng’s ancient Roman arena. One after another, the thumps of the basketball bouncing off the ground could be heard. Ou Qihang stood upright with his tall stature and smiled as he looked at Yu Hao.
“Do you remember what happened before?” Yu Hao asked Ou Qihang.
“No.” Ou Qihang intercepted the ball, Yu Hao moved deftly, and another round of shrieks rang out from the audience.
Yu Hao dribbled the ball and rushed past someone before passing it to Zhou Sheng. Zhou Sheng caught the ball, passed Chen Yekai, and Ou Qihang said, “It was like I had a long dream. After waking up, I couldn’t remember anything.”
Yu Hao, “People can’t be too stubborn while they’re alive.”
“Who am I? Where am I?” Ou Qihang smiled as he acted cute. Yu Hao took the opportunity to turn around and stood in front of Ou Qihang. Ou Qihang’s chest was leaning against his back as he said, “Give me a hug?”
“Get lost!” Yu Hao said, “Zhou Sheng will beat you to death!”
Through Zhou Sheng and Fu Liqun’s cooperation, they nearly scored, but the rebound ball was snatched away by Chen Yekai. Chen Yekai quickly passed the ball to Ou Qihang, but Yu Hao found a chance to intercept it. Yu Hao feinted when he jumped and avoided Ou Qihang’s attempt to snatch the ball. Three-pointer, and the ball went in.
Chen Yekai made a gesture and exchanged places with Ou Qihang. Chen Yekai pretended to poke Ou Qihang’s head with a reproachful expression on his face. Ou Qihang went to guard Zhou Sheng, while Chen Yekai guarded against Yu Hao — the two of them had swapped positions.
“I thought you wouldn’t contact him again.” Yu Hao began moving, but Chen Yekai followed him like a shadow. One minute Yu Hao would be in front, but the next Chen Yekai would be the one in front.
“It’s fine since he forgot everything about that rainy night.” Chen Yekai said, “I have too few friends, so it’s always good to have one more. Why, jealous?”
Yu Hao smiled. He saw that Fu Liqun had passed the ball, but Chen Yekai snatched it away. Chen Yekai passed it to Huang Ting, Huang Ting crossed Yu Hao, and passed it to Ou Qihang. Ou Qihang did a lay-up shot.
“The two of you are busy dating.” Chen Yekai said, “No one plays with me now.”
“Be careful of attracting peach blossoms.” Yu Hao said.
Chen Yekai, “The kid told me about his love for you, want to hear it?”
Yu Hao, “………………………………”
Yu Hao instantly exploded when he heard that, and the ball was once again snatched away by Chen Yekai. Zhou Sheng said, “Don’t let his mind games succeed!’
Fortunately, Fu Liqun was sharp-sighted and deft so he managed to intercept Chen Yekai. Yu Hao glanced at Chen Yekai angrily and decided not to talk to him anymore. The six of them went all out. Yu Hao found this match really too difficult. Huang Ting, Chen Yekai, and Ou Qihang were even more well-coordinated than they were, and they often feinted to trick them. They were practically playing around with his team as if they were monkeys.
