Chapter Thirty-Four: The First Team Member

At this moment, Feng Yisheng, having missed classes for over a week, was being tutored by He Lan. The so-called tutoring meant he and the class teacher, He Lan, were having a video session.

On the computer, the two connected via WeChat video. As soon as the tutoring began, He Lan said, "Feng Yisheng, I've heard about your situation with Zhuang Bi. Competition among students is usually a good thing.

But as your teacher, I have to tell you that the way you're competing is not advisable... Forget it, I just hope you won't go through with this basketball match against Zhuang Bi."

Feng Yisheng replied, "Old He, even you don't believe I can beat Zhuang Bi in the basketball game?"

He Lan, puzzled, asked, "Feng Yisheng, winning or losing doesn't matter to me—I'm not concerned about that. I just want to know, what are you two really after?"

She felt there was no need for either of them to compete like this, unaware of the wager between the two.

Previously, Zhuang Bi had bullied Feng Yisheng, but thanks to He Lan's repeated warnings, Zhuang Bi hadn't gone further.

Feng Yisheng sincerely said, "Old He, thank you, but this match must happen. It's a matter of a man's honor."

As he spoke, Feng Yisheng made a peace sign at He Lan through the video.

He Lan rolled her eyes, but seeing the resolve on Feng Yisheng's face, her alluring red lips moved as if she wanted to say something, but she refrained.

She could only begin tutoring him remotely, and time passed quickly.

…

Two hours later, the session was over, and He Lan again tried to persuade Feng Yisheng to give up the match.

But Feng Yisheng refused, and finally, He Lan had no choice but to end the WeChat video call.

Feng Yisheng carefully reread the Huaxia Manuscript, then began practicing the Pure Yang Technique...

…

The next day, Wednesday.

When Feng Yisheng arrived at school, he realized that not only his class but the entire junior year knew about his upcoming basketball match against Zhuang Bi on Friday.

Walking through campus, he overheard many discussing Friday's game. Feng Yisheng listened closely to their conversations.

Almost no one supported him; in the minds of most students, the gap between their abilities was simply too great.

At noon, after the last class, Feng Yisheng went to the cafeteria. He checked his phone for the post he'd made last night on the forum, surprised to find over a hundred replies.

Feng Yisheng clicked in and found that the people replying were quite the characters.

…

Dark Squad Leader: The poster is clearly not thinking straight, confirmed.
~~From iPhone XPULS client, second floor

Emperor of Strife, Terrifying as Ever: Thirty years east of the river, thirty years west—never underestimate a young man in hardship. I support the poster.
~~From Xiaomi 8 client, third floor

My Son Wang Teng Has Imperial Potential: I think the poster is pretending to be weak to surprise us, otherwise, his head must be full of water.
~~From the non-exploding Samsung client, fourth floor

~~~~~~

Zhang Twenty Thousand: Actually, Zhuang Bi was completely crushed in that one-on-one game by the poster. You all don't realize he's pretending to be weak. But Friday's game is 5v5, after all.
No idea if the poster can perform miracles again. That one-on-one was so spectacular I forgot to record it.
~~From the latest 5G Huawei client, eighty-first floor

…

The more Feng Yisheng read, the more absurd the comments became, eventually devolving into a heated debate about who would claim the title of basketball king.

He had originally made the post to clarify things and perhaps recruit some talented players.

In the end, he hoped someone would join him in preparing for Friday's game, but now it seemed his explanation only made things worse, let alone attracting anyone.

Feng Yisheng thought to himself, You all believe that Zhuang Bi, being on the basketball team, is naturally more skilled than me. But when I lead four ordinary students to defeat five trained members of the school basketball team, you'll be stunned.

The urgent task, however, was to find four teammates for the match.

…

Yesterday's post had clearly twisted Feng Yisheng's original intention, so he reconsidered and posted anew on the Southwater Foreign Language forum: "Recruiting Four Able-Bodied Players." The post read:

I am Feng Yisheng. This Friday, I will be playing a match against the junior basketball team. As everyone knows, basketball is a five-player sport, so I'm recruiting teammates.

Anyone interested can come show their skills, message me for details, or come find me in the junior year. Regardless of the outcome, every recruited player will receive a generous gift from me.

…

As the saying goes, people won't act without benefit. This time, Feng Yisheng offered a reward, so he stayed by his computer, waiting for the replies.

Within ten minutes, Feng Yisheng received a private message. He opened it; the sender wanted to join Friday's game.

But since everyone used nicknames on the forum, he didn't know who it was.

The sender told Feng Yisheng he knew his class, and they agreed to meet after school in Feng Yisheng's classroom.

…

After school, when most students had left, Feng Yisheng greeted Jiang Zhiming, then stayed behind.

In less than ten minutes, a tall, thin person entered the classroom.

Feng Yisheng knew his candidate had arrived and went to greet him with a smile. "How should I address you?"

"Zhou Chuyi," the tall, thin man replied.

Feng Yisheng said, "Zhou Chuyi, I suppose I don't need to explain the details—you must be well aware."

"Of course," Zhou Chuyi chuckled, "Your name, Feng Yisheng, is known not only throughout the junior year, but even many in the sophomore and senior years have heard of you."

"Almost infamous," Feng Yisheng shook his head with a wry smile.

"I'm joining you mainly because of you," Zhou Chuyi said bluntly.

Feng Yisheng was puzzled. "Because of me?"

"Yes, that's right. I know you're very skilled at League of Legends, so I want your help."

"How can I help?"

"Next month, join me for the internet café League of Legends tournament."

With this explanation, Feng Yisheng was even more perplexed. He had always played League of Legends solo, never teamed up with anyone at school, not even Jiang Zhiming. He wondered how Zhou Chuyi knew about his skills.