The time in which Class 2 called for the break was very suitable; the amount of time left before the end of the first half of the game was only three minutes. Not only did this interrupt Class 8’s stable rhythm[1], but it also didn’t allow Class 8 to adjust back before the first half of the match ended. With the resting time, Class 8 may not be able to restore that spectacular rhythm.
Jiang Cheng glanced at the scoreboard – they were four points behind. That wasn’t too big of a difference, and if he must say, it was actually very easy to catch up to. But their opponent was Class 2, and no matter whether it was their overall skill level or their individual skill levels, they were all an entire league higher than Class 2. Thus, these four points seem to have become a bit unreachable.
They had to give thanks to Li Yan for the match that day; besides taking pictures, Li Yan had also become their off-court coach along the way.
During the break, a mass of people squatted together to listen to Li Yan’s arrangement.
“I’m very straightforward when I talk, so don’t take it to heart. I think you are all too anxious.” Li Yan started summarizing after saying this, “If you guys want to win, you must go all out, so nobody is allowed to remain standing in one place, all of you must be running. The players from their class are from the school team, right? That level of cooperation can’t be formed after only one or two months. Again, if you guys want to win… or if you just don’t want the difference in scores to grow any bigger, you must put in the effort.”
“Got it!” The gang stretched out their arms together and shouted in conjunction.
“Jiang Cheng, you might not get many chances for a three-pointer in the second half. They will keep a close eye on you.” Li Yan looked at Jiang Cheng, “You have to find a chance for Gu Fei.”
“En,” Jiang Cheng nodded.
“Jiayou.” Li Yan raised the camera and pointed it towards his face, taking a picture.
Jiang Cheng looked at him and sighed.
“Pretty good.” Li Yan passed the camera over to him, “Taking pictures of your captain is a real challenge. That pose…”
Jiang Cheng doubled over in laughter, glancing to the side at Wang Xu who was drinking water with his arms akimbo.
The second half of the match began, and the players from both classes were going at each other’s throats. Not only were the players on court extra aggressive, but the cheerleaders off the court were also shouting like crazy. If it weren’t for the line on the ground and the linesman standing there, those girls might have rushed onto the court to shout at the opposing side.
This game only lasted for half an hour, yet Jiang Cheng felt a little tired. This was something unlike all their previous games, so it consumed a lot of physical strength; because even if Wang Xu and the rest were going all out against them, the gap in skill still depended on him and Gu Fei to fill.
After covering Gu Fei for seven consecutive layups, Jiang Cheng could even feel the sweat from his forehead falling into his eyes. However, since he didn’t have a habit of wearing a wristband, he could only use his sleeves to wipe it away.
“Want one?” Gu Fei asked from beside him.
“En?” Jiang Cheng stared at him.
“Here.” Gu Fei was a weirdo who wore two wristbands, and had handed his left one to him, “I haven’t used this side to wipe my sweat yet.”
Jiang Cheng wanted to say, ‘do you think that your sweat wouldn’t soak into your wristband’, but Gu Fei immediately followed up with: “Hurry while your sweat hasn’t flowed from your arms to your wrists.”
“… fuck.” Jiang Cheng dissolved into laughter. He took the wristband in his hand and used it to wipe the sweat on his forehead in passing.
“Have you seen that Number 9?” Gu Fei asked, “He doesn’t have any strength left, so he’s been constantly running along the left line. I’m going to try going over from the left side in a bit.”
Jiang Cheng didn’t reply. His and Gu Fei’s cooperation entailed the midline and right borderline because going down along the left was not something those who dribble with their right hand are accustomed to.
“Let me see if I can show off a bit,” Gu Fei said again.
Jiang Cheng didn’t have the time to contemplate on how he was going to show off since Guo Xu had already roared as he prepared to throw the ball, so he could only hurriedly start to run.
Lu Xiaobin caught the ball and dribbled it forward by two steps before passing it to him. Gu Fei was already past the midline, but just when he caught the ball and was about to make a pass, Gu Fei abruptly leaned to the left from the midline.
Jiang Cheng promptly passed the ball over to him. The timing was perfectly enacted, as it managed to just bounce into Gu Fei’s hand when he took two steps onto the left sideline.
Jiang Cheng immediately pressed ahead from the midline to the basket in preparation to receive the ball.
Gu Fei switched to dribbling with his left hand, and the girls in the audience screamed wildly, as if Gu Fei was running naked across the court. That… rendered Jiang Cheng a little speechless. Using one’s left hand to dribble wasn’t something particularly remarkable since anybody who regularly played ball would have practiced it, otherwise, it would take too much effort to go around the opponent. Even if Gu Fei’s dribbling with his left hand was very stable, his character and good looks definitely played a big part – a very big part. Grasshopper had also used his left hand to dribble past three people at once, yet he clearly didn’t see or hear anybody screaming for him like that…
Gu Fei very quickly made his way to the left baseline. It wasn’t easy to do a layup from this angle since it was similar to the position Jiang Cheng was in when he made the three-pointer. Therefore, Class 2’s main goal was to prevent him from making any passes. Number 9 was the only one following closely behind him, an opponent that could suppress him so that he wouldn’t have any chance to turn toward the basket and make a shot.
Jiang Cheng ran along the three-second zone while staring fixedly at Gu Fei’s every movement, ready to assist at any given moment.
But at this time, Gu Fei suddenly sidestepped. With his left hand on the ball, he aggressively swung his arm above his head and sent the ball flying towards the basket!
Fuck! He actually wants to score a three-pointer with this posture, from this angle?! Jiang Cheng hurriedly shouted “Xiaobin!”
Lu Xiaobin immediately cut to the basket and squeezed back and forth against the others, waiting to grab the rebound.
However, the ball that Gu Fei had so nonchalantly sent out with a swing of his arm had – with a beautiful arc – actually landed into the basket!
“Fuck!” Jiang Cheng jumped up and yelled, “Fuck!”
The earth-shattering screams outside the court were deafening. Lao Lu waved his arms: “Gu Fei! Well done! Well done! Class 8, Class 8! Handsomeness, are the best!”
Jiang Cheng couldn’t even be bothered to complain about what this match even had to do with their ‘handsomeness’ to make Lao Lu so persistent in saying something like this. He made his way over to Gu Fei and bumped his shoulder with a jump: “Are you sick?!”
“Was I handsome?” Gu Fei also jumped up and gave his shoulder a bump.
“Super fucking handsome.” Jiang Cheng replied, “Our morale has shot up.”
The three-pointer Gu Fei made had not only lifted Class 8’s morales but also boosted Class 2’s.
Class 2 immediately deployed a swift counterattack and scored back two points.
The atmospheres both on and off the court suddenly heated to a boiling point – definitely more than enough to steam a few baskets of buns.
Just as Li Yan had said, wanting to maintain the difference in the score wasn’t an easy feat under these circumstances. It was like a game of yoyo, every time they scored a shot, Class 2 would come back with another one.
By the last quarter, Class 8 was still behind by three points. Theoretically speaking, this difference was a matter that could be easily solved with one shot if they played at their best, but in reality, catching up was extremely difficult with Class 2’s fighting spirits had all been aroused to such a level.
During a timeout, Jiang Cheng had his arms propped on his knees. He could hear the players surrounding him panting like a hurdle of cows.
“Guo Xu, go down and rest for a while.” Li Yan didn’t discuss tactics with them at the moment, “And switch in someone taller. If they attack then all of you return to guard the basket, and if they aim for a three-pointer then just let Gu Fei and Jiang Cheng handle it.”
“Got it.” Wang Xu nodded.
“Since you guys don’t seem to have a problem with scoring, the key is to not let them score again. Otherwise, if you score and they score, it’ll be over.” Li Yan said.
In a game where both sides fought tooth and nail but the disparity in skill was clearly present, it was practically impossible for Class 8 to prevent Class 2 from scoring. As he was saying that, Li Yan had shot Gu Fei and Jiang Cheng a look. Jiang Cheng was very clear that he was only saying this for the other players to not be discouraged.
After they made the switch and went back onto the court, they gained a little more height under the basket. But, with Grasshopper’s jump, the effect wasn’t that noticeable.
With only four minutes left in the game, the difference in scores had increased to five points. Li Yan called for them to switch again, having Guo Xu go back in.
“Let’s just go all out,” Guo Xu brought along those words. “Spare no effort on scoring.”
Jiang Cheng felt that even when he previously played in school tournaments, he had never before been under such immense pressure. There were the audience’s cries of “jiayou”, their screams, the cheerleading team’s persisting cadence, his teammates fighting for it as if their life depended on it, and also the opponents doing their all.
“Let’s get a three-pointer,” Gu Fei said when he ran over to his side.
After a few rounds of going back and forth, the difference in score dropped to four points. When the ball landed in Jiang Cheng’s hand, he glanced at the timer and saw that there was less than a minute remaining. If it was between two teams with similar skills, there would be a bit of hope, but now… he still dribbled the ball as he dashed to the other side.
Midway there, he ran into He Zhou, so he passed the ball to Gu Fei who immediately passed it to Wang Xu.
Wang Xu and Lu Xiaobin cooperated to reach the three-second zone, but their shot was blocked. Fortunately, the opponent contending for the rebound with Lu Xiaobin was rendered utterly dumbfounded by his thunderous scream. Lu Xiaobin benefited from that moment of shock and successfully stole the rebound.
Jiang Cheng could feel the formidable power of his roar from where he stood at the three-point line. If it were a wuxia novel, that opponent would probably be bleeding from all the orifices of his body right now, and even his heart and arteries and veins torn from the inside out.
Lu Xiaobin passed the ball to Jiang Cheng.
Get a three-pointer.
With Gu Fei’s words still resounding in his mind, he jumped up without the slightest hesitation after he caught the ball. He Zhou was right in front of him and had jumped up at the same time that he did.
He leaned back a bit, and at this moment, at least a hundred chants of “give me your blessing, my idol Fujima”[2] flooded through his mind…
The ball left his hands.
He Zhou didn’t get to touch the ball that flew out with a large arc.
When their foot landed back on the floor, He Zhou didn’t look back and only said two words: “Great shot.”
Jiang Cheng stared at the ball with his arms still up in the air. As the ball sank in the net, he acted out his usual habit and pressed down three fingers along with the movement of the ball.
Great shot.
A one-point difference.
In the last twelve seconds, everyone had gone completely mad. The audience in the stands all stood up, and waves of cheers washed over them one after another. Lao Xu started jumping up and down with excitement, waving his arms and shouting constantly from where he stood – not that anyone could hear what he was shouting. Even Lao Lu’s normally loud voice had been downright drowned out.
Class 2 grabbed the ball and dashed towards the basket as if they were flying at the speed of light. Grasshopper tried making a shot with the ball before he even found a stable footing. Gu Fei also jumped but wasn’t able to block the shot and had only managed to poke the underside of the ball with his fingertip.
The shot didn’t go in, and the fight for the rebound beneath the basket had become mayhem with everyone tangling together into a large mass – they might as well hugged. The feeling that “this is a boys’ basketball final match” had nearly gone pale and in a trance, Jiang Cheng had the illusion of being stuck in a rampage of aunties fighting for goods in a supermarket that had a 10% off sale.
The ball still ended up being snatched by Class 2. They shot again, but this time Gu Fei blocked it, and the ball landed in Wang Xu’s hands.
There were still four seconds left.
Wang Xu had no time to make a pass. He dribbled the ball directly towards the opponent’s side.
Jiang Cheng followed after intending to cover him, but He Zhou seemed to have a firecracker lit beneath his ass – his speed was frighteningly quick. Before Wang Xu could even get close to the three-point line, he had already caught up. He stretched out his hand and slammed the ball away.
By the time Wang Xu pounced over and got the ball back in his hands, the whistle signaling the end of the match sounded before everyone present.
“The match has ended——”
Everyone in Class 2 jumped up, letting out deafening roars.
Wang Xu stood still hugging the ball without moving an inch. Gu Fei walked over and patted his shoulder. When he suddenly whipped around and flung the ball aside, he tightly clung onto Gu Fei as he screamed and burst into tears.
“The fuck?” Gu Fei froze with his arms in the air.
“I was so close!” Wang Xu cried as he shouted, “I was so, so close!”
“You’ve already done very well.” Gu Fei patted him on the back, “You’ve already done very well, don’t cry…”
He Zhou exchanged a few high-fives with his teammates when he caught sight of this scene and froze. He ran over: “Did I… I don’t remember hitting him ah…”
“You didn’t hit him,” Jiang Cheng reassured. “He’s just…”
“Why did you slap my ball away?!” Wang Xu pushed Gu Fei aside and glared at He Zhou as he yelled at him.
“Ay!” He Zhou jumped in fright, then took a step back, a little perplexed, “Of course I… have to slap it away ah.”
“Captain.” Jiang Cheng also felt a sense of loss and was a little regretful – they only lost by one point after all. But with Wang Xu’s current state, he had no time to mourn and simply sighed before walking over to check on Wang Xu. “Captain, Captain Wang?”
“What is it?” Wang Xu looked at him.
“Everyone’s looking at you ne.” Jiang Cheng said, “Hurry up and gather up, we still have to shake hands ah.”
“Oh right!” Wang Xu’s eyes widened, “I almost forgot! Hurry, hurry, hurry! Everyone in our team, come line up!”
Jiang Cheng breathed a sigh of relief.
After the players on both teams shook hands and patted each other on the shoulders, they all returned to their respective resting areas.
“That was wonderful!” Lao Xu came over to hug them all, “Absolutely wonderful! You guys are amazing! I’m so proud of you all!”
When he walked in front of Jiang Cheng, Jiang Cheng hastily gave him a fist-palm salute and stepped back.
“Oh you!!” Lao Xu pointed at him and sighed then moved on to grab Gu Fei into a hug, “Great job Gu Fei!”
Gu Fei smiled and didn’t say anything else.
After Lao Xu left, he turned his head to look at Jiang Cheng. Jiang Cheng’s gaze held his for a while before he opened his arms with a smile, and Gu Fei closed in to give him a hug.
At that moment, he no longer cared whether there were screams around them, whether someone would raise their phones towards them, or whether there would be a new post in the forum because of this scene.
He just wanted to hug Gu Fei. Because of this match, because of this group of teammates that fought with everything they got, and because he and Gu Fei are the perfect partners – just hug him.
A hug, that hug, carrying that young woman on the decorated, bridal palanquin…[3]
“I haven’t played such an exhilarating game in a long time.” Gu Fei spoke.
“Yeah,” Jiang Cheng agreed. “You just haven’t played a normal game ba?”
“… I have before.” Gu Fei let go of him, “I have to go to the washroom.”
“Have you been holding back the need to pee the entire time?” Jiang Cheng was a little speechless.
“No.” Gu Fei grabbed his jacket and fished out the tissue adhesive, “I think the one on my waist also ripped open. I need to fix it up.”
“Do you…” Jiang Cheng lowered his voice, “Need any help?”
“No need,” Gu Fei laughed.
The audience hadn’t completely dispersed yet. Some were shooting hoops on the court, some were ceaselessly chatting on the stands, while others… were taking pictures.
“Jiang Cheng,” He Zhou ran over. “Do you want to play later?”
“How about another day?” He glanced in the direction of the washroom, “Today…”
“Can’t!” Wang Xu suddenly came over, “No. Can. Do! We’re going to eat right now! We don’t have any time to play with you guys!”
He Zhou hesitated for a while: “Alright then, let’s arrange another time. Let’s add each other on WeChat?”
“En.” Jiang Cheng took out his phone and added He Zhou to his friends list.
Gu Fei returned not long after he went to the washroom. The players from the class and the cheerleading team were still in an incongruous state of excitement, sorrow, and joy.
“There’s a lot of us!” Wang Xu was calling the restaurant to make a reservation, “Don’t you guys have one of those small conference rooms for meetings? Yes! That’s the one!”
“How is it?” Jiang Cheng glanced at Gu Fei.
“No problems.” Gu Fei moved his arm, “We’re going to eat together?”
“En.” Jiang Cheng nodded, “You guys… what time?”
“Eight o’clock tonight,” Gu Fei answered.
Wang Xu took the group of them to a restaurant, including Li Yan who had an expression of unwillingness.
Jiang Cheng sat next to Gu Fei once more, but neither of them spoke more than a few words throughout the entire meal. The group was so excited that they couldn’t be more excited; thank goodness there weren’t many customers eating in the restaurant at noon, otherwise they would have been driven away by their raging ruckus.
Jiang Cheng wasn’t in the mood to talk anyway. Since he checked out those buildings the day before, he had fostered a faint sense of anxiousness toward Gu Fei and the others’ retarded building-jumping activity.
Now that the match was over, and he didn’t have any other matters on his mind, this feeling had time to fester and grow in his heart.
Gu Fei would definitely get hurt, and very perceivably hurt at that. He had to get hurt. Otherwise, with Hou Zi’s disposition, even if Gu Fei admitted defeat, he had to get hurt for it to be acceptable.
Then, this injury… what kind does it need to be?
How utterly retarded.
Even with chatting included with the eating, it also came with collective crying, and in the end, they also sang their hearts out to the song “Friends[4]”. Those who don’t know would think they were having an early farewell meal ne. This meal went on until past three o’clock in the afternoon before they finally disbanded. Jiang Cheng walked out of the restaurant when he felt like the sweat on his body had started to stink.
Li Yan had his motorcycle and directly rode to Gu Fei’s shop while Jiang Cheng and Gu Fei pedaled their bikes back in silence the entire time.
When they reached the entrance of the shop, Gu Fei finally said: “Be extra careful tonight. Stay where there’s not many people around. There’s going to be all sorts of people there.”
“I know.” Jiang Cheng glanced at him before letting out a sigh, “Whatever injury you’re going to sustain, be certain to… keep it within your grasp.”
“Don’t worry,” Gu Fei smiled, “I grew up getting hurt.”
Jiang Cheng raised a middle finger at him, stepped on the pedal, and rode away.
The first thing he did when he returned home was to take a shower, then after going out and walking around a few times, he bought a rubber tube and a pair of haemostatic forceps.
When he first started playing with a slingshot, he had used a rubber tube. Nominally, this sort of rubber tube wasn’t the very best to use as a slingshot, but since he was used to it and was already quite familiar with how it stretched and rebounded – he continued to use it.
After buying the rubber tube, he made his way to the supermarket. Being someone who lacked the knowledge of the layout of the market, he walked around for nearly ten rounds before he finally found a shop and bought a bag of walnuts.
Once he was finished with all of this, it wasn’t even five o’clock yet – still a long while before eight o’clock. Despite that, he stuffed everything into his schoolbag and headed to the railway bridge.
He locked the bike on the rail outside of a small shop near the intersection, then walked in.
This place looked more desolate during the day than at night. He directly walked up to the rooftop, put down his bag, and leaned against the wall of the small attic, and sank.
“Hello everyone, welcome to today’s Episode 2 of Cheng-ge Takes You To Watch The Retards.” Jiang Cheng removed the rubber band from the slingshot as he quietly narrated, “It is now… three hours from the Retards’ collective revelry. I estimate in about two hours, some retarded forerunners will enter the venue, so we have to arrive ahead of time… for now, I’ll take this time to teach everyone how to tie a rubber band on a slingshot…”
He took out the rubber tube and forceps: “I normally use the 8-digit tying method. It’s very simple, all you need is a haemostatic forceps, or two knitting needles will work fairly well too… you guys can watch for yourself ba, I’m too lazy to explain it. I’m not in the mood.”
The leather pad had just been changed recently and could still be used. Jiang Cheng lowered his head and quickly tied the rubber tube on the ‘slingshot’. Then he stretched it out to give it a try, released it, and felt that it wasn’t too shabby.
He tilted his head back as he leaned against the wall, closed his eyes for a moment, then fished out a walnut from his backpack.
“Last time we used steel bearing balls.” He stretched the rubber band and narrowed his eyes towards the four buildings on the other side. “Today, we’re going to test the strength of a walnut… of course, it’s not a paper-shell walnut, but the regular hard-shelled ones…”
He loosened his hand, and the walnut flew out.
An empty can was knocked off the edge of the rooftop on the opposite building and fell downstairs while the walnut also broke apart.
“Not bad.” Jiang Cheng reached out to grab four walnuts, stood up, and moved two steps forward, “Let’s see how an acrophobic person overcomes their psychological… disorder, fuck, and hit four consecutive shots…”
Jiang Cheng took a deep break, aimed at a beverage bottle on the roof of the second building, and shot out the first walnut. The bottle was knocked forward. He shot out a second one, and the bottle was knocked forward again. Then a third one, and the fourth one.
The fourth one was an empty shot, as the bottle had already been knocked across the building – the distance was a little too far.
“Alright,” Jiang Cheng sat back by the wall, “All preparations have been finished. Now… may everyone study with me for now. We’ll resume in two hours.”
He picked out a mathematics workbook that Pan Zhi had sent him, lowered his head, and started to read through it.
When the sky had completely darkened and he could no longer clearly see what was in front of him, Jiang Cheng stuffed the book back in his backpack, and it was also then that he heard the sound of motorcycles sounding over from downstairs.
The streetlights were already on and he edged over to the side of the rooftop and peered down; even though there were only two streetlights, he could still see that there were three motorcycles parked out there.
Every motorcycle also carried a person – four men and two women.
“Welcome everyone, the retarded forerunners have arrived at the venue. There’s actually two women.” Jiang Cheng quietly remarked, “I’ve never seen any of them before, but they should be members of the Retarded Hou Zi Team.”
After those people dismounted their bikes, they didn’t go up the building. Instead, they remained standing at the bottom, laughing and chatting away.
Jiang Cheng glanced at the time – seven o’clock. He opened his messages and took a look at his and Gu Fei’s chat only to find that there were no new messages. Gu Fei didn’t contact him.
He hesitated for a second before placing his phone back inside his pocket. It was pointless contacting Gu Fei at this time.
After a little over ten minutes, the people downstairs started to increase. There were those who came on foot and those who came by motorcycle… all gathered together at the bottom of the buildings. Some were smoking, and others were carrying bottles of alcohol, drinking as they chatted. He stared at these them but didn’t see Bu Shi Hao Niao, that group of people.
Just like this, Jiang Cheng remained squatting on the rooftop as he gazed downwards. He squatted till his leg was numb, and even squatted till he had forgotten that he had a fear of heights. When he finally caught sight of Li Yan driving in from a small path on the motorcycle from earlier that day.
The crowd downstairs became restless; that restlessness seemed to soar, and the atmosphere suddenly became just a little tense.
Following that were two more motorcycles. Jiang Cheng glanced at them; they were Bu Niao, and Hao Shi, exactly four people… then where was Gu Fei?
After Li Yan and Bu Shi Hao Niao alighted their bikes, did he finally see Gu Fei’s motorcycle turning in.
“Fucking hell.” Jiang Cheng lowered his voice into a whisper as he announced, “Welcome friends and audience, please have your eyes on the one who has just entered the venue. That is Retard… Number 1. He’s riding a black motorcycle and wearing a… ‘night walking outfit’. He is now taking off his helmet… if we put aside the fact that he’s retarded, Number 1 truly is a very handsome fellow. This entrance deserves a score of 82 points, and the remaining 18 points are to be given out in the form of 666…”[5]
Gu Fei got off the bike, tossed the helmet to hang on the rearview mirror, and glanced at the surrounding people: “Where’s Hou Zi?”
“He’ll be here soon,” somebody answered.
“We’ll go up first.” Gu Fei glanced at Liu Fan.
“En.” Liu Fan kicked aside an empty liquor bottle on the ground, and they entered the building together.
Gu Fei was very familiar with this building because the people in the area around the steel mill had always keen on using hurdling as a method to resolve their conflicts. He couldn’t even remember how many times he had come here before, but this was the first time he came here to end his own conflict.
“The people I’ve called over will arrive in a bit.” Liu Fan turned his head, “Li Yan, give Xu-ge a call ba and let him know to just come up here.”
“Alright.” Li Yan took out his phone and dialed a number.
Gu Fei walked at the very front all the way up to the rooftop; the wind was pretty forceful that day, immediately receiving a face full of wind just by standing on the rooftop.
He looked at their surroundings before feeling around in both his pockets, retrieved a pair of glasses, and put it on.
“Probably in the opposite building ba.” Li Yan whispered beside him.
He glanced at Li Yan then turned to look at the opposite building. It was pitch-black, and nothing could be seen at all. He couldn’t spot anything that appeared like a human figure on the rooftop either.
Hou Zi came upstairs with a bunch of people. Now, the protagonists that day have all arrived and all the people who wanted to enjoy a good show have also gathered on the rooftops. One, two, three, four… Gu Fei glanced around and found that the rooftop of all four buildings was already packed with people.
Some were Hou Zi’s people, some were those that Liu Fan and them had called over, as well as quite a few audiences that just wanted to enjoy the show.
Despite the very fate that this conflict only pertained to him and Hou Zi, it was imperative for those people to all gather here. A boss like Hou Zi liked this sort of extravagance, yet what Gu Fei wanted was only witnesses.
If he wanted to finish it all in one go, to never let there be another follow-up, there must be other people present. The more people, the better. As long as everybody knew that the conflict between the two of them was resolved right here, right now, if anybody came looking for trouble in the future, it would only be a matter of face. For someone like Hou Zi who had “status” and was a boss that needed face would have extreme difficulties if he wanted to make a move again.
Only… Gu Fei pushed up his glasses and surveyed the crowds of people around him, attentively scanning across each and every rooftop, but still didn’t catch sight of Jiang Cheng.
He was very familiar with Jiang Cheng’s silhouette. Even if this fellow mixed into the crowd, he would still be able to pick him out. But from beginning to end, he wasn’t able to find a trace of Jiang Cheng.
On the opposite building? It looked to be as peaceful as always.
He felt a little insecure. After hesitating for some time, he ultimately took out his phone and sent Jiang Cheng a message.
– Where are you?
Jiang Cheng replied incredibly fast.
– Cheng-ge is everywhere.
“Fuck.” Gu Fei stared at the line of words and felt as if he could see Jiang Cheng’s smile stretched out beyond the three realms.
– Just where are you? In the opposite building?
There wasn’t a speck of light inside that building. However, if Jiang Cheng turned the brightness to the lowest setting, he still wouldn’t be able to see a hint of light from there.
– Come to the edge of the roof.
Gu Fei snuck a glance at Hou Zi. He was currently chatting with a bunch of people he hadn’t seen for a long time with a calm expression like nothing was happening that night.
Gu Fei slowly walked over to the edge.
Just as he lowered his head intending to send another message to Jiang Cheng, he suddenly felt something strike his shoe. He took a look at it and found that it was actually a walnut.
“Fuck? You’ve hidden really well ah.” He immediately sent a voice message and went over to crush the walnut. That was when he also saw more smashed up walnut shells nearby, “What are you planning on doing?”
– Smile for me.
Jiang Cheng sent a message in response.
Gu Fei turned his face towards the dilapidated building shrouded in darkness on the other side. Smile for me, what the hell for?
– I can see you.
Jiang Cheng sent another message over.
Gu Fei took a panoramic glance at the crowd around him, and taking the chance while no one was looking, he turned back and smiled into the darkness.
This was probably the most idiotic thing he had ever done in his entire life.
“Very good.” Jiang Cheng squatted in the darkness. On the opposite rooftop, there were already some people using oil barrels to start a fire, brightening up the surroundings. “Just now, we saw Retard Number 1’s smile which means the visibility and aiming conditions are perfect at the moment… it seems like the other side is about to begin. We’re going to start now.”
With one leg bent at the knee and the other kneeling on the floor of the rooftop, he picked up a walnut and pulled the rubber band taught.
The people on the rooftop had already spread out to either side. Gu Fei and Hou Zi both backed up to the very edge – the length of the run-up would be the length of the rooftop.
“Holy fuck.” Jiang Cheng’s eyebrows furrowed; several empty bottles were kicked into the middle from both sides, and the path that Gu Fei would have to go through had at least three bottles. Following that, the items that were tossed out also included bricks and wooden slats, and the rooftop of the building they would land was also facing the same situation. Someone had actually gone out of their mind and also threw a case of beer in the middle. He clenched his teeth, “Really fucking retarded.”
Someone walked to the middle and stood facing Hou Zi and Gu Fei and raised his hand.
There was no possibility of Jiang Cheng calculating Gu Fei’s steps, consequently, no way for him to use the walnuts to clear away the roadblocks. Once they started, all he could do was to closely follow Gu Fei’s movement, calculate where his landing point was after he jumped, and make use of the time difference…
The person in the middle finally swung his hand down hard.
Gu Fei and Hou Zi rushed out at the same time.
Gu Fei didn’t look down at his feet at all. Every step was taken with large strides, and when he rushed out whilst cloaked by the wind, he looked like he was about to fly.
Jiang Cheng’s eyes locked on him fixedly.
The moment Gu Fei took his first step, he could already make out with clarity Gu Fei’s state of letting loose – he wasn’t looking down at his feet, and only cared about striding forward.
When Gu Fei stepped on the edge of the rooftop, at a position where he could fall if he moved forward just an inch, and suddenly leaped, Jiang Cheng’s heart stopped beating for a split second.
The way Gu Fei dashed ahead regardless of all else, the way he leaped and soared through the air, his every movement as he embraced the wind, as if flying…
“What kind of person are you?” Jiang Cheng yanked back the rubber sling, and as the walnut flew out once he loosened his hand, its target was the precisely empty bottle right by Gu Fei’s landing spot.
The author has something to say: Continuing tomorrow.
“The author who updates daily with no idea how the story is going to go discovered that she estimated wrongly. If we had gone with the normal word count, nothing would have happened. So to not get dissed by all the goldfish, she clenched my teeth and wrote 2000 more words in a frenzy to stir things up!” The author who has no more time to check for typos anymore says weakly as she lay on the black furry spirit.
“Oh my god. o(≧口≦)o” The black furry spirit shouted as it pulled its hind legs from under the author’s belly.
“Chirp. &(ˉ^ˉ)&” The tiny black furry spirit chirped.
“w(゜Д゜)w Ying, ying.” The small black furry spirit cried.
°
The translators have something to say:
Sae: It’s 4AM, technically 5AM (because we had daylight saving) and I’m dead tired T_____T
Ice: IT’S. TIME. TO. WATCH. RETARDS.
And damn Gu Fei is traumatized since the last time Jiang Cheng helped him with his wounds hahahahaha… (*>艸<)
[1] Stable rhythm (一气呵成) Idiom meaning for something to flow smoothly, to do something without interruption, or to finish something in one go
[2] Fujima (藤真健司) full name: Fujima Kenji: from the manga SLAM DUNK – one of the best basketball manga ever – is the captain and coach of the Shoyo team. Thus, he has twice the responsibility and workload than any other players around. He usually sits out during games as he needs to observe and make decisions as a coach. Nonetheless, he will join the games if he senses that his teammates need him. Not only is he an intelligent and responsible person, he is a very talented basketball player as well. He is one of the top players in the region, alongside Shinichi Maki from team Kainan. They used to compete for the MVP title.
[3] 大花轿 (Da Hua Jiao) by 火风 (Huo Feng)
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