"Yeah, what's up?"
Han Shaowei turned his head to look at the boy sitting there.
His first impression: unfamiliar face.
He was sure he'd never seen this guy before.
And for this guy to speak up now—totally the wrong time. With all these people watching like tigers eyeing prey, any normal person would keep their head down instead of stepping out.
"Let me take this round. You rest."
Evan Lin slowly stood up from where he'd been sitting by the basketball court.
"You?"
Han Shaowei was stunned, sizing up the boy in front of him, his heart full of doubt and confusion.
"Which department is this kid from?" someone nearby stared at Evan Lin, full of curiosity.
"No idea, never seen him. Maybe he's one of those guys who just stays holed up in the dorm all day?" another girl said to her friend.
Their gazes all landed on Evan Lin, watching as he headed straight toward the basketball court, each with a weird look on their face.
"Hey, who are you?"
Ben Sun stood there, raising his eyebrows as he looked at Evan Lin walking over.
He still had the ball in his hands.
Originally, Ben Sun was supposed to play against Hank Chu today. He and Hank had some beef, so he planned to settle it with a one-on-one streetball duel.
But Hank had something come up and couldn't make it, so Ben ended up playing Han Shaowei instead.
Now, seeing some unknown kid suddenly jump in to mess things up, Ben Sun was obviously annoyed.
"This whole thing is between me, Han Shaowei, and Hank Chu. I'm telling you, kid, mind your own business. This isn't something you can handle."
Ben Sun stared at Evan Lin, his face full of cold disdain.
"Kid, you got guts, huh? Daring to go up against me, the Mechatronics School? Which department are you even from?"
Behind Ben Sun, a bunch of Mechatronics guys were all jeering, staring at Evan Lin with open hostility.
"Go take a break, and later show me where to find Hank Chu."
Evan Lin glanced at Han Shaowei, who was still standing there.
Han Shaowei was drenched in sweat, totally exhausted, and his face looked pretty rough.
Hearing Evan's words, Han hesitated. "This whole mess has nothing to do with you. You don't need to get involved."
He didn't recognize Evan, and he knew just how serious today's situation was.
Han Shaowei was stuck between a rock and a hard place; the last thing he wanted was to drag someone else into this mess.
"Hank Chu's my friend. I'm not doing this for you. Besides, this little thing doesn't even count as a real problem to me."
Evan Lin shook his head and patted Han's shoulder. "Go sit down. Watch how I win this."
Han Shaowei stared at Evan Lin, looking a little lost for words.
"Hey, you didn't mess this up, did you? He's playing against me, and he's about to lose. Out of seven points, he's already lost five. Just two more and he'll have to kneel, call me 'dad,' and apologize."
"And now you jump in at this point? Doesn't really make sense, does it?"
Ben Sun saw Han Shaowei getting ready to leave the court, so he hurriedly spoke up: "If you want to play against me, fine—but let me finish with him first. Once he kneels and calls me 'dad,' then you can step in."
"Or, you could just let him kneel now—once he kneels and calls me 'dad,' then you step up. We're men, right? If you lose, you gotta take it like a man."
Ben Sun looked over at Han, and the crowd around them started to heckle too.
Most of them were just waiting to see Han Shaowei kneel and apologize.
"Who says you're winning? I haven't lost yet! Let's play!"
Hearing this, Han Shaowei's eyes were full of humiliation, but he turned his head and was about to keep playing.
But just as he turned, Evan Lin reached out with one hand and gently pulled him off the court. Han felt his whole body sway, and by the time he came to his senses, he was already at the edge of the court.
"Don't worry, I'm not taking advantage of you. I'll play you myself."
Evan Lin stepped to the center of the court, looked at Ben Sun, and said, "Hank Chu's my friend. I'm taking his place and playing you."
"Han Shaowei just lost five points to you. I'll take that as my own loss—so if you score two more, you win."
Evan's tone was calm as he looked at Ben Sun.
"You?"
Ben Sun squinted at Evan, a fake smile on his face. "Listen, kid, just so we're clear—if you lose, you have to kneel and apologize."
"Just so you know, don't even think about backing out. We've got plenty of witnesses here."
"If I lose, I'll kneel. Got it," Evan nodded.
"And if I lose, I can call you 'dad.' But if you lose, you just need to kneel. You're not qualified to have me call you 'dad.'"
As soon as Evan said that, Ben Sun's face darkened, and the crowd was shocked.
Savage.
That was everyone's first thought.
The people nearby stared at this kid who'd suddenly appeared. He looked totally ordinary, but when he talked about kneeling if he lost, his face stayed calm. Combined with his earlier big talk, it made a lot of people snicker.
"I bet this kid still doesn't get how good Ben Sun actually is at basketball. He's our Mechatronics team captain!" one guy laughed, not even bothering to hide his voice.
"Didn't he say he's Hank Chu's friend? Who knows when Hank picked up such a clueless buddy—doesn't even get the situation, just rushing up to kneel for someone?" another guy shook his head, grinning.
"That Hank Chu's a total idiot—always chasing after Chu Yu, thinking he's found true love, but she's just playing him for a fool."
Everyone was talking.
They looked at Evan Lin with a mix of curiosity and pity.
One-on-one.
Out of seven points, Evan Lin had already lost five before the game even started.
Ben Sun only needed two more points to win.
It was a total setup, but this kid still jumped in to play.
Must be out of his mind.
"Alright, kid, you talk a big game."
Ben Sun's expression shifted a few times as he looked at Evan, anger flashing in his eyes.
More and more people were drawn to the court, gathering around to watch the drama unfold.
"I'll play with you today," Ben Sun said.
Ben Sun sneered, slapping the basketball. "First I'll make you kneel, then I'll make Hank Chu kneel."
"I'll make you two kneel together, so you and your buddy can suffer side by side."
He laughed coldly.
Seeing the crowd grow—especially with plenty of pretty girls—Ben Sun felt a rush of excitement.
"Let's start," he said.
Evan Lin looked at him, didn't waste words, and stood outside the three-point line, his eyes cool as he stared at Ben Sun at midcourt.
"Hope you're not too weak—at least put up a fight. Don't make it too easy for me," Evan said.