SSD 13. Qinghuo vs. Yangsheng: Off the Bench

“Who’s that tall guy, number 10?”

“That dunk was insane!”

“I think his name is… He Jiang!”

The gym buzzed with excited voices. Gradually, a few cheers even started to rise in support of Qinghuo.

Pan Yuan looked at the backs of her teammates on the court and finally let out a slow breath.

After getting crushed by Yangsheng in one wave after another, the whole team had been downcast. Xu Fanming’s foul had only made things worse. He Jiang’s basket had broken that deadlock and lifted the team’s spirits at a critical moment.

Pan Yuan raised her eyes to the scoreboard. The second quarter was almost over. The score was 46 to 38.

“As long as we keep the gap within ten points,” Wen Qin said quietly from the bench, “we still have a shot… at turning the game around completely.”

She was right. From this point on, the real game was just beginning.

“Oh my god,” Pan Yuan’s eyes widened, adrenaline rushing through her veins. “That’s the second dunk!”

He Jiang had taken the ball again and charged straight into the opposing paint, leaping for another dunk. His movements were fast and fluid. It was like he didn’t even register Yangsheng’s defense.

The impact rang out across the gym.

When He Jiang grabbed the rim with full force, it looked like he might actually tear it off.

His speed and power were intimidating. He moved like a fish through water, slipping past defenders one after another.

From that moment forward, He Jiang was no longer quiet. His back-to-back dunks turned the tide and drew every eye back to him. In basketball, dunks were the flashiest kind of play, the most explosive way to fire up a crowd. And He Jiang’s dunks were near flawless.

At 1.9 meters tall, he was a serious problem for the other team. He was like a hawk circling over the court. The crowd came alive, applause and cheers rising again and again.

Only now did Yangsheng realize something was wrong.

Qinghuo’s No. 10 center, who had been quietly watching from the edges, was actually a hidden danger they had overlooked.

“He’s insane…” One of the bench players, looked up at the scoreboard with excitement. In the last three minutes of the second quarter, He Jiang had scored ten full points, including two three-pointers.

The expressions on everyone’s faces started to lift.

Fang Ruihan smiled and opened his arms to rally them. “Qinghuo, focus! Counterattack!”

It was as if He Jiang had injected calm into the whole team. The players found their rhythm again, held their formation, and moved forward with He Jiang at the center, shielding him as he advanced into enemy territory.

Tian Ye stared at the suddenly unstoppable He Jiang. The feeling in his chest was hard to swallow.

As He Jiang dribbled toward the paint, Tian Ye made up his mind. This time, he would stop the man himself.

He fixed his eyes on the ball and moved in, cutting off He Jiang’s path. He Jiang smiled and kept dribbling. The ball hovered by his right hand for a few more seconds, as if inviting Tian Ye to make a move.

A trap?

Tian Ye reached for it, but He Jiang suddenly sent the ball between his legs and caught it from behind.

It was one smooth move, and it caught Tian Ye completely off guard.

Still unwilling to back down, Tian Ye turned to recover, just as He Jiang cut sharply in the opposite direction.

Tian Ye twisted his body back, eyes locked on the ball. He lunged again, stretching out his hand in a last-second gamble—

Reaching for the ball like that without a clear opening carried a high risk of being called for a foul.

But Tian Ye didn’t care anymore. Yangsheng was already behind by one basket. He couldn’t let He Jiang score again.

Even if it meant risking a foul.

Wait—

He had already locked onto the ball, stretching with everything he had to block it. They were so close. The ball should have been within reach in half a second.

But he missed.

Tian Ye whipped his head around.

He Jiang had already shifted the ball to his other hand. While Tian Ye was still stunned, He Jiang took two long strides and drove into the paint.

There it was again. That feeling returned. It was as if all his thoughts and movements had already been seen through. A coldness crept down his back.

Had He Jiang known from the start that he would gamble on stealing the ball? Was that why he left it dangling in front of him, just to lure him in, only to pull back early and open a window to break through?

Tian Ye’s face darkened.

The whistle blew.

The second quarter ended with a score of 52 to 48.

During halftime, the atmosphere on Qinghuo’s side was noticeably lighter.

In the final four minutes of the second quarter, He Jiang had taken it upon himself to turn the tide. With relentless pressure and movement, he racked up ten points and flipped the momentum of the entire game.

So this was what it felt like to turn the game around.

“God Jiang, you were insane out there. That was unreal,” Zhu Xuyao grinned and handed He Jiang a bottle of water. “So you were just saving energy this whole time, huh? Did you see that No. 9’s face when he missed the steal? He looked like he just swallowed something nasty.”

Pan Yuan clapped lightly. “He Jiang, those two dunks were beautiful.”

Zhu Xuyao immediately straightened up, dropping the joking tone. “Yuan Yuan, I’ll dunk one next round too.”

“You should focus on stabilizing your rhythm first,” Pan Yuan sighed and looked at him, concern in her voice. “You’re not shooting well today. It feels like you haven’t really found your usual form.”

Zhu Xuyao scratched his head. It was true. He hadn’t been in great shape. Maybe the pressure from No. 9 had been affecting all of them more than they realized. Still, that was normal.

But if anyone on the team was especially prone to being affected by external pressure, it was Xu Fanming. Once shaken, he tended to spiral. Thinking of that, Zhu Xuyao glanced over at him.

Xu Fanming sat quietly on the bench, drinking water and staring at the basket. His expression had softened a little.

His performance in the second quarter had been rough. A violation, a foul, and his rhythm completely thrown off. If He Jiang hadn’t stepped in to recover the score, the pressure on him might have cracked him completely.

Zhu Xuyao noticed He Jiang on the other side, silently watching Xu Fanming. His gaze looked like he wanted to say something.

At that moment, Fang Ruihan walked over and looked He Jiang in the eye.

“He Jiang, did you notice something?”

Everyone turned toward them.

Had He Jiang figured out a weakness in Yangsheng’s No. 9?

He Jiang unscrewed his bottle and took a few sips, then gave a slight smile.

Everyone waited quietly.

Even Xu Fanming, who had overheard the question, perked up. He still wasn’t sure how to start a conversation with He Jiang, but now he couldn’t help listening in.

After a two-second pause, He Jiang said, “I want to sit out the next quarter.”

“What?”

Everyone froze.

They had just started to build momentum. And now, the core of the team was suddenly saying he didn’t want to play?

“Why?” Fang Ruihan was stunned. “You’re doing great. Why would you suddenly want to come off?”

He Jiang took another sip of water and slowly twisted the cap back on.

“Because… I’m a little tired.”

Tired?

The teammates exchanged looks. Everyone’s face showed the same confusion. Realistically, He Jiang shouldn’t be tired after just two quarters. Especially since he hadn’t taken many shots in the first quarter and had barely used any energy.

“A little tired?” Pan Yuan stepped forward, unable to sit still. “What’s going on? He Jiang, are you not feeling well?”

He Jiang gave a faint smile and said nothing. Instead, he walked over to the bench and found an empty seat, settling in two spots away from Xu Fanming.

He sat down, looking as if he didn’t plan to get back up.

From the calm look on his face and his relaxed posture, it didn’t seem like he was in pain or physically drained.

The others were still trying to make sense of it.

Xu Fanming was glaring at He Jiang. Then he suddenly jumped to his feet and threw his towel hard across at him.

Zhu Xuyao caught the tension instantly and moved to step in, but before he could say anything, Xu Fanming shouted.

“He Jiang, what the hell is your problem?”

“No problem,” He Jiang replied, calm as ever. “Just felt a little tired. Didn’t want to keep playing.”

No one knew better than Xu Fanming just how rotten this guy’s attitude could be.

Tired? That was just a grand excuse.

“You’re not playing anymore?” Xu Fanming’s face had gone pale with anger. “But the game’s still going. Don’t you think this is really irresponsible of you?”

“Don’t make it sound so serious.” He Jiang smiled at him. “”I’m just coming off the court. You’re not short a player. The game can still go on as usual. It doesn’t really change anything.”

It was true. With He Jiang off, a substitute could take his place, and the game would continue as usual. But everyone knew what it really meant for He Jiang to leave.

Seeing that he had no intention of going back in, it felt like that same weight had dropped back onto every one of them.

They had finally started to break free and turn things around. He Jiang had become the one they all depended on. But now that he was suddenly stepping out, the pressure they had finally shaken off came crashing back.

The rest of the match was going to be a hard fight.

No one knew exactly why He Jiang didn’t want to play anymore. But either way, from this point on, the ones on the court would have to pull themselves together and face it head-on.

At least, He Jiang had won back the most crucial ten points for them. It wasn’t just a shift in the score. It had released some of the pressure they were under.

And because of that, the team let out a quiet breath.

But along with that breath came a heavy feeling. The players looked at each other, each face marked with tension.

And Xu Fanming’s emotions finally boiled over.

What the hell was this guy even doing?

Xu Fanming just felt that He Jiang had terrible character. Treating him like a joke was one thing, but now he was treating the entire team like fools. Taking the game lightly, playing when he felt like it, quitting when he didn’t. Doing whatever he wanted, with no logic at all. There was no sportsmanship in him.

Walking off at such a critical turning point, as the main player, just tossing it aside like nothing….

Xu Fanming hated that kind of person the most.

Fine. If you say you’re done, then be done.

“Then sit there and watch.” Xu Fanming threw his water bottle aside and glared straight at He Jiang. “Even without you, Qinghuo can still win.”