SSD 14. Qinghuo vs. Yangsheng: End of the Match

Even as he said it, Xu Fanming didn’t believe it himself.

As the game went on, Xu Fanming could clearly feel the pressure mounting. His chest grew heavier, and every dribble felt more difficult.

Although the score was still being held together by the forwards, Xu Fanming already knew deep down. In this scrimmage, at least on the psychological front, they had lost to Yangsheng.

After his third hand-check foul, Xu Fanming caught a rare expression of concern on Fang Ruihan’s face.

He was deeply frustrated.

Fang Ruihan came over, patted his shoulder, and said quietly, “Relax, Fanming. It’s just a practice match.”

Just a practice match?

But it was his very first game.

And right from the start, he had fallen apart and ended up with such a pathetic outcome. Would future games go any better?

Maybe he really had taken this one too seriously.

But he had to admit, he was the kind of person who got thrown off easily by outside pressure.

His mental state had already cracked during the second quarter. A foul, a violation. Thankfully He Jiang had stepped in to steady the game, so it didn’t end in a total mess. He had thought He Jiang came in to help, but then He Jiang just played on his own terms, and walked off as soon as he felt like it.

Once He Jiang was gone, Xu Fanming broke down even further.

His mindset was all over the place.

And he was greedy. He wanted every match to be his best, to win beautifully.

But maybe that was too much to ask.

The opponent was a skilled guard.

A faint bitterness and sense of inadequacy welled up in Xu Fanming’s chest again.

The third quarter had been tough. The final score was stuck at 68 to 62. During the break, no one said a word. Everyone was out of breath from exhaustion. There was a heaviness in the air.

Trying to lift the mood, Fang Ruihan still encouraged everyone to put their hands in for a cheer. As they stacked their hands together, team leader Pan Yuan blushed with excitement and urged them on, “It’s okay! The gap isn’t that big. You were all great! This scrimmage showed how much everyone’s improved. Don’t get discouraged just because you met a strong opponent. Treat this practice match like something to enjoy, and slowly get your rhythm back. That way, we’ll have a lot more chances in official matches.”

Pan Yuan’s sincere words did help lift the tired team a little. Heads began to rise, and smiles returned as they encouraged each other.

“Let’s go, Qinghuo!”

Xu Fanming stood alone with his back to the group, sulking in a corner. He didn’t want to see He Jiang’s face. Zhu Xuyao could see how conflicted he was and ran over, grinning as he pinched Xu Fanming’s cheek. “What’s with the sour face, son? How are you gonna impress the girls in the stands like this?”

“Impress my ass,” Xu Fanming bared his teeth. “And you still have the nerve to joke?”

“We’re doing fine, aren’t we? Look,” Zhu Xuyao pointed at the scoreboard, “we’re only down by three. It’s totally doable.”

From the team’s perspective, maybe Qinghuo really wasn’t weaker than Yangsheng overall. The game hadn’t been that tragic. But from Xu Fanming’s personal perspective, he was deeply dissatisfied with his performance today. If he had to put it in one word, it would be “shameful.”

Zhu Xuyao seemed to have seen right through Xu Fanming. He sighed and said, “You get thrown off rhythm way too easily.”

By the fourth quarter, Xu Fanming could no longer remember how many shots he’d made or how the last few minutes had gone. When his senses came back to him, there were only three seconds left in the game. In his hands was the ball that carried the weight of everyone’s hopes. In front of him stood Tian Ye, crouched in a defensive stance, eyes sharp and focused.

Dribble, pass, or shoot?

Xu Fanming didn’t hesitate. He bent his knees slightly, lifted the ball above his head, and hurled it.

A three-pointer.

Beep—

The referee blew the whistle. The gymnasium erupted. The final score froze at 88:87. Yangsheng had won the practice match by a single point.

The game was over.

Both teams exchanged handshakes and took group photos. Tian Ye looked at Fang Ruihan, raised an eyebrow, and smiled.

“Qinghuo played well today. Just a shame it ended with a one-point difference.”

Come on, that was way too smug. Fang Ruihan held back the twitch at the corner of his mouth and still gave him a polite handshake. “Yeah. It was great to have the chance to scrimmage with Yangsheng. Everyone really gave it their all.”

Tian Ye pulled back his hand, eyes glinting with interest. “Looking forward to meeting again in an official game.”

As the audience filtered out, Xu Fanming’s head was still buzzing. Watching Tian Ye walk away, he felt a mix of emotions he couldn’t shake. He couldn’t feel happy at all.

While they were packing up and straightening their jerseys, Fang Ruihan made his way over to He Jiang, still concerned about what had happened earlier. He wanted to ask about He Jiang stepping off the court.

He Jiang just said calmly, “I was just a little tired.”

Then added, “The tempo in the third and fourth quarters was pretty good.”

Fang Ruihan nodded. He Jiang’s ten points during that pivotal stretch hadn’t gone to waste. In the latter half of the match, the team had clearly felt less pressure. At least most of them were able to play normally. Well… except Xu Fanming.

“Yeah,” Fang Ruihan said. “The official matches start next month. Let’s keep at it.”

He Jiang smiled. “It’s fine. Winning or losing doesn’t matter. What matters is enjoying the game.”

But that one sentence landed squarely in Xu Fanming’s ears, where it struck a nerve. He turned his head, face twisted in anger.

“You think winning or losing doesn’t matter?” Xu Fanming’s expression was icy as he flung his jacket to the floor and stormed up to He Jiang. “So you get to come and go as you please? You think being happy is what matters most, so you can just walk off whenever you feel like it? Screw the team, screw the game?”

He Jiang stood up too, meeting Xu Fanming’s eyes. The air between them felt heavy.

“If you’re not here to take this seriously,” Xu Fanming growled, “then get lost!”

Seeing that things were about to explode, Zhu Xuyao rushed to get Pan Yuan to bring the captain over, while he hurried over himself to stop them. But Xu Fanming wouldn’t budge. That one line had ignited every bit of resentment he had bottled up toward He Jiang.

He had thought He Jiang was just some arrogant rich kid who liked to mess around. But now it was clear. He had never even planned to take the game seriously. For over twenty minutes, he had been drifting around without focus. When a teammate missed a critical shot, he just stood there laughing. And just when he finally looked like he was ready to play, he suddenly threw a tantrum and benched himself.

They had been giving it their all on the court, but He Jiang acted like someone who could talk because he didn’t have to do the hard work. He’d benched himself mid-game and was now telling everyone else not to take it so seriously. To Xu Fanming, He Jiang was treating them all like idiots, showing up and playing only when he felt like it. Even during one-on-ones, He Jiang had never taken him seriously. And when he lost, He Jiang had deliberately made the bet that he’d leave the team, just for the fun of it.

Xu Fanming thought someone like He Jiang, who treated sportsmanship like a joke, would never understand him.

Maybe He Jiang had looked down on him from the start. Maybe he had never cared about basketball at all.

“Did I say something wrong?” He Jiang’s face was blank. “Didn’t your mom teach you that participation matters more than winning?”

Xu Fanming’s eyes reddened. “That kind of line is for losers!”

He Jiang paused, something complicated flickering across his face. After a moment of silence, he slowly asked, “Is winning really that important to you?”

The look in his eyes seemed to ask, Why waste so much energy on a meaningless game?

That look made Zhu Xuyao uncomfortable. But before he could say anything, Xu Fanming suddenly rushed forward and shouted at He Jiang.

“So that’s why you benched yourself?” He stared at him, wide-eyed with disbelief. “Isn’t it only right to give your best in every game?”

Xu Fanming’s voice rang sharp and loud. He suddenly kicked over the folding stool by his feet. The crash drew the attention of the remaining spectators in the gym. People had already started whispering.

He Jiang’s face was gloomy as he silently bent down to pick up the broken stool from the floor. Seeing that he still wasn’t reacting, Xu Fanming burned with rage. He grabbed a basketball from the floor and hurled it straight at him.

“He Jiang, are you even a man? Do you have any sense of responsibility at all!”

The ball came flying at him, but He Jiang slapped it away with one hand. It hit the ground with a loud thud. His expression darkened, and the tension in the air suddenly spiked.

If this kept going, the two of them would start a real fight any minute now. The other teammates couldn’t sit still anymore. One of them rushed up and grabbed Xu Fanming around the waist.

“Fan-ge, come on, not here. Not in front of everyone…”

Xu Fanming’s eyes were bloodshot, while He Jiang’s face remained cold. Zhu Xuyao stepped in. “Enough already! Stop making a scene on someone else’s home court! Shut it!”

While he spoke, his eyes were fixed on He Jiang. He was part of Qinghuo now, but his bond with the rest of the team still wasn’t strong. If there was conflict, the others would naturally side with Xu Fanming. He Jiang understood this too and stayed silent.

At that moment, the captain, Fang Ruihan, finally arrived. He stepped between them with a stern look on his face.

“That’s enough from both of you. Whatever this is, we’ll talk about it back at the dorm. After every game we always have a debriefing. We’ll sort it out then. For now, cool off.”

With the captain stepping in, Xu Fanming had no choice but to slowly lower his glare. But he still couldn’t calm down.

He couldn’t accept the idea of fighting alongside a teammate who might decide to quit the moment he felt like it.

There was no point saying anything else. Xu Fanming couldn’t understand someone like He Jiang, and he wasn’t going to waste his breath trying to.

His nerves were stretched to the limit. The loss already stung badly enough. He’d played like a mess, and now his mood was in the gutter. And just when he was at his lowest, He Jiang had come over with what felt like mockery. It was like he was testing his last shred of patience.

“You only care about having your fun, treating all your teammates like garbage.” Xu Fanming picked up his jacket from the ground, his voice growing colder. “He Jiang, do you know something? Anyone on the court can say ‘winning or losing doesn’t matter, having fun is what’s important.’ Anyone but you. You’re the one person who has no right to say that.”

He Jiang stared at Xu Fanming in silence. After a few seconds, he suddenly curled his lips into a helpless smile. “You’re like a fire starter. One spark and you go off.”

Xu Fanming also smiled, but there was ice on his face. The smile never reached his eyes.

“He Jiang, if you want to play, then play properly. If you don’t, then get lost early. This team doesn’t need someone like you. We can’t afford to keep a living Buddha like you around!”

He turned and strode off. Zhu Xuyao glanced at He Jiang, then sighed and followed after. Fang Ruihan rubbed his nose, wanting to speak, but said nothing in the end.

He Jiang silently watched Xu Fanming’s retreating back, his eyes gradually filling with something indistinct.