Chapter Forty-Nine: No. 1 High School vs. No. 3 High School (Part Four)

In the second quarter that followed, Lin Nan seemed almost possessed by Iverson. With dazzling moves, he danced past defenders, sinking jump shots and layups, racking up points relentlessly. His shooting percentage was astonishingly high. Seeing his hot hand, his teammates fed him the ball, letting him unleash his full firepower.

Ninety-five stood tall under the basket. Facing opponents of similar build and skill, his height of 195 centimeters gave him an undeniable edge—he claimed almost every rebound. Wang Jinsong set screens on the perimeter for Lin Nan, giving him ample space to break through or shoot.

Lin Nan played with ease and growing confidence. In one play, even when Wang Feng had just grabbed a defensive rebound, Lin Nan leaped high, snatched the still-unstable ball right over his head, and banked it in midair. Li Ke shouted that Lin Nan had channeled Jordan, and remarked that Lin Nan’s core strength and leaping ability were terrifying for someone his age.

That play shattered Wang Feng’s confidence and crushed the morale of the entire Third High team. On the sidelines, Chen Zhen and Chen Zheng could only watch anxiously. First, their stamina had not fully recovered, and it was uncertain if they could contain the unstoppable Lin Nan. Second, if they went in, so could Zhu Bo, which wouldn’t change the balance much.

This was the true value of bench players! When the starters are exhausted, it’s time for the bench to shine and make a name for themselves. Now, with the overwhelming strength of First High’s bench, as Lin Nan had predicted, the victory was essentially secured (though Lin Nan never considered himself a bench player).

Unless Third High’s starters could dominate the next two quarters, but the first quarter had already shown the teams were evenly matched. Sure enough, by the end of the second quarter, the score was 54 to 32—a 22-point lead for First High, with Lin Nan alone accounting for 20 points.

Lin Nan wasn’t usually a fan of isolation basketball, but once on the court, he felt an inner voice urging him to score wildly. So he unleashed every offensive skill he’d honed over the past year, slashing through defenses.

And it proved to be the right choice—they finished the half with a commanding lead of more than 20 points. At halftime, though, Lin Nan still felt that insistent voice urging him to score. He went straight to Coach Gorilla and requested to play the third quarter, saying he was still hot and had energy to spare.

So, at the start of the third quarter, First High’s lineup was: Lin Nan, Zhu Bo, Luo Si, Ninety-five, and Watermelon. Third High fielded the Chen brothers and their three other senior starters. Both sides had assembled their strongest lineups.

As soon as he stepped on the court, Lin Nan volunteered to guard the slightly slimmer of the Chen brothers, Chen Zheng, for the entire court. Zhu Bo had no objection and took Chen Zhen.

Chen Zheng was surprised to see Lin Nan still on the court, bouncing with energy, and now sticking to him like glue. He couldn’t help but feel underestimated.

But what Chen Zheng didn’t expect was that Lin Nan truly locked him down in the game that followed, sticking to him like stubborn glue, impossible to shake off. With Zhu Bo’s expert defense as well, the Chen brothers’ synergy was effectively neutralized. Only when their teammates set excellent screens could Chen Zhen, off a perfect pass from Chen Zheng, manage to score with difficulty.

Li Ke’s commentary resounded: he first praised the Chen brothers’ fine teamwork, but saved his highest accolades for Lin Nan. As a freshman, Lin Nan could shoot, drive, defend, leap, and had endless stamina—unafraid of senior opponents. Truly a natural basketball player!

Lin Nan heard the praise but stayed composed, reading the court and growing ever more certain of victory. He and Bo God patrolled the perimeter, Watermelon floated as a free agent, while Ninety-five and Luo Si locked down the paint. Luo Si shrewdly boxed out Third High’s tallest center, preventing him from getting prime rebounding position, leaving Ninety-five free to dominate the boards.

Once again, Ninety-five claimed the bulk of the rebounds as he had in the second quarter. By the end of the third quarter, Third High not only failed to close the gap but fell even further behind—the deficit ballooned to 30 points.

Entering the fourth quarter, Third High’s hopes had all but vanished. The team had lost its fighting spirit and simply played out the clock. When the final whistle blew, Li Ke shouted into the microphone, “Let’s congratulate Qingshui First High on their victory, and thank both teams for a wonderful game!”

Watching the First High players celebrate on the left and the Third High players slump in defeat on the right, he continued, “There are victories and defeats on the basketball court. I hope First High’s players don’t become complacent from a single win, and that Third High’s players don’t lose heart from a single loss.”

“Basketball is a sport of perseverance—hard work will prove everything in the end.”

As his words faded, the Chen brothers’ eyes regained their old spark. They walked up to Zhu Bo, glanced at Lin Nan standing nearby, and, still a bit unwilling, said, “This time, it wasn’t you we lost to—it was him.”

Zhu Bo simply spread his hands, unconcerned.

With nothing more to say, the brothers took a long look at Lin Nan, then turned to leave. Coach Gorilla stepped forward, congratulated everyone, and told them to gather their belongings and get ready to board the bus back to school.

On the bus, Principal Zheng Zemin also congratulated Lin Nan and the team. Settling into his seat, he pulled out his newly bought smartphone and turned on data.

His old phone had lasted years and worked perfectly well for calls and texts, so he hadn’t planned to upgrade. But the slow internet and small screen were hard to use, especially since he closely followed “Teacher's Talk,” so he’d bought a new touchscreen model with a large, four-inch screen.

Zheng Zemin opened the browser and went to Teacher's Talk. The basketball section was featured prominently on the homepage. Clicking in, he saw a new tab: National High School Basketball League Player Statistics.

Intrigued, Zheng Zemin clicked further. A horizontal table appeared—the first columns were for province, city, then district...

Following the prompts, Zheng Zemin quickly found Lingsouth City, QS County. He kept clicking, and soon saw Qingshui First High through Qingshui Eighth High. The top name was Lin Nan.

Lin Nan:

Average points: 33.
Steals: 3.
Rebounds: 5.
Assists: 3.
Three-pointers: 3 of 5.
Two-pointers: ...
Free throws: ...
Shooting percentage: ...
...
Overall score: 92.

Upon seeing this, Zheng Zemin broke into a satisfied smile and called to the players up front, “Come have a look at this!”

The players, who had been chatting and joking, immediately stood up and made their way over, holding the backs of the seats for support. Lin Nan slung an arm over Zheng Zemin’s shoulder, while the others, not quite so bold, still crowded around.

Soon everyone had seen what was on Zheng Zemin’s phone, and their faces showed a mix of shock, delight, and astonishment. Only Wang Jinsong recovered first, shouting, “No wonder you were like a man possessed out there, Lin Nan! Tell us—did you already know Teacher’s Talk was going to do this?”

Everyone’s gaze turned accusingly toward Lin Nan. Lin Nan was overjoyed inside, though he kept silent.

At that moment, Coach Gorilla, sitting ahead, checked his own phone and announced, “Lin Nan seems to be ranked eighth nationwide in overall score!”

Everyone fell silent with amazement—even the usually calm and composed Zhu Bo, Bo God himself, looked at Lin Nan with deep envy.

Eighth in the entire nation! Eighth! Out of the whole country!

What an enviable honor.

Unable to sit still, Zhu Bo joined the crowd “attacking” Lin Nan in good fun. Only when Zheng Zemin ordered everyone to settle down and fasten their seatbelts did the team return to their seats. Yet all eyes kept drifting to Lin Nan, filled with envy after envy...

At the same time, in over thirty thousand high schools across the country, among tens of millions of students, there were at least several million with an eye on basketball and the league. Many who had just learned of this news were filled with regret.

Why had they played it cool in a winnable game, instead of racking up stats like mad?
Why had they sat out early because the opponent was weak?
Why hadn’t they even shown up for the game at all because the opponent was weak?
...

The National High School Basketball League was on fire!

At the headquarters of Sanrenxing, Lin Lang listened to the staffers from the basketball division report the news from Teacher’s Talk. He felt nothing extraordinary—this was only to be expected. He understood that a simple stats table might be the thing countless basketball players dreamed of.

How many basketball players longed to leave their mark in the NBA? Yet most would never even get a foot in the door of that holy land.

Now, the National High School Basketball League had captured the attention of every basketball player in the country. It was the first official, nationwide mega-tournament of its kind. Until the league ended, whoever topped the stats table on Teacher’s Talk would be the undisputed strongest high school player in the nation!

Now the table was out, everyone wanted their name at the top. The coming games would only grow more intense.

As for those not in high school, all they could do was envy—nothing but envy...