Chapter 50: Carrying Her Back to Be the Village Chief’s Wife

Shuai Bei took his second shot, and the ball bounced off the rim.

The young street players whistled again, even louder and more arrogant than before.

Shuai Bei exhaled, spinning the ball between his hands a few times. He wanted to adjust his strength, but when he shot again, the ball didn’t touch the rim, backboard, or net at all.

“No way! That’s the first time I’ve seen a ‘no-touch’ shot!” one of the youngsters laughed.

“Bro, you really taught us something new!”

“Come on, just give up now. This court belongs to us.”

As Shuai Bei bent down to pick up the ball, the veins on his temple twitched. He looked up and saw Xia Chiyi standing on the other side of the net, his usually indifferent face now showing surprise.

Xia Chiyi knew that losing a bet to street kids might just bruise Shuai Bei’s pride a little.

But having a teammate witness his shot miss everything three times in a row—that was another matter.

Shuai Bei turned away, but Xia Chiyi called out to him, “Hey, Zhou Zhexiao can practice with you, so why can’t I?”

Shuai Bei froze but didn’t look back.

“Is it because Zhou Zhexiao is taller, stronger, and can jump higher than me, so you see me as weak? You think I should set screens and protect you? I don’t deserve to practice shooting with you like Zhou Zhexiao does?”

Shuai Bei turned back and looked at Xia Chiyi.

He had thought it was his own embarrassing moment that Xia Chiyi had seen, but now, from Xia Chiyi’s voice, it sounded like the one hurt was… Xia Chiyi himself.

“I’m not… I didn’t…” Shuai Bei met Xia Chiyi’s gaze and found himself unable to form complete words for the first time.

The young players on the sidelines shouted, “Hurry up! We need this court!”

“Don’t waste time!”

“Only seven shots left. Finish your ‘no-touch’ shots quickly!”

“Shut up!” Xia Chiyi suddenly yelled at them.

He imitated Zhou Zhexiao’s deep, commanding tone, almost straining his voice.

The young players were stunned, unable to retort for a moment.

Xia Chiyi quickly stepped onto the court and stood beside Shuai Bei. He said to the boy with the headband, “You didn’t say no one could teach him, right?”

The boy’s throat moved, and he said, “You… you teach him then… if you can make him sink three out of the remaining seven, we’ll accept it.”

“Yeah, this guy’s like a block of wood. Whoever can teach him is practically a savior!”

Shuai Bei took a deep breath and whispered, “Forget it, it’s too late. You…”

Xia Chiyi took Shuai Bei’s basketball and said, “Watch your shooting form. Raise your hand above your shoulder.”

Hearing this, Shuai Bei complied.

Xia Chiyi stood behind him, rose on his toes, pressed down firmly on Shuai Bei’s palm, then suddenly released it, flicking his fingers upward.

“Feel that? Your fingers shouldn’t push mechanically. Instead, think of it like a spring launching the ball!”

Then Xia Chiyi demonstrated a follow-through beside Shuai Bei, “See, it’s these two fingers that touch the ball last.”

Watching Xia Chiyi’s serious expression, Shuai Bei grew serious too and tried it out next to him.

“Yes, exactly like that. Now shoot one more shot!”

Shuai Bei took a deep breath and stepped to the free-throw line. Remembering the feeling of Xia Chiyi bending his fingers, he tried sending the ball from the knuckles to the fingertips. The arc was much prettier than before, but it still bounced off the rim.

The boy with the headband shouted, “That’s the fourth shot!”

---

Xia Chiyi watched from the side, pursing his lips thoughtfully for a few seconds.

“Shuai Bei, adjust a little. Lower your release point slightly. At the three-point line, your release was fine, but at the free-throw line, it should be a bit lower.”

Xia Chiyi came close and said, “Imagine the lowest point of the ball’s drop as position 1, your belly as 2, and keep going up until the top of your head is 9.”

“Try releasing at position 7,” he said, tracing a mark near Shuai Bei’s ear.

Shuai Bei nodded and shot again from the free-throw line. Watching the ball's parabolic arc, his heart seemed to fly along with it. In that moment, he had a strange feeling—the ball was going in.

Sure enough, as the ball swished through the net, the young players were stunned.

“No way, it actually went in.”

“What are you surprised about? Just a lucky guess, like blindly guessing on a test and getting two answers right out of ten!”

“Exactly—abcd options, guess wildly, still get some right!”

Xia Chiyi patted Shuai Bei on the shoulder and whispered, “Ignore them. There are always more naysayers than supporters in this world. Focus on your breath. Exhale before shooting to improve stability.”

“I’ll try,” Shuai Bei said, looking at Xia Chiyi. Perhaps influenced by his calm energy, his restless heart gradually settled.

That made shot gave Shuai Bei a newfound sense of control between power and distance.

On his sixth attempt, following Xia Chiyi’s advice, Shuai Bei exhaled properly and scored again.

The best part: it felt even easier than the last time.

He looked at Xia Chiyi in surprise, and Xia Chiyi smiled, giving him a thumbs-up.

“Seriously, you made it again?” the boy with the headband said, sensing trouble. This bet was likely lost.

Xia Chiyi raised his palm and pressed down, signaling Shuai Bei to stay calm and take it slow.

Shuai Bei held the ball, exhaled, and smoothly executed the shot, but this time the ball hit the rim.

The boy with the headband laughed, and his friends resumed their jeering and booing gestures.

Xia Chiyi stepped behind Shuai Bei and squeezed his shoulder. “Don’t be nervous, buddy. You’ve got the hang of it. With three shots left, you’re bound to make one.”

At that, the young players started chanting, “No-touch! No-touch! No-touch!”

“If you keep talking, I’ll knock your bottles out of your hands, got it?” Xia Chiyi glared at them with raised brows.

Despite everything, Xia Chiyi’s height of 1.86 meters combined with Shuai Bei nearing two meters made them intimidating. The young players hesitated and lowered their volume to murmured curses.

Shuai Bei said, “I’m fine.”

“Huh?” Xia Chiyi glanced at him, hands on hips, laughing. “I’m just annoyed by them. This is my first time coaching someone on shooting!”

Shuai Bei smiled slightly, adjusted his breathing, relaxed his shoulders, and shot again.

Swish—the ball passed through the net.

Some of the youngsters covered their eyes, others sighed.

“No way, that’s three shots in!” the boy with the headband sighed regretfully.

The others shook their heads in disbelief.

But after waiting more than ten seconds, the group still hadn’t left.

Xia Chiyi stood with hands on hips, watching them with Shuai Bei.

The boy said, “That was the eighth shot. Two left. Let’s see if you can make them.”

“Yeah, if you make those too, it won’t be luck. Otherwise, we’ll regret not setting the bet as ‘five out of ten’.”

---

Xia Chiyi was nearly amused to distraction by their shamelessness.

“Alright, Shuai Bei, let’s finish the last two shots.”

“Okay,” Shuai Bei nodded.

With less pressure, Shuai Bei performed even better, sinking both shots.

The boy with the headband was genuinely surprised. “Man, we’ve been watching this guy for a while. He’s shot over a hundred balls here, made maybe fifteen or twenty. We were almost falling asleep watching him practice.”

“Honestly, we don’t really need this court. We just got mad watching him struggle so badly…”

“Yeah, why didn’t you bring a friend to help you earlier? You wasted your own time and ours, didn’t you?”

Their back-and-forth made Shuai Bei’s ears visibly red. Deep down, he knew they had a point.

“It’s 10:40, handsome! If you don’t head back soon, we’ll have to climb over the wall,” Xia Chiyi kindly reminded.

“Got it, we’ll take a taxi back,” Shuai Bei waved his hand.

Knowing a ride was available, Xia Chiyi hurried to catch up.

The young players whistled behind them again, but this time it sounded more like fireworks than jeers.

In the taxi, Shuai Bei kept looking out the window.

A buzzing sound came from the car. Xia Chiyi didn’t notice until Shuai Bei said, “Your phone’s been vibrating.”

“Huh? Mine?” Xia Chiyi patted his pocket and found it was true.

He opened it to see Zhou Zhexiao’s name flashing. Upon answering, a chilly voice asked, “Where are you? Why didn’t you pick up?”

“Huh? You asking me? I was about to ask you! I thought you ran to the Wetland Park for a jog! I ran all the way out of campus to the Metasequoia trail looking for you, but you were already back in the dorm. So I just strolled back,” Xia Chiyi quickly shifted the blame back.

Since Shuai Bei didn’t want his teammates to know he was bad at shooting, Xia Chiyi chose to keep quiet.

But Zhou Zhexiao mercilessly exposed him: “The Metasequoia trail closes after nine at night.”

“Whatever,” Xia Chiyi thought. “If I don’t argue, you can’t get me.”

“You…”

“I’m already in a taxi, on my way back.”

Xia Chiyi hung up and grinned at Zhou Zhexiao’s name in the phone, showing his annoyance.

Shuai Bei turned just in time to see this and couldn’t help but laugh, then looked away again.

Then he noticed three missed calls from Zhou Zhexiao, plus a text: [Why aren’t you back yet?]

Xia Chiyi found this unexpected, as Zhou Zhexiao usually wouldn’t keep calling if no one answered.

“Are you only practicing free throws?” Xia Chiyi asked.

“Can I just turn into a fat guy all at once?”

Xia Chiyi nodded, “Once you’ve mastered free throws, we can practice receiving the ball and shooting with a 90-degree turn. That’s more useful in games.”

“More useful?”

“Yeah. Imagine I’m being double-teamed and harassed at the three-point line, forced to move sideways. You’re right beside me, catch my pass, everyone thinks you’re cutting for a dunk or layup. But instead, you spin and—‘swish’—shoot. Isn’t that awesome? And they can’t stop you.”