Boyfriend Always Thinks I’m a Little Pitiful Chapter 49

Seeing them nod, Xie Ci turned to Xiao Deng, "How about you, are you getting used to it?"

Xiao Deng took a deep breath and nodded, "I can do it!"

"Keep your distance, avoid getting surrounded by too many people, and don't give them a chance to strike."

Xie Ci adjusted his wrist guard, looking at Gao Yuan across from him, and said unhurriedly, "Let's start now and catch up with the score."

"Yeah!"

Jiang Chenyu and the other three shouted excitedly and took their positions.

Gao Yuan dribbled the ball in front of Xie Ci, feeling a bit smug, "Playing like this in the first half, is there no one left in Yi Zhong?"

"You guys are only leading by eight points?" Xie Ci was unfazed.

Gao Yuan chuckled, "Wait until I widen the gap to over twenty points in the second half. This last high school basketball game should give Captain Xie a taste of reality."

Xie Ci replied calmly, "We'll see."

As they spoke, Gao Yuan had already charged into the three-point line, trying a fake pass to trick Xie Ci, then turned to dash towards the basket.

In the blink of an eye, the ball was gone from his hand. Gao Yuan turned his head sharply, and Xie Ci had already stolen the ball and started a counterattack.

"Get back on defense!" Gao Yuan quickly chased after him.

The other eight players instantly switched from offense to defense.

Zhang Ruochuan chased after Xie Ci to support him, while the sports school guard tried to intercept him, only to be blocked by Fang Size.

Xiao Deng immediately blocked the sports school's small forward, ignoring the fierce expression, maintaining a certain distance to prevent a breakthrough.

In a flash, Xie Ci had crossed the midline, with Gao Yuan catching up to block him.

The two of them moved quickly, with Xie Ci dribbling and pressing forward.

The sound of sneakers scraping the floor and the basketball bouncing echoed in everyone's ears, making the atmosphere tense.

Gao Yuan noticed Zhang Ruochuan coming over and turned to block him, preventing Xie Ci from passing the ball. Unexpectedly, Xie Ci suddenly jumped and shot the ball.

Gao Yuan and two other guards jumped to intercept, but couldn't even touch the ball. They watched as the ball arced through the air and went straight into the net.

Sixteen seconds into the second half, Xie Ci scored the first three-pointer.

The stands erupted in cheers.

As Xie Ci walked back, passing by Gao Yuan, he said, "When you said the gap would widen to twenty points, did you mean Yi Zhong leading by twenty?"

Having just boasted, Gao Yuan was displeased to be slapped in the face so quickly, watching him walk away, "It's still early!"

Now it was Yi Zhong's turn to attack.

As soon as Xie Ci dribbled past the midline, Gao Yuan and his team blocked him. A fake jump tricked everyone, and he passed the ball from behind to Zhang Ruochuan, who came to support.

When Zhang Ruochuan was pursued by the opposing players, he turned and passed the ball to Jiang Chenyu, who had just reached the three-point line.

Jiang Chenyu caught the ball and jumped to shoot.

Bang!

The basketball fell into the hoop.

The crowd erupted in cheers once again.

Thirty seconds into the second half, Yi Zhong scored two three-pointers, bringing the score to 38:36.

Gao Yuan's face was hard to maintain, and he told his gathered teammates, "Ignore their substitute forward, he's just a blocking dummy. Focus on defending Xie Ci and the number 66 shooting guard."

The small forward took a few breaths, a bit anxious, "They're clearly creating outside shooting opportunities, not going inside, shooting and then running."

"They're defending us."

Gao Yuan stared intently at Xie Ci on the opposite side, "Let's see how they score from the outside next."

Seven minutes into the second half, the score was tied at 56:56.

After probing and adjusting in the first half, both teams clearly sped up the pace, and after understanding each other's strengths, they began a real showdown.

Seeing Yi Zhong's rhythm getting better, the sports school coach called a timeout.

He signaled Gao Yuan and the others to gather and adjust their strategy, "Their substitute forward has no scoring ability, so they're down a man. We don't have an advantage inside, so we need to focus on defending the outside! Don't let number 7 and number 66 get the ball! Especially number 7, Ah Yuan, Ah Jian, you two keep an eye on him! As long as he doesn't get the ball, we win!"

Gao Yuan looked at Yi Zhong's player bench, where the substitute forward sat in the chair, panting heavily, his hands shaking as he drank water. The others showed signs of fatigue, except for Xie Ci, who, despite being sweaty, looked as calm as ever, showing no signs of exhaustion.

"Ah Jian." Gao Yuan beckoned a teammate over and whispered, "When you get back on the court, find a chance to take down Xie Ci."

Ah Jian was about to nod when he suddenly saw the opposing coach calling for a player change, looking puzzled.

"Who's that they're subbing in? I've never seen him before."

The other players were also puzzled but didn't think much of it.

"The substitute forward couldn't hold up, huh? This one looks like a pretty boy, even worse than the last one."

"Without Wang Hao, it doesn't matter who they bring in. Not to mention, just the coordination alone is a problem. There's only thirteen minutes left, no time for them to adapt and get in sync."

Over there, Gu Yufeng took off his jacket, getting ready to go on the court.

Xie Ci reminded him, "Don't mess around when you're on the court, follow the instructions."

Gu Yufeng stretched his shoulders and neck, responding with little expression, "I only listen to my boyfriend."

Xie Ci silently closed his mouth and turned to Xiao Deng, who was sitting in the chair, "You did great just now."

Xiao Deng looked up, his face full of exhaustion, but his eyes were bright, "Thanks, Captain, I learned a lot."

Time was up, and everyone returned to the court.

In the stands, the students from Yi Zhong erupted in screams when they saw Gu Yufeng going on the court.

Based on Gu Yufeng's performance at the sports meet, he was definitely worth looking forward to.

In the front row, the mayor, hearing the commotion, whispered to Gu Yongnian, "Your son is really popular."

Gu Yongnian smiled with squinted eyes, "He's been likable since he was a kid."

On the court, the blockade against Xie Ci intensified, blocking him wherever he went, making it impossible for him to touch the ball. Jiang Chenyu was similarly blocked, unable to get close to the three-point line.

The ball passed back and forth between Fang Size and Zhang Ruochuan, but they couldn't find an opportunity to pass to the main attackers.

Gao Yuan saw Zhang Ruochuan trying to shoot himself and sent a guard to intercept.

The guard and Zhang Ruochuan jumped at the same time, but the ball flickered in front of them and suddenly passed in Xie Ci's direction.

"Captain!" The guard, seeing it was a fake move, immediately signaled Gao Yuan to block Xie Ci.

Xie Ci was blocked by two people, looking up at the ball flying over, constantly adjusting his position.

Gao Yuan and another player were guarding Xie Ci, ready to snatch the ball.

Unexpectedly, the ball flew right over their heads and was easily caught by Gu Yufeng, who had already charged into the three-point line. He quickly dribbled to the basket and jumped to dunk.

Bang!

The basketball went through the net and hit the ground, the hoop creaking under the strain.

The entire space went silent for a moment, then erupted in screams.

Gao Yuan's team was dumbfounded.

When did this substitute forward get behind them? Wasn't anyone guarding him?!

Gao Yuan's gaze swept over his four teammates, who were looking at each other in confusion, and then looked at the empty inside line behind him.

They had been so focused on defending the outside, on Xie Ci and Jiang Chenyu, that they completely ignored this substitute forward. Plus, Zhang Ruochuan seemed to pass to Xie Ci, and Xie Ci seemed to be receiving the ball, but it was all a fake move. The initial goal was to pass to the new forward.

They had been thoroughly deceived.

"Captain?" Ah Jian asked Gao Yuan.

Gao Yuan thought for a moment, "Keep an eye on number 9, but focus on Xie Ci and number 66."

As a result, in the next two minutes, Gu Yufeng scored ten points, pushing the score to 60:72, with Yi Zhong leading by 12 points.

Before and after Gu Yufeng went on the court, Yi Zhong's morale was completely different, like a different team. It was only at this moment that they truly let loose.

The sports school finally acknowledged Gu Yufeng's ability, reallocating players from defending Xie Ci and Jiang Chenyu to guard this fast-attacking forward.

"Get back on defense! Number 9 has crossed the midline!"

"Don't let number 66 get close to the three-point line!"

"Xie Ci broke through!"

Gu Yufeng dribbled into the inside line, blocked by the opposing guard, and passed the ball to Xie Ci, who came to support.

Xie Ci was blocked by Gao Yuan, who chased after him, and after a few agile moves, passed the ball back to Gu Yufeng.

Gu Yufeng approached the basket and jumped to shoot.

The sports school guard jumped to intercept.

Gu Yufeng twisted his wrist and suddenly passed the ball to Xie Ci on the other side.

Xie Ci took the opportunity to bypass Gao Yuan, caught the ball, and jumped to dunk.

Another dull thud echoed.

The basketball hit the ground, bouncing and rolling away.

Xie Ci lightly jumped down and high-fived Gu Yufeng, walking side by side back to their side of the court.

Yi Zhong's continuous strong attacks had the students in the stands fired up, their voices hoarse from excitement.

The cooperation of the five players was simply perfect! Especially Gu Yufeng and Xie Ci, it was like they shared a brain, not needing instructions, sometimes not even needing eye contact. As soon as one moved, the other knew what the other was going to do!

In comparison, the sports school was a step behind, and with Gu Yufeng and Xie Ci running so fast, the gap widened significantly.

Yi Zhong launched another fast attack, and the sports school defended with all their might. Xie Ci, Gu Yufeng, and Jiang Chenyu were all tightly blocked, and Zhang Ruochuan had no chance to shoot, so he passed to Fang Size.

"Block number 11 from passing!"

Hearing the sports school guard's shout, Fang Size jumped to shoot.

The basketball smoothly went through the net.

Fang Size adjusted his glasses, "I practiced shooting too."

Zhang Ruochuan, passing by, laughed loudly, "Old Fang, put away your grievances."

Looking at the widening score, the sports school's five players looked grim.

Under the strong attack, their rhythm was completely disrupted, their stamina doubled in consumption, and they were bent over, gasping for air, unable to straighten up.

"The substitute forward isn't a pretty boy, he's a wild horse!" The sports school guard gritted his teeth and cursed, "All five of them can score, how do we defend against that?"

Gao Yuan and Ah Jian exchanged a glance, both understanding each other's intentions.

By now, they hadn't found a suitable opportunity to strike, but if they didn't act soon, there would be no way to turn the game around.

It was the sports school's turn to attack.

Ah Jian dribbled to the basket, intending to jump and shoot, but was blocked by Fang Size.

The ball that flew out was caught by Jiang Chenyu, and after a few passes, it ended up in Xie Ci's hands.

Xie Ci was tightly guarded, waiting for Gu Yufeng to get into position before passing the ball over.

Gu Yufeng seized the opportunity and jumped to shoot.

As the ball left his hand, noticing Gao Yuan raising his left hand, Gu Yufeng sensed something was wrong. When Gao Yuan's elbow was about to hit his waist, he narrowly avoided it, but when landing, he stepped on Gao Yuan's shoe, unexpectedly twisting his ankle and stumbling backward to the ground.

"Yufeng!"

Xie Ci was the first to rush over, "Did you hurt your foot?"

"Old Gu!"

Zhang Ruochuan and the others' faces changed, gathering around.

Gu Yufeng grabbed Xie Ci's offered hand to stand up, moving his painfully swollen right ankle, "It should be fine."

Xie Ci's face darkened, turning to Gao Yuan, "Did you do that on purpose?"

"He stepped on my foot, I'm more hurt than he is." Gao Yuan was defiant, with a look that said, "I won't admit it, what can you do about it?"

The referee blew the whistle.

"Charging foul!"

After Gu Yufeng scored the free throw, Zhang Ruochuan walked over to him, "Is your foot really okay?"

"It's fine." Gu Yufeng dismissed him casually.

After Zhang Ruochuan left, Xie Ci lowered his voice, "I'll take the lead from now on, you support me."

Gu Yufeng was a bit helpless, "My foot isn't injured."

"It's decided." Xie Ci didn't look back as he went to his position.

Gu Yufeng found it amusing.

In all the years they've known each other, Xie Ci had never been so controlling, never forbidding him from doing something. He always did whatever he wanted, but this felt nice.

After being warned by Xie Ci several times, Gu Yufeng passed the ball over when he got it.

As soon as Xie Ci received the ball, Gao Yuan and the forward named Ah Jian blocked him.

"Old Xie!"

A prompt came from Zhang Ruochuan on the right, but Xie Ci didn't rush to pass, quickly moving and using a fake move to suddenly make an extreme turn, breaking through with the ball.

Gao Yuan turned sharply to block but lost his balance and fell to the ground.

Watching Xie Ci score, Gao Yuan shouted at the referee, "Number 7 on the other team committed a charging foul!"

But the referee didn't call a foul.

Gao Yuan was dissatisfied, but when he saw Xie Ci passing by, the look in his eyes carried a silent warning.

In the next three minutes, Gao Yuan was thrown off by Xie Ci's same breakthrough move four times, the last time twisting his ankle, lying on the ground in pain, unable to get up, angrily pointing at Xie Ci, "He committed a charging foul, why isn't it called?!"

"I didn't even touch you, what did I use to charge?" Xie Ci passed by expressionlessly, "If you can't even stand, you should get off the court and rest."

Gao Yuan couldn't hold on and was carried off on a stretcher in the last two minutes of the game.

With him gone, the sports school fell apart.

In the second half, Yi Zhong was unstoppable, leading with a score of 72:96, winning the league championship without suspense.

In the back row of the stands, Xie Qian listened to the young people cheering and shouting, joining others in standing up and applauding.

In the front row, Gu Yongnian smiled as he dealt with people coming over to congratulate him, but his mind was on whether Gu Yufeng was injured.

The winning team was asked to take a group photo and be interviewed. Jiang Chenyu, in front of the media cameras, kept flipping his hair and posing, insisting they make him look handsome.

Everyone was chatting and laughing, but Xie Ci's gaze never left Gu Yufeng. The other seemed normal, but his mood was low.

After it ended, Zhang Ruochuan and the others dragged their tired bodies back to the locker room, sitting on the bench as soon as they entered, not wanting to get up.

"I'm done for, didn't feel it earlier, but now my legs are so heavy I can't lift them." Jiang Chenyu bent over, covering his head with a towel. If the floor wasn't so cold, he would have laid down.

Zhang Ruochuan: "Who isn't? I can't even hold a water bottle without shaking, my head's buzzing."

Jiang Chenyu: "Isn't Old Gu's stamina pretty good? Why did Old Xie say his endurance isn't great? I saw him keeping up till the end, almost unaffected, easily coordinating with Old Xie, while those bastards on the other side were too tired to catch up."

"Depends on who you're comparing to." Fang Size sat for a while, then got up to change clothes, "Compared to Old Xie, none of us have good endurance."

Mentioning Xie Ci, Jiang Chenyu looked around, "By the way, where's Old Xie? Why hasn't Old Gu come over either?"

Fang Size: "I saw him go to the coach earlier."

In the empty locker room next door, Gu Yufeng sat on the bench, resting for a moment before bending down to untie his shoelaces. When he touched his ankle, it was indeed swollen.

He hadn't felt it when he fell, but the pain had become more noticeable.

Footsteps came from the doorway, and Gu Yufeng looked up to see Xie Ci entering with an ice pack and a medicine kit.

"How did you know I was here?"

"Just a guess."

Xie Ci walked over and sat down, lifting Gu Yufeng's leg onto his lap.

As soon as the sock was removed, the swelling was evident.

Xie Ci pressed around the ankle, confirming there was no bone injury, then wrapped the ice pack in a towel for a cold compress.

Gu Yufeng thought he had hidden it well, fooling Zhang Ruochuan and the others, but Xie Ci still noticed.

His leg rested on Xie Ci's thigh, the ice pack alleviating the swelling and pain in his ankle, not too cold through the two layers of towels, just right. Just like this person, always making him feel comfortable in unexpected ways.

Gu Yufeng leaned sideways, his back against the wall behind him, "You won't talk to me, but you're quick to twist my leg."

Xie Ci: "…Even with an injured foot, you can still flirt?"

Gu Yufeng made small talk, "When they get injured, do you handle it like this too? Putting their leg on your lap?"

Xie Ci: "No, their feet stink, it hurts my eyes."

Gu Yufeng was amused, "So my feet don't stink?"

Xie Ci: "Don't remind me."

Gu Yufeng: "…"

The phone beside him vibrated, and Xie Ci saw it was his dad, Xie Qian, and answered it.

"Dad?"

Xie Qian's voice came from the other end.

"Do you have any activities after you're done? Want to go back together?"

Xie Ci glanced at Gu Yufeng and replied, "You guys go home first, I have something to do."

Gu Yufeng noticed his gaze and added, "I'm fine here, if you have something to do, go ahead."

Xie Ci ignored him, ending the call after speaking.

"Just a minor injury, making a fuss over nothing."

Gu Yufeng said this, but he was in a good mood, "By the way, what were you saying about me often stopping midway?"

Xie Ci remembered his slip of the tongue, almost revealing his secret identity, and seeing Gu Yufeng staring at him, unwilling to let it go without an explanation, he quickly made something up, "You slow down during your morning runs."

Gu Yufeng thought, nice save, and leaned closer, "Since the game is over, shouldn't you pay the balance?"

Xie Ci: "…"

Yesterday, they had decided last minute to have Gu Yufeng help, and as payment, Xie Ci owed him two forehead flicks. One was already done yesterday as an advance payment.

Thinking about how hard this guy worked for the game, Xie Ci resignedly turned his head, "Be gentle."

Gu Yufeng chuckled, "You can beg for mercy?"

Xie Ci: "After you flicked me yesterday, my forehead was swollen all night."

Gu Yufeng: "Nonsense, I only used fifty percent of my strength."

Xie Ci was shocked, "You hit that hard, I might get a concussion."

Gu Yufeng laughed, "I'm not using some super finger technique."

Xie Ci urged, "Hurry up."

Gu Yufeng raised his hand to his forehead but didn't flick it. Instead, he traced from his temple to his jawline, lightly scratching his earlobe with his fingertips, "Since you said that, how could I bear to flick you? How about we settle it in a gentler way?"

Xie Ci dodged his hand, sensing it wasn't a proper method, and was about to refuse when Gu Yufeng continued, "How about you kiss me, and we'll call it even?"

Xie Ci: "…"

Outside, Fang Size came looking for them. The game was over, and there was nothing left for them to do, so they could leave.

After this game, everyone was tired and hungry, planning to have a good meal together for lunch.

He looked around and saw Gu Yufeng and Xie Ci in the next locker room.

Just as he was about to knock and enter, he saw Gu Yufeng lean in and touch Xie Ci's face, and Fang Size paused, quickly stepping back.

Did those two just kiss?!