Chasing You Like a Tenacious Falcon

Zhuge Ying had been in a terrible mood these past two days, easily triggered by the smallest things.

Kong Mingze didn’t dare go play basketball anymore because Lu Qin was always there. Every time she saw him, she would call him over to play, and he was afraid of upsetting the class monitor, so he avoided her.

He was so tired of hiding!

Lu Qin seemed oblivious to his reluctance. Once, she even came to Class 1 to call Kong Mingze to play basketball.

Kong Mingze didn’t dare!

Zhuge Ying, sitting in the front row, was practically glaring daggers at him!

On the third day after school, Lu Qin came to find Kong Mingze again: “Kong Mingze, want to play basketball?”n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

Zhuge Ying was expressionlessly packing her bag, exuding a chilling aura.

Kong Mingze awkwardly declined, “Sorry, I’m not playing, haha.”

Lu Qin was puzzled, “Why? Don’t you play every day?”

Zhuge Ying sneered, “You’ve only been at Liang Secondary School for ten days. How do you know he plays every day? He hasn’t been to the basketball court in the past three days, has he?”

Lu Qin smiled and explained, “Sorry, he played the other day, so I thought he played every day.”

At that moment, Quan Zhisui was about to leave school with her backpack.

Lu Qin suddenly called out to Wei Shixu, “Wei Shixu, want to play basketball?”

Immediately, Zhuge Ying, Kong Mingze, and Quan Zhisui all turned to look at her.

Lu Qin, as if oblivious to their gazes, smiled brightly and enthusiastically at Wei Shixu, “The first basketball court I ever played on was built by your grandfather!”

Wei Shixu glanced at the others and asked, “Want to play basketball, Quan Zhisui?”

Zhuge Ying was on the verge of exploding! Wei Shixu, are you really planning to play basketball with her? And even bringing Quan Zhisui along?

Kong Mingze also didn’t understand Wei Shixu’s actions, but he could sense Zhuge Ying’s anger. So, he kept his head down, staring at his toes, pretending to be mute.

He might be clueless, but he knew when to stay quiet.

Quan Zhisui glanced at Wei Shixu, then at Zhuge Ying.

“Alright, let’s play basketball,” she said, putting down her backpack.

Wei Shixu also took off his jacket and walked out, his eyes shining, “I want to see you dunk.”

Lu Qin couldn’t help but comment, “Dunking requires a lot of jumping power. She’s not even 1.7 meters tall, right? She can’t dunk.”

Wei Shixu just smiled without responding.

Quan Zhisui gave Lu Qin a strange look.

Lu Qin met her gaze with a smile.

When they arrived at the basketball court, Quan Zhisui started her warm-up routine, stretching and loosening her muscles, something she always did before any physical activity.

Meanwhile, Wei Shixu made a phone call, and soon a pair of basketball shoes arrived. They were professional basketball shoes, the best Quan Zhisui had ever seen.

They could be called battle boots!

Wei Shixu glanced at the thin-soled cloth shoes she usually wore and said, “You can’t play basketball in cloth shoes.”

Quan Zhisui didn’t refuse. She changed into the new shoes and took off her jacket.

Unlike her usual stance, the cloth shoes her master had made for her really weren’t suitable for basketball or any running or jumping sports—they were too hard on her feet.

With the new shoes on, Quan Zhisui’s height suddenly surpassed 1.7 meters.

Actually, before she left the mountain, she was 1.675 meters tall, and she had grown a bit more in the past few months. But because she always wore thin-soled cloth shoes, it wasn’t noticeable.

Her master said she could still grow taller, that she would keep growing until she was 20, as long as she drank more milk and got plenty of sunlight!

In the distance, Lu Qin was also warming up. She kept a smile on her face, but there was something hidden in the occasional glances she cast their way.

An invisible tension hung over the basketball court!

Under the hoop, several male classmates noticed the two girls preparing to play, and their eyes lit up, though most of their attention was on Lu Qin.

“Lu Qin’s playing basketball again?”

“Wow! Can you hit some three-pointers today?”

“You’re so cool when you play basketball, Lu Qin! No wonder you’re an athlete!”

After three consecutive days of playing basketball, Lu Qin had become quite famous and popular here.

Zhuge Ying didn’t play basketball, but she was fuming, so she pushed Kong Mingze forward, “Go! Play basketball! You’re going up there too, and you better play hard!”

Kong Mingze was trembling but forced himself to step forward.

Lu Qin, looking at Quan Zhisui, who was half a head shorter than her, suggested, “Since we have enough people, how about a small game? Three-on-three?”

Everyone agreed.

Lu Qin added, “One girl on each team, so it’s fair. And let’s not be too strict with the rules since you’re not professionals.”

Kong Mingze immediately declared, “I’m on Quan Zhisui’s team.”

No way was he teaming up with Lu Qin—Zhuge Ying would twist his ear off!

Wei Shixu also smiled and said, “I’m with Quan Zhisui.”

Lu Qin was taken aback but then smiled, “Are you sure you don’t want to be on my team? You’ll lose, you know!”

From what she knew, Wei Shixu was someone with a strong competitive streak.

Wei Shixu didn’t respond, his smile enigmatic.

In any case, Kong Mingze didn’t care about winning or losing; he just wanted to be on Quan Zhisui’s team. After declaring his allegiance, he stood behind her like a guardian.

And so, Lu Qin stood flanked by two tall senior boys, their height and presence imposing.

Behind Quan Zhisui stood Wei Shixu and Kong Mingze, two tall figures and one shorter one, creating a somewhat comical sight.

Zhuge Ying found a bench by the court, sat down, crossed her legs, and folded her arms, her face dark.

The three-on-three game was played on half the court, sharing one hoop, and they only played for half the usual time because Quan Zhisui had to go home to do her homework.

They flipped a coin to decide who would start with the ball, and Kong Mingze’s hand shook as he tossed it.

When the coin landed, Lu Qin smiled, “Sorry, my team gets the ball.”

With the basketball in her hands, the moment the whistle blew, she dribbled toward the hoop.

Today, she wasn’t going for a three-pointer—she wanted to try a dunk!

The hoop was three meters high, and without significant jumping power, attempting a dunk was out of the question. For women, dunking was especially rare.

But Lu Qin wanted to show off. Out of ten attempts, she might succeed once.

Why not today?

Her dribbling was textbook-perfect, her strides long and powerful as she sprinted toward the hoop. She leaped with all her might!

But just as she was about to reach the hoop, her body began to descend. Once again, she couldn’t jump high enough.

As a professional city team basketball player, she had excellent reflexes and quickly adjusted her strategy, deciding to shoot instead.

From this distance, scoring was easy!

But just as Lu Qin thought her two points were secured…

Someone suddenly appeared beside her!

At first, Lu Qin was stunned. How could someone appear mid-air like that?

In the next moment, that person soared past her, jumping two heads higher than she had.

It was Quan Zhisui!

How did she—?

Lu Qin: “!!!”

Then, she watched as Quan Zhisui grabbed the ball she had just shot.

Lu ​​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌‌​​​​‌‌​​​​‌​​‌‌​‌‌​​‌‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​​‌​‌​​‌‌​​​​​​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌‌​​‌‌​​‌‌‌​​‌​​‌‌​​​‌​​‌‌​‌​​​​‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌​‌​​​​‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌‌​​‌‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​​‌‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​​‌‌​​​‌​​‌‌‌​​​‍Qin panicked. A block!

But then, she realized the ball hadn’t been knocked away as she expected.

It was still in Quan Zhisui’s hands!

She performed a mid-air dribble!

With her left hand, she snatched the ball and quickly passed it to her right hand, her movements so fast they left an arc-like afterimage!

Then, she drove the ball past the hoop—

Boom!

A spectacular dunk!!