During the day's competition, everyone had noticed a girl at the Zhuji Middle School coach's bench. However, their initial reaction was that she was a female teacher or coach, as female head coaches had previously led teams in national competitions. Furthermore, the distance between the stands and the player's bench made it difficult to see the girl's face clearly. When they saw Zhang Tian'ai's true appearance in the hotel restaurant, these players were unsettled. Upon learning further that Zhang Tian'ai was Zhuji Middle School's "team manager," they all demanded that their own teams establish a similar position!
"No wonder Zhuji Middle School is so strong; they have a secret weapon..."
"If our team also had such a beautiful manager, I would train hard and strive with all my might..."
"Strongly request that our school's most beautiful girl be brought to the basketball team..."
"The problem is, does the prettiest girl in our school like basketball? What if she likes soccer?"
"Chase her until she likes basketball..."
"What if you can't win her over?"
"Can't win her over? Then find another girl of similar beauty and chase her..."
What Zhuji Middle School didn't anticipate was that although the basketball team had become the star of the East District finals through their own strength, the attention had shifted due to Zhang Tian'ai's presence. Even Zhuji Middle School's sudden rise to prominence was attributed to Zhang Tian'ai, rather than the players' own hard work or the coaches' diligent guidance...
The few media reporters present, whose initial objective was to capture the players' brilliant moments, all turned their cameras towards Zhang Tian'ai at the Zhuji Middle School coach's bench...
"Chinese Akagi Haruko" "Zhejiang version of Joey Wong" "Zhuji City Basketball Sister"...
Multiple media outlets, when reporting on Zhuji Middle School's achievements, dedicated large sections to Zhang Tian'ai's on-court photos, while the game information was briefly mentioned, and not a single photo of the players was included...
How could the players of Zhuji Middle School get any justice for this?
Some bold players even bought paper and pens overnight to write love letters and slipped them under the doors of the rooms on Zhuji Middle School's floor.
However, their intelligence seemed to be flawed, as most of the love letters were slipped into the rooms of He Ximeng and Cui Tianci.
Cui Pangzi was furious and was about to stuff these "digging the wall" love letters into the bathroom trash can, but He Ximeng stopped him.
"After all, they were written to Tian'ai. It's better for her to handle these letters herself..."
Cui Tianci reluctantly knocked on Zhang Tian'ai's door.
"How is it? Is Ximeng unhappy?" Zhang Tian'ai asked Cui Pangzi anxiously.
"Not particularly unhappy, and not particularly happy either..." Cui Tianci whispered, "He seems indifferent..."
"That's impossible! Doesn't he feel any sense of crisis?"
"Seems not... He's been studying the game footage of Nanmo Middle School..."
"Hmm... it looks like it's not enough... I see, thank you, Tianci, you are a good person..."
Cui Pangzi was loyal to He Ximeng, but when it came to Zhang Tian'ai, he enjoyed betraying He Ximeng's information, endlessly...
The second day of the competition arrived, and Zhuji Middle School played first in the morning, against Wuxi Furen Middle School, led by Zhong Shijie.
Furen Middle School had a poor start to the group stage. Yesterday, they were thoroughly dominated by Da Yao and Liu Wei against Nanmo Middle School, and in the afternoon, they were outplayed by Gong Xiaobin of Weifang No. 1 Middle School, who was eager to bounce back from their loss to Zhuji Middle School...
Zhong Shijie had originally planned to make a splash in this year's national competition and contend for the title of China's strongest high school student. However, two consecutive opening losses, and such decisive defeats, greatly damaged Zhong Shijie's confidence. But it also made him realize how ridiculous his previous mindset was, like a frog in a well thinking that being number one in his province meant being number one nationwide...
China is vast, and there are countless talented individuals. The basketball world is no different.
After a night of reflection, Zhong Shijie gained a transformative insight. He let go of his obsessions, his desire to win or lose, and his mindset of gain and loss. Instead, he played a rare, brilliant game against Zhuji Middle School!
As the game began, facing Zhuji Middle School's strategy of guarding the inside, Zhong Shijie chose to open up the offense with his three-point shooting ability!
In the previous two games, Zhong Shijie's scoring ability was mainly through drives and assists after driving.
This is why He Ximeng had Yan Hui and Zhang Zhenpeng shrink the inside defense at the start of this game.
Unexpectedly, Zhong Shijie went against the grain, not following his head coach's pre-game arrangement, and took decisive shots from beyond the three-point line!
Whether it was Zhong Shijie's decisiveness that led to a hot hand, or a hot hand that led to Zhong Shijie becoming more decisive, within the first four minutes of the game, Zhong Shijie was three of four from three-point range, leading Furen Middle School to dominate Zhuji Middle School...
Meanwhile, Zhuji Middle School, after winning two games yesterday, started off with an off-hand today. Despite getting opportunities, the basket seemed to be taunting them...
"This... did Zhuji Middle School get lucky winning the two games yesterday?"
"Yesterday, we thought Furen Middle School was a weakling... Now it seems they're not bad either... especially the guard number 27..."
"Don't underestimate Furen's number 27. It's said he's from the island province, a king-level player there..."
"After all, they are all teams that have broken through from their respective provinces. None of them are easy opponents."
Zhong Shijie's outstanding performance sparked a wave of discussion in the audience.
What was initially expected to be a one-sided victory for Zhuji Middle School was now leaning towards a close match between the two teams.
"What should we do? Ximeng, aren't we making any adjustments?"
On the Zhuji Middle School bench, head coach Zhang Yide continued to cross his arms and feign deep thought. Cui Tianci had gone to group B to film footage. Zhang Tian'ai was He Ximeng's fan, always believing He Ximeng's judgment was infallible. Zhang Zhenpeng and Chen Feng, the two who usually questioned He Ximeng the most, were struggling on the court. On the bench, a few substitute players were anxious but hesitant to ask.
Finally, Ming Hanfei, relying on his status as an old teammate and his unpredictable nature, spoke to He Ximeng. While it was a question, it was also a subtle reminder to He Ximeng, asking if adjustments should be made. The current situation on the court was not optimistic...
He Ximeng first looked up at the timer and calmly said, "Let's wait a bit longer..."
As he spoke, He Ximeng suddenly remembered something and turned to look at his own players' bench...