In Gezhouba No. 6 Middle School, students of all grades are talking about this national league. After winning all three games in the group and easily winning the first place in the group, the school's sports department specially made a special issue on the publicity board, which introduced the new school team's "fine" color performance in the league.

At that time, there was no Internet, and many students in the sixth middle school had limited sources of information, so when they saw the scores of each game, many students couldn't help but let out a burst of exclamation. Yang Cong, who averaged nearly 40 points per game, once again became the focus of the whole school, and of course, Wang Zhiwen and Liu Junfeng also became the pride of the sixth class of the second year of high school.

In the classroom of the first class of high school, although the review for the college entrance examination was very nervous, some people talked about the basketball league.

"They played really well," Hou Yankun held a newspaper and said with envy in his tone.

"What newspaper are you reading?" Zhang Hao walked over, and his attention was also attracted to the past.

"Yichang Daily, there is actually a special report on the team of No. 6 Middle School," Hou Yankun was obviously surprised, "This time even the mainstream media attaches so much importance to the national league." It seems that their performance really caught everyone's eye. ”

Zhang Hao said with a smile: "Wang Zhiwen, they have a long way to go, see if they can break the embarrassing record of Yichang City." ”

"What embarrassing record?" Hou Yankun joined the school team not long ago, but has not participated in the national league.

"In the past, it was all one place to qualify, that is, the first middle school in the city. We all call them insiders in the civil war, and outsiders in the foreign war," Zhang Hao was a little funny when he thought about it, "because after qualifying from Yichang City, he will have to play a district-level knockout round." The country is divided into four regions, and Hubei Province is one of them...... Central China? Isn't it, Xu Jian? ”

Xu Jian, who was immersed in reviewing his homework next to him, shook his head: "Don't ask me, the geography is all back to the teacher." ”

"In short, there are four or five provinces in a district, and there are about 36 school teams participating in the competition, and this year's quota has increased, I'm afraid it has reached 72 or more," Zhang Hao explained, "The competition system is the knockout round, so that you can qualify for the top two in the district all the way to the national quarterfinals." ”

"Yes, at least an eighth place." Hou Yankun said.

Xu Jian suddenly 'interjected' and said: "There may be changes to the competition system this year, and even the quota has changed so much. ”

"Yes," Zhang Hao said, "I'm talking about the old format. Speaking of the first middle school in the city, to be honest, their strength is not weak, even if you look at it nationwide, I think at least they should be able to break through the first round of the competition! But their luck was so bad, when they weren't very strong before, they couldn't pass the first round. Later, his strength increased, but his luck was poor, and he 'draw' a group of ...... with Xiangfan No. 4 Middle School for two consecutive years."

Xu Jian, who has always been unsmiling, couldn't help but smile.

"City No. 1 Middle School is really unlucky, the 'draw' can be 'drawn' to the same opponent in a row," Zhang Hao also smiled, "It's really the will of heaven in the dark, let them go home in the first round." ”

"Xiangfan No. 4 Middle School?" Hou Yankun muttered, "It sounds 'quite familiar'." ”

"Xiangfan No. 4 Middle School is the first in the district every year," Xu Jian suddenly put down the pen in his hand, looked out the window and said, "They are frequent visitors to the top eight of the national league, and they have won the championship twice and the runner-up twice in history, and they are a well-deserved super strong team in the high school basketball world." They have represented China in Europe and the United States against foreign high school teams. ”

Hou Yankun gasped: "'Milk' and 'milk', this is too powerful." ”

Zhang Hao nodded and said with admiration: "There are many players in Xiangfan No. 4 Middle School who play professional basketball, and some even go overseas, and there are countless players who serve as the main players in the teams of various key universities. When it comes to Xiangfan No. 4 Middle School, there is no one who doesn't give a thumbs up. ”

Hou Yankun couldn't help but feel sympathy for Yichang No. 1 Middle School, "They ...... Played the first round with Xiangfan No. 4 Middle School in two consecutive 'draws', that ...... It's really earth-shattering bad luck! ”

Zhang Hao said with a smile: "It is best for our school to mobilize all students and collectively pray that Wang Zhiwen and his team will not be 'drawn' to Xiangfan No. 4 Middle School, otherwise, they will die a miserable death." If there is no 'drawing', it is not only the honor of our school, but also the honor of Yichang City. ”

"Not so unlucky." Hou Yankun said, "There are more than 70 teams, and the chance of 1 in 70 is so easy to encounter!" ”

"I wish I could." Xu Jian sighed and began to study again.

Hou Yankun grimaced and whispered: "It's all your fault, if you were willing to show your real skills at the beginning, you wouldn't necessarily lose that game at the beginning, if you win, we will be the ones who enter the national league." ”

Zhang Hao smiled: "What are you talking about?" Let's study and prepare for the exam! ”

Hou Yankun shrugged his shoulders and staggered back to his seat, his eyes still fixed on the newspaper in his hand.

Zhang Hao looked at the smoke rising from the window and said in a low voice: "I have a strange premonition, Wang Zhiwen and they will definitely run into Xiangfan No. 4 Middle School." Alas, heaven does not fulfill people's wishes! ”

Xu Jian thought for a while, shook his head, and a smile appeared on the corner of his mouth.

***************

September 18, 1996, noon.

The Rangers were warming up in the gymnasium, and as usual, they were divided into two groups, four against four in half. Zhang Pingya just told them to save their physical strength for the game, and then stood aside and watched silently. He is completely different from his father, and probably doesn't have the time and strength to come up with a detailed training plan, only stepping on watermelon peels and sneaking wherever he goes. Now when we talk about training, we are all doing useless work.

The rangers do warm-ups, but in fact, they are all giggling, fighting, and not really fighting. Cheng Fei always likes to play all kinds of actions when warming up, especially likes to imitate Liu Junfeng and Wang Zhiwen's movements, which makes everyone laugh.

A rush of footsteps rang out in the arena.

"Teacher Wang!" Cheng Fei turned around and found that it was Wang Baojiang who came over.

Mr. Wang's face was filled with joy, and he said excitedly: "It's settled, great, great!" ”

Zhang Pingya also smiled: "Are we facing the enemy at home?" ”

Wang Baojiang laughed: "Yes, the venue is always uncertain, so we always run around." Just now, there was news from above, asking the Yiling High School team to come to our Geliu to play the game. That's good for us! ”

"That's great news!" Zhang Pingya also said happily, "But it should have been like this, the team that won the first place in the group had to enjoy certain privileges." The league system in the United States is based on this principle. ”

"We can finally enjoy the home treatment again!" Deng Liang couldn't help but revel in the applause and cheers of the first game.

"I'm going to inform the homeroom teachers of each class that the students will have a holiday in the afternoon, so all of them will come over and cheer!" Wang Baojiang patted his head, turned around and left, turning back and saying as he walked, "Hurry up and warm up, you must win this game!" ”

"Yes!" The Rangers shouted in unison.

Cheng Fei said: "I'll call Yu Yang." With that, he left the venue.

At this point, it was still early, with three hours to go. Cheng Fei walked to the commissary in a nervous mood. He was already familiar with Yu Yang's phone number, and he couldn't remember how many times he dialed it. But that was the old days of chatting with Yu Jing. This time, if it was Yu Jing who answered the phone, what should he say? Could it be that you just say that you want to find Yu Yang?

Yu Jing hadn't come to class for more than a week, what had happened to her?

Thinking about it, Cheng Fei walked to the commissary. He nervously dialed Yu Jing's phone, and the sound of "beep-beep-" in the receiver shook his heart. When there was a "click" over there and someone picked up the phone, Cheng Fei's heart even rose to his throat.

"Hey—" A hoarse voice came from the other end of the phone.

Obviously, the owner of the voice is older, so it shouldn't be Yu Jing. Probably her mother. In this way, Cheng Fei couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief and regained his composure: "Hello, is Yu Yang at home?" ”

The voice over there suddenly breathed rapidly: "Cheng...... Cheng Fei! ”

Cheng Fei was immediately stunned, and his mind went blank. It was Yu Jing's voice, how could it be so hoarse, so old, so tired, that he didn't even hear it at first. Has she been at home all these days?

"I'm Cheng Fei," Cheng Fei said slowly with a bitter tone, "Is it Yu Jing?" ”

"Well," Yu Jing on the other end of the phone cried, "You haven't called for a long time......

A warm current surged into Cheng Fei's heart, and a kind of self-blame and guilt occupied his heart. Cheng Fei opened his mouth and stammered, and stopped talking.

"I ...... I'm really sorry," Yu Jing said, "Ever since I ...... 'communicated' with you, I was always worried that something would happen that day. Finally...... Or did it happen, I don't know how to deal with you......"

"You mean Hu Liang?" Cheng Fei said the name calmly.

"Yes......"

"You may know," Cheng Fei said lightly, "the last time we went to the city No. 4 Middle School to play, Hu Liang was on the basketball team. We defeated them, and we almost fought with Hu Liang. He didn't specifically bring up the previous fight, nor did he say that Hu Liang came to him on purpose, it sounded as normal as a clash between the two teams. But Yu Jing should be able to understand the meaning of this.

Yu Jing was silent for a long time before she said, "Hu Liang...... Is it a basketball team? ”

This time Cheng Fei was taken aback: "You don't know? ”

Cheng Fei felt Yu Jing shaking her head over there, and she said, "I don't know...... I had no idea he played basketball. It seems like there's such a thing, but I've never seen it, and I've never cared if he's playing basketball......"

Yu Jing's indifference to Hu Liang actually made Cheng Fei feel a different kind of relief and joy. But this feeling soon disappeared, because Yu Jing's 'interaction' with Hu Liang was obviously not on the basketball court, but in the bar and dance hall, in the darkest and dirtiest part of the city......

At least, that's what the simple Cheng Fei thinks. His thoughts were complicated for a moment, and he didn't know what to say.

"We ......" Yu Jing was silent for a long time, and then said, "We still ...... Don't be together......"

Like a bolt from the blue, this sentence came so suddenly, but so naturally. During this time, Cheng Fei has made all kinds of worst-case plans, and rehearsed all the heartbreaking words and scenes when meeting or talking to Yu Jing. But when this sentence came out of Yu Jing's mouth plainly, Cheng Fei suddenly fell into an indescribable emotion.

Dull, silent, heavy.

Cheng Fei wanted to ask, wanted to 'figure out' the ins and outs of Yu Jing and Hu Liang, and also wanted to 'figure out' Yu Jing's true feelings about their feelings. However, all the words came to his lips and he swallowed them back silently.

"Oh, I see." Cheng Fei's voice was terrifyingly calm, "Is Yu Yang at home?" ”

"No, he's busy with business, I'll help you contact him." Yu Jing said.

"Okay," Cheng Fei said, "Ge Liu's gymnasium, please come over at four o'clock in the afternoon to watch the game." ”

"Are you going to qualify this time?" Yu Jing asked.

Cheng Fei was silent for a long time, and said in response: "Thank you." Then he gently hung up the phone, dropped the coin, and walked towards the basketball hall without looking back. He walked slowly, slowly, as teardrops the size of beans slipped down his cheeks, and his mood was surprisingly calm, but the tears were uncontrollable.

Cheng Fei raised his head and let the 'bright' sun at the end of summer evaporate his tears, evaporate all memories, and all the past of 'spring'.

****************

At half past three in the afternoon, a school bus from Yiling High School drove into Gezhouba No. 6 Middle School, surrounded by thousands of students, and the players of the Yiling High School team entered the school. At this time, hundreds of students also gathered in the stadium, which was packed.

Yu Yang also came to the field on time, this time Wang Lexiao reporter did not follow, in Yu Yang's words, he "defected***" and went to the competition field of Yichang No. 1 Middle School. Yu Yang didn't seem to know about Yu Jing's matter, and he didn't mention anything to Cheng Fei in particular.

Cheng Fei and the others changed into orange and red 'color' jerseys and made their debut, which immediately set off a wave of cheers. In the minds of Ge Liu's students, especially the freshmen and sophomores, the Rangers have undoubtedly become admired basketball stars, and their influence is far greater than that of the regular school team.

Each class in the second year of high school even has a special 'door' cheerleader to cheer them on as a part of the Rangers!

Over there, the Yiling High School team wore light green 'color' jerseys, and after a little warm-up, the referee announced that the game was about to start at four o'clock. The two sides replaced the substitute players, and Zhang Pingya sent an even stranger lineup: point guard Cheng Fei, point guard Zhang Yulai, double small forwards Yang Cong and Wang Zhiwen, and center Deng Liang. Apparently, he was also trying to unearth the Rangers' abilities and performance in various positions.

The starting five tigers of the Yiling High School varsity team are the homework that the Rangers have done a long time ago: point guard Tang Chi, point guard Liu Rui, small front Chen Zhuo, big front Huang Xiao, center Yin Zuobin. Their height is relatively ordinary, and according to Wang Le's report, they are also a team that is good at playing fast attack, and the rhythm of attack and defense changes quickly.

When these two teams play against each other, it depends on who has the fastest fast attack.

Wang Baojiang also judged from this that the Rangers could easily win the Yiling High School varsity. Because the Rangers are basically not afraid of any team that is good at fast break so far, and that's what they use to drag down the opponent. Even a strong opponent like the Thirteenth Middle School fell at the feet of Ge Liu, and Yiling High School was naturally nothing.

However, Zhang Pingya's arrangement surprised Wang Baojiang.

A whistle sounded, the basketball flew into the air, Deng Liang and Yin Zuobin jumped up at the same time, their height difference was only 3 centimeters, but because Deng Liang's bounce power far exceeded the other party, the ball was directly grabbed by Wang Zhiwen.

Wang Zhiwen held the ball, just dribbled twice, and suddenly realized that he was not a point guard. He smiled wryly and passed the ball to Cheng Fei.

Although Cheng Fei used to play the role of point guard, he was just a little better at controlling the ball and could dribble the ball across the half court. At the time, the general understanding of the point guard was like this. Cheng Fei naturally knew that Zhang Pingya asked him to play point guard, definitely not just to bring the ball across the half court.

The rangers ran quite jerkyly, except for Deng Liang and Yang Cong, everyone else changed positions, and they were at a loss for a while.

Cheng Fei dribbled the ball in front of the opposing point guard Tang Chi and looked at the situation in the front court. Tang Chi, who is 1.73 meters tall, is shorter than Wang Zhiwen, and when he saw Cheng Fei, who is 1.78 meters tall, acting as a point guard, he couldn't help but secretly complain. But being short also has the advantage of being short, and he leans down and is ready to break the ball at any moment.

Cheng Fei passed the ball to Zhang Yulai, Zhang Yulai hesitated for a moment, and then passed it back.

Wang Baojiang's corner of his eyes suddenly caught a glimpse of what Zhang Pingya was looking for in his bag, he looked back and found that Zhang Pingya actually took out a beautiful and smooth board, and then took out a few chess pieces from a flannel bag, engraved with Arabic numerals from 1 to 5, and took out a thick pen.

On that board, it was a microcosm of the entire stadium.

Zhang Pingya watched Cheng Fei's movements carefully, and then wrote something in a small notebook, all of which were in English, and they were in some kind of abbreviated form, and Wang Baojiang couldn't understand it at all. He was too embarrassed to ask.

Cheng Fei dribbled the ball and actually made three crotch dribbling movements in a row. This set of gorgeous and dazzling actions immediately attracted the cheers of the audience!

Tang Chi, who was in the opposite position, snorted coldly, in his opinion, dribbling under the crotch is just a flashy action, which is not only difficult to break through, but will bring trouble to the dribbler. He saw the opportunity and reached out directly to steal!

Unexpectedly, the moment Cheng Fei made his move, the movement of his hand suddenly accelerated, and the acceleration of just 0.1 seconds was enough to make Tang Chi pounce. At the same time, Cheng Fei's crotch changed hands and immediately shook him off, and the whole person rushed into the front court with the ball!

Seeing this, Chen Zhuo, who was defending Yang Cong, hurriedly made up for his defense, and Tang Chi also quickly turned around and followed.

Cheng Fei smiled slightly, turned around, turned his back to the direction of the basket, didn't look at it, and threw the basketball in his hand straight back!

The strangeness of this pass was completely unexpected by the Yiling players.

At this time, an orange-red 'colored' figure swept into *** and flew straight up!