“I heard that young people these days are all on that... Baribari. What’s on there? Can you teach me?”
There are cat videos, but I won’t tell you.
The old man joked a bit more. Seeing that Li Zheng didn’t even lift his head, he could only smile wryly and give up.
Li Zheng quickly forgot about him as well. While reading, he also observed the recovery rate.
The vitality recovery speed was dynamic.
For example, even if it was the same activity of flirting, the values for Lin Yujing and Sun Xiubin were completely different.
Likewise, based on the novel Li Zheng was currently reading, there were subtle differences in the recovery speed.
Simply put, reading novels he enjoyed would recover faster, up to a maximum of 1.7.
Those dull and incomprehensible moaning-style literary works would recover much slower, as low as 1.2.
From this, it could be seen that the recovery effect was positively correlated with his subjective experience.
No matter what kind of relaxation it was, or how he spent Game Coins to level up skills, liking it more and being more invested was the top priority.
Just as he was thinking, the sound of a basketball bouncing echoed from the hallway.
A chubby figure flashed past the doorway.
But soon, he doubled back and glared at Li Zheng, saying:
“Still here?”
Sparse hair and heavy stubble—clearly only seventeen, yet looked thirty-seven.
It was Liu Xin.
“Relaxing a bit, reading some light novels.”
Li Zheng shook the magazine and asked,
“Class over?”
“Yeah, Teacher Hu was suddenly in a good mood and let us go home early.”
Liu Xin spun the basketball with a grin, then called to classmates catching up from behind.
“Heavenly anomaly! Even Li Zheng is relaxing—our basketball team is going to win!”
A tall boy leapt over and snatched the basketball, smiling at Li Zheng.
“It really is you. You call this relaxing? Come on, come on—play ball with us.”
That speaker was the class president, Jiang Qinghua. He was the type of model student who was well-rounded in morality, intelligence, physical ability, aesthetics, and labor. Though he ranked third academically in the class, he was far more active than the top two in every other aspect.
Seeing Jiang Qinghua invite Li Zheng, Liu Xin quickly snatched the basketball back.
“He’s never played before. Don’t drag him into this.”
“Hey, we’re short on players today. We can’t even form full teams.”
Jiang Qinghua gestured toward Li Zheng with his lips.
“Come on, you’ll get the hang of it as you play.”
But Liu Xin frowned and asked:
“The tournament is next week. Why aren’t Chen Sen and Zhao Yonghui here practicing?”
“Seems like there’s a new mobile game out. They’ve been chatting about it all day, rushing to some spot to draw cards.”
Jiang Qinghua urged,
“What do you say, Li Zheng? If you’re in, come quickly.”
“Stop pushing him. He even skips gym class—he’s one step away from applying for a medical exemption.”
Liu Xin was about to leave.
“I’m coming.”
But Li Zheng was already packing his bag.
“Ah???”
Liu Xin froze.
“Nice, nice—we’ve got a new team member.”
Jiang Qinghua laughed heartily.
“We’ll be on the court, Li Zheng. Hurry up.”
After borrowing two magazines, Li Zheng retrieved his student card and didn’t dare glance at the old man again before hurrying after the two toward the sports field.
Even though school had ended long ago, the basketball courts were still packed. Every hoop was surrounded by crowds.
Playing basketball—a relaxation activity that Li Zheng had always been eager to try but lacked the courage to face.
After all, he had only ever bounced a basketball during PE class. His personal skill level was terrible, even worse than some of the girls.
By rights, he was only qualified to hug a ball and practice shooting alone in some empty corner.
But the problem was—basketball courts were always packed.
If you wanted to play, you had to engage in team matches.
With his skill level, forcing his way onto the court would only lead to a complete beatdown. The vitality recovery would most likely be negative.
Therefore, the reasonable strategy was—
To cling to stronger teammates.
Though Liu Xin was chubby, he was agile.
On the court, he was a heavy armor agility-type player—barging around while dribbling. People were terrified of brushing against him. Just a slight bump would smear them with oily sweat, disgusting enough that it was hard to wash off.
As a result, his breakthrough success rate was quite high.
As for Jiang Qinghua, he was the class’s basketball prince. Though not good enough for the school team, he was more than capable of handling schoolyard games.
By joining these two powerhouses, all Li Zheng had to do was run around diligently, pass the ball often, and quietly follow the rhythm of the game.
Mm. Adopting a support mindset and walking the road to victory with the team—it seemed like a decent form of relaxation too.
The three made their way to the court’s edge.
There were more people than usual today—probably because of next week’s school basketball tournament.
Jiang Qinghua dribbled behind his back to warm up while scanning the area.
Eight hoops. Eight half-courts. Crowds of people.
Choosing where to go was a skill in itself.
The school’s basketball courts were always full and had too few hoops. A single hoop almost never hosted just two teams.
Usually, three or four teams would crowd together to receive signal.
Winners stayed on the court; losers rested while the next team stepped up. The cycle repeated.
Thus, strong teams could dominate the court and play continuously.
Weaker teams would be quickly defeated and have to wait ten or twenty minutes, maybe even half an hour, for their next chance.
“Don’t rush…”
Jiang Qinghua dribbled and scanned the area.
“Let’s find a weak court and try to win nonstop.”
“Looks like only two teams on this one.”
Liu Xin pointed to the nearest court.
“No good. They’re all seniors. I’ve played them before—they’re rough.”
Jiang Qinghua gestured toward Li Zheng.
“They’d knock Li Zheng flat.”
Upon hearing this, Li Zheng clutched his ribs and shrank back a little.
That wouldn’t do.
Though his body could recover, study time, once lost, would never return.
He absolutely couldn’t take risks just for the sake of relaxation.
Looking at that bunch of wild kids on the court, Li Zheng suddenly felt a little hesitant.
Just then, two clearly young and delicate girls appeared from who-knows-where and cautiously approached Jiang Qinghua’s side.
“Brother, we’ve been waiting for you forever.”
“Hurry, hurry, my phone’s fully charged—just waiting to record!”
These two rather cute girls were likely first-year students.
By the looks of it, they came to watch Jiang Qinghua play basketball every day.
Calling him "brother," probably acting as honorary little sisters or something.
Li Zheng felt a bit of regret.
First year was supposed to be a fresh start—a time to lay the foundation.
Obsessing over watching basketball? What a shame.
As soon as the two junior girls appeared, Liu Xin instinctively drifted over to Li Zheng’s side.
He scratched his head, forced an awkward smile, and looked visibly uncomfortable—none of his usual boldness remained.
Li Zheng understood how he felt.
Just like Lin Yujing in the exam hall—overwhelming and untouchable.
Jiang Qinghua’s cool demeanor on the court had the same inadvertent collateral damage.
It was obvious Liu Xin wanted to talk to the girls, but didn’t dare. He was afraid he’d say the wrong thing, afraid he’d lose face, afraid they wouldn’t like him.
But honestly, he was overthinking it.
His face alone was already maxed out in terms of losing face.
But he had no idea.
“Hey, I’m telling you, once the school basketball tournament’s over next week, girls will be chasing after me too.”
Liu Xin snorted and wiped his nose smugly.
“When that happens, I’ll introduce one to you.”
“You’ve got time—better spend it studying.”
Li Zheng shook his head.
“Seems like Teacher Hu is really sick. Don’t make her worry anymore.”
“Huh?”
“I’ll ask again tomorrow.”
Li Zheng had only overheard it from the old man at the library and didn’t want to say too much.
He punched Liu Xin lightly on the shoulder and smiled.
“You take me to play basketball, and I’ll help you study. After we finish playing, I’ll go over that test paper with you again.”
“Brother Li, nooo! I won’t take you to play anymore, okay?!”