Translator: Re
Editor: Mims
The other team"s point guard chuckled. "Hey, that "pa.s.s" just now was great, but you"re almost at your limit, aren"t you?"
In the next second, UKB"s point guard quickly took the ball past Nie Chuan and rushed towards DK"s rear.
Nie Chuan forcefully ran forward but couldn"t catch up. There was an overwhelming sense of powerlessness.
Reece, however, instantly got rid of the opposing small forward and rushed back towards their own basket. He caught up with UKB"s point guard and blocked him from scoring with a layup.
UKB"s point guard fell to the ground. He had no idea how Reece was able to catch up with and even surpa.s.s him.
Reece dribbled the ball and began the quick attack.
Carlo had already rushed into their opponent"s zone while Reece faced off against the small forward who had been following closely beside him. Suddenly, he stopped and held up the ball. The other thought he was going to pa.s.s to Carlo and jumped to intercept it. Unexpectedly, Reece cleverly threw the ball behind him. At the three-point line, Ewing caught the ball and took off without hesitation. With a beautiful three pointer, he secured their victory.
Ewing made a V sign as he landed.
[T/N: making a v sign with your index and middle fingers mean victory in British]
"Ewing did a good job!" Montenegro gave a thumbs up.
"Haha, Reece pa.s.sed it well!"
"Why did I become invisible again," Carlo had a depressed expression.
The two teams lined up to say goodbye.
UKB"s center used his fist to thump Carlo, "Today, we were actually just practicing, right?"
Carlo smiled sheepishly.
"It feels like you guys didn"t have the momentum you did in last year"s league. Last year, we had to run after you all over the court!" The opposing team"s point guard"s lips twitched, he seemed very dissatisfied.
Ewing replied, "What, you guys feel it"s not enough to lose by only two points? You want to lose by twenty?"
At this time, Nie Chuan wasn"t able to hear what they were saying. His legs were as heavy as lead and there was a ringing in his ears.
"Hey, black-haired guy." The other team"s point guard came up to him.
Nie Chuan"s head was lowered and he didn"t give any reaction until Ewing beside him lightly nudged him with his shoulder, "Hey Allen, he called you."
"Ah? What?"
"You should run faster and breathe less." The other raised his chin at Nie Chuan. "In the real league, there are many players who are faster than me."
Although the other came off as arrogant, Nie Chuan could feel that he was regretful about his behavior toward him today.
"Let"s go—— we need to win the regular season!"
The people from UKB packed up and waved goodbye towards Carlo and them.
"Nonsense, don"t you guys get eliminated!"
"These guys" sportsmanship is pretty good," Montenegro said.
"Ah? What do you mean?" Nie Chuan looked up.
"That is to say, they don"t get angry when they lose the ball and they aren"t going to commit a foul or something just because they can"t control their temper." Ewing put his arm around Nie Chuan"s shoulder.
Nie Chuan suddenly understood why Carlo organized this practice match.
The real aim of the practice match had not been for the four of them but for him, Nie Chuan.
"Come on! Let"s go see Connor," Carlo suddenly said as he slung his sports bag onto his shoulder.
Nie Chuan was stunned. "Con…… Connor？"
He looked at Ewing and Montenegro again. Their expressions were also very calm, as if they had already known that Connor was staying at the nearby hospital.
Nie Chuan then looked at Reece. Reece just lifted his head and drank some mineral water. The movement of his Adam"s Apple gave off a sense of strength.
He closed the cap and said lightly, "You guys already know everything."
Carlo put away his lazy smile. "Do I look like a fool?"
"Yes," Reece"s answer was simple and straightforward.
"…… Connor had left a message on my Facebook. He said that he and his parents are moving to another country and that he"s giving up basketball. But I checked the IP address of his message and it turned out to be this hospital."
Ewing wiped the sweat on his face with the back of his hand. "So the three of us quietly came to this hospital and saw Connor from a distance and then we understood everything. Connor is afraid that we won"t accept new teammates, he"s worried that we wouldn"t be able to open our hearts to others. We understand so we pretended not to know about this. But now we have Allen! Connor can feel at ease about going to Washington for treatment now, right?"
Montenegro looked in Reece"s direction. "Did you tell Connor that we would be playing at this court?"
"Of course," Reece nodded.
Nie Chuan"s heart was shaken. In other words, the reason why Carlo didn"t rent a basketball court to hold the practice match at was to let Connor see the game from the window of his ward!
"What are we waiting for? Let"s go!" Carlo snapped his fingers and the group walked towards the hospital while carrying their bags.
Nie Chuan looked at everyone"s backs and he felt his eyes burn.
When they arrived at Connor"s ward, the ward was already empty.
A pa.s.sing nurse told them that just five minutes ago, Connor had already completed the hospitalization procedures and left for the airport.
"This guy…… not even giving us a chance to say goodbye? That"s too much." Ewing"s mouth trembled as his eyes reddened.
But Connor had left a card for Reece.
He told Reece that there was no need to worry about him or specifically come to Washington just to see him. He will be fine.
"He said that it was a really wonderful game, more blood boiling than any NBA match he"s watched here."
Reece said this in a very tranquil tone, but everyone could imagine the expression on Connor"s face when he wrote this sentence.
"This guy…… the next time I see him…… I will definitely teach him that he absolutely can"t …… leave without saying goodbye." Carlo"s voice trembled slightly.
"Let"s go! How about we go eat at that tea restaurant! I want to eat shrimp dumplings! Cha Shao Bao! Cheung Fun! I also want to take photos and put them on my Facebook to make Connor drool!" Ewing showed a big smile.
"Eh? Most people can"t learn Chinese, but I didn"t expect that when it comes to food, you"ll be able to speak so much like a Chinese," Carlo said.
"My language skills developed better than yours," Ewing raised his eyebrow, once again blocking Carlo.
"Allen, you don"t know Connor so you wouldn"t understand what"s going on when we talk about him, right?"
Just when Carlo was going to talk more about Connor, Reece suddenly spoke, "Everyone is hungry, let"s eat."
Fortunately…… fortunately……
At this time Nie Chuan didn"t know why every time he heard Connor"s name, his heart would ache.
He looked in the direction of Reece, but Reece"s expression remained unchanged.
That night when Carlo sent Nie Chuan home, he smiled and waved, "See you tomorrow at school!"
Nie Chuan also said goodbye to him with a smile. When Carlo was a distance away, Nie Chuan"s head slumped down.
Instead of knocking on the door, he sat down on the steps of his home.
"If you don"t want to smile, there"s really no need to smile at Carlo. He won"t mind," said a cold voice.
It was just a simple sentence but it almost made Nie Chuan"s tears fall.
Nie Chuan quickly rubbed his eyes. When he looked up, he saw Reece standing under the street lamps, his figure so distinct that Nie Chuan couldn"t ignore it even if he wanted to.
"You…… how are you here?"
Reece didn"t answer as he sat down beside him with his hands in his pockets.
"You look really upset."
"Why didn"t you tell me that Connor was watching? My performance was terrible!" Nie Chuan said sullenly.
"It definitely wasn"t the best in your life, but it definitely wasn"t terrible."
"Maybe I"m not really suited for basketball. I don"t have enough speed, no explosiveness, no strength…… You guys should……"
"Should what? Look for someone else? The problem is Connor has already recognized you and is sure of you."
"He did? How is that possible? I was a mess in the first half and I couldn"t even run in the second half……"
Reece"s hand reached over and pressed on Nie Chuan"s head.
"I thought I did my best, but it still wasn"t enough." This was the first time Nie Chuan felt so regretful.
He regretted that he didn"t persist in exercising, didn"t continue playing basketball, and didn"t maintain his physical fitness in its best state.
"For you to think this way, it"s because you tried your best that you feel unwilling. But you let him see your control of the ball and ability to organize an attack as a point guard. If he hadn"t recognized your ability, he wouldn"t leave with a "This was a great game"."
"Are you sure he wasn"t just comforting me?"
"I"m sure."
"But this wasn"t the greatest game. I need more strength and speed. I also need to be able to jump higher and drive past defenders within a greater range. UKB said that they aren"t the fastest in the league." Nie Chuan said as he looked at down his clenched fists.
"Nie Chuan, do you know why Carlo chose you and why Ewing and Montenegro accepted you so quickly?" Reece asked.
"Why?"
"Because if you only face your own matters, you may indulge yourself, you will be lazy about it, and you will choose the easy way to deal with it. But if it"s related to someone important to you, you will give it your all."
"What?" Nie Chuan raised his head and looked at Reece"s profile.
"That"s why they believe in you so much. Because they know that, on the court, you will always create the best opportunities for them and you"ll always be in the best position to help them."
"Will I be able to?"
"Of course you will."
Nie Chuan"s tears finally fell down.
Re: *hands over a tissue box*
MadMadamMims: ? give him a hug!