"Ah, sorry about that, sorry."
Several men in sports attire jogged over, picked up the basketball, and apologized to Xiao Yuan with smiles.
Their joking demeanor showed they didn’t take the incident seriously at all.
Gao Nana’s stomach churned with anger: "Are you blind? If you can’t play, don’t play, trying to act tough for nothing."
Anning supported Xiao Yuan, all concern on her face: "Are you alright? Does it hurt?"
Xiao Yuan shook his head.
He felt relieved that it had been him the basketball had hit.
Because of the speed, the impact from the basketball was particularly strong; it hit Xiao Yuan’s back painfully, and he could imagine that taking off his shirt, there would definitely be a bruise on his back.
If the ball had hit Anning, he didn’t want to think about what state she would’ve been in.
"You’re okay, that’s good to know."
Xiao Yuan grimaced, holding back the pain in his back.
He turned around, his gaze sharp as he looked at the few boys: "You guys like playing ball, huh?"
"None of your business."
One of the boys stubbornly retorted, looking down on Xiao Yuan.
Gao Nana immediately confronted them: "What’s the matter with you, looking down on people, do you really think you are something special?"
Anning pulled Gao Nana back a bit, holding back her fury she said to the boys: "Regardless, you did hit someone, that’s a fact. If you’re in the wrong, you should correct your mistakes. What’s the use of an apology with words? Show some real action if you have the guts."
The boys laughed: "Real action, huh? What kind of real action?"
Anning looked over at Xiao Yuan: "What do you want to do?"
Xiao Yuan pressed his lips together, walked over, grabbed the collars of two boys, and headed towards the basketball court: "Bros, I’ll play a game with you guys."
Gao Nana pushed Anning: "You go over to the field and talk to the PE teacher, I’ll go with Xiao Yuan too."
Anning knew Gao Nana was worried Xiao Yuan would be at a disadvantage, so she wanted to go with him to watch over.
She nodded obediently: "Okay, just be careful, all of you."
Gao Nana patted Anning’s head with a smile: "Got it, go help us get a leave note."
Anning watched Gao Nana head to the basketball court, then she turned back towards the classroom.
The bell for class had not yet rung, and Anning found Zhang Ke, telling him about what had just happened. Upon hearing, Zhang Ke also got angry: "Damn, this is bullying, they really think our class 12 has no one to stand up?"
He rolled up his sleeves, wanting to go to the basketball court as well.
Just then, the bell for class rang, and the PE teacher came for roll call.
Zhang Ke quickly raised his hand: "Teacher, Xiao Yuan and Gao Nana are playing basketball over there, I’ll ask for a leave on their behalf."
As long as the students were within sight and weren’t doing anything outrageous, the teachers didn’t bother much.
The PE teacher nodded: "Alright, I got it, tell them to hurry back."
Zhang Ke responded with a smile, grabbing Anning and running towards the basketball court: "Teacher, we’ll go call them first."
Anning was also somewhat worried about Xiao Yuan and Gao Nana, so she followed Zhang Ke to the court. As they approached, they could hear Gao Nana’s loud cheering: "Xiao Yuan, well done, slam dunk, c’mon slam dunk! Yes, damn it, scum daring to play dirty, Xiao Yuan, no need to be polite, take him out..."
Zhang Ke jogged up, rolled up his sleeves, and joined the game.
Anning walked up next to Gao Nana: "Xiao Yuan isn’t at a disadvantage, right?"
Gao Nana smiled, "It won’t be a loss. You don’t know how good Xiao Yuan is at basketball. He even wanted to become a professional player, but his dad disagreed. They ended up at odds, and he lost interest in studying, dyeing his hair red and green..."
Anning felt extremely awkward.
Xiao Yuan’s red hair was true, Anning had seen it with her own eyes, no fabrication there.
But what in the world is with the green hair?
Gao Nana glanced at Anning and saw what she was thinking.
She laughed so hard she could barely stand straight: "Sis, let me tell you the truth, Xiao Yuan really did dye his hair green once. His dad beat him hard for it and made him shave his head bald. After that, he didn’t dare to dye it green again."
Anning was even more confused.
This Xiao Yuan really was in his rebellious phase, a so-called ’bear child’ for sure.
Gao Nana slapped Anning on the shoulder: "But Xiao Yuan really treats you well, girl. How about considering it?"
Anning’s face turned red instantly: "I... can’t date early."
Gao Nana saw Anning’s face turn as red as an apple and found it even more hilarious. She stopped watching Xiao Yuan play basketball and started teasing Anning by twisting her cheek.
After she had her fun, Anning’s face was even redder, her eyes too were red, and her big eyes welled up with tears. Her nose was sweating, looking like she had been badly bullied.
On the basketball court, with Zhang Ke’s help, Xiao Yuan was like a tiger that had grown wings. The other boys couldn’t defend against him.
Xiao Yuan got hold of the ball again, pretended to pass it to Zhang Ke, but instead, he smashed it straight into another boy, knocking him to the ground.
Xiao Yuan sneered, quickly ran to pick up the ball, and once again, threw it, causing another boy to curse from the pain.
Zhang Ke caught the ball with a smile: "Xiao Yuan, catch."
But the ball wasn’t passed to Xiao Yuan; instead, it hit a boy who was quite close, causing his nose to bleed.
"What are you doing, picking a fight on purpose?"
The boys, in pain and anger, gave up playing basketball and surrounded Xiao Yuan and Zhang Ke: "Want to fight?"
Xiao Yuan sneered and rolled up his sleeves: "Let’s fight then. Anyone who doesn’t is a coward."
Zhang Ke was quite supportive of Xiao Yuan: "Bro, I got your back. Let’s make them eat their words."
Seeing the inevitable conflict, Anning became a bit anxious: "Sister Nana, what if they really start fighting?"
Gao Nana reassured Anning: "No worries, Xiao Yuan has been in fights before, and he’s still fine now. Believe me, his old man has plenty of money to clean up after him."
But Anning was still quite anxious.
At that moment, the PE teacher ran over: "What are you doing, fighting, eh? Which class are you from? Let’s go to the guidance office."
It was only when the teacher intervened that Xiao Yuan and the boys didn’t start fighting.
Just as the PE teacher was about to lecture them, Anning hurried over, with her face all red, and whispered to the teacher: "Teacher, they were just playing basketball, it was them..."
Anning pointed at the boys: "They bullied the few which started the conflict."
Anning looked really innocent, the kind that seems honest and wouldn’t lie, so her words convinced the PE teacher.
He glared at the boys: "Always causing trouble."
Then he waved Xiao Yuan and Zhang Ke away: "Alright, go back to class. If you keep this up, I’ll have to put a demerit on your record."
Xiao Yuan was still unhappy.
He felt that the fight was unfinished; he wanted to keep beating those jerks.
But Anning grabbed his sleeve: "Let’s go to class."
Seeing Anning, all the anger in Xiao Yuan dissipated.
He smiled stupidly: "Class, let’s go to class."