Basketball System: Rebound of the Underdog

"Shut up, bro!" Shang exclaimed as he pushed Kai's shoulder.

"I thought you were with that girl—Eva, was it? Jinping has been ranting nonstop about you stealing his girl," he said.

It was already evening yet Kai was still with Shang in the hospital. Surprisingly, the two of them had a lot more things in common than they expected, so they clicked pretty well even thought they had only befriended each other a couple of hours ago.

Kai chuckled. "How could I steal her when she wasn't Jinping's to begin with?"

Shang looked at Kai with raised eyebrows.

"You're really a playboy, aren't you?" he said with narrowed eyes. "Must be nice."

"I didn't mean it that way," Kai quickly said. "Besides, I'm not with Eva. She is Jinping's ex, but I have no intentions of stealing her."

"What about that cheerleader then? Suzy?" he asked.

Kai quickly shook his head. "That girl probably hates my guts."

"Well, I do think that the cheerleading team isn't too fond of us. We rarely win in games anyway, so they just stopped cheering for the team," Shang said.

"Then…how about Lina?" Shang asked with a teasing smile, nudging Kai's shoulder in the process.

Kai opened his mouth to respond, but Shang quickly spoke before he could even utter a word.

"I'm just joking, man! Lina's off limits."

Kai chuckled. "Why? Is it because of Zeren?"

"No way," Shang said. "Lina's our precious manager. We used to be hesitant to have her on the team, but honestly, she's probably one of the reasons why the team is still running until now. She filled in the spot of our coach who's never really present."

Kai nodded in agreement. "I see that."

"Well, I don't think I should worry about your love life," Shang said. "You're probably getting more action than me. I also can't give you any advice since Yuze's the only person on the team who gets lots of girls."

"Really? Yuze?" Kai asked.

"What do you mean? That dude's pretty handsome," Shang said. "He's been blessed since he was young!"

"It just doesn't look like he's interested in relationships and such," Kai remarked.

"You're not wrong about that," Shang said. "The only thing he loves is probably basketball."

"Right," Kai muttered. "And he's really good at it, too."

Shang observed Kai's face and smirked to himself. "I know what you're thinking," he said.

"You must be wondering why Shang is in a school like Shizi, right?" he asked.

Kai scratched the back of his head.

"Dylan already told me some things."

"Well, Dylan is Yuze's greatest fan. However, even then, he still doesn't know a lot of things about Yuze."

"Yuze was recruited by most of the basketball teams in the city," Shang started off. "Feng Arts fought so hard to have him on their team. However, he chose Shizi in the end."

"At first, he told us that it was because the school was near their house. However, we believe that it's just a cover-up."

"Why is that?" Kai asked.

"Well, Yuze used to attend Yin Yang High when he was in Junior Secondary School."

Kai's eyebrows raised in surprise.

"Shocking, right?" Shang chuckled.

Kai nodded. "If that was the case, why didn't he stay at Yin Yang? With his current skills, I think he can be on par with the people on the team. I think he can even pass off as a great player in the main cities."

"The main cities?" Shang asked. "You've been to high school leagues in the main cities?"

Kai froze but quickly recovered.

"I've watched them online," he said.

Shang nodded in understanding.

"Well, Yuze wasn't really the best player in Yin Yang," he continued. "He was already good then, but he's a monster now because of his hard work. Actually, he was even supposed to go to Feng Arts High, but again, something held him back—his pride."

Kai listened intently.

"He wanted to prove to someone that he was a good basketball player—even if he didn't attend a famous school," Shang said.

"That's why he didn't attend Yin Yang High or Feng Arts—especially Yin Yang…because the person he's trying to prove is—"

Just then, the door opened, revealing Shang's father in the same clothes he was wearing during the morning.

"Son," he said, a small smile on his face despite the exhaustion in his eyes.

Kai pursed his lips and bowed at the old man. He was curious about Yuze's story, but he thought it would be better to leave the two of them alone so they could speak.

He glanced back at Shang and nodded.

"I'll be on my way now," he said.

Shang also nodded with a smile on his face.

"See you around the school, Kai. Thank you for staying with me," he said.

"It's nothing," Kai said. Then, he turned back to Shang's dad, who was holding out a bag of fruits toward his way.

"Here," he kindly smiled. "Take these with you home. I picked them fresh from the farm. Share them with your family if you'd like."

Kai awkwardly took the bag of strawberries and once again bowed his head.

With that, he finally left the hospital to go back home.

Since the weather was nice, he decided to walk back home while snacking on the strawberries that Shang's dad had given him.

Kai smiled to himself as he observed the scenery. Times like these were a luxury to him during his past life, so he appreciated the moment to the fullest extent.

Due to his long legs, he arrived at their house in no time.

As he arrived at their small, rocky backyard, he saw Grandma Bingbing burning some firewood on the side.

"You're home?" she asked as soon as he came.

Kai nodded and wordlessly gave her the bag of strawberries.

"What's this?" she asked with furrowed eyebrows. "Oh, strawberries! Where did you get this?"

"Shang's dad gave them," Kai responded.

"My grandson is growing up, huh?" Grandma asked, reaching out her hand to ruffle his already messy hair.

"I haven't heard any complaints from the school, either. So you must be doing a great job."

Kai nodded to himself. Well, some of the teachers still treated him like he was dirt on the bottom of their shoes, but he hadn't done anything that warranted a trip to the principal's office.

"Anyway, your friends came by a while back and left something," she said, already snacking on the strawberries.

"Friends?" Kai asked.

"Yes," Grandma Bingbing said. "The weird bunch of kids who look like outsiders."

Kai chuckled at her description.

"What did they leave?" Kai asked.

Grandma pointed behind Kai, so he swiftly turned around, his eyes instantly widening when he saw what it was.

"A ring? And a ball?" Kai exclaimed, looking at the sturdy-looking ring and the new ball perched on the flat part of their backyard.

"Yeah. Imagine my shock when a group of kids came by with that big thing," Grandma chuckled.

"Anyway, they left this too," she said, handing him a piece of paper.

Kai quickly read its contents.

'Kai! Congratulations on making it to the first-string team. However, don't forget that you're still one of us.

We tried to win the league, but alas, that Yin Yang guy was really good.

Anyway, we were still able to make it to the third place without your help!

Here's the prize we received. Nobody wanted to bring it home, so we decided to dispose of it in your house!

Have fun playing!'

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