PCJ – Chapter 514 Confrontation

As soon as the bell rang for the last class, the boys and girls, like prisoners released after serving their sentence, rushed out of the classroom. No matter how exhausted they had looked during class, the bell acted like a miraculous remedy, instantly reviving them to full energy—like their health and mana bars had been completely restored.

Zheng Wendong, never missing a chance to drag the class’s top student into things, purposely ran over to Zhang Jiaohua.
“Zhang Jiaohua, don’t forget, we’ve got basketball this afternoon.”

Zhang Jiaohua had been thinking about the haunted house and had almost forgotten about the basketball game.

“Alright,” he replied. Though he didn’t bring gym clothes, he was already wearing sneakers, so he just picked up his backpack and headed to the court.

“Zhang Jiaohua, wait!” Xu Xiaoting bounced over with her backpack, her long hair flying, her smile bright like a flower. Zhang Jiaohua was momentarily stunned.

“Don’t forget, I’m a cheerleader now,” she said cheerily. “Zhang Jiaohua, don’t be nervous. What I said earlier was just a joke. I pay attention to you because you’re good at studying—I just want to learn from your methods.”
But her words were as unconvincing as saying “there’s no silver here” while burying treasure.

Zhang Jiaohua actually took it seriously. He felt a bit disappointed, but also let out a small sigh of relief. Young people are full of contradictions.

“Zhang Jiaohua, have you played basketball before?” Xu Xiaoting asked.

“Yeah, a bit,” Zhang Jiaohua replied.

“Think you’ll steal the team captain title from Zheng Wendong?” she teased.

Zhang Jiaohua thought about it. “Nah, I don’t really have time to play often.”

Xu Xiaoting chuckled, thinking Zhang Jiaohua was just joking. “That’s true. If you played often, Zheng Wendong wouldn’t stand a chance.”

The two walked side by side to the court without even realizing it. Xu Xiaoting, being a school beauty, naturally attracted attention wherever she went.

A loud, suggestive whistle rang out. The sweaty boys on the court immediately stopped what they were doing and turned to admire the beautiful scene approaching.

Xu Xiaoting blushed but also felt a hint of pride. She sneaked a glance at Zhang Jiaohua, only to find he hadn’t noticed anything at all. Slightly disappointed, she inched closer until their arms were touching.

“Zhang Jiaohua, over here!” Zheng Wendong called loudly.

“They’re already here,” Zhang Jiaohua said to Xu Xiaoting before speeding up.

Xu Xiaoting, her face flushed a deep red that was spreading down her neck, suddenly found herself left behind. She stomped her foot in mock frustration and quickly caught up.

The boys around them watched in disappointment as the still-blooming flower seemed to already have an owner. They took out their frustration on the basketball court.

“Zhang Jiaohua, warm up a bit. We’ll start a match soon,” Zheng Wendong said as Zhang Jiaohua reached the court.

As Zhang Jiaohua went to drop his bag at the edge, Xu Xiaoting quickly stepped in to take it from him.

“Look at how thoughtful Xu Xiaoting is toward you,” Xu Chuan’an teased.

Zhang Jiaohua stretched a bit. His body was so naturally limber that he didn’t really need to warm up—he could jump right into the game. With his physical abilities, getting injured was highly unlikely. After a few perfunctory stretches, he walked onto the court, jumped lightly, and grabbed a rebound.

The classmates hadn’t seen him play before, so they purposely let him show off a bit, not contesting the rebound.

Zhang Jiaohua dribbled a bit. Though a little rusty, he quickly got the feel back.

“Huh? Not bad,” Zheng Wendong said with surprise.

From Zhang Jiaohua’s handling of the ball, Zheng Wendong could tell he had solid skills.

Zhang Jiaohua raised his hand and released the ball. It flew straight toward the hoop. Swish! It went through the net cleanly, not even grazing the rim, before pausing in the net and dropping to the ground.

His whole movement had been smooth—clearly not that of a novice.

Zheng Wendong hadn’t expected Zhang Jiaohua to be any good. Usually, top students like him were way below average in sports. If they weren’t complete klutzes, that was already impressive.

“That was amazing!” Xu Xiaoting couldn’t help clapping enthusiastically.

Zheng Wendong chuckled to himself. Xu Xiaoting really had it bad for Zhang Jiaohua. When you like someone, they’re always perfect in your eyes. Honestly, even if Zhang Jiaohua had messed up the shot, Xu Xiaoting would probably still think he was a basketball god. Who knows what kind of luck this guy had to win over the heart of the school beauty? He even got pulled into a teacher’s talk this morning, and yet here they were, not hiding their feelings at all.

“Zhang Jiaohua, you’re actually pretty good,” Zheng Wendong said as he passed the ball to him with a quick, powerful throw.

Zhang Jiaohua effortlessly caught it one-handed and, without hesitation, shot it toward the basket. Swish! A clean three-pointer.

Zheng Wendong hadn’t expected Zhang Jiaohua to not only know how to play but also to have such a high shooting accuracy. Even if he wasn’t 100% accurate, from that shooting form alone, his hit rate wouldn’t be low.

“Awesome! Zhang Jiaohua, we’ve got another star player on the team. I’m feeling a lot more confident about the class league now. But some classes have athletic students, and our Class 1 is full of study freaks—not a single sports student. We’re usually at a huge disadvantage when it comes to class games,” Zheng Wendong said.

At Fourth High, the sports program was one of the best in the city, mostly because they recruited a number of sports-track students every year. Class 1, although not labeled a “key class” on the surface, had all the top students—so it was essentially the elite class.

That also meant in every year’s class league, Class 1 usually ended up at the bottom. They were known as the designated point donors.

“Hey, you guys from Class 1? The famous point donors? Want to have a little friendly match?” A cocky-looking guy strolled over. About 1.8 meters tall, he stood out among the Class 1 brainiacs like a crane among chickens.

Though Zheng Wendong was over 1.7 meters, standing next to this guy still made him look short. “We’re practicing. Don’t have time to play with you,” he replied.

“We’re also in the first year—Class 5. Same grade. What, you scared?” The guy, named Wang Peng, kept sneaking glances at Xu Xiaoting.

“Play ball if you want to, but keep your eyes to yourself—or I’ll make sure you won’t be seeing anything ever again,” Zhang Jiaohua snapped. He really couldn’t stand arrogant jerks who picked on the weak and acted all sleazy.

Wang Peng instantly got riled up and lunged toward Zhang Jiaohua, but students from both sides quickly stepped in to hold him back.

“Don’t be stupid—fighting gets you expelled!” someone shouted.

Wang Peng froze mid-step, glaring at Zhang Jiaohua. “You better hope I don’t run into you off campus.”

“You better hope the same,” Zhang Jiaohua shot back, locking eyes with him.

In that moment, Wang Peng shivered for no reason. There was a deadly sharpness in Zhang Jiaohua’s gaze—something no ordinary high school kid could withstand. Zhang Jiaohua was the kind of guy who could stare down a wolf king without flinching.

“Fine! You’ve got guts—see you on the court!” Wang Peng growled, trying to hide his fear.

“Let’s go, then,” Zhang Jiaohua replied calmly.

Seeing Zhang Jiaohua step up for her, Xu Xiaoting was filled with joy—but also a bit worried.

“Zhang Jiaohua, don’t do it. Their class has several sports-track students. They’re all huge and strong—we can’t beat them,” Zheng Wendong said.

“If you’re already scared before the game even starts, why bother organizing a basketball team? Might as well just forfeit the class league,” Zhang Jiaohua replied with annoyance.

“Fine! Game on! Who’s afraid of them?” Zheng Wendong, provoked by Zhang Jiaohua’s words, couldn’t back down now.

Though Class 1’s players were intimidated by Class 5’s athletes, no one wanted to be seen as a coward—especially in front of the class goddess.

Zheng Wendong picked three more players, and together with himself and Zhang Jiaohua, they headed onto the court. The match hadn’t even started yet, and the tension was already thick in the air. Everyone on the court turned to watch. The players on the other half of the court even cleared out voluntarily to make room.

Wang Peng led over several sports students from Class 5, all around 1.8 meters tall. Just looking at their height and build compared to Class 1’s players already made people think Class 1 didn’t stand a chance. Onlookers were shaking their heads, wondering how badly they’d get crushed this time.

“Hold up a sec,” Zhang Jiaohua said.

“Got it.” A classmate ran over with several bottles of mineral water.

“Hand them over,” Zhang Jiaohua said.

In a flash, Zhang Jiaohua silently cast the Iron Ox Water spell, transforming the mineral water into a type of strength-enhancing potion.

“Here, take a few sips each. I guarantee we’ll crush them and teach them a lesson!” Zhang Jiaohua grinned mischievously.

In the past, casting this spell required long chants, but ever since visualizing his Daoist cultivation diagram, Zhang Jiaohua could cast basic spells silently and instantly.

Zheng Wendong and the others thought he was joking but drank anyway.

The moment the water hit their stomachs, they felt a surge of power rush through their bodies. Suddenly, they felt like they could lift a car.

“Hey! Hurry up! If you’re too scared, just forfeit and get lost! I don’t want to beat you guys so bad that you cry for your moms!” Wang Peng shouted.

“Let’s see who ends up crying for their mommy,” Zheng Wendong fired back loudly.

The morale of Class 1’s team shot through the roof.

“Did they take some kind of stimulant? Damn, just one sip of water and they’re all fired up like that?” Wang Peng muttered, suspicious.