Chapter 16: You Are Worthy

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Xia Chiyi hurried forward. “I’ve got it, I’ve got it!”

When the notification announced that the payment had gone through, Zhou Zhexiao handed the fifty-yuan note to Xia Chiyi. Xia Chiyi smiled. “Forget it. Put it on the tab. I don’t have any cash, and I can’t break a fifty.”

Ye Chaoying planted her hands on her hips and sighed. “Is this what they call intimate payment?”

Once they had bought the clothes, the three of them boarded a bus back to school.

The shirt sat in a black plastic bag on Zhou Zhexiao’s lap.

Suddenly, Xia Chiyi thought of something and asked, “You took the shirt off the rack and bought it without even trying it on. How do you know it’ll fit?”

“It doesn’t matter. I’m not going to wear it.”

You’re not going to wear it? Then why buy it? Just to enjoy the thrill of getting something on clearance?

After returning to school, Zhou Zhexiao bought some markers as well.

Xia Chiyi had intended to take the clearance grandpa shirt and his own clothes to the laundry room, but Zhou Zhexiao unexpectedly told him there was no need.

When Xia Chiyi returned with the freshly washed clothes, he found that Zhou Zhexiao had folded the grandpa shirt with meticulous care and wrapped it in the plastic bag.

“I want to mail something. Do you have the number for a courier company?” Zhou Zhexiao asked.

Xia Chiyi sighed, opened a courier app in front of Zhou Zhexiao, and taught him how to fill out a shipping order on his phone.

“You’re mailing this shirt?” Xia Chiyi asked curiously.

“Mm.”

“To someone?” Xia Chiyi could hardly imagine anyone liking this grandpa shirt.

“To trade for a player card.”

“What? Whose card?”

“Sheng Xingming’s. The one from when he won the championship in the finals,” Zhou Zhexiao replied.

Xia Chiyi wondered if he had heard wrong. After turning the matter over in his head several times, he finally came up with a reason. “Even if you’re a star player at Oak Hill Academy… you have fans back home too? Someone is actually willing to trade Sheng Xingming’s player card for this grandpa shirt? Do you know how valuable the card from his championship year is? You can’t even find one to buy now!”

Zhou Zhexiao looked at Xia Chiyi for a while. His eye sockets were deep, and there was a hint of tenderness at the corners of his eyes. Under that prolonged gaze, Xia Chiyi somehow felt as if he were being looked at with profound affection.

“I don’t know whether I count as a star player at Oak Hill Academy, but I do have fans back home,” Zhou Zhexiao said languidly.

“Haha, I’m so jealous! Your autograph can be traded for Sheng Xingming’s player card… Mine can only go in the margins of my textbooks.”

“It’s for you.” Zhou Zhexiao answered as he entered the address into the courier app.

“Huh? What’s for me?”

“The card. For taking care of me.”

Xia Chiyi froze for a moment, strangely moved.

At first, he had looked after Zhou Zhexiao only because of his mother’s constant reminders.

In only a few days, he had begun taking care of Zhou Zhexiao because he genuinely regarded him as a friend.

He could even sense that Zhou Zhexiao needed him.

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That need gave Xia Chiyi a strange sense of satisfaction, too.

“…If I’d known, I would have bought you a better shirt for you to sign. A twenty-nine-yuan grandpa shirt is hardly worthy of Sheng Xingming.”

“As long as you’re worthy of it.”

Zhou Zhexiao returned to his desk as though it were none of his concern.

Before long, the courier arrived and collected the shirt.

Ling Huanzhen, the men’s basketball player who had announced his retirement only the day before, was sprawled across the sofa in his home, scrolling through his phone. The table before him was covered with junk food and takeout containers.

Things he had once desperately wanted to eat now sat piled in front of him without stirring the slightest appetite.

He no longer had to train or deal with the media, yet his life had become unbearably dull. If not for the need to stay alive, even breathing seemed superfluous.

The media contacts who had once crowded his WeChat had gone completely silent. Ling Huanzhen snorted. “When I was in top form, they called me Sweetheart. Now there isn’t even anyone left to call me Big Guy.”

A sharp chirp sounded. Someone had sent him a video and a voice message. Ling Huanzhen did not recognize the adorable profile picture.

Someone had actually taken the initiative to talk to him. He had to take it seriously!

He opened the video. It showed a two-on-two match on an outdoor basketball court. One side wore the uniform of the Jin Province team; the other consisted of two players who looked about the same age, probably students.

“Has Ma Hongming let his dogs loose to bully people again?” Ling Huanzhen propped up his chin and watched with little interest for more than ten seconds.

Then—

Bang!

The sound jolted him awake.

He hurriedly opened the voice message and learned that the two players mercilessly tearing through the provincial team’s benchwarmers were students from Ningchang University.

More importantly, these two college students had once been cut by Ma Hongming, the head coach of the Jin Province team!

Ling Huanzhen had already proven his own ability, but watching someone demolish Ma Hongming’s disciples brought him a rush of pleasure comparable to winning Finals MVP in the CBA championship series.

Unable to contain his excitement, Ling Huanzhen forwarded the video to his old friend Jiao Yingfeng. The other man replied coldly:

[Don’t bother me. I’m studying for a certification.]

Jiao Yingfeng was probably the most intelligent among their generation of men’s basketball players. He had retired two years earlier and embarked on a manic journey of professional certifications—referee’s licenses, sports safety qualifications, and this time, apparently something called…

[Are you studying for a CPU? KTV? Oh, right, I remember—CPA!]

Jiao Yingfeng exploded and began roaring through WeChat:

[CPA stands for Certified Public Accountant! You’ve retired too. Why would I study for that? I’m studying to become a nutritionist!]

Ling Huanzhen hurriedly replied:

[Just watch the video. Once you do, I won’t bother you anymore. Study whatever you want. How can I be the only one having fun? If we’re brothers, I have to bring you along!]

Jiao Yingfeng remained silent for fifteen minutes. He was so quiet that Ling Huanzhen was about to explain that he had not sent over anything capable of blowing up WeChat when, unexpectedly, his friend called from an unfamiliar number.

The moment the call connected, his old partner’s voice came like a barrage of bullets.

“What’s the tall kid’s name? His style is extremely American… No, it’s more like the style of a professional player. His changes of pace and handling of direction when dribbling are remarkably seasoned, and even his defense is airtight. Someone like that should have entered the national youth team or gone pro long ago. How did he end up in a place like Jin Province?”

Ling Huanzhen laughed. “There’s something even more surprising. The boy’s name is Zhou Zhexiao. He’s an overseas Chinese student who attended high school in the United States. He was originally selected for the Jin Province team, but Ma Hongming cut him.”

“He was cut despite playing at that level? Apparently Jin Province has so much talent that it’s gone to everyone’s heads.”

“Weren’t the two of us cut the same way back then? The wheel of fate turns again!”

Jiao Yingfeng gave a dry “heh” and continued watching the video.

As he repeatedly studied Zhou Zhexiao, a lightning-fast fadeaway jumper from Xia Chiyi suddenly caught his attention. His gaze was pulled across the screen. By the time he realized what he was doing, he was replaying the same sequence over and over, simply to capture Xia Chiyi’s posture in midair.

In the presence of Zhou Zhexiao’s extraordinary skill—far beyond what one would expect at his age—anyone else would be reduced to a background figure. He possessed an overwhelming presence.

It was an eruption in an instant, a sudden tension no ordinary person could resist.

Yet Xia Chiyi’s shot seemed to carry a kind of hope breaking through the soil. He was like sunlight on the branches of a warm winter day: ordinary at first glance, but if one stared too long, even that gentle, harmless light could burn the eyes.

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“The other boy has incredible coordination in the air. His hang time on a fadeaway jumper would be a bug if this were a video game. His dribbling and ball control are smoother than milk tea. He’s a natural-born shooting guard.”

Ling Huanzhen laughed heartily. “I knew you’d say that! With the endorsement of the former ‘King of Asian Three-Pointers,’ this kid is going to make it big!”

Jiao Yingfeng said with amusement, “When that little brat shoots, he clearly jumps first, yet he lands after the defender trying to block him.”

“Yes, yes, exactly! It’s as if he and the defender are operating on different time zones!”

What a pity that they had not been able to see them in person… or perhaps test themselves against these two rising stars.

“Hey, don’t you think Zhou Zhexiao looks a lot like… that certain demon king? Especially that final pass. I was stunned when I saw it. He passed the ball exactly like that at the Olympics that year…”

Jiao Yingfeng fell silent for a long time.

“Yes… It really was a magnificent pass. Too bad I didn’t keep up with his positioning.”

Otherwise, that year they might very well have defeated the Dream Team at the Olympics.

“I didn’t bring him up to make you feel guilty. I just mean that after fighting our way through all these years, we haven’t encountered anyone like him again. Suddenly, I feel like taking a trip to Ningchang University.”

“Sure. Think of it as a change of scenery. Have some fried skewers, drink some beer. No one’s in charge of you anymore, anyway.”

“Then… are you coming or not?”

The gooseflesh rose all over Jiao Yingfeng’s back. “Old men shouldn’t act coy.”

The call ended just like that.

Ling Huanzhen slowly sank back onto the sofa and searched for Zhou Zhexiao and Xia Chiyi online.

At that very moment, the email app notified him of a new message. The instant he saw the sender and the Duke University suffix, he sprang upright from the sofa.

“Holy crap… in broad daylight, is Sheng Xingming’s ghost about to crawl out of the internet?”

Sheng Xingming was an honorary alumnus of Duke University. Even after his death, the university would never deactivate his email account.

More importantly, every year Sheng Xingming’s younger brother used that account to send New Year greetings and fundraising invitations to other alumni, so the mailbox remained half-active. In tribute to his brother, Sheng Qiming had never changed the password.

But the content of this email had absolutely not been sent by Sheng Xingming’s brother.

[An old warhorse still dreams of galloping a thousand miles. I’ve found the heart of the ace. Does the promise you made me still stand?]

A time and an address followed.

With trembling hands, Ling Huanzhen searched the location and discovered that it was a barbecue stall near Ningchang University.

Ling Huanzhen told himself that whoever had sent the email could not possibly be Sheng Xingming!

But only he and Sheng Xingming knew the phrase “the heart of the ace.”

Many years earlier, when they had fought their way into the Olympic semifinals, Ling Huanzhen had said that Sheng Xingming was the ace of the Chinese team.

Sheng Xingming had replied in a calm yet helpless voice, “But an ace has to find his heart.”

No one in this world had ever truly understood him.

“This is absolutely… absolutely… absolutely someone’s prank!” Ling Huanzhen gripped his hair desperately, but the note beneath the email left him no choice but to believe that the sender might genuinely know many things about his relationship with Sheng Xingming.

[P.S. If you stand me up, I’ll tell Jiao Yingfeng that you wore out his limited-edition sneakers during your second year playing in the NCAA. By the time you’re sixty, no one will even join you for square dancing.]

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Author’s Note