Chapter 9

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"Old Yang, I’ve reminded you many times, when you do a probing step, the ball should move too. Otherwise, not only will it not fool the opponent, but it’s also easy to get the ball stolen!"

Yang Tang wasn’t discouraged and humbly accepted Liu Yu’s advice: "Let’s try again!"

Once again, Yang Tang took a probing step, and Liu Yu still tried to block him with one hand while reaching for the ball with the other. But this time, Yang Tang’s probing step was just a quick tap, and then he suddenly accelerated, charging straight towards the basket.

Liu Yu was stunned by Yang Tang’s acceleration. After a brief moment of confusion, Yang Tang had already pulled ahead by a step and a half, and Liu Yu couldn’t catch up. He could only watch as Yang Tang easily scored.

"Damn, your acceleration speed is almost on par with my senior, Wei Qingfeng!" Liu Yu sighed.

"Wei Qingfeng?"

Yang Tang was puzzled and was about to ask who this Wei was, but the glasses-wearing student was already surprised: "Really? Old Yang’s steps can match Wei Qingfeng’s?"

"Why would I lie to you!" Liu Yu said, "Even if it’s a bit slower, it’s not by much!"

"Doesn’t that mean Old Yang could play in the NBA?" the glasses-wearing student joked.

Yang Tang suddenly recalled Wei Qingfeng’s information from his memory. He was a Chinese point guard who had participated in the NBA draft in June last year, standing at 188 cm and had already secured a starting position in Los Angeles.

"Glasses, you’re joking, I’d probably just get bullied in the NBA..."

"True!" Liu Yu agreed, "Mainly because Old Yang is only 180 cm tall and is weak in physical defense. My senior, Wei Qingfeng, is only slightly faster than Old Yang, but his stride is much larger, allowing him to bypass defenders in just one step. That’s terrifying!"

Yang Tang agreed with this and continued playing basketball with Liu Yu for a while before returning to the dormitory for a nap, only waking up at 2 PM to rush to class to continue cramming for the college entrance exam.

Two days later, Yang Tang met up with Liu Yu and the glasses-wearing student on the basketball court again.

After a few one-on-one games, Liu Yu exclaimed, "Wow, Old Yang, your acceleration is even faster than the other day. How are we supposed to defend against you?"

Yang Tang was clearly skeptical: "Are you serious? I didn’t feel any difference."

"Believe it or not, but you’ve definitely gotten faster."

Seeing Liu Yu’s serious expression, Yang Tang began to suspect: Could it be related to the dream enhancement...

When they were resting on the sidelines, the glasses-wearing student came over and whispered, "Hey, Old Yang, have you heard?"

"Heard what?" Yang Tang was confused.

"There’s a rumor at school that someone is looking to pick a fight with you!"

"Pick a fight with me?" Yang Tang was taken aback, "Who?"

"The details are unclear, but it’s probably someone in your grade but a different class..."

Yang Tang frowned deeply.

At this moment, Liu Yu also walked over and chimed in, "I’ve heard about it too. Someone is inciting the freshmen to find an opportunity to deal with you!"

Yang Tang was speechless. He didn’t doubt that the freshmen would dare to gang up on him outside of school. He had seen this happen a few times when he was a freshman, usually to establish authority in the grade. Any freshman who felt they had some strength or connections would do this.

******

The next day was Saturday.

However, the senior students at Shizhong High School still had classes, but they didn’t have evening study sessions, and Sunday was a rest day.

In the morning, there were four classes: two history and two Chinese. Yang Tang continued to review his English and math as usual. The first two history classes went smoothly, as Old Gan had completely given up on him.

But during the last two Chinese classes, Old Wang announced a pop quiz as soon as he entered the classroom, and he specifically looked at Yang Tang (who was in the first row), clearly not wanting him to study other subjects.

Yang Tang managed to finish all the questions except the essay in one class plus the break. But at the start of the fourth class, Old Wang asked Yang Tang to read his second-to-last poetry question.

As mentioned earlier, in this life, the essay is worth 45 points, and the poetry question is worth 25 points. So, in terms of word count, the poetry question is the bigger part.

"Today’s poetry question is 'Praising Peonies.' Yang Tang, read your poem..."

Yang Tang: "..."

"Read it!" Old Wang urged.

"Only when the last of the red blooms have fallen does the peony begin to bloom, known as the king of all flowers. It boasts of being the most beautiful in the world, and it alone possesses the most fragrant scent." Yang Tang recited the poem "Peony" by Pi Rixiu from his previous life in a lifeless tone.

The students in the classroom were almost all impressed, including Lu Qin. However, their expressions varied from admiration, envy, and appreciation, while Bai Keqing, who sat by the window, remained completely unmoved.

"Finished?"

"Finished. The question said it could be a five-character or seven-character poem. Is mine not up to standard?"

"No!" Old Wang waved his hand, looking slightly dissatisfied, "Why don’t you write a longer piece, like a ci (a type of poetry)?"

Yang Tang rolled his eyes: "Do you want me to write an ancient prose piece?"

"Sure, sure, go ahead and write it..."

"But teacher, the 25 points are for poetry, not prose. That would be off-topic!" Yang Tang’s teasing remark made the whole class burst into laughter.

Old Wang was a bit embarrassed: "What are you laughing at? If you can write a poem as good as Yang Tang’s, I’ll give you 25 points!"

The class immediately fell silent.

Yang Tang was unhappy, thinking: Old Wang, you’re clearly trying to stir up trouble for me... I need to smooth things over!

"Teacher Wang, that’s not fair. It’s not you who will grade the exam, so what you say doesn’t count."

The class laughed again.

******

At lunchtime, the beautiful class president, Lu Qin, blocked Yang Tang at the classroom door: "Third senior, your poetry is quite good!"

"Thanks for the compliment." Yang Tang tried to squeeze past, but Lu Qin wouldn’t let him, standing there with her developing chest, "Class president, what’s your point?"

"Just one thing, the 'Praising Peonies' you wrote today isn’t as good as the 'Heart’s Intuition' you wrote the other day. Did you not try your best?"

Yang Tang felt a headache when he heard this, thinking: Whether I tried my best or not is none of your business! He held up two fingers horizontally, making a "two" gesture: "Get it?"

Lu Qin was puzzled: "What does this gesture mean?"

"Two... don’t you get it?" As he said this, Yang Tang suddenly grabbed Lu Qin’s shoulders and pushed her out of the door, walking away and deliberately reciting loudly: "Among the flowers of land and water, many are lovely. In the Jin dynasty, Tao Yuanming loved chrysanthemums. Since the Tang dynasty, people have loved peonies. I alone love..."

Lu Qin was initially impressed by the opening, but then she was furious as Yang Tang’s voice faded away: "Yang Tang, stop right there!!" She quickly ran down the stairs, chasing after him towards the cafeteria.

Unfortunately, Yang Tang had no intention of attending the afternoon classes and didn’t go to the cafeteria for lunch. He went back to the dormitory, packed some things, and left the school, taking a bus home.

******

In the faculty housing area of Wudu University, Songlin Village.

"Knock, knock, knock!"

"Who is it?" Hearing his mother’s younger voice, Yang Tang was a bit excited.

"It’s me, Xiao Hong!"

Xiao Hong was Yang Tang’s nickname. Before third grade, he was called Yang Hong, but later, his superstitious grandmother had someone read his fortune, and it was said that he lacked wood in his five elements. Therefore, his name was changed to include wood, resulting in his current name.

"It’s Xiao Hong. Why are you back so early? Don’t you have classes on Saturday afternoons?" His mother muttered and opened the security door with a click.

Yang Tang then saw his mother’s familiar figure.

His mother, who was still in her early forties, looked young.

However, even at this age, her temples were already gray.

Noticing this detail, Yang Tang’s eyes welled up, and he hugged his mother: "Mom—"

"Ah, what’s wrong, Xiao Hong?" His mother was puzzled.

Yang Tang hugged his mother and entered the house.

"Where’s Dad?"

His mother hesitated: "He went to Yujing."

"Yujing? The capital? Why did Dad go to Yujing?"

"It’s all because of you, you naughty boy. He’s trying to find some connections to get you a sponsored student spot!"

"Sponsored student?!" Yang Tang didn’t understand what a sponsored student was in his previous life, but now he did, and he knew that getting a sponsored spot in this life was even harder than in his previous life after the university expansion. "Why go through all that trouble to get a sponsored spot? If it doesn’t work out, I can just go to Chengda University, which is right here in Wudu. How convenient!"

"Naive boy, can you find a good job after graduating from Chengda?" His mother scolded, "Your father is trying to get you a sponsored spot from a ministry. That way, you can start working right after graduation."

"Ministry?" Yang Tang was confused; he didn’t remember his father knowing any high-ranking officials in the ministry.

"By the way, Xiao Hong, have you had lunch?"

"No."

"Then I’ll heat something up for you!"

"Mom, don’t bother. I’ll just eat some fruit to tide me over and have dinner later."

"Should I make you a bowl of noodles?"

"Sure." Unable to resist his mother, Yang Tang nodded in agreement.

Back in his room, Yang Tang turned on his computer and searched online. He found that many famous figures from the Tang Dynasty and earlier had disappeared from the historical timeline, but the continuous Chinese civilization had other notable figures who had taken their places.

Suddenly, there was a gentle knock on the door, and his mother came in with a steaming bowl of noodles: "Eat up."

Yang Tang took the bowl and chopsticks, sniffed the familiar aroma of the noodles, and started eating.

His mother glanced at the historical figures on the computer screen and asked softly, "Looking up information?"

"Uh-huh."

Yang Tang turned slightly to face his mother and responded casually.

His mother’s eyes showed a mix of relief and concern: "It’s a pity that it’s only half a year left. If you had started studying this hard earlier, your grades wouldn’t be like this..."

Hearing this, Yang Tang felt a pang of sadness and wanted to say something to his mother, but he couldn’t find the words.

After finishing the noodles, his mother tidied up and left the room. Yang Tang rubbed his chin, considering whether he should register and publish the poems and songs he remembered from his previous life online.

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