Chapter 33: I'll Be the Judge

Qianqian Liu also broke into a radiant smile.

"Handsome guy, if you want your ball back, you’d better have some skills."

That single "handsome guy" made the tall boy almost float off the ground. He gave his hair a dashing toss and gazed deeply at Qianqian Liu, saying, "Beautiful lady, what’s your name?"

"My name has nothing to do with this ball, does it?" Qianqian narrowed her eyes.

"Of course not," the tall boy replied quickly, eager to please. "But if I could know your name, I’d give you the ball as a gift."

"I don’t want your ball," Qianqian pouted, tossing it behind her. "Qin Xuan, you shoved this ball at me, take it back."

Qin Xuan caught the basketball in his hands, feeling helpless. This girl really knew how to shift trouble.

"Hey, brother," the tall boy called out to Qin Xuan, though he stayed rooted in place. "You’re Qin Xuan, right? What’s your relationship with the beautiful lady?"

Qin Xuan frowned at the question. Truth be told, it was hard to answer. Their masters were friends, so Qin Xuan knew Qianqian Liu. Other than that, they had no real connection—ordinary friends, if anything. But if he said they were friends, it could easily be misunderstood. There are many kinds of friends…

Of course, he decided not to answer such a complicated question. Smiling lightly, he tossed the ball back to the tall boy. "Here’s your ball. Come on, girl, let’s go."

"Stop!"

"Wait!"

Two voices rang out in unison. Qin Xuan looked up; it was the tall boy and Zhou Xiaoyu, each calling out.

"Beautiful lady, won’t you tell me your name?" The tall boy didn’t want to let Qianqian Liu leave with Qin Xuan so easily. He gazed at her with longing.

"If you want to know someone’s name, shouldn’t you introduce yourself first? That’s just basic manners," Qianqian Liu smiled and turned to leave.

"Oh? I’m Yang Guang—Yang as in sunshine, Guang as in light. Hey, beautiful lady!" The tall boy hurried to respond.

"Move aside."

Zhou Xiaoyu shoved Yang Guang out of the way and caught up to Qin Xuan. "Boss, do you know how to play basketball?"

Qin Xuan was puzzled. "What’s going on?"

"The Marketing department has two sports students. I don’t think our Business Class One can beat them," Zhou Xiaoyu complained. "If you’re good at basketball, would you help us out?"

Yang Guang, pushed aside by Zhou Xiaoyu, was about to protest, but on hearing this, he immediately agreed, "Yes, yes! Do you dare to compete with us on the court?"

A crowd of onlookers began to stir, egged on by the commotion. Especially Wenhao Dongfang, who shouted the loudest, "That’s right, Qin Xuan. You’re in the same class as my sister, so you belong to Business. Do you dare to play against us Marketing folks?"

To Wenhao Dongfang, Qin Xuan might be tough in a fight, but in basketball, he couldn’t possibly match the athletic recruits.

Qin Xuan shook his head. "You guys play. I have things to do."

Qianqian Liu spoke up, "What could be so urgent?"

"Don’t you want to buy clothes?" Qin Xuan tempted her.

Qianqian Liu wasn’t swayed, her eyes sly. "There’s no hurry to shop. I want to see you play. Get on the court."

Qin Xuan suddenly felt a bad premonition. When even shopping couldn’t tempt a girl, there must be some trickery involved! Yet everyone present was urging him to play. If he refused, it would seem weak.

"Yeah, boss—if you don’t get on the court, you’ll lose all your… prestige!" Zhou Xiaoyu said, leering.

With that, Qin Xuan knew he couldn’t back down. He might as well show off in front of his new follower; let him see there’s a future in being his little brother.

"Alright, I’ll play."

The crowd erupted in cheers.

"Let’s keep it simple: two halves, twenty minutes each. I’ll win back what I lost last time," Wenhao Dongfang declared confidently, arranging for someone to record video at the side.

He wanted to capture Qin Xuan being overwhelmed and humble him.

Marketing and Business Class One each picked five players. Marketing had Wenhao Dongfang, two tall and robust basketball recruits, and two strong young men. They looked fierce and formidable.

Business Class One had Zhou Xiaoyu, Qin Xuan, a lanky tall fellow, and two muscular guys. From the looks of it, they were slightly outmatched.

"Who’s the referee?" Wenhao Dongfang frowned.

It was an informal match, known as a grudge game, a father-son game, or a hand-chopping game—no professional referees here. With the question raised, Zhou Xiaoyu was at a loss.

They hadn’t considered the referee issue.

Just then, a clear voice rang out, "I’ll be the referee!"

Everyone turned. The red-clad beauty who’d been watching from the sidelines now raised her hand, brimming with excitement. Qin Xuan felt a headache. This girl always had to stir things up.

She’d just come down from the mountains like him; being able to understand basketball was impressive enough, and now she wanted to be referee? Playing casually was one thing, knowing basic rules sufficed. But refereeing was different…

Yet Qianqian Liu’s offer immediately won the crowd’s approval.

"Yes, let the beauty be referee!"

"She’s skilled—I could tell from her ball-spinning earlier."

"Right, a talented beauty as referee puts me at ease—and she’s easy on the eyes…"

Seeing everyone agree, Qin Xuan couldn’t object. Fine, let’s see what chaos this girl can cause.

Qianqian Liu flashed Qin Xuan a triumphant glance and strode onto the court. Now only the two teams and the referee remained; the rest stood aside, watching.

It was still early; normally the court wasn’t crowded. But with Qin Xuan’s antics, all nearby students were drawn over. Some even came hunting for "Brother Dao" after seeing the forum’s hot posts, quickly locating the basketball court. The crowd grew larger.

The teams marked out the court, waiting for the referee to start the game.

Everyone looked to Qianqian Liu, who was busy checking her phone. Qin Xuan patted his pocket and froze.

"Good grief, when did that girl take my phone?"

The device in Qianqian Liu’s hand was Qin Xuan’s beloved iPhone 5. At that moment, she finished checking the phone, lifted her head with a bright smile, "Alright, let’s begin."

She walked to the center of the court, basketball in hand.

Qin Xuan smacked his forehead—she must have used the phone to look up basketball rules just now. As fellow swordsmen, Qin Xuan had no doubt about Qianqian Liu’s quick memory.

Marketing’s jump ball player was Yang Guang, the tall athletic recruit, his gaze intense on Qianqian Liu.

On Qin Xuan’s side, the lanky fellow stepped forward, looking frail, making people wonder if he could compete with Yang Guang.

Qianqian Liu strode to center court, coughed twice, "Ahem, let’s get started."

The basketball spun elegantly on her slender fingers, drawing admiring murmurs from the crowd. Suddenly, without looking up, she tossed the ball straight up into the air. The basketball shot skyward; all eyes followed it.

Yang Guang and the lanky boy craned their necks, intent on snatching the ball for their team.

But neither moved.

The once lively court fell silent, whispers spreading.

"What happened, why isn’t anything happening?"

"Where’d the ball go?"

"Yeah, where is it?"

Qin Xuan couldn’t help but look up—and sure enough.

The ball… was gone.