Chapter 101 - Hidden Depths

aoyang's left and right trembled, none daring to speak up or even try to mediate.They knew a bit about Su Han’s personality. The colder her tone got, the more distant she became. But they had never se...Chapter 101: Hidden Depths

Ding Er returned to the dormitory and saw his roommates shouting as they played cards across from him, while in their study room, Zhao Jiayin—who usually was very enthusiastic about playing cards—had gone to bed early.

"Zhao Jiayin, aren't you going to play cards" Hao Ren put the reference materials on the table and asked.

“Tomorrow practice. Get some rest early!” Zhao Jiayin lay on his bed, “Did you come back from tutoring”

"Yeah, I am back. By the way, I won't be coming home tomorrow night; I have to go back," Hao Ren said.

“How much do you earn from tutoring a month" Zhao Jiayin asked.

"A few hundred," Hao Ren casually replied.

“Stop doing that tutoring stuff and come practice basketball with me every night! We're going to become the golden pair on the court!" Zhao Jiayin excitedly exclaimed.

“Point guard, you'll have to work hard yourself!” Hao Ren picked up a basin and lightly tapped Zhao Jiayin’s belly before heading to the communal toilet in the hallway for washing up.

The night passed, and by 5:30 AM the next morning, Zhao Jiayin hurriedly got out of bed and woke up Hao Ren on his upper bunk.

Hao Ren opened his sleepy eyes and realized that Zhao Jiayin must have barely slept due to excitement.

"Come on, come on! If we don't leave now, we'll be late!" Zhao Jiayin urged.

Dragged by Zhao Jiayin, Hao Ren had no choice but to get up. Cao Ronghua and Zhou Liren were also roused one after another; similarly, they forced themselves awake and got out of bed as well.

Originally thinking that other dormitories would remain quiet at this hour, it turned out that with Hao Ren's dormitory waking up, the surrounding dorms quickly followed suit.

What’s going on It's only 5:30 AM! Hao Ren was secretly surprised.

"Go go go! Let's watch Zhao Jiayin and Hao Ren practice!" Yu Rong, wearing loose pants, stepped out of his dormitory and called out.

“What the heck There’s nothing good about watching practice!” Zhao Jiayin yelled back.

"You might not be interesting to look at, but Xie Yujia is!" Huang Jianfeng shouted.

Hao Ren had cold sweat on his forehead, only then did he realize the intentions behind these guys getting up so miraculously.

The group of them made a lot of noise as they got ready to leave from the bathroom, and then marched grandly towards the main gate of their school. This was the first time since entering university that they rushed out the moment their dorm room door opened in the morning—previously, they would sneak in at the moment when the dormitory door closed.

Xie Wanjun had already gathered the basketball team members by the entrance; he held a watch and looked down at it while counting aloud: "10 seconds! 9 seconds! 8 seconds!"

Zhao Jiayan, who was chatting and laughing with Yu Rong and others earlier, quickly spread his legs and sprinted off.

"3 seconds!" When Xie Wanjun counted down to "3," Zhao Jiayan finally rushed up in front of him.

"If you're late again, you won't be coming next time." With a dark face, Xie Wanjun said this and then faced the other players: "Let's start running!"

He led them with steady steps. The others formed a line behind him.

Yu Rong saw Zhao Jiayan's disheveled appearance and sighed, saying, "It won't be easy for Zhao Jiayan to survive under this gorilla."

Hao Ren smiled and went across the campus to an outdoor basketball court near the gymnasium. The group of mischief-makers led by Yu Rong followed Hao Ren over.

When Hao Ren arrived at the basketball court, he saw Xie Yujia already playing there in her white sportswear. Her bicycle was parked outside the court.

Slightly surprised to see so many people coming over, she blinked at Hao Ren when he walked up awkwardly and scratched his head: "They insisted on following."

Xie Yujia’s beautiful eyes twinkled but she didn’t say anything. With her legs exposed in shorts and a sportswear top, her white arms and legs looked healthy and attractive. She had tied her hair back into a long ponytail, exuding youthfulness and vitality.

Especially when she wore a pair of white sports shoes, which highlighted her fair ankles; compared to the shoes, her skin was even paler, truly deserving of the description "snow-white."

Huang Jianfeng and others, who had decent interactions with their class monitor usually, were drooling at this close view of Xie Yujia brimming with youthful vitality.

Even if they could interact with her in class normally, how would they have imagined that the proper Xie Yujia could be so athletic

"Have you had breakfast" Ignoring these guys whose eyes were sparkling with interest, Xie Yujia directly asked Hao Ren.

"Not yet. I left my dorm right away and the canteen isn’t open now." Hao Ren replied.

"Okay!" Nodding, Xie Yujia ran to her bicycle where she took out a bag from the basket and handed it to Hao Ren: "I got up early today, asked Auntie to open the door for me earlier, and bought some meat buns at Hongji."

"Ah" Hao Ren, holding the steaming baozi (steamed bun), was a bit surprised.

"Eat it! Only by eating can you have enough energy to play basketball! I've already eaten!" Xie Yujia pushed Hao Ren's hand and said.

"Class President, we want some too! We want them as well!" Huang Jianfeng and his group saw this and started clamoring.

"There aren't any left! There are only three baozi. Moreover, you guys don't play basketball anyway," Xie Yujia turned around to face them and said.

"Who says we don’t We want to train too!" they continued clamoring.

Xie Yujia turned back towards Hao Ren, ignoring them completely.

The Class President doesn't need to bother with those guys shouting, Hao Ren felt somewhat helpless. He ate the three baozi and immediately felt warm in his stomach, feeling much better.

"Okay! Let's do some warm-up exercises first; then I’ll start teaching you how to play basketball!" Xie Yujia nodded at Hao Ren with a bright smile.

Hao Ren also nodded. However, he felt somewhat awkward that a girl would be the one teaching him how to play basketball, as a male student.

As Hao Ren moved his limbs, Xie Yujia picked up the orange basketball from the ground and said, "Let's start with the basics: dribbling. Dribbling is not just about hitting the ball."

Bending down to lower her center of gravity, she put one arm in front of her body as a defensive posture, then skillfully pressed the basketball against the ground. When it touched the ground and bounced up, Xie Yujia smoothly caught it with both hands while performing an elegant wrist flick action before pressing it back down.

This fluid movement was akin to playing water Tai Chi. The standardness of her actions was impeccable except for the slower pace; the finesse almost rivaled that of professional players on TV when they dribble!

Seeing Yu Rong and the others staring in astonishment, Hao Ren felt he had regained some face. It turns out the Class President is secretly a basketball expert.

"Ahem," "Wait! Where are their eyes focused on"

Hao Ren sensed something amiss about their gazes and followed them to see they were staring at Xie Yujia's slightly opened collar because she bent down instead of the basketball in her hand!

The white T-shirt revealed a large expanse of pale skin on her neck, even exposing part of her beautiful chest silhouette.

Hao Ren quickly stood in front of her. "Cough cough, Class President," he pointed at Xie Yujia's chest area, "Your clothes..."

Xie Yujia looked down at the neckline of her shirt and suddenly shouted, covering it with her left hand before standing up straight.

Her face turned red in an instant, and this spot of red stood out particularly clearly and beautifully against the hazy white morning.

"Ah Ren, you're really not nice!" Yu Rong and the others shouted.

Hearing them shout like that, Xie Yujia, who almost had an accident earlier, frowned and bit her lip, looking a little annoyed.

"Alright, alright, everyone disperse! Don't make the class president angry!" Hao Ren walked over to drive them away.

Yu Rong and the others continued to rouse up trouble while still being chased by Hao Ren out of the basketball court. Standing outside the iron wire fence, they were quite far from the court, making it hard for them to see clearly anymore.

Afterward, Hao Ren returned to the basketball court, "I've driven them away, Class President, shall we continue"

"Mm." Xie Yujia's face still had a trace of blushing. "This dribbling technique… where did I stop explaining"

"You said dribbling isn't just about bouncing the ball and then demonstrated it to me," Hao Ren replied.

Seeing that Xie Yujia was still distracted, Hao Ren added, "Class President, please demonstrate. I won’t look at inappropriate places."

Saying this caused Xie Yujia’s face to turn even redder. She had only thought about wearing suitable sports clothes today and hadn't considered that playing basketball would require bending over. However, she did choose a shirt with a relatively small neck opening. Who knew these boys' eyes were so sharp and sensitive

Meanwhile, Hao Ren was thinking to himself that Yu Rong and the others dared to sneak peeks at the class president If anyone should see, it would be him.

If Yu Rong and the others outside the court heard Hao Ren’s thoughts, they would probably rush in to beat up this “wolf in human form” named Hao Ren.

Xie Yujia pulled her collar tighter with her fingers, then bent over. "The correct dribbling posture is to spread your feet naturally apart and slightly bend your knees. Your body should lean forward, head raised, eyes watching the court's conditions. Then raise your left elbow horizontally to protect the basketball."

As Xie Yujia demonstrated, she explained.

Hao Ren watched as her hands and feet moved before him, along with a few inches of white skin at her neckline. Although he noticed that her collar was loosening again, he managed to calm his mind and observe the dribbling technique in her arm movements.

When it came time for Hao Ren to handle the basketball and demonstrate dribbling, Xie Yujia stood next to him, gripping his wrist and waist to adjust his posture and motions.

Xie Yujia enthusiastically coached without feeling anything amiss. However, Hao Ren felt a bit embarrassed. After all, a beautiful woman like Xie Yujia was close to him, using her smooth hands to move his wrists around, even pressing her arm against his in a hurry to demonstrate "synchronization."

That's what having a private coach for your basketball training would be like, rightccompany you." Chancellor Xia respectfully said."Alright!" Hao Ren readily agreed and unfurled the Map of the Realm, flying swiftly out over the sea towards the East Sea.Chancellor Xia had never trave...