pinnacle of basketball

Chapter 20 An Old Smoker

"Hehe, isn't this Su Mengyao, she's grown so big." The middle-aged man stopped in front of Su Mengyao, sizing up this pretty girl with squinting eyes, and didn't know what he meant by big.

"Ahem." A strong smell of tobacco spread from the tip of Su Mengyao's delicate nose, and she gently waved her slender hands to get rid of the uncomfortable smell.

The smell was as stubborn as the man's. After waving his hands a few times, the smell became stronger instead of dissipating. This is undoubtedly painful for people who have never smoked. If Su Mengyao hadn't turned her head in time, she might have suffocated.

"Long time no see, you've grown into a big girl." The man didn't realize that he had caused trouble to Su Mengyao, and he had long been used to such scenes.

"It's only been a year." Su Mengyao reluctantly responded with a few words.

"One year is long enough." As soon as the man opened his mouth, the smell of cigarettes followed, "By the way, why are you here?"

"This is a school, why can't I come here." Su Mengyao turned her head and glanced at the man, he was really scruffy, if his hair was a little more messy, he would be no different from a homeless man, the only thing worth admiring was his bright eyes.

These eyes are really transparent, revealing shrewdness or cunning in the clarity, completely inconsistent with his appearance and clothes.

Blind these good eyes in vain.

"It's you." Su Mengyao asked back, "Why are you here? Haven't you been fired already?"

"Little girl, don't always expose people's scars." The man thought it was a joke, after all, that incident has passed.

"I heard that your brother is back." The man skillfully took out a pack of cigarettes from his pocket, tapped it from the bottom, and a cigarette deftly popped out. The man stretched out two fingers, pinched it precisely, and slowly handed it to his mouth.

"This is a school." Su Mengyao's tone was very serious. This is not Su Mengyao's problem. It is difficult to make people feel friendly to him when meeting such a person. "Whether my brother comes back or not is none of your business."

"Oh, I almost forgot." The man was stunned for a moment, and put the cigarette back, "You still hate me, don't you?"

"You are not worthy." It is rare to see Su Mengyao speak in such a cold tone.

"Look, it's still my fault." The man heard the implication, and argued, "Actually, I was indeed responsible for that matter, but I can't blame it all."

Su Mengyao said nothing, but she had no patience to continue listening.

"Forget it, it's useless to say anything now." The man realized that he was not very popular, so he didn't bother him any further.

Before leaving, he added, "If your brother comes back, let him come to me, I miss him a lot."

"Forget it." Su Mengyao refused, "No one wants to see you."

"No." The man's stubble trembled confidently, "He will, if he still loves basketball."

Basketball is the only interaction between Su Miao and this man.

Although Su Mengyao was tough, she still decided to tell Su Miao about it.

The third grade is located on the top floor of the entire teaching building. The explanation given by the school is that it is convenient for students to study without being disturbed. Everyone knows the real reason. The break between classes is only 10 minutes. Going up and down the stairs once takes almost half of the time, and the remaining time is not much, so students can only stay in the classroom or corridor instead of going out.

To put it bluntly, it is to restrict the recess activities of the third grade, and can only stay in the classroom and envy the younger students through the window.

This trick is really effective, the third year of high school is like being isolated, and rarely haunts the school.

There is still a big gap between the third grade and the first grade in high school. Therefore, Su Mengyao immediately attracted the attention of the seniors as soon as she appeared on the third grade floor. Although she was still a little young, Su Mengyao's beauty was enough to kill any girl on this floor.

Su Mengyao didn't pay much attention to these gazes, the unseen expressions were extremely pitiful, and finally her footsteps stopped at an open door.

Class [-], Grade [-], Su Miao's class.

Su Mengyao, who stood at least at the door, easily attracted the attention of all the students in Class Six. Su Miao also looked at her sister at the door.

Generally, there are very few people from lower grades on the third floor of senior high school. Even brothers and sisters like Su Mengyao and Su Miao seldom see each other during school. There must be something wrong with Su Mengyao's sudden appearance.

"Why are you here?" Su Miao got up and walked slowly towards the door, with some comments coming from time to time.

The expression on Su Mengyao's face was reluctant, but she couldn't hide it, "I saw Fang Tianzheng just now."

This name made Su Miao's calm face a little sad. The name Jiang Jiang had disappeared from his life for a year. He thought he would never have any contact with this person again. Today, when he heard it again, his heart was not as peaceful as he imagined.

"How is he?" Su Miao asked with concern.

"Same as usual." Su Mengyao's answer was very perfunctory, her tone was so light and emotionless, as if she was treating a stranger she had never met.

Su Miao nodded slightly, not surprised by this attitude, he knew what kind of existence Fang Tianzheng was in Su Mengyao's mind, because Su Mengyao hated Fang Tianzheng very much because of his relationship, but Fang Tianzheng was innocent.

"Where is he?" Su Miao continued to ask.

"I just saw him in the arena, but I don't know now." Su Mengyao replied.

"What did he say?" Su Miao realized that the reason why Su Mengyao came to her was definitely not just to tell him that Fang Tianzheng had appeared.

"He said that if you still love basketball, you will definitely go to him." Su Mengyao answered truthfully.

"Any more?"

Su Mengyao shook her head, "That's all I said."

Su Miao thought for a moment, "Okay, I see."

"You can't go." Su Mengyao was very opposed to this meeting, just because the other party was Fang Tianzheng, that old smoker didn't look like a good person, and she absolutely couldn't let her brother have too much contact with this kind of person.

But no one can stop this meeting, neither can Su Mengyao, Su Miao has been waiting for this day for a whole year.

"You don't have to worry." Su Miao comforted, "Some things need to be settled." Su Mengyao couldn't shake such a determination, so she could only watch Su Miao leave.

Fang Tianzheng did not specify the location of the meeting, but Su Miao already had a clear location in her mind, and that was one of the few intersections between the two.

In the basketball hall of No.[-] Middle School, Su Miao stopped here.

"Coach Fang." Su Miao leaned her body into the stadium and walked towards a familiar figure.

"You really are here." Fang Tianzheng turned around slowly, his scruffy face looked a bit handsome against the sunlight coming in through the glass of the arena.

This may be the best appearance of reunion after a long absence.

Fang Tianzheng didn't move, Su Miao moved forward, this was the first time they met after Su Miao was injured and left the team.

"It's recovering well." Fang Tianzheng's gaze stayed on Su Miao's injured knee for a moment, and he nodded in relief.

"Yes." Su Miao bent her knees, "I have fully recovered."

The stone that weighed on Fang Tianzheng's heart can finally be let go.

The game with the provincial experiment should have changed the fate of the two people. Su Miao left the team, and Fang Tianzheng also left the team at the same time.

The news came out that Fang Tianzheng was fired because of his poor record in leading the team. In fact, Fang Tianzheng offered to resign on his own initiative.

Fang Tianzheng didn't explain the reason for his resignation, but everyone knew that Su Miao's injury was not the responsibility of one person, and as a coach, he failed to protect the players at all, and he might even ruin a basketball genius.

Before Su Miao was injured, his future was a career. In Fang Tianzheng's eyes, he had already reached the standard of a quasi-professional, and Fang Tianzheng had already made a very detailed training plan for him, preparing for his career path, but that push stopped everything abruptly.

After the injury, it is impossible for Su Miao to become a professional player again.

Fang Tianzheng firmly believes in this point, this is the power of the meniscus, it can determine a person's future appearance.

"Coach, I'm sorry." Su Miao whispered.

Fang Tianzheng was taken aback for a moment, his lowered eyes flashed with a sharp light, "I should be the one who should say I'm sorry."

"I owe you a championship." Fang Tianzheng said after the two sides were silent for three seconds.

"Coach, you don't owe me anything." Su Miao said flatly, "It's because I made you bear too much scolding." Su Miao took another look at the man in front of him, he was much more vicissitudes than he remembered, and he didn't look like he was only 35 years old.

"It's all over." Fang Tianzheng said in relief, finally someone understood his situation, which made him extremely gratified, and even the wrinkles at the corners of his brows seemed to have eased a lot.

In the pocket, the cigarette case was crumpled into a ball by Fang Tianzheng's clenched fist.

"Are you interested? Let's do it again." Fang Tianzheng sent out an invitation suddenly.

"Coach." The corners of Su Miao's eyes were moist.

"We haven't won the championship yet." The fire in Fang Tianzheng's heart has not been extinguished, and that is the agreement between him and Su Miao.

"Of course." Su Miao said excitedly, "We agreed, but..."

"But what?" A trembling voice came slowly from outside the door.

"Leibo." Su Miao greeted respectfully.

"Lei Bo." Fang Tianzheng also greeted in the same tone.

"I called Tianzheng back." Leiber leaned on crutches and leaned towards the two, "From now on I will no longer be your coach, Tianzheng will be."

The news was so sudden that Su Miao didn't realize it for a while. Leiber was a respected old man in the No. [-] Middle School. During the year before Fang Tianzheng and him left, the basketball team of the No. [-] Middle School was under Leiber's discretion. The training on weekdays was quite rigorous, and he was consistent. The players called him "Lei Gong" in private, but his age and physical condition did not support him to continue to occupy this position, and Fang Tianzheng was his best candidate for successor.

"Don't worry, Leibo, I know how to deal with these young men." Fang Tianzheng promised.

"I'm not worried about the others." Leiber narrowed his eyes kindly, "It's just that there is one child, so I'm not worried."

(End of this chapter)