novelhk Chapter 189
Chapter 189
After finishing his egg, he picked up his soy milk, took a sip, and looked across the cafeteria, landing on Lin Feng for three seconds before looking away.
Liu Yang sat next to him, spreading jam on bread. The knife was dull, and the jam wasn't spread evenly, but he was doing it very carefully, as if he were doing something that required complete concentration.
Chen Hao sat opposite Lin Feng, head down, drinking his porridge. He hadn't brought his "New Concept English" book today; there was only a bowl of porridge and a steamed bun on the table. His eyes occasionally lifted, his gaze shooting out from behind his glasses, quickly sweeping across Lin Feng's face before lowering again.
The air conditioning in the cafeteria wasn't strong enough, and a thin layer of mist condensed on the inside of the glass windows. Looking out through that mist, the shadows of the trees in the courtyard blurred into a mass of green, with slightly trembling edges, like a breathing watercolor painting.
7:00 AM. Training hall.
Coach Li stood in the center of the court, hands on his hips, facing two neat rows of players. He was wearing his usual gray sports T-shirt, but the whistle around his neck had changed—yesterday's whistle was black plastic, but today's was metal, silver-white, reflecting the light like a small silver coin.
"This afternoon's scrimmage will proceed as scheduled. The lineups remain the same: Red Team and White Team. The rules remain the same: two quarters, each lasting twenty minutes. The losing team will have to clean the arena tomorrow."
Someone chuckled softly, then quickly fell silent, as if pricked by a needle.
Coach Li's gaze swept across the entire field. "Don't eat too much at noon today. The afternoon's match will be very intense."
His gaze finally landed on Lin Feng. It didn't linger long, just a second or two, before shifting away. But Lin Feng knew who he was referring to.
The morning training session was unusually quiet.
Shooting, dribbling, defensive footwork—everything was being performed methodically. No one spoke much, no one joked. The ball bounced louder than usual, the coach's commands were shorter than usual. The air in the entire training hall seemed to have been sucked dry, becoming tight and tense.
Lin Feng sank seven three-pointers in a row during shooting practice. With each one, his teammates' breathing eased slightly. When the seventh one went in, the net swayed gently, and someone next to him let out a breath, as if it had been pulled from their chest.
Training ended at 11:50.
Coach Li blew his whistle, the sound echoing for two seconds in the empty stadium before fading away. "Assemble at 3 PM sharp. Anyone late will have to run 10,000 meters tomorrow."
The team members dispersed. Some went to shower, some headed straight outside, and some sat on the sidelines drinking water. Lin Feng sat on a bench in the locker room and took off his shoes. His socks were soaked and stuck to the soles of his feet; there was a slight tearing sound when he took them off, like tearing a piece of cloth held together by glue. A new blister had formed on his right toe; it wasn't big, but it hurt a little when pressed.
He changed into dry socks, put on slippers, and stood up.
Gao Yuan walked over and handed him a bottle of mineral water. "I'll be in charge of the ball this afternoon. I'll try to set up the ball for you as much as possible."
Lin Feng took it, unscrewed the cap, and took a sip.
"No need to make anything special for me. Just follow the tactics."
Gao Yuan glanced at him, as if he wanted to say something, but his lips moved. "Alright, follow the tactics."
2:50 p.m.
Lin Feng stood at the entrance of the training hall, looking at the old locust trees in the courtyard.