unquestionable; even Xiao Rihua couldn’t hide his surprise and delight."See That's the difference!" Schuyang Xie took out his own report card and compared it to Tang Wu's score, which was announced a...Chapter 49: Exchange of Fire Incident

The general manager of the Ba Yi Hotel wiped his brow as the atmosphere lightened up. As someone who was adept at reading situations, he quickly seized this opportunity to continue with his speech and concluded early.

When handing over the microphone to the city party secretary, he received a nod of approval. The hotel manager then stood beside the woman from the finance office, leaving her in an agitated state, while Su Can, standing next to Lin Luoran, could only stare helplessly.

"Old Third Wang isn't coming over" A middle-aged man among the crowd whispered to Lin Chu on the side. Looking at Wang Weiwei in the crowd, Lin Chu said, "He's busy fishing. We'll have our meeting without disturbing him."

Lin Luoran stepping forward to help Su Can caused quite a stir; it was hard enough for many officials' children to interact with this daughter of the Lin family. Some municipal officials had no intention of overstepping their bounds.

They thought that after years of education, one wouldn't expect anything different from the Lin family's daughter. It was great if their own children could befriend her, but if not, it couldn't be blamed on others; only themselves for being unimpressive in her eyes.

No one expected Su Can to manage to interact with her, even prompting her to speak in a warm manner toward him, making the situation quite interesting indeed.

Many people looked at Wang Weiwei and Lin Zouwu with surprise, focusing their attention on Su Can.

Su Can could tell that Lin Luoran was pleased by his arrival. Besides playing basketball in school which she found fun, she likely felt stifled here in the holiday resort hotel to the point of being nearly sick. He felt somewhat helpless as he could see from Wang Weiwei and Lin Zouwu's gaze that he had become synonymous with 'fun', hence their surprise upon seeing him.

Wang Weiwei was not like the two siblings of the Lin family who were distant; some officials' children would occasionally approach him, some clinging to him while others acted maturely. Wang Weiwei received everyone with a smile. Lin Zouwu had been dragged by his father, Lin Chu, and as they advanced in line, he kept signaling at Su Can with his eyes, reminding him quietly when passing by, "Enjoy playing with Luoran for now; I'll catch up later!"

He was immediately met with a stern glance from his father Lin Chu and quickly became awkward.

Su Can found it amusing. While Lin Zouwu usually followed Wang Weiwei closely in an obedient manner, he seemed listless when facing the elders. Lin Chu was gentle and had a scholarly air about him but was strict with this son of his.

Soon enough, everyone entered the conference hall inside the main building while Lin Luoran tugged Su Can to the hotel's playground at the rear.

The gently sloping lawn had been cleared for an open-air sports field and cinema screen. It was lakeside with pathways made of pebbles and pavilions, dotted with green willows and occasionally light breezes blowing across one’s face.

Lin Luoran went to the management office to pick up a basketball, held it as she walked over. She looked around and jumped up, letting go of the ball which drew a line in mid-air before hitting the hoop with a ding! sound and bouncing off without going in.

Lin Luoran stuck her tongue out at Su Can, "Fortunately they all went to the meeting hall; I was almost suffocating today!"

Su Can smiled. He recalled when he used to attend gatherings with his parents back then and how well he got along with Xue Yiyang and Liu Rui. They had done things like setting off firecrackers to scare farm chickens out of their nests on many occasions, but they only went to regular restaurants or country inns and not resorts like this one. Naturally, such behavior would not be allowed here.

Lin Luoran's life was beyond his imagination while the life he had lived before reincarnation was also inconceivable for her.

"I can't teach you techniques but based on my experience, stability is key. I don't mean physical sturdiness but mental steadiness—don't be too quick or slow; maintain a rhythm. Actually, it's best that you watch how street ball is played. You'll feel more at ease and better able to grasp the ball when in such an easygoing state." Lin Luoran quickly assumed her coaching role.

"I should probably start with the basics first," Su Can replied. He couldn’t find any materials on street ball right now; it was too much to ask for him to follow Lin Luoran's ideals at this point in time. All he had at home was a VCD player and no discs about street ball either. Moreover, this kind of sport might only be emerging in big cities with high living standards, and its development back then wasn’t very fast in China; however, there were plenty of people playing the Streetball online game in his previous life.

Lin Luoran was speechless but thought it reasonable. He couldn't run before learning to walk—this would take time. She had laid a solid foundation from childhood, so she could understand how he felt about Lin Luoran's progress and her sense of touch for the ball. But still, the fact that Su Can made such rapid strides despite not having the same rigorous practice as her made her feel jealous.

Still, when she considered how far behind him she was in comparison to herself, her mood improved a little.

Su Can had already read her thoughts from the approving yet critical look Lin Luoran gave him.

As they played ball, their coordination was similar to that on the school playground.

Soon after, some boys and girls of about sixteen or seventeen years old gathered around the playground. Some were older; likely the children of officials seen in the hall earlier. Because of Lin Luoran's lofty family status and her unapproachable personality, they kept their distance from them.

Their envy toward Su Can was palpable as he played with Lin Luoran, while she amazed them for being demure in front of elders but now agile on the court.

Wang Weiwei and Lin Zouwu came to the playground, accompanied by a boy and girl.

"This is Liu Yuran, son of the city secretary." "This is Jiang Li, daughter of Commander Jiang," Wang Weiwei pointed out, his tone playful. Then he gestured at Su Can: "This is Su Can."

Liu Yuran is quite obedient,

nodding quickly, "Brother Su Zan."

Jiang Li, however, can read the lady's temperament and furrows her brow as she looks at Su Zan, "You're really bad at playing ball!"

The group laughs.

Su Zan smiles; some noble子弟who haven't been tainted by societal風氣are quite lovable.

Wang Weiwei pats Su Zan's shoulder. "You might be a pro at games, but when it comes to playing ball, hehe, you're no match for Luo!" Wang Weiwei still has some self-respect; his father often says that if he were born into an ordinary family, he would have been toughened up. Now that he sees Su Zan, an ordinary person who isn't invincible and also has weaknesses, he feels much better.

The group warms up on the playground. The best player is Lin Luoran, followed by Lin Zhouwu, then Wang Weiwei.

As for Su Zan, his ball skills are roughly on par with Liu Yuran, son of Secretary Liu Lan. Jiang Li is close to Lin Luoran and often criticizes Su Zan and Lin Zhouwu without joining the game herself; she complains about Su Zan's poor ball skills and calls Lin Zhouwu "Fat Pig," making Lin Zhouwu grit his teeth in frustration but unable to do anything.

The playground, situated on a slope with well-tended grass, adjoins a road that winds along its contours for vehicles. A Toyota SUV drives up; the driver is a soldier, and inside are a bunch of stylishly dressed youths.

They stop and jump out, shouting at them, "Wang Weiwei, Luoran! Haha, we heard you're attending school here! You guys disappeared not long after classes started. Were you scared off by your big brother me"

"It's Zhao Lu; this brat was annoying in our previous school too. He never stops boasting! If my dad hadn't told me to be patient, I would have dealt with him a long time ago!" Lin Zhouwu whispers to Su Zan who looks puzzled, "This kid is really troublesome, how did he end up here"

Zhao Lu turns and looks at the distant Xiahai City skyline. The buildings there aren't very tall but seem enveloped in a layer of twilight under the sun's rays. He then laughs as he turns back to them, "Hearing you guys came to this godforsaken place for school was true after all!"

Wang Weiwei is good at handling situations and doesn't show obvious displeasure towards Zhao Lu and company; instead, he chuckles, "You've arrived too. Uncle Zhao's late."

The two groups meet up, but Lin Luoran seems cold towards them, while Lin Zhouwu acts dismissively with some verbal sparring between the sides.

Zhao Lu is a clique, and Wang Weiwei obviously belongs to another. Although their cliques are not at the point of being completely incompatible, one can deduce from the relationship between Zhao Lu and Wang Weiwei that there's already an emerging conflict of interests between two different factions.

When seeing Wang Weiwei playing ball, Zhao Lu suggested a game, with his side having four players against five on Su Chan’s side.

Lin Zouwu grunted, "We don’t like more people bullying fewer!"

Zhao Lu's expression changed; this sentence implied that in the past at school, Zhao Lu and others were used to having numerical superiority when bullying others.

Li Yuran was quite clever, saying, "Brother and sister, you guys play. I'll go cheer for you!"

Ling Luoran nodded; even though the two sides were sparring, she did not want Su Chan to enter the fray and lose a chance at real combat practice.

The two sides lined up on the basketball court. Su Chan's side faced tough opponents.

Zhao Lu’s group was generally taller than Wang Weiwei's; Wang Weiwei’s build did not differ much from Su Chan's, relying solely on his arrogance and skill to compensate for a height disadvantage. Lin Zouwu had decent technique but lacked stamina, finding it hard to keep up after just ten minutes.

It was entirely thanks to Ling Luoran's technical prowess weaving between Zhao Lu and the other three tall men that they didn’t lose too many points, persisting in their pursuit. However, this situation changed when the opponents realized Su Chan was a novice and Ling Luoran posed the greatest threat. They then focused on guarding her.

The group of Zhao Lu seemed to practice regularly as they were all skilled players. They exuded ferocity on the court; Ling Luoran’s occasional sharp exclamations indicated a perilous struggle, causing her to break into a sweat and fight hard in no time.

Su Chan received several passes before the ball was snatched away by Zhao Lu's group like wolves.

This incited Jiang Li beside them to shout anxiously with a childlike voice, "Fat Pig, go snatch it! Third-rate tech, give it your all!"

Zhao Lu and his companions showed smug expressions as the score widened to 15-10. Seeing Ling Luoran’s graceful figure struggling fiercely on the court made their blood boil.

======, being removed from Su Cen’s character.Tang Wu's mobile phone rang; she quickly flipped it open to read a text message. Seeing this, Su Cen finally breathed a sigh of relief. Under her scrutinizing g...