novelraw Chapter 221: Basketball Game
Chapter 221: Basketball Game
Both families had a great time together this year, but it was suddenly interrupted by a phone call that Lin Dongchen received on the third day of the Lunar New Year. The joyful living was disrupted.
It turned out that the ancestral home of the Lin Family in Lin Family Village, Qingping County, Zhongzhou City was to be demolished. The family called Lin Dongchen to come back and deal with the matter, asking him to inform whoever he could. Since the ancestral home covered a large area, basically all of the old estate was within the demolition range.
"Big brother, sister-in-law, the old house back home is going to be demolished. The family called and asked me to handle things, so it looks like we’ll have to part ways right after the New Year," Lin Dongchen said after he got off the phone, sharing the news with everyone. Indeed, it had been a long time since they returned to the old house. It seemed right to go back and take a look, and the demolition was something he had to handle personally.
"By the way, big brother, sister-in-law, you should go back as well. All of the Lin Family’s old houses are in the demolition area. How about we go back together?" Lin Dongchen immediately suggested. It was indeed a good idea. A group of them returning to the old house would also allow them to visit the elders and old neighbors. Moreover, it was the New Year, so everyone would be home and it’d be more lively with more people around.
"Sure, it has been a long time since we’ve been back. Let’s take this opportunity to return and have a look," said Lin Yiwen, agreeing with Lin Dongchen’s suggestion. He too hadn’t been back in a while and with the demolition issue at hand, there was no question about returning. Since both families were going, it made sense for them to go together and look after each other.
"We haven’t noticed, but it’s indeed been a long time since we’ve returned. It’s the perfect time for us to go back together," Zhang Lan also felt a longing for the ancestral home. Despite being busy with her company, a couple of days wouldn’t make much difference; going back with her husband to the ancestral home was more important to visit the elders and old neighbors.
"Alright then, let’s do that. Since it’s quite urgent, I suggest we leave at noon. It’s just a few hours’ drive," Lin Dongchen said, pleased that Lin Yiwen and his wife had no objections to his proposal. It was better for the two families to travel together to stave off the boredom of the road.
"That’s settled then. Wife, you should go and see what we can bring back to our hometown," Lin Yiwen decided on the matter and then asked Zhang Lan to shop for things to take back home.
It wasn’t until Lin Feng and Lin Jie returned from buying groceries that they learned about the demolition of the ancestral home. They also wanted to go back and have a look, but Zhang Lan and Liu Li, the two mothers, insisted they didn’t need to bother the youngsters to go back and told them to go about their business. They even assigned Lin Feng a task: to take good care of Lin Jie, a decision that left Lin Feng speechless.
"Mom and Dad, Uncle and Auntie, take care on the road!" Lin Jie hung on Lin Feng’s arm, cheerfully waving goodbye to her parents and uncle and auntie.
"Mom and Dad, drive slowly, and call me right away if anything happens," Lin Feng also said his farewells, but for some reason, he had a bad feeling inside. Demanding demolition on the third day of the Lunar New Year seemed terribly unusual.
"Okay, head back now."
...
Watching their parents’ car disappear, Lin Feng then led Lin Jie back to the villa.
...
On the sixth day of the Lunar New Year, Tianhai Stadium was packed with people, and the atmosphere was incredibly lively.
It happened that the previous year, the Tianhai City Education Committee had received an invitation to the World University Basketball City Challenge, inviting a team to represent Tianhai City in the competition. The chance to gain fame for their own university obviously caused all the universities to vie fiercely. Ultimately, unable to select a team any other way, the universities agreed to determine through a competition which basketball team would represent Tianhai at the World University Basketball City Challenge at the start of the year. This way, it was fair for all schools, and none could contest the decision.
In order to qualify for the World University Basketball City Challenge and to gain worldwide recognition for their school, every university fought with everything they had to secure victory in each match. Amid this intense atmosphere, only Tianhai Yinbo University and Tianhai University of Posts and Telecommunications made it to the final.
The final match gained not just the attention of the two schools involved but also significant media interest. They reported extensively, as the winner would represent Tianhai City in a world-class event. For Tianhai, it would be an excellent promotional opportunity. Sponsors, hearing the news, rushed to the scene, hoping their companies could gain exposure at a world-class event. Eventually, under the joint efforts of sponsors and media, the final match venue was set at the 20,000-capacity Tianhai Stadium, which not only had enough seats but also the necessary live broadcast equipment to allow for a simultaneous telecast.
The Tianhai University of Posts and Telecommunications basketball team didn’t go home for the Lunar New Year holiday; instead, they stayed on campus for a training camp with the sole aim of defeating Yingbo University in the final, representing Tianhai City at the World University Basketball City Challenge, and making the university known worldwide. Even Miao Qingjun, the president of the university and coach Li Cheng, spent the winter break with the players, showing the determination of the Tianhai University of Posts and Telecommunications to win the championship.
Yingbo University was no less determined, goaded on by Ding Wan’er’s prodding. They were actively preparing for battle, having also sworn an oath to win the final and enhance Yingbo University’s reputation on the world stage.
On the day before the match, Ding Wan’er found it odd to receive a call from the organizers, the Tianhai Education Committee.
"To enhance the appeal of this final, the president of Post and Telecommunications University suggested a pre-game idea. Before the main final, they plan to have a friendly match between the male staff of the two schools to set the mood. I wonder if Dean Ding agrees?"
"I agree," Ding Wan’er gave it a brief thought. There seemed to be quite a few teachers who played basketball at the school, so organizing a team should not be a problem. Besides, it was just a friendly match to set the mood, and the result wasn’t too important, so she agreed.
...
Everyone had already learned through the media about the specific time and place of the ultimate final between Tianhai Universities and had filled Tianhai Stadium long before, turning the venue designed for twenty thousand people into a packed sea of fans, all eagerly awaiting the exciting match.
So, when Ding Wan’er led the Yingbo University group into the Tianhai Stadium, she was immediately surrounded by countless flashing cameras. As Tianhai’s youngest and most beautiful dean in history, her popularity in Tianhai was extraordinarily high, and Yingbo University’s reputation was well-known, making it natural for her to be the center of attention.
"Look, there’s Ding Wan’er, the beautiful dean."
"She really is gorgeous!"
"Hard to believe she’s so young and already the dean of Yingbo University!"
"So beautiful!"
...
With all eyes on her, Ding Wan’er spotted the short but unusually obese Miao Qingjun standing by the sideline. She calmly walked over to where Miao Qingjun, who had arrived before her, was standing.
"Dean Miao, you’ve arrived quite early. It seems you have a lot of confidence in your team’s victory," Ding Wan’er greeted him proactively. Although they were both deans, she was the junior, and it was proper for her to take the initiative, no matter the circumstance.
"You’ve arrived just the same," Miao Qingjun replied immediately with a laughing retort. "I’ve only been here for two minutes. As for confidence, surely you have more, Dean Ding. Everyone knows your basketball team is full of specially recruited players, much stronger than ours." Miao Qingjun did not care for such unproductive dialogues, but in such a public setting, he had to respond.
"Then, I’ll leave you to it. I’ll take my group to the back, goodbye." With that, Ding Wan’er led the Yingbo delegation straight to the athlete’s rest area of the stadium.
"We’ll see how calm you can stay later," Miao Qingjun muttered, watching Ding Wan’er’s retreating figure with a glint of something unusual in his eye.
...
Soon, amid the cheers of the crowd, the staff friendly match began to warm up the atmosphere. Ding Wan’er and Leng Mei also took their seats in the coaching area by the court, which offered a clearer view and was convenient for handling any emergencies.
As the players from both teams entered the court, Ding Wan’er noticed something amiss. Why were all the staff members from Post and Telecommunications University so large? It would be normal to have one or two big players, but it seemed all their players were over 185 centimeters and looked very sturdy. This was truly unusual, as they were only staff members, and under normal circumstances, one wouldn’t expect this!
Could Miao Qingjun have rigged something? But this was just a staff match, so why focus so much on winning or losing?
She had brought all the basketball elites from her faculty, but it seemed like they were a size smaller than their opponents. The more she watched, the angrier she got. Even though it was just a regular staff match, wouldn’t it be better to win by a large margin? But these men they were facing were clearly anything but ordinary teachers. Ordinary teachers couldn’t possibly all be that tall and strong, and her staff wouldn’t stand a chance in the match!
Seeing Miao Qingjun smiling from across the court, Ding Wan’er instantly realized she had been played by Miao Qingjun. She hadn’t thought much of it and had casually agreed to his suggestion for a staff match. But now, it was obvious that he had exploited a loophole to assemble these players to face her teachers deliberately. This was supposed to be just a staff match, yet he had constructed such a grand scheme. Unsurprisingly, he wanted to demoralize them through the staff match, thereby affecting the college players’ main game. He was too sinister, she thought, regretting having agreed to it in the first place!
But regret was useless now, as the match was about to start. Ding Wan’er’s heart suddenly filled with urgency. She hadn’t expected such an outcome. If the match proceeded this way, her side was bound to lose miserably. What to do now?