Strong Offense And Defense Chapter 14

Translator: Re

Editor: Mims

Even underwater, that guy was smiling arrogantly. His originally sharp eyebrows were softened under the twists and turns of the light, bringing some kind of fatal temptation while his arms pressed near Nie Chuan's ear. 

Nie Chuan's back was against the swimming pool. Wanting to go up, he kicked his feet when something suddenly pressed against his lips and he was forced down once again.

The back of Nie Chuan's head was held by the other's hand, he could not move at all! 

His heart felt as if it was going to beat out of his chest! 

Wò cáo! Wò cáo! Wò cáo! [T/N: f*ck]

Nie Chuan struggled vigorously. 

“Achuan! Achuan! Get up already and go to cla.s.s! If you still don't get up then I will take your stinky socks and stuff them in your mouth!” 

Nie Chuan was saved by the sound of Zhou Bin's voice. He opened his eyes wide, gasping vigorously.

“…Hey, what's wrong with you?” Zhou Bin was frightened by Nie Chuan's sweaty appearance. 

“No… nothing…” Nie Chuan tried to get up but found that from his arms to his legs, he was so sore that he wanted to cry. 

He hadn't exercised like he did last night in a long time. It was only reasonable to get such a result. 

“Hey… you're fine ba? You look like some strong ōuměi men had given you a…” 

[T/N: ōuměi (被歐) refers to a European or American. I used the pinyin since I'm a.s.suming they're conversing in Chinese here and because it flows better]

“You're the one who those ōuměi men…” 

“Shut up! Are you a strong man? Are you a super strong man? Hurry up!” 

Zhou Bin packed his notebook and left the room. 

The moment Nie Chuan lifted up his blanket, he had the impulse to cough blood. “What the -” 

Does he have to wash the blanket again? 

Nie Chuan rode his bicycle with difficulty and attended his morning cla.s.s. 

As soon as he left the cla.s.sroom, he saw a tall and slender figure leaning in the corridor talking and laughing with the other female students. 

It was Carlo. 

Nie Chuan thought about the three day agreement between himself and Carlo. There was an 80% chance that this guy came to personally ask for the answer. 

Today's Carlo looked very refres.h.i.+ng wearing a fas.h.i.+onable jacket with jeans that made his legs appear longer. Although his smile made him look promiscuous from a glance, many girls were still fascinated by him. 

Nie Chuan was sore all over his body. He had just walked by with his head down when he was stopped by Carlo. 

“Allen! I've been waiting for you!” 

Caro stepped forward and put his arm around Nie Chuan's shoulder when Nie Chuan suddenly fell to one side. Carol quickly supported him. “My G.o.d! Were you doing *black work? How did you become like this?” 

[T/N: the literal translation was "black work." Refers to when China's economy was rapidly growing and many people from Southeast Asia and Africa had snuck in without a legal ID and worked]

“…” 

“Wait, Allen, you haven't told me your decision yet. Are you willing to see Coach Gordon?” 

After these couple rounds, Nie Chuan also understood Carlo's sticky candy character. [T/N: probably means Carlo is persistent]

He took Carlo's arm off from around himself and looked at the other person very seriously. “Alright, you listen clearly. I'm willing to see Coach Gordon but I feel that he won't put me in his eyes. If he doesn't think that I have the ability to enter the basketball team, then please let me go, ok?” 

“Ok! Of course it's ok!” Carol is as happy as a child who got candy. He took hold of Nie Chuan's shoulder and walked forward. “I decided to practice two hours of basketball with you every day! Coach Gordon's way of selecting players is that if you were a rather well-known player in high school, he'll watch your game. But you haven't partic.i.p.ated in any compet.i.tions, so he will team you up with other newcomers, play a practice match, and then decide whether he wants you or not.” 

“Carlo… Carlo… I'm sore all over today. I'll practice again another time, ok?” 

“Ah? I haven't seen you these past two days. What have you been doing?” 

“… Playing basketball.” Nie Chuan reluctantly admitted. 

“Playing basketball? Although you look unwilling on the surface, you really want to be recognized by Gordon Coach, right?” Carlo vigorously rubbed Nie Chuan's head like treating a kitten or puppy at home. "You got sore muscles because you usually exercise too little! So there is an imbalance between anaerobic metabolism and your energy needs in the muscles! If you wait until the lactic acid in your muscles is metabolized, it may take a week so you should continue to exercise! Ewing and I have already come up with a whole set of training courses for you!” 

“Ha? A whole set of what?” Nie Chuan felt forlorn like a *duck driven onto a shelf. [T/N: 赶鸭子上架 – idiom for being forced to do things out of your ability]

Isn't playing basketball an enjoyable thing? Why does he feel so stressed? 

When Carlo introduced his training course to Nie Chuan, Nie Chuan had the urge to kill himself. 

“What is this lead block used for?” 

“It's for tying to your legs when you dribble to enhance the stability of your lower body!” 

“Are you sure I can still run while tied with this?” 

“This is already very light…” 

“What are you digging such a deep pit for?” 

“To help you practice jumping!” 

“Are you sure I can jump out of this pit?” 

“I am sure…” 

“Why don't you just directly pour water in and drown me…” 

In the end, Nie Chuan did not adopt Carlo's exercise plan. He only followed Carlo in doing some basic exercises.

Carlo very loyally accompanied Nie Chuan in walking from the basketball court back to the student dormitory. 

At the entrance of the dormitory, Nie Chuan saw Celine, who seemed to be waiting for someone. 

“Celine! Why are you here?” Nie Chuan tried to make his aching body look relaxed. 

Celine looked at Nie Chuan then looked at Carlo past Nie Chuan's shoulder. She completely did not expect Carlo to be walking together with Nie Chuan. 

“Allen, I'll head back first. See you tomorrow!” 

When Carlo looked back, he didn't forget to wink at Nie Chuan. Paired with Carlo's rarely serious face, it was unexpectedly charming. 

Celine chased after him. “Wait, Carlo!” 

“What is it?” 

“I invited Allen to the cheerleading team's pool party this Sat.u.r.day. Would you like to come with Reece and them?” Celine's eyes were full of expectations. 

Nie Chuan can almost hear the sound of his heart breaking. After so long, he was only part of a buy two get one free. 

Carlo looked at Nie Chuan with great interest then said, “If Allen is attending then I'll go too. However, that guy Reece has always been a loner while Ewing and Montenegro seem to be having a headache with this group project recently.” 

“This…” Celine revealed a disappointed expression. 

“But I will tell them.” Carlo pointed his chin toward Nie Chuan. “See you on Sat.u.r.day!” 

As if I'll see you! I can go home once it's Sat.u.r.day! 

If Reece is also partic.i.p.ating in the pool party, then wouldn't there be nothing there for him? Him also going is meaningless! 

When Carlo was far away, Celine looked at Nie Chuan curiously. 

“Allen, when did you become so familiar with the basketball team? I saw you and Reece in Nike that day! Today Carlo even came with you to the dormitory before leaving!” 

“Ah, nothing much.” Nie Chuan didn't want to tell Celine that he was invited to join the basketball team. 

“Anyways, it's fine as long as I can see Reece this weekend!” Celine revealed a happy face. 

“Hey, Celine.” 

“What is it?” 

“Do you really like Reece, or do you just regard him as your idol?” 

“Of course I really like him! I've been crus.h.i.+ng on him since I was in high school, but he never knew who I was.” Celine shrugged her shoulders a little helplessly. 

Nie Chuan looked at Celine for a long time then said, “Have fun this weekend, good night.” 

“Oh… good night…” Celine was stunned, she had never seen Nie Chuan reveal such an expression. 

Nie Chuan returned to his room, took a shower, then lay down in bed to review for next week's cla.s.ses. 

Zhou Bin came back and took a look at Nie Chuan. “So? Are you going to the pool party this weekend?” 

“Not going.” Nie Chuan placed a sheet of paper on his book and carefully calculated something.

Zhou Bin smiled. He seemed to be able to guess the reason.

He asked, "Do you still play basketball?” 

“Of course.” 

“Do you think you can defeat Reece Reddington one day?” 

"I don't think so.” 

“Then why do you play?” 

“I believed that I can one day make him guā mù xiāng kàn.” [T/N: 刮目相看- means not look at him the same way because he made progress]

“Oh, your requirements were originally so low. I thought you wanted to dominate the NBA.” 

“Go away.” 

——

At this time, Carlo and Reece were practicing one-on-one. Ewing and Montenegro stood on the side as they watched the battle. 

Although Carlo is very tall, his movements are very flexible and agile. His fakes were so realistic that people couldn't tell the direction. His steps were sometimes gorgeous and sometimes steady but whenever he is about to pa.s.s through Reece's defense, he will be cut off. 

“Enough… it feels like an infinite loop of failure.” Ewing chewed his gum and spread out his hand. "A person who can break through Reece's defense one-on-one must at least be in the top 32.” 

“Don't think I didn't hear what you said.” Carlo threw the ball at Ewing and walked over with his hands in his pockets. His face had a lazy smile but his eyes were threatening. “Do you mean I'm not even in the top 32?” 

“Hehe!” Ewing shrugged his shoulders and took the ball to Reece's side. “Or, let's do two-on-two?” 

Montenegro got up and walked over. Reece just pulled up the collar of his s.h.i.+rt to wipe his sweat then lowered his center of gravity, ready to defend. 

“Oh, wait, let me say one thing before we start. Our beautiful cheerleaders are throwing a pool party, are you guys going?” 

“Not going,” Ewing pouted. “Their topics are always so trivial, like saying that I'm cute, so annoying.” 

Montenegro, “I have homework to do with my group. If my percentile isn't ideal, then I may not be able to partic.i.p.ate in the November game.” 

“What about Reece?” 

“I have an appointment for a one-on-one with the city university's center.” 

“Ah… I'm so jealous, I'm going to go watch!” Ewing shouted. 

“That's a pity. Allen is going! But Allen doesn't seem to know how to swim. I'm a little worried that the guys at the party will mess around too much. If Allen falls into the pool, won't they first finish laughing before they fish him up?” 

“Ah? So it's like this! Then I will go! I'll protect Allen!” Ewing looked serious. 

“You? I think you're the one who pushed him in!” Carlo looked at Reece again. “Can't you move your one-on-one to another time?” 

“No.” 

“Ok……” 

Montenegro, “Why don't you ask me?” 

“Because the percentile is very important. You better study hard.” 

Re: So Ewing pushed Nie Chuan into the pit that was suppose to help him "practice jumping"…? You sure that wasn't the BL pit, Carlo? 

MadMadamMims: ANOTHER DREAM! Shut up ><>