last second

After dinner, Jiang Shi was fiddling with the newly bought game console, and Xu Xi was carrying a big bag to go out.

"Well, I'm going out to do some shopping."

Xu Xi's expression was extremely unnatural, while Jiang Shi pretended not to notice, but asked strangely, "Do you need to bring such a big bag when shopping?"

Xu Xi faltered and said: "Well, there are shopping bags inside." After finishing speaking, without giving Jiang Shize a chance to speak, Xu Xi concealed and said, "Wash the dishes later, please."

"Oh, no problem." Jiang Shize replied without looking up the game disc.

Seeing this, Xu Xi quickly put on his shoes and left in a hurry.

After trotting all the way downstairs, Xu Xi breathed a sigh of relief. He looked up at the window of the apartment. The light inside was on, and Jiang Shi probably wouldn't come out if he had nothing to do.

Like a thief, he sneaked to the basketball court and finally took out the basketball.In the empty basketball court, Xu Xi practiced as usual, from layups to throws, even dunks, etc., every movement was very standard, all repeated millions of times.

However, Xu Xi did not notice that there was an extra person outside the fence.

The original smile on the man's face gradually disappeared, replaced by another focused expression. Through the mesh fence, his eyes were locked on Xu Xi's body. Every movement and every expression of the other party seemed to be focused on Xu Xi's body. Through his eyes, engraved into his heart.

This gentle and serious guy is indeed very different from the people he has come into contact with before.Maybe I was just curious about him at first, but now it seems that I can't take my attention away from him.

Suddenly, the man smiled and walked slowly towards the basketball court.At the same time, the basketball rolled towards the door, and Xu Xi hurried to pick it up.

Xu Xi didn't pick up the ball, but bumped into Jiang Shize.

"team leader."

Jiang Shi held a basketball in his hand and looked at Xu Xi with a smile.

For a moment, Xu Xi stood there in embarrassment like a child who had been caught.

"Going out for a walk?"

The smile on Jiang Shize's face was even stronger, and he deliberately said: "Didn't the captain say to go shopping? I happen to have something I want to buy, and I just want to see if I can catch up with the captain."

"Then why..."

Before he finished speaking, Jiang Shi suddenly said, "I didn't find the captain after chasing him to the supermarket. I just thought that Chen Jiaqing said that the captain would occasionally go to the nearby basketball court to practice alone, so he came to try his luck."

After all, Jiang Shi looked at Xu Xi meaningfully: "I didn't expect to be so lucky."

Xu Xi smiled awkwardly, and asked nervously, "Chen Jiaqing and the others?"

"Yes, and tell me not to disturb the captain."

Xu Xi had a terrible expression, and his face became even uglier.

Seeing this, Jiang Shi frowned, and asked in surprise, "The captain feels embarrassed? Why?"

Hearing this, Xu Xi quickly denied: "No, I didn't expect everyone..."

"Everyone admires the captain, hard work is a good thing."

It was rare to see Jiang Shize showing such a serious expression, Xu Xi couldn't help being stunned for a moment, and looked at him in surprise.

When Jiang Shi laughed, he realized that his mind was distracted, and then thought of his words.

Shouldn't it be embarrassing?I thought it was my secret, but I didn't expect everyone to know it.What would they say?Will you make fun of yourself?The more Xu Xi thought about it, the more distressed he became.

Jiang Shi seemed to have seen through his mind, and said reassuringly, "Everyone really admires the captain's efforts."

Hearing this, Xu Xi stared blankly at Jiang Shize. The other party's expression was extremely serious, as if he was talking about a matter of course, and there was no room for doubt.

Xu Xi smiled wryly, and said with self-deprecation: "Working hard means not having talent."

Jiang Shi looked at Xu Xi in surprise, and said as a matter of course: "So what, how many people can have extraordinary talent? To become a professional player, the qualifications are similar. Besides, talent is given by God. Work hard." I fought for it myself, isn't the latter more worthy of respect?"

Xu Xi didn't say a word, he lowered his head and meditated on Jiang Shize's words. After a while, he smiled embarrassedly, and said angrily, "I want you to comfort me..."

"I'd love to."

As he said that, Jiang Shi looked at Xu Xi with a smile, his eyes were full of various meanings, which made Xu Xi unable to distinguish for a while.He looked at the other party in a trance, and seemed to feel something besides being distracted.

The warm things melted into his heart, bringing him inexplicable comfort, inexplicable peace of mind...

It was only a few seconds, but it seemed as long as several hours. The two of them didn't speak, and when they looked at each other, they were full of thousands of words. Their heartbeat accelerated a lot, and even their breathing became unnatural.

"that……"

"actually……"

The two spoke at the same time and stopped at the same time, looking at each other and smiling.

Xu Xixian said: "Actually what?"

Jiang Shi was not in a hurry to speak, he dribbled the ball to the basket, jumped up and shot smoothly.It went in hollow, and fell to the ground with a "snap".

"Actually, when I was in the United States, I often practiced alone on the basketball court."

Xu Xi looked at Jiang Shize in surprise. The man spoke seriously, as if he was trying to comfort him.

"The players who play basketball with me are either white or black. I can't compare with them in size, jumping ability, and endurance. What's the point of always losing? If you lag behind, you will annoy your teammates even more."

"so?"

"If you want to talk about talent, I can't compare with them, but no one will laugh at me for being stupid."

Jiang Shize's shooting posture is very beautiful, every movement is crisp and neat, without any fancy gimmicks, but it makes people feel like enjoying themselves.

"Therefore, there is nothing wrong with practicing hard. What matters is the final result. If I can catch up with other people, or even surpass them, the previous efforts will not be in vain."

As soon as he finished speaking, Jiang Shi just passed the basketball to Xu Xi. Xu Xi didn't react for a while, and almost missed it in embarrassment.

"Captain, if you have to be careful even when you work hard, aren't you putting too much pressure on yourself?"

Xu Xi was stunned, his mind was in a mess, as if a voice kept asking himself, is it right, is he right?

How could it be wrong?Xu Xi can't deceive himself or others, he is very clear about whether he is really under pressure or not.Jiang Shi was not necessarily the first to see it, but he was the first to ask it frankly.

Someone cares about you, you should feel happy, right?But why is it a little embarrassing?

Thinking of this, Xu Xi blushed unconsciously, and even looked at Jiang Shize unnaturally.However, the man didn't say anything, his handsome face was full of smiles, and he was rarely childish.

"Captain, are you not playing?"

Xu Xi was taken aback for a moment, then remembered that he was still holding the basketball.

"Fight, why not fight."

I don't know if it's my own illusion, but after those thoughts were exposed by Jiang Shize, I feel a lot more relaxed. I don't need to hide or cover up. This feeling seems good.

The basketball was spinning deftly in his hand, Xu Xi suddenly dribbled the ball for a layup, and beautifully completed a three-step layup.

Wow—the ball passed through the net hollowly, and the ball fell to the ground with a "pong" sound, crisp and sharp, and the echo rang in my heart.

Picking up the basketball, Xu Xi passed it to Jiang Shize in a standard manner, and Jiang Shize took it with a smile, but did not speak.

"Since you're all here, let's practice together."

It's been a long time since he showed such a relaxed smile. Xu Xi felt that his whole body was relaxed, especially when he saw Jiang Shize looking like a big boy, that feeling was like going back to the beginning.

Gather in groups of three or four on the basketball court, without training, without rules, just simply like basketball, even if the shooting posture is not standard...

"Captain, do you feel that the sound of basketball is like drums?"

During the break, Xu Xi sat beside him drinking water, while Jiang Shi talked while dribbling.

"Drums? You mean, does basketball have a rhythm?"

"Well, listen to it, bang bang—"

As he said that, Jiang Shi suddenly dribbled the ball for a layup and completed a slam dunk beautifully.

clap clap clap clap clap clap clap clap clap

Even if Jiang Shize didn't say anything, Xu Xi had already discovered that Jiang Shize's basketball was rhythmic and could even affect him.But what about your own basketball?Is there such a rhythm?

"Does everyone have a rhythm in basketball?"

Jiang Shi didn't answer, and threw the basketball to Xu Xi. With his eyes closed, he motioned for Xu Xi to dribble for a layup.

Xu Xi took the ball knowingly, and made a three-step layup skillfully. The ball fell from the net with a "squeak", and he stepped forward to catch it sharply again.

"Papa...papa..."

Jiang Shi just closed his eyes like this, shouting the rhythm with Xu Xi's movements, every beat coincided with the sound of the basketball, the tacit understanding was unbelievable.

When the last ball was thrown into the basket, Jiang Shi suddenly opened his eyes and said to Xu Xi with a smile, "Right, basketball has a rhythm."

Xu Xi seemed to understand what Jiang Shize meant. He held the basketball in his hand and touched it unconsciously, with a faint smile on his face, as if he was influenced by Jiang Shize.

Suddenly, he remembered what the coach said, looked at Jiang Shize in surprise, hesitated for a moment, and asked, "Do you like music?"

Jiang Shi thought for a while, then smiled and replied, "I can't really say I like it very much. My father is a musician, and I have been fascinated by it since I was a child."

At this time, Jiang Shize lost his usual hippie smile, and he looked like a big boy when he smiled. He took the basketball, dribbled for a layup, and said: "When I was young, I always ran out to play basketball to escape Music, the more I learn various instruments at home, the more I like to spend time on basketball. How should I put it, this feeling is like escaping, a bit rebellious, right?"

Jiang Shi was not in a hurry to pick up the ball when he made the shot. He smiled shyly, looked at Xu Xi and said, "When I first came into contact with basketball, my starting point was not good, and now I am embarrassed to say whether I like it or not. "

Xu Xi's heart tightened, and he subconsciously wanted to say something to appease the other party, but his heart was in a mess, and he suddenly ran out of words.

"So, seeing the captain work so hard, I also feel motivated."

Isn't Jiang Shize's words not Xu Xi's motivation?He stared blankly at each other, his smiles seemed to be contagious to each other, even he couldn't help laughing.

"continue."

Jiang Shi passed the basketball to Xu Xi, and a new round of practice started again.

◇

Of course, the amount of exercise one person can't compare with the exercise of two people. On the way back, Xu Xi was too tired to walk, but Jiang Shize was very energetic. When he passed by a convenience store, he went in to buy something.After picking up the beer and cigarettes, Jiang Shi came out to check out, but Xu Xi thought of something and hurried in.

"wait for me a while."

Jiang Shi didn't follow, and stood at the door smoking a cigarette, just waiting for Xu Xi to come out.

"Let's go."

Jiang Shi didn't ask, he held a cigarette in his left hand and stood on the left side of Xu Xi.He knew that Xu Xi had never smoked, and of course he was not used to the smell of smoke.

Back home, Jiang Shi took off his shoes and asked, "Captain, do you want to take a shower first?"

Xu Xi was taken aback, and replied, "It's okay, you can go wash first."

Jiang Shize was not polite, he was about to go into the bathroom after taking his things, he saw Xu Xi put something on top of the shoe cabinet from the corner of his eye, he asked strangely: "What is that?"

Probably didn't expect him to ask so soon, Xu Xi's expression was a little restrained, he was taken aback for a moment, and said with some embarrassment: "Well, I bought the OK stretch."

Jiang Shi asked strangely, "Don't you put it in the medicine box? Why put it on the shoe cabinet?"

Seeing Jiang Shize's dazed look, Xu Xi couldn't help but smile, and he said, "Look at your heels."

Jiang Shi lowered his head, and sure enough, he saw the skin on the back of his ankle.

Xu Xi patiently explained: "The back of the newly bought sneakers is a bit hard, and you don't wear socks, it is easy to wear the skin, and it will be fine with the OK bandage." After finishing speaking, before Jiang Shi opened his mouth, Xu Xi Has walked quickly into the room.

"I'm going to collect the clothes."

Perhaps because he felt embarrassed, he ran to the balcony immediately after saying this.Across a door, he seemed to hear Jiang Shize calling himself, and when he turned around to look over, the man was indeed gesturing.

"Captain, thank you."

The sealing effect of the balcony door is very good, only a faint voice can be heard, but through Jiang Shize's mouth shape, Xu Xi can clearly hear the other party's voice, and there is a deep smile in his tone. People who seem cynical can actually be serious sometimes.

Thinking of this, Xu Xi couldn't help laughing, and his mood became particularly comfortable.

◇

A week later, Jiang Shi joined the basketball team for the first group practice. The coach specially asked him to be on the same team as Xu Xi, and compete with Chen Jiaqing and his team.

Before the game, Xu Xi called Jiang Shize aside and reminded him, "This game is very important, you should understand the coach's intentions, right?"

Jiang Shize was still dozing off, and lazily replied: "Oh, let's have a good game, right?"

Xu Xi was taken aback, and his face was rarely tinged with anger: "The summer league, the coach wants you to play as the main pick, do you understand?"

Jiang Shi took a bottle of ice water casually, gulped down a lot, and finally regained consciousness.

"So, let them agree with my strength, right?" He asked with a smile, and gave Xu Xi another bottle of mineral water. "Captain, drink some water and relax."

Should be calm, not relaxed...

Xu Xi frowned, and under Jiang Shize's urging, he drank a few sips of ice water perfunctorily, and his impatience also calmed down.

"Don't worry, it's fine."

Jiang Shi stood up suddenly and patted Xu Xi's shoulder with a cynical expression on his face, but Xu Xi felt inexplicably relieved.

Since Jiang Shize said so, there should be no problem... For some reason, looking at Jiang Shize's smile, Xu Xi really didn't worry about anything.

During the match, Chen Jiaqing stared closely at Jiang Shize, as if he was deliberately against him. He would rather give up the opportunity to attack than let the opponent get rid of the defense.

Everyone thought that Jiang Shi would make a tough breakthrough, but he didn't expect that he didn't care at all, not even his own score.On the contrary, his assists are very good, no matter how hard Chen Jiaqing defends, he can still make a few wonderful passes.

At the beginning, Xu Xi also wanted to pass the ball to Jiang Shize, hoping that he would have a chance to score. There is no doubt that a wonderful dunk or shot is the easiest to attract attention. However, Jiang Shize's reaction was beyond his expectations. .Instead of attacking reluctantly, he willingly assumed the role of Green Leaf.

At the same time, Chen Jiaqing couldn't get anything cheap in his hands. The original scoring leader lost the opportunity to play, and Jiang Shize's defense was even stronger than he imagined.

The man's reaction was extremely fast, his movements were very agile and smooth, and his strength was moderate.Especially when he was stuck, he was obviously not as strong as Chen Jiaqing, but he was able to hold him back.Chen Jiaqing was quick-tempered. He forced a breakthrough a few times and almost fouled, but even so, he couldn't make it through, which made him anxious and irritable.

Just when Xu Xi thought that Jiang Shize was willing to be guarded, he found a chance to break through, dodged around Chen Jiaqing's defense, and winked at Xu Xi.

Xu Xi passed it to Jiang Shize knowingly, Jiang Shize received the ball and quickly dribbled it across the midfield.Chen Jiaqing quickly chased after him, flanking the other person.

Jiang Shi held the ball, unable to pass it, and unable to break through.Seeing the time passing by, Xu Xi suddenly ran to a position parallel to him.

"This way."

Jiang Shi glanced at Xu Xi's position from the corner of his eye, and when his hands holding the ball moved slightly, someone turned sideways to block him.At this moment, Jiang Shi suddenly dribbled the ball and broke through the gap between them.

Chen Jiaqing was the first to react. He quickly chased after him, trying to block Jiang Shize's attack.At this time, Jiang Shi was already standing within the free throw line. He suddenly stopped and was about to squat while holding the ball.Chen Jiaqing jumped up subconsciously, wanting to give him a beautiful hot pot.

Unexpectedly, Jiang Shi used the same feint to evade the defense, skillfully switched left and right hands to dribble, and broke all the way to the basket.

"Prevent him!" Chen Jiaqing shouted anxiously.

As soon as the words fell, Jiang Shi jumped up and dunked into the basket beautifully.The whole movement was done in one go, crisp and neat, but with an astonishing courage.

The cheerleaders watching the game suddenly screamed, and applause rang out in the basketball hall.

This was not an important score. However, Jiang Shi almost single-handedly evaded all the opponent's players, including Chen Jiaqing, who had been pressing the defense all the time.

"Well done." Xu Xi couldn't help admiring Jiang Shize as he passed by.

Just as Jiang Shize was about to say something, the referee had already blown his whistle.

The game is still going on intensely, and no one dares to relax.

At the end of the game, a player was suddenly injured. He sprained his ankle while grabbing a rebound and fell to the ground and couldn't stand up.

"Quick, take him to the hospital."

It's not long before the summer league, and the one who got injured was another regular draft player, so Xu Xi was unavoidably nervous.

"Go ahead, I'll go with him."

Regardless of whether Xu Xi is gentle or weak, he still has the courage of the captain at the critical moment. Together with the assistant coach, he picked up the person and left the gymnasium anxiously.After they left, the coach adjusted the lineup and the game continued.

◇

When Xu Xi came back, the day's training had just ended, and everyone stepped forward to surround him, concerned about his teammates' injuries.

"Being in bed for three months, I won't be able to catch up with the summer league." Xu Xi said with a downcast expression.

"How could this be?" Chen Jiaqing was straightforward, and his reaction was also the reaction of everyone.

"It's okay, it won't affect the game." Xu Xi patted Chen Jiaqing's shoulder and said reassuringly.

"Okay, don't worry, everyone, go back."

The team members stopped staying and left the gymnasium.Xu Xi was not in a hurry to leave. Instead, he stayed alone in the basketball hall and practiced basketball for a while before coming out.

When he walked into the lounge, the other team members had already left, and he kept himself in it, thinking about the previous things over and over again.

How did you get hurt?It is also a very important player, will it really not affect the game?

His heart was full of indescribable irritability, he hadn't shown such calmness at all, and he was terribly worried when he was in the hospital.

The reason why everyone was urged to disband, and the reason why they dared to step into the waiting room until now, is because there is no way to face the team members.He could forcefully say "it's going to be okay" once calmly, but he didn't have the confidence to repeat it over and over again.

He wanted to appease the team members, but he couldn't even appease himself. The anxiety was so real that he became irritable.

Is there really no problem?how can that be possible……

Just when Xu Xi was having a headache, the door of the lounge was suddenly opened. He looked over in surprise, and the person who came in was Jiang Shize.

"The captain is still there?" Jiang Shi smiled and stepped forward, sitting next to Xu Xi. "Are you worried about the competition?" Jiang Shi was always so straightforward that Xu Xi had no room to refute.

"Are you trying to tell me not to worry?"

Jiang Shi smiled softly, and there was a touch of concern in his eyes. The brown pupils were like black holes, and Xu Xi couldn't help staring at the other party, unable to look away for a long time.

"No, isn't it normal to worry about some players being injured?"

Xu Xi was taken aback, thinking about what Jiang Shize meant, when he suddenly heard the man say, "You are the captain..."

Supporting the stool with both hands, the man lazily raised his head, the corners of his mouth curled up in a beautiful arc, his smile was full of contagion, and even Xu Xi relaxed.

"Jiang Shize..."

Jiang Shi had long hands and long feet, and this kind of movement was uncomfortable. He suddenly sat up, looked directly at Xu Xi, and said with worry: "Captain, don't take everything to heart, sometimes tell your troubles to me. It will be better if everyone listens to it.”

Xu Xi was taken aback, but before he could react, the man frowned slightly, and said, "How can the other team members not guess that the captain puts the pressure in his heart? However, if the captain pretends to be calm and comforts everyone, it will actually make you feel uncomfortable." Does it make you feel worried?"

Xu Xi looked at Jiang Shize in surprise, unable to speak for a long time.

Jiang Shi couldn't help laughing, and said gently: "Sometimes you are too gentle, but you are not gentle."

An understatement, but pierced Xu Xi's heart like a sharp sword, uncovering all the hazy things, forcing him to look at the real situation.Although there was a little pain, it allowed him to see more clearly, all those neglected and those deliberately avoided were all exposed.

Jiang Shi stopped talking and went in to take a shower with a bath towel. Soon he came out after changing clothes, said hello to Xu Xi, and left the lounge.

As soon as Jiang Shize left, Chen Jiaqing came in and hurriedly said, "Captain, that guy is right, don't put all the pressure on yourself, it will make everyone more worried."

Xu Xi looked at Chen Jiaqing in surprise, and forgot the original matter for a while, but asked in surprise, "Did you hear everything?"

Chen Jiaqing blushed, with a bit of embarrassment on her face, and said falteringly: "Well, I just thought what he said made sense, so I didn't come in to interrupt...Captain, actually that guy is not too bad, he's good, for you Also very concerned."

Hearing this, Xu Xi couldn't help feeling a little embarrassed, the roots of his ears were slightly red, and his cheeks were hot.Aware of his abnormality, he subconsciously looked at the other party, but fortunately Chen Jiaqing didn't notice it at all.

"Also, after the last match and today's practice match, everyone can recognize his strength."

Seeing Xu Xi's clear expression, Chen Jiaqing felt even more embarrassed, and said embarrassingly, "Anyway, he won't lower the standard of our team."

Seeing Chen Jiaqing's appearance, Xu Xi couldn't laugh or cry, and didn't know whether he should be happy.

"Okay, since you guys have changed your mind about him, don't reject him."

With a look of being seen through, Chen Jiaqing said stiffly: "I see, it depends on the performance of this kid in the official competition. If his performance is not good, we still have to show him some color."

Hearing this, Xu Xi couldn't help laughing, and the original troubles disappeared.Thinking of Jiang Shize's words, I felt a warm feeling in my heart.

Perhaps the appearance of Jiang Shize is a very good thing for the team, and even the troublesome things at the beginning don't seem to be bad.