Chapter 332 Sure Kill

Shen Xinghe was tall with long legs and a decent vertical leap. His long fingers made it easy to control the ball. As long as he had some fundamental basketball skills, he couldn’t be a weak player. Treating him as just some pretty boy was Zhang Yang and his friends’ biggest miscalculation.

Even without three-pointers, his defensive skills alone would have been formidable.

As he blocked Zhang Yang’s shot, Chen Mo had already used his agility to shake off the burly guy who came to set a screen.

Dashing under the basket, he quickly grabbed the ball and, without a moment of hesitation, threw it to Shen Xinghe, who was already running to an open spot in the corner.

Back on the police force, Chen Mo used to play basketball with his teammates in his spare time. He never focused on practicing his shooting, so he usually scored with layups after getting the ball under the basket. However, his physical skills were superb, and he had trained his stealing, defense, and dribbling to an exceptional level. So, even though his shooting wasn’t great, he was still a formidable scorer.

However, knowing now how strong Shen Xinghe’s shooting was, he decided not to steal the spotlight. Besides, his own layups were likely to get blocked; it was a safer bet to leave the long-range shots to Shen Xinghe.

Chen Mo’s pass was perfectly weighted. Shen Xinghe caught it with ease and, with virtually no adjustment, launched himself into another elegant jump shot.

The burly guy saw what was happening and rushed over to stop him, but he was too late.

"SWISH!"

The ball sank through the net once more!

12-0!

A shutout!

Game over!

"Yay! We won!" Zhou Yue and Lin Xiaoxiao hugged each other in excitement.

Su Yuqing and Zhao Ya were quieter in comparison, merely breathing a sigh of relief with gratified smiles on their faces.

Shen Xinghe slowly lowered his arms, his expression returning to its usual calm, as if he wasn’t the three-point assassin from moments ago.

He looked at the livid, speechless Zhang Yang and his friends and asked coolly, "Now, can you leave quietly?"

Zhang Yang and his friends’ faces flushed and paled. The guy who had made the initial challenge kept his head down, not daring to look at anyone.

They’d picked a fight with the wrong people—the kind that turned out to be reinforced steel.

"You’re... badass!" After a long moment, Zhang Yang finally forced out the two words, admitting defeat.

To his credit, he was a good sport about it. He nodded at Chen Mo and Shen Xinghe, said "Sorry for the disturbance" to the girls, and then dragged his mortified teammates away. He left quickly, without looking back, his retreating figure looking almost rushed.

"Oh my god! Xinghe! Chen Mo! You guys are incredible!" With the crisis averted, Lin Xiaoxiao was instantly back to her energetic self. She rushed over, shouting excitedly, "How did you get so good at three-pointers? You’re so accurate! I used to watch my high school’s basketball team, and they had a hard time making those shots."

Many people assume basketball is a sport for boys and that girls don’t like watching it, but plenty of girls actually enjoy it. Lin Xiaoxiao, for example, had loved watching the boys play back in high school.

"I had the right build, so my teacher basically dragged me onto the basketball team," Shen Xinghe replied with a faint smile. "But to minimize physical contact with other players, I decided to focus as much as possible on three-pointers. It’s a way to score from the outside without getting into close-quarters confrontations. I focused on that one thing for a long time, and practice makes perfect, I guess."

It sounded simple, but in reality, it was incredibly difficult.

Every serious basketball player goes through massive amounts of training.

But even professional three-point shooters, after countless hours of practice, would find it difficult to sink four consecutive three-pointers in a game as effortlessly as Shen Xinghe just had.

Of course, the fact that his opponents weren’t on the same level was a factor, but the bigger reason was Shen Xinghe’s natural talent.

It was the combination of talent and hard work that had forged his extraordinary skill!

Take Chen Mo, for example. He was talented too, but he never practiced his shooting, so despite his talent, his shooting was still terrible. However, by focusing his training on defense and physical play, he excelled in one-on-one situations.

Zhou Yue’s eyes sparkled as she laughed. "You guys were awesome out there! You really put those guys in their place! Hehe!"

Chen Mo smiled, walked over to Shen Xinghe, and clapped him on the shoulder again. "Nice shooting."

As they spoke, Su Yuqing handed a bottle of water to Chen Mo.

Zhao Ya hesitated for a moment before picking up Shen Xinghe’s water and handing it to him.

"Thanks." Shen Xinghe took the water from Zhao Ya and took an elegant sip. Then, he lifted his chin slightly, a faint yet stunningly smug smile directed at Chen Mo. "Standard procedure."

The momentary charm of this contrast with his usual cool elegance was utterly dazzling, leaving Zhao Ya, who was standing nearby, stunned for a second.

Lin Xiaoxiao and Zhou Yue didn’t miss a thing. They immediately exchanged a knowing smile.

The episode on the basketball court was like a small pebble dropped into a lake; once the ripples faded, the surface returned to its calm state.

The sun was still scorching, but there was at least some coolness in the shade of the trees.

"Finally, some peace and quiet," Lin Xiaoxiao sighed, fanning herself with her hand. "Where to next? This sun is really working overtime."

Zhou Yue immediately pulled out her phone, reprising her role as the group’s navigator. "Let me check my trusty guide... Hmm, not far from the sports complex, if we go through this tree-lined path, we’ll reach the Academic Building 1 complex. The architecture over there is supposed to be really cool, and I heard there’s a well-known sunken plaza where a lot of couples like to hang out."

The suggestion sounded much more appealing than baking in the sun.

The group walked on, following a wide, tree-lined path neatly planted with camphor trees.

The path was newly paved asphalt, flanked by meticulously trimmed green belts. Modern sculptures and signs occasionally came into view, and every detail radiated the new campus’s neatness and youthful energy.

Sure enough, before they had gone much farther, a complex of buildings with a completely different style appeared before them.

Academic Building 1 made extensive use of glass, metal, and concrete. Its design was more modern and geometric, reflecting a dazzling light in the sun.

"Academic Building 1 isn’t bad at all. It looks pretty cool!" Lin Xiaoxiao exclaimed in admiration.

"It’s certainly unique," Shen Xinghe commented, his gaze falling on a nearby building with a massive, slanted glass curtain wall, seemingly appreciating the play of light and shadow in its design.

Just as Zhou Yue had said, in the center of this building complex was a spacious sunken plaza.

A few wide steps led down to the bottom, where simple wooden benches and parasols were set up. The area was dotted with artfully arranged planters.

Although the sun was intense, the plaza’s lower level created a naturally shaded area. Quite a few students were sitting there—some talking in low voices, some reading alone, and others simply resting with headphones on.

"What a great spot! Let’s go down and sit for a bit!" Zhou Yue was the first to suggest.

As they descended the steps, they immediately felt a wave of coolness.

They found an empty bench and sat down on it and the adjacent steps, taking a temporary refuge from the summer heat.