Chapter 327 - What's the rule

Yang Hongzhi nodded and laughed at Shen Qingyang's words, but as he approached the basketball court, the smirk on his face told otherwise. He had no intention of showing Xiao Luo any mercy whatsoever and would do his best to make Xiao Luo look like a complete fool.

On the court, Su Xiaobei had just picked up the ball and ran back with it toward Xiao Luo, screaming, "Yay! Daddy's so awesome… here, Daddy, throw the ball again."

Xiao Luo patted her head affectionately as he received the ball.

However, when he turned around to shoot, Yang Hongzhi was right in front of him, waving his arms and poised to block it. He wore a wry smile on his face as he stared confidently into Xiao Luo's eyes and said, "Mr. Xiao, you seem to be quite good at playing basketball, why don't we have a one-on-one match?"

"No thank you, I'm not interested!"

Xiao Luo replied curtly and turned away, holding Su Xiaobei's hand as they walked to the other corner of the court, where Xiao Luo shot the ball into the hoop from within the three-point arc.

"Yay, my daddy's so great!"

Su Xiaobei was jumping for joy as if she were the one who made the basket. She playfully skipped toward the baseline to retrieve the basketball before running back with it to Xiao Luo—she was his exclusive ball girl.

"Let's play another round, and then we'll stop, okay?"

The little girl nodded obediently and replied, "Okay, Daddy."

Xiao Luo eyed the hoop and aligned the ball to his dominant eye, he jumped and extended his shooting hand straight at the basket as he made the shot. The ball left Xiao Luo's right hand and sailed in the air with a slight backspin on its way to the hoop.

Suddenly, the ball was slapped out the court—Yang Hongzhi moved like a prowling tiger, dashing swiftly across the ball's trajectory, and he jumped up high before smacking the ball down with his right hand.

That was, by any standard, a clean and perfect block!

If such a block had been executed during a match, it would undoubtedly have had an impact on the shooter's state of mind and morale, even sending him into a daze.

"Bravo!!!"

Yang Hongzhi's two bodyguards clapped and cheered loudly.

"That's a great block."

Shen Qingyan, who was standing a short distance away with Su Li, gave an approving nod.

"Taking advantage of others, what a shameless man!" Su Li scoffed.

Shen Qingyan thought for a while and arrived at the same conclusion. "Mmm, you're right, young master Yang surely is a shameless man."

Su Xiaobei was jolted with shock as the basketball that was aggressively blocked by Yang Hongzhi.

Xiao Luo remained expressionless without even the slightest bit of agitation on his face.

Yang Hongzhi picked the ball up, then walked toward Su XIaobei and smiled at her. "Xiaobei, how about Uncle Yang shoots a ball for you?" he said.

Before the little girl could respond, Yang Hongzhi was already dribbling the ball toward the hoop, then in three steps, his body spun 180 degrees, and layed-up with his right hand putting the ball into the basket lightly. His movements were fluid, elegant, and aesthetically pleasing to watch.

Yang Hongzhi picked up the ball again and glanced fleetingly at Su Li to see her reaction. Although it seemed like he demonstrated his basketball skills for Su Xiaobei, he was actually showing off to Su Li.

"Xiaobei, now watch Uncle Yang's next move!"

Once again Yang Hongzhi dribbled toward the basket and layed-up in three steps, but this time changed his movements mid-air, he passed the ball through his legs and sent the ball upwards by the other hand lightly, it cleared the rim and landed inside the basket successfully again.

He then proceeded to performed "reverse windmill" lay-up, "switch between hands" lay-up, and he even layed-up the final one by looping the ball from under his leg. Each technique was harder than the previous one, and his execution was very sharp and precise, which was a stirring sight to behold.

Yang Hongzhi's two bodyguards gushed and heaped unending praise, and even Shen Qingyan couldn't help but commend his performance. "Young Master Yang is so dashing—if he had done that in a university, he probably would have charmed a bunch of girls."

Su Li did not say anything, but although she did not want to admit, she was impressed with Yang Hongzhi's basketball skills.

After proudly completing his exhibition of lay-ups, Yang Hongzhi was panting and was sweating profusely. He went up to Su Xiaobei with the ball, smiled at her, and said, "Xiaobei, was is nice watching uncle Yang play basketball?"

As the saying goes, "kids don't lie," and reluctantly, she nodded slightly and whispered, "Yes."

"Then, do you want to play with Uncle Yang?"

Su Xiaobei looked up at Xiao Luo, then hugged his thigh and shook her head without hesitation, "No, I want to play with my daddy."

Yang Hongzhi's eyes froze for a fleeting moment, and just a glint betrayed his pique, but he smiled again and said, "Then would you want to know if Uncle Yang or your daddy is better at playing basketball?"

The little girl did not speak as she hid behind Xiao Luo timidly.

Yang Hongzhi straightened his back and looked at Xiao Luo, "Mr. Xiao, let's have a game. It doesn't matter who wins or loses; most importantly, we should have fun."

"No, thank you, find someone else."

Xiao Luo didn't have the time for him, and taking Su Xiaobei's hand, they left the court.

Yang Hongzhi clenched his jaw, and the expression in his face turned dark and cold. He wound up and flung the ball viciously at Xiao Luo.

Whoosh~

The basketball was thrown hard and flat and flew directly at the side of Xiao Luo's head at a searing speed.

Xiao Luo detected the incoming ball in his peripheral vision and instantly reacted. He intuitively raised his hand up with his five fingers splayed open and caught the ball cleanly in one hand like glue.

"Woah… you're pretty quick!"

Yang Hongzhi was quite stunned, but he hid it with a smile.

Xiao Luo's eyes turned cold, and he emanated a chilling aura that radiated outward.

Even Shen Qingyan shuddered and muttered to herself, "What's with the god damn weather, why is it cold all of a sudden?"

"Xiaobei, go to mommy."

Xiao Luo spoke gently and patted Xiaobei's head lightly.

"Daddy, are you playing basketball with uncle Yang?" She looked excitedly at him with her blinking eyes.

"Yeah…"

Yang Hongzhi couldn't hold back his smirk, his time had come finally, and he would completely annihilate this catfish and impress Su Li.

"Daddy's fighting!"

Su Xiaobei cheered for Xiao Luo, then quickly ran back to Su Li.

Xiao Luo held the ball and approached Yang Hongzhi, they had a similar height, both were around one hundred and seventy-seven centimeters.

He looked at Yang Hongzhi calmly and asked, "What's the rule?"

Xiao Luo was not easily provoked when he was subjected to insults or even when he was bullied. But he had his limits, and when he was pushed beyond that threshold, the agitator beware! Yang Hongzhi had certainly provoked him—and had Zhang Dashan been present, he would have said that Yang Hongzhi had hit the" jackpot."

"It's simple, whoever scores ten points first, win," Yang Hongzhi said, oozing with confidence.

"Who's going first?" Xiao Luo asked.

"You're a guest, so after you."

Yang Hongzhi made a go sign, and he looked incredibly calm and confident with his ever-present smile.

Xiao Luo stood outside the three-point line, he passed the ball to Yang Hongzhi, who duly passed it back to him. This was a one-on-one duel, and the match would start after the opponent returned the ball to him.

"F*cking catfish, I'll destroy you with a 10-0 score!"

The thought flashed in Yang Hongzhi's mind, and he smirked gleefully, then keeping his feet apart, he bent his knees slightly and stretched out his arms to get into a balanced defensive stance.

However, before he could even react with a block, Xiao Luo jumped up high and made his shot from outside the three-point line.

The ball sailed majestically through the air in a beautiful arc, and Xiao Luo scored his first basket with the ball going through the hoop cleanly. As the ball cleared the net, it bounced several times, and in the silence of the moment, the sound of bouncing ball reverberated across the court… BOP, BOP, BOP.

"What the…?"

Yang Hongzhi stared wide-eyed in disbelief. Xiao Luo actually scored, and he was at least half a meter outside the three-point line. How could he score the basket so effortlessly?

…