Jiangning No.1 High School made a point of scheduling a half-hour break for major activities after the two afternoon classes, giving students a chance to exercise amid their packed studies.
After class, Qin Han was personally summoned by the principal to the Principal’s Office to share his thoughts on the past two days of transferring in. The principal also asked him to pass along greetings to Qin Han’s big brother and grandmother.
By the time Qin Han made it down from the Principal’s Office to the sports field, a thunderous roar was already shaking the sky. “Sophomore Class 1’s teamed up with Class 2 for a basketball showdown against Class 19! Xie Ling’s hitting the court! Everyone, charge!”
It sounded like some NBA superstar was about to make an appearance.
Two minutes later, the crowd had packed the basketball court on the south side of the field so tightly not even a drop of water could seep through.
Class 19’s leader was Zhou Haoxuan—the same Alpha who’d bragged about jumping in to protect Gu Ran and ended up getting thrashed by Qin Han. Xie Ling had only gone to pick a fight with Qin Han after hearing from one of Zhou’s underlings.
Xie Ling eyed the guy in front of him—nearly 190 cm tall, with a fresh scar on his temple. He spun the basketball on one finger and grinned. “Son, what can I say? Scar’s barely healed after a week, and you’re already itching to stir up trouble with your old man. That’s some filial piety right there.”
Zhou Haoxuan and his crew had indeed gotten schooled by Qin Han in that little park, but it had nothing to do with Gu Ran. They’d just been peeved that Qin Han had taken over their hangout spot. Later, they’d spun the story that way because they’d realized Qin Han was a beast in a fight. They figured they could use him to humble Xie Ling, so they’d baited Xie Ling into throwing down. Xie Ling had gotten the full scoop afterward.
“You’re one to talk, you anemic weakling.” Zhou Haoxuan sneered. “Xie Ling, you didn’t just fake that faint because you knew you couldn’t win, did you?”
“Fuck your—”
“Called you filial, and now you’re acting up.” Xie Ling held back Zhang Chengrui, who was lunging forward, and chuckled. “It’s all that excessive worrying you cause me, son. Your old man’s blood pressure spiked, and I missed my chance to shine.”
Zhou Haoxuan wasn’t the only one who loved needling Xie Ling—his underlings were no angels either.
Unlike Classes 1 and 2, Class 19 was full of kids who bombed their academics. Some had bought their way in as auditors, others were sports jocks riding middle school exam bonuses.
A bunch of Zhou Haoxuan’s crew fit both bills: loaded families, decent builds, and egos to match. They strutted around like kings. Last semester, one of them had messed with Xia Yu and ended up in the hospital for a week courtesy of Xie Ling and Xiao Yanfei. The bad blood between the groups had only thickened since.
Today’s beef? Zhou Haoxuan’s gang thought Xie Ling had swiped their usual cafeteria table at lunch.
“Here’s the deal.” Xie Ling slammed the basketball to the ground, his grin wild. “If anyone on your team stops me from scoring even once today, I lose. Tomorrow at lunch, I’ll bus trays for your whole squad and stand by to serve you. Flip side, if you lose, you all join my new little bro in waiting on me hand and foot. Deal?”
The words ignited the crowd like a wildfire.
“Whoa, lose and get to eat with Ling Bro? Best deal in the world!”
“Not just that! Word is, Ling Bro’s got Qin Han waiting on him too—pouring tea, fetching water!”
“Yeah! I saw it at lunch! Eating with Qin Han and Ling Bro together! Aaaah!”
“I hate it—why wasn’t I on that court? I’d let Ling God flatten me with a basketball any day.”
“Don’t get too hyped, guys. What if he doesn’t land a single shot? That’s gotta be tough, right?”
A few newer members of Xie Ling’s Fan Support Club—still clueless—voiced their worries from the crowd.
“Yeah, that Zhou Haoxuan went to middle school with me. He was vice-captain of our basketball team—we made it to the district quarterfinals.”
“And Class 19’s loaded with jocks, aren’t they?”
Xia Yu was slathering on sunscreen for prime viewing when a casual voice cut in.
“Those few? Not even qualified to be his warm-up.”
Qin Han had somehow slipped into the innermost ring of spectators, with a clear line of sight to everything unfolding on the court.
The people around him clapped hands over their mouths.
Qin Han’s face was the kind that stunned no matter how many times you saw it—especially up close like this.
Too handsome! Knocked up on the spot!
Xia Yu had shared a lunch table with Qin Han, so his tolerance was higher than most Omegas’, but even he couldn’t stop the mental clucking. Midway through, it hit him—something was off.
Wait, what had Qin Han just said? Sounded like he was hyping up Little Lingling?
Before Xia Yu could dwell on it, the crowd erupted in screams.
The game had tipped off. Xie Ling’s team’s center leaped for the ball and swatted it outward to Xie Ling.
Xie Ling caught it without a pause and blazed toward Class 19’s basket like a bolt of lightning. He moved so fast he blurred into a white streak. Before Class 19’s guys could react, he was under the hoop.
“Ling Bro’s going up!”
Xie Ling flashed a cocky grin and exploded upward with insane hang time. Class 19’s power forward—a wide-eyed freshman new to Xie Ling’s speed—froze for a split second. By the time he recovered, a thunderous dunk rocked the rim.
Xie Ling had slammed it home one-handed.
The crowd went berserk.
“Aaaah! Little Lingling, you’re explosively hot!”
“Holy shit! Xie Ling-senpai’s this badass? That’s straight manga speed—I’m dead! Peak Alpha energy!”
“Ling Bro’s unstoppable! Ling Bro, take me!”
Alphas, Betas, Omegas—everyone lost it. Some legs were already buckling.
Qin Han’s fingers twitched at his side as his eyes locked on Xie Ling jogging back to his team.
Two Alphas from Class 1 hauled over cases of water. “Ling Bro says it’s hot out—thanks for cheering, have some water.”
As if he’d heard, Xie Ling waved at the crowd from the court.
Screams redoubled.
Qin Han turned to Xia Yu. “Why’s he the only one in a jersey?”
Xia Yu blinked, then followed Qin Han’s gaze to Xie Ling.
School rules meant both teams were in uniforms—except Xie Ling, rocking a crisp white basketball set.
Xia Yu explained, “Little Lingling’s been bingeing this basketball anime lately. That’s merch from his favorite character—arrived yesterday, and he insisted on wearing it today. Sigh, Old Cai’s been cracking down on uniform violations, but he’s still pushing it.”
That was just his style, Qin Han thought—free-spirited, defiant. The more they tried to rein him in, the harder he rebelled.
A jersey showed more skin than a T-shirt, especially the arms. Under the sun, when Xie Ling raised his, those sleek, defined muscles gleamed irresistibly.
Qin Han suddenly felt parched.
He snagged a bottle of mineral water from a nearby classmate and chugged it down.
~~~
The scoreboard ticked higher, but with time short, they were only playing half-court halves. By the end of the first, Classes 1 and 2 led Class 19, 25-8.
Second half kicked off, and Class 19 ditched strategy entirely, swarming Xie Ling four-on-one.
Xie Ling didn’t flinch. He crouched low, dribbling furiously with his right. No clear path? “Lao Yu!”
The ball arced through the air to the shooting guard. Xie Ling slipped through a gap in the wall while they were distracted.
Lao Yu was glued by Zhou Haoxuan. Spotting Xie Ling’s break, he scrapped a risky three-pointer and fired it back. Xie Ling caught it mid-stride, leaped like he had wings, and dove for the rim.
Zhou Haoxuan recovered quick, soaring up to block—but Xie Ling shot him a provoking grin.
That stunning face lit up even brighter with the smile.
Zhou Haoxuan blanked for a heartbeat.
The swish of net echoed behind him as Xie Ling nailed a fadeaway jumper and stuck the landing.
“Four guys or forty—doesn’t matter. Same result.” Xie Ling grinned amid the screams, the number 6 on his white jersey gleaming in the sun.
Zhou Haoxuan’s pulse inexplicably raced.
~~~
Just when everyone figured Xie Ling would steamroll solo, a wave of weakness washed over him on court, paired with nagging stabs of pain.
Damn. Xie Ling clocked it quick—the Inducer’s side effects were kicking in.
Basketball was intense, sure, but he’d figured two halves against weaklings would be fine. From the second half on, though, Class 19 had hounded him relentlessly. They couldn’t stop him, but the grind was wearing him down.
Even at crunch time, not one bucket was denied.
Desperation bred dirty play. Defenders started shouldering and elbowing his vitals openly.
From the sidelines, Xia Yu exploded. “Class 19, have you no shame?!”
Echoes of agreement rose everywhere.
A hedgehog-headed guy in the defensive circle sneered. “Xie Ling, you really go for all ABO types, huh? Too bad… oh wait, not really too bad. You’ve got a real Omega face. Who knows, maybe you’ll secondary differentiate like Gu Ran one day.”
He said it purely to rile Xie Ling into trying to steal the ball from him. Xie Ling’s nerve was indeed touched, but he had no time to waste on a response.
With this group defending him arm-to-arm and leg-to-leg, he could feel the pheromones they were unwittingly giving off: coal smoke, rust, even the smell of barbecue…
His inducer was still working. It wouldn’t let him out himself as an Omega like this. But those pheromones seemed to be making the side effects hit him even harder.
It felt awful.
Just three minutes left. He had to hold out until the game ended.
“Xie Ling!!” Xiao Yanfei’s voice rang out from beyond the human wall.
Xie Ling pulled the same trick again, lobbing a pass to break through the encirclement.
He caught the ball, charged forward, and went up for a layup…
By the end of the quarter, Zhou Haoxuan could barely keep pace with Xie Ling’s rhythm, but his vertical leap and explosive power fell short.
Xie Ling leaned back in a tactical fadeaway, planning to bury the shot before Zhou Haoxuan could jump high enough to contest it. Right then, the weakness and stabbing pain inside him surged.
It was over. The instant his fingertips left the ball, Xie Ling knew it was no good. He didn’t even have the strength to watch. When he landed, the discomfort doubled him over, leaving him curled up on the floor.
The errant shot clanged off the rim and bounced down hard, heading straight for Xie Ling’s body—
“Little Lingling!!”
“Xie Ling!!”
“Ling Bro!!”
Thwack—
A slender, pale hand shot out with lightning speed, intercepting the wildly ricocheting ball as if it meant to snap a neck.
