My sister never calls me brother.

"Is that so... but he is indeed the team's ace."

"I know, but he's a bit too arrogant. The victory wasn't entirely due to him alone."

"Hmm...that's true..."

"Should we teach him how to be a decent human being?"

"What do you want to do?"

"Let's throw the final a bit tomorrow."

"How should I put it?"

"Don't go all out. Give him the crucial balls. Isn't he easily distracted on crucial balls?"

"Isn't it bad to be on the same team? If you play dirty on crucial plays, you'll ruin your reputation."

"Don't you want to see Fang Yong get his comeuppance? And all those cheers from the audience were for him, are you willing to accept that?"

"Well... okay! Let's do it!"

"The voice sounds familiar, doesn't it?" Zhou Han turned off the recording and said calmly, "Now you still dare to say that you feel guilty towards your former teammates? Are you sure it's not anger? You think they would be disappointed after the loss? Not at all! They've already gone to celebrate with smiles on their faces."

Fang Yong was pale and sweating profusely. He found it hard to accept that he had lived with guilt for two years because of them, but they... had actually fooled him?

"Your guilt is really cheap. In the end, this guilt is just wishful thinking on your part..." Zhou Han sighed. "You are too dazzling in the basketball team. Your brilliance completely overshadows everyone else. The team no longer belongs to everyone, but to you. In this situation, you made a fatal mistake, which is arrogance, haughtiness, and disregard for others!"

Zhou Han's sharp words struck Fang Yong's heart like a heavy hammer, each word piercing his soul.

"However, you are indeed the team's culprit, but not because you missed the crucial shot, but because..." Zhou Han paused and said, "Your arrogant attitude completely ruined the team; it is the real culprit!"

Fang Yong lowered his head, his face was gloomy, and his expression was hidden. His fists were clenched tightly, and he was lost in deep self-blame.

"In the end, your former teammates aren't worth feeling guilty about at all..." Zhou Han picked up the basketball from the ground and practiced shooting under the basket, continuing, "You'd better not take it to heart. It's normal for talented people to be envied, because no matter how hard others try, they can't catch up with you, so it's inevitable that they feel unbalanced..."

“As expected of someone like me…” Fang Yong looked up and forced a smile, “It’s better to leave the team…”

After saying that, Fang Yong turned and strode away.

"You're escaping reality!" Zhou Han was startled, wondering what was wrong with Fang Yong's thought process. He suddenly became self-destructive. He continued, "Just because of the attacks from a few treacherous people, you're planning to give up? Don't you want to get revenge on them in the high school league?"

Fang Yong did not stop leaving.

"You have talents that others don't have, and many people envy you, yet you want to give them up!?" Zhou Han said loudly.

Fang Yong did not stop.

"Hey!!!" Zhou Han shouted anxiously, "So many fans supported you back then, and you let them down. Now you're going to let everyone in the basketball club down too?!"

Fang Yong finally stopped, but did not turn around.

Zhou Han breathed a sigh of relief. It seemed that the point had finally been made. After calming down, she said, "You are now the captain of the basketball club, a very famous figure in the school. Everyone hopes that you will perform well in the high school league, not just for yourself, but for the entire club. Do you think everyone is like your former teammates, who like to do dirty tricks behind people's backs?"

“Didn’t you say there are always more good people than bad people in this world? Actually, I believe that too. I’ve suffered more setbacks than you. If I were like you, I would have become a useless person long ago…” Zhou Han said seriously, holding a basketball. “When I suffered setbacks, I also thought about giving up. But many people have expectations of me, and in order not to disappoint them, I have to keep working hard, even if it’s stumbling. This is not only for myself, but also for the people around me. So think about it carefully, do you really want to give up?”

Neither of them spoke, and the stadium fell silent; you could hear a pin drop.

Fang Yong now needs to think. The reason he wants to leave the team is because he is afraid that his brilliance will overshadow everyone else again. What if the same thing that happened in junior high school happens again in high school? But he doesn't want to let others down. Everyone in the basketball club hopes that he will lead the club to achieve good results in the high school league.

Fang Yong was caught in a dilemma...

Zhou Han didn't know how much time had passed, but he was so nervous that every second felt incredibly long.

He really thought about this case very carefully for a long time before he finally found out the truth.

This is a litmus test for Zhou Han. If he succeeds, it will prove that his changes are worthwhile.

So--

What is the result?

Chapter Ninety-Eight: The Chase

“What if…” Fang Yong turned around, his gaze still fixed on the floor, and said, “What if the same thing that happened in junior high happens again in high school?”

So that's what he cared about... Zhou Han suddenly realized.

“Is this something you should be worried about? You’re the leader of the basketball club. You can rally many people to your cause with a single call. That’s your charisma.” Zhou Han looked at Fang Yong and said seriously, “I think your problem mainly lies in your personality, especially your arrogance. As long as you become more humble, you can avoid repeating what happened in junior high.”

“But…” Fang Yong hesitated for a moment, looking somewhat troubled, and said, “Personality is something that is formed over many years and is not easy to change. If you hadn’t told me today, I would never have known that I had such an arrogant problem.”

Zhou Han frowned and thought for a while, then a brilliant idea flashed into his mind.

"I've got an idea!" Zhou Han smiled with delight, saying, "By changing 'I' to 'we' when you speak, you can avoid acknowledging your arrogance. You don't need to change your personality; you just need to add one word!"

Fang Yong paused, recalling his boastful words from junior high school—

"I can't guarantee anything for high school, but in junior high, with me around, I'll definitely lead everyone to become the strongest team in Zhongqing City!"

After changing "I" to "we"...

"We can't guarantee anything for high school, but in junior high, with us here, we'll definitely lead you to become the strongest team in Zhongqing City!"

Fang Yong sighed, as if suddenly enlightened, understanding the difference between arrogance and humility, and realizing where he had gone wrong.

The difference of just one word can create such a huge gap. The word "I" alone seems unusually selfish and makes people uncomfortable, but "we" can easily bring people closer together, put them on the same side, and share the same fate.

If I had used the "we" persona in the post-match interview, this wouldn't have happened, and people would likely have accepted me... Fang Yong sighed inwardly, feeling a bit regretful.

"Want to try it out for the first time?" Zhou Han twirled the basketball in his hand.

Fang Yong glanced at the basketball spinning in Zhou Han's hand, remained silent for a moment, threw his school uniform jacket on the ground, and stepped onto the free throw line.

Zhou Han smiled, tossed the basketball to Fang Yong, and thought to himself, "Looks like this job is done..."

Fang Yong looked at the basketball hoop, then at Zhou Han, and asked in surprise, "Aren't you going to hypnotize me?"

"Do you... still need it now?" Zhou Han shrugged and asked back.

“That’s true…” Fang Yong dribbled the basketball a few times, then released it with a standard shot. “The past is no longer something that can hold me back. I’ll only care about the future…”

At this moment, Fang Yong felt no remorse towards his former teammates. As he himself said, he only cared about the future, and let the past be the past...

Because there are still many things to do and many more people to meet in the future, although the road ahead is full of unknowns, it is also full of expectations.

The basketball swished through the net!

Fang Yong breathed a sigh of relief and smiled, revealing his white teeth.

Zhou Han was about to say a few words of congratulations, but—

"Hey! You two! Who are you?! Who gave you permission to come in?!"

A sharp shout rang out, and the night patrol officers, dressed in security uniforms, walked in, their expressions full of anger.

The security guard had never seen such arrogant people in all his years of work. Not only did they trespass, but they also blatantly turned on the lights, showing no respect for him whatsoever. Moreover, he couldn't understand how the two of them had gotten in.

"Run!!!" Zhou Han shouted and took off running.

Hearing Zhou Han's exclamation, Fang Yong wasn't stupid. He grabbed his school uniform jacket and ran away, abandoning his basketball.

If the two of them get caught, there will definitely be a lot of follow-up issues, and if it gets back to the school, they'll get a public reprimand. Given Zhou Han's current situation, he simply can't afford to play that game.

"Elizabeth! Tell me the escape route!" Zhou Han called out to Elizabeth in his mind.

But Elizabeth did not respond.

"Xiao Yi!?" Zhou Han called out again.

Still no response. Zhou Han was sweating profusely with anxiety. She knew what was going on and thought, "No way!? My phone died after just one use of the deceptive projection? This is terrible..."

"Do you know which way to run to escape?" Zhou Han asked quickly.

"Brother, you didn't know where to run?!" Fang Yong said in shock, thinking to himself, "You didn't know where to escape to, yet you ran so fast?"

"Stop talking nonsense!" Zhou Han frowned, extremely anxious.

"I know! Come with me, it's not my first time here..." Fang Yong said confidently.

Hearing this, Zhou Han felt relieved. She turned around and looked at the security guard, and her eyes widened in surprise.

Even though the two were running so fast, the security guard was still running at a leisurely pace, but at a very fast speed, and seemed to be catching up.

Good heavens! Who would want to be a security guard if they haven't practiced any skills?! Zhou Han thought to himself, feeling frustrated.

Zhou Han followed Fang Yong around a corner, and what came into view was a skylight that hung more than two meters high!

"Isn't this just courting death? How are we going to run away?!" Zhou Han was quite disappointed.

"Watch me!" Fang Yong said confidently.

Suddenly he accelerated, jumped up just before crashing into the wall, then kicked the wall hard with his foot, used a second jump to grab the edge of the skylight, and flipped up!

"This is possible?!" Zhou Han was dumbfounded. He looked back at the security guard who was getting closer and closer. He gritted his teeth and tried to climb over the window like the guard.

Suddenly, something unexpected happened. Zhou Han lost her grip on the edge of the skylight at the last moment and was about to fall!

Zhou Han's eyebrows were furrowed. If she were caught, it would have a very bad impact on her. It would also give her classmates new reasons to tease her, and further amplify the negative influence on the club.

Fortunately, at the last moment, everything turned out alright—

Fang Yong grabbed Zhou Han's hand and shouted, "Come on up!!!"

He forcefully pulled Zhou Han, who was falling, back up.

After Zhou Han came up, she breathed a sigh of relief and said sincerely, "Thanks!"

"Why are you being so polite?" Fang Yong said with a hearty laugh. "I won't let you take all the responsibility. Do you think I'm joking?"

Zhou Han opened her mouth, not knowing what to say, but time was of the essence, and she didn't have time to think too much.

The two quickly pushed open the skylight and fled...

After catching up, the security guard glanced at the skylight, then at the two large shoe prints on the pristine white wall. A look of utter despair crossed his face, and he yelled, "The freshly painted wall! I'm so angry! Those two bastards!!!"

Airi Miyazaki was home alone, her face pale, one hand supporting her chin, tapping the table lightly with her fingers; she seemed to be in a bad mood.

She had finished eating a long time ago, but Zhou Han still hadn't gone home.

"Tsk!" Miyazaki Airi clicked her tongue, frowned as she checked the time, and muttered to herself, "Why hasn't that idiot come back yet?"

After a while.

"That's enough..." Miyazaki Airi frowned, got up and picked up Zhou Han's omelet rice.

After arriving in the kitchen, she put the omelet rice in the microwave to heat it up for Zhou Han.

Then I went to the balcony to get some fresh air.