Hover over the parabola of innocence

Author: Tang Tang
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2005-06-01
Features: The first dynamic sports novel in China – Basketball, Words, and Love. The graceful posture casts an elegant parabolic arc, like a rainbow, but beneath this beautiful imagery, innocence no longer exists. Training Insights: To cultivate a master's mindset and increase my desire for girls' screams, I bravely spent half a month's lunch money to join the street dance club. After learning a few moves, I discovered that many street dance techniques could be integrated into streetball, making the combination incredibly wonderful. Street dance has a strong rhythm, which is beneficial for improving ball skills and enhancing.
Highlight Reel: The ball soars as the whistle blows, and Da Peng suddenly erupts, snatching the next offensive opportunity. A Hua passes the ball to Lin Zi, who then passes it back to A Hua, completing a 2-on-1 play. Lao Zhu has already sprinted to the basket, but Master arrives to double-team. Lin Zi quickly blocks the opposing center, leaving Da Peng open to grab the ball. The pace is so fast that it shocks the entire stadium. The audience is momentarily speechless, with only the continuous squeak of basketball shoes on the court.
Love Reflections: Some say love is a two-person affair, but I think that only applies to ordinary love. Selfless love is just as much a one-person thing as selfish love—it’s beyond your choice. They both lead to the same destination. When I arrived at university, I realized I’d been deceived, but it was too late. When filling out my application, I saw the photo and thought, aside from the stadium shaped like a public toilet, it was still a decent place. Unfortunately, I was assigned to another campus—a dilapidated temple that, if used for promotional photos, would likely drop the school’s admission score by 20 points. This is a science and engineering area with a gender ratio, meaning my other plan to appreciate beautiful women also fell through.
The upside is that I met Yu Ge in the dorm, who loves basketball, and an upper bunk buddy who shares my passion for computer games. The other two guys were too focused on their studies in high school, still dedicated to academics, with a clear direction: moving upward every day. Three days after basic training, I received a call from Laotaitai, only to realize I’d spoken with a girl only once in the past month. I sighed inwardly, wondering how I’d get through the rest of the days. After getting to know each other better, my upper bunk buddy started confiding in us recently. Before bed, he’d always shout, “I want a MM!” Laotaitai said she’d take me out for dinner to celebrate the end of basic training and enjoy life. I then found out she was assigned to the campus in the photo. When I saw her, her first words were, “You’re also losing weight?” Then she punched me. Rubbing the spot, I felt it was quite familiar—after all, I hadn’t been punched in a few months. Laotaitai was my high school classmate and the only girl sitting next to me. Our class had an odd number of students, so we lucked out and sat together. In elementary school, we were always paired as opposite genders, constantly fighting and playing, sharing erasers and pencils, and even holding hands in line for spring outings and movie nights. But in high school, even if boys and girls sat together, even if they sat properly and kept a distance of over 30 cm from the no-man’s-land, it was still headline news and a hot topic. Rarity is priceless. Later, we realized everyone was gossiping anyway, so we joined in. We found a lot of common ground and became close friends. But she was too talkative, rambling like Tang San in the Journey to the West, just like the old ladies I’d kick the ball at outside my house. She never stopped talking, so she got the nickname “Laotaitai.” Her incessant chatter dragged me back to reality. “Honestly, we’ve been classmates for so long, can’t you say something nice?” I scratched my head but couldn’t think of anything.
Laotaitai was once the class beauty in middle school. During her three years of high school, with constant tutoring at home—small supplements every three days and big ones every five—I watched her balloon up and lose her beauty. So I had to eat while looking down. “You’re such a pain, we don’t have anything in common anymore,” I laughed. “I still have more in common with basketball.” After dinner, I walked Laotaitai back. Though I thought her current would be safe walking alone at night, the street was crowded with loving or pretend-to-be-loving couples, making us feel awkward. When I first arrived, I saw people feeding each other in the canteen and found it disgusting. A few days later, I got used to it because I’d never eat in the canteen. I’m used to napping in the afternoon—without it, I feel sluggish all day—but the dorm was too noisy, so I’d go to the campus to find a quiet grassy spot. But the lovers had already taken all the good spots, leaving me no choice but to wait in line. One day, I finally found an empty spot and slept for two hours. When I woke up, I saw two faces very close to mine, with their mouths about -1 cm apart and moving. Even more shockingly, they were less than 3 meters away. Instantly, I was wide awake and rolled up my bedding, fleeing the scene. I heard laughter from one of their mouths.
Laotaitai kept complaining that university was the perfect place for dating. I, meanwhile, stared blankly at the bizarrely shaped streetlights. Suddenly, she asked, “Now that you’re talking about Judy, it’s okay, right?” My heart clenched. My blank expression had become even more numb, as if I were turning into a zombie. Then this idiot added, “Well, it seems you still can’t forget her.” My happiness index was about to plummet to negative infinity, so she quickly changed the subject, rambling about how she needed to lose weight and attract more innocent guys. I couldn’t hear anything else, only that later, I walked back to the dorm alone and unhappy. I sat on the benches near the strange streetlights for about an hour and secretly cried when no one was around. As I approached the dorm entrance, I regained my optimism. Maybe an end could also be a new beginning.