Chapter 48 Advanced Footwork

Chapter 48: Advanced Footwork

As soon as the game began, the whistle blew and the ball was tossed high into the air.

Cheng Feng just stood to the side, watching as players from both teams raced back and forth. He kept himself on the outskirts of the crowd, afraid of being knocked over.

He stared at the intense scramble for the ball on the court, feeling a bit lost about what he should do. He just knew he shouldn't wander off too far, so he slowly shuffled forward a few steps.

Just then, a group of players suddenly charged toward him with the ball, jostling for control.

As one player tried to shield the ball and turn, Cheng Feng instinctively reached out and hooked it, directly snatching the ball right out of his arms.

The player froze: "...?"

He hadn't expected this bench player to suddenly make a move. By the time he reacted and tried to grab the basketball back, Cheng Feng had already taken a step back, holding the ball.

Cheng Feng scanned the court, then looked at Zhang Yuantao not far away. He raised his hand and tossed the ball, sending it flying straight to Zhang Yuantao.

"Holy shit—"

Zhang Yuantao reacted extremely quickly, catching the ball in one motion. He immediately dribbled toward the basket, leaped up, and slammed the ball in with a one-handed dunk. The ball hit the hoop with a loud "thump"—score.

The opposing team instantly erupted:

"What happened? How did that kid steal the ball? Weren't you paying attention?"

Meanwhile, Cheng Feng still looked completely clueless, totally unaware of how insane that steal looked to others.

He only vaguely felt that stealing the ball seemed pretty simple.

He... seemed to know how to steal the ball now.

So, Cheng Feng stopped standing on the sidelines as a spectator. Instead, he started deliberately weaving into the clusters of players on the opposing team.

His body was agile, his movements crisp. He specifically targeted the gaps when others were shielding the ball, squeezing and slipping through, always managing to "snatch" the ball from their grasp, then tossing it to his own teammates without even looking back.

His teammates were also very alert, catching and shooting almost every time, hitting nearly every shot.

After several rounds, everyone was stunned.

This is called not knowing how to play basketball?

That's a lie!

Zhang Yuantao ran while grinning at Cheng Feng:

"You sly dog, hiding your skills so well! And you said you couldn't play?"

Cheng Feng scratched his head a little sheepishly.

He truly didn't know how to play basketball; he just knew how to slip into a crowd and snatch things back from people's hands.

This skill was honed in the countryside.

When he was little, people often tried to take things from his family. To protect their belongings, his footwork became incredibly nimble—he practically wanted to stuff things into his stomach to keep them safe.

Over time, he developed advanced footwork.

Of course, Cheng Feng himself had no idea what "footwork" meant. He only knew one goal: steal the ball and throw it to his teammates.

Li Anmo on the opposing side quickly figured out the problem.

Frowning, he pulled his teammates aside and discussed countermeasures in a low voice.

Their setup clearly showed they were specifically targeting Cheng Feng, trying to prevent him from easily stealing the ball again.

On their side, Zhang Yuantao quickly gathered his teammates, excitedly discussing tactics:

"Let's feed him the ball more later! His stealing is insane; we'll just focus on shooting!"

Cheng Feng listened, completely lost, and could only nod along with everyone else.

When the game resumed, Cheng Feng immediately noticed that the opposing team seemed different.

One player was specifically marking him, guarding him tightly, not letting him get near the ball handler.

That player spread his arms, blocking Cheng Feng's path.

Cheng Feng blinked, looking at this "human wall" in front of him. Instead of forcing his way through, he shifted his feet, turned his body slightly to the side, and slipped past the defender like a snake, directly circling around to Li Anmo's side.

Li Anmo had just steadied the ball, before he could pass it, when he felt his hands go empty—the basketball had already been stolen by Cheng Feng.

"..."

After stealing the ball, Cheng Feng didn't look back. He raised his hand and tossed the ball to Zhang Yuantao.

Zhang Yuantao caught it and couldn't help but give him a thumbs-up: "Awesome!"

As soon as the words left his mouth, he jumped, shot, and completed the motion in one fluid sequence. The ball swished into the basket.

At this point, the opposing team grew completely frantic. More players defended Cheng Feng, with almost two or three people marking him at once.

But Cheng Feng was like a slippery fish, weaving through the crowd, always finding gaps to snatch the ball from the opponents' hands and toss it to his teammates.

After several rounds, everyone was dumbfounded.

If this was called not knowing how to play basketball, then what were they?

In the end, the final score was 30:14.

Cheng Feng and Zhang Yuantao's team had completely crushed the elite class team with an absolute advantage.

Li Anmo's expression changed entirely, his gaze toward Cheng Feng now holding a hint of scrutiny.

Meanwhile, Zhang Yuantao and the others gathered around Cheng Feng, buzzing with excitement:

"Damn, that footwork of yours just now was insane! How did you practice that? So cool, teach me!"

Cheng Feng smiled and said earnestly:

"I... I don't know anything about footwork. I just know I have to steal the ball."

Everyone exchanged glances, thinking he was deliberately holding back.

Cheng Feng waved his hands repeatedly: "I really don't, I genuinely don't know how to play basketball."

Not far away, Shang Shaohao leaned against the railing, watching this scene, a complicated look in his eyes.

To be honest, he had originally thought this game would either end in a loss or, at best, be a back-and-forth battle, likely ending in a tie.

He never expected that they not only won, but did so in such a crushing manner, wiping the floor with those honor students on the other side.

And the one responsible for all this was the little tutor he had looked down on.

After receiving the bet money transferred by Li Anmo, Shang Shaohao casually sent money to each of his teammates before walking over to Cheng Feng.

"Let me get your number."

Cheng Feng blinked, surprised. "Mine?"

Shang Shaohao rolled his eyes. "Duh. Your phone."

Cheng Feng quickly ran to the nearby steps, grabbed his backpack, fished out his phone, and exchanged contact information with him.

Shang Shaohao glanced at his phone and tsked in disdain. "What kind of grandpa phone is this? What did this even cost? It looks so ugly."

Cheng Feng looked down at his phone. He'd bought it new this year for over a thousand yuan. In his mind, it was already a fancy phone. How could it be ugly?

Just as he was thinking this, his phone *dinged*, and a transfer notification popped up.

"Transfer received: 500,000.00 yuan"

Cheng Feng's eyes widened. He checked it over and over several times, thinking he must have misread it.

Five hundred thousand?

All at once?

Before coming to the Shang household as a tutor, the most he had ever earned in one go was the salary from the grilled fish restaurant owner a few months ago.

—A little over six thousand yuan.

After coming here, at the end of the month, he received a salary of 35,000 yuan. He thought that would be his highest pay ever.

But this time...

Cheng Feng's hands nearly shook at the sight of so much money.

Shang Shaohao saw him zoned out staring at his phone and raised an eyebrow.

"Too little?"

Giving that much was already generous of him.

If it weren't for Shang Xu freezing his cards and only giving him a monthly allowance of a million yuan, afraid he would spend recklessly or get into trouble, he wouldn't have to rely on betting on ball games with people from other families to make money.

Shang Shaohao pointed at Cheng Feng and looked up at him.

"Don't you dare tell my brother about me transferring you money or about today's betting, got it?"

Cheng Feng nodded vigorously, his eyes fixed unblinkingly on the screen.

*Great, Mom's surgery can finally be done.*

His eyes grew slightly warm, and his vision blurred a little.

Shang Shaohao was taken aback.

"What's wrong? I didn't bully you. Why are you crying?"

Cheng Feng quickly wiped the corner of his eye and looked at Shang Shaohao, his voice choked up. "Hao-ge, you're amazing. You're such a good guy."

Shang Shaohao met those beautiful, red-rimmed phoenix eyes and faltered for a second. Then he turned his head away and sneered.

"Tch, crying over such a small amount of money. So pathetic."

He dug around in his pockets but found nothing. He had to ask a classmate next to him for a few tissues and handed them to Cheng Feng, acting like it was nothing.

"Here, crybaby."

Cheng Feng took the tissues and dabbed the corners of his eyes. He hadn't actually shed tears, but his eyes were all red.

Inside, however, his heart was pounding with excitement, and he could hardly calm down.

Meanwhile, after receiving his money, Zhang Yuantao ambled over, grinning, and patted Shang Shaohao on the shoulder.

"Brother Hao, you're generous! Weren't you supposed to be the big shot and take a larger cut? You actually gave everyone so much."

Shang Shaohao snorted. "If I had played, of course I'd take the lion's share. This time, you and Cheng Feng won. Would I have the face to take more?"

Just then, Li Anmo walked over and stopped in front of Cheng Feng.

"What's your name?"

Cheng Feng looked at him. "I'm Cheng Feng."

"Cheng Feng," Li Anmo looked at him seriously, "want to join our school basketball team? There's a national competition in two months. If we win, our whole school gets bragging rights."

The school would benefit, but he wouldn't.

Right now, Cheng Feng's mind was occupied by only two words:

*Make money.*

Fame and glory couldn't compare to the numbers in his bank account. He just wanted to quickly improve his grades, find more ways to earn money, and then let himself and his mother live a happy life.

So, he reflexively shook his head.

Zhang Yuantao clicked his tongue but didn't seem too surprised.

"If we win the competition, the school gains prestige. I heard there's also a prize pool of thirty million yuan. We'd split it evenly, and also..."

Cheng Feng froze completely.

He didn't hear a single word of what followed, only those few words.

*Thirty million.*

Were competitions at elite schools always this lucrative?

His heart instantly raced, almost leaping out of his throat.

"I... I'll join."

Everyone thought he was moved by the idea of "bringing glory to the school and the class" and that's why he agreed to join the school basketball team.

Only Shang Shaohao narrowed his eyes, having a pretty good guess.

*This guy, he's probably in it for the money again.*