It was a windless morning in August, and a cool breeze quietly drifted into the sleeping cottage.
Jinguji Takeshi tightened the quilt around him, opened his eyes drowsily, and looked at the clock on the bedside. It was only 6 o'clock, and the sky outside the window was gray. If it were summer, he would have gotten up by now, but now... he still needed to sleep a little longer.
The trip to Tokyo left a deep impression on Wudao. In the past two days since he came back, his sleep quality has been noticeably worse. Wudao has made up his mind not to go to Tokyo unless necessary, and even if he goes, he will definitely not go to Beika City.
Wu Dao had just closed his eyes and was about to take a nap when he heard a faint knock on the door.
"Budo, I'm coming in!"
The door of the room was opened, and Takeshi's father pushed the door open. Jinguji Takeshi turned his head to look at his father, rubbed his hair, and asked in a hoarse voice: "What's wrong?"
"A Shou came to see you. I just got up to go to the bathroom and heard him knocking on the door."
"Now I've asked him to wait in the living room. You get up and entertain him."
Wu Gong was wearing grey pajamas and also looked sleepy. He pointed outside the room and after confirming that Wu Dao had heard it, he left the room and closed the door.
"Xiao San? Why is this guy looking for me so early?"
"Has the club planned any group practice? Or does it have any practice matches to play?"
When Wu Dao heard that it was Mitsui Shou who came to see him, he immediately got up from the bed, grabbed the clothes on the bedside table, put them on quickly and walked out of the room.
Sure enough, at this moment, Mitsui Hisashi was sitting upright on the sofa in the living room, turning his head to stare at the court in the yard in a daze.
"Xiao San, why are you here?"
"The team is going to play a practice game today or something."
Wudao walked to the sofa in his slippers, sat down on it, picked up the kettle on the coffee table, poured a glass of water and drank it all in one gulp.
"You guys are really lazy on holiday!"
"It's already six o'clock, and you're still sleeping."
When Mitsui Shou saw Wudao coming out, he shook his head and looked disappointed. However, this disappointed expression did not last long, as he laughed first.
"Stop pretending! What's the matter?" Wudao punched Mitsui Shou lightly on the arm and asked with a smile.
"Hey, I do have something to talk to you about."
"I was going to come see you yesterday, but it was a little late when I got home, and I didn't want to disturb you, so I just came in the morning."
"Coach Anxi came to yesterday's training. He plans to take me... and you, to visit some junior high schools in the county today."
Mitsui Shou restrained his smile and spoke seriously.
"Go shopping? The junior high schools in the county?"
"you mean... .."
Although Mitsui Hisashi spoke very tactfully, Jinguji Takeshi immediately grasped the key point of his words. Upon hearing this, Takeshi's eyes lit up.
"Um!"
"Our Xiangbei High School made it to the top eight of the national competition this year. Although we are only a public school, the school leaders still decided to allocate some resources to the basketball team."
"Our basketball team has obtained two first-class special recruits and three second-class special recruits, which can be used to strengthen the team!"
"The official notice has been given to Coach Anxi. The decision on the special recruitment of students will be made by Coach Anxi."
"Although it's still early in the new school year, as you know, some of the strong teams in the county, such as Ryonan, Kainan, and Shoyo, have actually started preparing for enrollment after the national competition."
"The earlier you get in touch, the earlier you get in. Moreover, strong teams like Hainan and Xiangyang will take advantage of the holidays to let the junior high school students they like join the team training early to develop tacit understanding."
"Some players may only be freshmen, but they may have been training with the team for a year!"
"This year, we, Xiangbei, also have such an opportunity!"
Mitsui Shou said excitedly that the basketball team's special recruitment quota means they can give more benefits to junior high school students. Don't underestimate these so-called benefits, as they are indispensable in competing for outstanding players.
The better the benefits, the more power they have in the competition for players. Of course, there are some young players who don't care about material things, but they are only a small part after all. And benefits can't be directly withheld just because people don't want them. This actually shows the attitude of the team.
"Ohh, I didn't expect that the leader of this school would be so generous. What do the first-class special recruitment and the second-class special recruitment mean? Is there any difference?"
Wudao poured a glass of water for Mitsui Shou and waited for the other party's next words.
"Boiled water! You are so rude!" Mitsui Shou did not answer Wu Dao immediately. Instead, he pointed at the water cup with a little disgust.
"The conditions are poor, so I'll just make do with it. Haha, I'll just make do with it."
Wu Dao was a little embarrassed. Who has hot water to make tea so early in the morning? !
"Of course we have to be generous. This is real achievement for them! Real achievement!"
"Excellent clubs can attract excellent students, and excellent students can give back to excellent clubs. For school leaders, excellent clubs mean admission rates, and admission rates mean future!"
"In the past, it was because of the poor performance of the Xiangbei basketball team. If it weren't for Coach Anzai, Xiangbei's basketball club would have disbanded long ago."
"Look at our Xiangbei Judo Club. We have the people and the activity funds. I heard from Akagi that the Judo Club made it to the top four this year, and right now, they have organized training camps outside."
“When I first entered the school, I also wanted to use training to strengthen the cohesion of the team, but it was not approved!
”
Mitsui Shou seemed to be somewhat resentful of the favoritism of the leaders of Shohoku. Thinking back to the difficulties he had faced when he first entered Shohoku, a sigh appeared on Mitsui Shou's face.
"Let's talk about special recruitment... You're missing the point, Xiaosan."
Wudao couldn't empathize with Mitsui Shou. After he came to Xiangbei, he didn't care whether the school leaders valued the basketball team. For him, as long as his own abilities continued to grow steadily, that was enough. As for the rest, it didn't matter.
However, the problem of Xiangbei's weak substitutes did bother Wudao a little. There was no other way. If the team wanted to improve its performance, it would be beyond his ability to rely solely on his own hard work.
"Special recruitment!"
"It's very simple. First-class special admission, tuition and miscellaneous fees are all waived, and the cafeteria is free."
"Second-class special recruitment, free tuition."
Mitsui Shou said this with great interest, showing great satisfaction with the special recruitment conditions.
"Ah?! That's it?!"
"That's it?"
Jinguji Budou was still waiting for Mitsui Shou to say something, but Mitsui Shou stopped talking after saying this, which made Budou look confused. This so-called special recruitment, is this the only condition given
This reminded Wudao of a famous private school he had visited before. The basketball team of that school was able to compete with Huipu. When recruiting students, waiving tuition and accommodation fees was just the most basic thing. The school even gave students subsidies every year, and the amount of the subsidy was comparable to the annual salary of a white-collar worker.
Compared with those favorable conditions, the so-called special recruitment mentioned by Mitsui Shou now seems a bit lame.
Free tuition? This is the kind of benefit that can tempt players? Which player can resist such temptation? !
"Ah?! Isn't that enough? The conditions offered by Xiangbei this year are already the same as those of many private schools, and there are still 5 places available!"
“This is already a remarkable breakthrough.”
"Isn't that enough?"
Mitsui Shou obviously had a big gap in understanding with Wudao, but after hearing this, Wudao realized that Xiangbei was just a public school after all, and such welfare conditions were probably the best the school leaders had done.
Wudao didn't dwell on this and quickly focused on today's schedule. He remembered that Mitsui Shou just said that today Coach Anxi arranged for him and Mitsui Shou to go with him to recruit people... No, to visit junior high school
Martial arts are quite interested in such things!
"I'll go wash up and be right back."
"Didn't you just say you wanted to go visit the junior high school? Where to go first?"
Mitsui Shou saw that Takeshi looked anxious, smiled, and replied, "Don't worry, 7.30 is the best time to meet Coach Anzai. The first stop is of course our alma mater, Takeishi."
Wudao turned his head and glanced at the clock in the living room. It was still early, but he still hurried back to the bedroom. Fifteen minutes later, Wudao Jinguji returned to the living room wearing a sports suit.
Suddenly, Wu Dao remembered something and immediately picked up the landline phone next to him and started making a call.
"Hey! Yohei, I'm Jinguji Budo."
"You go to Sakuragi, drag that kid Sakuragi out of bed, and then take him to Takeishi Junior High School!"
"Yes! It's Takeishi Middle School. Just say I said it."
"He has to be there before 7:30 to play ball. Please make sure he pays attention to his clothes and shoes. If I don't see him today, I'll make him pay!"
After saying that, Jinguji Takeshi hung up the phone, sat down next to Mitsui Hisashi, breathed a sigh of relief, and was in a good mood.
"Sakuragi Hanamichi? You don't want Sakuragi Hanamichi to be a special recruit, do you?"
"Budo, don't make any mistake. The person who recruits students is Coach Anxi. Although we are going together, we are just here to take a look. Coach Anxi is the one who makes the decision."
"I know Sakuragi Hanamichi. He looks pretty good physically, but he's a rookie, right? Coach Anzai will definitely not choose him."
Mitsui Shou also knew Sakuragi Hanamichi. After all, he had known Takeshi for such a long time. He also knew that Takeshi got along well with several junior high school students, including Sakuragi Hanamichi. Mitsui Shou had only met Sakuragi a few times and did not know him very well.
In the entire Shohoku community, the person who knows Sakuragi best, besides Jinguji Budou, is probably Akagi Takenori.
"Of course the decision is not mine, it's just to let Sakuragi show his face."
"I think Coach Anxi will like him!"
A smile appeared on Wudao's face. He looked at the time and became more and more excited. He had never felt that time passed so slowly. Now he couldn't wait to let Coach Anzai meet Sakuragi Hanamichi. Wudao believed that as long as Sakuragi Hanamichi showed his talent in front of Coach Anzai, he would definitely be admitted as a second-class special recruit, if not a first-class special recruit.
Sakuragi's family conditions are average, so free tuition is quite useful for Sakuragi. If he catches the eye of Coach Anzai and becomes a first-class special recruit, the pressure on Sakuragi's family will be reduced a lot.
...
While Takeshi and Mitsui were waiting for time to pass, Yohei, who had received Takeshi's call, had already left home and rushed to Sakuragi Hanamichi's house. When Yohei arrived at Sakuragi's house, Sakuragi Hanamichi was still sleeping soundly in bed and was directly pulled out of bed by Yohei.
Sakuragi, with sleepy eyes, was like a puppet, allowing Yohei to manipulate him. Yohei didn't explain much to Sakuragi. He hurriedly helped Sakuragi put his sportswear and sneakers into the bag, then took Sakuragi with him and went out.
By the time Yohei and Sakuragi arrived at Takeishi Junior High School, it wasn't even 7 o'clock yet, let alone 7:30!
"Hey, Yohei, what did you bring me here for?!"
"You bastard, I was so close to kissing Miss Haruko!"
There were still traces of saliva at the corners of Sakuragi Hanamichi's mouth. He had already been dragged to Takeishi Junior High School by Yohei. He finally sobered up a little, shook off Yohei's hand, and said viciously.
"Hey, hey, hey, save your morning tantrum for later."
"Brother Wu Dao said to bring you here. He said that if he can't see you, he will make you suffer."
"I don't know what it is, but from what he said, he wants to play ball."
Seeing Sakuragi Hanamichi looking fierce, Yohei quickly spread his hands and explained.
"Is this Brother Budo's arrangement? Playing ball!"
"Then let's go play ball."
Sakuragi Hanamichi's train of thought was also quite simple. When he heard that it was arranged by Takeishi, he immediately accepted it. When he heard that he was going to play basketball, he immediately walked towards Takeishi Junior High School. Now that he was here, where else could he go to play basketball? Of course, it was inside Takeishi Junior High School!
"Hey, Hanamichi, wait for Takeishi-kun. He will be here at 7:30." When Yohei saw Sakuragi Hanamichi about to walk into Takeishi School, he immediately grabbed him and said hurriedly.
But Sakuragi didn't think too much. It was still early before 7:30. How could he let him wait at the door? How could this be possible
"It's okay, it's okay, we're just playing ball, what's the big deal?"
Sakuragi Hanamichi walked straight towards the gate, but the strange thing was that maybe the security guard of Takeishi Junior High School was absent, he didn't try to stop Sakuragi, an outsider, and let him in.
Sakuragi Hanamichi was already very experienced in skipping schools. After entering the campus, he pretended to be a student of that school and wandered around the empty campus casually, looking for the basketball court.
Yohei had no way to stop Sakuragi, thinking that at worst he would go to the school gate to meet up with Budo at 7:30, as for Sakuragi...
Let him do as he pleases!
"Oh! This school is really big, and the facilities are much better than those in Wako."
"Didn't Budo-ge tell you what you were doing here?"
After Sakuragi Hanamichi entered Takeishi, he looked around like Granny Liu entering the Grand View Garden, searching for the basketball court. Soon, he was attracted by the sound of sneakers rubbing against the floor.
"It should be there! Let's go!" Sakuragi Hanamichi said, pointing to the building where the sound came from, and then quickly ran towards Takeishi's gym.
Seeing this, Yohei could only hurry to catch up. Sakuragi Hanamichi ran to the side of the gym, and lay directly beside the window, looking into the gym.
At this time, the basketball team of Takeishi Junior High School was conducting warm-up activities. A group of players were running around the court. The sound of sneakers rubbing against the floor was caused by the movement of the players running.
"Hoo, Takeishi's basketball team?! Brother Takeshi asked me to come here..." Sakuragi Hanamichi looked into the gym and suddenly found a familiar figure among the running team.
"Ryukawa Kaede! This guy is from Takeishi Junior High School!"
"I see! Brother Budo wanted me to come here and defeat him! I understand!"
The moment Sakuragi Hanamichi saw Rukawa Kaede, he immediately understood what Budo meant. Of course, for Sakuragi, it was understanding, but for Budo, it was called misunderstanding. Yohei didn't know what was going on in Sakuragi Hanamichi's mind. At this time, he was watching the training on the field and said:
"Hanamichi, let's just watch them train here. Brother Budou will be here soon. When he gets here..." Before Yohei finished his words, he saw a familiar figure appear in his sight.
I turned my head and looked around, but there was no sign of Sakuragi Hanamichi.
"Hahahaha! You mortals from Takeishi, I, Sakuragi Hanamichi, will defeat all of you!"
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