Chapter 63: Biased
“If you are asking for a beating, I guess we can give you one,” Duan Xu said.
Both the basketball team and the football team had always condemned each other. The team members from both sides had gotten into brawls and disagreements before.
If a fight were to break out, both sides were confident in winning. Meanwhile, the atmosphere was tense as if a fight would break out at any moment.
It was then that a calm and pleasant voice sounded.
“You said the ball flying over was an accident?”
It was Ning Li who had spoken.
Ding Xi reacted with an impatient look, “So what?”
Ning Li smiled. “Nothing. I just feel bad for you if you get punished and a demerit because of getting into a squabble. It’s not worth it.”
Ding Xi reacted strangely.
The province team was selecting a new batch of members, and he was one of the candidates under consideration for the assessment. If he was punished and got a demerit because of the fight, it would probably affect his final assessment. He really could not afford to get into a fight.
“Then, what are you suggesting?”
Ning Li raised her chin at the goal. “Simple. You will become the goalkeeper and I’ll try to score. If I score, you’ll apologize to me.”
Ding Xi thought he heard her wrongly. He almost burst into laughter. “What did you say?”
“What’s wrong? Feeling scared already?” Ning Li raised a brow, as though she did not see anything wrong with her suggestion.
“Me? Scared?” Ding Xi scoffed. “Okay, but if you can’t score—”
“If I can’t score, we will all forget about what happens today.”
Duan Xu was nervous when he heard Ning Li’s suggestion. He tried to dissuade her by saying, “Hey, genius, are you serious?”
Ding Xi might be a jerk, but he was good at playing football. Although he played as a striker, he was more than capable of being a goalkeeper just to block Ning Li’s shot.
Ning Li seemed determined.
Ding Xi got the ball from his teammate.
“It’s a deal then.”
…
A crowd was gathering outside the football field.
Ding Xi got a pair of goalkeeper’s gloves and stood in front of the goal.
At the same time, Ning Li came over with the ball in her hand. She stood right in front of him and put the ball down.
Ding Xi scoffed. “Miss Role Model, I don’t think you have ever touched a football before. Do you even know how to kick it?”
Ning Li straightened her body. She was not mad at the taunting and nodded seriously instead. “I really don’t know how to kick.”
Nevertheless, it was not a problem for her.
Ren Qian was worried as he watched from the side. He asked softly, “Brother Pei, are we just going to stay out of this?”
There was a 99.9% chance that Ning Li would miss the shot. Aside from losing face, a crowd was gathering and she might end up as the joke of the day.
Pei Song nodded in silence.
Duan Xu had started thinking about calling his friends over. If Ding Xi so much as did something rude, Duan Xu would jump in and start a fight.
For some reason, Ye Ci and Cheng Xiangxiang also came over.
Ye Ci frowned, seemingly a little annoyed. “Ding Xi, what are you doing?”
Ding Xi rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly as he looked at her. “Ye Ci, she asked for this. It’s not my fault. But if you want me to stop, I will. I can simply let this go. It’s nothing important.”
Everyone knew he was trying to ask Ye Ci out, so the onlookers glanced at each other curiously and subtly.
“I thought Ye Ci and Ning Li were enemies. I didn’t expect Ye Ci to defend Ning Li!”
“Ning Li always acts like an ice queen with an arrogant attitude, but Ye Ci still helps her from time to time. Their characters speak for themselves.”
“Say, I thought Ning Li was an outsider in the Ye family. What’s with her attitude? Why is she treating Ye Ci like that?”
“You don’t know about people’s family affairs, so just keep your mouth shut.”
…
Before Ye Ci could say a word, someone else beat her to it.
“No need for that.”
The field was silenced as everyone looked at Ning Li who flexed an ankle. “We will solve this with how it is supposed to be solved.”
Since Ning Li insisted, Ye Ci had nothing to say as well.
“You’re asking for this.” Ding Xi taunted Ning Xi with his fingers, “Come on. Bring it on!”
Ning Li looked at him, her beautiful and crystal clear eyes glaring coldly. A moment later, she curled her lips.
For some reason, Ding Xi’s heart skipped a beat.
Before he could think any further, Ning Li had lifted her leg.
Ding Xi quickly jumped to the right, but the ball did not move as Ning Li just performed a seamless feint!
His left was wide open for the shoot, so she then kicked the ball with all her might.
However, everyone soon realized that the ball was not going for the goal but was heading for Ding Xi instead.
Ding Xi felt a chilly breeze in his face. He wanted to dodge but could not stop the momentum of his falling body.
Bang!
The force of the ball was huge as it was spinning rapidly.
Ding Xi managed to block a tiny bit with his arm before the ball hit half of his face.
He faltered backward before his vision went blurry and he felt pain explode in his nose. Immediately, he wiped his nose with the glove and realized that it was painted red by his blood.
“Captain!”
The football team was nervous and rushed over to Ding Xi nervously.
The audience did not expect Ning Li’s shot to be this powerful as well. Everyone was silenced by the scene.
Ning Li shrugged, seemingly disappointed. “Ah, too bad. I missed.”
Ding Xi was furious when he heard her statement. Rage almost burst out from his chest. “You did that on purpose!”
Even a blind man could tell that she had not been gunning for the goal. Instead, she was aiming for Ding Xi from the start.
Ning Li raised a brow at him. “I’ve never touched or played football before, and you said I did it on purpose? It’s just a little mistake. Besides, it’s football, so a nosebleed is nothing to you, right?”
“YOU!” Ding Xi was furious.
Ning Li just served him back the words he said earlier.
One of the football team members could not stand it anymore. “It’s dangerous kicking like that! Why did you aim for his head?”
Duan Xu whistled loudly and said, “What did you say? Dangerous? Isn’t that what Ding Xi did to Miss Genius here earlier? Wasn’t he aiming for her head?”
The guy was silenced right away.
Duan Xu waved his foot frivolously. He smiled brightly and said, “Besides, Miss Genius here has a brain that scored 737 in the monthly test. Your captain doesn’t come close to her even if he multiplied his scores together!”
Someone in the silent crowd failed to hold back his giggle. The giggle lasted for only a second before it was muffled out.
Having reached his boiling point, Ding Xi stepped up and kicked away the ball beside him.
“You freaking—”
Bang!
“Aaargh!”
A painful groan sounded.
The crowd was shocked. They looked in the direction of the groan and saw Ye Ci clutching her arm in pain.
Ding Xi’s frustrated kick accidentally launched the ball at the goal post, and it was reflected towards Ning Li.
The ball, unfortunately, hit her in the arm.
She had walked to that spot because she wanted to say something but was caught in the conflict.
“Ye Ci!”
Ding Xi’s face blanched and his heart stopped.
…
At the infirmary, Ning Li and the others were waiting outside.
Duan Xu looked through the window and spotted a woman with delicate makeup standing beside the sickbed with a worried expression. He could not help but grumble, “Genius, is that your mother? Why is she—”
Su Yuan had rushed to the school right after Ye Ci was struck by the ball. She did not even look at Ning Li and went straight into the infirmary for Ye Ci.
The last time she was there at school, it was because Ning Li had been suspected of cheating in her test. She had assumed that Ning Li cheated without even bothering to find out the truth.
Now…
Nevertheless, Ning Li was calm and did not say a word.