Li Qiang's words perfectly summed up the sentiments of the vast majority of onlookers who had flocked to the gym for the spectacle.
Fang Yu, for his part, paid little mind to it.
Lin Ruofei, standing beside him, was not so indifferent. Her face darkened at Li Qiang's remarks, and she turned to him with a frosty glare. "What you cannot accomplish does not mean others cannot."
"Exactly." Yan Ting and Xiao Qin chimed in at once to back her up. Without another word to Li Qiang, they took Fang Yu by the arm and hurried toward the indoor gymnasium.
"Uh…" Watching Fang Yu being led away by the three beautiful girls, a look of sheer envy crossed Li Qiang's face. "This guy's the real deal, being friends with three stunners like that."
"Hey, Fang Yu, why didn't you stand up for yourself when that guy was running his mouth just now?" The moment the four of them stepped into the indoor gymnasium, Lin Ruofei let go of his arm, a faint scowl still etched on her face.
"Stand up for myself about what? Actions speak louder than words, don't they?" Fang Yu shrugged, his expression one of complete nonchalance.
"So does that mean you're confident you can beat Zhang Chengyi and his crew?" A flicker of fierce excitement crossed Yan Ting's face. She had long since grown sick of Liu Jun and his friends, with their overinflated egos and their smug belief that their mediocre basketball skills made them untouchable.
At Yan Ting's question, Fang Yu shook his head solemnly. "No."
"Then what the hell was the point of saying that? I don't care. You have to beat them. If you don't, then I'll…" Yan Ting's eyes narrowed, a menacing smirk playing on her lips.
"Alright, I'll do my best." A cold sweat broke out across Fang Yu's forehead at her threatening tone. He knew full well that if he failed to beat Zhang Chengyi and his friends, life would become very unpleasant for him indeed.
"But before the game, I have one request." Fang Yu scratched the back of his head, a playful grin spreading across his face.
"What request?" The three girls asked in unison.
"Each of you three beautiful ladies needs to give me a lucky kiss. Maybe then I'll actually be able to win." Fang Yu grinned, revealing a set of straight, pearly white teeth.
"Piss off!" The three girls shouted in unison.
…
By the time the four of them made their way deeper into the indoor gymnasium, the entire venue was packed to the rafters with spectators.
Fang Yu fought his way through the crowd with great difficulty, his eyes landing on three towering figures on one of the basketball courts, Zhang Chengyi among them.
"Heh, they really aren't holding back, are they? Three guys all pushing 1.9 meters. Looks like they're planning to crush me in seconds." Fang Yu shook his head, then strode straight toward them.
The contrast was stark, utterly staggering.
The moment Fang Yu stepped before the three men, a chorus of mocking snickers erupted from the surrounding crowd.
"Fang Yu, what are you doing here alone? Where are your teammates?" Zhang Chengyi's face was dark with contempt as he stared at Fang Yu, his expression twisting with displeasure at the sight of the young man standing alone before him.
"Oh, I forgot." Fang Yu chuckled. "Seeing as I forgot to round up any teammates, I'll just have to take on the three of you by myself." He smiled casually.
"What?" The moment the words left Fang Yu's mouth, the faces of Zhang Chengyi and his two friends turned thunderous. One of the burly, scowling men would have lunged forward to beat Fang Yu to a pulp right then and there, had his companion not held him back.
This was nothing short of unadulterated contempt, and from a scrawny 1.7-meter kid no less. It was unthinkable.
"What? Scared?" Fang Yu abandoned his earlier humility entirely, a mocking sneer spreading across his face.