Silence!
The entire court was utterly silent!
Everyone stared at Zhao Yuan, their eyes wide and jaws agape. Not a single person made a sound.
They were all stunned, completely shaken, and for a moment, unable to snap out of their daze.
Zhao Yuan bent down, picked up the basketball, and walked toward the half-court where his team was warming up.
As he walked, the players from Clinical Medicine Class Seven just stared at him blankly. Not a single one moved to stop him. It was hard to tell if they were still in shock or just too intimidated to get in his way.
Soon, Zhao Yuan was standing before Lü Tian. He handed the basketball back and said, "Sorry to disappoint you. I managed to not only steal the ball from you but also score in your basket. I hope this incident teaches you a lesson: don't be so arrogant or speak in such absolutes in the future. It's a painful thing, getting put in your place."
Lü Tian's face went pale, his expression a mixture of sheer embarrassment and fury.
Zhao Yuan ignored him and strode back to his team's side of the court.
Only then did Liu Zhu and the others finally snap out of their shock. They all rushed to Zhao Yuan's side, surrounding him like a hero and cheering wildly.
"Third Bro, that was beautiful! That dunk was absolutely brutal! So damn dominant! You scared those guys from Clinical Medicine Class Seven completely stiff!"
"Yeah, yeah! Seeing the dumbstruck looks on their faces just makes me want to laugh. So damn satisfying!"
"Let's see them try to act all high and mighty in front of us now!"
"Now they should know who the real scrubs are, right? Zhao Yuan, you're freaking amazing!"
The crowd on the sidelines also snapped out of their daze, erupting into a thunderous cheer.
"Zhao Yuan is a beast!"
"Dominant! That was just too dominant! As expected of our class's heartthrob!"
"I never thought Zhao Yuan could do something like that! A slam dunk! And he knocked two guys flying to do it! You barely see plays like that in a professional game!"
Zhao Yuan's performance had been so brilliant, so commanding, that it wasn't just his classmates from Chinese and Western Medicine Combination Class Three who were cheering. Even some students from Clinical Medicine Class Seven couldn't help but yell in approval. They quickly shut their mouths, however, under the furious glares of their own classmates.
But even though they had fallen silent, they were still thinking to themselves, 'That dunk from Zhao Yuan really was a thing of beauty…'
In the crowd, Ye Feng's expression was absolutely foul.
Just a moment ago, when Lü Tian was humiliating Zhao Yuan and his classmates, he had been ecstatic at the thought of Zhao Yuan being publicly shamed. He never imagined that, in the blink of an eye, Zhao Yuan would stage such a shocking reversal. The embarrassment and shame were now squarely on Lü Tian and his team, while Zhao Yuan had stolen the entire show.
When he saw the look of admiration and excitement on Lin Xue's face as she gazed at Zhao Yuan, Ye Feng was absolutely livid. He clenched his fists, cursing internally, 'Lü Tian, you idiot! And to think I had such high hopes for you. I can't believe you're so useless you couldn't even handle a simple task like this. You're dumber than a pig!'
Not far from Ye Feng, two men who appeared to be teachers also looked completely astonished.
They were the head coach of the West Hua Medical University basketball team, Li Bing, and his assistant, Liu Chen.
"I'm not seeing things, am I? Did that kid just pull off a dunk? And a powerful one at that, where he sent two defenders flying?" Liu Chen rubbed his eyes hard and said in disbelief, "I never would have guessed. He looks so lean, almost scrawny, but his physical conditioning, strength, and vertical are just off the charts!"
"It's not just that. His speed and reflexes are incredible, too. Otherwise, there's no way he could have stolen the ball from Lü Tian so easily and broken through the defense of Clinical Medicine Class Seven."
Li Bing watched Zhao Yuan, his eyes gleaming with intense interest.
He had originally come here today to scout Lü Tian and his friends, to see if they were worth recruiting for the university team. He never expected to find a prospect here who was leagues better than all of them!
"Liu Chen, what's this kid's name? Why don't I have his file?" Li Bing asked, turning his head.
Liu Chen replied with a pained expression, "He never participated in the national high school basketball tournament, so I don't have any information on him…"
"If you don't have it, go get it! If we hadn't come to watch the game today, we would have missed out on such a great prospect!" Li Bing shook his head, both annoyed at Liu Chen's oversight and relieved that he had come to scout in person.
On the court, Lü Tian and the other members of Clinical Medicine Class Seven had also recovered from their shock.
Their expressions were exceptionally sour. The louder the cheers from the crowd, the more their own faces stung with humiliation.
Lü Tian took a deep breath, called his teammates over, and began his speech, "That dunk was nothing. He caught us off guard with a surprise attack. As long as we focus, there's no way we'll let him get away with that again!"
Everyone nodded in unison, buying into this obvious attempt at self-reassurance.
"That's right, we were just too careless. As long as we get serious, that kid won't have a chance of breaking through our defense!"
"Let them have their moment. Once the game starts, we'll beat them until they're crying for their mommies and daddies!"
The players all chattered at once, except for the two who had been sent flying by Zhao Yuan. They remained silent. That one domineering play had scared them witless.
"Sun Ning, you're on Zhao Yuan. Whatever it takes, don't let him score!" Lü Tian began to lay out his strategy.
Sun Ning was the best defensive player in Clinical Medicine Class Seven and also the one who had just been boasting about making their opponents cry for their parents. But after hearing Lü Tian's order, his earlier bravado vanished. He asked hesitantly, "Just me?"
Although he had publicly disdained Zhao Yuan, Sun Ning was, deep down, taking him very seriously. He didn't think he could guard Zhao Yuan by himself.
Lü Tian shot him a glare. The guy's words were incredibly demoralizing. Just like that, the fighting spirit Clinical Medicine Class Seven had just managed to rebuild instantly plummeted.
"Zeng Ping will double-team with you!"
After finalizing his tactical assignments, Lü Tian began his pre-game pep talk.
"Listen up! We have to win this game. This isn't just about the reputation of Clinical Medicine Class Seven; it's about our personal pride! Besides, did you see? The university team coaches are here! If we play poorly, how are we supposed to get noticed? How are we going to make the team?"
The members of Clinical Medicine Class Seven all nodded, their flagging morale finally rising a little.
However, neither Lü Tian nor his teammates noticed that their attitude toward Chinese and Western Medicine Combination Class Three had quietly changed.
Before, they had been boasting that they would beat them by seventy points! But now, all they hoped for was a simple win... This proved that Zhao Yuan's single play had dealt them a heavy blow, severely damaging their confidence!
As they say in the art of war, attacking the mind is the highest form of strategy.
And Zhao Yuan's latest move was a textbook example.