The same words in Chu Ge's ears just made him feel amused.

"Not interested in knowing my name yet? Come on, it's you who came to find me, didn't you? You're really thinking too much of yourself, acting like playing basketball with me is giving me an enormous honor?"

Shooting a speechless glance at Peng Xianggang, Chu Ge kept walking. He felt it was really hard to have a common language with such a person.

"What kind of person is he? Really interesting." Seeing that Chu Ge didn't pay attention to Peng Xianggang, Feifei mumbled as she walked alongside Chu Ge.

Although Lu Gang felt that Peng Xianggang did have the arrogance to back up his words, and there was nothing wrong with what he said, he was still closer to Chu Ge and had to awkwardly glance at Peng Xianggang before following in Chu Ge's steps.

Seeing Chu Ge outright ignoring Peng Xianggang, Chen Lei was stunned for two seconds, and then his expression darkened to the extreme. He gave Peng Xianggang, who was frowning, a look and quickly stepped in front of Chu Ge to block his path.

"Chu Ge, what do you mean by this?"

Chu Ge chuckled, "What do you mean, what do I mean? I'm just walking my path, isn't it, Minister Chen, not in your way?"

Chen Lei's face was as stern as water, "Do you know who Peng is? How many people dream of becoming his apprentice? Him willing to play a basketball game with you is your blessing; most people would fight tooth and nail for such an opportunity."

Seeing Chen Lei's look that implied he was ungrateful, Chu Ge felt a bit annoyed.

"Sorry, I really don't know who he is, nor am I interested in playing basketball with him. I'm heading home. Could you please not block my way?"

Chen Lei's face twitched, his thick eyebrows raised. Although he didn't say anything, the meaning was clear: unless you play a game with Peng Xianggang today, this matter won't be over.

As Chen Lei and Chu Ge were in a standoff, Peng Xianggang finally took his strong, long legs and walked steadily beside Chu Ge, standing with Chen Lei to block Chu Ge.

Originally, he did think that with his status and skills, offering to play a basketball game with Chu Ge was indeed giving Chu Ge a huge honor.

However, he really didn't expect that not only was Chu Ge ungrateful, but he also acted as if he wasn't worth anything at all.

Just for that, Peng Xianggang couldn't take it. Even aside from helping out with Chen Lei's request today, he had to have a proper match with Chu Ge, to show him what a professional player is all about!

Blocking Chu Ge's view like an iron tower, Peng Xianggang looked down slightly and said, "Not interested in playing with me? Ha! From the way you're talking, does it mean my level can't even catch your eye?"

Seeing the displeasure on Peng Xianggang's face, Lu Gang quickly tried to mediate, "Well, Peng, don't say that. Vice Minister Chu didn't mean it that way."

Peng Xianggang glanced at Lu Gang and snorted through his nose, as if saying, "Finally, someone who knows how to speak."

Then, Peng Xianggang turned his gaze back to Chu Ge's face, "He says you didn't mean it that way, so now I want to ask, what do you mean?"

"What I mean is, if you want to play with me, then come with a competitive attitude. Otherwise, feel free to excuse yourself, I have my own things to do."

Although Chu Ge found this Peng Xianggang rather inexplicable, he truly didn't want to engage with him. But since Lu Gang and Feifei were still around, he had to be relatively polite in his response.

Upon hearing these words, Peng Xianggang immediately laughed, as if he'd heard a hilarious joke. However, even though he was smiling, there was no humor in his eyes, and his gaze at Chu Ge was as if he were looking at an idiot.

Watching Peng Xianggang laughing out loud, Lu Gang couldn't help but nervously sweat for Chu Ge, fearing that Peng Xianggang might suddenly erupt in fury after the laughter. If a conflict did occur, then no matter how skilled Chu Ge was, he would definitely suffer against both Chen Lei and Peng Xianggang.

But, once words are spoken, there's no taking them back. After all, he couldn't retrieve the words Chu Ge had just said. Now, even if he wanted to mediate on Chu Ge's behalf, he didn't quite know what to say.

Chen Lei's face also turned increasingly sour, growing more conflicted inside, even somewhat regretting calling Peng Xianggang today.

If the relationship between him and Peng Xianggang were affected because of Chu Ge, it would certainly not be worth it.

"Hahaha, Lei Zi, this guy really is something. It seems I won't be able to eat or sleep well tonight if I don't play a round with him today."

Just as Chen Lei was feeling torn and uneasy, Peng Xianggang suddenly patted his shoulder, laughing as he spoke.

Seeing that Peng Xianggang didn't seem to hold any grudge against him, Chen Lei discreetly breathed a sigh of relief and nodded with an awkward smile.

"Alright! Will you do me the honor and play with me?"

After saying this to Chen Lei, Peng Xianggang stopped laughing abruptly and turned his eyes on Chu Ge. When he mentioned "practice," he deliberately emphasized his tone, with a strong sense of sarcasm evident in his eyes.

Seeing Peng Xianggang's arrogant demeanor, Chu Ge was even more speechless. This guy was indeed someone Chen Lei brought along, like sticky candy, impossible to shake off.

It seemed that if he didn't have a match with this guy today, he might keep coming to bother him.

"Feifei, Lu Gang, you two go ahead. Since this guy is so persistent, I'll just play with him for a while."

Although both Feifei and Lu Gang really wanted to see this one-on-one match in person, since Chu Ge had already expressed his unwillingness for them to watch, they could only nod and leave despite their curiosity.

When Feifei and Lu Gang, looking back every few steps, had gone some distance, Chu Ge turned his gaze to Chen Lei.

"Minister Chen, after I finish playing him today, you won't find someone else to challenge me tomorrow or the day after, right?"

Chen Lei snorted, "Do you think there's still a need for that?"

Peng Xianggang was already completely impatient, "Alright, let's go, shall we? There's a basketball gym not far ahead, let's play there?"

Chu Ge shook his head, "No rush, let me be frank, the reason I agreed to play basketball with you today is not because I want to compete with you, but because I don't want you guys to keep pestering me."

Peng Xianggang and Chen Lei frowned again, and under their displeased gazes, Chu Ge, with a laid-back demeanor, continued, "So, playing another match today is not out of the question, but shouldn't we add a little stake? How about a bet? Just ten thousand yuan, dare to bet?"

Peng Xianggang laughed again, even more exaggerated than before, seeing Chu Ge's approach as practically giving him money!

"Ten thousand? Hahaha, isn't that a bit small for a bet?"

Chen Lei also laughed along, "Brother Peng, small is fine, he's just a vice minister who just got promoted from a low-level employee; he can't afford more anyway."

Peng Xianggang burst out laughing for a while and then said, "How about this: I won't bully you. If you lose, you give me ten thousand; but if you win, I'll give you thirty thousand."

Chu Ge also laughed, "That sounds great; I happen to be a bit short on cash right now, so I'll not be polite."

Peng Xianggang and Chen Lei laughed even more exaggeratedly, seeing Chu Ge's words as sheer nonsense, as if he was bringing about his own downfall.

With the matter settled, the three headed straight to the nearest basketball gym.

Once inside, Chen Lei paid for an hour's court time, and Chu Ge and Peng Xianggang stepped onto the court.

Chu Ge, not interested in wasting words, got straight to the point, "Tell me, how do we play?"

"I heard from Lei Zi that your dribbling is good, but no matter how good your dribbling is, it doesn't matter if you can't score. Let's do this, we'll compete in three-point shots, each taking ten shots, whoever makes more wins, any objections?"

Seeing that Chu Ge was calm throughout, and with money on the line, Peng Xianggang, although confident of his win, didn't underestimate his opponent and proposed one of his strengths.

"Alright, no problem, you shoot first; I'll have a smoke and rest a bit."

Chu Ge agreed without hesitation, not even warming up, but directly sitting on the bench and lighting a cigarette.

Glancing at the seemingly relaxed Chu Ge, Peng Xianggang had Chen Lei line up ten balls, and he stood right behind the three-point line, facing the basket.

This spot was where his three-point shooting was most accurate.

"Smack," Peng Xianggang caught the first ball passed by Chen Lei, jumped, wrist flick, shot—an impeccably standard motion.

Unfortunately, this first three-point shot formed a beautiful arc only to hit the rim and bounce off with a slight margin of error.

Without showing any frustration at the poor start, Peng Xianggang adjusted his breathing, shook his wrist, and had Chen Lei toss the second ball over.

"Smack," catching the second ball, Peng Xianggang took a few seconds to compose himself before jumping again and throwing the ball.

"Swish," a clean shot through the net.

Despite the elegance of this basket, Peng Xianggang's face remained calm as he signaled Chen Lei to send over the third ball.

"Swish," another clean basket!

As a professional city-level basketball player, Peng Xianggang naturally had excellent mental strength, and although he was inwardly eager to teach Chu Ge a lesson, it did not stir any restless emotions.

He would strategize on and respect his opponent in tactics, careful not to stumble and lose to a company-focused amateur player.

Since stepping onto the court, he was already in the zone, and as the second and third balls went in, his form improved steadily.

Swish, swish, swish, swish…

Finally, after shooting all ten balls, Peng Xianggang smirked widely, while Chen Lei couldn't help but cheer loudly from the side.

Nine out of ten shots made!

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