"Chu Ge! I won! Hahaha! Didn't you say you wouldn't let me score a single basket in five minutes? But I scored! I scored!"

Zhang Hao laughed wildly for a few seconds, but Chu Ge didn't bother with him at all. Instead, he went directly under the basket and picked up the basketball.

"Did you all see that? I scored! Why are you all just standing there? Are you all stunned?"

Since he didn't get a response from Chu Ge, Zhang Hao turned his gaze toward the others in the basketball gym, laughing madly as he questioned them.

The faces of a few people from the Liger Group twitched, and the girl Zhang Hao brought pursed her lips tightly.

As Zhang Hao's questioning voice quieted down, the basketball gym suddenly erupted into laughter, with everyone from the Tianjiao Group laughing uncontrollably.

"After all that fuss, this guy still doesn't know why Chu Ge didn't compete for the ball?"

"Traveling while dribbling, does this guy even know how to play basketball?"

"Hahaha, isn't this common basketball knowledge that even elementary school students know?"

Chu Ge didn't compete for the ball, not because he didn't see through Zhang Hao's moves, but because Zhang Hao didn't dribble at all this time; he just ran off holding the basketball in one hand.

Upon hearing this, Zhang Hao instinctively widened his eyes, opened his mouth, and turned slowly with hesitation, casting a questioning glance at a few people from the Liger Group.

When someone in his line of sight nodded, there was a buzzing sound in Zhang Hao's head, his face flushed with embarrassment, completely at a loss. Even having gotten confirmation, he still couldn't believe he had done something so mindless without realizing it.

"Zhang Hao, come down, stop playing, let's go." Someone from the Liger Group said.

"No! I can still play, time's not up yet, I'm sure I can score, score honorably, I'm the provincial basketball team's rising star, I am Zhang Hao!"

Zhang Hao's eyes were bloodshot, like a wounded wolf unwilling to submit, shaking his head frantically, shouting and standing once more in front of Chu Ge.

But except for Peng Xianggang, no one else believed his words at all. The rising star of the provincial basketball team? At this skill level, completely at a loss in front of Chu Ge? What a joke, right?

If this traveling-with-the-ball fool is the provincial team's rising star, then can Chu Ge go straight to the NBA?

Chu Ge gave Zhang Hao an emotionless glance, patted the basketball as a reminder that he could start intercepting now, then repeated once more the simple three-step layup that he had done so many times before.

Zhang Hao, with eyes like a trapped beast, also repeated the actions he had done many times, picking up the basketball from the ground, standing back at the mid-court line, once again facing Chu Ge.

In sight, Chu Ge stood calmly in place, expression as serene as still water, without arrogance or pride, hands naturally hanging by his sides without any defensive posture.

Yet it was precisely this Chu Ge who made Zhang Hao feel he was invincible, like an insurmountable mountain, with even the halfway point resting among the clouds. No matter how unreconciled he was, he could only look up, and even seeing the end of this mountain was a luxury.

From childhood to now, although he had faced many strong opponents, no one had ever brought him such immense pressure. Not even playing one-on-one with national team players brought him this breath-stealing sensation.

Zhang Hao was unwilling, truly unwilling, but he had no idea how to contend against Chu Ge.

Finally, Zhang Hao completely broke down in front of Chu Ge. He wanted to execute an attack as sharp as in the past, but his hands and legs suddenly seemed to lose all their strength.

"Thud, thud..."

The basketball in his hand fell to the ground.

"Thud."

His knees also hit the floor, his eyes blank, like a lifeless zombie without any vitality or spirit. His mind was filled with only one image, Chu Ge's back, a nightmarish silhouette for him.

Looking at Zhang Hao kneeling on the ground, Chu Ge knew he had completely lost his fighting spirit, and couldn't even do something as simple as picking up the basketball.

Glancing at the few from the Liger Group, "Now, can you leave?"

Under Chu Ge's gaze, the few from the Liger Group blushed, embarrassed, reluctantly coming over to pick Zhang Hao up from the floor and headed toward the exit.

On the back of their basketball jerseys was the image of a descending tiger, but at this moment, these tigers seemed somewhat listless and dejected.

"Chu Ge, you're awesome! I didn't know you could run so fast!"

"Chu Ge, wasn't that guy just saying whoever lost would have to hop out of here naked? You're just letting him go like this?"

"Exactly, aren't you letting him get away with his obnoxious behavior too easily?"

A few people from Tianjiao excitedly gathered around, intentionally speaking loudly for the few Liger Group members to hear.

Chu Ge chuckled, "It's okay, let him keep owing this, given how he is now, I doubt he could even hop away."

As Chu Ge's voice rang out, Tianjiao let out another burst of laughter, and the Liger Group sped up their exit.

Just as the Liger Group reached the gym's door, it suddenly swung open again, and Qin Ruojing, dressed in a fitted black suit, walked in, facing them head-on.

Seeing this scene, Qin Ruojing couldn't help but be slightly stunned, frowning slightly and saying, "What's going on?"

When the people from the Liger Group saw the chairman of the Tianjiao Group arrive, their expressions turned even uglier. Awkwardly saying "It's nothing" twice, they carried Zhang Hao away under Qin Ruojing's puzzled gaze.

"Chairman."

Qin Ruojing walked into the basketball gym, and the employees of Tianjiao greeted her with smiles.

Usually, employees feel at least some pressure when facing their boss, but Qin Ruojing is an exception, as most people at Tianjiao only have admiration for her.

After all, Qin Ruojing never puts on airs with anyone, and she would smile and say hello even to the most ordinary janitor in the company.

Her eyes swept around the circle, Qin Ruojing nodded in response, and finally, her gaze settled on Chu Ge.

"Chu Ge, what was going on with those people from Liger Group just now?"

Although it was just a very ordinary question, others felt a bit surprised inside, and they regarded Chu Ge with more esteem.

There were so many people here, some even holding higher positions than Chu Ge, yet Qin Ruojing singled him out for questioning, which seemed to indicate that Chu Ge indeed holds some weight in her heart.

Chu Ge simply recounted the previous incident, glossing over Zhang Hao's obscene language.

Seeing Chu Ge speak so lightly on something that could be so show-off, others couldn't help but feel a bit sorry for him. This was such a good chance to earn some credit, why didn't he say a bit more?

While Chu Ge was speaking, he also scrutinized Qin Ruojing, whom he hadn't seen for a few days, and noticed that she didn't look particularly well. Even with concealer, the dark circles under her eyes were quite visible.

This discovery left Chu Ge a bit puzzled, thinking that since he hadn't stayed at Qin Ruojing's house these days, she should have been able to rest well, no?

After hearing Chu Ge's explanation, Qin Ruojing thought it was somewhat strange, but she didn't say much more. She called an employee of Tianjiao to bring out two boxes of drinks she brought, chatted a bit about the basketball team's training, and then left with Chu Ge, under a series of surprised and envious gazes.

Coming to the side of the Audi A8, Qin Ruojing sat in the front passenger seat, while Chu Ge naturally took the driver's seat.

"Chairman, is there something you wanted me for?"

"The screen at home is broken, and the bedroom light doesn't work either. I need your help to fix them."

"Huh?"

Hearing this, Chu Ge burst into laughter. Is Qin Ruojing treating him like a handyman?

Under Chu Ge's amused gaze, Qin Ruojing, a bit tired, leaned against the car seat and turned her head, saying, "What are you laughing about? Can you do this work or not?"

Chu Ge nodded and laughed, "I can. So should we head home now?"

Seeing Chu Ge agree so readily, Qin Ruojing looked at him puzzlingly, "Hmm, why are you so generous today? Not asking for overtime pay?"

Chu Ge grinned, "I've got over eight hundred thousand of yours in my hand, can't I just deduct my pay from that?"

Qin Ruojing shot Chu Ge a sidelong glance, with a look that said, "I knew you weren't that nice."

"I'll take a nap first, wake me when we arrive." Qin Ruojing said, then leaned against the seat, closed her eyes, and soon fell asleep as Chu Ge started the car.

As Chu Ge steered the Audi A8 towards Qin Ruojing's home, Zhang Hao, who had just been totally overwhelmed by Chu Ge, finally regained some strength and no longer needed others to support him to walk.

Sitting dejectedly on the curb, he let the group from Liger and a girl he had just picked up a few days ago leave first and used his still slightly trembling right hand to dial Long Kun's phone.

Although he was exceedingly regretful in his heart, regardless, he had to report the situation here to Long Kun.

"Brother Long, it's me, Zhang Hao."

"Heh, did you complete the task I assigned you?"

On the other end of the line, Long Kun was in a good mood and didn't notice Zhang Hao's uneasy tone, leisurely asking.

"I... I'm sorry, Brother Long, I messed up."

With an extremely apprehensive heart, Zhang Hao finally uttered these words.

"Messed up? You didn't get Tianjiao's people to make a move, nor did you manage to go head-to-head with Chu Ge?" Long Kun's tone now carried a hint of anger.

"No, it's not that. I, I did go head-to-head with him, but I, I lost..."

There was a silence of about seven to eight seconds on the phone before Long Kun's chilling voice finally came through.

"What did you say? Repeat that to me?"

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