Wen Lang’s team scored the first point.
Qin Chunxiao raised his index finger to his sister, indicating that they had a share in the victory.
Qin Chunfeng reacted quickly and took out a calendar, flipping it to the first page numbered “1”. With this calendar, even if the two teams played 30-31, they would have enough pages to turn over.
In volleyball, a game is counted as 25 points, but to win the game outright, the leading team must be two points ahead of the other team.
This means that if the opponent has 24 points and their own team has 25 points, both teams have to continue playing until one team leads by at least 2 points.
However, neither Yangpen nor Qin Chunxiao believed that a stalemate like that would be possible today.
Yangpen apologized to his teammates, thinking that they should take the game more seriously this time. If they really lost, they would be ashamed to face their grandpa.
Qin Chunxiao thought to himself that he had exerted a lot of physical strength during the morning exercise, and his hip and leg muscles were still a bit sore. He planned to go home and rest early.
The eyes of both players became sharp at the same time.
It was now Wen Lang’s turn to serve. After seeing the opponent’s big jump serve error, he stood in the backcourt, held the ball with his left hand, patted it with his right palm in the middle and lower part, pushed his wrist, and served a common topspin.
The volleyball flew over to the opposite side, and someone immediately received it, prompting the sheep pen to call for the ball.
“I’ve got it!”
The person who received the ball passed it to the setter, who then set it up for one of their hitters.
“Go!”
Yangpen ran up to the net, focusing his energy on his dantian, jumped up with both legs, and slammed the ball down fiercely.
Another powerful spike with a speed close to 100 kilometers per hour. Are you afraid yet?
Qin Chunxiao thought the ball was pretty good. While silently praising the opponent in his mind, he used his left foot to kick the ball that was about to land high up into the air.
Tip for watching volleyball: You can use any part of your body to touch the ball, including your hands, feet, chest, buttocks, and face.
Volleyball players in Brazil sometimes even catch the ball with their feet, probably because football is in their DNA.
Everyone watched in astonishment as the ball soared to a height of nearly three floors. One of Wen Lang’s teammates quickly reacted and desperately tried to catch it.
Meanwhile, as Yangpen landed, he immediately positioned himself at the net, waiting for the ball to be set to him by Chewing Gum. Chewing Gum then placed the ball on Qin Chunxiao’s head, and Yangpen jumped up to block the net.
Qin Chunxiao remained expressionless as he pushed the ball with both hands, creating a beautiful arc in the air. The ball brushed past Yangpen’s waist and landed on the opposite backcourt.
The DHS No. 5 volleyball, with a speed of less than 40 kilometers per hour, hit the ground, making a moderate sound that caused everyone on the Yangpen team to jump in surprise.
Coincidence? A soft shot like that actually scored? Moreover, the ball was placed perfectly to prevent them from catching it.
Qin Chunfeng turned Wen Lang’s calendar to number 2.
When it was the third ball, Qin Chunxiao asked Chewing Gum for another pass, but he still didn’t spike it. He lightly lifted and lobbed the ball with his palm, and it landed softly on the ground less than one meter in front of the net again.
The Wen Lang team’s score went to number 3.
The Yangpen team now understood that they not only brought Yangpen, who was said to have been in the youth team of the provincial team, as a foreign aid, but they also invited an expert from the opposing side.
They wondered whether this expert used to play football or handball. Throughout the game, the opponent had never smashed a ball. Every time, he only needed to touch the ball with his jumping hand. Their style of play was difficult to counter.
Little did they know that it didn’t matter whether it was football or handball. As long as players practiced hard and had a strong desire to win, they could be fierce on the field. The ball didn’t need to be hit with force; it seemed they didn’t exert much strength.
Yangpen widened his eyes and said, “This kid used to be a football goalkeeper, right? So quick to catch the ball?”
A teammate replied, “It’s possible. His footwork is pretty good, and his movements are soft and weak, which is the style of men’s football!”
No one guessed that Qin Chunxiao had been practicing volleyball and basketball. This kid, who looked less than 1.75 meters tall, was too small for a Libero.
They didn’t expect that this soft playing style was actually a volleyball technique known as “health ball.”
There is no rule that says playing volleyball requires jumping high in the sky and swinging vigorously. That would strain the knees and take too much time. Scoring within the rules is a good shot.
Qin Chunxiao thought to himself, “Although it’s soft, it’s effective. I can’t be too shameless and play too aggressively against these amateurs.”
The score of the two teams continued to climb, reaching 12-20, with Wen Lang in the lead. Four of the eight-point lead came from Qin Chunxiao’s serves.
Yangpen finally confirmed that Qin Chunxiao was indeed playing volleyball because he continued his soft but winning style of serving. His serves were not faster than 60 kilometers per hour, making them hard to catch.
Moreover, Qin Chunxiao accurately predicted the direction of his smashes every time, blocking the catch position in advance and catching the ball well. He only allowed Yangpen to touch his ball. When others tried to smash, Qin Chunxiao seemed to pull away the powerful Yangpen, preventing others from having a good opportunity.
Most importantly, Qin Chunxiao also lent him a hand!
Usually, a court is divided into two sides by a net, and the team on the other side scores when the ball lands in their side, provided it’s within bounds.
However, there is an exception. For example, when Qin Chunxiao turned Wen Lang’s score to 19, he jumped up and smashed the ball. As a result, when the ball hit the opposite field, it touched the hand of the blocking Yangpen. The ball didn’t fall into the opposite field but floated outside.
When Qin Chunxiao landed on the ground, he gestured happily to his sister, saying, “Flip, it’s our point.”
Qin Chunfeng replied, “Xiaoxiao, that ball was out of bounds!”
Qin Chunxiao responded, “I know, but the ball already touched the opponent’s hand, and the hitter is out of bounds.”
If the ball hits the opponent’s body and bounces out of bounds, it’s still their point.
“Right? The ball hit you,” he said, glancing over at Yangpen.
Yangpen fell silent for a moment, then raised his hand, his face filled with displeasure. “I touched it, it belongs to them. This time is a coincidence. Next time, you won’t be able to deceive me!”
The buddy who had a smile on his face before the game was irritated by Qin Chunxiao’s soft yet effective shots. Now he couldn’t maintain a smiling face any longer.
But was it really a coincidence that the ball went out of bounds just now?
Qin Chunxiao: Of course not!
In the volleyball arena, there are players who try to make the hitter hit the ball out of bounds as soon as they make a shot. They don’t aim for the opponent’s over hand initially, but rather toward their hand. This trick is called “borrowing a hand.”
Today, at a height of only 1.73 meters, with overall abilities far inferior to his peak period, Qin Chunxiao had to rely on tactics within the rules to maintain his health without playing too aggressively while ending the game quickly. He had to borrow his opponent’s hands to gain an advantage.
However, constantly borrowing hands, especially in amateur matches without referees, could lead to opponents getting angry and potentially even resorting to physical altercations. So Qin Chunxiao used this tactic sparingly, borrowing an average of 5 points. At other times, he simply caught the ball, occasionally feinted, and scored points with minimal effort.
Sometimes, everyone would anticipate him scoring with his own hands, so they would jump up to block the net, only to be fooled as he passed the ball to a teammate on the side. The teammate could then happily smash the ball into an undefended area.
This was acting.
It took skill to deceive opponents with timing, pretending to smash the ball but instead passing it, and deliberately touching someone else’s hand to force the hitter to hit the ball out of bounds.
Those who mastered these skills at a high level were playfully referred to as having “good acting skills” by fans. Some even went as far as naming the best actors and actresses in the volleyball world.
For example, in the Asian volleyball scene, there was a South Korean women’s volleyball team renowned as the queens of acting. While most Chinese players focused on playing aggressively, there were some who excelled in acting, but none had been crowned the queen yet.
As a shorter player, Qin Chunxiao often had to rely on tricks within the allowed boundaries of the rules to score points. Among players born after 2000, he was the best at acting. In fact, he had even honed his acting skills.
He was a master of the acting craft, and the opponent on the other side was being completely overwhelmed by his performance. Even though both the enemy and their team knew how impressive he was, they couldn’t help but feel frustrated rather than admiring him.
After the second set, the good-natured Yangpen gulped down half a bottle of water in one breath, panting like a groundhog.
“Ah ah ah ah ah!”
Yangpen seemed to be suffering.
In reality, Qin Chunxiao was also quite helpless. Normal players would lose their fighting spirit after being played like this, but Xiao Yang became even more energized. Qin Chunxiao just wanted to finish the game and go home.
Qin Chunxiao sighed internally and calmly splashed water on his face. Volleyball has always been known as the noisiest sport. If you win the ball, you roar, and if you lose the ball, you roar even louder. I’m used to it.
He asked Qin Chunfeng, “Do you want to play?”
Qin Chunfeng replied, “Okay, okay.”
At that moment, Qin Chunxiao’s gaze inadvertently drifted to the sidelines.
There were people standing outside the court who seemed to have been there for a while.
Among them was a very tall grandfather, at least 1.9 meters tall, with a strong presence. He had gray hair, wore a racerback vest and suit pants, slippers on his feet, a wrinkled face, and a big beer belly.
He waved at Yang Lan and called out, “Zai Zai, come, come,” with an action similar to waving at a puppy.
(Zai Zai: Cute way call the kid)
Yangpen real name Yang Lan rushed over, calling out, “Grandpa, why did you come here? You should have called me after eating, and I would have picked you up.”
Yang Yun chuckled and replied, “I’ll finish my lunch when you lose.”
Yang Lan was not convinced and said, “How could I lose?”
The boy on the opposite side was very crafty and accurate in his strikes. He only targets the weak points of their team. But Yang Lan had noticed that the opponent was not good at jumping, didn’t spike or block much, and was limited by his height. It was clear that he was restricted by his height. To win, Yang Lan believed that he just need to make up his mind to fight hard and take advantage when the opponent scored softly.
In Hainan, he relied on his physical advantages to win countless balls like these.
Grandpa Yang Yun spoke gently, “You’re naive. That kid’s playing style is like an old pro who has been through it all. How can you be so sure that he has no other means of scoring?”
Yang Lan replied confidently, “Because he is short!”
Short people can’t overpower tall people, that’s the truth in sports like volleyball and basketball that favor height.
Yang Yun responded, “Alright, then go and give it a try, but you have to bet a lot of money.”
Just luck.
Yang Lan looked at his grandfather in confusion as he walked onto the field. He then communicated with the Wen Lang team, saying, “If you play the last game and my grandson’s team can’t even score 10 points, I’ll give you one thousand yuan.”
Qin Chunfeng and Wen Lang looked at each other and shook their heads in embarrassment, saying, “Don’t set such a big wager. It’s just an entertainment competition. It’s as bad as gambling.”
Qin Chunfeng couldn’t spoil the child when her brother was still there.
Yang Yun pondered for a moment and proposed another wager that could entice the children, saying, “Then I’ll treat you to a meal at Runfulou?”
Runfulou was the most famous morning tea shop in G City, but it was a bit expensive for students who are usually reluctant to eat there.
Qin Chunfeng’s eyes lit up. He was craving the bratwurst and duck tongue, and then he looked at Qin Chunxiao. She knew that she would have to rely on her younger brother’s athletic abilities to win the game, but Chunxiao had already worked hard in training in the morning. She wondered if he could handle it.
Mustache was puzzled and asked, “Grandpa, why do you want us to beat your grandson? If you want to teach him a lesson, shouldn’t his parents handle it?”
Chewing Gum realized something and looked at Qin Chunxiao. Yang Yun also glanced at him and smiled meaningfully.
“It’s been a while since I’ve seen young ones like you who love to put on a show. What kind of ‘health balls’ are played by young people? That’s a tactic used by veterans who are about to retire. Be tougher.”
With his hands behind his back, Yang Yun slowly walked away from the field.
Qin Chunxiao had been trying to lose weight recently, so he couldn’t indulge in delicious food. But if Qin Chunfeng wanted to eat…
He would give it his all.
Wen Lang’s team scored the first point.
Qin Chunxiao raised his index finger to his sister, indicating that they had a share in the victory.
Qin Chunfeng reacted quickly and took out a calendar, flipping it to the first page numbered “1”. With this calendar, even if the two teams played 30-31, they would have enough pages to turn over.
In volleyball, a game is counted as 25 points, but to win the game outright, the leading team must be two points ahead of the other team.
This means that if the opponent has 24 points and their own team has 25 points, both teams have to continue playing until one team leads by at least 2 points.
However, neither Yangpen nor Qin Chunxiao believed that a stalemate like that would be possible today.
Yangpen apologized to his teammates, thinking that they should take the game more seriously this time. If they really lost, they would be ashamed to face their grandpa.
Qin Chunxiao thought to himself that he had exerted a lot of physical strength during the morning exercise, and his hip and leg muscles were still a bit sore. He planned to go home and rest early.
The eyes of both players became sharp at the same time.
It was now Wen Lang’s turn to serve. After seeing the opponent’s big jump serve error, he stood in the backcourt, held the ball with his left hand, patted it with his right palm in the middle and lower part, pushed his wrist, and served a common topspin.
The volleyball flew over to the opposite side, and someone immediately received it, prompting the sheep pen to call for the ball.
“I’ve got it!”
The person who received the ball passed it to the setter, who then set it up for one of their hitters.
“Go!”
Yangpen ran up to the net, focusing his energy on his dantian, jumped up with both legs, and slammed the ball down fiercely.
Another powerful spike with a speed close to 100 kilometers per hour. Are you afraid yet?
Qin Chunxiao thought the ball was pretty good. While silently praising the opponent in his mind, he used his left foot to kick the ball that was about to land high up into the air.
Tip for watching volleyball: You can use any part of your body to touch the ball, including your hands, feet, chest, buttocks, and face.
Volleyball players in Brazil sometimes even catch the ball with their feet, probably because football is in their DNA.
Everyone watched in astonishment as the ball soared to a height of nearly three floors. One of Wen Lang’s teammates quickly reacted and desperately tried to catch it.
Meanwhile, as Yangpen landed, he immediately positioned himself at the net, waiting for the ball to be set to him by Chewing Gum. Chewing Gum then placed the ball on Qin Chunxiao’s head, and Yangpen jumped up to block the net.
Qin Chunxiao remained expressionless as he pushed the ball with both hands, creating a beautiful arc in the air. The ball brushed past Yangpen’s waist and landed on the opposite backcourt.
The DHS No. 5 volleyball, with a speed of less than 40 kilometers per hour, hit the ground, making a moderate sound that caused everyone on the Yangpen team to jump in surprise.
Coincidence? A soft shot like that actually scored? Moreover, the ball was placed perfectly to prevent them from catching it.
Qin Chunfeng turned Wen Lang’s calendar to number 2.
When it was the third ball, Qin Chunxiao asked Chewing Gum for another pass, but he still didn’t spike it. He lightly lifted and lobbed the ball with his palm, and it landed softly on the ground less than one meter in front of the net again.
The Wen Lang team’s score went to number 3.
The Yangpen team now understood that they not only brought Yangpen, who was said to have been in the youth team of the provincial team, as a foreign aid, but they also invited an expert from the opposing side.
They wondered whether this expert used to play football or handball. Throughout the game, the opponent had never smashed a ball. Every time, he only needed to touch the ball with his jumping hand. Their style of play was difficult to counter.
Little did they know that it didn’t matter whether it was football or handball. As long as players practiced hard and had a strong desire to win, they could be fierce on the field. The ball didn’t need to be hit with force; it seemed they didn’t exert much strength.
Yangpen widened his eyes and said, “This kid used to be a football goalkeeper, right? So quick to catch the ball?”
A teammate replied, “It’s possible. His footwork is pretty good, and his movements are soft and weak, which is the style of men’s football!”
No one guessed that Qin Chunxiao had been practicing volleyball and basketball. This kid, who looked less than 1.75 meters tall, was too small for a Libero.
They didn’t expect that this soft playing style was actually a volleyball technique known as “health ball.”
There is no rule that says playing volleyball requires jumping high in the sky and swinging vigorously. That would strain the knees and take too much time. Scoring within the rules is a good shot.
Qin Chunxiao thought to himself, “Although it’s soft, it’s effective. I can’t be too shameless and play too aggressively against these amateurs.”
The score of the two teams continued to climb, reaching 12-20, with Wen Lang in the lead. Four of the eight-point lead came from Qin Chunxiao’s serves.
Yangpen finally confirmed that Qin Chunxiao was indeed playing volleyball because he continued his soft but winning style of serving. His serves were not faster than 60 kilometers per hour, making them hard to catch.
Moreover, Qin Chunxiao accurately predicted the direction of his smashes every time, blocking the catch position in advance and catching the ball well. He only allowed Yangpen to touch his ball. When others tried to smash, Qin Chunxiao seemed to pull away the powerful Yangpen, preventing others from having a good opportunity.
Most importantly, Qin Chunxiao also lent him a hand!
Usually, a court is divided into two sides by a net, and the team on the other side scores when the ball lands in their side, provided it’s within bounds.
However, there is an exception. For example, when Qin Chunxiao turned Wen Lang’s score to 19, he jumped up and smashed the ball. As a result, when the ball hit the opposite field, it touched the hand of the blocking Yangpen. The ball didn’t fall into the opposite field but floated outside.
When Qin Chunxiao landed on the ground, he gestured happily to his sister, saying, “Flip, it’s our point.”
Qin Chunfeng replied, “Xiaoxiao, that ball was out of bounds!”
Qin Chunxiao responded, “I know, but the ball already touched the opponent’s hand, and the hitter is out of bounds.”
If the ball hits the opponent’s body and bounces out of bounds, it’s still their point.
“Right? The ball hit you,” he said, glancing over at Yangpen.
Yangpen fell silent for a moment, then raised his hand, his face filled with displeasure. “I touched it, it belongs to them. This time is a coincidence. Next time, you won’t be able to deceive me!”
The buddy who had a smile on his face before the game was irritated by Qin Chunxiao’s soft yet effective shots. Now he couldn’t maintain a smiling face any longer.
But was it really a coincidence that the ball went out of bounds just now?
Qin Chunxiao: Of course not!
In the volleyball arena, there are players who try to make the hitter hit the ball out of bounds as soon as they make a shot. They don’t aim for the opponent’s over hand initially, but rather toward their hand. This trick is called “borrowing a hand.”
Today, at a height of only 1.73 meters, with overall abilities far inferior to his peak period, Qin Chunxiao had to rely on tactics within the rules to maintain his health without playing too aggressively while ending the game quickly. He had to borrow his opponent’s hands to gain an advantage.
However, constantly borrowing hands, especially in amateur matches without referees, could lead to opponents getting angry and potentially even resorting to physical altercations. So Qin Chunxiao used this tactic sparingly, borrowing an average of 5 points. At other times, he simply caught the ball, occasionally feinted, and scored points with minimal effort.
Sometimes, everyone would anticipate him scoring with his own hands, so they would jump up to block the net, only to be fooled as he passed the ball to a teammate on the side. The teammate could then happily smash the ball into an undefended area.
This was acting.
It took skill to deceive opponents with timing, pretending to smash the ball but instead passing it, and deliberately touching someone else’s hand to force the hitter to hit the ball out of bounds.
Those who mastered these skills at a high level were playfully referred to as having “good acting skills” by fans. Some even went as far as naming the best actors and actresses in the volleyball world.
For example, in the Asian volleyball scene, there was a South Korean women’s volleyball team renowned as the queens of acting. While most Chinese players focused on playing aggressively, there were some who excelled in acting, but none had been crowned the queen yet.
As a shorter player, Qin Chunxiao often had to rely on tricks within the allowed boundaries of the rules to score points. Among players born after 2000, he was the best at acting. In fact, he had even honed his acting skills.
He was a master of the acting craft, and the opponent on the other side was being completely overwhelmed by his performance. Even though both the enemy and their team knew how impressive he was, they couldn’t help but feel frustrated rather than admiring him.
After the second set, the good-natured Yangpen gulped down half a bottle of water in one breath, panting like a groundhog.
“Ah ah ah ah ah!”
Yangpen seemed to be suffering.
In reality, Qin Chunxiao was also quite helpless. Normal players would lose their fighting spirit after being played like this, but Xiao Yang became even more energized. Qin Chunxiao just wanted to finish the game and go home.
Qin Chunxiao sighed internally and calmly splashed water on his face. Volleyball has always been known as the noisiest sport. If you win the ball, you roar, and if you lose the ball, you roar even louder. I’m used to it.
He asked Qin Chunfeng, “Do you want to play?”
Qin Chunfeng replied, “Okay, okay.”
At that moment, Qin Chunxiao’s gaze inadvertently drifted to the sidelines.
There were people standing outside the court who seemed to have been there for a while.
Among them was a very tall grandfather, at least 1.9 meters tall, with a strong presence. He had gray hair, wore a racerback vest and suit pants, slippers on his feet, a wrinkled face, and a big beer belly.
He waved at Yang Lan and called out, “Zai Zai, come, come,” with an action similar to waving at a puppy.
(Zai Zai: Cute way call the kid)
Yangpen real name Yang Lan rushed over, calling out, “Grandpa, why did you come here? You should have called me after eating, and I would have picked you up.”
Yang Yun chuckled and replied, “I’ll finish my lunch when you lose.”
Yang Lan was not convinced and said, “How could I lose?”
The boy on the opposite side was very crafty and accurate in his strikes. He only targets the weak points of their team. But Yang Lan had noticed that the opponent was not good at jumping, didn’t spike or block much, and was limited by his height. It was clear that he was restricted by his height. To win, Yang Lan believed that he just need to make up his mind to fight hard and take advantage when the opponent scored softly.
In Hainan, he relied on his physical advantages to win countless balls like these.
Grandpa Yang Yun spoke gently, “You’re naive. That kid’s playing style is like an old pro who has been through it all. How can you be so sure that he has no other means of scoring?”
Yang Lan replied confidently, “Because he is short!”
Short people can’t overpower tall people, that’s the truth in sports like volleyball and basketball that favor height.
Yang Yun responded, “Alright, then go and give it a try, but you have to bet a lot of money.”
Just luck.
Yang Lan looked at his grandfather in confusion as he walked onto the field. He then communicated with the Wen Lang team, saying, “If you play the last game and my grandson’s team can’t even score 10 points, I’ll give you one thousand yuan.”
Qin Chunfeng and Wen Lang looked at each other and shook their heads in embarrassment, saying, “Don’t set such a big wager. It’s just an entertainment competition. It’s as bad as gambling.”
Qin Chunfeng couldn’t spoil the child when her brother was still there.
Yang Yun pondered for a moment and proposed another wager that could entice the children, saying, “Then I’ll treat you to a meal at Runfulou?”
Runfulou was the most famous morning tea shop in G City, but it was a bit expensive for students who are usually reluctant to eat there.
Qin Chunfeng’s eyes lit up. He was craving the bratwurst and duck tongue, and then he looked at Qin Chunxiao. She knew that she would have to rely on her younger brother’s athletic abilities to win the game, but Chunxiao had already worked hard in training in the morning. She wondered if he could handle it.
Mustache was puzzled and asked, “Grandpa, why do you want us to beat your grandson? If you want to teach him a lesson, shouldn’t his parents handle it?”
Chewing Gum realized something and looked at Qin Chunxiao. Yang Yun also glanced at him and smiled meaningfully.
“It’s been a while since I’ve seen young ones like you who love to put on a show. What kind of ‘health balls’ are played by young people? That’s a tactic used by veterans who are about to retire. Be tougher.”
With his hands behind his back, Yang Yun slowly walked away from the field.
Qin Chunxiao had been trying to lose weight recently, so he couldn’t indulge in delicious food. But if Qin Chunfeng wanted to eat…
He would give it his all.
