Basketball System: Rebound of the Underdog-Chapter 338: Grandma’s Proud

"What do you say?" Fei asked. "A bet is a bet."

"Don’t tell me you’re backing out," she continued, sounding dejected. However, there was an underlying guilt-inducing tone in her voice.

Kai scratched the back of his head and turned to Lina, wanting to hear her decision.

Meanwhile, inside Lina’s mind, she was already plummeting Fei against the hardwood floor. However, she concealed it very well by smiling at the manager.

"I get it," she started off.

"A bet is a bet. I’m not going to back down on my word."

A huge smile made its way to Fei’s lips. "I knew you were a woman of your word," she smiled.

"Of course," Lina said through gritted teeth. "It’s just one date, right?"

"Yes," Fei said. "Just one date. However, if Kai wants, then we could have multiple ones right after."

Kai pursed his lips and didn’t say anything further.

Lina looked at Kai with narrowed eyes as if he was the one who made the suggestion.

"I see," she chuckled.

"Anyway," Fei continued, fully facing Kai. "Can we meet next weekend? We’re still going to continue our training, so I won’t be able to meet with you after school."

Kai glanced at Lina, and she defeatedly nodded, so Kai nodded, too.

"Sure?" he said in an unsure tone.

"Great!" Fei chirped. "Save my number on your phone, will you? I’ll be texting you all the details. You don’t even have to do anything!"

With that, Fei skipped away from the two of them, leaving them in an awkward atmosphere.

Kai turned to Lina, who was still muttering profanities under her breath.

"You don’t even have to do anything," Lina muttered, repeating Fei’s words in a mocking tone.

Kai chuckled, which captured Lina’s attention.

Her frown deepened as she gazed at Kai’s smiling expression.

"So, you’re finding this funny, huh?" she exclaimed.

Kai’s eyebrows raised in surprise. "What? No?"

"Do you enjoy being asked out like this by multiple girls? Is that it?" she asked.

Kai chuckled once more as he shook his head.

Then, he placed the pad of his thumb over the crease on Lina’s forehead, gently smoothing it out.

Lina wanted to continue reprimanding him, but his light touch sent her heart into haywire.

After a while, she gently pushed his hand away.

"You can’t just do that," she muttered. "It’s unfair."

Kai smiled and softly nudged her forehead. "I was laughing because you’re so cute," he said.

It was now the time for Lina’s eyes to widen.

"W—what?" she stammered.

Did Kai just call her cute?

"Anyway," Kai continued. "I agreed to the date because you wanted to keep your word—that’s it. However, I don’t think of it as anything else."

That eased Lina’s heart, so she wordlessly nodded.

"I won’t even consider it as a date," he continued.

"So, after all of this is over, do you want to go?" he asked, suddenly feeling nervous.

Lina tilted her head to the side in confusion.

"Go…where?" she asked.

Kai cleared his throat and looked away from her.

This was it.

"A date…," he finally revealed.

"…with me."

***

It was the day after the Nationals, and Kai woke up much later than usual. He couldn’t sleep well because of the high of the Shizi Dogs’ victory, as well as him dropping the big question on Lina.

So, when he got out of his room, he saw that his grandma was already done peeling her onions for the day.

"Well, there’s Prince Charming," she said with crossed arms. "How did your beauty sleep go?"

Kai scratched the back of his head. "What time is it?" he meekly asked.

"It’s noon," Grandma Bingbing answered. "Food is on the table."

With that, she left Kai all alone.

Kai pursed his lips. "Is she mad that I didn’t deliver the onions this morning?" he muttered.

He usually delivered them during the weekends when he didn’t have any games, so Grandma must have found it upsetting for him to wake up so late.

However, he took it as a good sign that the old woman still prepared breakfast and lunch for him.

With that, he ate with gusto, filling his stomach for the skipped meal.

As he shoved the food into his mouth, his new mission finally appeared.

"Right," he muttered. He had already discovered his ’copycat’ skill, so it was time for a new mission.

[The system congratulates the host for his team’s victory.]

[Congratulations on winning two MVP titles.]

[A characteristic of a good basketball player is in his pride—it should not be too high or too low.]

[To prevent the host from feeding his ego, moments of humility are needed.]

[New mission! Get humbled.]

[Gain humble points and convert them into XP.]

[Deduction of 20 XP will be implemented by the end of the week if the host does not encounter a humbling experience.]

"A humbling experience?" he whispered.

He already goes through such things on a daily basis!

With that, he continued eating his meal, knowing that the mission was already as good as finished.

Just as he was about to finish his meal, he felt a cold hand against his back.

He turned around and saw his grandma looking at him with an unreadable expression.

Kai looked at her with curiosity and saw that she appeared to be hiding something behind her back.

Grandma Bingbing clicked her tongue and finally revealed what she was hiding—a piece of cake.

"Here," she said, placing the cheesecake on the table. "These things are expensive, so I only got one slice."

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Kai’s eyebrows raised in surprise. "What’s this for?"

Grandma Bingbing sighed and gently slapped the back of his neck.

"It’s for you, of course," she deadpanned. However, it sounded gentler than her usual way of speaking.

She raised her hand to Kai’s head, so the latter flinched a bit. However, the old woman didn’t slap the back of his head this time. Instead, she stroked his hair in an affectionate manner.

"Congrats, grandson," she smiled, her cold hand feeling warm.

"You’ve made your grandma proud."