Chapter 835 — Genuine Shu Backs Down

With that, Shen Yushu picked up a ball of her own suit and dropped it straight into a pocket.

Zhen Yingjun drew a deep breath. He was unwilling to accept it, yet there was nothing he could do. He had already boasted so loudly before, and now not only had he landed himself in trouble with no way to talk his way out of it, but he even had to count Shen Yushu's shot as a won ball!

"Fine. Then it's my turn now!" Zhen Yingjun drew another deep breath. This time he absolutely could not afford any mishap, or the game would truly be lost; Shen Yushu's side was down to just two balls of their suit.

Ordinarily Zhen Yingjun would not have thought much of it. His opponents were only two beginners, and no matter how he played he should have been able to win. But things were different now; played this far, the game had turned downright strange!

Twice now he had sent the cue ball leaping into the air. By any reasonable measure he had not used much force — could the cue ball be too light? Zhen Yingjun could make no sense of it. But since he could not make sense of it, this time he would simply use a little less force!

Zhen Yingjun took aim at a ball of his own suit and sent the cue ball forward.

Wei Zhao, too, sensed that Zhen Yingjun had struck with less force, so the energy he channeled into the ball was likewise reduced. This time Zhen Yingjun's cue ball did not fly off the table — but it still hopped, clearing the target ball he had meant to strike, and then sailed neatly into a pocket.

"Gah!" Zhen Yingjun was truly speechless. This time he had deliberately lightened his touch, and yet the cue ball had still leaped — only this time it had harmed no one but himself, sinking his own cue ball into a pocket!

Still, at least he would not have to pay compensation or endure anyone's cursing. But Zhen Yingjun's expression remained sour; he had made a fool of himself yet again!

"Wow, you're too amazing — you actually potted your own ball? Are you colorblind?" Shen Yushu stared at Zhen Yingjun in astonishment.

"Hmph! I just didn't control my strength properly. It won't happen again." Zhen Yingjun gave a cold sniff, unwilling to argue with Shen Yushu. The more he argued now, the more guilty he would seem, so what he had in mind was to prove himself to Shen Yushu with his skill in a moment.

There were no penalty rules in this game with Shen Yushu — whether the cue ball flew off the table or dropped into a pocket, no foul was called — so it was directly Shen Yushu's turn to shoot.

Shen Yushu had noticed it too: Brother Chewing Gum could not change the path the balls traveled, only alter the force behind them. So for the two balls of her suit remaining on the table, Shen Yushu had no confidence of aiming straight for a pocket; instead she simply sent the cue ball a certain distance, leaving it in a position convenient for taking aim at the last two balls.

Wei Zhao saw that Shen Yushu had not aimed at a ball of her own suit but had struck the cue ball elsewhere, and he roughly guessed her intention. So he guided that cue ball to a halt in a position very favorable for Gu Mengyao's aim.

From this angle, so long as Gu Mengyao took aim, she could easily pot the ball of their suit lying in front of the cue ball.

Gu Mengyao had already guessed that Wei Zhao was helping from the sidelines, and from the look of things, Xiaoshu knew it too — otherwise she would not have played the cue ball that way, for without Wei Zhao's help Shen Yushu could never have controlled her strength so precisely as to leave the cue ball sitting exactly where it needed to be.

Even without Wei Zhao's help, Gu Mengyao could easily have potted a ball of their suit with this shot. After Gu Mengyao finished, it was Zhen Yingjun's turn again!

Zhen Yingjun was nervous. Their opponents had only one ball left, while his own side still had several!

This time Zhen Yingjun dared not use so much force. After taking aim at his ball, he used a rather small amount of strength — smaller even than before — and sent the cue ball gently forward.

And yet this time it still leaped!

Zhen Yingjun was about to go mad! How could this be? How was it that every carelessly struck ball of his turned into a jump shot?

The cue ball hopped up with a whoosh, then came crashing down from above with a bang onto the very ball Zhen Yingjun had aimed at, sending it spinning wildly several times before it finally stopped!

This time Zhen Yingjun had indeed struck the target he aimed at, but because the direction of impact was wrong, the target ball did not drop into a pocket at all.

"Grandfather's balls, this is cursed!" Zhen Yingjun swore, finding it utterly unbelievable. Had his strength suddenly multiplied? He had clearly used so little force, and yet the ball he struck behaved as though he had hit it with all his might. What on earth was going on?

Gu Mengyao and Shen Yushu had only one ball left. Shen Yushu stuck to the same strategy, sending the cue ball to a position favorable for Gu Mengyao's aim and then letting Gu Mengyao take the shot! This time, being a little nervous, Gu Mengyao used too little strength — but with Wei Zhao's energy to supplement it, the final ball dropped smoothly into the pocket.

Gu Mengyao could clearly feel that she had not used enough force, yet the ball she struck seemed to carry a momentum all its own, rolling straight into the pocket! Gu Mengyao suspected that Wei Zhao must be up to his tricks again.

"Oh, so we won, didn't we? See that? And you call yourself a professional player, saying you'd teach us how to shoot — looks like you're the one who can't play!" Shen Yushu looked at Zhen Yingjun with a touch of smugness. "You think being able to pull off a few jump shots makes you something special? I can not only make jump shots, I can even make the ball bounce!"

"Isn't there still one more game? We've each won once — right now we're merely tied!" How could Zhen Yingjun admit defeat? He felt that the second game had been entirely a failure of his own form, and that Shen Yushu was not really a formidable player at all.

"Fine, then let's play another game, and I'll make you admit defeat wholeheartedly!" With Wei Zhao's help, Shen Yushu was not in the least afraid of losing. "Are you still going to spot us three balls?"

"No. I underestimated your skill before, but I can't give you a handicap now!" How would Zhen Yingjun dare to give away balls again? Although Shen Yushu looked like a beginner, her luck was uncommonly good, and he was afraid she might fluke a few more balls in. So he said, "Not only will I not spot you balls — the two of you can only have one player shoot, not both of you taking turns!"

Zhen Yingjun had seen it too: he could no longer let Gu Mengyao and Shen Yushu play together. The two of them coordinated with uncanny默契 — one would send the cue ball to just the right position, and the other would sink the shot cleanly. If they kept playing this way, he would likely lose again! So to save face, he could not let them keep playing like that.