𝙋𝙝𝙤𝙩𝙤𝙜𝙧𝙖𝙥𝙝 ➝ Zhuo Zhi

47: Semifinals Day (Part III)

In the midst of all the cheering sticks waving in the air, another presence stood beside her clad in clean white jersey uniform with red designs. Jia Li's eyes twitched in annoyance, remembering who she had last seen wearing those clothes. She lowered her camera and turned only to be surprised that it was a different person. His tanned skin complemented his features well; black hair that parted at his forehead, sleepy dark brown eyes, and chubby cheeks. Jia Li felt like she was looking at a younger version of Zhuo Zhi.

"You're Senior Jia Li, right?" He faced her, placing a hand on the silver rails. She nodded and Zhuo Yu chuckled, "I'm Zhuo Yu."

Her lips parted in realization and before she could stop herself, she blurted, "Senior Zhuo Zhi's younger brother?"

A flash of annoyance grew on Zhuo Yu's face, but it immediately disappeared as soon as it showed. He sighed and stared below at Yu Qing, who was still cheering. "Apparently. I heard from Lu Xia that you're their team's personal photographer, which means you know them quite well."

"Lu Xia?" Jia Li repeated, utterly confused at how that little loner managed to be talking with someone other than the people he knew in Yu Qing.

"What?" As if summoning him, Lu Xia appeared at her other side, casually sipping his favorite grape soda drink. He nonchalantly glanced at Zhuo Yu then to her and continued drinking. "I see you two have met. She's Senior Jia Li, your brother's girlfriend."

Jia Li whipped her head to Lu Xia's direction and smacked the back of his head without warning, "How many times do I have to tell you, we aren't like that?"

"You're not?" Zhuo Yu scrunched his nose and frowned. "You're not Zhuo Zhi's girlfriend and yet, you're his wallpaper and has a gallery full of your stolen pictures?"

"What?" Jia Li blinked, unable to comprehend what Zhuo Yu had just revealed.

Zhuo Yu shrugged, "If you're not his girlfriend, then what are you two?"

She pursed her lips, wanting to get away from this conversation. "Does it matter?"

As if reading her thoughts, Lu Xia asked Zhuo Yu, "Are you here to watch your brother?"

The Guo Zi player inhaled sharply, immediately responding, "I came here to watch you play."

Jia Li raised an eyebrow as Lu Xia blankly replied, "I'm not going to play."

Zhuo Yu fell silent and Jia Li knew he ran out of excuses. In some way, she could feel that he came for his brother despite whatever beef they had between them.

The three watched as the crowd gaped at one of Xing Yao's players who suddenly lifted his sleeping teammate by the collar and dropped him on the bench as if he weighed nothing.

"Hua Chong Hong." Jia Li muttered.

"I'm surprised you know the player's name." Zhuo Yu raised an eyebrow at her.

"She studied in Xing Yao before she transferred to Yu Qing." Lu Xia casually dropped to which Jia Li glared, smacking him again. This boy and his running mouth will be the death of me.

Intrigued at the revelation, Zhuo Yu pivoted his body to face her, "Oh really? Then you must definitely know how strong their team is."

She shrugged and remained silent, continuing to watch as the match for the third singles was announced wherein Xing Long and Hua Chong Hong were going to face each other.

As expected from Xing Long, the game instantly started in an aggressive way, his hits heavily swooshing across the net. He seemed to have finally met an opponent that matched his aggressiveness since Jia Li knew that Hua Chong Hong's way of playing was much stronger than Xing Long's. Her eyes momentarily flew to Jing Wu's figure who snapped his fingers, signaling something to his player.

That signal was for Hua Chong Hong to increase the speed of his returns, mixing it with load of heaviness, letting Xing Long slow down as he struggled to bear the heaviness of the ball. Jia Li watched as Xing Long prepared himself in a stance, surprising everyone, even Ya Jiuxin who came to watch. The shutters of her camera snapped as Xing Long used Yu Feng's Shi Tie Nan's 'Earthquake Smash' to return the heavy balls that Hua Chong Hong threw at him.

Of course, the Xing Yao player attempted to hit it back like a piece of cake, but his racket got knocked off from his hand as the ball came in contact with it, halting the loud cheers of Xing Yao High School.

"I must defeat you because I have them!" Xing Long roared proudly, pointing his racket at his team. "Because of them, I was able to reach this far."

"Looks like Yu Qing really prepared themselves against Xing Yao." Zhuo Yu pointed out.

Jia Li wanted to agree. However, from the years she had seen Xing Yao's Tennis Club practicing, Hua Chong Hong hadn't shown his capability yet. He only showed it after Xing Long won the first set, imitating the 'Earthquake Smash' move — a complete replica of how Xing Long performed it, much to everyone's bafflement. His move sent Xing Long's racket to the ground.

Because of this, Xing Long's determination soared. Jia Li gasped as he began using the technique with only one arm. Is Senior Xing Long crazy? Using that move with only one arm would really damage it. His teammates and Coach Qi Na stood at the side with panic written on their faces, forbidding him to do that through yells. Yet, Xing Long pursued his actions as Hua Chong Hong also copied his strategy.

She swallowed out of nervousness and worry as she vaguely saw their arms shaking with beads of sweat trickling down. For a while, grunts and heavy thwacks resounded throughout the area until Hua Chong Hong gave in first, dropping his racket and clutched his bruised arm that was quivering in pain. But despite him giving in first, the umpire declared that the match was invalid as Xing Long could no longer continue to play as well. It was then Jia Li found out Xing Long's tactic: luring his opponent to imitate him and from there, the result depended on whose arm was able to endure the pain.

The team surrounded Xing Long in worry to which he simply smiled and allowed Coach Qi Na to accompany him and Hua Chong Hong to the hospital.

Lu Xia then casually left and took a seat on Coach Qi Na's place, sipping his soda drink. Jia Li chuckled even though she didn't know what was going on, snapping a quick photo as Qiao Chen and Jia Le began pulling him away by his legs, but he locked his arms at the back of the bench, preventing them to drag him away.

That boy...