𝙋𝙝𝙤𝙩𝙤𝙜𝙧𝙖𝙥𝙝 ➝ Zhuo Zhi

56: Hai Guang (Part II)

The Golden Partners were up next, covering their nervousness with determined faces as they excitedly walked to the court. Jia Li followed Da Yong's eyes that trailed off at the upper side of the stands, noticing a pregnant woman with a man giving encouraging smiles to Da Yong, who fist bumped with Jia Le. She wondered who those two might be but dismissed the thought. Jia Le then pivoted his body to face the crowd, eyes roaming in search of someone. When his eyes met his sister's, Jia Li offered a huge grin and two thumbs up, mouthing Go, Big brother. He grinned back cheekily and nodded, sauntering his way to his offense position.

Yu Qing was given the first serve. As Da Yong did so, Jia Le instantly ran forward, approaching the net closely. However, one of their opponents imitated him, acting as a mirror wherever Jia Le moved. Wang Ya Ren, Hai Guang's offensive player, kept blocking Jia Le from fulfilling his role in analyzing their opponents' tactics. Jia Le furrowed his eyebrows, completely annoyed at how Wang Ya Ren played.

Then all of a sudden, Lu Sheng smacked the ball straight to the net where Wang Ya Ren and Jia Le stood. However, as if sensing the ball's presence, Wang Ya Ren tilted his head to the side, avoiding getting hit by the ball.

But Jia Le wasn't lucky.

Jia Li watched in horror as her brother gasped in surprise at the incoming ball, giving him no time to avoid its hit. The ball smacked his forehead hard and he fell backwards, knocking him unconscious. She stood up in shock, almost dropping her camera if it weren't for Xing Zi, who caught it.

"Jia Le!" Coach Qi Na and the team stood up as well, worried at the scene that unexpectedly unfolded in front of them.

Da Yong came rushing to Jia Le's side, repeatedly calling his partner's name who merely just budged but wouldn't wake up. "We need a medic here, please hurry!"

That was the last straw. Her feet unconsciously began running towards the court. Da Yong calling for the medic meant that her brother got hurt very badly. She could faintly hear Xing Zi's steps following after her, but Jia Li paid no attention to that. Her mind only revolved around her unconscious brother, hoping that he was alright.

"Jia Le!" She gasped, nearly collapsing to his side as the medic lifted him to the stretcher. Her breaths were becoming ragged as anxiety crept up within her, clenching her heart in worry for her brother once one of the medics informed them that Jia Le got a concussion.

Please be alright. You damn promised that you'd be careful. I don't want another family member ending up in the hospital.

"You did that on purpose!" Jia Li heard Da Yong angrily glare at Wang Ya Ren. It was only the first point and already one of them got injured.

"Chi Da Yong!" Coach Qi Na warned him, shaking her head to prevent him from punching the guy. She then pulled Jia Li away from walking alongside the stretcher, sliding her hands on Jia Li's hair. "Jia Li, your brother's going to be fine. Take deep breaths, you're turning pale." She was reassuring the younger girl despite being worried for her player's health. She then turned to the team and handed Jia Li over to them as she approached the medics, informing them of the need to bring Jia Le to the hospital to reassure them if his condition was fine.

Jia Li's eyes remained glued at her brother who was being carried away. Between her heavy breaths, she felt hands cupping her cheeks, whispering softly to calm her.

Zhuo Zhi pulled his girlfriend's attention to him as he kept whispering to her, his eyebrows furrowed with worry upon seeing her anxiety attacks for the first time. He didn't recall her telling him that she had those. "Jia Li, breathe for me, yeah?"

Xing Long handed her a bottle of water, which she drank to ease her nerves. She was slowly calming down when all of a sudden, Jia Le shot his eyes wide open and pressed his hands on the stretcher, pushing his legs straight upwards and landing perfectly on the ground with his two feet, performing a backflip. He was grinning madly as if he hadn't just got injured.

She pushed past Zhuo Zhi and Xing Long, jabbing a finger to her brother's forehead, "You idiot! You almost gave me a heart attack."

Instead of recoiling at her jabs, Jia Le's expression morphed into worry as he looked at her, "Wait, don't tell me you had another anxiety attack because of worrying about me?"

"What do you mean by another one?" Zhuo Zhi asked.

Hesitant to respond, Jia Li sighed in relief as Da Yong approached them with a smile, relieved to see that his partner was alright. Her brother then ran to him, grabbing his racket from Da Yong, which he had picked up a while ago when Jia Le got hurt. "Chi Da Yong, I'm fine now, you don't have to worry. We still have a game to win."

"Are you sure you're alright to play, Jia Le?" Coach Qi Na asked, wary of her students' health.

"Yes, Coach!" Jia Le saluted playfully. He then ruffled Jia Li's hair and smiled at Xing Zi, who had followed her. "I'm fine, Little sis. No need to worry now, okay? Go back with Xing Zi now."

Jia Li feebly nodded, allowing Xing Zi to pull her away as the game resumed. The students from Yu Qing then exploded into cheers again, completely glad that one-half of their Golden Partners was alright.

"Go, Jia Le!"

This time, Jia Le was more prepared.

When Hai Guang repeated that same tactic to hurt him, Jia Le smirked and leaped a few steps backward, switching his racket to his left hand then turned to smack the ball, earning a point for Yu Qing. He did that all in a flash, oozing with excessive determination.

Contrary to how he looked like earlier, Jia Li heaved out a deep sigh, glad that her brother was really okay. She reflected on her previous actions, fully embarrassed at how she overreacted. But can those people blame her for being worried about him?

Her mind drifted back to the game when Lu Sheng of Hai Guang began hitting the balls in a fast speed, taking the Golden Partners by extreme surprise at how the ball zoomed past between them in a flash.

"Game over." Lu Sheng scoffed, pointing his racket at them.

Jia Le's energy then began depleting as he leaned against his racket every now and then. He was rubbing his eyes, squinting it as he tried to visualize the speed of Lu Sheng's 'Laser Ball'. Unfortunately, Wang Ya Ren could also do those 'Laser Ball' too, alternately using it with Lu Sheng, confusing the Golden Partners' focus more.

Her two older brothers were forced to come up with a last-minute strategy, intriguing everyone with their switched up positions, which was an unlikely thing for them to do. However, Jia Li's lips twitched into a smirk as Coach Qi Na beamed with pride. This was the two's 'Super Offense Formation', which they had practiced secretly to avoid data being collected by other schools. It may seem absurd to the viewers, but this was the best strategy that the Golden Partners could come up with.

Since Da Yong was a defense expert, changing his position to an offense, which was near the net, gave him a perfect view to easily analyze the speed of the ball upfront and where it could possibly land. He could easily warn Jia Le whether the ball would be an out or not, creating a defense area on both front and back instead on just their backcourt.

However, much to their disappointment, Lu Sheng broke through it, performing another 'Laser Ball' to which Jia Le dived to return it. As the ball hit his racket, it flew up high in the air, making everyone sit at the edge of their seats in anticipation.

But as if degrading their spirits more, it fell on Yu Qing's court, letting Hai Guang win their second game in a row at 6-4.