𝙋𝙝𝙤𝙩𝙤𝙜𝙧𝙖𝙥𝙝 ➝ Zhuo Zhi

10: Tennis Court

Monday had rolled in.

After their last teacher dismissed the class, Jia Li stayed put in her seat for a while, listing the assignments she needed to work on in advance. She waited until the students began flocking through the hallways, leaving only a handful of them inside the room. Once she had double-checked her requirements, she quickly stuffed her books inside her backpack, slinging its straps on her shoulders together with her camera bag. She headed out of the room in a rush, not waiting for Xueer to catch up with her, who was hollering her name loudly.

Truth be told, she was yearning to avoid Xueer. She might have come off as rude, but the skeptical feeling never went away. Jia Li suddenly felt uncomfortable with Xueer's presence as if something worse was about to happen if she kept sticking around the auburn-haired girl.

Once she had finally disappeared from the girl's line of sight, Jia Li exhaled in relief, her heart beating furiously. She began walking around the school premises in search for the tennis court, curious to start her task. But after a long time, she began huffing in annoyance, wondering where the court was situated at. It seemed like she was walking inside a maze. She didn't know Yu Qing was this complicated in the inside.

Should have asked Jia Le for the directions.

Deciding to rest for a while, her eyes suddenly caught a walkway. She entered and noticed how no students were passing this way. Pillars stood on both sides supporting its roof; tall trees decorated the exterior as if blocking outsiders; high fences were slightly visible, peeking between the spaces of the trees. Jia Li then reached a line of waist-height fences. Its view still blocked by trees. But upon reaching the middle part, she stumbled upon a wide gap, serving as the tennis courts' entrance. The huge area of multiple tennis courts greeted her; poles consisting of lights stood in between; chair umpires were situated for each court; bright sunlight loomed over. Near the entrance stood a group of boys sporting black and grey uniforms, swinging their rackets back and forth.

Too engrossed in scanning the view in front of her, Jia Li slightly jumped as a boy walked past her, not sparing a glance. He was sporting the same attire with the addition of a white cap, casually sipping a soda drink as one of the boys grabbed his shirt. Jia Li couldn't properly hear what they were saying from her position until one of them pointed at the opposite direction.

Her eyes followed at what he was pointing at. All of the boys immediately halted what they were doing and stared in awe at the seven ones approaching. They were dressed in a different attire, a jersey uniform of t-shirt, joggers, and jacket with the colors of white and blue. Each were holding a strap of their tennis bag over their shoulders. Jia Li recognized Da Yong and Jia Le among the group, nearly laughing at how short her brother looked when in fact, he was the tallest in their family. Then, her eyes traveled over to Zhuo Zhi, who had that same unwavering smile on his face.

So he's the famous Zhuo Zhi, Yu Qing's Tennis Prodigy.

As they reached the group of boys, she could vaguely see Da Yong talking to them before gesturing at his team. They scattered in two different courts, Jia Le and another teammate of theirs at the other whilst Da Yong and Zhuo Zhi took the one near the entrance. Jia Li watched in astonishment as Jia Le jumped high, smacking the ball hard to the other side of the court. She was also amazed at how Zhuo Zhi was able to return the balls back inside the tennis basket by simply hitting it. But then, as Da Yong served, the ball swerved straight towards a boy's direction. Jia Li gasped; afraid he might get hurt. But he simply drank his soda and casually hit the ball back inside the basket. Everyone stopped and stared at him. The previous boy, who grabbed his clothes began sputtering gibberish words.

Jia Li furrowed her eyebrows, slightly annoyed at how the boys were acting childishly. She slightly turned her head only to be met by another player, who was standing tall with a hand tucked inside his pocket, a stoic expression on his face. He lightly fixed his glasses, "May I help you?"

"Um, I..." she began stuttering. Hurriedly, she fished out an envelope and timidly showed it to him. "I-I'm looking for Coach Qi Na."

He remained stoic and nodded at the direction behind her, "Coach Qi Na's office is on the left side of that corridor."

"Um, t-thank you." Jia Li bowed slightly to which he only returned with a curt nod before heading towards the court.

"What's all this noise about?" Jia Li flinched at the authoritative voice of the stoic-faced guy. She noticed how Jia Le scoffed, Zhuo Zhi smiled, and the other players sighed as if they were too used already with his attitude. He immediately punished the three boys by letting them run laps, adding it more when one of them started protesting before disappearing away with Da Yong.

Jia Li took this as a sign to go over to Coach Qi Na's office. But before she could turn away, her gaze briefly met Zhuo Zhi's, who seemed surprise at her presence. She held his gaze for a moment before walking away, leaving him questioning to himself what he had done wrong.