𝙋𝙝𝙤𝙩𝙤𝙜𝙧𝙖𝙥𝙝 ➝ Zhuo Zhi

31: Winning Secret

Hiking up in the middle of the forest with no destination or whatsoever wasn't Jia Li's cup of tea. The tall trees were glowering over her, casting a shade from the sun's glare. Her hands were painted with dirt from holding onto different branches as she maneuvered her way upwards. The sharp edges of the huge boulders scattered around made it even harder to walk properly. Jia Li sighed, taking a moment to breathe before she followed Coach Qi Na, whose steps were perfectly balanced as if she had been hiking all her life.

After what happened last night, Jia Li had separated from Zhuo Zhi when they found Si Yang practicing alone in a tennis court. He initially wanted to stay with her, but Jia Li encouraged him to talk to Si Yang since she noticed his worried look at the captain. Right before she was able to sneak inside her room, Xing Zi caught her and was able to pry out what Jia Li had been up to. Xing Zi was giggling when Jia Li told her and made a promise that she wouldn't spill it to anyone, claiming that it was them girls' secret.

When morning arrived, Coach Qi Na suddenly announced to send the Yu Qing team to the forest after their training with Yu Feng. She left them to find the treasure, Secret to Winning — a legendary myth that had been going around since the first Yu Qing tennis team. She sent them with a bunch of shovels and few snacks to fill their stomachs, leaving them to find the biggest tree in the forest, which served as the mark where the treasure was kept.

As the boys left, Jia Li, Xing Zi, and Qi Ying resumed their duties in cooking meals, cleaning, and checking up on Huang Jing, who still had a major fever. Once she had finished her part, Coach Qi Na invited her to accompany her to check on the team as well as document a few photos of the team's treasure hunting. So now, Jia Li was panting heavily as she pulled herself to move forward.

Fortunately, they both bumped into Qiao Chen and Xing Long, who had been informed by Yu Feng that the team was in the forest. He had arrived earlier which surprised Jia Li.

"Jia Li!" Qiao Chen cried and placed an arm on her shoulder, leaning his tall figure against her, "I'm so exhausted, I can't walk any further!"

"You're just being lazy." She answered and pulled herself away, leaving him to lean on nothing, causing him to stumble. Qiao Chen grumbled incoherent words under his breath but begrudgingly dragged himself after them.

The next person they met along the way was Si Yang, who was walking alone wearing his poker face. He briefly nodded at Xing Long, surprised that the guy showed up and ruffled Jia Li's hair with a tiny smile. They were eventually found by Da Yong and Jia Le, who had an arm around his partner — a sign that both had mended their friendship.

Jia Li beamed and pushed herself between the two, tiptoeing to place an arm on both their shoulders, "Does this mean the Golden Partners are back?"

"The Golden Partners never even broke up, Jia Li." Da Yong chuckled.

"Really?" She asked, casting a teasing glance to her brother, "That's not what Jia Le cried-"

Her brother immediately slapped his hand at her mouth, glaring at her for exposing him, "You and your loud mouth. I'm never gonna treat you free meals again."

"Hey!" Jia Li protested. "I deserve free meals after putting up with your childish behavior."

"Who's the childish one between us, huh?" Jia Le taunted to which she stuck out her tongue at him.

"You're both childish." Da Yong stated, chuckling, and pulled the siblings along with him as the group continued to walk.

When the group bumped into Lu Xia and Zhuo Zhi, Jia Li instantly felt shy and remained standing beside Jia Le. Her eyes would occasionally fly over to him, diverting it away once she met his steady gaze. Zhuo Zhi wore a smile, highly amused at how shy she was right now. They hadn't really talked about what would happen after confessing to each other last night. Thankfully, Zhuo Zhi didn't act impulsively, keeping a good distance between them. He made a mental note that after this, he was definitely going to talk to her brother.