The Prince of Tennis | Zhou Zhi

Chapter 15

The next few days, I was released from the hospital and I couldn't play tennis for a few days which means that I couldn't play with the team at nationals. Zhou Zhi, Lu Xia and the other team players have been really protective and worried ever since that I was sent to the hospital.

THE NEXT FEW DAYS

We were now in a meeting, talking about our next competition. 

"This is the list of matches. We are in Group B. Our opponent in the first round is No. 6 High School. If everything goes smoothly, we will be competing against either Xing Yao or Yu Cen. According to the statistics, it is likely to be Xing Yao High School by 99.99 percent chance." Yan explains as Jiale sighs.

"It seems we can't avoid Xing Yao. But we shall never be defeated for a second time. Is that so, Dachi?" He asks, patting his shoulder with a smile.

"Mmm. Sure." 

"They're merely last year's silver medal winner. So what? Yu Qing has me as the new trump card. Our team is unparalleled now." Qiao Chen says with a smile.

"You are a new one at most. You are far from being a trump card." Baiyang says to Qiao Chen, making me laugh.

"Which school do we have to compete against after defeating Xing Yao?" Lu Xia asks, holding his grape-flavored Fanta.

"We will compete against the champion of Group A. If everything goes as expected, it will be Hai Guang High School." Yan says as everything becomes awkward.

"Is Hai Guang a strong team?" 

"Very strong." 

TIME SKIP

We were still gathering around in the meeting room when Qiao Chen breaks the silence.

"I think if we want to win, it all depends on me. Regarding everything from strength, looks, popularity in the team..."

"You guys are all bad." Baiyang mentions, quietly bouncing the ball.

"I am at least better than you. You're so stubborn. You go back and forth for the snake-ball and get the ball out of bounds at the critical moment. You are so unreliable." Qiao Chen whispered, making Baiyang angrily throw the ball to the ground before going to face Qiao Chen.

"Who are you calling unreliable?"

"You."

"Say that again."

"I'm talking about you."

"Again."

"Come on."

"Come on."

"Come on."

"Come on." 

I annoyingly got up and pushed them apart.

"You are both far from being the best." I said, leaving but Baiyang put his arm around my neck, holding me between them.

"What are you talking about?" 

"Say that again."

"Stop it." The Coach said as she walked in with Siyang.

"Let her go. She's still recovering from the hospital." Siyang says, making them both let go of me.

"If you are so confident, you should prove it by your skills. Since you all have goals now, show me some passion. We are about to have the match with No. 6 High School.So, we are going to have to train really hard. Now, everyone, go to the training court." Coach said as we all walked out and made our way to the training court. 

Soon enough, they were all training while I was sitting down watching them run back and forth across the court.

"I'm too tired, Coach."

"You only did a bit of training and you're already starting to feel tired? One more group. Be quick. Don't stop. Everyone, move quickly. Come on. Ready? Go." She said as they start to run across the court one more time. 

Now they were now jogging around the court and finally finished.

"It seems you are not tired. Run ten more laps." She said as they all started to groan before running ten more laps. 

The next few days, the tennis team was really trying their best for their competition. 

TIME SKIP

We were now all sitting down together, each of us picking up a piece of sweet potatoes.

"Yan, we are eating sweet potatoes. What is the need to be so serious?" Jiale asks, looking at it weirdly.

"The emphasis is not the sweet potatoes but the people who plant them." He said as he turns on the TV screen to show pictures of tennis players.

"Di Lu High School." 

"Do you mean these people in the pictures are these sweet potatoes and be energetic?" Jiale asks as Yan shakes his head.

"Di Lu High School. They are not like a normal tennis team. They have a special training method. Farming in the field is an important part of their daily training."

"They planted these sweet potatoes?" Qiao Chen asks, looking at the sweet potatoes. 

"I doubt these are edible."Baiyang said as Yan picks up a small box that says 'Organic Food Products by Di Liu High School'.

"I tried it and did some research. The sweet potatoes that they planted are similar in shapes and sizes. They are tasty and sweet. They have a high standard. This proves that their members can work and play as a team. Teamwork is strong, and they are trained well."

"Although this is not relevant to tennis, it improves their arm flexibility, reflexes, and their understanding of the team." Siyang says as they all start to eat the sweet potatoes when Qiao Chen suddenly hiccups.

"We continue from here." Yan said as he clicked onto a picture of a player.

"He is wonderful. Is he the main player of the team? Endurance, agility, movement, and vision. He is good in every aspect. He is the perfect player." Xinglong says with amazement as Yan clicks onto another player and keeps going.

"Just like what you have just seen, the players from their school have equal physical strength. And most importantly, their skills have no weaknesses."

"This shows the plan of their coach have used some special techniques." Zhou Zhi states.

"As for the coach... Mr. Liu. A legendary tennis player. Formerly a shipbuilder. According to a reliable source, he first made his appearance during the War of Liberation and appeared throughout the period of economic reforms. You can read about his achievements in the Grade Seven History textbook from Chapter four to eight. It shows the record of Mr. Liu." Yan said as he now picked up books and passed it out amongst us. 

"Since Mr. Liu retired from the shipyard, his main hobby has been to play tennis with young people. He is very good at it. Nobody knows that but the most frightening is that he made use of his shipbuilding skills to make a kind of long tennis racket. He used his personal skill. They're all basically handmade." 

"What I said... Is a joke." Yan said with a smile, making Jiale throw the book at him as I started to laugh.

"But... sweet potatoes, the rackets, and the strength of Di Liu High School are all facts."