Chapter Twenty: The Standoff of Rooted Stances

“Su, beautiful lady, are you here to watch the match or to move house?” Jiang Hong’s lips twitched slightly as he looked at Su Cheng’s large backpack.

Su Cheng rolled her eyes, walked up to Jiang Hong, and reached out to take the backpack off his back.

“All of these are things I prepared for you!”

“For me?” Jiang Hong was a bit dumbfounded.

Su Cheng opened the backpack and introduced the items as she took them out one by one.

“Electrolyte drinks, chilled, so you can cool down and rehydrate during the match!”

“Bananas with a sesame pattern—online forums say this variety replenishes energy the fastest.”

“Quick-dry towel, so you can wipe off sweat!”

...

Finally, she took out a camera and a tripod.

“I plan to record your entire match, so you can review it later or upload it online!”

All of these were items Su Cheng had painstakingly compiled last night from sports forums.

Looking at the dazzling array of items before him, Jiang Hong fell silent for a moment, then gave a thumbs-up.

“Chengzi, you’re not just a ball boy—you’re practically a logistics manager!”

“Good to know! You’re getting a great deal!” Su Cheng lifted her chin confidently, accepting Jiang Hong’s praise with ease.

To be honest, for a competition of this level, most of these things weren’t really necessary.

Still, Jiang Hong was pleased by Su Cheng’s consideration.

“Let me settle the bill later and reimburse you.”

“No need!” Su Cheng waved her hand and declined.

This surprised Jiang Hong.

After all, Su Cheng was known to be quite frugal.

What made her so generous today?

Feeling a bit awkward under Jiang Hong’s gaze, Su Cheng cleared her throat and explained.

“Don’t get me wrong. I’m mainly worried that if this competition doesn’t go well and you give up tennis, where else am I going to find such a high-paying job for you? Think of these things as my sponsorship—a small investment that’s not expensive anyway!”

“Well then, thank you, beautiful Su! You’re my very first sponsor!”

Su Cheng glanced down at the scattered tennis balls on the ground and asked, “Jiang Hong, were you practicing your serve just now?”

“That’s right. You came by right in the middle of my training!” Jiang Hong shrugged.

“In that case, keep at it. I thought I wouldn’t earn anything today—didn’t expect to get paid after all.”

“You probably bought more than you earned today.”

“Let’s keep those things separate—they’re not the same!”

The two bantered playfully and resumed training.

After about half an hour, the training finally ended.

[Ping! Task completed. Would you like to claim your reward?]

Jiang Hong didn’t immediately claim the reward. Instead, he grabbed the towel and went to take a shower—he hated feeling sweaty all over.

But it did feel refreshing to finish exercising.

...

Around 1:30 in the afternoon, more people gradually gathered in the club.

Still, the number was fewer than in the morning.

Some schools had been eliminated entirely, so naturally, those students had no reason to stay.

---

“Old Jiang!”

Before Li Hua even arrived, his voice was already heard.

Jiang Hong reached up to rub his head—how embarrassing!

Li Hua ran over and suddenly noticed Su Cheng nearby.

A lecherous grin spread across his face as he patted Jiang Hong’s shoulder.

“Old Jiang, now I get why you were still training at noon—it’s because you had a beautiful lady with you!”

Jiang Hong immediately gave Li Hua an international friendly hand gesture.

Following behind, Yu Lin also came over.

“How’s the preparation? No problems, right?”

“Just wait and watch me perform!” Jiang Hong smiled confidently.

For a player like Lin Yu, whose six-dimensional stats Jiang Hong had completely analyzed, defeating him posed no real difficulty.

Following the staff’s instructions, Jiang Hong stepped down from the stands and onto the court.

This time, there were spectators—but they weren’t here to see Jiang Hong. Their attention was all on Lin Yu.

The two players stood at the net and tossed a coin.

Luck was on Jiang Hong’s side; he won the serve.

Lin Yu’s face was brimming with confidence, barely even acknowledging Jiang Hong.

The audience in the stands began discussing the match.

“Do you think that kid opposite Lin Yu has any chance of an upset?”

“No way. Lin Yu’s from the provincial team.”

“That’s not certain. Jiang Hong swept his last two matches with scores of 6-0 and 6-1.”

“Hah, those were just rookies. Against Lin Yu, he’d be swept away too.”

Listening to their chatter, Su Cheng felt uneasy.

Why did everyone doubt Jiang Hong’s chances?

She had accompanied him to numerous matches and knew how hard he worked.

Suddenly, Su Cheng stood up and loudly cheered for Jiang Hong.

“Go, Jiang Hong! Take this match!”

Her voice was loud enough to attract everyone’s attention.

Li Hua stood up beside her and joined in.

“Come on, Old Jiang! Bring home the championship!”

Jiang Hong, standing on the court, hadn’t expected this.

He turned his head and gave them an “OK” hand sign.

This infuriated Lin Yu, who thought, “He’s actually flirting with them during the match? I need to teach him a hard lesson.”

Thanks to Su Cheng’s outburst, the stands became lively.

Clearing his throat, Lin Yu urged the referee.

“Can we start now?”

The referee signaled for silence and announced the start of the match.

Jiang Hong got into position.

He gently tapped the tennis ball and surveyed the opponent, pondering where to serve.

Bending his knees, tossing the ball, pushing off the ground, swinging the racket—

“Bang!”

The tennis ball crossed the net and flew straight toward the inside corner of zone one.

Lin Yu’s face changed.

He had expected Jiang Hong, a novice player, to serve conservatively.

---

But he hadn’t anticipated that Jiang Hong would come out swinging so fiercely.

Lin Yu immediately moved toward the center line.

Before he could reach the spot, the ball bounced and flew out past the baseline.

Lin Yu looked frustrated—he hadn’t expected to lose the first point!

“Fifteen-love!”

Su Cheng jumped up excitedly after seeing Jiang Hong win the first point and shouted encouragement.

Jiang Hong moved to zone two and served again.

This time the serve wasn’t an ace, but the angle was extremely sharp.

Although Lin Yu reached the position, he was unprepared and swung hastily.

The ball flew out.

“Thirty-love!”

At first, people thought the first point was luck.

But after the second, it was clear this was no fluke.

Jiang Hong’s serves remained high quality.

Lin Yu’s expression grew sour.

This was just an ordinary college student.

Even facing the team’s top player before, he had never felt such pressure!

Jiang Hong successfully held his serve.

Wang Cheng, watching from above, wore a peculiar expression.

Could practicing a thousand serves a day really bring one to this level?

At first, Wang Cheng had considered warning Lin Yu to go easy.

Luckily, he hadn’t spoken up.

---

In the second game, it was Lin Yu’s turn to serve.

He was known as a heavy hitter.

His serve struck the center of zone one.

Though the angle wasn’t sharp, the power was considerable.

Jiang Hong chose not to change direction.

Instead, he opted to rally straight.

The two stood almost rooted in place, hitting the ball back and forth without moving much.

Their shots grew heavier and heavier.

On the fifth stroke—

“Thunk!”

Hearing the noise, Lin Yu felt a sinking sensation.

Because of the strain on his arm, his swing had deformed.

The ball struck the racket’s edge.

“Out!”

In the second set, Jiang Hong was up 0-15.