Chapter 22: Invitation from the Track and Field Team

"Lao Jiang, you're absolutely incredible! You actually beat the provincial team!"

As soon as Jiang Hong stepped off the court, Li Hua ran right up to him. Jiang Hong pushed him away, shaking his head with a smug grin. "Just average, just the third best in the world!"

"Right, since you beat Lin Yu, does that mean you're eligible to join the provincial team?" Li Hua suddenly remembered what Yu Lin had said earlier about how winning the championship would give him a chance to get into the provincial squad.

"That's not necessarily the case." Jiang Hong shook his head. After all, selections for the provincial team are often subjective; unless you achieve results in major tournaments, it ultimately comes down to the coaches' discretion. They might, for instance, judge you as lacking potential or tournament experience.

Li Hua scratched his head, looking a bit confused. Just as he was about to ask more, he saw several people walking toward them. It turned out to be members of the tennis clubs from other universities. After all, opportunities to see the guys from the Sports University stumble are rare!

"Lao Yu, I was wondering why you were so confident about your tennis club winning the championship today. Turns out you had a secret weapon!" After teasing Yu Lin, the man turned his attention to Jiang Hong. "Hello, I'm Li Yuan from the University of Technology's tennis club. Your technique is excellent. Have you been playing since you were a kid?"

"No, only for about a year."

Hearing this, the expression on Li Yuan's face froze instantly, and he turned to look at Yu Lin. Although he really didn't want to admit it, Yu Lin nodded. "That's right. Jiang Hong only started playing tennis after he got to college."

"Hiss!"

The group collectively gasped; the sound of their intake of breath could have formed a choir. This was just too exaggerated, wasn't it? To defeat a provincial team member after only a year of practice—it really proved that in competitive sports, talent is everything. Without talent, even the hardest work leads nowhere. They couldn't help but think that if Jiang Hong had started training as a child, he might have become a professional player.

Seeing the crowd surrounding Jiang Hong, Su Cheng squeezed through and said, "Everyone, stop crowding him. Let him get some rest! He still has another match later, after all."

Seeing Su Cheng intervene, the others gave knowing, ambiguous smiles. "Alright, Jiang Hong, get some rest. We won't disturb you anymore."

Once they were left alone, Su Cheng felt a bit awkward. She took a bottle of water from her bag and handed it to Jiang Hong. He took it naturally and took a sip. He already knew a bit about his next opponent; they should be at a similar level to Yu Lin and wouldn't pose a real threat to him.

"Do you want to watch the video I recorded of you earlier?" Su Cheng asked, holding up her phone.

"Sure!" Jiang Hong nodded with a smile. After all, the person in the thick of it often lacks perspective. He also wanted to see where he could improve. Some of the drop shots he had played earlier were indeed quite ugly.

...

Although Lin Yu had lost many matches before, being defeated by an amateur still dealt a significant blow to his ego. Wang Cheng walked over and patted him on the shoulder. "Jiang Hong's technique is truly well-rounded. It's normal to lose to him."

Lin Yu gave a bitter smile. "If the coach finds out I lost, I'm going to be in big trouble!" Their coach was notoriously strict; if he found out about this loss, he would likely put them through hellish training. Even an iron man would be stripped of a layer of skin by the end of that.

Wang Cheng coughed and tried to comfort him. "Forget it, let's wait until the tournament ends tomorrow to tell the coach."

Lin Yu looked at him skeptically, especially since they usually traded wins and losses. "Are you sure you can beat Jiang Hong?"

A strange smile appeared on Wang Cheng's face. "Although Jiang Hong is strong, he wasn't without weaknesses in that match."

"What weaknesses?" Lin Yu immediately pressed him.

"It's a secret!" Wang Cheng suddenly grinned. This infuriated Lin Yu, who couldn't believe he was being teased.

The semifinal match was very easy, with no ripples at all, as Jiang Hong eliminated his opponent and advanced to the finals. And his opponent, as expected, was Wang Cheng from the other bracket.

...

After the matches concluded, Jiang Hong and his group took a vehicle back to the university.

"You beat Lin Yu today, and we should have celebrated. But since you have another match tomorrow, we'll celebrate once you bring home the championship!" Yu Lin said with a smile after they got off the bus.

"Don't worry, I'll definitely bring back the trophy tomorrow!" Jiang Hong said, patting his chest confidently.

"Good, I'll be waiting for the good news."

After chatting for a while, they went their separate ways. Yu Lin said he had an internship matter to handle, and Su Cheng said she needed to look after her sick roommate. Li Hua begged Jiang Hong to go back to the dorm for a tense and exciting gaming session, but he was refused.

"It's still early, I'm going for a run first." Jiang Hong checked the time and decided to complete another task. Left with no choice, Li Hua took Jiang Hong's gear back to the dorm.

Jiang Hong started running around the school track. Because he ran on the track religiously as long as it wasn't stormy, many students who were also into running had become familiar with him. Although a five-kilometer run isn't particularly long compared to a marathon, there weren't many people in the school who could maintain a steady pace like Jiang Hong and still look relaxed after finishing.

Many students would follow Jiang Hong to try and challenge his speed. In the beginning, some could even pull ahead of him, but by the third lap, Jiang Hong would catch up. By the fifth lap, people started falling behind. By the eighth lap, the stragglers increased. After the twelfth lap, many had been completely broken by Jiang Hong’s pace.

After finishing his run, Jiang Hong walked a lap to cool down. Just as he was about to head to his dorm, a guy in running gear approached him.

"Hey buddy, I'm Li Nian from the school track and field team. Your endurance and speed are pretty good!"

"They're alright," Jiang Hong said with a smile, nodding.

"Anyway, are you interested in joining our track team? With your talent, you'd have no problem making the cut!" Li Nian thought that if Jiang Hong joined, they might actually be able to get some results at the upcoming University Games.

"No thanks, I don't have much free time usually, I still need to practice tennis," Jiang Hong said, waving his hand to politely decline the invitation.

Li Nian asked in surprise, "Oh? Are you on the basketball team?" Given Jiang Hong's height, he assumed he was a basketball player.

"No, I'm in the tennis club," Jiang Hong replied, shaking his head.

"Tennis club?" Li Nian blinked. Tennis was a bit niche, and he really didn't know much about it.

"Alright, buddy, keep running. I'm heading off!" After saying this, Jiang Hong left the track and walked toward the dorms. By the time Li Nian realized what had happened, Jiang Hong had already vanished from sight. He suddenly thought that since the guy was in the tennis club, he might bring a teacher from the sports department to talk to him later.

When Jiang Hong returned to the dorm, he found Li Hua and Gao Hu playing a game.

"Lao Jiang, come join us!" Gao Hu called out as soon as he saw him return.

But before Jiang Hong could speak, Li Hua piped up first: "Join what? Lao Jiang has a match tomorrow, he needs to get some rest!"

"You guys go ahead, I'm going to rest now!" Jiang Hong hadn't expected Li Hua to be so considerate of his match. Although his opponents weren't at a very high level, playing four matches in a row was a significant test of his physical stamina.

*Try it.* Jiang Hong's eyes darted around. He pulled a training recovery potion from his system interface and swallowed it in one gulp. He then closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep. Tomorrow would be the first championship of his career.