Chapter 47: Follow My Lead

Shen Xiaoyu rushed into the dormitory and saw all her roommates staring at her.

"What's wrong? Why are you all looking at me?"

Chen Yan was the first to speak, asking Shen Xiaoyu, "Xiaoyu, what did you just say about Jiang Hong winning the championship? What championship?"

Deep down, she still found it hard to believe that Jiang Hong could win a professional tennis tournament. After all, thanks to Su Cheng's recent explanations, she knew how difficult this competition was!

Shen Xiaoyu blinked, slightly confused by the question.

"The tennis tournament he participated in, of course!"

With that, Shen Xiaoyu took out her phone and produced a photo!

"Huang Yun from next door and Jiang Hong's roommate Li Hua are high school classmates. She saw Li Hua's post on his QQ Zone, which even has a picture of the championship trophy!"

"No way, how could Jiang Hong win a championship? He's just a student from a small county town, how is that possible..." Chen Yan stood frozen in place, muttering in a voice only she could hear.

Li Wan glanced at Chen Yan, feeling an immense sense of satisfaction, and immediately chimed in, "Hmph, didn't you say Jiang Hong would definitely fail? Not only has he become a professional athlete, but he even won the championship!"

The corners of Su Cheng's lips curved upward, and in her heart, she felt genuinely happy for Jiang Hong.

Yet, a trace of disappointment lingered as well. After all, this guy Jiang Hong hadn't even bothered to tell her when he came back!

The next second, however, she was startled by her own thought.

What kind of relationship did she and Jiang Hong even have? At most, they were just friends!

Right at that moment, Su Cheng's phone suddenly rang.

She took out her phone and glanced at the screen. The caller ID displayed two characters: "Jiang Hong."

A smile appeared at the corner of Su Cheng's mouth as she answered the call and placed the phone to her ear!

Jiang Hong's voice came through immediately, "Hey, Chengzi, I'm back at school. Meet me at the east gate. It's my treat, a celebration banquet!"

"See you at the east gate!" Su Cheng nodded. Without saying much more, the two of them hung up.

Li Wan immediately crowded over, her eyes full of amusement.

"Chengzi, are you going out?"

"Can you take me with you?"

Hearing this, Su Cheng immediately shook her head and refused, "No way!"

Since Jiang Hong was treating, she certainly couldn't just drag someone else along on a whim!

Li Wan pouted immediately and said, "But I also contributed to Jiang Hong's tennis career! Every single video editing session was done on my laptop!"

Since Su Cheng didn't have a computer, she usually borrowed Li Wan's. Of course, it wasn't a free favor; Jiang Hong usually gave Su Cheng some money, which she used to buy Li Wan fruits and snacks.

Knowing that Li Wan wasn't genuinely angry, Su Cheng reached out and pinched her cheek.

"Alright, I'll buy you some good food when I get back!"

Instantly, the displeasure on Li Wan's face vanished. "It's a deal!"

***

Su Cheng left the dormitory and headed straight for the school's east gate!

She spotted a few guys fooling around together and instantly recognized Jiang Hong among them.

"Jiang Hong!"

Su Cheng raised her hand and called out a greeting.

Hearing his name, Jiang Hong turned around and saw Su Cheng wearing a white dress and a ponytail, her hair bouncing with every step as she ran over.

"Chengzi, are you curious about my results?" Jiang Hong asked with a cheeky smile as she approached.

"It must be the championship, right?" Su Cheng put on a thoughtful expression before suddenly blurting out the answer.

Jiang Hong paused, looking slightly surprised.

"Chengzi, you have that much confidence in me?"

Su Cheng rolled her eyes. "Not really. It's mostly because someone already posted your results online!"

As she spoke, she cast a sidelong glance at Li Hua!

Li Hua offered an awkward, sheepish laugh and shrank his neck back!

Jiang Hong gave a light cough and said, "The results of this competition turned out pretty well, so I specifically asked you out to celebrate!"

"I heard the prize money for this tournament is quite substantial. I'll have to bleed you dry!" Su Cheng put on a fierce expression, as if she intended to eat Jiang Hong out of house and home.

Hearing this, Li Hua eagerly crowded closer, burning with curiosity.

"Old Jiang, how much was the prize money for this tournament?"

Jiang Hong didn't try to hide it, especially since such information could easily be found online.

"Fifteen hundred US dollars!"

"US dollars?" Li Hua blinked in surprise, then pulled out his phone to do the math and convert it into the local currency!

"That means you made over ten thousand from this single tournament?"

Li Hua smacked his lips, clearly astonished that playing tennis could be so lucrative.

Jiang Hong rolled his eyes and retorted irritably, "You only see the thief eating meat, you don't see the thief getting beaten!"

"If I hadn't secured ranking points or if I had placed lower in this tournament, I might have actually ended up losing money. There are a lot of foreign players competing, and even if you win the championship, you can still end up in the red financially."

Hearing this, Li Hua immediately realized that a tennis career wasn't all smooth sailing either.

Although Su Cheng had threatened to bleed Jiang Hong dry, the meal ended up costing only around a hundred yuan in total.

To be fair, that was definitely not cheap. After all, a bowl of cold skin noodles cost a mere 1 yuan at the time, and a meat burger was only 1.5 yuan.

With their stomachs full and spirits high, they finally returned to the campus.

***

Waking up the next morning, Jiang Hong felt a deep wave of fatigue washing over his body. During the tournament, the intense pressure had kept the exhaustion at bay, but now that he was resting, it all hit him at once.

Today he could only manage some light training; a full training routine was definitely out of the question.

***

After finishing his morning physical conditioning, Jiang Hong suddenly remembered something.

"I haven't reported back to cancel my leave since returning to school. I need to go see the counselor!"

It was already a huge favor that the counselor had been willing to cover for his absence. After all, if something had gone wrong while Jiang Hong was away, the counselor would have been held accountable!

Arriving at the counselor's office door, he knocked gently.

"Come in!"

The counselor's mood had not been great lately because a substitute teacher had reported Jiang Hong for skipping classes.

To make matters worse, the head of the department found out, and consequently, her unauthorized approval of Jiang Hong's leave request was exposed.

She had received a harsh reprimand and was told to get Jiang Hong back immediately. If anything went sideways, her job would be on the line as well!

However, through her previous interactions with Jiang Hong, Wu Fei knew that this student had a strong sense of purpose. Even if she had summoned him, he likely wouldn't have returned until the tournament was over, and doing so prematurely might have disrupted his form. The tournament had concluded yesterday anyway.

If Jiang Hong hadn't returned by noon today, she had been planning to make the call herself!

"Jiang Hong!"

Seeing Jiang Hong standing right before her, the heavy stone hanging in Wu Fei's chest finally dropped back into place!

"Teacher, I'm back to report in and cancel my leave!"

After Wu Fei processed the paperwork for his return, she looked at Jiang Hong with curiosity.

"Jiang Hong, how did you do in this tournament?"

"I lived up to expectations and won the championship!" Jiang Hong replied with a smile.

"Ah?" Wu Fei was momentarily stunned. She had been mentally preparing herself to comfort Jiang Hong and tell him not to be too discouraged if things didn't go well, only for him to announce that he had won the championship!

Just as her mind was spinning with confusion, a commotion echoed from outside the hallway.

Creak!

Suddenly, the office door was pushed open.

"Xiao Wu, didn't you say a while back that Jiang Hong from your class went to Shanghai to participate in a competition?"

Wu Fei's heart tightened instantly. Was the head of the department here to settle accounts?

Yet, why did the expression on the department head's face look so strange?

Could it be a smile born of extreme fury?

Wu Fei cast a quick, meaningful glance at Jiang Hong, signaling him to watch her lead.