Chapter Fifty-Four: Next Stop, Departure! (Please Continue Reading)

Jiang Hong returned to the dormitory and gave the door a push.

To his surprise, the door was bolted from the inside.

"Why would anyone lock the door in broad daylight?"

Jiang Hong muttered to himself, then patted the door. "Open up, Daddy's home!"

Footsteps sounded from inside the room, and the door was promptly opened.

"Huazi, you rascal, you aren't in here looking at anything inappropriate, are you?" Jiang Hong eyed Li Hua up and down.

Just as he stepped inside, a sudden "bang" rang out.

Jiang Hong's other roommate, Gao Hu, suddenly twisted open a party popper he was holding.

"Old Jiang, happy birthday!"

Li Hua slung an arm around Jiang Hong's shoulder and said with a mischievous grin.

Jiang Hong was taken aback; he hadn't expected these guys to actually prepare a birthday celebration for him.

In his past life, when Jiang Hong was at home, his mother would basically just cook a slightly richer meal.

The only times he had ever celebrated his birthday with friends were here in college, organized by these roommates of his.

"Thank you!"

Jiang Hong said with a smile.

To be honest, after entering society, people hardly cared about birthdays anymore, consumed entirely by thoughts of making money and mere survival.

Li Hua gave Jiang Hong's shoulder a playful punch. "Old Jiang, since when did you get so sentimental? The brothers are helping you celebrate your birthday, and you're still standing here being all polite!"

The friendship between young men never required such polite formalities!

Jiang Hong took a breath and raised an eyebrow.

"Since my good sons want to show their filial piety to their father, I'll graciously accept!"

Gao Hu pulled Jiang Hong over to the desk. "Alright, Old Jiang, we've got a birthday cake ready for you. Blow out the candles and dig in, the few of us haven't eaten all day!"

Honestly, the price of a cake back in 2007 was already comparable to later years.

For the few of them to pool their money together for it was no small feat!

Jiang Hong didn't dawdle either. Skipping any elaborate candle-blowing or wishing ceremonies, he cut the cake straight away and shared it with everyone.

To ruin a cake by playing around with it at a time like this would simply be beastly, considering these were the emergency rations of his roommates!

Must admit, guys like Li Hua were genuinely hungry.

They devoured several large slices in one go; Jiang Hong felt a bit cloyed after finishing just a single piece.

"Old Jiang, nothing more to say. Now that you're a professional athlete, I wish you smooth sailing in all your future matches and an early Grand Slam!" Li Hua offered his blessing while chewing on food.

"I don't understand tennis, but I like watching basketball. I just wish you a career free of injuries!" Gao Hu gave a goofy laugh before speaking.

"Uh... me too!" Wu Chi's eyes darted around, unable to think of any other blessing since the first two guys had already stolen his thunder.

The group raised their cups of iced cola and clinked them together.

"Cheers!"

After finishing their food, with a wave of their hands, the group shouted about launching into an online gaming session.

Jiang Hong didn't refuse this time either, sitting down with them in front of the computer.

They played a tense and thrilling hand-eye coordination game.

One had to admit, the game covers back then were pure scams.

After dark, his mother called.

She expressed her concern for Jiang Hong, asking if he had eaten well for his birthday and inquiring about his studies...

Although she was still as naggy as ever, Jiang Hong no longer felt the impatience he used to harbor.

After celebrating his birthday, Jiang Hong returned to his routine of training and resting in a strict two-point line.

As for scoundrels like Li Hua, between pooling money for the birthday cake and the end of the month approaching, their living expenses had been completely wiped out.

The next evening, Li Hua approached Jiang Hong with a beaming smile.

"Old Jiang, us brothers are strapped for cash. Lend us a hundred bucks to get through the rest of the month, and we'll pay you back as soon as our relief funds arrive!"

Jiang Hong raised his head and frowned. "What kind of talk is that?"

Li Hua was stunned; would Jiang Hong actually refuse?

"Don't you know it's a father's duty to provide for his sons? What's all this nonsense about borrowing money!"

"You're even reluctant to call me your Godfather!"

Amidst a chorus of "Godfather" cheers, Jiang Hong dashingly distributed the living expenses.

...

In the blink of an eye, two weeks had passed.

Jiang Hong was living through a painful yet fulfilling training regimen.

His efforts were far from wasted; whether in technique or physical fitness, earth-shattering changes had already taken place!

During this period, Jiang Hong generally posted updates on his training every three or four days rather than daily.

Otherwise, anyone would have found it abnormal.

Even so, it still left numerous netizens astonished.

"Little Jiang's training routine is just too grueling; even looking at it makes my scalp tingle!"

"It's practically abnormal!"

"By the way, Little Jiang, are you participating in next week's ITF Guangzhou stop? I'm going to the venue to cheer you on!"

Seeing this message, Jiang Hong's eyes flickered.

"System!"

He then began reviewing the unrecorded suggestions.

Thanks to the online buzz, Jiang Hong had already gained considerable fame on the internet.

However, it was mostly concentrated among younger people, especially since tennis was a niche sport domestically and Jiang Hong hadn't won any heavyweight tournaments yet, meaning mainstream media coverage was nonexistent.

Even so, owing to his reputation as the "Brother Who Listens to Advice,"

he received quite a fair share of suggestions.

Most of them, however, weren't very reliable!

After scrolling through a massive pile, Jiang Hong finally located this specific suggestion.

[Ding! Detected that the host has received a suggestion to participate in the ITF World Tennis Tour Guangzhou tournament. Rewards will be issued based on the degree of completion. Will you record it?]

Jiang Hong didn't hesitate for a second and immediately chose to record it.

After all, he had already planned on participating in this tournament since domestic competitions were relatively limited at the moment.

With no immediate plans to travel abroad for tournaments just yet, he certainly couldn't afford to miss this!

Recording this suggestion was equivalent to getting a free reward!

The tournament officially kicked off on July 3rd!

Today was already June 30th.

"Tap, tap, tap!"

Jiang Hong arrived at the counselor's office and knocked on the door.

"Jiang Hong? Aren't you training today?" Wu Fei looked at him with some surprise. Since Jiang Hong was practically busy training every single day, she had grown to admire this student of hers.

"Teacher Wu, I'm here to ask for leave!" Jiang Hong stated his purpose directly.

"Leave?" Wu Fei gave him a suspicious look. "You aren't trying to skip exams, are you?"

After all, the final exams were coming up the day after tomorrow!

Jiang Hong immediately shook his head and flatly denied it.

"How could that be? It's just that the tournament starts on July 3rd, and I really won't have time!"

With that expression, he looked completely helpless, as if he desperately wanted to take the exams but simply had no way around it!

Without a shred of doubt, Wu Fei nodded and said, "Alright, I'll call the head of the department and speak with them!"

Wu Fei made a phone call, and as expected, it was smooth sailing all the way. Since the school had already invested so much money, how could they possibly prevent him from competing?

She even handed the phone over to Jiang Hong so he could receive some words of encouragement!

Ultimately, amid the intensely resentful glances of Su Cheng, Li Hua, and the others, Jiang Hong packed his bags and departed Chang'an!