"Heaven knows, earth knows, you know, and I know. As long as you don't tell her, she won't know I'm on vacation. Besides, I don't want to be pressured to get married again when I go back. I'd rather come and play ball."
After Qiao Yuchu changed her clothes and closed the closet door, she turned around and saw that Xie Shi'an had just taken off his base layer sweatshirt and was only wearing a sports vest underneath.
"Wow, you've really grown up."
Xie Shi'an blushed slightly, grabbed her coat and threw it at her. In the instant her vision was blocked, she put on her sportswear with one hand, zipped it up all the way, picked up her racket and left.
"I'm all better now."
Qiao Yuchu chuckled as she held up her coat.
"Hey, jacket, aren't you cold?"
After meeting Cao Rui, Xie Shi'an went to play ball with others. She quite liked playing ball at the club because the opponents were not as conventional as those in the training team. Their playing styles were very varied, and they were completely unfamiliar with each other. Every match was like a new adventure.
Xie Shi'an really enjoyed the feeling, but while she was wholeheartedly immersed in the joy of playing ball, she didn't expect to run into an acquaintance here.
"Oh, what a small world!"
Xie Shi'an turned her head and saw that it was the boy she had played ball with in the park last time.
She gently tugged at the corner of her lips, then raised her hand and delivered a smash.
"Oh, you've come here to humiliate yourself again."
The boy blushed and said, "It's just that I won by luck once, what's so great about that!"
Xie Shi'an didn't take him seriously at all, focusing on playing ball with his opponent.
"Get out of my way, I have no interest in fighting you today."
"You—" The boy was furious and was about to rush forward with his racket when someone grabbed him.
"What's the rush? She's just a little girl. You can't even beat her. That's shameful."
"And who are you?" Xie Shi'an finally stopped what he was doing and glanced at the speaker casually.
The man who spoke was probably around twenty-five or twenty-six years old. He had dyed his hair red, dressed in a mismatched manner, and wore a gold chain around his neck. He didn't look like a good person at all.
The boy whispered in his ear, "Brother Qin, it's her. This little brat is pretty good. Last time, neither of us could beat her."
The man called Brother Qin clenched his fists and loosened his muscles: "Your surname is Qin, and your given name is Yang. I heard you beat my brother up pretty badly. How about it, are you interested in a fight?"
After the match ended, Xie Shi'an picked up the badminton shuttlecocks that had fallen to the ground without even looking up.
"I told you, I'm not interested today, I don't care who you are."
Just as she was about to scoop up a ball, a shadow suddenly fell in front of her, and then her hand tightened as someone stepped on her racket.
Young Master Qin, one hand in his pocket, looked down at her and said, "What, you think you can just run away after bullying my brother? Are all you professional players this shameless?"
Xie Shi'an's eyes seemed to hold icy glint as he coldly stared at him, saying each word clearly, "Get out of here."
"I won't get up, so what? Unless you fight me, I won't get up." Qin Yang shrugged, looking utterly shameless.
Xie Shi'an clenched his fists, his Adam's apple bobbing. The atmosphere between the two was tense, and it looked like they were about to fight when Qiao Yuchu, who had just finished using the restroom, finally returned and pulled him behind her.
"What's wrong?"
Hearing the commotion, Cao Rui also rushed over.
"Oh, Young Master Qin, what a rare guest." He said, offering someone a cigarette. Qin Yang lit it for him and took a leisurely puff.
"What, are you letting your sparring partners refuse customers now?"
Cao Rui smiled ingratiatingly: "How could that be? She's not a sparring partner, she's a friend of mine who came to visit. Young Master Qin, please give her some face?"
Qin Yang blew a smoke ring in his face.
"If I give you face, who will give face to my brother? Since we're all friends, it's easy to settle things. Let's have a friendly spar. If I lose, it's because I, Qin Yang, am not skilled enough, and we'll never mention this matter again."
Qiao Yuchu knew the whole story about what happened at People's Park. They were the ones who spoke rudely first, and now they came to provoke her again. She was so protective of her child that she was furious.
"Everything has a cause and an effect. If your friend hadn't spoken rudely first, none of this would have happened. Besides, it was just a contest, and you have to accept the consequences of your bet. You can't blame anyone else. It's the first time I've ever seen someone come here to argue about something after losing."
Qin Yang glanced at her sideways and asked, "And who are you?"
"Binhai Provincial Team, Qiao Yuchu".
"Another professional player, no wonder." Qin Yang took out his cigarette case from his pocket, took out a cigarette and lit it.
"I'd say your Binhai Provincial Team is a bunch of good-for-nothings, right? The best result you've achieved is a runner-up finish in the National Championships. Forget the Olympics, you haven't even had a single player make it to the World Championships in recent years. You're just trash, all you can do is play pickup games in the park and bully students."
Qin Yang spat on the ground: "The reputation of professional players is ruined by pretty faces like you."
"You..." Qiao Yuchu had never been insulted like this before. Her face turned red, and she couldn't say a word.
Xie Shi'an patted her shoulder, signaling her to move aside, and then walked to the front.
"You defeated opponents, what are you so arrogant about? Since you're so unwilling to accept this, then I'll just have to let you lose again."
Cao Rui whispered to her, "Think carefully. This person is no ordinary amateur player. Although he is a rich second-generation, he is indeed a former member of the national team. He was training in Beijing before, but he was expelled from the national team for violating discipline. You were in training camp before, and you didn't know that in just these few months, he found several retired or active professional players to play against and won them all."
Judging from what I've said, this person is quite capable.
Xie Shi'an slightly curled the corners of his lips: "I see. No wonder you keep talking about how professional players are. You hate professional players so much, yet you still want to join the national team. How twisted."
Upon hearing her words, Qin Yang's expression changed: "What do you know?! The national team is a bunch of useless trash who only know the rules and regulations but don't know how to adapt! Today I'm going to beat you and show them all that professional players are—bah—worse than pigs and dogs!"
Former national team player.
She hasn't played against anyone from the national team yet.
It would have been better if Cao Rui hadn't told her. After he did, Xie Shi'an licked her lips, and instead became somewhat excited, looking at Qiao Yuchu.
The unspoken understanding they had maintained for decades allowed Qiao Yuchu to instantly grasp her meaning, and she stepped forward to stand shoulder to shoulder with her.
"Then I'll stake my professional honor on a fight with them."
Chapter 18 Friends
"In that case, we'll trouble Mr. Cao to be our referee." Qin Yang said, throwing his cigarette butt on the ground and stomping it out.
Cao Rui gestured for someone to bring over the scoreboard: "Okay, no problem."
Qin Yang took off his coat, revealing only a short-sleeved shirt underneath, showing off his muscular arms, and started warming up his body with a racket.
Another boy came over with a racket: "Bro, Xie Shi'an is really good. Her playing style is so weird, it's like she has a surveillance camera in my brain. She knows where I'm going to hit as soon as I raise my hand. As long as we suppress her, the other one won't be a problem."
Qin Yang snorted coldly: "That's called prediction, something a piece of trash like you can't learn."
Qiao Yuchu watched the people opposite her warming up and whispered, "Shi'an, are you confident?"
Xie Shi'an wrapped the cushioning film around his racket, glanced up, and said, "Haven't played yet, don't know. Let's test the waters in the first game."
"Okay, I'll defend you, I'll pass you the ball, and you find an opportunity to score."
Xie Shi'an smiled slightly: "Okay."
Cao Rui blew the whistle, and the match officially began.
Although Xie Shi'an was mentally prepared, he still fell behind in the first few balls. Qin Yang's playing style was just like his personality, arrogant and conceited, and he would occasionally deliberately serve some balls that had a showy element.
Xie Shi'an is also a player who plays fast-paced and quick-kill tactics. She and Qin Yang are evenly matched. However, Qin Yang has a physical advantage, since explosive power requires core strength. Moreover, Qin Yang has rich combat experience.
He was very strong, stronger than any opponent she had ever faced.
As the ball landed, Xie Shi'an gasped for breath, her chest heaving. She swallowed hard and glanced at the scoreboard out of the corner of her eye.
15:7
"This won't do; we can't keep focusing on attacking him."
Xie Shi'an's shot was unlikely to break through Qin Yang's defense.
If one path is blocked, then try another.
As Qiao Yuchu passed her, she whispered, "I'll feint an attack. You keep an eye on the back row. We'll attack the slightly weaker one."
Xie Shi'an nodded subtly: "Okay."
The sudden change in playing style caught the opponent off guard. Xie Shi'an used feints to deceive the opponent's position and scored points one after another. Another ball hit the middle of the court, and Qin Yang and his brother's rackets collided. Neither of them could catch the ball.
The score is now tied at 15-15.
When Xie Shi'an turned around, she and Qiao Yuchu bumped fists, a tacit understanding unique to them.
"Damn it—" Qin Yang spat again and glared coldly at his teammate.
"Useless thing, come here."
Qin Yang leaned down and whispered something in his ear, his gaze towards them somewhat sinister.
Xie Shi'an turned around and warned, "Be careful, they might be changing their tactics."
Qiao Yuchu nodded. The consecutive tie scores gave her a lot of confidence, but she didn't expect Qin Yang's tactics to be aimed at her. She had heard Xie Shian say before that the boy's playing style was very dirty, and he would specifically target the upper body. Although she was not as helpless as Zhou Mu, she had limited stamina. If she could take care of her own side, she couldn't take care of Xie Shian's side. Dealing with such a ball was somewhat annoying.
When masters clash, the worst thing is to lose their composure. Seeing Qiao Yuchu being hit repeatedly, Xie Shi'an also pursed her lips. The more critical the moment, the calmer she had to be.
"Don't panic. Their actions prove that our tactics are correct. Each of us should defend our own half of the court, engage in diagonal play, and look for opportunities to score."
Although she was older than her, Qiao Yuchu had always followed her tactical arrangements since the two teamed up. Hearing Xie Shi'an's words now felt like a reassurance.
She nodded emphatically: "Okay, I'll create opportunities for you."
The two had excellent chemistry and were also quite strong, having both made it to the national tournament and had considerable experience. Xie Shi'an's playing style was unpredictable, agile, and swift, while Qiao Yuchu's style was relatively more conservative. One was a spear and the other a shield, complementing each other perfectly.
After they regained their footing, Qin Yang became the one with a headache, since he and his "brothers" didn't have much chemistry.
With Xie Shi'an constantly pulling the ball back and forth, the score remained very close, quickly reaching 20:19.
They are currently trailing by one point.
Qiao Yuchu glanced at Xie Shian: "Let's take a gamble? We need to tie the score and get to match point, otherwise the next game will be even more difficult."
Xie Shi'an had the same idea. She stared intently at her opponent's movements, then suddenly narrowed her eyes, rushed to the net, and swung her racket with all her might, hitting the ball across the diagonal.
Qin Yang immediately hit a high clear to their backcourt.
Qiao Yuchu was not to be outdone, and jumped up to attack back. The boy who was on the same straight line as her reacted quickly and returned to defense. After a few exchanges, the boy made a feint that seemed to be a smash, but in reality, he didn't use any force and gently flicked the ball back.
The ball hit the middle section, closest to Qiao Yuchu's position, and she went to intercept it without thinking.
Xie Shi'an caught a glimpse of Qin Yang out of the corner of his eye and realized that he had also quietly changed his position. He knew it was bad, but it was too late to stop him.