Peninsula: Aiming for a Grand Slam

Saturday morning.

6 points.

ACE Tennis Court.

Perhaps because of Chen Jixian, or perhaps for other reasons, Boss Cui is opening earlier and earlier.

When Lao Zhao pushed open the glass door of ACE Tennis, Chen Jixian had not yet arrived.

He played in this stadium for twelve years.

I played from age 30 to 42, from having high cholesterol to having a slightly protruding beer belly.

I come here every weekend.

Unwavering.

My skills aren't great, but they're good enough for an amateur. I have a good feel for the ball and my shots are tricky, but I just can't run fast enough.

He changed his shoes, picked up his racket, and walked onto the court.

As I passed by the court, I saw three baskets of tennis balls, neatly stacked there, each basket full, with the logos on the balls all facing the same direction, as if someone had arranged them there on purpose.

He casually took one from the basket.

"Don't touch that."

Boss Cui's voice came from behind.

Old Zhao turned around.

Boss Cui, with a cigarette dangling from his lips, glanced at him, then at the ball in his hand.

"This is for the backhand kid. He's used to using this Wilson ball, so you can take it from over there."

Backhand Kid?

Old Zhao knows.

I practiced my backhand for 10 days and ended up with a lot of injuries, so now I'm practicing my serve again.

Ten days.

What can I practice?

Boss Cui raised his chin and pointed to the pile of old ball baskets scattered in the corner. Old Zhao paused for a moment, put the ball back in his hand, walked over and scooped one out of the old basket.

"You really care about him," Old Zhao said.

"People come every day, practicing for seven or eight hours a day. You play two games and then leave. What impact do new balls or old balls have on you?"

Old Zhao didn't respond.

He took the ball and walked onto the field to start warming up. He stretched his legs, swung his arms, and twisted his waist.

While warming up, he couldn't help but do the math.

He already knew that Boss Cui was giving that kid a discount.

It's 7,000 yuan an hour, 3,000 yuan cheaper than the original price. If he practices for seven or eight hours a day, he saves more than 20,000 yuan a day. Over a week, that's more than 140,000 yuan... He's been playing at this gym for more than ten years, and Boss Cui has never given him a discount.

Old Zhao shook his head and continued warming up.

But that number kept lingering in my mind; I couldn't shake it off.

The door was pushed open. Chen Jixian walked in, carrying a bag on his back and a thermos in his hand.

"Good morning, Mr. Cui."

Good morning. How's your neck?

"good."

"So what will we practice today?"

"Same as always, serve."

When Chen Jixian passed by, he saw Lao Zhao and nodded to him.

Old Zhao nodded but didn't say anything.

Old Zhao stood on the sidelines, watching Chen Jixian push three baskets of balls onto the court and begin warming up.

The kid with the backhand is very serious.

Stretch, swing in the air, move your shoulders. The movements are not fast, but very steady, each step is like following an instruction manual.

Old Zhao stared at him for a while.

"What's so special about this kid?"

"Old Cui is actually taking this so seriously!"

He offered discounts, kept the ball in his game, and asked him all sorts of questions. He'd been playing at this gym for over a decade, and Old Cui had never been this attentive to him before!

Old Zhao felt a pang of sadness.

Chen Jixian stepped onto the service line and began to serve. He tossed the ball, turned his body, and swung his racket. The ball hit the inside corner, bounced up, and flew out just past the sideline.

Old Zhao narrowed his eyes.

This serve,

It's a little faster than yesterday?

……

……

It's almost noon.

Chen Jixian served three baskets of balls. He served from each basket in turn, then retrieved the balls from each basket. He practiced at this pace from Tuesday to Saturday.

[Serve 3000 Training Package]

[Progress: 1363/3000]

in time!

Chen Jixian did the calculation:

"This morning, the target was met 300 times."

"There are still over 1600 attempts left, so there is still hope."

The only regret is that with only two and a half days left in the seven days, his serve still hasn't reached +1.

That's roughly it.

This is the ultimate amateur achievement!

What's the point!

Chen Jixian also had his own little scheme: if he could get a +1 to his skill level during training, just like he did with the 10000 backhand stroke, plus the +1 from the training package.

He can raise his serve rating to +2 within a week.

He's definitely not good enough for professional play, but he'd probably be enough to deal with 847.

He walked to the sidelines, sat down, and unscrewed his thermos.

I took a sip of goji berry water.

Old Zhao was warming up on the sidelines the whole time.

He stretched his legs, swung his arms, and twisted his waist, repeating the same routine for almost twenty minutes, but he still didn't come off the court to play.

Chen Jixian glanced at him but didn't pay any attention.

At this time.

Old Zhao walked over, racket in hand, stood at the sidelines, and casually said:

"Young man, wanna have a fight?"

Chen Jixian looked up at him:

"I'm resting."

"I know, I'll wait for you."

Chen Jixian remained silent.

Old Zhao paused for a moment, as if trying to save face:

"I'm getting old, and my physical strength isn't as good as yours, young people. You've been training all morning, and you've used up a lot of energy too, so it's fair between us."

Chen Jixian glanced at Boss Cui. Boss Cui was standing at the counter with a cup of coffee, not coming over, but his eyes kept drifting in their direction.

Several veteran players on the sidelines started making noise:

"Old Zhao, aren't you bullying people? They've been practicing all morning, and you've only been warming up all morning."

"Exactly, exactly. You really know how to pick your timing for coming on stage now."

"Old Zhao, you got a bargain!"

"The loser gets to drink water!"

"Right, right, the loser has to treat everyone to water!"

"Shut up!" Old Zhao shouted, but with a smile on his face. These bastards!

Boss Cui finally put down his coffee cup, slowly walked over, and stood on the sidelines.

"Why invite the whole audience?" He glanced at Old Zhao. "Can you even afford it? Just invite the two of us."

Old Zhao glared at him.

Boss Cui ignored him, glanced at Chen Jixian again, and added:

"Don't bother offering him water. This kid has to practice this afternoon, and he won't be able to run if he drinks too much water. The loser should pay for today's court fees."

Old Zhao was stunned for a moment. He glanced at Chen Jixian, then at Boss Cui.

Chen Jixian didn't speak, but looked down to check the sutures.

He understood.

Boss Cui didn't just casually change "please have some water" to "pay for the venue fee."

It's to help him.

He was short of money, and Boss Cui knew that.

Offering water is a gesture of goodwill, paying for the venue is the real benefit. Give the goodwill to Old Zhao, give him the real benefit.

Old Zhao gritted his teeth: "Okay."

……

[Special Mission Issued]

[Debut Battle!]

[Task objective: User, this is your first ever tennis match. Please win the tiebreak!]

[Reward (adjusted according to difficulty): Serve return +1 (Original reward, Technical attribute point +1, now cancelled)]

Chen Jixian stared at these lines of text.

He had a few questions in his mind.

First, he and Lao Zhao have not yet agreed on the format of the match. It may be a short game, a four-game golden ball game, or a one-game tiebreaker.

but,

Is this dog system really so sure it's a "best-of-seven" series?

Secondly, the original reward was free attribute points, which is definitely better than [Receiving Serve +1].

So, in the dog system's view, this game is considered a low-ranked game where the player started from scratch in solo queue?

Thinking of this, Chen Jixian couldn't help but hum, "So, it turns out that I, Little Chen, am not a nobody in the amateur circle."

Boss Cui, with a cigarette dangling from his lips, walked to the internet.

He glanced at Lao Zhao, then looked at Chen Jixian:

"A tiebreaker. Whoever reaches seven points first wins. If the score is tied at six, the player who wins two consecutive points wins."

Game 7!

Chen Jixian remained expressionless, but was extremely surprised inside.

Dog system!

Does it know everything about tennis?