Peninsula: Aiming for a Grand Slam

"I've arrived, can you see me?"

Chen Jixian was stunned for a moment.

A white Mercedes was parked on the side of the street.

The car window was rolled down halfway, and Bae Joo-hyun sat in the driver's seat with her long hair down, minimal makeup, and her skin glowing white.

She wore a gray sweatshirt with a slightly large neckline, revealing a small section of her delicate collarbone.

Bae Joo-hyun did not get out of the car.

"I brought too much from home."

She picked up an insulated bag from the passenger seat and handed it out.

The insulated bag was light purple, the same color as her phone. Unzipping it revealed two tuna rice balls and a bottle of water.

"You made a special trip?"

"It's on my way." Bae Joo-hyun shifted her gaze ahead. "It would be a shame to throw it away."

Chen Jixian paused for a moment.

He wasn't stupid, so he didn't ask Bae Joo-hyun whether the oil was more expensive or the two tuna rice balls were more expensive.

Bae Joo-hyun didn't leave.

She noticed that next to Chen Jixian was a dark blue backpack. It was bulging, with a water bottle stuffed in the side pocket and half a towel sticking out of the zipper.

"What is that?" she asked.

"luggage."

"Did you bring your luggage to the competition?"

"Um."

"Didn't you book a hotel?"

Chen Jixian took a bite of his rice ball and mumbled, "I booked a place for the whole night. If I lose, it'll be a waste of money."

Bae Joo-hyun remained silent for a moment, then asked:

"What if we win?"

"We'll talk about it after we win."

Bae Joo-hyun glanced at him but didn't ask any more questions.

She rolled up the car window, leaving only a crack.

"What time in the afternoon?"

"Three o'clock."

"That's still early."

"I'd rather finish early and call it a day."

She paused.

"Find a place to stay, don't just stand outside."

Chen Jixian paused for a moment, then said, "...Oh."

The car window closed. The white Mercedes slowly pulled out of the parking space, turned onto the main road, and disappeared into the traffic.

Chen Jixian stood at the entrance of the convenience store, holding a racket in one hand and his luggage in the other, while chewing on a rice ball.

My phone vibrated again.

Ryu Jimin.

She sent me a message:

"You won the first round?"

Chen Jixian held the rice ball in one hand and typed with the other:

"We won."

"What's the score?"

"6-2, 6-0".

The dialog box was silent for a few seconds.

Then she replied.

"6-2?"

"Um."

"You're playing against a kid, and you still lost two games?"

Chen Jixian stared at the line of words, almost choking on his rice ball.

He rolled his eyes:

"Hey sis, do you know anything about tennis?"

"I don't understand, but the golden retriever catches the frisbee without dropping it."

Chen Jixian was too lazy to explain it to her. This is tennis, not The Prince of Tennis. A 6-2 score and she still complains it's too low?

However, given Chen Jixian's personality, losing two games is indeed a bit embarrassing.

She sent another message from the other end:

"By the way, since you play tennis, do you know how to serve with topspin?"

The light from the phone screen shone on Chen Jixian's face, and he was stared at that line of text for a full five seconds.

External spin serve?

He placed the rice ball on his lap, freeing both hands to solemnly type two words:

"Won't."

"Then why are you playing tennis!"

Chen Jixian took a deep breath.

He could actually explain: an outside spin serve should be called a sidespin serve, or a kick serve in English. When serving, the racket face brushes from the seven o'clock position to the one o'clock position. After the ball lands, the combination of strong topspin and sidespin will produce a high bounce and an outward curve.

This is a basic technique for tennis players, not an anti-physics special move from an animated film.

But this explanation would probably take about two hundred words.

and,

No matter what you say, her next question will always be, "Can you use this serve to send someone flying?"

She was lying in ambush right here.

The other side is typing:

"You can't even serve with topspin, what are you doing playing tennis!"

"I was just playing around."

"Then can you beat Echizen Ryoma?"

"Ryoma Echizen is here. He can beat Federer to a pulp. I don't even have the right to come up and take a bite."

There was a brief silence on the other end.

then.

"Chen Jixian! I'm eating right now!"

"I knew that's why I said that, and besides, I'm eating too!"

"..."

Liu Zhimin probably didn't expect that he would be so decisive, inflicting a thousand wounds on the enemy while also losing a thousand wounds on himself.

The chat window was silent for about ten seconds, and Chen Jixian could even picture her expression in the back seat—

First, he choked, then squinted, and finally held the phone further away, staring at the screen like he was looking at a pervert.

This is her classic three-part combo.

He continued to bite the rice ball.

My phone vibrated again.

"By the way, how much prize money are you expected to earn from this match today?"

Chen Jixian was stunned for a moment.

No bonus.

"No bonus?"

"Um."

"Then why did you call?"

There is no prize money, but the champion receives a stipend.

The problem is, he might not win the championship; Kim Sung-jun is standing in his way.

Chen Jixian casually replied, "I'll get points."

Can points be exchanged for money?

"Once the ranking goes up, I'll be qualified to play in tournaments with big pay."

"oh."

after awhile.

She posted another message.

"So, did you make money or lose money in today's game?"

"I paid a registration fee of 500,000 yuan, and I paid for my own food and accommodation."

"..."

The dialog box remained silent for a full fifteen seconds.

Then Liu Zhimin sent a voice message.

Chen Jixian clicked on it.

Her voice, strained to suppress laughter, rose slightly at the end, like a kitten that had finally caught Jerry:

"So you spent 500,000 to beat a kid, and even lost two games in the process?"

Chen Jixian looked at the voice message, stuffed the last bite of rice ball into his mouth, chewed it more than a dozen times before swallowing.

type.

"Yes."

This time, Liu Zhimin didn't send a voice message, but a series of emojis.

One cat was rolling on the ground clutching its stomach, another cat was slapping the floor with its paws, and a third cat was laughing so hard that tears were streaming down its face.

Chen Jixian had no idea where she got so many emojis, nor did he want to know.

She'd probably laughed enough.

More news has arrived.

"This afternoon, I did a photoshoot for a cosmetics guy."

Chen Jixian didn't respond, waiting for her to speak herself.

"The endorsement fee is approximately 20 million Korean won."

Twenty million?

Chen Jixian did the math in his head and figured it was about 12,000 US dollars, enough for him to play in competitions for more than half a year.

He typed: "Quite a lot."

"The company takes 70%! The brokerage team takes another portion, and after taxes, I only get about two million."

More than two million Korean won.

More than a thousand dollars.

Before Chen Jixian could reply, she sent two more messages.

"That means I stood for three hours today. I smiled at the camera, the makeup artist applied powder to my face, and the photographer made me hold the product next to my face about forty times."

"Then the money I get will be enough for you to pay for five rounds of registration fees."

Chen Jixian understood.

He rolled his eyes and typed: "Fine, you're better than me, at least you don't have to pay me."

She replied very quickly this time:

"Although I'm stronger than you, I still don't have the chance to hit children."

Chen Jixian: ...

I'm a child too, okay?

……

……

3 PM.

Daegu Citizens' Stadium.

Chen Jixian walked into the court carrying his racket bag, while Ye Haoran was standing next to the registration area. He was dressed in FILA, white tennis shoes, and his racket bag was a limited edition Wilson model.

The two people brushed past each other.

No one spoke.

Chen Jixian unloaded his backpack on the bench, unscrewed his thermos, and took a sip. The goji berry water was still warm.

A subtle sweetness.

The system panel pops up.

The Power of Friendship 2.0

[Mission Objective: So what if you're a second-hand PD! In the second round of qualifying, prevent the match from going to a third set and achieve two 6-0 victories.]

[Reward: Streamlined Design]

He turned off the panel.

On the other side, Ye Haoran gently tapped the ball a few times with his racket.