Peninsula: Aiming for a Grand Slam

Saturday.

Liu Zhimin started her live stream.

As she tidied her earphone cord, a faint smile lingered on her lips.

The barrage of comments began to flood in, and the screen refreshed much faster than usual.

Someone asked about the new album.

Someone asked her if her wrist injury had healed.

Someone posted three messages in a row: "Unnie, did you wear makeup today? Your makeup looks so good."

She picked a few questions to answer, her voice light and cheerful.

She spoke a few more words about the album.

When asked about her wrist injury, she simply said, "Much better."

Then, she accidentally placed the water glass askew. She reached out to steady it, revealing the marks of a plaster on her wrist.

The comments section started flooded with messages like "Unnie, take care of your health."

She didn't see it.

However, after holding the cup properly,

I laughed for no reason!

He wasn't smiling at his fans.

It wasn't a smile for the camera either.

Smiling at the cup?!

The comments started acting strangely.

"Wait, is Unnie in a good mood today?"

"My face was still dark on Wednesday, how come it suddenly brightened up today?"

"I don't dare watch that live broadcast on Wednesday a second time. It felt like being interrogated in an interrogation room the whole time."

"He seems like a completely different person today."

"Unnie, are you hiding something from us?!"

Liu Zhimin glanced at the comments, her expression unchanged, but her gaze lingered on the word "Wednesday" for a fraction of a second.

Then she picked up her water glass, took a sip, and said in a flat tone, "Wednesday? Was it? I don't remember."

The comments section went even crazier.

"If she says she doesn't remember, then she does remember."

Did she just press down on the corner of her mouth?

"I hereby declare that something is definitely going to happen today."

"Unnie, the angle of your smile is so different from a few days ago."

"Wednesday: I'm not good. Today: I'm good. What happened in between?"

Liu Zhimin put down her water glass.

Facial expression management is back online:

"You're overthinking it. The milk tea is just really good today."

The comment section was silent for a second, then exploded even more.

"You said last time that the milk tea wasn't sweet enough!"

"What exactly happened in between?!"

Liu Zhimin stopped looking at the comments.

She glanced at her phone screen as she looked down.

The contact list flashed by, and an almost imperceptible smile appeared on her lips.

Liu Zhimin will not be discussed.

This matter is temporarily over.

Suddenly, a special comment appeared: "Unnie, are you watching the ITF finals tomorrow?"

Liu Zhimin glanced at the screen, not intending to continue the conversation.

She picked up her water glass and took a sip, then noticed that comments were starting to flood in.

It's not just one or two people doing it.

Someone is asking, "Who does Unnie support?"

Someone is posting "Kim Sung-jun says tennis isn't won through stories,"

Some people said, "Kim Sung-joon looks down on people too much."

The comments scrolled very quickly.

Liu Zhimin put down her water glass.

Her tone was very flat:

"Tomorrow's final? Of course, I hope J.Chen wins."

The live chat exploded.

She wasn't looking at the comments; it was as if she was explaining the principle that 1+1=2.

"I'm not involved in the tennis world, but I have a question." She paused for a moment, "How much do tennis players earn?"

The live chat was quiet for a moment, with only a few comments appearing sporadically.

"The top level is very high, the bottom level is very low."

"Those outside the ATP top 100 can barely support themselves."

Many athletes rely on financial support from their families.

She nodded: "So, a player who escaped from the ATP, can't even support himself, and comes here to play in junior tournaments."

He stood in front of the camera and said to everyone who was watching the game: "Your popularity is not important, your stories are worthless."

Is this normal?

She didn't use the name Kim Sung-joon.

Chen Jixian was not mentioned either.

It didn't even mention the phrase "false high-mindedness."

But every word hit the bullseye precisely.

She continued:

"You may be students, office workers, students preparing for exams, or students who have just finished a night shift."

"You make time and spend energy to follow a junior tennis match."

"Speaking up for a player they didn't know, pushing the buzz up step by step, and getting media outlets that had never filmed youth competitions to condescend and set up their cameras..."

She paused for a moment.

"Then, someone stands in front of the camera you've set up and says none of this matters."

"Because he is engaged in a noble sport."

She pronounced the word "noble" very softly, but it was anything but polite, full of sarcasm.

Liu Zhimin asked softly, "I want to ask, if tennis is so noble, why can't he even support himself?"

The comments section went crazy.

"She's not broadcasting live, she's holding a courtroom."

"People in the tennis world are most afraid of being told that they can't support themselves."

"Life is really tough for grassroots tennis players."

"I hereby declare that Karina is the Regent of the Great Cold Republic!"

"A person who can't even support himself dares to look down on others."

Liu Zhimin stopped looking at the comments, put her water glass back on the table, and spoke as if she were giving a summary.

"I believe that a person can be aloof, but the prerequisite for being aloof is to live one's own life well."

Before looking down on popularity, take a look at yourself first and see if you make a living from it.

She looked at the camera and smiled.

"If tennis is truly a noble sport, then this kind of person doesn't deserve to play tennis."

……

The interview video has already sparked a heated discussion.

Liu Zhimin's live broadcast recording caused an even bigger uproar.

By evening, the online battle had already begun on the Korean website.

Northeast Asia is in complete chaos.

[Battlefield 1: Trending Topics]

Korean Trend #1: #KimSungJun_Hypocrisy

Han Qu Second: #Chen Jixian_If you look down on someone, don't piggyback on their fame.

Han Qu Third: #StoriesCan'tHelpYou

The two interview clips were displayed side-by-side at the top of the trending searches.

On the left is Kim Sung-joon, with a gentle smile: "His story is touching—but the story can't help him."

On the right is Chen Jixian, speaking calmly: "If you look down on popularity, then don't try to ride the wave."

The top-rated comment reads: "One person said, 'Tennis doesn't rely on stories,' then stood in front of a camera drawn by someone else's story and talked for almost two minutes straight. Another person said, 'Then don't try to piggyback on my fame,' and walked away with their tennis bag. You can judge for yourselves." (Over 30,000 likes)

The second most popular comment: "Jin Chengjun: Your story won't help you. Chen Jixian: Then why are you standing in front of my story?" (26,000 likes)

The third most popular comment: "Kim Sung-jun said tennis is a sport of honesty—then let's see who's honest in the final." (21,000 likes)

Battlefield Two: Top Students vs. Illiterate Students

The segment where Chen Jixian "watched the video on the spot and then retaliated" was edited out separately.

In the video, he took the phone and watched it from beginning to end without any change in expression.

After reading it, I returned it to the reporter and then broke it down point by point.

Agree first.

Ask again,

Finally, Kim Sung-joon trapped him with his own logic.

Not a single swear word was uttered throughout the entire process.

There wasn't a single excited interjection.

The poster's caption:

Jin Chengjun: I spent three days carefully preparing a set of talking points. Chen Jixian: I read it through on the spot and then told him where the problems were.

The top-rated comment: "This is called a dimensional reduction attack. Why fight against someone ranked in the top 10% of the entire school?" (22,000 likes)

The second most popular comment reads: "Jin Chengjun: Psychological warfare! Chen Jixian: Reading comprehension, for a ninth grader."

The third most popular comment: "The one-sided suppression of sports students by top students."

Some people followed this line of inquiry and began to dig into Kim Sung-joon's educational background.

quickly,

An anonymous account claiming to be his junior high school classmate posted a message:

"Kim Sung-joon dropped out of junior high to play basketball and basically didn't attend classes. Even his apology letter had typos, and the coach had to correct it several times. I'm not trying to belittle him, but he really didn't study much."