Love Tennis and Yumiko Miura

"But the body is the body, and tennis is not bodybuilding after all." Zhixian sighed.

Even if he is the most disciplined tennis player, he is not the best.

Tennis also requires skill.

"It's really hard work."

"It will be harder to become a professional tennis player." Zhixian smiled. Everything he paid for now was for his dream - a dream that he would work hard to realize even if he was the only one left.

"I'll be there to support you. Even if I can't be a contestant, I can still be a spectator."

......

Then the two talked about doubles.

"Um, are you still in touch with Miura-san?"

"...She is also in Sobu. We are in the same class this semester, but we don't talk." Zhixian answered truthfully.

"Hahaha, before I applied for Liujiao, that guy (my old classmate's partner, I'm too lazy to name him) also had a cold war with me, but we made up later." The old classmate scratched his head awkwardly.

Singles players are singles players no matter what school they go to, but once doubles players separate, they need to find new partners and develop tacit understanding, which is a very long process.

"Youmiko and I...are not quite the same as you." Zhixian took a sip of oolong tea and smiled bitterly.

"I can probably guess that. I know that the advisor at the time wanted you to focus on singles. He was not optimistic about your partnership with Miura..." He seemed to be hesitant to speak here, and his expression was very conflicted.

"Nothing, just say whatever you want to say."

"And you two were a big problem in your third year of junior high, so the counselor wanted to talk to you."

Zhixian suddenly recalled that the classmate in front of him was not only a good doubles player in the department, but also the deputy department director, and had many opportunities to interact with the consultant.

"The advisor told me at the time that you two were having more and more double-breaks, especially Miura-san. Her offense was becoming more and more aggressive, sometimes even ignoring her partner."

“…” Zhixian did not respond.

"Because your support and cover are excellent, you can always go on to win the competition. Because of your silent sacrifice, Miura-san can launch such reckless attacks, but that is not the right way to deal with it."

"..."

"The consultant showed me the records of your third and second year junior high school matches. Unconsciously, your direct scoring became less and less frequent, while Miura-san's mistakes also began to increase. Therefore, you two couldn't achieve synchronization in that state, and you couldn't go further."

"That's true, but I can't change anything."

"I thought you would have discovered that the doubles players in our club are very envious of having a partner like you, Miura-san. You can notice every little detail about yourself and your partner."

"I could have discovered..."

It could have been discovered, but it wasn't.

The conversation between the two suddenly froze.

The old classmate realized that something might have happened at that time, so Zhixian did not discover what he should have discovered, nor did he solve what he could have solved.

The team made it to the semifinals in the second year of junior high school, but was eliminated in the quarterfinals in the third year of junior high school, losing to an opponent that they had defeated most of the time.

Miura is also a person with an impatient personality and is difficult to get along with (Yumiko from the perspective of an old classmate). The long-standing conflict between the two finally broke out after they lost the game.

The once highly-anticipated Platinum Group also announced its disbandment. Zhixian switched to singles, while Youmiko gave up tennis.

A sad ending.

39. Memories

Zhixian ultimately failed to tell the truth, and the other party ultimately did not ask.

The ending is already like this. Wouldn’t talking about the past more be equivalent to causing secondary harm?

And Zhixian never told anyone about it, not even Nozaki Mikoshiba, not even the former Yumiko.

If he had been honest with Yumiko, their relationship might have continued.

But he didn't.

He did not discuss it with anyone or confide in anyone, but chose to keep it in his heart and continue his life step by step.

Even though the combination he cherished had already encountered big problems.

......

People are very emotional, especially students.

As they are not married and have no family, there are many things they cannot empathize with or understand.

So they feel extremely helpless when faced with things that they cannot understand, cannot help or have any effect on.

You are drowning, without oxygen, and you can do nothing but move your limbs pointlessly. Moreover, moving your limbs only accelerates the depletion of your physical strength.

The worst thing is that the trigger that caused your drowning was the person you have relied on since birth - your parents.

Yes, the problem Zhixian faced at that time was that her parents were about to divorce.

Faced with parents who quarreled loudly at home every day and even threw things and hit each other if they disagreed, Zhixian no longer had the energy to focus on tennis.

At this stage, the most important thing to him is his parents rather than tennis.

He had been troubled by it and tried to do something, but was powerless.

After all, he was just a middle school student, and faced with such a situation, he was only panicked and at a loss, even though he was much more mature than his peers.

The father had a heart-to-heart talk with Zhixian after drinking, and that was probably the truth behind the wine. The father said that he would respect Zhixian's own decision on the issue of custody. This meant that the reconciliation that Zhixian hoped for was no longer possible.

Things have come to this point and cannot be reversed. Zhixian must make a choice between the two.

Although it was cruel, he needed to make his own decision.

Meanwhile, the tennis match was in full swing. Zhixian often lost his focus during the match, making more mistakes than usual. This made Youmiko very unhappy, as she felt that Zhixian was not focused enough.

But the two still made it all the way to the national competition.

A lean camel is bigger than a horse, not to mention that the Platinum Combination is at the national championship level. Even if there are mistakes, they will not fail before the whole country.

However, in the national competition, the road to advancement for the two was extremely difficult.

Zhixian also realized that the two were in a very bad state, but his mind was distracted by the other side and he couldn't focus on solving the problem on the tennis side.

So he thought of synchronization.

If they could achieve synchronization, the two of them would be able to win the competition with unstoppable force and take home the championship, right?

It is true that synchronization is possible, but the problem is that the Platinum combination, which is superficially united but actually divided, cannot achieve synchronization at all in the current situation.

Yumiko, who was eager for quick success, and Zhixian, who was absent-minded and wanted to take shortcuts, were destined to fail to achieve synchronization that summer.

What was even more terrifying was that their opponent in the quarterfinals had realized synchronization on the spot.

There is no shame in being eliminated in the quarterfinals, and there is no shame in being defeated unexpectedly.

In fact, many people are looking forward to the two of them making a name for themselves in the high school league and finally winning the championship. People generally believe that they still need some time to settle down. Although there have been many problems in this year's competition, they still believe that the platinum combination can overcome those difficulties.

Because they are a platinum combination, they have always been overcoming difficulties and surpassing themselves to become stronger.

So even though they lost to their opponent unexpectedly this time, losing to Synchro was really unavoidable and understandable.

However, the two parties obviously couldn't understand each other, so they broke up and disbanded.

The two of them were unable to have a frank conversation until the end of the competition because Zhixian remained silent after the competition.

......

After her parents divorced, Zhixian chose to live with her father.

His father worked very hard to provide Zhixian with everything he could, and Zhixian, who was considerate of his father, also learned to do housework to share his father's pressure.

The most difficult thing is probably eating.

Zhixian and his father's breakfast was mostly leftovers from dinner. They each had their own lunch. For example, Zhixian's lunch always consisted of oolong tea and a sandwich—they were sold at the nearest convenience store.

Zhixian reluctantly learned to cook, preparing a normal dinner for her father and the bland but healthy dinner mentioned in the previous chapter for herself.

His father was also very supportive of Zhixian's choice of tennis. He felt his son's growth after the divorce. Zhixian was originally a careful and cautious child, but now that he has become a single-parent family, he has become more independent-minded.

Although his facial paralysis had worsened, Zhixian wasn't a cheerful or lively person to begin with. Wearing a face like he had nothing to do with, it was his normal state; it could even be considered a habit.

After more than a year of living like this, Zhixian has become accustomed to this home where there is only him and his father, just like he is accustomed to broccoli and bland chicken breast.

The sandwiches and oolong tea had never changed, and neither had the relationship between him and his father. Just like the protection of the Hundred-Armed Giant, it not only guarded his stadium, but also his home—although it was a home that only belonged to his father.

His mother visits him every month and takes him out to eat.

But every time I see Zhixian picking some vegetables and fruits or asking the chef to use less oil, I feel deeply guilty.

Even though Zhixian told her that he was just trying to control his calorie intake.

He had never had this terrifying sense of self-discipline before. He felt that if he was too willful and undisciplined, his divorced father would feel even more guilty about him, so he forced himself to be self-disciplined.

Little did he know that this would make his parents feel even more guilty looking at him, but there was nothing they could do.

Although Zhixian did not isolate himself, he was indeed paranoid about some things, even too paranoid.

He would try things that had nothing to do with tennis to cheer himself up, such as being Nozaki's assistant or guest-starring as a guard in the drama club.

He is not yet so completely paranoid, so he knows his limits and will not push himself to the point of despair.

However, the ascetic training even left Shizuka Hiratsuka dumbfounded and a little distressed, so he was allowed to sleep in class.

If it weren't for tennis training, Shizuka Hiratsuka actually wanted to throw Zhixian into the service club to correct her.

Zhixian didn't complain, but just silently persisted. Of course, he had to finish the path he chose. He had to finish it even if it meant gritting his teeth.

He wants to win the national championship, then go to the broader world stage to continue winning championships, until he doesn't want to win anymore, and then retire.

Ending

Hello everyone, this is Yue Qingqian. The first volume of the serial, which has been serializing for about a month and has about 7 words, is about to end.

Did you expect this setup? Some of Zhixian's experiences mirror my own, except my parents didn't ultimately divorce. I was a senior in high school at the time, and I couldn't handle it. I simply didn't want to study. If Zhixian were a junior in middle school, I think he'd be equally affected, and so the junior year competition led to the group's disbandment. Zhixian's inability to be honest wasn't understood by Yumiko, either. Even though Yumiko, a sophomore, had some reflections, she was still in the dark. Well, by this point in the story, I'm sure everyone can guess what the prologue is about, right?

Before the end of this volume, I decided to give it separate titles. For example, the title of this first volume is "Meet Again, the Story Has Turned Several Pages." "Meet Again" is a song by Sodagreen, and "The Story Has Turned Several Pages" is a reference to one of its lyrics. While thinking of titles for the volumes, this song randomly came up on my playlist, and it immediately struck me as a perfect match for Zhixian and Youmeiko. Since their separation, their reunion in their second year of high school, isn't that a reunion? The story of the past has come to an end, isn't that just a few pages turned? So I crossed out several titles I had thought of and decided to create a series using Sodagreen songs.

The second volume is titled "The Wind Rises, Blowing Back the Past." Sodagreen's lead singer, Wu Qingfeng, once covered "The Wind Rises" and even performed it on I Am a Singer. I love it. Incidentally, Sodagreen is my favorite band. I used to play their playlist on repeat when I was heartbroken.

The title of the third volume will remain a secret for now, and we'll discuss it once the second volume is finished. See you tomorrow for the update.

Volume: The wind blew, and the wind blew the past

40. Dream

Yumiko had a dream.

In the dream, she was wearing a tennis skirt and holding the trophy in the spotlight.

On the other side of the trophy was a man whose face was unclear - I say man because he was not wearing a tennis skirt, but shorts.

Suddenly there was a heavy rain, lightning and thunder.

A thunderclap split the trophy in the hands of the two people. As the trophy split, it seemed as if the space between Youmiko and the man next to her was torn apart, creating an abyss. The distance that was originally within reach suddenly became far away, and it was still expanding - just like the distance between galaxies and planets, it was light years away.

Then the space collapsed, and Yumiko was surrounded by darkness and loneliness. She wanted to shout but no sound came out of her throat; she wanted to cry but no tears came out of her eyes.

Repressed.

Abnormally depressing.

Yumiko couldn't bear it at all. Although she was conscious, she had lost control of her body.

It's like being on the edge of the universe.

There are no brilliant colors, only endless darkness.

So, what can we do?

----split line----

"Yumiko! Yumiko! If you don't get up, your mother will be angry!" Mrs. Miura complained as she pushed the door open. If she didn't get up, the breakfast she prepared would get cold. "Yumiko..."

Then her daughter came into view with a dull look in her eyes and two obvious tear marks on her face - even now she could see tears flowing from her daughter's eyes.

"Mom, Mom..." Yumiko's lifeless eyes gradually came into focus, and at the same time, tears burst out in her eyes.

Mrs. Miura hurriedly hugged her daughter and gently stroked her back to comfort her.

"It's okay, Yumiko, mom is here!"

Yumiko hugged her mother tightly, tears streaming down her face.

......