Lu Zhilan is a tennis prodigy and Lu Xia's older cousin. Zhilan was expected to become a professional athlete until a career threatening injury. With no other choice, she's forced to go to Germany for surgery and rehabilitation. She's been there for...
After homework, Zhilan changed into some workout clothing. She put on a support brace and tested out her knee. If she was going to play tennis, she wanted to be as strong as she could be.
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*Flashback*
"I need a favor." Zhilan said as she walked up to Zhiming.
He hummed as he scribbled away in his notebook.
She sighed as she knew he was only giving her part of his attention. "Zhiming."
"I'm listening."
"All right. I know you were spying on Siyang and I at dinner the other day."
He stopped writing and closed his notebook. "I imagine this plays into the favor you want to ask of me."
She smiled. "It does. I won't tell Siyang about it, but only if you help me."
"What do you need?"
"I want you to help me with training."
Zhiming blinked. "I wasn't expecting that."
Zhilan chuckled. "I've been cleared to play tennis again. However, I want to try and prevent another ACL injury."
He adjusted his glasses. "I understand. I'll need data to calculate the best plan for you. I'll have to see how you do during a fitness training. Would you be willing to do a practice match as well? It can help to see your condition in a game."
She nodded. "If I play, it'll be with Lu Xia. It can be done. This is mostly for safety. If you help me to figure out a good routine, you can keep collecting my data. If it's of any use to you, of course."
His eyes lit up at the idea. "That would certainly be interesting."
"But one thing at a time. You help me and I stay quiet about your stalking habits. Remember what happened to Jiale, Qiao Chen, and Baiyang?"
Zhiming nodded in agreement. "Whenever you're ready."
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"Are you training?" Lu Xia asked as he watched Zhilan warm up.
She hummed. "In a way. I'm going to see how I'm currently doing and improve from there. I don't plan on hurting my knee again. Once was enough."
He nodded. "Do you need any help?"
"I may. Zhiming is coming over to collect my data. First, I need to see where I'm at in fitness. I'm not sure if he wants to see us play today or another day. I suggest you get ready to play me either way." Zhilan gave him a sideways grin.
A smile crept onto Lu Xia's face. "I'm always ready."
She laughed and the gate bell rang. "That must be him."
She walked over to the gate to let him in. "Hey, Zhiming."
He nodded politely. "Zhilan. Have you warmed up?"
"I'm just finished. Lu Xia might stick around too if you want to see us play."
"It might be best to save that for another day. I have a variety of tests for you to do."
She looked over to Lu Xia. "I'm sorry, kiddo. We'll play next week."
He looked slightly disappointed, but understood and went inside.
She turned and noticed Zhiming had a bag of equipment with him. He set up two cones in different spots of the tennis court.
"We'll start with testing your speed and go from there. There's a lot to cover."
Zhilan took a deep breath and prepared herself.
"For speed, I want you to do ten shuttle runs between the cones. Make sure a foot touches a cone when you come up to it. I'll tell you when to start and I'll record your time and you'll do it two more times."
She nodded in understanding.
"Start."
She took off and it felt great to really run. It felt like she never injured herself in the first place. She stopped in between sets and kept going.
Zhiming recorded the times in his notebook. "You have very great speed. Each set was less than fifty seconds. Now, let's start with agility."
This time, there were three cones and Zhilan ran to touch the ones on the ends before stopping at the middle.
The data player scribbled along.
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She didn't quite remember how much time had passed as she did the last tests of strength.
She began to cool down her muscles as Zhiming kept calculating her data.
"You did very well in everything I told you to do. Most of your times were above average or excellent. I would recommend you work more on your core strength. Strengthening your thighs and hips can help support your knees from taking too much load."
"Core. I can do that."
He tore out a piece of paper from his notebook. "This is the routine that I recommend for you. There's also some other things such as improving balance and flexibility."
Zhilan skimmed over the paper and nodded happily. "Thank you. I'll see you around."
He pushed his glasses up. "I look forward to seeing you play a match. Something tells me that it's bound to be interesting."
She couldn't help the mischievous smirk that appeared on her face.
Author's Note
Hey! I haven't been updating as often as before what with classes having resumed. My updates now will be pretty spotty, but I will do my best to keep them going. Don't forget to vote or comment. And I hope y'all take care! - Violet
