50-54. The Genius Tennis Player and the Poor Little One

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Chapter 50: The Genius Tennis Player and the Poor Little One (1)

As the night deepened, the tennis court in late autumn and early winter was still shrouded in dim lights. The thinly dressed teenager was tirelessly practicing hitting the ball on the court. He had a youth competition four days later. He had practiced for a long time during the day, but he still felt it was not enough, so he came here to practice overtime at night.
Most of the friends who practiced with him left, and later only he and another girl were still holding on.
The girl's name was Yao Xiu, who was about the same age as him and was also preparing to participate in the competition. Yao Xiu said that being able to practice against a boy was very helpful in terms of strength. The two practiced for a while, and Yao Xiu felt tired. She really couldn't stand the attack of this straight man. She put her hands on her knees and bent over to Ye Jing and said, "Take a break, Ye Jing, it's past ten o'clock, and it's not too early. Let's practice a few more serves and go home."
Ye Jing nodded, put down the racket and sat on the steps, gulped down a bottle of mineral water, and threw another bottle of mineral water to Yao Xiu.
Yao Xiu took it and sat aside, talking to Ye Jing about each other's recent situation. Ye Jing's eyes suddenly stopped at a slender figure on the opposite stand. He squinted his eyes. It seemed to be a very young girl wearing a middle school uniform. She was holding a book and reading quietly with her head down.
The school uniform was quite familiar. It was a feature of the No. 6 Middle School where he studied before.
Ye Jing went to play basketball before graduating from junior high school. To be precise, he was not a good student, but he was a little envious of those middle school students in school uniforms.
However, studying hard under the street lights late at night... well... Ye Jing didn't really want to agree, nor did he envy.
Yao Xiu also saw the little girl, so she moved closer and whispered to Ye Jing: "Are middle school students so hard-working now? God, if it were me, I would rather come to play basketball."
Ye Jing shrugged, indicating that he didn't quite understand.
The two took a short break and trained together for a while before preparing to go home. Ye Jing lived not far from the training ground, but Yao Xiu lived a little far away. Seeing a girl walking home late at night, Ye Jing kindly asked her, "How are you? Do you want me to take you home first?"
Yao Xiu casually swung the tennis racket behind her, patted her chest and said energetically, "If anyone dares to rob me, I will hit him to death with a tennis racket."
Ye Jing laughed for a while, said "goodbye" and left. Yao Xiu pedaled fast, and Ye Jing walked slowly for a while. Suddenly, he remembered the little girl and subconsciously looked back. The little girl had not left yet. Because of the low temperature at night, she rubbed her hands on herself and still lowered her head to study seriously.
Ye Jing shook his head, thinking that more and more children are studying hard these days.
The next day, Ye Jing and Yao Xiu were still training together on the tennis court. They were very devoted to the practice. It was past ten o'clock again. Yao Xiu suddenly pointed to the opposite stand and said to Ye Jing: "Look, is it the same little girl from yesterday?"
Ye Jing calmed down and looked carefully. It was indeed the girl from yesterday.
Yao Xiu couldn't help but sigh and said: "These days, students study so hard. Then we can't delay our practice. Work overtime tomorrow. Come on, come on."
In the next few days, Ye Jing and Yao Xiu could see the little girl reading under the street light. Yao Xiu was an enthusiastic girl. Finally one day, she strode onto the stands, came to the little girl and said hello: "Hey, hello, I'm Yao Xiu, do you come here to study every day?"
The little girl also noticed Yao Xiu and Ye Jing who were training here these days. Yao Xiu smiled kindly. She curled the corners of her lips and said softly: "Well, hello, I'm Lin Yueyi, I just come here to recite the text."
"Junior high school students have so much homework?" Yao Xiu didn't study for many years. She looked at the English text in the little girl's hand and curled her lips. "I get a headache when I mention studying."
Ye Jing stood on the steps below. He only saw the little girl turned her face to Yao Xiu and spoke softly. She didn't look at him at all. The light fell on her porcelain-like cheeks. Her voice was graceful and light. How to describe it? Ye Jing didn't have much ink in his stomach. After thinking for a long time, he could only use the words he said when he was a child, "like a lark in spring."
"Why do you want to study here?" Yao Xiu asked the long-standing doubt in his heart.
Yue Yi pursed her lips and said, "It's quite quiet here."
Yao Xiu subconsciously wanted to say, what's so quiet here, there's a snack street outside, and they're still shouting in the middle of the night. But Ye Jing pulled her arm, and Yao Xiu met Ye Jing's eyes, and understood, so she smiled and said, "Okay, then we're considered acquaintances, and you can come to us if you have something in the future. We won't disturb you from studying. Let's continue to practice."
Yue Yi said "hmm", and watched Ye Jing and Yao Xiu jump off the stands easily. Before leaving, Ye Jing couldn't help but look back, and the little girl had lowered her head to read, not looking at him.
Ye Jing and Yao Xiu soon ushered in their own games, and the two also participated in the mixed doubles competition together. But it's a pity that the mixed doubles went quite far, but the men's and women's singles were both eliminated in the first round. Ye Jing was broad-minded and didn't care much, but Yao Xiu was very depressed. On the way back, she kept complaining to Ye Jing why her serve was soft at the critical moment.
Ye Jing was a little annoyed after hearing her chatter all the way. He sat on the bus, leaned slightly to one side, and half closed his eyes. Seeing what he meant, Yao Xiu began to reflect on whether she had talked too much, but she was still restless. She nudged him with her elbow and said, "Guess, if we are not here for a few days, will the little girl still study there?"
Ye Jing's mind immediately emerged with the girl's white and tender face, the outline was a little blurry. The light was not good that day, and he didn't really see what she looked like. He just thought she was cute.
As for whether she was there...
he didn't know, but he hoped she wasn't there. When she was there, he was a little nervous and always played badly.
Ye Jing returned home to rest for a few days and didn't go to training. Two days later, he called Yao Xiu and learned that Yao Xiu was going to train overseas these days. Ye Jing congratulated her and said nothing else.
Ye Jing's mother died early. Although his father Ye Wenxuan was his coach, like many fathers and sons in the world, there was some distance between them. Ye Jing put on his backpack, said to his father "Let's go play tennis", and rode away on his bike. Without Yao Xiu, Ye Jing was free to practice as he wanted. But he didn't see the little girl until almost half past nine. Usually at this time, she would have been sitting there.
He practiced his net skills absent-mindedly for a while, and glanced at the stands opposite.
Unfortunately, he didn't meet her.
He was a little bored, not knowing why he was looking forward to meeting a little girl. Looking at his watch, it was ten forty, Ye Jing secretly breathed a sigh of relief, kicked a tennis ball, and rode home.
The next day, Ye Jing finished training and sat on the ground, listening to music with headphones. However, the little girl seemed to not want to come again and still didn't show up. Ye Jing despised himself and looked at his watch. Well, it's eleven o'clock, go home.
On the third day, Ye Jing stayed at the training ground until half past eleven again. He put one hand on his forehead and began to think about what he was doing in a daze every day.
On the fourth day, Ye Jing still stayed there until half past twelve without realizing it. So much so that his father anxiously called him and asked him if he had encountered any problems on the way. He kept saying "I'll be back soon" while looking at the stands opposite. It was still empty. Ye Jing laughed at himself, got on his bike and just went out, he heard a burst of crying. Ye Jing hurriedly stepped on the brake and saw a little girl in school uniform crying on a bench outside the tennis court for tourists to rest.
Her voice was very small and fragmented, as if it could dissipate with the winter wind, as if she was afraid that others would hear it, but Ye Jing's heart was tightened when he heard it, and he quickly got off the bike and walked over to her and asked her hurriedly: "What's wrong with you?"
Yue Yi was startled, raised her red and swollen eyes, and met Ye Jing's concerned look.
Seeing her surprised and unexpected look, Ye Jing scratched his head, and then realized that he came a little too suddenly, as if he had pried into someone's secret. His face felt a little hot, and he pursed his lips and said dryly: "Yao Xiu and I... Do you still remember Yao Xiu?" At the critical moment, he had to bring Yao Xiu out to block the bullet.
Yue Yi thought about it, it was the girl who played tennis, and she had a few friendly chats with her that day. She nodded, then quickly put on her schoolbag and stood up, her voice a little hoarse because of crying: "I remember. I, I'm leaving, goodbye."
"Hey..." Ye Jing called her and said uncomfortably, "It's late, I'll take you there."
Yue Yi shook her head and said, "It's okay, goodbye." Then she ran away.
Ye Jing looked at the little girl who disappeared into the night like an elf, and sighed slightly. He suddenly remembered that the little girl didn't know his name yet.
He went home and slept for a while, but he always thought of the little girl, with fair cheeks, big almond eyes, pink lips, and a nice voice. She looked like a frightened little rabbit when she looked at herself, very cute, and wanted him to hold her in his arms and protect her. The 17-year-old Ye Jing, who was half asleep and half awake, suddenly woke up: his pants were wet... He went to wash his pants depressedly, and then thought of the scene in his dream, and always felt that he must be a beast. Seeing that she was only fourteen or fifteen years old, and they had met a few times, how could he be so... so excessive...
The next day when he went to play basketball again, Yue Yi was already sitting under the light, reading seriously as before. Ye Jing was a little afraid to look at her, but he couldn't control it. He always stopped and observed her every move, every frown and smile. She seemed to be in high spirits today, and her pink lips were often slightly raised.
Ye Jing curled the corners of his lips, in a good mood, and felt full of energy during training.
He practiced seriously for a while, then put down the racket and walked to the opposite stand. Yue Yi closed the book and was about to leave. Ye Jing hurriedly said: "You are here again today..." After saying that, he felt that what he said couldn't be stupider.
Yueyi smiled politely and said, "I've made an appointment with a friend to go to the snack street."
Ye Jing said "Oh", and suddenly felt a little sorry and regretful. Seeing her passing by, he called her and said, "By the way, my name is Ye Jing."
Yueyi looked back, her eyes curved into crescents, as if they really contained brilliant starlight: "Well, my name is Lin Yueyi. Well, goodbye." After that, she jumped down the stairs and trotted away. It seems that she is looking forward to this date.
"Goodbye." Ye Jing had to wave his hand, and there was some disappointment in his tone that he himself did not notice.
On the third day, Ye Jing saw Yueyi again. He greeted her, and Yueyi still smiled politely and gently. Ye Jing was a little cold in nature. He was used to being alone and did not have many close friends. So although he wanted to ask about Yueyi, he could not open his mouth.
He really wanted to know why she was so sad that day.
Yue Yi felt Ye Jing approaching, looked up, and asked him curiously: "Is there something wrong?"
Ye Jing pouting, a little annoyed at his poor speaking skills: "I, I'm just a little tired of practicing."
Yue Yi smiled and said: "Me too, sometimes I get tired of learning too. Then you can relax."
Ye Jing sat down next to her, keeping a slight distance from her, his eyes fell on Yue Yi's feet. Behind him was the gradually dissipating smell of fireworks from the food street, and he could also smell the tempting aroma of spicy hot pot.
He thought for a moment and asked her, "Do you go to school nearby?"
"Yes, No. 6 Middle School."
"What a coincidence, I also went to No. 6 Middle School for junior high school."
"Then what about you now..."
Ye Jing's body stiffened, a little embarrassed, and coughed before saying, "I'm not going to school anymore, and I'm going to concentrate on playing tennis." After a pause, he was afraid that Yue Yi would look down on him, and said quickly, "I'm going to play in professional tournaments next year."
Yue Yi didn't know much about tennis, and seemed to think that professional tournaments were very impressive, so she congratulated him and said, "Well, then you must get first place."
Ye Jing could see that she didn't understand tennis, smiled and said, "That's a bit difficult, I'll try my best."
Yue Yi turned to ask him, "Where's Sister Yao Xiu? I haven't seen her recently."
"Oh, she went to Japan for training, and she probably won't be back for a while."
Yue Yi nodded.
The atmosphere around them fell silent again. Ye Jing didn't know what to say. He racked his brains and just opened his mouth. He asked in a stiff voice: "You, do you usually study until very late?"
Yue Yi curled her lips, but there was no smile in her eyes: "Well, I usually sit until very late." Ye Jing heard that she said "sit" but not "study".
Ye Jing could see that she had something to hide. He wanted to ask but was afraid of making her alert. He suddenly took out his mobile phone and showed her a picture and said: "This is the sushi that Yao Xiu sent me in Tokyo. Look, isn't it appetizing?"
Yue Yi's eyes really lit up. Girls of this age are full of romantic fantasies about foreign countries. Ye Jing was happy that he finally found a topic. Seeing this, he stuffed the phone into her hand. He showed her the pictures while introducing them. Ye Jing's voice was very pleasant, with a boy's hoarseness and charm. Because they were looking at a mobile phone, their heads touched and they got closer and closer, until Ye Jing could almost touch Yue Yi's face with his head. Yue Yi realized it belatedly and quickly returned the phone to him, blushing and saying, "Thank you, I, I've finished reading..."
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