Picture Us | Zhuo Zhi

thirty

f a t h e r ' s  b l e s s i n g

"What do you want, young man?" Xiangqian asks Zhuo.

I'll cut to the chase, Zhuo decides. "I like your daughter," he says, "and I want to ask her out."

"..." Xiangqian stands there speechless. Kids these days don't normally act like this. And he can't imagine that his daughter had gotten so close to a boy. "You are the one who walks her home some days," he blatantly states.

"Yes, sir."

"Honestly, I'm shocked someone your age would think to go about it like this."

Zhuo stands up straighter. "Well, I... love her," he admits in a soft voice.

"What?! How could you say that! You barely know each other!"

"Maybe, but every day I fall for your daughter more," Zhuo replies with a sincere face.

"Why?!"

Zhuo quietly chuckles to himself as he pictures Nam in his head. "I don't understand it myself."

"Young man, you come from Yu Qing's tennis club. I'll play you, one rally, my serve. If it's your point, you'll be worthy enough to date her. If I win, you leave."

"Okay. Thank you, sir."

-

They go to the back of the house where there's a tennis court. Zhuo Zhi stands on one side, waiting for Lu Xiangqian to serve the ball. Nam and Xia are elsewhere in the house, unaware of the intense rally that's happening.

Xiangqian serves, and Zhuo returns it to the opposite corner of the court. The two go back and forth like this for a while, until Xiangqian hits a vertical smash. Zhuo smirks, using another special stunt to return it.

"Impressive, kid!" Xiangqian shouts.

This one rally, one point goes on for ages, until Zhuo uses his Swallows Return to make the ball roll dead on Xiangqian's side.

Nam's father looks at it in disbelief. "I have to admit, you surprised me. You win," he says to Zhuo," but make sure to take care of her."

"I will," he says with a grin.

My daughter could do worse than Yu Qing's tennis prodigy, Lu Xiangqian thinks as he laughs to himself.

-

After his quick tennis trial, Zhuo finds himself outside in the garden, where he sees Nam sitting in front of a small pond. He takes a moment to just look at her small figure illuminated by the moonlight before he makes his presence known.

"Hey," he says, sitting down next to her.

"Hi," she says with a small smile. "How'd your talk go?"

"It was good. I got what I needed."

The two sit in a comfortable silence as they watch the few koi fish swim about in the pond. Nam instinctively leans into Zhuo, relaxing in his warmth.

"Nam, I want you to go somewhere with me, when Siyang and Lu Xia have their match."

"What about practice?"

"We'll ask Yan for sick leave."

"Ah... okay," Nam agrees. "Where are we going?"

"It's a surprise."

"Huh?"

"Just know that I'd like to take you out."

"O-okay," she gets out with a squeak. Ahh! Why would he say it like that?! Nam screams in her head, a blush on her cheeks growing as she grows deeper into her thoughts.

She stares hard at the koi fish, trying to distract herself as Zhuo fondly looks at her.

"I'll see you then," he says before walking out the gate and leaving the Lu household.

Once he's gone, Nam lets herself squeal loudly, grateful that her family is all inside.