Heavy Hand

Wang Chao rarely showed a hint of anger.

The issue with the paddle had been complained about by the brat before.

He had also thought about getting a proper custom paddle after joining the team, but after coming in, he immediately underwent three days of ball-less training. Before he could even officially hit a ball, he encountered the internal round robin. After the round robin finished, he didn't even have time to catch his breath before heading straight into the promotion-relegation matches.

He genuinely hadn't had any free time.

The paddle he was using today was actually Jiang Shan's spare, borrowed from him last night.

This meant he was using a penhold grip to hold a shakehand paddle.

As everyone knows, shakehand grips have longer and heavier handles than penhold grips, so Wang Chao found it very uncomfortable to use and just wanted to finish the match quickly.

"Do you know there's a whole science to paddles..."

"And to rubbers..."

"I'm familiar with all the major domestic and international brands, various specifications of rubbers, and even the custom paddle data of national players..."

Li Shaoqin couldn't help but want to continue his monologue.

But Wang Chao really couldn't take it anymore.

He tucked the paddle into his chest, turned, and walked away.

"Hey, hey, don't go, we haven't played yet." Li Shaoqin was startled.

Wang Chao ignored him.

"Alright, alright, we'll play now, right away, I won't say anything else." Li Shaoqin relented.

But what he was thinking was: You're throwing a tantrum at me, huh? I'll beat the shit out of you later!

It was then that he noticed a scantily clad beauty watching from not too far away.

Li Shaoqin didn't recognize the girl, but he instantly felt energized. The anger from Wang Chao's dismissive attitude vanished, and instead, he generously tossed the table tennis ball in his hand, saying, "Here, you serve. Today, I'll show you the art of receiving serve."

Wang Chao had naturally noticed Luo Xiaoyu as well, but seeing the small camera hanging around Luo Xiaoyu's neck, he subconsciously assumed she was a paparazzi trying to sneak into the base.

This made him sigh at how popular table tennis had become in this world, with paparazzi showing up even for a mere city-level promotion-relegation match.

And this paparazzi was quite high quality—at least in terms of looks.

Wang Chao had no intention of chasing her away. After all, it wasn't his business, and he wasn't that much of a busybody.

Moreover, if someone was going to film, it would surely be the promotion-relegation matches. What was so special about his match?

The match began.

Wang Chao served a short backspin.

"The way you serve is incorrect." With a beautiful spectator present, Li Shaoqin decided to treat this match as a teaching session. "Look, I just need to do this..."

Then his half-finished sentence got stuck.

Because the ball didn't fly over as he expected. Instead, it bounced high off his paddle and flew straight off the table.

He thought it was a backspin ball, but in reality, it had no spin, and he had misjudged it.

Ace on serve, Wang Chao led 1:0.

Li Shaoqin choked slightly, managed a smile, and said, "Interesting, again."

Wang Chao served another short backspin.

Li Shaoqin was more cautious this time, carefully observing Wang Chao's movements. He confirmed it was a genuine short backspin and didn't dare to put too much power into it, afraid the ball would go off the table again. He simply lightly brushed the bottom of the ball with his paddle.

With a "swish," the ball spun rapidly and dove straight into the net.

The ball had too much spin, and his touch wasn't strong enough.

Another ace on serve, Wang Chao extended his lead to 2:0.

Luo Xiaoyu watched from the side, finding the scene quite amusing, and couldn't help but let out a chuckle.

Li Shaoqin was a bit annoyed and said, "I was careless... It's my serve now, and I'll show you what the art of serving is!"

He held his breath, unwilling to lose face in front of the beauty. After much thought, he also served a short backspin. However, at the moment his paddle contacted the ball, he very subtly stopped the paddle's movement, using only his arm to push forward, thus creating no friction.

This was also a short backspin with no spin.

An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth. As long as I score on this serve, I'll regain the face I lost earlier... Li Shaoqin thought.

Then he saw the guy opposite step forward, raise his paddle, and smash the ball back with a "bang."

It was the simplest, most brutal shot.

You don't have any spin, so why should I play gently? I'll just smash you.

The shot was incredibly fast. Li Shaoqin didn't have time to react, watching helplessly as the ball hit the table in front of him and then flew out.

Wang Chao scored on the counter-attack, 3:0.

He had no intention of holding back today. On the contrary, he was going to go all out.

After all, this guy's skill and talent weren't great. It wouldn't matter even if he developed a psychological complex. It might even clear the way for Tian Ye, whom he favored, to be promoted to the main team.

Li Shaoqin, however, decided it was time to reveal his trump card.

He tossed the ball up, a full three meters high, making Luo Xiaoyu gasp, "Wow!"

This was a typical reaction from a layman.

Many spectators unfamiliar with table tennis would worry when seeing a high serve: "He's tossing it so high, and the ball is so small, can he even catch it?"

Li Shaoqin, however, wouldn't make such a basic mistake as serving an ace against himself.

He stomped his foot hard, let out a low grunt, and his paddle heavily brushed the bottom-left edge of the ball. The ball immediately shot out, spinning furiously at an extremely high speed.

This was a standard high serve of good quality.

Li Shaoqin's fundamental skills were not bad; he was indeed a student at the table tennis sports school he had mentioned, having trained for over a decade. He could handle all sorts of stances and techniques with ease.

He disliked amateur masters precisely because he had been thoroughly trounced by them in his youth.

Now, after losing three consecutive points, he didn't want to play mind games with Wang Chao anymore. He decided to defeat Wang Chao using his profound internal energy.

The high serve, with its intense spin far exceeding ordinary serves, was his gamble that Wang Chao wouldn't be able to handle it. If the ball popped up even slightly, he planned to smash Wang Chao decisively!

But he was overthinking it...

Wang Chao simply and casually pushed his paddle forward gently. Propelled by its own intense spin, the ball flew over flatly from the other side.

Extremely low, extremely fast, extremely spinny.

The return was simply perfect.

Conversely, Li Shaoqin himself was surprised. When returning the ball, it popped up slightly, and Wang Chao hit it again with a powerful smash, directly killing the point.

He found Wang Chao's loops to be very strange. Although they weren't particularly fast or powerful, they always landed in blind spots that he couldn't defend at all. In the time since the match began, Wang Chao had hit two such loops, both killing the point outright, and he couldn't block them at all.

The score became 4:0.

Luo Xiaoyu's expression turned suspicious.

He suddenly realized that this game was not unfolding as he had initially imagined.

Why was that loud-mouthed guy seemingly losing points continuously? And appearing somewhat flustered?

On the other hand, the quiet one was playing with both accuracy and power.

Wang Chao regained the serve.

He served a long ball to the baseline. This time, Li Shaoqin had anticipated it. He mustered all his strength, retreated half a step, and immediately counter-attacked, executing a loop with incredibly strong spin. The ball descended in a beautiful arc in mid-air, heading straight for Wang Chao's body.

This was called a "body attack," as the name suggested, it was an attack aimed at the opponent's body.

For a player to return the ball, they had to extend their arm and present their paddle. But if the ball was already coming right at you, how could you extend? How could you present your paddle?

As long as the attack was close and fast enough, it could prevent you from having the opportunity to return the ball.

Li Shaoqin's placement for this shot was superb.

But Wang Chao didn't retreat at all, nor did he step aside. As if he had anticipated it, he adjusted the angle and position of his paddle in advance and directly met the ball head-on.

In essence, this was the most common backhand push used by penhold grip players; there was nothing novel about it. However, because of the early anticipation, the quick execution, and the sharp angle, this shot became formidable. It directly struck Li Shaoqin's left-hand side at a wide angle towards the baseline.

Li Shaoqin was completely taken by surprise again. He didn't move at all, letting the ball go past him.

The score was 5:0.