Secretly Targeted

The rest of the proceedings were intense but not particularly exciting. For the sake of the show, Yan Feng had somehow even gotten hold of a blackboard to keep score. Wang Chao glanced at it and found that the "boxer," Tian Zhengguang, actually had a decent record. He had played seven matches so far, winning five and losing two, placing third in the rankings. Above him were Tian Ye and Jiang Shan.

More than an hour later, the assessment ended. The final standings remained unchanged: Jiang Shan first, Tian Ye second, Tian Zhengguang third.

Judging by the expressions on the three coaches' faces, they had apparently expected the results long ago. They merely recorded them as a formality and prepared to call it a day.

But Yan Feng leaned over and whispered something into one of the coaches' ears.

The coach hesitated, then quietly consulted the other two. After a brief moment of hesitation, both nodded in turn.

Yan Feng was overjoyed. He immediately picked up the microphone and announced, "Next, we'll randomly select lucky audience members to challenge the professional players. Anyone interested, raise your hand."

Wang Chao found it utterly boring and was about to call his three friends away, but the next moment, he saw all three of them enthusiastically raise their arms. The tall, burly Hou Xiaojian even forced his way toward the front, shouting as he squeezed through, "Me, me! Count me in!"

The atmosphere in the stadium instantly reached a fever pitch.

The earlier event had been an official assessment, and the substitute players had all acted seriously. After all, the assessment results were tied to many things. But now that it was over and had turned into an exhibition match, the substitutes all let loose and started having fun.

They were all young men, after all.

The youngsters knew perfectly well how vast the gap was between professionals and amateurs, so they did not play seriously. The moment they stepped up, they started pulling tricks. Some switched from shakehand grip to penhold grip, some did the reverse, and others made it clear that they would only defend and never attack, letting the amateur challengers unleash everything they had while calmly returning shot after shot.

Later on, one guy did not even want to use a paddle anymore. He somehow got hold of an iPad and used it as a weapon, yet still beat the challengers into complete submission.

Mingyue Stadium was filled with laughter and cheer.

Wang Chao watched coldly from the sidelines, but he noticed more than everyone else did.

For instance, Yan Feng, the stadium owner, was responsible for selecting the lucky challengers. He had chosen so many people, and his gaze had swept past Liu Yue, Hou Xiaojian, and the others several times, yet he consistently ignored their raised hands.

It was not because he was snobbish. It was simply a businessman's instinct. Yan Feng remembered that these high school students had just clashed with the players. Though he did not know whether either side had taken it to heart, he still did not want them to run into each other again.

For another, a middle-aged man in his forties had already been selected three times. It was not because he was lucky, but because he was a regular customer of the stadium. Naturally, Yan Feng had to show him a little extra consideration.

Then there was an old man who was also a regular customer, but his cheeks were flushed and he was visibly excited. Yan Feng firmly refused to pick him, afraid the old man might get too worked up while playing and suddenly die...

Just as Wang Chao was finding it amusing, he suddenly noticed that Liu Yue had actually gone on court.

Yan Feng had not selected him. Instead, one of the players beckoned to Liu Yue and said with a smile, "You. Come on."

Liu Yue stepped out eagerly and served immediately. Then, with a sharp smack, the other player blasted the ball. The tiny silver ball turned into a bolt of lightning, landed beside Liu Yue, and flew far away.

Liu Yue was a little stunned.

In fact, he had never encountered a ball that fast before.

That was only natural. At his high school, everyone he faced was amateur among amateurs. Even someone like Hou Xiaojian, who possessed natural brute strength, could not produce enough speed when smashing because of improper form, insufficient spin, incorrect power generation, poor rubber, and other reasons.

Once a professional player went on the attack, neither their power nor ball speed could compare to that of amateur players.

"Wow!" Liu Yue could not help exclaiming. "Amazing!"

His eyes shone as he said, "Again!"

He served another ball, and another smack rang out. The silver ball once again became a streak of lightning and flew away before Liu Yue could make any sort of reaction.

"Again!"

Smack!

"Again!"

Smack!

Liu Yue's face was beginning to redden.

Young people cared most about their pride. He had served four balls and been smashed four times, with no ability to resist whatsoever. The laughter around him made it hard for him to save face.

And he remembered clearly that these players had just been fooling around casually. They never took the initiative to attack, afraid that once they did, they would kill the point outright.

So why had things changed when it came to him?

His lips moved. He wanted to ask, but felt too embarrassed. After thinking it over, he decided to serve a short backspin ball that would not go past the table.

In an official match, a serve that did not go past the table would of course be illegal, but here, it did not matter.

With that kind of ball, the other side would not be able to attack directly, right?

However...

The substitute player on the other side darted around to the side of the table at top speed, practically rushing to the net in the middle of the table. His paddle swept upward, almost skimming past the net, and a gust of cold air rushed at Liu Yue along with the swing.

Smack!

A perfectly standard forehand flick from inside the table.

The ping-pong ball landed on the table in front of Liu Yue and bounced back quickly. Liu Yue's vision blurred. He instinctively tried to dodge, but it was too late. The next moment, the little ball struck his left cheek.

With a soft pfft, a burning pain spread across his face. The force behind that shot was obvious.

The stadium erupted in laughter, but Wang Chao frowned slightly.

If he had still thought it might be a coincidence earlier, then five consecutive hard smashes, including that final, more difficult forced flick from inside the table, were an extremely obvious humiliation.

He saw that player still smiling, just as he had while playing around with the other spectators. But the man's gaze unconsciously flicked to the side, briefly meeting another person's eyes.

Wang Chao followed that gaze and saw Tian Zhengguang applauding hard, wearing a gloating smile.

He then looked at the nameplate on the player's chest. It read: Long Tao.

He looked again at the assessment records on the blackboard. There were sixteen players in total, and Long Tao was ranked thirteenth.

By then, Liu Yue no longer wanted to play. He tossed his paddle onto the table and said, "I'm done."

Long Tao did not stop him. Instead, his gaze swept through the crowd again and landed on Han Feng. "You're together, right? Want to give it a try?"

Han Feng stepped onto the court without hesitation. "Sure, I'll do it."

He was widely recognized as the strongest of the four. The boys' sense of loyalty was simple: if you bullied my brother, I had to stand up for him. As for whether he could win...

He would fight first and worry about that later!

Wang Chao saw Yan Feng seem to take a step forward. His lips moved, but no words came out. Instead, he backed away again.

Clearly, a shrewd man like Yan Feng had already realized something was wrong. But after weighing things up as quickly as possible, he chose to side with the players.

"A little kid loses a few points on the court. What's the big deal?"