The badminton court was thick with tension. Xiao Yun glared at Liu Tingting with murderous intent, Liu Tingting eyed Su Muzhi beside her, and Su Muzhi smiled sweetly as she winked at Jiang Linyuan.
They said three women made a show, but what exactly was this show? Empresses in the Palace?
Was I playing the emperor?
"Senior Jiang, don't daydream while you're serving."
Su Muzhi stood by the net, smiling teasingly.
She was using me as bait. It wasn't unreasonable to collect a little interest.
Liu Tingting eyed the very pretty "junior Su," feeling a little wary. Not to be outdone, she added gently:
"It's okay, Jiang. Even though we're on different teams, we can still cheer each other on!"
"This... green tea!"
Xiao Yun had transformed into an enraged potato. Gripping her racket tightly, her cheeks puffed up like a pufferfish as she glared fiercely at Jiang Linyuan:
"Give me the shuttle! I'll serve!"
Jiang Linyuan handed it over, watching the scene unfold with great interest.
Women fighting was the best! It was great to watch!
Fight! Fight!
"Ha!"
Xiao Yun mustered all her strength and opened with a backhand serve to the back court, sending the shuttle straight toward Liu Tingting.
Liu Tingting might have been a green tea, but she knew her way around a badminton court. And she had a height advantage, to boot.
"Don't rush, take it easy."
She returned the shot effortlessly, smiling as she offered a reminder.
It looked like she still hadn't recognized Xiao Yun as Xiao Hei's girlfriend.
Xiao Yun realized that too, and got even angrier. She slammed the shuttle hard!
Jiang Linyuan took it easy, barely making an effort as he watched the show.
That was the way of the middle ground.
However, someone else didn't see it that way.
"Bang!"
A loud crack rang out as the shuttle flew past Jiang Linyuan. Before he could react, it hit the ground with a plop.
"Senior Jiang, I accidentally scored a point. Pay attention when you play."
Su Muzhi waved her racket, smiling brightly.
Xiao Yun, standing nearby, had also noticed Jiang Linyuan wasn't paying attention. She scolded him unhappily:
"Play properly if you're going to play!"
Then she added in a low voice:
"If we win, I can introduce you to Sister Muzhi."
Hmm? Now that was interesting.
I'd been worrying about how to get information, and now it was practically being handed to me on a silver platter.
At those key words, Jiang Linyuan's eyes lit up. He stared at Xiao Yun until she started to panic.
"Really?"
"...Really."
Xiao Yun swallowed, sensing that Jiang Linyuan's whole aura had suddenly changed.
"Hmph. Liu Tingting and Su Muzhi, I'll make sure neither of them gets away!"
His badminton skills weren't anything special, but he'd practiced with Jiang Zhiyao since childhood, so he was no pushover.
After they traded a few shots, Su Muzhi seized an opening, readied her racket, and leaped high into the air. The shuttle shot out fiercely!
Jiang Linyuan was stunned. He returned a net shot with his backhand, and Su Muzhi followed up with a high clear.
Fine, fine! So you like playing high clears, huh?
Damn it, you hit it high, so I'm smashing it! You started it! Don't blame me!
Jiang Linyuan quickly shuffled backward, pushed off the ground, and leaped into the air, swinging his racket with all his might!
"Bam!"
"Holy crap! Who fired a gun?"
The people playing nearby heard the noise and looked over.
They were all stunned. Good grief, was this a high jump competition?
A beautiful smash flew past Su Muzhi. She stood frozen, clearly caught off guard by Jiang Linyuan's explosive power.
"Junior Su, I accidentally scored a point. Pay attention when you play."
Jiang Linyuan mimicked the tone Su Muzhi had used earlier.
Now, just as then.
Like making fun of me, do you? Come on, then!
"Damn, this guy's awesome. He doesn't hold back at all against a girl!"
"Hmph, only a man like that deserves to compete alongside me..."
"That smash was so advanced. Speaking of advanced..."
A group of three women and one man was unusual enough, and they were all gorgeous or handsome, with an atmosphere crackling with tension.
Before long, quite a crowd had gathered to watch.
Su Muzhi retrieved the shuttle and looked at Jiang Linyuan, her smile still in place.
Then she turned to Liu Tingting.
"Senior, you're tired, right? Let me play one-on-one with him."
Liu Tingting was still caught up in how handsome Jiang Linyuan had looked when he smashed the shuttle.
Badminton was a very visual sport, especially when it came to a powerful smash. Nothing showed off that burst of strength better.
To put it simply, if Liu Tingting had originally planned to keep Jiang Linyuan as a backup, now she was starting to want him for herself.
He was handsome, and he played beautifully. Bringing him along to meet people would make her look good. He was a catch she could show off.
How could she possibly hand him over to someone else?
"I'm not tired yet..."
Liu Tingting had just started to speak when Su Muzhi stepped closer. Her smile remained radiant as she chuckled softly:
"You can keep all the fish you want later, but for now, you're tired."
Liu Tingting instinctively took a few steps back.
What was this woman's deal? Was she really dropping the act already?
Fine, fine. She could pretend to be pure and sweet in front of Jiang Linyuan, but here with me, she showed her true colors!
Let's see if I can't put you in your place!
"You don't want your whole fish pond to go belly-up, do you? If you're not tired today, you'll be exhausted later."
Su Muzhi rested her racket on Liu Tingting's shoulder and spoke softly.
The racket wasn't heavy, but Liu Tingting felt an immense weight pressing down on her shoulder.
What kind of lunatic was this!?
Never mind how she knew about her fish pond. Liu Tingting even suspected that if she refused, Su Muzhi would swing that racket right at her face.
Whatever. There was plenty of time.
Liu Tingting forced a smile.
"I'm a little tired. I'll go rest for a bit."
Xiao Yun was naturally unwilling to give up. She was about to say something when Su Muzhi patted her on the shoulder.
"Xiao Yun, you can sit this one out. Let me play one-on-one with Senior Jiang."
Looking at Su Muzhi's smile, Xiao Yun shivered.
Oh no, she'd forgotten how competitive Sister Muzhi was. She was definitely going to get even.
She gave Jiang Linyuan a sympathetic look, nodded, and left the court.
"Oh, Senior Jiang, now it's just the two of us?"
Su Muzhi's smile grew even brighter as she looked at Jiang Linyuan.
But Jiang Linyuan was watching Xiao Yun walk away.
My informant! What are you doing? Weren't you going to introduce me to Su Muzhi?
Su Muzhi looked at Jiang Linyuan and said:
"Senior Jiang, you're no simple guy. You're playing badminton with another girl, and you can't even focus? Planning to have two women on the go?"
Then, as if the thought had just occurred to her, she grinned mischievously.
"You're not planning to make a move on Xiao Yun too, are you? They say a friend's wife is off-limits. How could you face your roommate if you did that?"
What the hell are you blabbering about?
"Junior Su, you're funny. I'm a very devoted man," Jiang Linyuan replied.
Su Muzhi smiled and asked:
"Really? I thought Senior Jiang wanted to pursue both me and Liu Tingting."
As expected of an A-rank green tea. She really was hard to deal with.
Jiang Linyuan thought this as he answered righteously:
"Junior Su, you and I are just friends."
"Don't sully our friendship! Do that again, and I'll get mad!"
"I'll forgive you this time. Don't do it again."
Su Muzhi unconsciously tightened her grip on the racket, her smile not reaching her eyes.
"Play me with everything you've got?"
"No."
Jiang Linyuan flatly refused. An A-rank green tea was too difficult to win over, and there weren't any rewards to be had at this stage.
Hadn't he seen the B-rank green tea over there, batting her eyelashes at him? He wanted to farm rewards from her!
"If you win, I can set you up with a pretty girl for a day out," Su Muzhi offered.
As if! The same trick wouldn't work on a Saint Seiya!
"She's the head of your External Relations Department, you know. Aren't you interested, Senior Jiang?"
But he couldn't be too absolute. You had to know how to adapt, right?
At that, Jiang Linyuan stopped in his tracks again.
"Really?"
"More than the truth," Su Muzhi said with a hand over her mouth, laughing.
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