Upon reaching the designated spot on the field, Draco turned around, first glancing at Hermione, and said, "Watch closely, honey, I'm about to 'avenge' you and prove my coaching abilities."
Hermione blushed instantly as she sat down, and she retorted softly, "I didn't mean for you to take revenge, don't talk nonsense!"
"Wow!" Tom whistled after hearing Draco's words and said, "Revenge! Bro, you've got some nerve! Jack's the best amateur around here!"
This was half a joke and half a reminder.
It also serves as a reminder to Draco not to be too arrogant.
Jack chuckled, cracking his knuckles, and said to Draco in his usual relaxed tone, "Looks like I'll have to be serious today, or I'll lose face in front of the pretty girls."
Being publicly told to take revenge by a young man who looked like a rich kid stirred up his competitive spirit to some extent.
"Since you're so confident, you serve first." With a better chance of winning on the serve, Jack decided to make the slap even harder.
"Let me serve first? Are you sure?" Draco neither accepted nor refused, but instead asked with a smile.
Jack's expression stiffened. He hadn't expected the other party to act so unpredictably. Wouldn't most people offer a few polite words or simply accept the offer? What did this mean?
Are you looking down on me, thinking it's pointless to let me serve first? Or are you genuinely that confident in your serve?
Tom, standing on the sidelines, couldn't help but chuckle when he heard Draco's words. He said to those around him, "Hey, did you hear that? Are you sure? This guy... he's interesting."
His tone was full of amusement and a desire to see things go well.
" Draco, it's good to be confident, but don't strain your back," Barty called out to Draco with a hint of disdain.
Mary and Kate exchanged glances, and Mary covered her mouth and laughed, "He talks so arrogantly, but he's also so handsome!"
The more direct Susan, after carefully choosing her words, asked, " Hermione, has your husband always been this strong-willed?"
Faced with Susan's question, Hermione could only manage a forced smile and vaguely reply, "He can be a bit competitive at times."
God knows how much she wanted to rush up and cover Draco's mouth, or pull him down, because she felt that Draco's pretentious behavior was a bit excessive, and that he was too unhumble in front of strangers, like a peacock showing off its tail!
But deep down, a sliver of expectation lingered. However, she quickly suppressed this inappropriate emotion, inwardly berating herself for lacking principles.
Jack was put in an awkward position by Draco's question and the chatter from the audience, and his competitive spirit was completely ignited.
"Of course I'm sure." His smile faded, and he looked at Draco, his tone hardening slightly. "It's just a serve, I can handle it. Go ahead, let me see what you're capable of."
Having received an affirmative answer, Draco nodded, his face remaining calm and expressionless. He then turned and walked to the service line, beginning to gently tap the tennis ball.
Hermione's heart was in her throat. She knew someone's performance was about to begin. Her eyes were glued to the white figure on stage, her heart filled with mixed emotions.
She both hoped he would win, win beautifully, and avenge her, and she was also secretly worried that he might overdo it or be too arrogant and offend people.
Draco then turned to Hermione on the sidelines, giving her a smile radiating absolute confidence.
"Watch closely," he mouthed silently to Hermione.
Hermione, with her uncanny connection to Draco, understood perfectly, but her attention wasn't on the words. Instead, she was momentarily blinded by Draco's smile, and her heart skipped a beat.
I have to admit, when this guy gets serious, especially with that slightly arrogant look, he really is... kind of handsome.
Thinking of this, Hermione immediately cursed herself in her mind, thinking how pathetic she was; this was clearly just showing off!
Blatant showing off!
"Well then, I'll begin." Draco withdrew his gaze, reminded Jack, and then the smile on his face faded.
As he spoke, he tossed the ball high into the air with his left hand, bent his body backward into a perfect bow shape, shifted his weight backward, raised his racket high with his right arm, and relaxed his wrist.
Just as the ball reached its optimal striking point, Draco's racket moved, and his body, which had been arched like a bow, suddenly released its momentum.
Push off the ground, rotate your hips, rotate your shoulders; the power travels from the soles of your feet through your core to your arms, and finally gathers in your wrists and the head of your racket.
With a single swing, the movement is as fast as lightning. At the moment of impact, the wrist makes an extremely subtle but swift inward rotation.
"Bang--!!"
A crisp, loud bang rang out! The yellow ball, a blurry afterimage, spun at an astonishing speed and hurtled towards the outer sideline of Jack's service court!
On the other side, Jack was already prepared when Draco tossed the ball. He judged that the ball would be served to the outside of his backhand side, landing near the sideline.
He quickly moved two steps to his left, preparing to return the seemingly fast serve with a backhand.
While moving, keep your eyes fixed on the trajectory of the ball, predict its landing point, adjust your stance, and raise your racket in front of you to prepare for the attack.
However, just before the tennis ball hit the ground—
Unexpected changes occur!
The high-speed spinning tennis ball, upon contact with the ground, did not bounce forward as a normal serve.
Instead, it deflected laterally in a way that defied common sense. Like a spinning top that had been whipped hard, it landed and made an exaggerated right turn, swinging with a strong spin as it slammed sideways toward Jack's position!
"What?!" Jack's mind went blank for a moment. He had been playing amateur tennis for so many years and had never seen or even imagined that a tennis ball could bend like that!
This was completely beyond his cognitive and reaction limits!
So much so that his feet seemed to be nailed to the spot.
Before he could make any adjustments, the racket in front of him, which had been anticipating a normal backhand shot, was pointing at thin air due to completely wrong direction and angle.
"Whoosh--!"
The tennis ball, spinning wildly and whistling through the air, grazed the edge of Jack's racket, which was positioned in front of him but pointing in the wrong direction. It then struck Jack's right shoulder, which was slightly turned to the side in surprise, and bounced away.
The incomprehensible shot completely stunned Jack. He instinctively shrank his shoulders, his expression frozen in disbelief. He could still hear the sound of the ball whizzing past him. He even forgot to pick it up.
He just stood there, staring blankly at the tennis ball that had rolled far away, and then looked at Draco, who was calm and composed on the other side and was even preparing for his second serve. He couldn't help but feel a little embarrassed.