The next afternoon, Cheng Che finished training, changed into clean clothes, and left the hotel.
Pei Jingshu was already waiting at the entrance of the agreed-upon coffee shop.
She was wearing a white dress, her hair was down, and she wore a beige sun hat.
The sunlight shone from the side, making her look very clean and pure.
Seeing Cheng Che approaching from afar, she jumped up and waved, her hat almost flying off.
Cheng Che walked up to her and glanced at her.
You look beautiful today.
Pei Jingshu blushed slightly, but she retorted sharply, "When am I not beautiful?"
Cheng Che smiled but didn't reply.
The two sat in the coffee shop for a while.
Pei Jingshu ordered an iced Americano, Cheng Che ordered a juice.
She told him about the places she had visited in Melbourne over the past two days, saying that she had gone to the Queen Victoria Market, bought some handicrafts, and also went to a particularly delicious dessert shop.
Cheng Che listened, occasionally offering a word or two in response.
"When are you going back to South Korea?" he asked.
Pei Jingshu paused for a moment.
"The day after tomorrow," she said cautiously. "I've taken five days off, plus the weekend, so it'll be about right."
Cheng Che nodded.
"Go back to work."
Pei Jingshu looked at him and pouted, "I came to watch your match, and you're kicking me out? I knew I shouldn't have shared it with you."
"You're interning at SM, it's no joke," Cheng Che said with a smile. "I have a competition here, so I don't have time to spend with you. You'll have nothing to do here anyway."
Pei Jingshu lowered her head and stirred the ice cubes in her glass with a straw.
She knew he was right.
She's already taken enough leave; if she drags it out any longer, she'll ruin her chances with her internship.
But she still couldn't bear to part with it.
"Then promise me you'll make it to the finals."
Cheng Che looked at her. "I was going to make it to the finals anyway."
"I meant if we make it to the finals, I should be there to watch."
"Shouldn't you have been at work at that time?"
Pei Jingshu looked up, her eyes sparkling. "I'm asking for annual leave."
Cheng Che smiled helplessly.
The next day, Pei Jingshu and Jin Zhixiu boarded a plane back to South Korea.
Cheng Che didn't go to see him off. He was training. But he sent a message: "Have a safe trip. See you in the finals."
Pei Jingshu replied with a kiss emoji.
Cheng Che put down his phone and continued playing his racket.
In the following matches, Cheng Che was in exceptionally good form.
In the second round, his opponent was a France, ranked 67th in the world.
Cheng Che won in three sets, including a 6-0 victory in the second set. His opponent, in a post-match interview, said, "His serve made me feel like I was catching cannonballs."
In the third round, my opponent is Spain, a clay-court specialist but not so good on hard courts.
Cheng Che won in three sets, without giving his opponent a single break point throughout the entire match.
In the fourth round, the round of 16, his opponent was the tournament's fifteenth seed, an United States.
This is the first seeded player Cheng Che has encountered at the Australian Open.
The final score was 6-4, 6-3, 6-2.
The opponent smashed his racket in the third set and was warned.
In the quarterfinals, his opponent is the tournament's sixth seed, Greece.
Cheng Che won in three sets, with the second set tiebreak going to 8-6, which was the set in which he lost the most points in this Australian Open.
But in the end, he still won.
They didn't lose a single set in four matches.
The internet in Xia Country has exploded.
Cheng Che made it to the semifinals!!! The semifinals!!!
[ Xia Country's History on the Internet!!!!!]
[He played his way through without losing a single game. What kind of skill level is that?]
He swept aside the world's sixth-ranked player in three sets, securing his place in the semifinals.
[I'm starting to believe he's really going to win the championship.]
Who will be their next opponent? Medvedev? Or Zverev?
[Regardless of who it is, Cheng Che is in really good shape right now.]
Its popularity on international websites is also soaring.
Cheng Che's match clips were repeatedly pushed on YouTube, and the number of views exceeded ten million within a few days.
The official ATP account posted a slow-motion replay of his forehand, captioned with just one word. "Artist."
The style of the comments section is completely different from that in China.
Female fans in the English-speaking region:
"I don't watch tennis at all; I came here specifically to see him."
"Who is this person? He's so handsome."
"His forehand is as beautiful as his face."
I'm moving to Xia Country.
Spain:
"This is the most handsome player I've ever seen in my life."
"His ball skills are incredible, but his face... oh my god."
Korean:
"He's a real beauty genius, and he plays basketball really well too."
"I hope our country has athletes like that too."
Japanese:
"This is my first time watching tennis, but it's worth watching just for the sake of watching."
"He's so handsome, I can't concentrate on the game."
There are also Arabic, French, and German versions.
On social media platforms around the world, Cheng Che's name was scrolled over and over again.
His match highlights have garnered over 50 million views on TikTok. The most liked video was recorded by a Brazil female blogger who watched the entire match with her face covered, concluding with, "I don't care if he plays well or not, I just want to watch him."
Cheng Che scrolled through these comments in the hotel room, his expression calm.
Then he opened the system panel.
[ Ten-Million-Tier Popularity Card: After use, a public post by the host will receive tens of millions of views. These views will naturally translate into influence.]
He glanced at the card.
The last time he used this card was in conjunction with a cultural tourism video and Wilson advertisement. He was well aware of the results from that.
The video was displayed on subways, high-speed rail stations, bus stops, and shopping mall screens in dozens of cities.
The endorsement fee doubled, and the commercial value reached a new level.
Now, the one he holds is the last one.
He thought for a moment, then clicked "use".
[ The Ten-Million-Tier Popularity Card has been activated. For the next 72 hours, topics related to the host will receive maximum exposure.]
Cheng Che didn't know was that the card's effects were even more potent than he had anticipated after activation.
The ATP official account posted a tweet that evening:
"Who is the biggest surprise of this year's Australian Open? Voting: Cheng Che, Medvedev, Zverev, Khachanov." Cheng Che's votes reached 78% within two hours.
On YouTube, Cheng Che's match highlights were pushed to the homepage by the algorithm.
An account called " The World's Most Handsome Athletes " posted a slow-motion video of his forehand, with the chorus of the song " Chasing the Wind " as background music, and it garnered over five million views in half a day.
Meanwhile, the trending topic in Xia Country changed from " Cheng Che advances to the semi-finals" to " Cheng Che has the highest odds of winning the championship".
Those celebrities who were just celebrating trending on social media fell silent after seeing Cheng Che's popularity.
Someone posted in the studio group chat. "Isn't he playing tennis? How come he's more popular than us when we release a new song?"
No one answered.
Because the answer is obvious.
He played Grand Slam matches.
The final four.
Not a single game was lost.
She's incredibly good-looking.
Eighteen years old.
This kind of popularity cannot be bought through marketing.
The effect of the title "[ Barrier Breaker ]" reached its peak at this moment.
Cheng Che's popularity has spread from the sports world to the entertainment industry, from domestic to international, and from tennis fans to casual observers who only care about looks.
Cheng Che paid no further attention to any of this.
He turned off his phone, lay on the bed, and stared at the ceiling.
The semi-final is the day after tomorrow. My opponent is Medvedev.
He closed his eyes and began to go over tactics in his mind.
Popularity is popularity, and competition is competition.
If you win, you get everything.
If you lose, nothing matters.