Under the blazing sun, the outdoor No. 2 court was packed to capacity.
Cheng Che stood behind the baseline, tossed the ball, jumped, and swung his racket.
An inside corner ace.
The ball hit the service area, bounced, and flew directly towards the advertising boards.
The opposing player didn't even move.
The referee announced the final score: 6-3, 6-4.
Cheng Che won.
"Dear viewers!"
The narrator's voice came through the loudspeaker; Lin Yan's voice was a little hoarse, but he was still incredibly excited.
"With Cheng Che advancing to the knockout stage as the top seed in his group after winning all three group stage matches, let's review his performance in those three games!"
"In the first match against the experienced professional player Zhu Junchi, Cheng Che lost the first set, but then turned the tide through tactical adjustments and on-the-spot adaptability. He won that match with his mind."
"In the second match against Wu Hao, nicknamed ' The Never Tires from Running,' Cheng Che increased his speed throughout the game, using rhythm and power to drag his opponent into a stamina quagmire. After three sets, Wu Hao was so exhausted he could barely stand. That match was won by stamina."
"In the third match, which was today, against defensive player Chen Bai, Cheng Che used shot placement control. He didn't just keep increasing his speed; instead, he used wide angles to move Chen Bai from one baseline to another, until Chen Bai couldn't even run anymore. This match was won through control."
Zhou Zhou picked up the conversation and shouted:
"Three matches, three playing styles. The first match was won with strategy, the second with stamina, and the third with control."
"This isn't the kind of competitive wisdom you'd expect from an 18-year-old, but Cheng Che has it!"
Bullet comments:
[Three matches, three opponents, three ways to win. I'm completely dumbfounded.]
[In the first match, I thought he relied on talent; in the second, I thought he relied on stamina; in the third, I realized he relied on his brain.]
[Eighteen years old, three official matches, each one more terrifying than the last.]
[In the next round of the knockout stage, his opponent is probably already studying the video replays, but it's useless; his playing style is different in every match.]
In the stands, Guo Xin stood up excitedly, cupped his hands to his mouth, and shouted at the top of his lungs:
"This is my brother! My brother!"
A young woman next to him gave him a disdainful look. "Is this your brother?"
"Yes! My deskmate! My deskmate for all three years of high school!"
The young woman rolled her eyes. "But he's still my husband."
Guo Xin: "..."
Cheng Che happened to be looking towards the stands. His gaze swept across the crowd and landed on Guo Xin. He smiled and waved.
Guo Xin also waved.
The girl next to me jumped up excitedly and raised her hands high:
"Look! My husband is waving at me! He saw me!"
Guo Xin's hand froze in mid-air, and the smile on his face gradually solidified.
He turned his head to look at the pretty girls around him, then at the boy on the court who was being followed by countless eyes.
The initial excitement slowly faded, replaced by an extremely complex emotion.
He looked at Cheng Che and cursed inwardly: You deserve to die.
Cheng Che followed Qin Lie back to the locker room.
"You can rest for two days." Qin Lie handed him a bottle of water. "After the group stage, the other players who finished 2-1 will have to play in the qualifying rounds to determine the remaining knockout stage spots. The knockout stage doesn't start until two days later."
Cheng Che nodded, changed his clothes, slung his bag over his shoulder, and left the gymnasium.
As soon as I stepped outside, several girls surrounded me.
" Cheng Che! Can I get your autograph?"
"We're your fans! We've been watching since the qualifiers!"
"You were amazing today! Your control of the landing point was incredible!"
Cheng Che was taken aback.
He knew he had a lot of fans online and had been trending on social media several times, but online is online.
This is the first time I've been stopped face-to-face by someone asking for an autograph and saying they like him.
He was a little excited.
That feeling of "there really was someone waiting for me" flowed through my chest like a warm current.
He smiled, a genuinely genuine smile, "Sure. Where should I sign?"
Several girls handed him notebooks, hats, and phone cases, Cheng Che signed off on one by one.
The " Heartthrob of Ten Thousand " persona quietly began to operate at this moment.
When he lowered his head to write, his eyelashes drooped, and his profile was clean and white in the sunlight.
When he handed the notebook back, his fingers were long and slender, and his movements were casual.
The girls had prepared a lot to say, but when they met those smiling eyes, they suddenly couldn't utter a single one of those "racy" words that were all over the internet.
"Come on."
You will definitely win the Champion.
We'll come to every game.
They spoke softly, their voices gentle and gentle.
After signing the last one, Cheng Che waved to them and said, "Thank you, I'm leaving now."
As he turned to leave, several suppressed screams came from behind him, and someone said, "He saw me," "He's so gentle."
Qin Lie was waiting in the car. When he saw Cheng Che get in, he smiled and said, "Your calligraphy practice wasn't for nothing, was it?"
Cheng Che's face flushed slightly.
He did train.
He had seen online that celebrities use artistic handwriting for their signatures to make them difficult to forge and prevent them from being misused.
He practiced secretly a few times when he had nothing to do, but Qin Lie saw him.
"It's alright," he said.
"More than just okay." Qin Lie started the car. "Those girls will probably be too excited to sleep when they get back."
As the car drove out of the parking lot and turned onto the main road, Cheng Che saw a familiar figure by the roadside.
Guo Xin.
He was standing by the roadside looking around, with two people following behind him.
Cheng Che and was stunned for a moment.
His parents.
Cheng Che quickly told Qin Lie to stop the car, opened the door, and went to greet him.
What brings you here?
"Surprised? Isn't that a surprise!" Guo Xin said smugly. "I showed the way to your aunt and uncle!"
Cheng Che ignored him and walked up to his parents.
His father wore a pair of huge sunglasses that covered a third of his face.
His mother was wearing a sun hat with the brim pulled low, and she also had a silk scarf wrapped around her neck.
Cheng Che: "... Dad, are you serious about those sunglasses?"
Cheng Jianguo proudly pushed up his sunglasses:
"What's wrong? Pretty well hidden, right?"
Cheng Che couldn't help but laugh, "Well hidden. It's just a bit like being blind."
Jiang Xue patted him on the shoulder and said, "What are you saying?"
Cheng Jianguo wasn't annoyed. He chuckled, took off his sunglasses, and stuffed them into his pocket.
"Alright, we don't need to pack anymore when we get there."
Jiang Xue looked at him and reached out to touch his head, but halfway through her hand, she realized that her son's head was higher than what she could reach.
Cheng Che lowered his head.
Jiang Xue placed her hand on his hair and gently ruffled it.
She smiled, her eyes filled with pride.
"You've lost weight," she said.
"I haven't lost weight," Cheng Che said. "I've been eating well every day."
"That means you're tired. Were you tired from the game?"
"Not tired."
Cheng Jianguo coughed beside him, Cheng Che turned to look at him.
His father was carrying a large bag, which looked like he had brought something from his hometown.
Cheng Jianguo gestured with his chin towards him, then looked at Qin Lie, took out a cigarette from his pocket, and handed it to him.
"Coach Qin, thank you for taking care of my Cheche these past few days."
Qin Lie accepted the cigarette, speaking politely, but unable to suppress the smile on his face:
"Oh, not at all Cheng Che is a talented and self-disciplined kid; he's so easy to raise. Let me tell you, he's definitely going to be very successful. You've done a great job raising him! If only my son were half as good as him..."
Cheng Che couldn't stand it anymore and quickly interrupted:
"Alright, Old Qin, stop with the flattery. Let's go, I'm hungry, let's find somewhere to eat."
The group found a hot pot restaurant and booked a private room.
Guo Xin sat next to Cheng Che, excitedly saying while eating tripe, "Let me tell you, I'm a big fan of your supertopic now!"
Cheng Che looked at him suspiciously. "How did you get that position?"
"Hehe." Guo Xin grinned slyly, "I've sold you your embarrassing stories."
"What embarrassing thing happened?"
"That time you wet your pants in your first year of high school."
Cheng Che nearly spat out the tripe he was eating. "When did I wet my pants?"
"During your physical fitness test in your first year of high school, after running the 1000 meters, you squatted down and couldn't get up, and your pants were soaked, don't you remember?"
"That's from my sweat!"
"They don't think so," Guo Xin said, picking up a piece of meat. "They all say you're cute, that you must have been adorable as a child, and they even call you ' Che Baby '."
Cheng Che's face turned green. "Delete it for me."
"Why delete it? It's trending a lot."
On the other side, Qin Lie and Cheng Jianguo were clinking glasses and chatting amiably.
Qin Lie was saying, "If Cheng Che goes to compete internationally in the future, his future will be limitless," when his phone vibrated in his pocket.
He had just casually swiped the screen, then his finger stopped.
He glanced at it again.
Then he slowly turned his phone over, facing everyone.
His voice sounded a little strained.
"Look at this."
Everyone crowded around.
The screen displays an external message, posted a few minutes ago.
Qin Lie's fingers trembled slightly when he turned his phone over.
A video is playing on the screen.
Federer sat in a lounge with a tablet in front of him, the screen displaying a recording of Cheng Che's group stage match.
The video is very short, only a dozen seconds long.
After watching it, Federer looked up and said something to the camera.
The following is accompanied by English subtitles:
"This young man is very interesting. If he makes it to the finals, I'll go see him in person."
The private room fell silent.
Cheng Jianguo's piece of tripe fell into the pot, splashing a small patch of red oil.
Jiang Xue covered her mouth, her eyes wide open.
Guo Xin's chopsticks fell to the table with a "thud".
They all started paying attention to tennis because of Cheng Che, and they also learned what level this foreigner was at.
Qin Lie put his phone away, his voice a little tense:
"This was posted by Federer's official account. It's not a marketing account or a self-media outlet. It's him."
Cheng Che stared at that line of text for several seconds.
Then he raised his head and looked at Qin Lie.
" Old Qin."
"Um."
"Is he really coming?"
Qin Lie took a deep breath. "An athlete of this caliber wouldn't joke about something like this. He just happened to be traveling to Xia Country with his family, and watching the match might be a side thing for him... but this attention is very important to us."
Cheng Che put down his chopsticks, leaned back in his chair, and closed his eyes.
Federer.
Roger Federer.
He remembered the day he first picked up a tennis racket.
That old racket, that abandoned low wall, that afternoon when I played so badly with Old Chen.
Back then, he even had to learn how to grip the racket on the spot.
Later, he practiced serving 10,000 times in front of a wall in the park.
Later, in the group stage of the main tournament, he won three matches in three different ways.
And all of this happened only a few months ago.
Now Federer is coming to watch him play.
Cheng Che opened his eyes and looked at the glaring light in the private room.
The corners of his mouth slowly curved into a smile.
That's perfect.
Qin Lie looked at him. "What's just right?"
Cheng Che didn't answer, but only looked down at his hands.
This will be a good opportunity for Federer to see how he plays.