Chapter 19 Tennis
"Your heart is beating fast."
After breakfast, Jiang Siyue cleared the table, thanked the servants, and returned to her room. She'd seen at yesterday's gathering that the Zhang family was a mess, so she, a bystander who had strayed in, decided to stay out of the way.
Maybe it was because of the wrong environment, the game became boring after a few rounds. Jiang Siyue was bored and tried to chat with Meng Zhuqing on WeChat. Ten minutes passed, but she still hadn't replied.
Sliding through the friend list, Zhao Yan's avatar is particularly eye-catching.
[Jiang Siyue: When does the ancestor worship ceremony end?]
Just as I was about to put down my phone, Zhao Yan's message came back.
Zhao Yan: I didn't attend the ancestor worship ceremony. I'm working on a project at Jianxin right now, so I might not be back until the afternoon.
As a college teacher, it was normal for Zhao Yan to occasionally take on some work, but did he have to work so hard during the Qingming Festival holiday? Jiang Siyue suddenly felt unwell and felt guilty for playing a few games.
【Zhao Yan: Bored?】
Jiang Siyue fell on the bed and finally decided not to deceive herself and answer honestly.
【Jiang Siyue: A little bit.】
【Zhao Yan: Wait a minute.】
Two minutes later, a dialog box popped up with a new message for verification with friends.
【Zhao Yan: If I'm bored, I'll go out for a walk and drive Zhang Heng's car.】
【Zhao Yan: I'll take you out to play tomorrow.】
【Zhao Yan: [patting head].gif】
The stick figure rabbit was nestled on the ground, its ears twitching like her heartbeat. Jiang Siyue closed the dialog box and couldn't help but complain inwardly: Why send emojis when she's doing nothing? Can't she just maintain her cool persona?
A minute later, Jiang Siyue calmed down. The friend verification was sent by Zhang Heng, and Jiang Siyue had no impression of him at all.
After Jiang Siyue nodded in agreement, there was a knock on the door. Zhang Heng stood at the door and greeted her with a smile, "Sister-in-law, you want to go out for a drive, right? Take me with you!"
As the car drove out of the villa complex, Jiang Siyue finally understood why Zhang Heng had insisted on going out with her. He was still a minor, and his mother was very strict with him, with many restrictions. The other members of the Zhang family didn't want to take him with them for fear of trouble.
Unlike the other members of the Zhang family, Zhang Heng was very simple and could not hide anything in his heart. He was always smiling. Jiang Siyue liked him very much and asked with a smile, "What do you want to play?"
"Tennis!" Zhang Heng said, then felt embarrassed. "But in the end, it all depends on what my sister thinks."
"Tennis, then."
Zhang Heng was very lively and talked a lot to himself. He seemed to admire Zhao Yan very much. Eight out of ten sentences were about Zhao Yan. His eyes were shining, as if he regarded Zhao Yan as his idol.
"Brother Zhao Yan is really amazing!" Zhang Heng said with admiration, "He knows what he wants, and no matter what others say, he always sticks to his own ideas. My aunt asked him to inherit the family business, but he didn't want to, so he cut off contact and went to study for a master's and doctoral degree at his own expense. And my grandfather made him unhappy before, and in such a big place, he actually walked away with a cold face on the spot. I can't do these things." Zhang Heng sighed after he finished speaking.
Jiang Siyue went over it in her mind. Yesterday, Zhao Yan greeted everyone with a smile and was very polite. Jiang Siyue found it hard to imagine him being cold and confrontational.
"You are still young and can't compare with him." Jiang Siyue comforted.
"No." Zhang Heng's voice was a little muffled. "It will be difficult for me to be like Brother Zhao Yan in my lifetime. I can't give up the protection my family provides, and I don't have the courage to start over with nothing."
They had a good chat. Jiang Siyue hadn't expected that she could talk about emo with her child. Fortunately, after playing basketball, Zhang Heng quickly became cheerful and energetic.
Jiang Siyue hadn't played for a long time, so she practiced facing the wall.
"Yu Nanny!" A familiar and annoying voice sounded behind her, but Jiang Siyue was too lazy to turn around.
"I've been looking for so long, it turns out it's really you?" Zhang Cheng walked around to her. There was another girl standing next to her. She looked weak, but his eyes were very sharp.
With the two people blocking her way, Jiang Siyue couldn't continue serving, so she had to stop and ask, "What's the matter?"
Zhang Cheng stared at her with a smile on his face.
Zhang Heng, who was not far away, was drinking water mid-game. He caught a glimpse of the three people confronting each other from the corner of his eye. He stopped drinking and called Zhao Yan in a hurry, "Brother Zhao Yan, it's bad! Yuesaozi ran into Zhang Cheng and Lin Youyou, and it looks like a fight is about to start."
The reason why Zhang Heng was nervous was that Lin Youyou was the marriage partner that Zhang Sheng had suggested to Zhao Yan at the dinner table, and it was rumored that Lin Youyou was indeed interested in Zhao Yan.
Zhang Heng was far away and didn't know what the three of them were talking about. Suddenly, Zhang Cheng walked towards him and said, "Sister Yue, don't say we're bullying a newbie like you. Zhang Heng has been training for several years. You can team up with him."
Jiang Siyue had no objection. Both sides took their own side and found a coach to be the referee. Zhang Heng roughly guessed what had happened. It was definitely not a simple game of basketball, but he didn't dare to ask what the prize for the winner was.
After not playing for a few years, Jiang Siyue lost points several times in a row. Zhang Cheng was very happy, and Lin Youyou no longer pretended to be weak, with her chin almost raised to the sky.
Zhang Cheng: "Why don't you just admit defeat?"
Too lazy to answer, Jiang Siyue threw the ball over, and the green ball became an afterimage, passing by Lin Youyou.
Jiang Siyue scored.
"Are you fucking taking advantage of someone's misfortune?" Zhang Cheng slammed his racket and cursed at Jiang Siyue.
"Next time you want to curse, remember to call the referee." Jiang Siyue smiled softly and said to her, "If you can't afford to lose, just admit defeat."
During the break, Jiang Siyue went to the bathroom. Zhang Heng looked at the person walking towards the door and almost cried out loud.
"Brother Zhao Yan!" Zhang Heng waved at him, "Here, here."
Zhao Yan took out a bottle of Coke from a plastic bag and threw it to him, "Where's your sister-in-law?"
"Going to the bathroom." Zhang Heng pointed in the distance. Zhao Yan nodded, put the drink on the chair, and bent down to pick up Jiang Siyue's windbreaker.
"Zhao Yan." A soft voice sounded. Zhao Yan smiled politely at Lin Youyou and continued to play with his mobile phone with his head down.
Being ignored like this, Lin Youyou couldn't hold back her smile. She sat down next to him and said in a pretentious manner, "Zhao Yan, Jiang Siyue and I made a bet."
Without waiting for Zhao Yan's answer, Lin Youyou's anger intensified. She forced a smile and said innocently, "She said that if I win, she will let me have a meal with you alone."
Zhao Yan paused typing.
"I think she's going a bit too far. How can she treat you as a bet? If it were me, I would never do that. It's too disrespectful." Lin Youyou sounded aggrieved, as if she felt particularly unfair for Zhao Yan.
According to Zhang Cheng, Zhao Yan's personality is such that he absolutely cannot tolerate others using him as a bet, so if he said this, Zhao Yan would definitely be angry. It would be best if he had a big fight with Jiang Siyue and get a divorce.
Lin Youyou thought of this, and a hint of cruelty flashed in her eyes. He had rejected the marriage proposal in front of so many people, making her a laughing stock in Qingchuan. She could not let this go easily.
Zhao Yan smiled, his eyes devoid of warmth, and asked, "Did you win?"
"We're ahead in the score." Lin Youyou smiled sweetly, "Zhao Yan, do you want to eat—"
Zhao Yan beckoned Zhang Heng over and headed off to another location, completely ignoring Lin Youyou. Lin Youyou's chest heaved violently, her nails digging deep into her flesh.
Zhang Heng couldn't bear to watch it any longer and said with a curled lip, "Sister, my brother is already married, can you please stop rushing to destroy other people's families?"
"Shut up!" Lin Youyou glared at him fiercely, not showing any sign of weakness. Zhang Heng took two steps back with mixed feelings.
Jiang Siyue came out of the bathroom, picked up a bottle of water and asked, "Did you go buy some water?"
"Keep going!" Zhang Cheng's voice came. Jiang Siyue sighed impatiently, drank some water, picked up the racket and pushed Zhang Heng.
Zhang Heng didn't move. He saw Zhao Yan coming over after changing his clothes from a distance, and his brows lit up with joy. "Let Brother Zhao Yan go with you."
"Hmm?" Jiang Siyue turned around. Zhao Yan had changed into a pale blue sportswear and was already standing on the court, waving at her. She was shocked, but also a little overwhelmed with a smug joy. She trotted forward and asked, "Why are you here?"
After the fight, her face was covered in sweat, turning pale and rosy. Her normally flowing long hair was tied into a ponytail, and the loose strands on her forehead were soaked with sweat and stuck to her skin.
This was the first time Zhao Yan had seen her exercising. She looked relaxed, and her whole body exuded a strong vitality. He smiled and said, "I heard you bet me out. I'm here to defend myself."
"What?" Jiang Siyue heard the general idea but didn't understand clearly.
"Let's begin." Zhao Yan gestured for her to stand on the other side.
Zhang Cheng served from the side, and Jiang Siyue received the ball diagonally. She stopped thinking about other things and squatted with her hands holding the racket, paying attention to the direction of the ball.
After regaining her feeling, Jiang Siyue hit him harder and harder, not caring whether she would be too weak to lift her body tomorrow. She used all her strength in every hit. Zhang Cheng's face became more and more distorted, and Jiang Siyue felt a sense of pleasure in her heart.
"Out (out of bounds, a tennis term)."
It was finally over. Jiang Siyue was so tired that she could hardly lift her wrist. She held the racket and walked in front of Zhang Cheng and Lin Youyou, saying in a cold tone: "What did you say to Zhao Yan?"
"You're so smart, just guess it yourself!" Zhang Cheng yelled back in dissatisfaction. Jiang Siyue hadn't even been able to serve well at first, so how could she suddenly be so good? If I had known, I wouldn't have competed.
Jiang Siyue sneered and said contemptuously: "It turns out that Sister Cheng, who has seen so much of the world, can't afford to lose."
"You!" Zhang Cheng glanced at Zhao Yan approaching, but ultimately didn't dare raise his hand and stormed off. Lin Youyou forced a smile and also left impatiently.
Zhang Heng wanted to play for a while longer, so Jiang Siyue and Zhao Yan changed their clothes and waited for him together.
The sound of balls hitting the court was endless. Jiang Siyue, holding a bottle of drink in her hand, pursed her lips and asked him, "Why did you come here so suddenly? Is Jianxin finished?"
"Yeah." Zhao Yan looked ahead, his hands in his pockets. He was in a good mood after a workout, with a faint smile on his face. "Zhang Heng said that you and Zhang Cheng and the others had a fight."
"No." Jiang Siyue was overwhelmed. "We just arranged a game of ball." After a pause, she added, "It wasn't my intention to use you as a bet. They insisted on doing it that way."
She just wanted to crush Zhang Cheng on the court, so she didn't care too much.
Lin Youyou, sitting on a nearby bench, overheard the intermittent conversation between the two men, feeling a sense of relief at having her revenge taken. As long as she could upset Zhao Yan, losing once in a while wouldn't matter.
Lin Youyou grabbed her bag and left the club in her high heels.
Jiang Siyue lowered her head and said sincerely, "Sorry, I won't do it again next time."
A light laugh sounded above her head. Jiang Siyue looked up and met Zhao Yan's calm eyes.
"I don't blame you. Don't keep saying sorry." Zhao Yan leaned closer to her, put his hand next to her ear, and said in a voice that only the two of them could hear: "Besides, didn't you win me back?"
Before he finished speaking, Zhao Yan's eyes flashed and he quickly pulled Jiang Siyue into his arms.
"Bang--" A tennis ball fell on the seat where Jiang Siyue had just sat. Jiang Siyue lay in Zhao Yan's arms, and every breath she took was filled with his scent. The moment she raised her eyes, she bumped into Zhao Yan unexpectedly.
Zhao Yan frowned and asked, "Are you scared?"
Jiang Siyue shook her head.
"Your heart is beating fast."
Jiang Siyue's breath was choked, "I..."
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