Who would still play tennis after being reborn?

Chapter 133 Does Gu Cheng Possess the Legendary Internal Force?
The slightly cool water flowed from head to toe, and Gu Cheng's anger subsided by more than half. But as soon as he closed his eyes, the scene of white flesh kept replaying in his mind.

Gu Cheng secretly despised himself for being a middle-aged man who had lived several lifetimes, yet he was lusting after someone else's little girl.

After thinking it over, Gu Cheng suddenly realized.

I used to always hear women call men "big pig trotters".

There is some truth to that.

No one can stay eighteen forever, but there will always be someone who is eighteen.

Men are truly very focused creatures. When it comes to women, their tastes are the same: they will always like young and beautiful girls.

Xia Zhitong thought about Gu Cheng, who had just crouched down and left, and then subconsciously looked down at him.

It's dazzling.

……

After soaking in the hot springs, Xia Mingxuan suggested going to play ball at a nearby indoor court.

Gu Cheng thought it was a bit odd to go play ball right after going to the hot springs, since he would have to take a shower later. Although the perks were great, he didn't want to be embarrassed again.

I don't know if Xia Zhitong has noticed yet.

It's fine if you don't notice, but it would be too embarrassing if you did.

But at the same time, he seriously doubted his self-control. How could a man in his thirties or forties have such poor self-control?

The little guy took off much faster than he had imagined.

It's impossible to control even if you want to.

I can't experience that again.

"It's so good to be young!"

Gu Cheng sighed, then suggested they go get something to eat.

There are food options at hot spring resorts, but to be honest, the food in big hotels is mostly just for show; for real taste, you have to go to those hole-in-the-wall restaurants.

Of course, it cannot be denied that some large hotels and restaurants serve exceptional dishes that small, unassuming eateries cannot replicate.

But those are always in the minority.

As soon as they left the hotel, Gu Cheng hailed a car. Xia Mingxuan opened the back door to get in, but Gu Cheng stopped him, saying, "Go to the front."

Xia Mingxuan: "..."

Although he really wanted to say, "Is it really okay for you to let a primary school student like me sit in the front row?"
Faced with two direct stares and his older sister's gesture of taking out her phone to call Lao Lu to pick him up, Xia Mingxuan finally gave in and sat in the front passenger seat.

The three of them took a car to a commercial street near East Lake.

Prices here are relatively high; a chicken wing rice roll costs more than ten yuan. This reminded Gu Cheng of the prices in the university town in his previous life, where, let alone chicken wing rice rolls, a small Orleans roast chicken only cost ten yuan.

However, the commercial street here is part of a tourist area, and inside is a small ancient town.

However, the commercial atmosphere is so strong that it can hardly be called an ancient town anymore.

After touring the ancient town, it was already afternoon.

After calling Lao Lu to pick them both up and take them home, Gu Cheng also took a taxi home by himself.

I went for a run near my neighborhood in the evening.

Then, he found a nearby gym to train his physical fitness. Compared to people like Federer, what he lacks most right now is not technique, but the five basic attributes.

Their physical fitness, strength, and speed are far inferior to those of Federer and others.

Even if you can't catch up in a short time, it's good to improve even a little. Before you've mastered the ultimate of perfect armor, it's still a bit dangerous to face players like Federer if you don't improve your basic attributes.

Of course, Gu Cheng was confident of winning.

But there's no guarantee of victory.

He will probably only play in one full Grand Slam and year-end finals in his lifetime, so he has to make sure he does everything perfectly.

As soon as Gu Cheng entered the gym, two smiling ladies in cheongsams greeted him warmly. When he went to the front desk and asked about the fees, he learned that the gym only offered monthly, quarterly, semi-annual, or annual memberships.

There are no single-use cards.

Then, when the saleswoman saw that Gu Cheng was a stranger, she immediately offered several large meal packages. When Gu Cheng heard the prices, he thought he had misheard.

An annual membership plus personal training costs 20,000 to 30,000 yuan a year, and that's just for a basic package. Better ones cost 40,000 to 50,000 yuan a year.

Gu Cheng was speechless.

Even if he had the time, he wouldn't dare to spend that much money!
A barbershop, a gym—basically any business that requires you to deposit money—is bound to close down. It's alright now, but in a few years, whenever there's a big sale with promotions like "deposit a certain amount and get a certain amount free," it usually won't take more than a month before you see those once bustling shops with their doors tightly shut.

Upon inquiring, they discovered that the person had already absconded with the money.

With such a premeditated escape, there's basically no chance of getting the money back.

Even if they don't abscond, they can still swindle money by claiming bankruptcy.

Then they change the name, or sell the whole thing to another company. If you want to use the money you deposited before, you can deposit a little more and then...

This completely traps us in a vicious cycle.

You can't use it without spending money, but if you do spend money, you'll lose even more.

Gu Cheng tried to persuade them for a while, but they just wouldn't give him a single-use pass. They insisted on a monthly pass at the very least. Frustrated, he could only leave. He was only going to stay in the country for two days, so getting a monthly pass would be a waste.

Although it wasn't much money, wasting it is shameful!

……

January 5th...

Gu Cheng received a call from Zhang Ming.

"Acheng, when are you coming to Melbourne?"

"It'll be in the next couple of days. Hao Yang and Cao Hui are coming over, and they said they'd go together."

"So late? If I had known you went back to China earlier, I would have asked you to come with me."

"You little rascal, you didn't even tell me you were coming back to China. Otherwise, I could have brought you to Melbourne beforehand. There are tons of beautiful women on the beaches in Melbourne, I guarantee you'd have a feast for the eyes."

"Of course, she can't compare to your girlfriend. That girl is a bug; even women would feel inferior in her presence."

"By the way, what specific time are you coming?"

Gu Cheng thought for a moment and said, "Let's say the 7th, which is the day after tomorrow. We'll first fly to Canberra, the capital of Australia, and then transfer to Melbourne. We should arrive around the afternoon. Yu Haoyang and Cao Hui will come back tomorrow."

"Okay, I'll pick you up from the airport then, and I'll treat you to a big meal tonight to reward you properly."

Are your parents coming?

"I probably shouldn't go."

"Such a big competition, aren't you uncles and aunties going to come and watch?"

I'll ask about it later.

"You'd better ask. The Australian Open is quite exciting, and Melbourne is a nice city, great for tourism. Your aunt and uncle probably haven't been abroad before, so this is a perfect opportunity."

"I was thinking of talking about it when I play in the Australian Open, but I'll ask tonight."

"Okay." That evening, Gu Cheng mentioned going to Melbourne to watch the game to his parents. Yuan Hongxia didn't care, since she didn't watch tennis, but Gu Zhenhai was somewhat interested.

Among the players who have participated in the four Grand Slams, there are several of his idols. Although his son has already defeated Federer, this does not affect Mr. Gu's love and support for Federer.

In the end, the three of them discussed it and decided to go there in the last few days.

Otherwise, if I go now, I'll have to take at least half a month off.

Although the company leaders wouldn't refuse, it would still cause gossip. Both of them are people who care about their reputation and are easily embarrassed, so they can't stand it when others talk about them.

Gu Cheng thought about it and agreed. Anyway, he wouldn't be able to be with his parents during the competition, so he could visit them in the last few days.

After staying at home for two days, Yu Haoyang and Cao Hui came directly to Ningbo. The three of them then took a flight from Ningbo to Canberra, the capital of Australia.

After arriving at noon, they transferred to a flight to Melbourne, the host city of the Australian Open.

on the plane.

Yu Haoyang and Cao Hui were discussing techniques such as single-leg shuffling, outside spin serve, and half volley. Thinking about Zhang Ming coming to pick them up at the airport, he turned his head and said, "When we arrive in Melbourne, Senior Zhang Ming will come to pick us up. It seems he has already booked a hotel for us. We can just go with him then."

"Speaking of which, it's been several months since I last saw Senior Zhang Ming. I never expected to meet him in Melbourne this time."

Upon hearing Zhang Ming's name, Yu Haoyang and Cao Hui immediately turned around and asked, "Really?"

"Is Senior Zhang Ming on the list?" Cao Hui asked curiously.

Yu Haoyang said from the side, "Old Cao, your information is too outdated. Senior Zhang Ming mastered the single-leg shuffle step and the super half-volley even earlier than me. His world ranking has also risen very quickly during this period. If there hadn't been a shortage of time, he probably wouldn't have needed to play in the qualifying rounds."

Cao Hui looked embarrassed: "I used to travel all over the world by myself, and the competitions I knew were mostly for people around my age. I didn't pay much attention to ATP tournaments; I watched mostly ITF junior tournaments."

"You, a teenage professional player, don't follow ATP tournaments?" Yu Haoyang asked with surprise.
Cao Hui remained calm: "I don't play in ATP tournaments, so why should I know so much? It would only affect my mentality."

Yu Haoyang shrugged: "That's true."

Watching ATP tournaments can indeed affect one's mindset, especially when the ITF Junior Circuit rankings were relatively low. Seeing those professional players in ATP tournaments, who are so strong, can give you the illusion that you are far inferior, which can lead to feelings of inferiority.

In this situation, it will still have some impact on my own game.

To some extent, Cao Hui's choice was not a problem.

……

Melbourne International Airport.

Bellucci yawned and glanced boredly at Zhang Ming, who was sitting there playing a PSP game: "Zhang, didn't you say you weren't going to play that game anymore? Why are you playing it again?"

Sousa, standing nearby, asked curiously, "Yeah, Zhang, you were swearing every day not long ago that you'd cut off your hands if you played this game again, and it hasn't been that long, and you're playing it again?"

"When did I say I wouldn't play anymore?" Zhang Ming feigned ignorance and said, "I said I couldn't finish playing a while ago, but that was because there were too many competitions, so I just made up an excuse not to play games. How could I really not play anymore!"

Actually, it's quite simple for Zhang Ming to start playing mass tennis again. The main reason is that he noticed a certain weirdo seems to have stopped playing recently, so he wanted to take advantage of this time to have some fun.

Once that guy starts playing again, he'll have to put it down.

Otherwise, that guy will ask him to play games again.

He wouldn't mind winning once or twice, but if he got thrashed every time, then there would be no fun at all.

Since Zhang Ming wasn't telling the truth, the two didn't press him further. However, Bellucci was slightly curious: "By the way, Zhang, who exactly did you bring us here to pick up?"

Zhang Ming casually remarked, "Two little guys from China plus a little freak are here to participate in the Australian Open Junior Championships."

“There’s one you’ve heard of.”

"We've heard of it?"

"Who?"

Zhang Ming pretended to be mysterious: "You'll see in a bit. Speaking of which, that kid is practically my mentor. If it weren't for him, I don't know when we would have been able to achieve the four Grand Slams."

Speaking of this, Zhang Ming also looked quite wistful.

Who would have thought that during that trip to Ningbo, I would run into that prodigy Gu Cheng at a tennis court? He not only tricked Gu Cheng into playing in a professional match, but also profited a lot from it.

Their strength has improved rapidly in the past two or three months.

At this rate, it won't be long before he's in the top 100, or even the top 80.

By then, he won't need to play qualifying rounds for the four Grand Slams; he can go straight into the main draw, something he never even dreamed of before.

Now, it seems that the dreamland of the past can be reached out and touched.

Zhang Ming felt it was all a bit unreal.

Top 100 in the world!
Five months ago, he wouldn't have dared to even think about it; it would probably be impossible for him to have no extraordinary encounters in his life.

Tennis has been around for so many years, and there hasn't been a single male professional player who has made it into the top 100 yet. He may very well be the first.

The first in history.

I get excited just thinking about it.

I can't even believe it.

"Your master?"

The two looked at each other.

Bellucci seemed to realize something and said, "You're not talking about CHENG, are you?"

"CHENG?"

"Who is it?" Sosa hadn't reacted yet.

Bellucci said speechlessly, "Who else could it be? You know Zhang's strength. He's stronger than both of us. Who else but CHENG could be his mentor and still be playing in youth competitions?"

Sousa's mouth dropped open: "You mean... that CHENG who beat Federer in a one-point match a while back?"

Bellucci rolled his eyes: "Who else could it be but him?"

Sosa suddenly looked at Zhang Ming: "Zhang, your strength has suddenly become so strong. Is it because CHENG revealed some techniques to you?"

"I knew it! So that's why you suddenly became so strong! It's all because of CHENG!"

Upon hearing this, Zhang Ming leaned closer mysteriously and whispered, "Shh... keep your voice down. I can tell you, but don't tell anyone else. Actually, that kid saw I had amazing physique and taught me a couple of moves, saying I'd definitely become stronger, so..."

"Really?"

Zhang Ming was just joking with Bellucci and Sousa, but he didn't expect Sousa to take it seriously. He swallowed hard and said, "Is there really such a thing as extraordinary bone structure?"

"So, does CHENG know some kind of martial arts or internal energy cultivation method to be able to play those tennis skills in Prince of Tennis?"

To be honest, Bellucci didn't really believe it, but when Sousa asked the question, he couldn't help but ask, "Zhang, you also know internal energy now?"

Zhang Ming was completely bewildered. What was going on?

I was just saying it casually, and you guys actually believed me?

He was just joking, thinking the two wouldn't believe him, but unexpectedly, they actually believed his nonsense.

This made Zhang Ming feel a little uncomfortable.

How do we explain this now?

(End of this chapter)