Who would still play tennis after being reborn?

Chapter 39: Just three points? (5.4K)

Although the school has covered the expenses, the two competitions will take too long, so I definitely need to talk to my parents and get their approval.

After evening self-study ended, Gu Cheng returned home.

At this hour, Gu Zhenhai and his wife were still awake, but they had both taken showers and were snuggling on the sofa watching a rerun of a TV series called "Parents' Love".

After greeting the two, Gu Cheng turned on the living room lights.

"Son, turn off the light. Leaving the light on wastes electricity!"

The older generation is very frugal. They always like to turn off the lights when watching TV, saying it saves electricity. Little do they know that watching TV in the dark is very harmful to their eyes.

"Keep it on, it won't use much electricity, but watching TV like this is a bit hard on the eyes."

Yuan Hongxia didn't say much, just let it drive.

Gu Cheng stood behind and watched for a while, and eventually he also looked inside.

No one could have imagined that "Our Parents' Love" would withstand so much scrutiny. Even though the details have been thoroughly analyzed, it still makes people want to rewatch it.

This drama is definitely one of the few TV series that you can watch over and over again without getting tired of it.

Although Gu Cheng didn't read it much when he was in school, he reread it after entering society.

The marriage between Jiang Defu and An Jie is so realistic, and their delicate emotions not only make the characters in the drama envious, but also make people outside the drama yearn for it.

This kind of love, which isn't dramatic or earth-shattering, but rather grows and settles slowly in the everyday routines of life, amidst the trivial arguments and reconciliations, is truly enviable.

As people often say, in the past, travel was slow, letters took a long time to arrive, and one's life was only enough to love one person.

Gu Cheng looked down at Gu Zhenhai and Yuan Hongxia. The white hair on their heads was already faintly visible, but their feelings had not faded with the passage of time. On the contrary, their mutual tolerance in ordinary days had become more touching.

At this moment, Gu Cheng suddenly felt an urge to make a lot of money, not out of vanity, but because he didn't have to worry about not having money when he urgently needed it.

At this time of year, there aren't many opportunities to make money while riding the wave of opportunity. Even if there are some, Gu Cheng doesn't think he has the ability to make a living from it.

After much thought, I still have to go into professional gaming.

The prize money for ATP professional tournaments is not low. If you win the championship, the initial investment can be fully covered, and there may even be a lot left over.

While Gu Cheng was pondering these things, the TV series ended a short while later. The two got up and were about to go to bed when they noticed Gu Cheng still standing behind them.

"Stop looking, go to sleep."

"Your dad and I are going to sleep too."

As the two got up and headed towards the bedroom, Gu Cheng remembered his mission and immediately called out to them, "Dad, Mom, there's a National High School Tennis Championship and an Australian Open Wildcard Tournament coming up soon. I'd like to sign up for them. The school will cover the expenses, but..."

Gu Cheng hesitated for a moment, then gritted his teeth and said, "It just takes a bit longer, about half a month. I'd like to ask for your opinion."

As soon as Gu Cheng finished speaking, the room fell silent.

Gu Zhenhai didn't speak immediately, while Yuan Hongxia seemed to want to say something but hesitated.

After a moment, Gu Zhenhai returned to the sofa, gestured for Gu Cheng to sit down, and then asked, "You play tennis?"

"Ah."

Gu Zhenhai frowned: "If my memory serves me right, you should have never been exposed to tennis from childhood to adulthood."

"I played tennis with my classmates at school a long time ago. Anyway, I know a little bit, and I'm pretty good at it." Gu Cheng could only lie here, otherwise he couldn't explain why he had never played tennis before but was so good at it.

Gu Zhenhai didn't press further, but instead pushed up his black-rimmed glasses: "Was this your own idea or a requirement from the school?"

“The school asked for my opinion, and I agreed.”

"You want to become a professional player?"

"Ah."

Having received an affirmative answer from Gu Cheng, Gu Zhenhai took a breath and said, "I won't ask about anything else, but have you thought about how you'll be able to keep up with your studies if you take up most of your time to play tennis and things don't go well?"

"High school is not like elementary or middle school. If you fall behind in something, you're just going to fall behind."

Gu Cheng understood what Gu Zhenhai wanted to say.

Is it worth wasting most of half a month to gamble on a vague and uncertain opportunity?
Gu Cheng's eyes were unusually firm: "Dad, I..."

Before he could finish speaking, Gu Zhenhai interrupted him, saying, "Since you've already made up your mind, then go for it. Your mother and I have saved some money over the years, which was originally intended for you to use for getting married and buying a house in the future. If you really have the opportunity to become a professional player, your parents will give you whatever they can. If it doesn't work out, we can always start over."

"Dad..." Gu Cheng gritted his teeth, wanting to say a few words of comfort to his parents, but he didn't know how to say them.

Gu Zhenhai has always followed tennis and is well aware of the expenses involved in playing professional matches, which can easily amount to several million or even tens of millions of dollars.

Putting aside whether they can afford the money, if they achieve good results in their professional careers, that's fine, but if they don't, the money is basically wasted.

From his parents' perspective, Gu Cheng's decision to pursue a professional career was no different from gambling.

Even so, Gu Zhenhai not only did not refuse, but even reassured Gu Cheng that he should not have any worries, which Gu Cheng did not expect.

In his eyes, his biological father, Gu Zhenhai, was an old-fashioned person, and nine out of ten sentences he uttered were related to studying.

The biggest obstacle to my playing in the competition should have been my elderly father, but that wasn't the case.

Gu Zhenhai only asked a couple of questions before agreeing to let him play tennis without even thinking about it.

Gu Zhenhai smiled and said, "There are some things we shouldn't say. Whether it works out or not, this is the first time you've talked to your parents about this. We'll support you even if we have to sell everything we own."

"Our family is indeed not wealthy, but... dreams are a lifelong pursuit."

Since his own father had said so, Gu Cheng didn't say anything more.

At this point, no amount of grand pronouncements will be as convincing as bringing back two championships.

Yuan Hongxia, who was standing to the side, glanced at her husband Gu Zhenhai in surprise, hesitated, but before she could say a word, Gu Zhenhai pulled her into the bedroom.

"Old Gu, you..."

Gu Zhenhai gestured for her to close the bedroom door.

After closing the door, Yuan Hongxia looked at Gu Zhenhai and asked, "Did you really agree to your son's request?"

Gu Zhenhai nodded: "Although I don't have high hopes, I still have to say these things. At least the child will have confidence and won't be timid."

Whether it works or not, we'll know after these two matches.

If you can't even get a top finish in this kind of competition, then forget about playing in real professional matches.

At that point, he naturally gave up.

"But... is your son really capable?"

After a moment of silence, Gu Zhenhai said, "Then take out that money, and also the money his grandfather gave him before. No matter what happens in the future, we as parents can't hold our child back."

"but……"

Gu Zhenhai raised his hand to interrupt, "I know what you want to say, but don't say it. You're a more open-minded person than I am as a father. Would you refuse your son's request?"

"No," Yuan Hongxia shook her head.

"That settles it then, so it's best to keep some things to yourself."

Yuan Hongxia said helplessly, "Then... I'll listen to you!"

……

The next day, Gu Cheng went to school as usual, but he missed the last two classes that afternoon. The preliminary registration time in the province was 9:10 a.m. on October 29, and he had to go to the provincial capital a day in advance to check in.

Back home, Gu Cheng grabbed his suitcase and took a taxi to the South High-Speed ​​Railway Station.

Before 5 p.m., Gu Cheng checked into a hotel less than 500 meters from the provincial stadium. He then ate something nearby and went for a run around the stadium twice that evening. After confirming the location, he returned to the hotel with peace of mind.

The next day.

Gu Cheng got up early, ran for a while in the hotel gym, ate breakfast, changed into clean clothes, and walked to the stadium.

Upon arriving at the stadium, Gu Cheng followed the signs to find the outdoor registration area.

The tennis center at the provincial stadium was larger than expected, with 11 standard hard courts, 8 of which were outdoors. The spacing between the courts was relatively reasonable, and the surrounding environment looked nice. This environment reminded Gu Cheng of the Teniss Tennis Center, but it was even more spacious.

"Participating in the preliminary rounds?"

"Ah."

Before entering, staff members stopped Gu Cheng and asked him to fill out some information before he was allowed to go inside.

Gu Cheng arrived early, but once inside, he found that quite a few people had already gathered, chatting and laughing in small groups. Gu Cheng was the only one who was special; out of several students at No. 1 High School who could play tennis well, he was the only one who had signed up.

In addition, he had only recently traveled back from the world of Prince of Tennis, and he didn't know any of the better tennis players among the junior and senior high school students in Ningbo.

Seeing that the coach hadn't arrived yet, Gu Cheng had no choice but to find a chair and sit down to wait.

Not long after he sat down, a tall, thin boy walked over and asked, "Are you from Ningbo too?" Gu Cheng looked up at him.

"My name is Jiang Bin, from Yinzhong."

Jiang Bin smiled and introduced himself, then pointed to the registration area: "I saw on the sign-in sheet over there that you were from No. 1 Middle School, so I came here out of curiosity."

After saying that, he pointed to a spot not far away: "Those guys are all from Ningbo. Want to go over and chat? Maybe you know someone there."

Gu Cheng glanced in the direction Jiang Bin was pointing and saw twenty or thirty students chatting and laughing together. However, none of them were his acquaintances, so he shook his head and politely declined Jiang Bin's invitation.

Jiang Bin looked regretful, said goodbye, and returned to the crowd.

Did you ask?

Jiang Bin nodded: "I asked, he's from No. 1 Middle School, his name is Gu Cheng, do you know him?"

"Not familiar with them." The group shook their heads upon hearing this. "Never heard of them."

Many of those who signed up for the preliminary rounds said they had been playing tennis since childhood and frequently participated in youth tennis tournaments, so the probability of them meeting each other was very high. Even if they weren't familiar with each other, they had heard of each other.

It's normal that people don't recognize Gu Cheng, who has just returned.

“But I do know Wu Yifei from No. 1 High School, why isn’t he here?” someone suddenly asked.

“Wu Yifei is already a senior in high school, and his grades are not bad. It’s not like the school registered as a group, so it’s normal that he didn’t come.”

"But I've never heard of this Gu Cheng before. He probably wasn't very famous!"

"Students from No. 1 Middle School don't usually participate in these kinds of competitions, so there's no need to worry too much about it."

"Most of us are just here to observe; I might have to book a ticket to go back this afternoon."

"Have some confidence, okay?"

The boy sighed: "I heard that this preliminary selection will only form one team to participate in the team competition, and then there will be men's singles, women's singles, men's doubles, women's doubles, and substitutes. In total, there are less than 20 people. I just glanced at it and there are already two or three hundred people participating in the preliminary selection. It's almost one in fifteen. I don't think I have that ability."

Jiang Bin stepped forward and patted the other person on the shoulder: "Being cowardly before the battle is a major taboo in warfare. The competition hasn't even started yet, how can you say you've lost? Maybe you'll make it through the preliminaries while the rest of us get eliminated."

"Brother Jiang, with your strength, the chances of you being eliminated are slim!"

"That's not necessarily true. I chose the men's singles, and the competition for that position is too fierce."

"That's true."

……

As the group was talking, more than ten people walked in. They were the head coach and some assistants and staff members leading the team in this preliminary selection.

One of the male assistants stepped forward and asked Gu Cheng and the others to line up in their positions. Then Zhou Yuan, the head coach in charge of the team, stepped forward and said, "My name is Zhou Yuan, and I am your head coach this time."

"Hello, coach."

Everyone greeted each other.

Gu Cheng greeted them in return.

Although Zhou Yuan was almost fifty years old, his eyes were sharp. After glancing at everyone, he said indifferently, "I won't say anything more. You all know the rules in advance. Except for the team competition, only one group will be selected for each other position. If you want to participate in the competition, then you'll have to eliminate the others first."

"Each of you will have one service game and one return game. After you finish, leave the court. The winner will advance to the next round, and the rest of you will continue. We will try to finalize all the positions within one day."

"what?"

Upon hearing this, everyone was stunned and groaned.

This violent and direct approach stunned everyone.

A service game and a return game, if played normally, only last three to five minutes, it's too fast.

"Not used to it? You have to adapt, even if you don't."

Zhou Yuan's sharp eyes swept across the entire venue: "There are too many people who have signed up. I can't let you play a whole match. It would take three to five days to determine the final selection."

"Those who feel there is a problem can withdraw from the preliminary round now."

No one dared to look Zhou Yuan in the eye.

However, some people disagreed with the rules set by Zhou Yuan, and even felt that it was too hasty to determine positions in this way. But Zhou Yuan was the head coach, and his words were basically like imperial edicts. At this time, refuting him would not only be useless, but would also make him look bad in Zhou Yuan's eyes.

After thinking about it, although I was somewhat unwilling, I could only leave it to fate.

"Since no one is backing out, then it's settled."

"besides……"

Zhou Yuan reminded them: "I took a quick look and there are a lot of people who signed up for the men's singles, close to eighty. Even if we include the substitutes, we will only select two people in the end. If you are planning to change your position, go and change it now."

Sure enough, as soon as Zhou Yuan said that, about ten people from the men's singles team went to sign up for the team or men's doubles.

After the final personnel were determined, Zhou Yuan looked up at the men's singles team: "Those who don't want to waste time can play a game with the guy behind me. If you win... never mind, whoever can get 3 points from him will become a regular men's singles player, and the others will compete for the substitute position."

"Those in other positions who are confident can also choose this method."

"However, there is no second chance once you lose."

This method is simpler and more direct than the first one.

But nobody's a fool. If Old Zhou dares to say something like that, his opponent must be quite strong. If they lose, they'll still have a chance to compete against others, and many people will definitely be willing to give it a try.

But Lao Zhou obviously wouldn't give anyone a chance to take advantage of him.

At that moment, someone in the crowd recognized the young man Old Zhou was pointing to: "Yu Haoyang!?"

"Is it Yu Haoyang?"

"Good, it seems someone has recognized you."

Old Zhou's lips curled up slightly, clearly very satisfied with the young man behind him: "Yu Haoyang, the men's singles champion at the Provincial Games a while ago, is now a professional player active in ITF junior events."

A murmur of surprise rippled through the room, and when everyone looked at Yu Haoyang again, their expressions had completely changed.

Many people had planned to give it a try before, but after hearing what Lao Zhou said, they quietly withdrew their feet that had just been stepped out.

The provincial games men's singles champion and a professional player active in ITF junior events—with these two advantages combined, it's impossible for this group of people, who can't even get into some high-level professional competitions in China, to actually challenge someone to a match. While it's not exactly asking for a beating, winning would be nothing short of a pipe dream.

As for the three points Lao Zhou mentioned, that doesn't mean three points. Winning three games in a match sounds easy, but it depends on who the opponent is.

"Is nobody here?"

Seeing that no one spoke up, Zhou Yuan was extremely disappointed: "I brought Yu Haoyang here thinking that one of you would step forward and give it a try, but I didn't expect that not a single one of you would do it. It seems that I overestimated you."

"In that case, let's not waste any more time and proceed with the matches according to the arranged order."

Although Lao Zhou's contempt made many people resentful, no one stepped forward on a whim. If it were a fight between people of similar strength, or even slightly stronger ones, they would be willing to give it a try.

But if the opponent is Yu Haoyang, and you know you have no chance of winning but still insist on going for it, what's the difference between that and having water in your brain?
Gu Cheng was distracted and didn't hear what Zhou Yuan said afterward. Just as he was about to turn around to look at his opponent and the court, he heard Jiang Bin and three other students from Ningbo complaining quietly in front of him.

"Coach Zhou Yuan is making things too difficult for us. Out of more than sixty people, we can only select two. It would take at least seven or eight rounds to determine the positions. Even if we give them a direct selection opportunity, they still have to get at least three points from Yu Haoyang. It's no different from not giving them anything at all."

"It would be better not to mention it at all; now it's putting people in an awkward position."

"Either give me another chance to challenge myself, and if I win, I can advance directly, and if I lose, I can compete with others. I would be willing to give it a try."

Upon hearing this, Gu Cheng suddenly looked up: "What did you just say?"

Jiang Bin turned around: "Is Coach Zhou making things difficult for you?"

"No, the one who advanced directly."

"Didn't you hear me?"

Gu Cheng shook his head.

Jiang Bin explained, "It means we won't play in the knockout stage. We'll play against Yu Haoyang directly, and if we win, we'll get the starting spot. The others will compete for the men's singles substitute position."

It was this sentence that made Gu Cheng subconsciously raise his hand.

In a line of hundreds, it's hard to spot a single person at a glance, but when only one person raises their hand, they become very noticeable.

In an instant, everyone around Gu Cheng looked at him, including Lao Zhou and Yu Haoyang who were standing in front.

What is he doing?
Many people had already guessed why Gu Cheng raised his hand.

But it was precisely because they knew that the scene was somewhat quiet, and everyone looked at Gu Cheng with a slightly strange gaze.

Is this guy really planning to compete against Yu Haoyang?
Jiang Bin snapped out of his daze and reminded him, "Gu Cheng, are you crazy? If you challenge Yu Haoyang and don't get three points, you'll be eliminated immediately."

"Just three points is enough?"

Gu Cheng looked at Zhou Yuan and said, word by word, "Then I choose to challenge Yu Haoyang."

(End of this chapter)