Love Tennis and Yumiko Miura

......

After the break, the two pairs of partners changed halves and started the game again.

Because the platinum combination was in pretty good shape in the first three games, they struggled a little in Haibin's serve in the fourth game. But then the fifth game was Zhixian's serve. Zhixian, who didn't intend to practice, directly hit four aces to end his serve.

After 5:0, Haibin's partner also gave up resistance, and the final sixth game even gave Zhixian the opportunity to perform the White Whale.

After 40:0, Zhixian took advantage of the wind to hit the White Whale, winning the game. With the audience's enthusiastic cheers, the tennis ball floated back into his hands.

That scene was absolutely stunning. This was what Yumiko thought as she turned around to look at Zhixian.

107. Three-person barbecue

"Cheers!" The three cups clinked together.

The only difference is that the cups didn't contain wine, but orange juice and barley tea - the barley tea was the kind that the store offers unlimited refills.

The three people were naturally Chigen Yumiko and Rumi. After the practice match between Sobu and Kaihin Comprehensive High School, Chigen and Yumiko brought Rumi to this barbecue restaurant.

Under the pretext of celebrating the Platinum Group's victory in their first match after their comeback (actually, Rumi wanted to eat barbecue but Mrs. Tsurumi was not available), the three of them came here at Rumi's suggestion.

As for Liu Mei's little tricks, Zhixian didn't point them out. He now knew that the saying "birds of a feather flock together" was quite true. Liu Mei had been with him for over a month and had already become quite malicious. Yumiko had told him that she had "teased" the honest Yuigahama today.

Zhixian flatly denied Youmiko's statement that Liumei became a bad person because she had been with him for a long time. He repeatedly said that this was a child's nature, and that Liumei was too suppressed before, so it was normal for her to rebound now.

Well, he himself hardly believed it.

"Master, master! When can I learn to be like the White Whale?" Liu Mei asked after putting down her cup. "The White Whale is so cool! Especially when the tennis ball flies back at the end!"

"Do you like white whales when you study in the United States?" Zhixian asked.

"Yeah!" Liu Mei nodded. Who wouldn't like someone so handsome?

"Then let's go to the aquarium next week." Zhixian made the decision as if it was a matter of course.

"Huh? Why are we going to the aquarium?"

"Don't you want to see a beluga whale? Then go to the aquarium and see it for yourself!"

"..." Liu Mei was speechless and rolled her eyes at Zhixian, "Then why didn't we go to the zoo when you taught me about the giant bear fighting back?"

"Isn't it because I forgot to take you to the zoo that you're learning so slowly?"

"Does that mean we can only learn moon-climbing interception after we land on the moon?" Liu Mei retorted.

"No, you only climbed the moon without intercepting it. In fact, you have to successfully intercept an asteroid once to truly learn how to climb the moon and intercept it." Zhixian said nonsense seriously.

Watching Zhixian and Liumei bickering every day is part of Youmiko's daily routine. She has seen Liumei become more cheerful little by little - now she can even play bickering with Zhixian, and Zhixian also teases Liumei deliberately with a childish mentality.

This made the bickering between the two particularly interesting. Zhixian was the kind of person who could make people angry to death with his words, so he would not lose in such a trivial matter as bickering with Liumei.

——Unless you are stabbed in the back.

"Alright, let's eat the barbecue." Zhixian used tongs to put the cooked meat into their bowls, and then added new raw meat to the baking tray. "You can talk about the white whale later. You are still far from learning to be a white whale."

"Hmph, I'll let you off this time for the sake of the barbecue." Liu Mei picked up a piece of fragrant barbecue dipping sauce and put it into her mouth. "Hmm~ Master, you're so good at barbecue?"

"Zhixian has always been good at this kind of thing." Youmeizi, who also took a bite of barbecue, echoed.

"As long as you think it tastes good, that's fine." Zhixian picked up a piece for himself. "You'll only get better at this kind of thing as you get more proficient. Just observe the color of the meat."

"Could this also be the application of 'the ultimate in brilliant talent' in real life?" Liu Mei asked curiously.

"It's just grilling some meat. It has nothing to do with your talent." Zhixian knocked on Liumei's head.

"But Yumiko said that you used your brilliance to the fullest when you were catching the goldfish!" Liu Mei said unconvinced, covering her head.

So they both turned to look at Yumiko.

Yumiko: ??? Selling out my teammates to their faces? I'm just a random BBQ eater who doesn't know the truth!!!

"...Don't just eat meat when you're in America. Eat some lettuce. Mix meat and vegetables, okay?"

"Why don't you hit Yumiko on the head? This is not fair!" Liumei protested while obediently wrapping a piece of grilled meat with lettuce.

"Because you're a child, this is my way of expressing affection for the younger generation," Zhixian said. He had completely given up on this practice after realizing he couldn't set a good example for Liumei. However, their current way of getting along was a reflection of their deepening relationship.

"You are obviously just a high school student! You are only five or six years older than me!" Liu Mei's eyes widened with an expression of unacceptability.

"Oh? What did you call me?" Zhixian set a trap for Liumei.

"Master...ah!" Liu Mei realized something was wrong only after she stepped into the pit.

"Look." Zhixian spread his hands with an expression that said, "This is not what I said, but what you said yourself."

"...It turns out that you all have dirty minds when it comes to tactics!" Liu Mei snorted and turned her head away from Zhixian.

"Would you like to eat meat, Liumei?" Zhixian picked up another piece of roasted meat.

"...Eat." So Liumei had to turn her head.

This meat is so delicious! There's no need to be mean to meat.

"Puchi." Yumiko laughed out loud, amused by Rumi's genuine actions.

"Youmiko, eat now, stop giggling."

"Eh? I'm not smiling like an idiot!"

"Weren't you smiling happily until just now?"

"That's right, Youmiko was just laughing and didn't even ask to help me!" Liumei took the time to agree while eating meat.

"...You two really are worthy of being master and disciple." Youmiko smiled and took a few pieces of meat from her plate for Zhixian, "Eat more yourself, don't just give it to the two of us."

"It's okay. I'll order a few more plates of expensive meat after Liumei is full."

The American student who was speechless with his mouth full of barbecue: ??? Wang Defa???

"Master, you weren't like this before!" Liu Mei complained after finally swallowing the barbecue in her mouth. "Before, you were cold, silent, and as cold as an iceberg, but at least I could still feel the hot spring hidden beneath the iceberg. But now you're adding cold water to the hot spring! And pouring it on people's heads!"

"You learn Chinese quite well. This metaphor is quite meaningful." Zhixian nodded seriously, like a parent who sees his child's academic progress.

"The girl who confessed to you would definitely regret it if she knew your true side! To think someone as malicious as you would deliberately throw her love letter into the trash!"

"I already told you it was because I was in a bad mood, okay? Do you think I need 100,000 subscribers to show my face?"

"What 100,000 subscriptions?"

"Ahem, eat meat, eat meat, don't worry about these details." Zhixian said as he added more meat to Liumei's dish.

Although I have given up and don't plan to set an example myself, I still can't tell her things that shouldn't be told to Liumei.

108.Catch Pikachu

After dinner, at Liumei's request, Zhixian and Youmei took Liumei to a place with a claw machine. The little girl seemed very curious about claw machines, but she had never had the opportunity to play them because she didn't have any close friends in the same school.

After her summer camp in Chiba Village, Rumi's situation at school improved considerably. At least she had someone to talk to and was no longer ostracized. Joining the tennis club was a natural fit, as she was already a capable player with a decent shot, capable of hitting short corners. The advisor welcomed her joining, even suggesting she could play in the upcoming tournament.

Are you kidding me? How many elementary school students can hit a close-range shot? How many can hit a giant bear return? If the elementary school students don't know what's good, then the counselors won't know what's good either? If you study in the United States for this reason, you will definitely learn more moves and become stronger in the future.

However, I joined later and the interpersonal relationships had already been established, so I did not fully integrate into the United States.

But it doesn't matter, she has good friends in the club anyway, and she also has older friends like Zhixian and Youmiko.

However, the club's training classes are not held every day, so the frequency of meeting friends in the club while studying in the United States is not very high, so she does not have the opportunity to play claw machines with her friends.

So, while Chixian and Yumiko were there, she decided to ask them to take her to the claw machine. After all, it was only seven o'clock when they left the barbecue restaurant. So Chixian called Mrs. Tsurumi and told her he'd show Rumi around for a bit and then send her back, and that she'd definitely be home to bed by nine o'clock.

Mrs. Tsurumi had no objection. She trusted Chixian so much that if he was still an elementary school student in the United States and Chixian was usually accompanied by Yumiko, Mrs. Tsurumi would have wanted him to be her son-in-law.

In Mrs. Tsurumi's eyes, Chixian was simply perfect. Her manners and behavior were all very pleasing to her, and since meeting Chixian, Rumi had become noticeably more cheerful. And the constant "Master" calls him "Master" at home had made Mr. Tsurumi somewhat jealous. He felt that his place as the number one man in his daughter's heart (for men only) had been snatched away by a high school boy, and he felt very uncomfortable.

What's even worse is that whenever Mr. Tsurumi compares himself to Chizuru, Rumi always asks him if he can be "protected by the Hundred-Armed Giant" or if he can reach the "ultimate level of brilliant talent."

God knows what all those technical terms mean! Mr. Tsurumi actually knew nothing about tennis. It was only after his daughter started playing that he learned some of the basics by searching and asking colleagues who knew about tennis.

I originally wanted to show off in front of my daughter, but ended up being laughed at by her.

Later, Mr. Tsurumi secretly asked Mrs. Tsurumi and found out that his daughter's "master" was a quasi-professional player.

It turns out he searched for some tennis knowledge online and planned to show off to the professional players... No wonder his daughter looked at him with that almost pitying expression.

Having a daughter who is too smart has both advantages and disadvantages!

......

Back to the claw machine.

There are rows of machines filled with different dolls.

Zhixian returned after exchanging the coins.

"Which one do you want to catch, Rumi-chan?" Yumiko asked.

"Who does Yumiko want to catch?" Liu Mei asked back.

"As for me..." Yumiko looked at the pile of dolls and fell into deep thought - after all, they are all very cute! No girl can resist these soft and cute dolls!

"..."

"..."

The big and the small looked at each other, and then looked at Zhixian tacitly.

"...Aren't you guys trying to catch me? Why are you all looking at me?"

"Zhixian/Master!"

Two pairs of big watery eyes just stared at him.

"Okay, okay, let's catch this Pikachu first!"

So the big and the small one followed their lead and ran to catch Pikachu.

Liu Mei excitedly took the coin from Zhixian and put it into the machine, putting her hand on the joystick, eager to try it out.

"Speaking of which, why did Zhixian choose Pikachu?" Youmiko asked casually when Liumei was carefully operating the joystick to control the position of the robotic arm, "Do you like Pikachu very much?" She had the impression that Zhixian seemed to like playing a game called Pokémon, in which Pikachu appeared.

"There's a new Pokémon game out recently, but I don't have time to play it. But I'm still thinking about it."

"I see." Yumiko nodded.

At this time, my first attempt to study in the United States also failed.

"Ah, I didn't get it." Liu Mei was a little frustrated.

"Let's do it again." Zhixian took the initiative to put in the coin and acted without consulting anyone else.

"Okay." Liu Mei shook her little head and focused her attention on the mechanical claw again.

The claw moved swayingly with the direction of the joystick, and after Liumei operated it up and down, left and right, it finally stopped above a Pikachu.

"Hey!" Liu Mei slapped the button.

Then it failed again.

"Youmiko, let you try." After a series of failures, Liumei took the initiative to give her position to Youmiko to avoid getting upset due to another failure.

"Okay, let me try." Yumiko exchanged places with Rumi, "My friends and I often play this claw machine!" Her tone sounded very confident.

Then there was a series of up, down, left, right operations, and finally Yumiko confidently pressed the button, just like a confident smash on the court.

——Then Yumiko’s determined smash went out of bounds.

After grabbing Pikachu, the mechanical claw staggered towards the lower left exit, but it fell down as if it couldn't bear the weight.

"......" Youmiko was suddenly speechless. She was still very confident.

"Pfft." The strong contrast between the confident speech and the extremely real reality made Zhixian unable to hold back and burst out laughing.

"What are you laughing at! If you have the guts, come and catch me!" Youyouko was so angry that she punched Zhixian and pushed him in front of the machine.

Zhixian pretended to sigh and stuffed the coin in.

"When grabbing a doll, you have to consider the angle, and also whether there are any obstacles when the claws descend, such as other dolls or boundaries." Zhixian explained the key points to Liumei while shaking the joystick. "Also, you have to consider whether the position of the doll when it is grabbed by the claws is stable enough. If it is top-heavy, it will fall due to imbalance when moving."

As he spoke, Zhixian operated his claws to move to a relatively open place. There was a lone Pikachu below. He pressed the button, and his claws grabbed the Pikachu. He successfully reached the exit and then appeared under the machine.

109. The warmth of the palm

"Wow! I really caught it!" Liu Mei opened the partition and took out Pikachu, "Master Si Guoyi!"

"Isn't this the pinnacle of talent?" Youmeiko said subconsciously.

"Why do you all think everything I do is the pinnacle of talent?" Zhixian was at a loss for words. "It's just catching dolls! Wouldn't it be better if I just observed more and mastered the tricks? Scooping up goldfish is just the author's nonsense!"

"What is the author's nonsense?" Liu Mei asked curiously.