deltrittennovels Chapter 6 Join the Tennis Club! Ling
Chapter 6 Join the Tennis Club! Ling
The next morning, when Mochizuki Ryo arrived at the classroom, Jiro was already in his seat.
To be precise, he was slumped on the table, looking dazed, as if he had just returned from an intense morning training session at the tennis club.
Cilang was clutching a piece of paper in his hand. The moment he saw him, his mind cleared instantly, and he sprang up from his chair, clinging to the edge of Cilang's desk like a puppy waiting to be fed.
"Ling! You're finally here!"
Wang Yueling put down her schoolbag, slowly pulled out a chair, sat down, and then turned to look at him: "Why didn't you sleep today?"
"I was asleep, but I woke up really early!" Jiro's tone was filled with barely suppressed excitement. "Let me tell you, I got a card from Atobe during training this morning..."
"Mochizuki-kun."
Class monitor Eika Ito walked over from the front, holding a form in her hand, interrupting Jiro's words.
"This is the club application form."
She placed a form on the table and patiently explained, "Hyotei students join their favorite clubs in their first year of junior high. Except for very rare cases where they transfer clubs, they generally earn club points throughout junior high by participating in activities in their respective clubs, which is very important for getting into higher education."
"Mochizuki just transferred here, so you can try to learn about a few more clubs. Just give them to me by next weekend."
Wang Yueling glanced at the form, smiled, and nodded at her: "Thank you, I will look into it."
Eika Ito was dazzled by the smile of her new classmate, who was known for her striking good looks. Her face flushed slightly, and she quickly ran away.
As soon as the class monitor left, Cilang's gaze was fixed on the form, his eyes growing brighter and brighter.
"Ling! I also have a tennis club application form here!"
He held up the paper he'd been holding for a long time in front of Mochizuki Ryo. "Why don't you sign up for our tennis club? Jiro can help you submit it!"
"..."
Wang Yueling sat casually, raising an eyebrow at his words: "So that's why you didn't sleep this morning and waited for me?"
"Well, because I want to see you play tennis!" Jiro said logically. "That smash you did yesterday was amazing! You must be an incredible tennis player! So I asked Atobe for an application form."
He grabbed Wang Yueling's sleeve and started to whine, "Ling~ Come on, come on~ The tennis club is so much fun~ If you come, we can train together, play together, and..."
"Stop! Stop! I said I wouldn't add a tennis club."
"Ah~ So what club do you want to join? The music club?" Jiro scoffed. "What's so fun about the music club? It's just playing the violin all day, not exciting at all. Come join the tennis club, and I'll treat you to bread for a month! No, bread for a whole semester!"
"You already mentioned it yesterday, it's been a semester."
"Then two semesters it is!"
Wang Yueling was amused by him, stroked his curly hair, shook her head, and did not take the application form.
Cilang was not giving up. Seeing that his coquettishness was useless, he launched a new offensive, gripping the desk with both hands, his eyes wide open, his chin resting on the desk, looking pitifully at Wangyue Ling.
His eyes were excessively bright, and he moved closer to Wang Yueling, practically writing "Please" on his face.
Wang Yueling glanced at him and gritted her teeth.
"Who did you learn this trick from?"
"Follow Bunta!" Jiro said matter-of-factly. "Bunta said this trick works best on gentle but stubborn people. He used it to influence their department head before, and I thought it would work on you too."
Wang Yueling looked at him and remained silent for two seconds.
"That won't work on me." He then opened his textbook. "Let's begin."
Cilang was deflated and slumped back onto the table, no longer going to sleep. During the class, he would occasionally glance at him, his big, watery eyes blinking.
This is unbearable for some plush toy lovers.
In the end, Wang Yueling could only take the application form from his hand and put it in the drawer. She pressed her brows helplessly and softened her tone by three points: "I'll think about it some more."
Cilang's eyes lit up again: "So that means you agree?"
"I said I'll think about it some more."
"Thinking about it again means you'll agree!"
Wang Yueling didn't argue further, but simply opened her textbook and casually said, "Class is starting."
Cilang chuckled twice, finally quieting down before slumping onto the table to catch up on sleep. Before falling asleep, he muttered, "You really need to think this through."
-
At noon, Jiro pestered Mochizuki Ryo to have lunch with the tennis club members.
"Ling, let's have lunch together at the tennis club. Atobe brought some top-grade Wagyu beef sushi and black truffle risotto that sound delicious. My tempura is also very good."
"Sorry, I have an appointment."
Looking at the little lamb who was radiating unhappiness, Wang Yueling shrugged apologetically.
A flicker of disappointment crossed Cilang's bright eyes, and his expression visibly fell: "The music room again? Why do you go there every day? Who's actually there?"
"My cousin."
"Who is your cousin?"
"Coach Sakaki."
Jiro was stunned for a moment, then his eyes widened: "Coach Sakaki is your cousin?!"
"Um."
Jiro wanted to ask more questions, but Mochizuki Ryo had already turned and walked away. He called after him, "Then come back soon," and received a mumbled "Mmm" in response.
The teachers' office next to the music classroom.
When Mochizuki Ryo pushed open the door, Sakaki Taro was sitting behind the desk by the window, holding a thick stack of photocopies and looking at them very intently.
Hearing the door open, he looked up, nodded as a greeting, and then looked down again.
Wang Yueling approached, glanced at the documents on the table, and realized that the photocopies were of the documents she had sent the night before. Without saying a word, she picked up her lunchbox and went into the small cubicle next door.
Today was the first time his grandmother had prepared a lunchbox for him, so it was quite lavish, with fried shrimp, tamagoyaki (Japanese rolled omelet), stewed beef, and rice sprinkled with sesame seeds and seaweed flakes. He ate slowly and carefully, chewing each bite thoroughly.
After finishing his meal, he put away his lunchbox and came out.
Taro Sakaki was still looking at the stack of papers, which made a slight rustling sound as they were turned.
Wang Yueling wasn't in a hurry. She casually sat down opposite him, picked up a book on music appreciation from the bookshelf next to her, and started flipping through it.
The classroom was quiet, with only the sound of pages turning.
About ten minutes later, Sakaki Taro finally put down the paper in his hand and rubbed his temples.
"Finished reading?" Wang Yueling glanced at him indifferently, then continued reading the book in her hands without looking up.
"Um."
Sakaki Taro leaned back in his chair, turned to look at him, his expression somewhat complex, but mostly one of relief and pride.
"Your summary is spot on. It's even better than I expected."
Hearing the praise, Wang Yueling smiled, turned a page of her book, and drawled, "Just my personal opinion, for reference only."
"You hit the nail on the head with every question from the regulars, and your improvement plans were very specific. Even my question was correct." Sakaki Taro paused, then looked up at Mochizuki Ryo with a serious expression. "I've been trying to figure out how to address Mukahi's stamina problem, but the physical training plan you wrote is more scientific than the one I used before. Where did you learn it?"
"I had read some books about yoga before, and I thought they might be helpful, so I wrote them down."
Sakaki Taro was silent for a moment, then looked at him with a very serious expression. "Great idea. I'll ask you one more question: are you really not going to join the tennis club?"
Ryo Mochizuki's fingers paused on the page, as if he wanted to say something, but Taro Sakaki raised his hand to stop him.
"You observed so carefully and analyzed so thoroughly yesterday, which shows that you have a different perspective on tennis." Sakaki Taro's voice was calm, without any hint of persuasion, simply stating a fact, "Hyotei needs someone like you."
Wang Yueling closed the book, placed it on her lap, and thought for a long time.
The office was quiet.
The sound of students talking during their lunch break drifted in from outside the window, but it was too far away to hear clearly.
"I don't want to play basketball for the time being."
Why?
"It's not because I don't like it," he said softly, "it's because I like it too much."
Sakaki Taro didn't reply, he just looked at him quietly.
Wang Yueling looked down at the book cover in his hands; gold lettering was embossed on the dark blue cloth. His fingers unconsciously stroked the spine of the book, again and again.
"If I'm going to fight, I want to fight seriously. If I fight seriously, I want to win. If I want to win, I'll put all my energy into it." Wang Yueling paused, "But now I have new responsibilities to shoulder."
He didn't say what the "new responsibility" was. But Sakaki Taro knew that his grandmother, the family business, and perhaps some other reason he didn't know were involved.
"I need to figure out what tennis means to me in this life. I don't want to step onto the court until I do."
He said this in a very calm tone, as if he were talking about something that had nothing to do with him.
But Sakaki Taro sensed the seriousness in his voice.
He didn't ask any more questions, nor did he want to push too hard. He simply nodded and said, "When you've thought it through, the tennis club will welcome you anytime."
"Thank you, cousin."
Sakaki Taro stood up and patted him on the shoulder, not hard, but very sincere.
Ryo Mochizuki turned and walked out. As she reached the door, she heard Taro Sakaki's voice behind her.
"Xiao Ling".
He stopped and turned around.
"I will use this report carefully," Sakaki Taro tapped on the paper on the table.
Wang Yueling smiled.
The smile wasn't big, but it was genuine.
"Hmm," he said, then pushed open the door and went out.