Chapter 21: The Tennis Bet

They were all teenage boys, lacking nothing at home. The bets they came up with were nothing more than how to embarrass the other party and make them look foolish.

“Whoever loses has to post a surrender video on all their social media platforms.”

The boy was certain he could beat Lu Shi.

Given what happened between Lu Shi and the deputy director’s son a while back—even the deputy director had to back down to Lu Shi for some unknown reason—if he won today…

The boy could almost see Lu Shi admitting defeat online, and a smug smile tugged at his lips.

Lu Shi raised an eyebrow. “You sure you want to bet on that?”

The boy’s eyes sparkled with excitement and arrogance. “What, scared?”

Lu Shi wasn’t scared. He just found the punishment too boring to even get worked up about.

“How about crawling two laps around the court instead?”

Perhaps it was Lu Shi’s too-casual tone that made the boy freeze for a split second.

But he quickly regained his composure, muttering, “Bluffing.”

Then he tightened his grip on the racket and announced to everyone, “Fine! If I lose, I’ll crawl two laps around this court, admitting defeat the whole time, and then I’ll post the video online!”

Their match wasn’t as formal as a real tennis game. It was simple and brutal: whoever had the higher score within twenty minutes won.

The boy twisted his neck left and right, warming up.

He had been learning tennis for two years, and his coach said he was good.

Beating a country bumpkin who had barely touched a tennis ball? That would be a walk in the park.

Chen Youxuan hesitated, wanting to dissuade them at first. He couldn’t figure out what Lu Shi was up to and didn’t want to clash with him over nothing. But seeing the boy’s confident demeanor, he bit his lip and silently withdrew his hand that had been tugging at someone.

Ding Wei whispered, “Bro Lu, can you handle this?”

He felt Lu Shi wasn’t the type to boast idly, but that guy’s arrogance was getting under his skin. He wasn’t so sure anymore.

Yu Xi clutched his racket. “Let me do it. Even if I lose, I’ll take the fall. I’m not afraid of embarrassment.”

Lu Shi calmly unscrewed the cap of his water bottle and took a sip.

“Don’t worry. This fight will be over soon.”

How could he back out of a challenge he himself had issued and push it onto someone else?

Meanwhile, the girl who knew about the Chen family’s situation approached Chen Youxuan.

“Youxuan, isn’t the punishment a bit too harsh? It’s just a small match. Besides, we can go to another court—it’s not like this is the only one.”

She glanced across the court at the boy bouncing a tennis ball under the shade.

This real young master of the Chen family had been taken in by a poor family, so he definitely didn’t have the money to learn these things. Even though she was Chen Youxuan’s friend, she couldn’t stand watching this. It felt too much like bullying.

Chen Youxuan’s eyes darted, thoughts churning. “They’re the ones betting on their own match. It has nothing to do with us.”

Seeing that Chen Youxuan wasn’t going to intervene, the girl pressed her lips together and stepped aside without another word.

Chen Youxuan stared at the two players on the court.

He didn’t know what had gotten into Lu Shi lately. Bragging was one thing, but did he really think he could win at tennis just by swinging a racket? How delusional.

Still, since someone else was volunteering to be the pawn, even if Lu Shi won, the fire wouldn’t reach him. If Lu Shi lost, he’d get a good show.

Chen Youxuan repeated to himself that his friend was professionally trained. There was no way Lu Shi could win.

But before long, Chen Youxuan realized something was off.

Lu Shi’s movements were smooth and fluid. His wrist turned lightly as he swung, his strength perfectly controlled.

The tennis ball seemed to have a will of its own under his racket, curving in tricky arcs and landing exactly where it should.

The boy went all out for a spectacular save, but before he could celebrate,

the ball floated lazily to the opposite corner.

At first, Ding Wei and Yu Xi were nervous, afraid Lu Shi would get crushed.

But now, they were sitting on the sideline bench, enjoying the breeze and sipping cola.

“Who knew Brother Lu was such a pro, hiding his skills,” Ding Wei shook his head in admiration. “How can someone look so handsome while playing?”

Yu Xi clicked his tongue, unable to bear watching. “This is brutal. It’s a total mismatch. Anyone would think he’s toying with a monkey.”

Lu Shi hit a seemingly fierce shot, forcing the boy to scramble back.

Then, at the moment of impact, he softened his wrist.

The boy stumbled, almost falling.

Just then, the countdown ended. Lu Shi dominated with a landslide score.

The tennis ball bounced to the side of the court.

With a slap, the boy threw his racket and charged over.

“Are you messing with me?!”

Ding Wei and Yu Xi shot up. Ding Wei stepped forward to block him.

Yu Xi said, “What’s your problem? If you can’t take a loss, don’t play. Now you’re not so high and mighty, are you?”

The boy’s face flushed with rage.

He had been over ninety-five percent sure he’d win.

But who knew Lu Shi was this good? He was drenched in sweat, while Lu Shi was only slightly damp, as if he hadn’t exerted much effort at all.

“According to your own bet, you have to honor it,” Lu Shi said, fanning himself with his collar.

The boy trembled, half from anger, half from sheer humiliation.

Chen Youxuan sneered inwardly.

He didn’t know how Lu Shi learned tennis, but if he trained this long and still lost to Lu Shi, he was useless.

Now it was time for him to play peacemaker.

Chen Youxuan, who had watched the entire match without a word, finally spoke. “Just a joke. You didn’t take it seriously, did you?”

He walked onto the court to defuse the situation. “Even if you lost, we wouldn’t really make you do that.”

Yu Xi fumed. “Who knows? You’re just saving face for yourself!”

Lu Shi curled his lip in disdain.

He knew Chen Youxuan would pull this stunt.

Whether the boy actually carried out the punishment didn’t matter. Lu Shi never expected him to keep the bet. He had just run into some bad luck today, felt annoyed, and picked a random unlucky guy to bully.

Now that he’d done that, his mood improved.

But just as Chen Youxuan approached, the boy who had been toyed with by Lu Shi suddenly whipped around, glaring at Chen Youxuan.

“Did you two collude? Isn’t he your brother? Did you know he was good at tennis all along?”

Chen Youxuan froze mid-step, then was grabbed by the collar as the boy lunged at him.

He was shoved backward, crying out, “Are you crazy? Why would I collude with him? You challenged him yourself! I knew nothing!”

The sting of humiliation surged, needing an outlet. The boy’s strength doubled as he slammed Chen Youxuan into the side net.

“He was so cocky when he challenged me! I only agreed because I was sticking up for you!”

“Let go!”

Chen Youxuan struggled violently.

Two girls rushed over to break it up, and chaos erupted.

Lu Shi sighed, sat down on a bench, and called to Ding Wei and Yu Xi. “Let’s go. They’re about to fight anyway. We might as well let them have the court. I’ll take you guys somewhere else.”

Ding Wei was reluctant. “No way, Bro Lu. I haven’t had enough of the show.”

Lu Shi picked up his phone, which had been lying aside for a while.

There was an unread message on WeChat, from an hour ago.

Shen Zheming: Not busy today. I’ll help you go over some problems. I’ll wait for you in the study room.

Ding Wei and Yu Xi were still enjoying the drama when they heard Lu Shi curse, “Holy crap.”

Lu Shi grabbed his jacket and stood up.

He had thought Shen Zheming was just kindly marking questions for him, not actually coming in person.

And he had been playing tennis, his phone tossed aside, completely unaware.

Ding Wei asked, “What’s up, Bro Lu? You don’t want to watch the rest? Hey—where are you going?”

Lu Shi brushed past him like a gust of wind.

“You guys keep playing. I’ve got something urgent to take care of!”

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