The sounds of balls crashing against rackets came from the court, and it was getting more and more intense.
Hezekiah narrowed his eyes as he watched Xu Delun and Su Pang practice. "You guys should get familiar with the court. Try hitting the ball one at a time. Don't stop running."
The two training didn't answer and continued to follow his instructions. Hezekiah continued watching as they bombed into each other.
He couldn't help holding his forehead. The balls finish from the tutor machine. Xu Delun and Su Pang sat on the ground breathing heavily.
Just when Su Pang was going to say something, he was interrupted by Hezekiah. "There's a rule we'll be going by. Rules 1; There's no I can't do it. Rules 2; There's no such thing as I gave up. We have already started, but giving up now makes no sense. Don't think that I suggested both of you play doubles is to make fun of you. I believe in my eyes and also believe you can do it. … Keep on going like this, before the day ends, we'll complete the first level. Believe it." Hezekiah said each word seriously.
Su Pang and Xu Delun looked at each other and nodded.
"Since junior brother, Jiang said so, I'm willing to believe it." Su Pang declared and got up from the ground to pick up the balls, Xu Delun also joined him.
Seeing them in full spirit again, Hezekiah let out a sigh of relief.
When they were done with picking up the balls, Hezekiah used the remote to put on the machine, this time he decreased the speed. "We will start slowly, try taking turns to hit the ball."
With a low speed, they were doing a good job and were getting used to it. Hezekiah adds the speed at another level, after getting some difficulty one to two times, everything came back to normal.
"It seems there's nothing to worry about." The Coach said with a smile.
"They are doing better than I expected." Bao Lei laughed
Chen Guozhi nodded and said nothing.
"Do you think at this momentum they'll make it before the match?" Bao Lei asked worriedly
The coach shakes his head: "That little guy seems to get everything under control. Have you ever seen Su Pang fought so hard before? He's the type that, `if you can't do it, leave it. No need to struggle." But after a few words from that kid, he gained his potential back. They will be fine. I can't wait to see the waves they'll put up. "
Bao Lei said: "The coach is right. I can't wait as well." After a pause, he turned to Chen Guozhi, "Let's go home, Guozhi. It's already late, they might sleep here tonight, who knows."
When Chen Guozhi heard Hezekiah and others will sleep here tonight, he felt somehow uncomfortable. He turned around and looked at the field, the lights were already on. After a moment of thought, he decided to ignore the uneasy feeling and follow Bao Lei.
💮💮💮
It was nine o'clock PM when they finished practicing.
"Oh wow, it's after night already." Xu Delun said as he looked at his phone time.
"What strange is that my nosy stepmother didn't call me." Su Pang walked over staring at his phone.
Ding-Ding. Just as he was done talking, he heard a notification. After checking it, he found out that it was his stepmother that he just called nosy. But the message left him speechless.
The message read: 'Train high baby, I know you can do it. I'm so… proud of you!'
"Train high? What the heck?." Su Pang was angered from embarrassment.
"Don't worry, I have the school sent messages to your home about your training." Hezekiah walked to them and explained
"So ~ we should call it a night. I need to find a taxi to get home. " Xu Delun said and packed his stuff
"Huh? Why is that?" Su Pang was confused.
Xu Delun's driver always picked him up after school, so why would he take a taxi tonight?
Xu Delun supported his forehead. "Because no one will pick me up, dummy. Don't you know the message you received just now is a good night? If not, why isn't your driver here yet?"
"That makes sense…" Su Pang looked at Hezekiah and asked "Junior brother Jiang, do you have something to say?"
"Oh, I almost forgot. We will be sleeping here for the next few days. I've arranged a dorm room and your things were brought over by your family. Come on, we should shower quickly and have dinner. We also need to get up by 5:30 am tomorrow for a morning run." Hezekiah was talking while leading them to the dorm.
Sure enough, when they entered the room, their clothes and other belongings were there. But there was something wrong with the beds. There were only two beds, but one bed was bigger than the other and was able to carry two people.
After their shower, a woman knocked on the door and brought their food. The food was still hot. A few minutes later, they were done eating but there was yet a bed problem.
Before Xu Delun could talk, Hezekiah spoke first: "senior brothers, I will take the small bed. Since the two of you are seniors, you should take the big bed."
Su Pang wanted to say something, but Hezekiah texted him saying it was for his own good, so he didn't say anything in the end.
Xu Delun knew that Zhou Jaing was not familiar with them, so he agreed to sleep with Su Pang.
They fell to sleep quickly, and the night went by slowly.
🏃♂️🏃♂️🏃♂️
Early in the morning, after the alarm clock signal, they got up for the morning run.
Su Pang stood at the door sleepily. Perhaps I should go for a run?
But it's still early for me to get up.
Forget I should follow as well.
Gritting his teeth, he ran towards the school's sports field.
Running and running, they were moving faster and faster. But Hezekiah was the fastest, speeding up like a mad horse. One lap after another.
They ran twelve laps but continued running under the morning sun.
"Hey, come over and take a look. People are running on the field this early morning." A girl calls out to her friend.
"Who are they?" Another girl asked
"They are from the tennis club. I hear the high school tennis league will begin next week."
"I wish them the best. I'm looking forward to Senior Chen Gouzhi playing again."
The girls in the dorm chatted as they watched Hezekiah and the others run.