CHAPTER 840: CHAPTER 839: LET HIM HAVE TWO POINTS

"Yes, that’s him."

Zheng Lirong gave Lin Nianhe an affirmative response.

Lin Nianhe clicked her tongue and whispered, "His disguise is really half-hearted."

Su Yuncheng suddenly turned his head and said to her, "I recognize him."

"Hmm?" Lin Nianhe looked at him in shock, "How could you know... okay, it’s normal for you to know anyone."

After all, this is the provincial city. Su Yuncheng had stayed here for almost two years previously to investigate a case, running through almost all the streets and alleys. It’s only normal for him to know some people.

Su Yuncheng chuckled lightly and told her, "He was my squad leader during my recruit days."

"Ah?"

Lin Nianhe was utterly surprised to learn how Su Yuncheng knew him.

Su Yuncheng saw her shock, gave her a reassuring look, and said, "After the match, accompany me to greet him."

"Sure, no problem."

Just as Lin Nianhe agreed, the whistle sounded again.

Zheng Shan and that guy who said he could be called Sie Yufei walked into the arena from both sides.

"Hey—Zhang Yang! Take it easy, don’t make the kid cry!"

"You’re really taking advantage, going straight to the finals!"

"Hahaha..."

Zhang Yang’s friends and family started to heckle noisily, and some even said nonsense like "Little sister, why don’t you ask Brother Zhang Yang to let you win."

"Damn it, these scoundrels need a beating!"

Zheng Lirong’s brothers immediately objected, rolling up their sleeves ready to punch them.

"What are you doing?" Zheng Lirong turned around, coldly glaring at them, "I brought you here to fight?"

Lin Nianhe hadn’t felt it before, but now seeing Zheng Lirong’s strong presence as a big sister-in-law, she obediently put down the brick she had picked up.

Her side quieted down, and Zheng Lirong didn’t say anything else, merely giving a dismissive glance to those who spoke insolently before withdrawing her gaze and smilingly telling Zheng Shan, "Daughter, good luck."

Zheng Shan, young and not understanding what those guys were shouting about, pressed her lips together and looked at Lin Nianhe.

Lin Nianhe smiled and shouted, "Shanshan, remember to let him score twice."

Her voice was clear and pleasant, standing out among the deep male voices.

The people from the beverage factory looked at her instinctively wanting to make some sarcastic remarks, but once they saw her appearance, they all fell silent.

Helping out brothers was important, but obviously, watching a beautiful girl was more so!

Some sharp-minded ones noticed Lin Nianhe was the friend of the opponent, immediately changing their tune: "That’s right, little sister, don’t be afraid, play well, you got this!"

The atmosphere at the scene suddenly became harmonious, even Zhang Yang on the field turned much friendlier.

The referee blew the whistle, and the match began.

Zhang Yang made the first serve.

He held the paddle, brewing over the shot for a while, then served a very gentle ball, fearing Zheng Shan wouldn’t be able to hit it.

Zheng Shan indeed didn’t hit it.

She didn’t even swing the paddle, as if she hadn’t realized the match had already started.

The audience was dumbfounded, and Lin Nianhe commented, "This acting is really poor."

Zheng Shan remembered Lin Nianhe’s advice to "let him score twice," and when she served, she simply dropped the ball onto the ground.

The stands went silent.

Lin Nianhe covered her face, unable to bear watching.

Zhang Yang didn’t really believe Zheng Shan, a young girl, would let him score. He sincerely thought she had gotten lucky to make it this far and wasn’t actually good at table tennis.

He glanced at Lin Nianhe on the sidelines, noticing she was joking with a male companion and wasn’t watching this way, causing him to furrow his brow.

Even if facing a young girl, he should be the focus of the entire audience!

Thinking this, he squinted his eyes and served a high difficulty spin ball.

He saw the perfect arc and silently breathed a sigh of relief in his heart.

Usually, his success rate on spin serves wasn’t high, but today he felt good and managed to hit it on the first try.

This ball indeed prompted cheers from the audience.

But Zhang Yang only basked in his pride for half a second before he saw the young girl on the opposite side return the ball with precise force.

Zhang Yang had already relaxed and was resting, gasped, quickly raising his hand to return the shot, but he was a moment late. His paddle barely touched the ball, causing the little round ball to bounce away.

The crowd went wild.

It was more shocking than Zhang Yang hitting a spin ball that Zheng Shan, a ten-year-old girl, had caught this ball.

But their shock wouldn’t stop there.

Zheng Shan played with extreme aggression. Though she was small, standing by the table she seemed backed by an army, with her eyes burning with fighting spirit.

After watching for a while, Lin Nianhe told Su Yuncheng, "There’s nothing interesting to watch, this guy’s skills are worse than Sister Lan."

When Zheng Shan first started playing ping-pong, she gave Wen Lan quite the headache. Now, after so much professional training, playing against someone like Zhang Yang, who was inferior to Wen Lan, was naturally not an issue.

Zheng Shan took only 27 minutes to finish the match.

Zhang Yang only scored the initial two small points.

By the end, he began to question his life, stumbling along like a zombie, purely relying on muscle memory to play.

Zheng Shan remained fierce, never relaxing an inch regardless of her opponent’s state.

This resilience is harder to train than skill, and is the most valuable trait of an athlete.

After the match concluded, the workers from the beverage factory all hung their heads one by one, not daring to look this way again.

Actually, midway through the match, quite a few had quietly slipped away, seemingly predicting the outcome and fearing they’d be embarrassed along with him.

After the referee announced the result, Zheng Shan restrained her competitive aura and returned straight to her own camp.

Zheng Lirong wiped her sweat with a smile, "You played great."

Yet Zheng Shan seemed deflated, speaking softly, "Boring."

Lin Nianhe tousled her hair, comforting her, "Maybe the finals will be interesting, we’ll wait here and see if your opponent tomorrow is any good?"

Zheng Shan cared a lot about the matches, nodding upon hearing this.

"Come on, let’s go change clothes, this one is soaked." Zheng Lirong said, pulling her to stand up.

Zhou Laosi came over, taking on the duty of watching Bai Xiaojun.

This was their unspoken agreement—as long as they were outside, the two kids must have both of them watching over at all times.

Bai Xiaojun was utterly carefree, jumping around while shouting "My sister won," and "My sister is the best."

Zhou Laosi glanced at him, slightly turned his head to say a few words to the person behind him.

Quietly, a dozen or so able-bodied lads from their side disappeared.

Lin Nianhe pretended not to see, asking Su Yuncheng, "Should we go greet your old squad leader now?"

"When does the next match start?" Su Yuncheng inquired.

Zhou Laosi knew the answer, replying, "In twenty minutes."

Su Yuncheng nodded, "Then let’s go now."