Love is as simple as badminton.

Chapter 53 Why did playing ball involve killing a dog?

Considering the exertion of the morning, the afternoon's schedule began with doubles and women's singles events, allowing the men's singles players a rare opportunity to rest a little longer.

However, there weren't many people signing up for these events, and since doubles required partners, if either of them had something to do, they couldn't come. Therefore, the pace was extremely fast, and all the matches were finished very quickly.

Whether it's men's doubles, women's doubles, or mixed doubles, the finals are basically all internal battles between the school's reserve teams.

While it was still entertaining, it lacked the suspense that is most important in competitive sports, so it felt somewhat like the show had already been settled.

In contrast, the underdog vs. prodigy scenario in men's singles is clearly a more compelling storyline.

"Holy crap, you typed that fast?"

Jin Xin, who had mingled with the players in the waiting area, watched the entire three doubles events in stunned silence via a live broadcast on a screen.

He didn't watch doubles before, and the reason he came here was to interview Lin Xiang for information. He didn't expect that Lin Xiang, a singles player, would be so serious when watching doubles.

Since he was already there, Jin Xin watched for a while and was surprised to find that it had a strong impact on him.

"It feels so much faster than singles! Sometimes I can't even see where the ball is..."

Jin Xin asked curiously, "Teacher Lin, what are your chances of winning if you were to fight a doubles player in singles? Hmm, at the level of the finals."

He thought Lin Xiang was terrifyingly powerful, capable of taking on two opponents at once. Maybe he could even include such a plot point in a novel?

"There's a 50% chance of them facing women's doubles."

Lin Xiang thought about it carefully, "If we face men's doubles or mixed doubles, there's probably no chance at all."

"Is this outrageous?"

"That's normal. After all, doubles involves two people, so the frequency of hitting the ball is significantly higher than in singles. Also, there's a higher proportion of fast-paced offense, defense, and smashes, unlike singles which is mainly about rallies and drops."

Shi Yuqi explained in detail, "You can see that doubles players move much less than singles players. That's the advantage of division of labor."

"Speaking of doubles, if we want to form a college team to participate in the college league, we don't have players for the three doubles events in our college yet."

Lin Xiang rested his chin on his hand in thought, "Even if we do all the work, we'll still need two men and two women. Even if we include the two of us, we'll still need one more man and one more woman."

"That's true, but let him think about the future himself! Right now, he should focus on the competition at hand."

Shi Yuqi handed Lin Xiang a chocolate candy, "Hey, eating candy before a race can not only refresh you, but also soothe your nerves!"

"Thank you, senior."

As they were talking, all three doubles semifinals had finished, and the women's singles semifinal was also nearing its end.

Lin Xiang slung his backpack over his shoulder and had just put the candy in his mouth when someone patted him on the shoulder.

"Are you Lin Xiang, the big boss?"

The boy who spoke was wearing a white jacket and a white jersey. He had delicate and gentle features and was slightly shorter than him.

"it's me."

Lin Xiang nodded. "You must be Liu Jingle."

Jin Xin blinked and silently took out his phone.

It's coming! The pre-match trash talk segment, a quintessential element of wish-fulfillment novels!

"Haha, it's an honor to be remembered by such a big shot!"

Unexpectedly, Liu Jingle simply raised his fist and smiled.

"I studied your playing style before the match and found that you are better than me in almost every aspect, and even have spare capacity."

I don't have Ling Fei's powerful smash or Yang Rui's flat block; I'm just an average guy.

However, I will still give it my all to challenge you, so don't underestimate me. Let's both give it our all and have a fantastic match.

"it is good."

Lin Xiang smiled and bumped fists with him.

Jin Xin was slightly surprised, thinking the atmosphere would be tense, but the badminton atmosphere was so friendly.

However, friendliness doesn't equate to harmony; the tense, confrontational atmosphere is still palpable. If there's any perfect atmosphere in competitive sports, it's probably this.

Two minutes later, the last women's singles semi-final ended.

"Next up is the highly anticipated men's singles final, a true battle of attrition! Let's welcome the men's singles semifinalists!"

Xu Yue's distinctive local Mandarin drifted from the front desk.

Lin Xiang and Liu Jingle picked up their basketball bags, ready to go on the court, when an uninvited guest suddenly appeared:

She was a petite girl with rosy cheeks, and her round bun hairstyle made her look adorable. She wrapped her arms around Liu Jingle's neck and then quickly kissed his right cheek.

"Go, baby!"

The girl left four words and ran away.

"Okay~"

Liu Jingle grinned foolishly at the girl's retreating figure.

"what!"

The other boys who were there to join in the fun started barking like dogs.

It's just a game of ball, why kill the dog?

"Junior!"

Lin Xiang heard Shi Yuqi call his name as well.

When he turned around, he saw a competitive spirit on the girl's face, comparable to the desire to win a game, and a subtle blush.

"Good luck, junior!"

She cupped her hands into a megaphone shape, and her voice was slightly louder than the girl's from before.

"it is good."

Lin Xiang then smiled as well.

"ah…………!"

The dog's bark turned into a wail as if it had been punched hard.

What kind of market is this?!

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"The first game of the men's singles semifinals has officially begun. 0-0, Lin Xiang serves!"

To be honest, the atmosphere in the semi-finals wasn't as exciting as before.

In almost everyone's eyes, this was a game without suspense: facing the rising star from the School of Social Sciences, the unknown players from the school's reserve team would be ruthlessly crushed.

However, once the match officially started, everyone realized that this wasn't the case.

Liu Jingle was much faster than usual. He not only handled Lin Xiang's pulling and maneuvering with ease, but also often seized opportunities to counterattack!

On paper, he is not known for his offensive prowess, but in this semi-final game, his attack frequency was quite high, and his routes were all very reasonable.

For a time, he and Lin Xiang were evenly matched!

"Xiao Liu is in good form this game!"

Deng Ziyang blinked in surprise. "I thought he was a bit tired this morning, but now he's actually keeping up with this liberal arts student!"

Ling Ye remained silent, but smiled slightly, as if he had just remembered something.

*Smack!*

Faced with Lin Xiang's quick push, Liu Jingle launched a desperate Chinese jump attack.

Its speed and power are comparable to a well-prepared backcourt smash!

This ball managed to tear through Lin Xiang's defense, hitting the sideline precisely and bouncing off the court.

"roar!"

The score reached 11:10 – Liu Jingle took a one-point lead into the break.

The audience gasped in surprise: This was the first time in this year's Freshman Cup that someone had led Lin Xiang into the break! Could the invincible rising star of the School of Social Sciences also suffer a setback?

"Holy crap, is it going to flip?"

"Sigh, I knew it. How could a liberal arts student possibly beat someone with formal training?"

"The school team is still strong!"

"A small, run-down courtyard is just a small, run-down courtyard."

Soon, various opinions emerged again.

Shi Yuqi glared at these people fiercely, but she couldn't shut them up, so she could only give them a good beating with her eyes.

"Uncle Wang! What's going on?"

The girl looked at the old man drinking tea beside her.

Although she remained firmly on her junior's side, she also began to feel nervous.

"It's exactly what you see."

Wang Tianmao remained calm, saying, "This kid may be a little weak in terms of raw skill, but he was in great form today and performed beyond his usual level."

"Why are all of my junior's opponents playing exceptionally well?"

"That's the charm of competitive sports."

"What should we do then...?"

"Just do what needs to be done."

Seeing the look of indignation in her eyes, Wang Tianmao laughed heartily.

"As the saying goes, 'When soldiers come, generals will block them; when water comes, earth will dam it'—how to deal with the onslaught of a suddenly powerful player is a true test of a champion's strength. Just watch!"

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