At the beginning, the male side served first. According to the rules, Liu Manman was supposed to receive the serve, and she had already prepared herself.
She thought to herself that she could definitely receive this serve.
However, the boy diagonally opposite sent the shuttlecock with a very standard serve. It flew at an extremely fast speed, passing right over Liu Manman’s head, and landed on the ground.
Liu Manman hadn’t even reacted yet.
The opposing side scored a point, and the referee wrote “1” on the scoreboard.
She missed the very first serve! Liu Manman screamed inwardly.
She comforted herself by thinking that the opponent had underestimated her ability and hit too hard. Now that they understood how bad she was, they would surely go easy on her.
The serving right still belonged to the opposing side, and it was the same person serving again.
However, the other side switched positions, and the receiver became An Siyao.
Just like Liu Manman, An Siyao raised her racket but the shuttlecock had already hit the ground.
Then it was Liu Manman’s turn again.
Liu Manman looked at the server with hopeful eyes.
The boy serving kept a straight face and, using the same posture as before, served the shuttlecock again.
Liu Manman managed to return the serve in a flustered manner, but this wasn’t because the opponent had gone easy on her—itwas the result of her full concentration.
Her shot was too high, and the second boy on the opposing side easily smashed it.
The two boys scored another point.
The match quickly entered a completely one-sided state.
An Siyao failed to return every serve directed at her, while Liu Manman could only return a couple of shots before losing the point.
In this way, the score rapidly reached 0–10, increasing at a rate of one point every ten or so seconds.
At first, Liu Manman felt relieved—An Siyao hadn’t returned a single serve, while she had managed to return a few, making her seem not that bad after all.
But then she looked at the two boys across the net with sorrow and anger:
Won’t you guys even let us score a single point?! At least let us win one!
You guys will never get girlfriends like this!
Her resentment was accurately transmitted to the two boys, who exchanged glances and smiled:
There’s no need for girlfriends in sports competition!
They continued their one-sided domination.
Xia Yu was watching the match with great interest from the stands.
Liu Manman wasn’t interesting to him—he was watching An Siyao.
During An Siyao’s turns, the way she was serious before the serve and confused after the shuttlecock had been served, unable to track it, was extremely cute.
During Liu Manman’s turns, the way she walked back and forth trying to hit the shuttlecock but failing was also extremely cute.
If there were bullet comments, the screen would already be filled with “awsl.”
By the time Xia Yu snapped out of An Siyao’s cuteness, the score had already reached 20–0.
The match was a race to 21 points, and now the boys only needed one more point—the match would be over, and An Siyao would lose!
Xia Yu immediately clicked on the slot and took over An Siyao’s body.
It was the boy opposite An Siyao’s turn to serve. Suddenly, he felt that the girl in front of him had changed in aura. The previous confusion was gone, replaced by a sharp gaze.
He steadied his emotions—20–0 was already an insurmountable lead. Nothing could possibly go wrong. Besides, this was reality. There was no such thing as a sudden burst of strength.
Even if there was, it wouldn’t matter. According to the rules, this serve was supposed to be received by Liu Manman diagonally opposite. That woman, Liu Manman, had clearly completely lost her fighting spirit. If she failed to return this serve, the match would end.
Liu Manman had indeed completely lost her fighting spirit. She thought: compared to An Siyao, she already looked quite impressive. She might as well end the match early and not bother returning this serve.
The shuttlecock approached her, but she didn’t even lift her racket.
It’s over, she thought.
At that moment, a hand suddenly reached out from the side and grabbed her racket-hand.
Huh?
Pak—
Using Liu Manman’s racket, An Siyu returned the shuttlecock.
The two boys on the opposing side hadn’t expected such a move and hesitated slightly, but still managed to return the shot.
In An Siyu’s skill bar, dexterity, stamina, strength, and combat all lit up, operating at full capacity.
Liu Manman stared in shock as An Siyu exchanged shots with the opponents, creating a thrilling rally.
The audience in the stands also looked confused, and even the teams competing in adjacent courts were stunned by An Siyao’s sudden transformation.
It was like watching a cat being chased by a pack of dogs, when suddenly the cat leaped up, whipped out two lightsabers, and launched into a fierce battle using the Star Wars-style Qi Flow Slash.
Everyone had expected a dominant victory by the stronger side, but the underdog had suddenly become evenly matched with the experts.
No, not just evenly matched.
As Xia Yu became more familiar with using the badminton racket and An Siyao’s body, his strength rapidly increased.
The pressure on the two boys grew, and finally, one mistake allowed Xia Yu to score a point.
The two boys looked at each other, both seeing confusion in the other’s eyes.
Especially that move where An Siyu grabbed Liu Manman’s hand to return the serve—could you even play like that?
They looked at the referee, who silently added one point to An Siyao’s team.
After scoring, Xia Yu gained the serve and continued battling the two opponents.
Watching the intense and dynamic match in front of her, Liu Manman behind looked completely bewildered.
Who am I? Where am I? What am I supposed to do?
You said you didn’t know how to play badminton! Liu Manman’s gaze at An Siyu was filled with resentment.
Looking at the fast-moving shuttlecock again, Liu Manman gave up struggling.
The plan failed. It seemed she could only quietly be a spectator.
However, fate didn’t even give her that chance.
The shuttlecock flew toward Liu Manman. The position she was standing in was the ideal spot for hitting the shuttlecock—hitting it too high in front of her and too low behind her.
Xia Yu then approached from behind her, wrapped his left arm around her waist, lifted her up, and grabbed her right hand to hit the shuttlecock with her racket.
Because it was Liu Manman’s hand, the shot wasn’t perfect. The two boys easily returned the shuttlecock.
Xia Yu hurriedly put Liu Manman down to return the shot.
Liu Manman, now put down, fell to the ground in despair:
Not even a spectator—I’ve become a tool!
Xia Yu had no time to understand Liu Manman’s feelings and continued playing.
His hands grew increasingly skilled, and the time required to score points decreased rapidly.
Finally, he caught up from zero to 21 points.
The match ended.
As applause rang out from the stands, the two boys fell to their knees.
What the hell! Why!
Compared to Liu Manman, they were the ones who suffered the greatest shock.
They had thought they were chasing two helpless girls in the dark, only for one of the girls to suddenly pull out a gun and take them down effortlessly.
Why! How could this happen!
If you’re so strong, why didn’t you show it earlier! Were you messing with us by waiting until the last point!
The referee patted their shoulders in sympathy and asked them to quickly leave the court—the next match was about to begin.
On the other side, Xia Yu and Liu Manman also returned to their seats in the stands.
As soon as she sat down, Liu Manman hugged An Siyu tightly: “You tricked me!”
“What do you mean?” Xia Yu feigned confusion.
“You’re actually so good!” Liu Manman’s words sounded like an accusation against An Siyu’s crime.
“I suddenly got the feel for it, just like playing the piano. You know that, right?” Xia Yu knew that Liu Manman always cared about talent. Now that he had attributed it to talent, Liu Manman would definitely believe him.
Liu Manman indeed believed him.
“Damn it! Can you just do whatever you want because you have talent! Why don’t I have any talent at all!” Liu Manman was furious.
Xia Yu was also curious about what kind of talent Liu Manman might have, but all his game slots were already occupied, so he couldn’t check her out.
After Liu Manman calmed down, Xia Yu was then bombarded with questions by Yu Ningmeng.
Yu Ningmeng hooked her arm around his waist: “When did you become so good at sports?”
She didn’t believe the sudden inspiration excuse. At most, it could lead to a slight improvement, not an exponential increase.
Considering Yu Ningmeng’s personality, Xia Yu quickly found an excuse she would accept.
He gave Yu Ningmeng a mysterious smile.
Yu Ningmeng pinched his waist and whispered, “I never knew you were such a bad boy before.”
Xue saw Yu Ningmeng’s and Liu Manman’s reactions and felt secretly proud because only she knew the real reason An Siyu had suddenly become so strong.
She was already thinking about asking her older brother to do the same for her, but unfortunately, her sports event wouldn’t come until next year.
On the court, the match continued. After this one, An Siyu and Liu Manman played another match, and the morning matches ended.
At noon, they went out for lunch, walked around for a bit, and then returned to the court. Xia Yu and Liu Manman still needed to play one more match.
After a day of matches, Xia Yu didn’t log out of An Siyao’s body but followed her back to her villa.
It had been a while since he last used An Siyao’s body. Xia Yu casually walked around the villa.
“Will you come tomorrow?” An Siyao’s voice sounded, asking about the badminton match.
“Do you want me to come?” Xia Yu asked in return.
After thinking seriously for three seconds, An Siyao answered: “Yes.”
“Then I will come, but only when you’re about to lose. You should also work hard yourself.” Xia Yu couldn’t say he really wanted to see An Siyao’s cute expressions when she failed to hit the shuttlecock, so he pretended it was for her growth.
“I will try my best.” An Siyao was full of motivation.
But Xia Yu was secretly thinking about bringing a camera tomorrow to capture An Siyao’s expressions.
Walking like this, he arrived at the artificial river in the backyard.
By the river, Yin Wan was cleaning the pavilion on the water, while Yin Ling stared blankly at the water below the pavilion.
Coming to Yin Ling’s side, Xia Yu looked in the direction of the girl’s gaze and discovered a group of red koi fish.
“You can’t eat these,” Xia Yu said, placing his hand on Yin Ling’s head.
Yin Ling sighed.
Only then did Yin Wan notice that her young mistress had arrived. She straightened up, looking somewhat uneasy.
She had always thought her young mistress was a bit strange.
The other innocent maids hadn’t noticed, but she had. Sometimes, when the maids accidentally showed some skin while working, her young mistress would silently stare.
Although she had figured out that her young mistress had never made a move on the maids, and had even heard that she recently had a boyfriend, she still felt worried.
Her young mistress clearly had an unusual attitude toward her. As a maid serving the upper class and living with them, there were strict evaluations.
But she hadn’t undergone any evaluations at all and had become a personal maid to An Siyao—she didn’t believe there was no hidden reason behind it.
Facing An Siyu now, she felt like a maid in an old drama facing a mischievous young master.
Fortunately, she still had her daughter Yin Ling by her side.
With someone else present, her young mistress wouldn’t try anything, right?
Just as she felt relieved, An Siyu made a move.
Rubbing Yin Ling’s head, Xia Yu said, “Stop staring at the fish. Go, ask the kitchen to prepare some snacks—cookies.”
Hearing about food, Yin Ling’s eyes lit up, and she immediately ran to the kitchen.
Now, Yin Wan was left alone.
Yin Wan panicked.
“I’ll go clean somewhere else,” Yin Wan tried to escape but was blocked by Xia Yu.
“Stay with me for a while,” Xia Yu said.
Yin Wan had no choice but to stay.
“Sit down,” Xia Yu pointed to the bench beside the pavilion.
Yin Wan sat down uneasily, and Xia Yu sat beside her.
To Yin Wan’s relief, the young mistress sat at a certain distance from her. But before she could even feel happy, An Siyu turned sideways and lay down.
An Siyu was now lying on her lap.
The moment he lay down, Xia Yu felt a wave of comfort transmitted from An Siyao.
This girl was too reserved. If she felt comfortable leaning on Yin Wan, why not just use her authority to do so? They were both female—there was no need to be shy.
Xia Yu found a comfortable position.
Five minutes later, Yin Ling and another maid arrived with cookies and tea. The cookies were always available in the kitchen, so they came quickly.
Dismissing the other maid, Xia Yu had no intention of getting up to eat.
He had Yin Ling bring the snacks over, first giving a portion to the girl, then handing the rest to Yin Wan.
“Feed me,” he said.
Yin Wan hesitated for a while but had no choice but to comply.
As Xia Yu ate the cookies fed by Yin Wan, he sighed—this was the life of a novel character.
After slightly enjoying it for five minutes, Xia Yu logged out of An Siyao’s body, letting An Siyao slowly enjoy the moment.
Yin Wan felt that the young mistress, whose muscles had been slightly tense before, suddenly relaxed completely.
This was a sign of trust.
When muscles were relaxed, one couldn’t react quickly in case of sudden situations.
Picking up a cookie, Yin Wan continued feeding An Siyao.
Eating the cookie, An Siyao slowly closed her eyes, her memories returning to over ten years ago, when she lived with her mother, her favorite thing being to cling to her mother.
Lying on her mother’s lap like this was common.
Her consciousness gradually blurred.
As Yin Wan brought the cookie to An Siyao’s mouth, she found that An Siyao no longer opened her mouth.
“She’s asleep,” Yin Ling reported to her mother, eyeing the remaining cookie in Yin Wan’s hand.
Yin Wan handed all the cookies to her daughter and looked at An Siyao, whose body was slightly curled up.
She asked Yin Ling to go get a blanket.
It was already the end of October, and the weather was getting cold.
After covering An Siyao with the blanket, she slept even more soundly.
Placing her hand on An Siyao’s shoulder, Yin Wan turned her head and looked at the scenery outside the pavilion.
She recalled her own life.
How had she, just an ordinary rural girl, suddenly ended up in the bustling city, working as a maid?
However, life here was indeed much better than in the countryside.
In her palm, she still held the cookie she had brought to An Siyao’s mouth, which An Siyao hadn’t opened her mouth to eat.
She put the cookie into her own mouth.
It was a bit sweet.
“Mom.”
Hearing the voice, Yin Wan panicked for a moment, thinking her daughter had caught her sneaking a cookie.
But when she looked at Yin Ling, the girl was happily munching away, too busy to speak.
She then looked at An Siyao on her lap, whose head had nestled a bit closer into her.
She thought about the resemblance between herself and An Siyao’s appearance.
So she had mistaken her for her mother?
All her previous worries vanished. Nothing could be more touching than a child murmuring “mom” in their sleep.
She gently stroked An Siyao’s hair, her eyes filled with tenderness.
Perhaps that was why she had secretly watched the maids—trying to find her mother’s presence in them.
…
On Tuesday, Xia Yu and An Siyao arrived at school together. The match was about to start, but Liu Manman was nowhere to be seen—they kept waiting, but she never showed up.
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