"""I must say, Teacher Shu, you’re really something to have improved so much in just one day!"""
Shu Ran pursed her lips: "Well, who told you to skip warming up? If you regret it now, there’s still time. I can let you go warm up for an hour."
Seeing that the groundwork had been laid, Zhang Jingdong said, "Forget it, those two sets we just played count as a warm-up. Come on, let’s continue!"
With that, he got into position.
Shu Ran saw that Zhang Jingdong wasn’t heeding the advice, so she decided to give him a proper lesson today and immediately entered the competitive mindset again.
The third set begins!
The first 10 shots ended 6:4, with Zhang Jingdong leading by two points and maintaining this lead until 19:17.
At this point, Shu Ran scored 2 points in a row, tying the game at 19:19!
Honestly, at that moment, Shu Ran thought she saw the glimmer of victory, and even her normally unchangeable heart felt a rare twinge of nervousness.
It’s a pity Zhang Jingdong didn’t give her a chance, following up with two consecutive Lin Dan signature jump smashes, taking the next two points to win the set.
In the fourth set, Zhang Jingdong pretty much replicated the score from the third set, leading from 8:5 all the way to the end, winning the set 21:17.
At this point, a smug look returned to Zhang Jingdong’s face: "What a shame, Teacher Shu, you were so close to beating me just now!"
Right now, Shu Ran had forgotten their teacher-student relationship and that she was his senior, considering him only as her opponent in the match.
So subconsciously, she gave him a sidelong glance and said softly, "It’s alright, there are still two sets left. I just need to win the next set to win the match outright, while you must win two in a row to beat me!"
Zhang Jingdong curled his lip: "True to a former professional, you really know how to maintain your mindset and shift the pressure onto your opponent."
"But what a pity, on the court, strength is the only king!"
Shu Ran felt the strong confidence in Zhang Jingdong’s words and knew that he had completely regained his form.
Although she felt a faint sense of trepidation, she still forced herself to calm down and said: "Until the final shot lands, no one knows who’ll win or lose. One can be confident, but not arrogant!"
Zhang Jingdong looked deeply into Shu Ran’s eyes: "Your words make a lot of sense, but... there are always exceptions."
The two prepared briefly before commencing the decisive set.
In this set’s first 10 shots, the score was 7:3, Zhang Jingdong falling behind by four points.
Then it proceeded to 15:10, 18:15.
Now the score was 20:19.
Shu Ran was still one point ahead, holding match point.
Truthfully, Zhang Jingdong wanted to play a more dramatic set this time, making it seem like a tough win for himself.
Firstly, to keep Shu Ran hooked on playing with him.
Secondly, to make it easier for her to agree to his request later, considering his hard-earned victory.
But this time, he overplayed it a bit. After deliberately losing a few shots, he made rare consecutive mistakes when he needed to score, which led to the current score.
There was nothing he could do, after all, badminton wasn’t table tennis. Especially since Shu Ran was formerly provincial team level, and now it was the decisive set. Even with Lin Dan’s abilities, Zhang Jingdong wasn’t assured of victory at this point.
So for the first time, he felt nervous!
After all, if he truly lost this point, not only would he lose today’s match, but his boast of beating Shu Ran for seven days would also end right there, and he would have no reason to play with her for the following days.
Even his relationship with Shu Ran might end there since once the persona collapsed, flirting wouldn’t have the same flavor anymore.
At this moment, Shu Ran also felt Zhang Jingdong’s nervousness for the first time.
Before this shot, she always felt that Zhang Jingdong’s hard power was a level above hers, partly because he had a very obvious control when playing matches against her.
On the other hand, it was due to his consistently relaxed pacing, at times giving her the sensation of being toyed with.
But now she realized that while he was indeed stronger, it was conditional on him being fully warmed up and exerting full power, otherwise, he wasn’t guaranteed to beat her.
Thinking of this, Shu Ran felt a flutter of excitement because that meant he indeed was a very good opponent.
Stronger than her, but not to the point of being unbeatable, allowing her to continuously improve in their matches and occasionally experience the joy of defeating him – these feelings were truly rare.
Perhaps because of this realization, her heart suddenly gave rise to some concern.
She actually worried that Zhang Jingdong wouldn’t win this next shot!
Because she realized that if she won this match, then she might no longer have the chance to play badminton with Zhang Jingdong!
Knowing that Zhang Jingdong was very proud by nature, if he lost this match – even though it was without full effort – he would definitely not take the initiative to suggest playing together again.
And she seemed to have no suitable reason or courage to suggest playing with him. If that’s the case, she might lose a very rare playing partner forever.
Moreover, she suddenly remembered what Ye Sijing told her after Zhang Jingdong left yesterday.