Chapter 7: Peeking

The schedule of attending classes and conducting research at the university is monotonous; listening to lectures, taking notes, reading literature, and completing assignments keep one busy and exhausted every single day.

Furthermore, with the end of the semester and the upcoming summer break, Jiang Ying will be entering her senior year. It is time to consider whether to continue her studies or enter the workforce upon graduation.

Psychology graduates face a rather awkward position in the job market; even those from prestigious 985-project universities struggle to find employment. Among the careers aligned with psychology, the most well-known is that of a psychological counselor. However, setting aside the market demand, the first few years of this profession require significant personal investment in supervision, making it almost a job where one pays to work.

After careful consideration, Jiang Ying decided to continue her education.

Starting from the year before last, the Psychology Department at Hua University launched a joint master’s and doctoral program with an Ivy League university in the United States. If selected, students could study for one year as a postgraduate in China before continuing their advanced studies in the U.S. until obtaining a doctorate. Staying on to teach and conduct research at the university afterward would be a great career path.

The competition for this program is fierce. Fortunately, Jiang Ying has excellent grades, and since her sophomore year, she has joined several research groups. Currently, she is working with Professor Lin on research that utilizes computational modeling to study mental illnesses—a cutting-edge topic in clinical psychology. Her role in the research group involves data processing and comparative analysis, which is quite substantive work.

As long as her grades this semester remain strong and her graduation thesis is of high quality, she should be able to secure a spot without any unexpected setbacks.

Although the graduation thesis is a concern for the next semester, Jiang Ying submitted her program application over the past two days and has started thinking about potential topics.

After two days of agonizing thought, she felt a headache coming on.

On Saturday morning, Professor Lin notified her that the schedule for visiting patients at the hospital this week and next had been adjusted due to a department meeting. Jiang Ying decided to give herself a day off before the exam season began and happily messaged Lu Zhixi, telling him she could arrive at the apartment early.

Five minutes later, she received a location pin.

He had been playing tennis that morning as usual and told her he had called a car for her, instructing her to head to the south gate of the campus after breakfast.

Jiang Ying originally thought the car would take her to the apartment, but she did not expect it to stop at the entrance of a tennis club.

This tennis facility is located in the heart of the bustling, high-rent CBD. The shopping mall buildings, draped in luxury brand banners, blocked out the noise of the street, making the area a world of its own.

Early June in Beijing should have been scorching, but heavy rain over the past two days had left a cool breeze in the air. By six in the morning, the sun had emerged from the clouds, casting a golden glow across the city skyline; the weather was perfect.

Jiang Ying had visited twice before, and the receptionist, who had a good memory, greeted her and led her inside.

When she arrived at the court, Lu Zhixi was playing tennis.

He was wearing a white T-shirt and athletic shorts, with a white headband. As he moved and swung his racket, the fluid and beautiful muscle lines of his arms and calves were defined, exuding both power and grace. His one-handed backhand was precise and forceful, making it impossible to look away.

Tennis is a sport that tests judgment and strength to the extreme. At the same time, a good tennis player can maintain elegance and composure while moving and swinging. This was exactly the impression Lu Zhixi gave while playing.

Jiang Ying didn’t pay much attention to tennis, but to better understand Lu Zhixi, she had done some research online. She learned that tennis is known as an elegant aristocratic sport and that cultivating a professional player requires an immense amount of money, which is not affordable for an ordinary family.

Although she wasn't an expert spectator, she felt that Lu Zhixi must be among the very best. When he enrolled last year, he still carried injuries and frequently went to the hospital for rehabilitation. Once he recovered a bit better, he began training with unwavering persistence—his willpower was astonishing.

Lu Zhixi had a dedicated coach at the club, a man in his early thirties from Hong Kong named Lin Jiajie, whom Jiang Ying had met before. But Coach Lin was not there today. The man playing against Lu Zhixi across the net was a middle-aged white man with blonde hair and blue eyes.

Jiang Ying felt he looked familiar, but she couldn't recall where she had seen him.

She sat on a bench to the side and waited quietly. When the match ended, Lu Zhixi walked over to the side of the court to drink water. She saw the white man walk over as well, and they spoke to each other in French.

"My visit to China this time, besides seeing you, was also to see a player in Shanghai—a thirteen-year-old girl with great talent."

Lu Zhixi smiled. "To get such an evaluation from you, it means she has a chance at a Grand Slam."

"She has the potential, but who can say for sure? If we're talking about pure talent, no one compares to you... Is that your girlfriend sitting over there?"

They only spoke for a few moments before walking toward Jiang Ying. The foreigner greeted her kindly in English, introducing himself as Andre, Lu Zhixi’s former coach.

Jiang Ying introduced herself in English as well, but was surprised when Andre mentioned that he had heard about her from Lu Zhixi.

"I have always been worried about his situation. I am very happy that you have been there to accompany him during this time."

Hearing Andre’s words, Jiang Ying felt a bit confused, but Lu Zhixi suddenly interrupted him and switched back to French to continue their conversation.

"Are you staying for lunch?"

"No," Andre said. "My flight back to New York is tonight. Let's play together again when you come to New York."

Lu Zhixi hugged him. "I'll arrange a car to take you to the airport."

Andre patted his back, his eyes seeming to hold a thousand words, but in the end, he only said: "Kid, we all regret what happened last year. Your injury has healed quite well, but there is still some weakness in your right shoulder. It’s slight, but... we both know what that means for an athlete who wants to reach the pinnacle. There are many other paths in your life that are very bright; you must look forward."

Jiang Ying could not understand French. After Andre left, she suddenly remembered, "He is Andre Dubois! The famous tennis coach who trained a Grand Slam winner!"

Lu Zhixi took her hand and led her toward the lounge. "Yes, it’s him."

Jiang Ying said with pleasant surprise, "Then you must be a genius just like those Grand Slam athletes, right?"

The door to the lounge slammed shut. Lu Zhixi didn't speak; he pressed her against the back of the door and kissed her fiercely.

He had just finished playing and was covered in sweat, but because he was very disciplined with his personal care and diet, he had no body odor even when perspiring. He was very tall, and even though Jiang Ying was 1.65 meters tall, she appeared petite pressed against the door by him.

Lu Zhixi, who was always gentle in these matters, acted out of character, kissing her with great intensity from the start, forcefully invading her mouth. Their lips and tongues intertwined. After a long while, he whispered, "Has your period ended?"

Jiang Ying blushed from the kiss and nodded amidst her rapid heartbeat.

To her surprise, the next second, Lu Zhixi turned her around.

Jiang Ying hurriedly tried to push him away. "Zhixi, not here..."

Her heart was filled with both shock and urgency.

Although Lu Zhixi didn't have a clean-freak complex, he was picky about locations. He didn't like to shower or stay anywhere other than his home. For example, when traveling, he wouldn't go anywhere unless it was a hotel he had personally selected. Or, like now, if he was sweaty from a game, even if he wanted to, he would usually go home to shower first before taking her to bed.

His movements now were steady and unhurried, but this was highly unusual for him.

"This is my private lounge. It’s fine."

Jiang Ying couldn't worry about her misgivings and said quickly, "But there's no condom..."

As the words left her lips, she felt the hands clasped around her waist tighten suddenly.

"Zhixi!" Jiang Ying called out anxiously, unable to break free.

Lu Zhixi kissed her cheek to soothe her. "We won't."

They spent two hours in the lounge, with Lu Zhixi taking a break midway to wash his hands.

Lu Zhixi was always very attentive to her feelings in these matters, but she often felt that he might also be enjoying it himself—just like now, as he watched her cry with great interest.

"Yingying, my clothes are dripping wet."

He said with a smile.

When they left, Jiang Ying nearly fell to her knees after walking two steps. Fearing that others would notice, she adamantly refused to let Lu Zhixi carry her.

The tennis club was close enough to the apartment that she managed to walk back, relying entirely on the strength of Lu Zhixi’s arm around her waist.

*

"There are many junior tennis tournaments in the U.S. Players improve their UTR—Universal Tennis Rating—by participating in these matches. Players with a high UTR can use it to get into good universities, including Ivy League schools."

Back home, after showering, the two sat in the movie room, eating a salad for lunch while watching a film.

Compared to the movie, she was more curious about Lu Zhixi’s identity as a tennis player.

She had previously only known that Lu Zhixi had played tennis since he was a child and had been trained professionally. During this time, his training seemed to be in preparation for a tournament, but whenever she asked what he was preparing for, he would say he was still seeing how things went. She had even tried searching for Lu Zhixi’s name online to see if there were any videos of him participating in tours or ranking matches, but she found no relevant information.

"Then your UTR must be very high, right? Why did you return to China for school?"

Lu Zhixi smiled at her. "Perhaps to meet you."

He pulled her into his arms, lowered her shoulder strap, and asked, "Not interested in this movie?"

"When will you participate in a tournament?"

"I won't be participating anymore."

"Why?"

"The shoulder injury didn't heal as expected." He said it with breezy nonchalance.

After being bitten, Jiang Ying let out a small cry of pain.

Lu Zhixi flipped over to pin her onto the sofa, gripped her calf, and asked, "Wasn't I pleasing you just now? You kept losing focus."

His voice was gentle, but his words were blunt. He always spoke like this with a straight face in bed.

Jiang Ying’s cheeks burned, and her voice stumbled. "I... I just want to understand you better."

Lu Zhixi suddenly said, "If you want to understand me better, why not hand over your summer cat-feeding job to someone else and move into the apartment to keep me company for a while longer?"

Unexpectedly, the topic had shifted to cat-feeding. Jiang Ying chuckled. "It’s just one summer; we’ll have plenty of time in the future."

He stopped talking, suddenly pulled away, and lowered his head.

Jiang Ying was startled and just as she wanted to pull back, she was melted by the moist sensation, her mind turning into a puddle.

When Lu Zhixi sat up again, his nose and lips were wet, and water droplets clung to his long eyelashes. Jiang Ying wanted to reach for a tissue to wipe his face, but as she turned, she was knocked down onto the sofa.

Her voice was fragmented, like a puppy emitting endearing whimpers.