Chapter 271: Another Point Lost

But that one point belonged to Yao Tang’s team, not theirs!

Yao Ran felt her mind go blank as she stared at the scoreboard. How could it have come to this?

After being stunned for a couple of seconds, she frowned and glanced at the referee. “Wait, do you mind checking the scores again?” she asked the referee. “I think Yao Tang’s ball had crossed the line.”

“What are you trying to say?” The gym teacher scoffed. “That I’m not capable at my job?”

How was she going to believe that it did?

Although Yao Ran didn’t look at the ball falling to the ground, she remembered the way she had hit the ball. Observing its speed and direction, that ball had definitely exceeded the line.

Yet, the referee said it didn’t.

However, just as she was about to say something in response, she heard Xu Xuan’s voice from behind her. “Ranran, that ball didn’t cross the line.”

“It hit the line exactly.”

As soon as Yao Ran heard this, she gazed at Yao Tangwho was standing opposite to her. Her fingernails dug into her palm as she gazed at the ball. No, that was impossible.

Yet, Yao Tang didn’t look fearful of the results. In fact, she didn’t look anything but dismissive, even as she had declared her partner for the match. What was she planning?

“Xuan Xuan, since you saw the ball, why weren’t you able to block it?” Unable to help herself, she snapped at her friend. “Instead, you let it land on the ground just like that.”

Xu Xuan lowered her head in acknowledgment. “Sorry, it was my fault.”

“Hm.”

Yao Ran took a deep breath. She still needed Xu Xuan. The last thing she wanted was to offend her and sink themselves deeper into a pit.

“Look, just be careful next time, okay? We can’t afford to lose points for the next round.”

Her friend nodded, not saying another word.

Qin Jing, on the other hand, was speechless.

She liked tennis. Ever since she had transferred to No. 1 High School, she had asked around about the school’s tennis varsity. It was how she had known about Xu Xuan.

Not only was she the No. 1 Player, but she was also quite a child prodigy then.

It was why she adored Xu Xuan a lot. How could someone manage to be that beautiful and talented at the same time? There was even a time when Qin Jinghad considered joining the team. She wouldn’t even dare think of pointing a finger at the star tennis player.

Not only was Yao Ran careless, but she even pushed the blame on her!

And Xu Xuan admitted it?

Qin Jing scoffed in disappointment. “Are you still going to continue playing?” she yelled. “If you don’t play, then you can leave now.”

Yao Ran exhaled. “We’ll still play. We were just careless.”

Yao Tang just got lucky.

Everyone in the crowd couldn’t help but think the same thing as they stared at the young dismissive woman on the other side of the court.

They all knew that Yao Ran was a great tennis player. She made sure to calculate everything down to the very serve. To counter that spinning ball, one should have a large amount of skill and talent.

The risk of hitting that ball was far too great. In fact, many would’ve called it a lose-lose situation.

After all, if they were too strong, the ball would cross over the line. If they were too weak, the ball will ultimately hit the net and then fall onto the ground.

It was just far too risky.

Yao Tang was only an ordinary student. Compared to someone like Xu Xuan, she was nothing but a dot on the map. Yet she was daring enough to hit the ball and win.

It was why everyone thought that luck has something to do with this.

What they didn’t expect was for a repeat.

Yao Ran, once again, aimed the ball in Yao Tang’s direction and used another trick shot. However, the latter countered the spinning ball with a loud smack.

Luckily, she didn’t let her guard down this time around.

Instead, she hit the spinning ball.

However, she didn’t expect to overestimate her strength. The spinning little force directly slammed against the net, and her eyes widened in shock.

The ball hit the ground, and she paled even further.

How could this be?

Yao Ran took a deep breath, blinking repeatedly. However, the ball was just where she had seen it. It was right in front of her. How could she have lost again?