Chapter 49: Three Good Friends

Saturday meant a day off work.

And so, Ace called his buddy early in the morning to ask him out to play tennis.

“… I’ve already booked the court at that sports club we went to last time! Come out and practice your skills. We’ll play mixed doubles, how about that?”

Chen Yuheng knew that his friend was a buff for the sport. His love for tennis had him joining the school’s tennis team back in their college days, and even after graduation, he would often drag him to the sports club to play a few games.

“Who have you called?” Since they were playing mixed doubles, the latter must have already got a partner.

Ace answered, “I’m here with Lily! We’ve got a partner for you, so come quickly! The recently opened Thai restaurant here serves pretty decent food! I’ll treat you to a meal there, after the game.”

Playing tennis seemed to be a good way to relax on a weekend.

When Chen Yuheng put down his phone, he unconsciously glanced at the robot beside him.

Gu Anbao had huddled herself up on the sofa while watching TV. There was nothing good to watch in the morning, but she could not find anything else to do to pass time.

Looking at her face, he slowly said, “Ace has asked me out for a game of tennis. The venue there is not bad, and the place is huge.”

She was immediately attracted to the idea, and she turned to look at him with sparkling eyes.

Seeing her reaction, he continued. “Besides the tennis court, there’s a basketball court, table tennis court, badminton court, snooker room, and—” He could not help thinking how worried he would be leaving her alone at home…

“I want to go, too.” She could not help blurting out. Her voice was soft and coyish but, at the same time, held the careful fear of being rejected.

The man’s lips hooked up in a smile as he reached out to rub her ears. “Alright. Since Ruan Ruan wants to go, I’ll take her along.”

She was ecstatic.

They made their way to the sports club in his car, only to meet someone unexpected there.

Pei Lijun, in an orange tank top and sports shorts, was in the midst of a fierce game with Ace on the court. Lily, on the other hand, was apparently on her mid-game break, as evident by the high ponytail of blond hair on her head and the slightly damp white racerback.

The game stopped when they noticed his arrival and approached him in greeting.

“You’re finally here! I’m about to die from rotating between these two women! I can’t take it anymore. Yuheng, replace me for one round!” hollered Ace in exaggeration, gulping down several mouthfuls of water the moment he sat down. The man was fully drenched in sweat.

Chen Yuheng paid no attention to his risqué words and turned to his former friend, instead. “When did you return?”

The woman laughed. “Just last night. I happened to receive Ace’s invitation to play tennis, so here I am.” As she spoke, her gaze shifted slightly to Gu Anbao, who was beside him. “This person looks familiar.”

From the side, Lily laughingly said, “Of course! She’s Mr. Ace’s new creation. When the design plan first came out three months ago, we even sought your opinion about it.”

The former was still at RK three months ago. Back then, they were all still good friends with each other.

It dawned on her that that ‘person’ was actually a robot, and she complimented the creator for his superlative craftsmanship right there and then.

Ace turned to Chen Yuheng and blustered, “Enough with the idle chat. Same rules apply, the teams will be divided into Lily and me versus Lijun and you. Mixed doubles, okay? We won’t get another chance to play like this for a while, so cherish the time we have together now.”

The other man chuckled. “You should at least give me some time to warm up.” He then asked his female friend, “How long will you be staying in Qingjiang City this time?”

“It won’t be long,” she smilingly replied, “The company is placing its future focus on Xin Hai City. I came back this time to sell my apartment…”

“Why are you selling it?! It doesn’t hurt to keep it!” Ace was very upset. “If you sell it, won’t you have to stay in a hotel when you return to Qingjiang?”

Chen Yuheng chimed in, “The condition of a house deteriorates quickly if there’s no inhabitant unless she hires someone to regularly take care of it, the maintenance of the water and electricity supply, etc. These little things are distracting even though they’re not very troublesome… It’s better for her to sell it off. Besides, the hotel facilities these days have improved and it’s convenient.”

He received a fierce glare from his buddy in return. The latter wanted to rebuke him but got stopped by Pei Lijun who smilingly said, “You don’t have to persuade me. I share the same sentiments as Yuheng; I don’t wish to be distracted by these little things, so I might as well sell it and have peace of mind.”

At that, Ace pouted and kept mum.

Chen Yuheng then pulled Gu Anbao over to a corner of the court, took off his jacket, and began to do some warmups.

Despite being a robot, she, too, mimicked his actions and did some warmups.

As Pei Lijun looked at them from afar, the expression on her face seemed somewhat ambiguous.

Now that Ace had had enough rest, he slung his arm over her shoulders like a good buddy and said, “I don’t know what happened between the two of you, but know that as long as I’m in RK, RK’s doors are always open to you. How about that? Won’t you consider it? What’s so good about Huaxin…”

The woman smiled. “You misunderstood Ace. There isn’t any discord between us. My leaving the company is solely because of our differing principles. Of course, that doesn’t stop us from being friends in the future.”

That got him sneering at her. “Friends? Would friends keep me in the dark? The two of you have such tight lips and just won’t tell me the reason—”

“That’s because we don’t want to make things difficult for you.” She patted his back in consolation. “Let’s go. Yuheng is almost done with his warmups. Let’s head to the court.”

“Fine! Watch how Lily and I wipe both of you out!” Filled with fighting spirits, he charged toward the court and hollered, “Chen Yuheng, hurry up!”

Chen Yuheng got his robot a tennis racket, coolly took her over to the single-player court, and taught her the proper way to hold the racket.

His buddy’s urging voice could be heard from the other end. “Speed up, Chen Yuheng!”

Pei Lijun could not help chuckling as she said, “He wasn’t so patient with me when he taught me tennis way back.”

At the mention of their past, a smile graced Ace’s face. “Even now, I’m still wondering if you did it on purpose. No matter how he coached you, you just couldn’t pick up the sport. How did you end up being so good at playing tennis? Did you secretly learn it behind our backs?”

“What are you saying? He didn’t teach me much at all, alright?! After making me practice serving the ball countless times, he later claimed that I had no talent for the sport and that marked the end to his coaching,” complained the woman as she pointed a finger at the man far away from them. “If he had been a fraction of how patient he is now, I wouldn’t have had to resort to signing up for tennis classes.”

“Woah, woah, woah—” Ace got all ecstatic. “There, you’ve finally admitted it! You attended special classes! Hahahaha!”

Chen Yuheng approached them right then as he flexed his arms and said, “Let’s get started.”

In an enigmatic tone, the former screeched, “Yuheng! I just found out that Lijun attended professional tennis classes. This is unfair! Lily is only an amateur, you two have to give us a handicap!”

Used to this annoying and troublemaking friend, the latter cut to the chase. “How many points should we give to you?”

However, Pei Lijun cut in. “No, we can’t give in to them. Ace used to be the ace of the tennis team in school. If anything, it should be him giving points to us.”

Now that he had recalled this matter, the man grinned. “What should we do, Ace? Lijun has a point.”

With a sigh, Ace headed to the end of the net while mumbling, “You’re always listening to Lijun, so why aren’t you listening to her this time…?”

His voice was not particularly soft when he said that, and his friends’ faces changed slightly when they heard him. The two exchanged knowing glances with each other, though there was not a tinge of surprise in their eyes.

They, of course, knew what their friend was referring to.

With a faint smile, Pei Lijun said to Chen Yuheng, “As usual, you’ll serve the ball”

He nodded. “Okay.”