Chapter 11: The Article Poised for Action

Jiecheng Wu stared at the photos on the desk, lost in thought.

These photos recorded numerous pieces of negative information related to Budongfeng's Tennis Club.

Coach Yokoyama physically punished students, senior members bullied junior members, the Tennis Club's training was chaotic, and its performance in tournaments was abysmal.

And so on.

He took these photos in his daily life simply to gather enough dirt on Budongfeng's Tennis Club.

Or to uncover Yokoyama's misdeeds, which could force him out of the Tennis Club.

By a bloodless strategy, he hoped to get the school administration and even outside forces to intervene in the Tennis Club, thereby achieving its reform.

But for now, although Jiecheng Wu has taken many photos, most of them only show conflicts among students.

Even if exposed, they would only give Yokoyama a minor inconvenience, at most a reprimand for lax discipline.

After all, this is the state of Japan now; the elder brother doesn't mention the second brother.

Even as the protagonist's school, Seigaku can't be that great.

Shouzu only won against a senior in a match and got his elbow hit by a racket; when Echizen Ryoma first joined Seigaku's Tennis Club, second‑year Arai was still playing some welcome‑newcomer game that extorted freshmen.

How are their actions any different from bullying? Yet did anyone get punished for it?

No one did; they could still stay in the Tennis Club until graduation.

Even if one day these dark histories were dug up, they would only affect themselves, not implicate the Tennis Club's coach.

Budongfeng is the same.

Yokoyama's physical punishments are seen by outsiders as merely a harsh teaching method; the bullying among members is just classmates' horseplay; as for poor results, how can any school be without them?

Thus Jiecheng Wu has been slow to disseminate the dirt he holds.

He has been quietly waiting for the right moment, secretly gathering evidence, and will finally deliver a fatal blow that will bring Yokoyama down completely.

Otherwise, striking the snake without killing it only invites its harm.

But now it seems there is no need to wait any longer; the best moment has arrived!

The Japanese national team's loss at the U17 Tennis World Championship will inevitably spark a wave of discussion about tennis.

And for Jiecheng Wu, this will be a perfect chance to overturn Budongfeng's Tennis Club.

So he carefully flipped through the photos, pondered for a long while, and then began to write.

"Title: Dig Deep! The Fundamental Reasons Japanese Tennis Can't Break Into the World!"

The bedroom light stayed on all night.

Jiecheng Wu pulled an all‑night, using arguments from every angle to try to attribute Japan's tennis failures to coaches like Yokoyama.

But no matter how he wrote, it always felt like something was missing, a bit lacking.

"Too bad I wasn't a journalism major in my past life," Jiecheng Wu said, scratching his head in frustration.

Dong dong dong!

At four or five in the morning, the street outside was still pitch black.

Jiecheng Wu gently knocked on the study door.

"Come in," a mature middle‑aged man's voice called from inside.

He opened the door; the room was brightly lit, and Jiecheng Tongren was buried at the desk, a stack of manuscripts beside him, clearly having also not slept all night.

"Anything I can help with?"

Jiecheng Tongren set down his black fountain pen and pinched the bridge of his forehead.

When he turned to look at Jiecheng Wu, distinct red veins were still visible in his eyes.

Seeing Jiecheng Tongren's exhausted state, Jiecheng Wu hesitated for a moment, unsure whether to trouble his father for help revising the manuscript.

But recalling the earlier dinner conversation, he handed over the sheet of paper he was holding.

"I have an article I'd like you to look over; I hope you can give some feedback,"

Jiecheng Tongren didn't take it immediately; glancing at the clock, it was already close to five.

The U17 Tennis World Championship saw the Japanese team lose so abruptly that when the news reached Japan, the entire Tennis Monthly publishing house blew up.

It should be noted that Tennis Monthly's reports have always leaned toward positive topics, aiming to encourage the public to take up tennis and inject fresh blood into the sport.

Thus, on a daily basis they filter the news they cover, reporting good news and not the bad.

But an event as big as the Japanese national team failing to advance past the group stage is something they simply cannot sidestep.

Otherwise even Tennis Monthly's credibility would be affected.

Only… how should such news be written?!!

It's truly a headache.

The only solution the newsroom can think of now is to work on the article itself, trying to minimize the impact of this loss.

As editor‑in‑chief, Jiecheng Tongren has not slept all night, reviewing the submitted articles, yet he has not found a satisfactory one, leaving him exhausted in body and mind.

'Fine, let's first help Xiao Wu take a look, give the brain a change.'

"Is this yours?"

He took the paper, asking with interest.

Jiecheng Wu nodded.

"Oh? Then I'll see how you wrote it."

Jiecheng Tongren's face broke into a smile; middle‑school essays, how nostalgic!

But seeing the opening title made him pause slightly.

"Again tennis?"

He didn't think much of it and kept reading.

Just looking and looking, Jiecheng Tongren's expression turned solemn, and he slowly sat up straighter, his right hand habitually picking up a pen to make annotations on the paper.

After a long while.

He then put down the pen in his hand, let out a long breath of turbid air, and solemnly looked at Jiecheng Wu and asked: "Is this the reliance you previously said you would use to change Budongfeng?"

"Yes, I want to use this world tournament incident to let the public know the situation of Budongfeng Tennis Club."

Jiecheng Wu directly stated his inner purpose.

After hearing his son's idea firsthand, Jiecheng Tongren's eyes involuntarily became somewhat complex.

He, like Jiecheng Wu at that age, still regretted not daring to confess his feelings to the girl he liked in the neighboring class due to shyness.

And his son actually already thought of guiding public opinion to achieve his own goal—are junior high students nowadays this capable?

"Is there something wrong with the article?" Seeing his father's changed expression, Jiecheng Wu hurriedly asked.

"Cough cough!"

Jiecheng Tongren gave a dry cough twice and then resumed his proper demeanor.

"Your starting point is not problematic, but if you rely only on this version, I think it would be quite difficult to achieve your goal."

"Dad, you say."

"If your goal is merely the Hengshan coach of Budongfeng, then your scope of attack is too broad."

Jiecheng Tongren paused, then pointed to the passage in the article that strongly criticized the tennis world's coaches.

"Hengshan only represents that kind of person, while a tennis coach is a tennis coach; the two cannot be lumped together."

"Otherwise, when you criticize Hengshan, unnecessary forces will appear to defend him—that's the first point."

"Second point, the evidence lacks force."

After Jiecheng Tongren finished speaking, he took a big gulp of coffee to refresh himself, his eyes lit up, and he obviously became excited.

This article let him see a good direction.

Perhaps it could both avoid hurting harmony and help eliminate a few bad apples from the junior high tennis world.

Thus he looked at the pondering Jiecheng Wu and spoke.

"Xiao Wu, actually Dad can help with this."

Sorry this chapter was posted late; actually I'm a bit afraid of writing the dialogue between Jiecheng Wu and Jiecheng Tongren.

Probably because I've had little communication with my parents since childhood, so whenever I write father-son dialogue, I have to rack my brains to imagine that scene.

(End of chapter)