Chapter 35: Shengzai

In a high-end barbecue restaurant in Tokyo, the entire tennis team from Undō Peak Middle School, newly crowned champions of the regional tournament, were gathered here for a celebratory meal.

Kamio and Ishida stared at the expensive cuts of meat on the menu, swallowing hard, then looked at Tachibana Kikuhira across from them: “Captain, are we really allowed to order this much?”

“Yeah, are you sure you brought enough money? We don’t want to end up washing dishes.”

But before Tachibana could answer, the sliding door of the restaurant burst open, and a young woman with waist-length black hair, an exceptionally slender figure, wearing a straw hat, a mask, and sunglasses, stepped in and declared: “All of you students, eat your fill—today, I’ve rented out the entire place.”

“Since you’re all minors, I won’t serve you alcohol, but everything else is on me.”

Though she wore a sunhat, sunglasses, and a mask, Kamio and Shinji could already tell from her voice and figure that she was a stunning beauty.

As the Undō Peak members wondered who she was and why she was treating them, little An quietly walked up, took her arm, and asked affectionately: “Sister Ya Xiang, what are you doing here?”

“Won’t people recognize you and cause a commotion? And didn’t you say you had a lot of work today?”

“It’s fine, An. I’ve already taken precautions when I came here.”

“Besides, you won the regional tournament, right? I heard my adorable younger brother performed exceptionally well. How could I miss such an important occasion?”

“A few gigs and appearances? I just canceled them. We’re not short on money.”

Hearing such extravagantly irresponsible remarks, An covered her face with her hand.

Seeing the Undō Peak members all staring curiously at them, An turned to Ya Xiang beside her: “Sister Ya Xiang, is it okay?”

Wenhren Ya Xiang didn’t answer An’s question. Instead, she calmly removed her sunhat, took off her sunglasses and mask, and introduced herself as everyone stared in astonishment: “Pleased to meet you all, students of Undō Peak Middle School.”

“My name is Wenhren Ya Xiang. As you’ve probably guessed from my surname, you’re right.”

“My younger brother, Wenhren Shengzai, is mischievous—I thank you all for your usual care and kindness.”

Wenhren Ya Xiang, from a prominent family, showed no trace of a spoiled heiress’s attitude or the arrogance of a superstar—she greeted everyone with effortless grace.

After a brief moment of stunned silence, the Undō Peak students finally reacted, bursting into exclamations.

“Wenhren Ya Xiang! That super-celebrity!”

“No way—Ya Xiang is Shengzai’s sister? I always thought our shared surname was just a coincidence.”

The Undō Peak tennis team had only known Shengzai came from a wealthy family—but they never dreamed that Wenhren Ya Xiang, nearly a national idol, was his real sister!

Seeing the Undō Peak members on the verge of frenzy, Shengzai immediately tried to flee the scene of social death.

But before he could even stand up, the scent of gardenia enveloped him—and the next second, the national idol with long black hair pulled him into a hug.

She patted his head like comforting a child: “Our Shengzai is so impressive! All those tennis coaches we hired before? Total deadbeats.”

“Hmph, they said our Shengzai had no tennis talent. Mom was right to kick them all out. I’ll find you some top foreign coaches soon.”

As a transplant, Shengzai’s mental age far exceeded his middle-school appearance.

Being treated like a child by a girl around twenty—this was deeply embarrassing to him.

And it wasn’t just at home anymore—it was in front of everyone! He was utterly humiliated!

He was Undō Peak’s ace! He’d just pulled off a huge show today—how could he possibly face the tennis team tomorrow after this?

But Wenhren Ya Xiang felt no wrongdoing whatsoever—older sisters doting on younger brothers was perfectly natural.

When a brother achieved something great, it was normal for a sister to praise him. She even thought his flushed face was simply due to his adorable shyness.

Originally, Tachibana had planned to treat everyone to ramen—but after learning the truth, Wenhren Ya Xiang immediately called An and had everyone brought to this upscale barbecue restaurant.

As a superstar who never lacked money, she generously rented out the entire place to celebrate her brother and his teammates’ victory.

The celebration meal was wildly enjoyable—after all, eating unlimited premium barbecue wasn’t something you got every day.

Besides eating, many of them even asked Wenhren Ya Xiang for autographs.

Seeing the noble, generous, elegant, and beautiful Wenhren Ya Xiang, Kamio even felt his heart stir again…

Of course, for the Undō Peak members, this celebration was a joyous feast—but for Shengzai, it was pure torment.

His own sister, so famous, insisted on feeding him like a child, and under the pressure of bloodline, he couldn’t resist—repeatedly, in front of everyone, he suffered social death.

By the end of the meal, Shengzai was utterly drained—but Wenhren Ya Xiang was still watching his match footage, thoroughly engrossed, and asked An:

“Captain, I’d like to take three days off… no, a full week! You know why.”

After the celebration ended, at the restaurant entrance, Shengzai directly asked Tachibana for a week’s leave.

He figured a week might be enough time for everyone to forget this incident.

After all, he’d just suffered social death today—he couldn’t possibly face the tennis team’s strange stares right away.

“No. Though I sympathize, as captain of the tennis team, I can’t approve your leave.”

“The All-Japan Tournament is coming soon. You know as well as I do that our victory over Seishun Academy in the regionals was mostly luck.”

Both Shengzai and Tachibana knew this well—Undō Peak’s strength still lagged behind Seishun Academy’s.

If not for their surprise tactics, and if Seishun’s doubles #2 hadn’t been Momoshiro and Kaidoh, they’d have been the ones crushed.

(End of Chapter)