Chapter 20

Tang Yi-Bai asked Yun Duo why she had laughed, and Yun Duo chuckled and said, "It's nothing." She definitely would not let him see that forum thread — those women were way too voracious and salacious.

Xiang Yang-Yang lightly knocked on the table with her glass. "Come, come, come, let's do a toast."

The group raised their glasses. Xiang Yang-Yang saw that Yun Duo only had a little bit of beer left in her glass and said, "Yun Duo, how is that enough? Top it up, top it up."

Qi Rui-Feng said, "Xiang Yang-Yang, leave her alone. You think everyone can drink as much as you do? She's so weak."

Yun Duo sweatdropped. Did she really look that weak? Looking around, she could not help but admit that compared to these strapping athletes, her physique might as well be at the level of a child who had just graduated from kindergarten.

Xiang Yang-Yang narrowed her eyes at Qi Rui-Feng. "Calling me by name? Don't you know how to say 'big sister'? So rude.没大没小: The original here literally translates to 'no big, no small', which refers to how someone in a more junior position does not know how to acknowledge and respect their elders."

The two Olympic champions were from the same provincial team, and had trained under the same coach there. As such, the two of them were actually team siblings. This relationship had already been made public since the last Olympic Games, so Yun Duo was also aware of it. She had initially thought that Xiang Yang-Yang was a kind and gentle big sister who took care of her team siblings, but who could have guessed that she was such a domineering presence. Then again, Qi Rui-Feng was so narcissistic that it was really very hard for others to be kind and gentle towards him ...

Yun Duo asked Xiang Yang-Yang, "Big sis Yang, were you and Qi Rui-Feng already very close since back in the provincial team?"

Xiang Yang-Yang leaned unabashedly back into her chair, hands resting casually on her arms. Yun Duo really felt like giving her a cigarette — that was the only way to properly showcase her lady boss attitude. Xiang Yang-Yang said, "Huh, close? He was just a little brat back then, not to this big sister's taste."

Qi Rui-Feng hated others calling him a child the most. "That's enough out of you, Xiang Yang-Yang! You're just one year older than me — stop being so full of yourself!"

"It can't be helped. A day older is still older, you know," said Xiang Yang-Yang, and she turned her head to ask Yun Duo, "Yun Duo, how old are you this year?"

"21 years old."

"Same as me?" Tang Yi-Bai looked at her, "When's your birthday?"

"October 2nd."

"Hm, then I'm older than you. Mine's September 5th."

Yun Duo rubbed her chin. "Virgo? Stingy, clean freak, perfectionist ... haha, it really doesn't show, eh?"

Qi Rui-Feng snickered. "He's not a Virgo, he's a virgin."

His words drew another violent blow from Xiang Yang-Yang. "Don't say such things in front of girls! We'll be embarrassed!"

Qi Rui-Feng cradled his head and groaned, "Which part of you looks even the least bit embarrassed?!"

Xiang Yang-Yang ignored Qi Rui-Feng to ask Yun Duo, "Yun Duo, it looks like you know quite a lot about horoscopes? Can you tell what's my horoscope?"

Yun Duo humbly nodded her head. "I just know a little ... you jump from thought to thought, so you're most likely an Aquarius."

Xiang Yang-Yang was quite surprised. "Wow, you really got it right. Then what do you think his horoscope is?" She said as she nudged Qi Rui-Feng.

"A classic Leo."

"Wow, right again! Then, what about Ling-Ye?"

"Silent and reticent, Taurus."

"Right again!" Xiang Yang-Yang rubbed her hands together in excitement, "You're so amazing!"

Even Zheng Ling-Ye was looking at her with surprise.

And then, Ming Tian pointed at himself. "Big sister, guess what horoscope I am?"

"Lively and energetic, Aries."

"Right again!" Xiang Yang-Yang shook Yun Duo's arm in exhilaration. "You're so amazing! I want to be your disciple!"

Ming Tian's expression was also filled with admiration. "Big sis, please accept my deep respects."

"You're too kind." Yun Duo smiled enigmatically. "I'm a reporter after all."

Qi Rui-Feng was puzzled. "What? Are all reporters oracles too?"

"Not necessarily, but a reporter is definitely always aware of the athletes' information." She hadn't been guessing all along; she had already known from the start.

Xiang Yang-Yang would never have guessed that this was the answer. She held a hand to her chest. "I've received damage!"

Qi Rui-Feng sneered. "You idiot!" Every time he called someone 'idiot' or 'fool', he would feel somehow accomplished.

Xiang Yang-Yang was a generous and forthright person, lively and whimsical. She very quickly categorised Yun Duo as a 'confidant', and the two girls ignored the men's advice (mostly trying to stop Yun Duo) to drink two cups cementing their friendship. Frankly, most of those present excepting Ming Tian had all drank quite a bit — it was a rare opportunity for them to come out and let loose, they were not going to let it just slip by. In comparison, Yun Duo was already considered very conservative.

And so everyone drank till they were sloshed, a drunken haze slowly appearing in each of their eyes. Only Ming Tian's expression remained unchanged. He looked around at the people around him blankly and then sent a message to his friends' circle on his phone:

Others eat meat while I eat grass, others drink wine while I drink milk.

A world of pain and heartache contained within those fourteen words.

A while later, he received a like from Yun Duo.

Yun Duo was unaware how much a slip of her finger would compound the damage to Ming Tian. She put down her handphone and tuned back into Xiang Yang-Yang's epic teasing of the others, and then she felt Tang Yi-Bai touch her arm.

She turned her head to look at him.

Tang Yi-Bai was turned towards her, his face resting on one arm, his eyes half-closed as he stared at Yun Duo. Yun Duo had seen his charming and sunshine side many times before, but this was the first time she was seeing this lazy laidback side of his. He really resembled a satisfied leopard after a full meal. He saw Yun Duo looking back at him and smiled. The smile pulled at the corners of his eyes, and combined with the drunken haziness of his eyes, he glowed with an indescribable light. The slight smile pulling at the corners of his lips was like a white rosa rubus荼蘼花:
blooming silently on a spring night.

"What's up?" Yun Duo asked him. He was no longer a stranger to her, but she still found herself dazzled every so often. Ah, how beauty lures people to stray ... what a sin, what a sin.

"What exactly is it?" He asked tenaciously. Perhaps due to being drunk, his voice was even deeper and gentler than usual, distinctly euphonious.

Yun Duo could only sigh in awe at his tenacity — was this a manifestation of the obsessive compulsion characteristic of a Virgo? Her eyes darted about for a moment, and then she asked him, "Tang Yi-Bai, why does Coach Wu keep taking away your handphone?"

"What a clumsy way of changing the topic," said Tang Yi-Bai with a smile, but he still answered.

Well, the reason was simple — the coach was afraid they would get too caught up in playing and lose their motivation. The swimming team was all made up of youths, some who were still kids, so their self-control when it came to electronic devices was relatively lower. Hence, the coaches would selectively decide to confiscate phones. What? What about computers, iPads, and the like you ask? Hehe, you really think too much ...

"Then why wasn't Qi Rui-Feng's handphone taken away?" asked Yun Duo.

"Because one coach is different from another. Matron Yuan trusts big bro Feng more."

Yun Duo's attention was quickly diverted onto a different track. "... Matron Yuan?"

"Everyone on the team calls her that."

In Yun Duo's impression, anyone who could bear the title 'matron' was undoubtedly a stern and tough character. Coach Yuan Roon-Mei looked so gentle and spoke in such soft tones — how could she be a matron?

But that was not necessarily true ... Yun Duo very quickly accepted this new information — after all, she had initially believed that Xiang Yang-Yang was a gentle lady!

What was this sudden sympathy she felt for Qi Rui-Feng ...?

"Okay, I've already answered your question, now it's your turn to answer. What exactly is weird?" asked Tang Yi-Bai.

At this time, Xiang Yang-Yang shifted over and slung an arm around Yun Duo's shoulder. "What are you guys talking about?"

Frankly, it was quite depressing to have some gossip but be unable to share, and so Yun Duo sent that forum thread to Xiang Yang-Yang.

Xiang Yang-Yang was terribly amused by it, reading it out loud as she browsed through it. "Ahahahaha, Yi-Bai, you've been touched all over ... hahaha, Qi Rui-Feng, you fool!"

Qi Rui-Feng was bewildered. "What does it have to do with me?!"

Ming Tian craned his neck in curiosity. "I want to see it too."

"Shoo, shoo, shoo, men cannot see this, and little kids especially cannot see this!"

What a broad range of exceptions ...

Xiang Yang-Yang continued to laugh as she broadcasted, "Yi-Bai, someone wants to marry you! ... Wah, so many people want to marry you ... Yi-Bai, you're very popular, your popularity is going to overtake Qi Rui-Feng's soon!"

Qi Rui-Feng was disgruntled. "How would you know there's no one who wants to marry me?"

"There really aren't any. All of them want to marry Yi-Bai. Because you have Chuunibyou syndrome! It's an incurable disease, what if we're infected too?! Ahahahaha!"

She laughed uproariously, and Qi Rui-Feng felt his blood surge. Goaded on by the alcohol, he pulled out his handphone and quickly tapped out a Weibo message:

Does anyone want to marry me?

When his fans saw this message, they were first stunned, then they went wild. They began to scramble to beat the others in commenting.

Yes!

I do!

Marry me, marry me!

I'm a man, can I still marry you?

...

Qi Rui-Feng was very pleased. He exaggeratedly thrust his phone before Xiang Yang-Yang. "See, so so many people are willing to marry me. Count and be blinded!"

"Shove off," Xiang Yang-Yang smacked him aside with a palm and continued to read through that gossip thread. "Yi-Bai, I finally know where your fans are from!"

Tang Yi-Bai shook his head somewhat helplessly. "I also know now." He sat up straight and then looked down at his watch. "Alright, it's about time for us to go back. There's still training tomorrow."

"What, no, let's play a little longer. The beer isn't even finished yet." Xiang Yang-Yang had had a little too much to drink, and was being recalcitrant.

"Take it back with us and give it to the coaches then," said Tang Yi-Bai.

The group imagined their coaches' expressions when they gave the alcohol to them, and shuddered in unison. For the sake of world peace, let's not do that ...

And so everyone stood up, packed up their things, paid and left. At the entrance of the restaurant, Tang Yi-Bai stood by the side of the road to hail taxis for everyone. Yun Duo suddenly received a call from Chen Si-Qi.

Chen Si-Qi: "Yun Duo! Qi Rui-Feng is asking for wedding proposals on his Weibo!"

Yun Duo thought, 'I know! I witnessed that miraculous moment!'

Of course, she did not plan to admit that. "Oh?"

"Quickly go on Weibo and look! It's gossip material on your sports circle. If you get any inside news, don't forget to contact your sister here first!"

"Oh, okay. Let me take a look first." Yun Duo calmly continued to feign ignorance.

Chen Si-Qi seemed to be quite busy; she hung up right after saying all this. Yun Duo had just ended the call when she received a call from Teacher Sun.

Teacher Sun: "Yun Duo! Qi Rui-Feng is asking for wedding proposals on his Weibo!"

I know ...

Teacher Sun: "Have you heard about it?"

"No."

Teacher Sun: "Can you get an with interview Qi Rui-Feng now?"

Yun Duo looked at Qi Rui-Feng — even after drinking so much, the fellow still carried a 'I am the so handsome that I shame the stars and heavens' attitude. She said to Teacher Sun, "No."

Teacher Sun had not really pinned much hope on her being able to interview Qi Rui-Feng. Hopefully, he asked Yun Duo, "Can you get an interview with Tang Yi-Bai?"

Yun Duo then looked at Tang Yi-Bai — this fellow was so handsome even from the back. "No."

"What about Ming Tian? He is from the same provincial team as Qi Rui-Feng."

"No."

"Zheng Ling-Ye? He and Tang Yi-Bai are from the same provincial team, so he should also have a pretty good relationship with Qi Rui-Feng."

"No."

Yun Duo was quickly going mad. In less than half an hour's time talking with Teacher Sun, she had said a total of nine words, and lied five times! She had never ever suffered such moral embarrassment before in her life.

Teacher Sun hadn't been holding much hope to begin with, so he only said, "Okay, I've got it. You rest up, I'll handle this news."

"Alright."

Tang Yi-Bai managed to get two cars and let the other four people go back first. "I'll send Yun Duo home first," he said.

Yun Duo was a little embarrassed. "It's fine, really. Won't you be scolded by your coach if you're late?"

He opened the car door and gently nudged her shoulder. "Don't worry. Let's go. It's not safe for a girl to go home alone at night."

Yun Duo felt her heart warm, and she got into the car.

The both of them sat in the backseat. After Tang Yi-Bai closed the car door, he turned on his handphone and began fiddling with it. Yun Duo inadvertently caught a glance of his screen and was instantly shocked. "You- you- you- ..."

"What about me?" Tang Yi-Bai leaned back casually into the seat, head still lowered as he asked.

"How did you manage to find that thread?"

His tone was rather irritating. "If I want to find it naturally I will."

Yun Duo felt rather awkward. She had witnessed the process of Tang Yi-Bai's imaginary molestation, and now Tang Yi-Bai had found out she had been a witness to it ... that feeling was as if she had been caught peeping from behind him and had now been thrust out from the shadows into the spotlight. Her face felt a little hot.

The car continued moving forwards steadily. The lights of the city in the night-time strobed through the cabin of the car in eerie silence, seeming somewhat dim and murky after being filtered through the car windows. Yun Duo stole a peek at Tang Yi-Bai under this light, and found that his expression was one of intense concentration. His gaze could even be considered somewhat solemn, as if he were carefully perusing a work of art.

Seriously, did an entertainment gossip thread merit such focus ...

Tang Yi-Bai's eyes twitched abruptly as he caught her peeking at him.

As their eyes met, Yun Duo hurriedly turned her head to look out the window, flustered, and so she did not notice the corners of Tang Yi-Bai's lips turning up.

"Yun Duo," Tang Yi-Bai called.

"Hm?" Yun Duo turned her head to look at him.

Tang Yi-Bai looked at her with a half-smile. "So many hooligans here. Which one is you?"

"Hey, hey, hey! I'm not there!"

"Then why is your face red?"

Having it pointed out made Yun Duo's face turn even redder. She turned her face aside. "I'm really not there!"

Tang Yi-Bai chuckled softly, his laughter deep and gentle, like music flowing silently through the dark night. Amidst his laughter, Yun Duo's face had already turned as red as a spicy little lobster.

Honestly! How could she be so silly, he thought. Yun Duo had spoken truly — it was really quite fun to tease her ...

---

Previous: Chapter 19: Group Meal
Next: Chapter 21

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