Chapter 79

After the plaster had set, Dr. Xu went to fill in the consultation forms. Wu Yong paced back and forth in the corridor, his brow locked into deep furrows. It felt like a thundercloud was pressing down on his heart.

The policeman called in a colleague and they took Tang Yi-Bai's witness report together. According to Tang Yi-Bai's statement, this might very well be a case of malicious wounding, and the victim was a well-known athlete. With one strike, the hoodlums had threatened a potential world gold medal... From whichever angle, they need to solve the case as soon as possible.

After the police left, Yun Duo received a call from Auntie Lu. She felt a little guilty. "Hello, Auntie?"

"Yun Duo, you went out? Will you still be coming back tonight?"

"I..." She did not know how to answer and was also unsure whether she should tell them about this incident. She blinked at Tang Yi-Bai, throwing him a questioning look.

Tang Yi-Bai shook his head. It was pointless to bother his parents this late in the night. This would just affect their rest. They should just tell them tomorrow.

Madam Lu sensed Yun Duo's hesitation and asked, "Yun Duo, I want you to tell me the truth. You're no longer my tenant, you know?"

"Mhm."

"Then tell me, who are you with right now?"

"With Tang Yi-Bai."

Madam Lu was silent for a moment, and then she asked, "You two, are at a hotel?"

"No..."

"Not at a hotel, then where?"

Yun Duo felt rather helpless. She dared not lie to Auntie Lu, so she could only say truthfully, "The hospital."

Madam Lu suddenly had a very bad feeling and her voice turned tense. "What exactly is going on?"

Yun Duo's face turned pale from fright, so Tang Yi-Bai reached out to take the phone from her. "Mum, yes... I'm fine, I just got hurt accidentally... a fracture, it's already been put in a cast. The doctor said it's not a big problem... you don't have to come... ok, ok, ok, you are my mum, definitely... yes, be careful on the road. Don't drive too fast."

After hanging up, Tang Yi-Bai smiled at Yun Duo. "Are you very afraid of my mum?"

"Not really," Yun Duo scratched the back of her head. "Well, it's just that she has a very forceful presence."

So she was actually afraid...

Tang Yi-Bai was currently reclining in the hospital bed, his long legs crossed and laid out on the narrow space. The horrific blood-stained coat had already been removed. Yun Duo was afraid he would be cold and tried to cover him with a blanket, but Tang Yi-Bai would not cooperate. He felt that he would look too weak covered by a blanket, like a real sickly patient.

Yun Duo said, "You are a patient right now!"

Tang Yi-Bai tilted her head and looked at her consideringly. He said softly, "Come here."

"What for?" Yun Duo walked over to sit by the side of the bed.

He grabbed her hand and held it gently. The heat of his palm was transmitted from his skin into her flesh and bones. He said, "You see, I'm not cold at all."

For some reason, Yun Duo's eyes reddened. She felt that she was much too vulnerable right now. It was terrible. She said, "What if you have a fever?" As she said this, she lifted a hand to touch his forehead.

Tang Yi-Bai was as obedient as a young child, letting her examine him as she liked. As she pulled her hand back after testing his temperature, he captured her hand, pulled it to his lips, and gently kissed her palm.

Yun Duo's tears swirled in her eyes. She would actually prefer it if Tang Yi-Bai became mad and yelled — she was willing to become his punching bag as long as he could feel better. But he did not. He would rather keep all the hurt inside him and comfort her in such a gentle manner. Yun Duo's tears rolled down her cheeks again. She cried as she said to Tang Yi-Bai, "Why are you so stupid?"

Tang Yi-Bai released her hand and carded his fingers through her hair. He had wanted to do this for a while, and now he finally had a hand free to do so. He stroked the strands of her hair and said, "Duoduo, you're not taking my words seriously. I told you before that I feel even worse than you whenever I see you sad, and you don't believe me at all."

"I believe you. I won't cry anymore," said Yun Duo, wiping away her tears with her sleeves. But the tears continued fell as fast as wiped them away, and in the end, she said bitterly, "Tang Yi-Bai, what's going to happen to you? Boo hoo hoo..."

"Duoduo, when I was banned from competing a few years ago, I felt a lot more despair than I'm feeling right now. Didn't I do pretty well after that? Don't worry. This situation right now isn't that bad. At worst, I just won't be able to participate in the World Championships. I can still make a comeback at next year's Olympics."

"But, you've never been in a world-level competition before. This time..."

"Don't think so much. Since it has already happened, we should accept the consequences. It'll be a pity if I can't participate in the World Championships, but that doesn't mean I can't win in the Olympics. When I first switched over to freestyle, other than Feng, even Coach Wu did not believe I could do well. But haven't I made it this far? This world is wondrous. It exceeds your imagination. Stop worrying about the future all the time. You don't have the imagination to figure out how the future will turn out."

Yun Duo bit her lip and said nothing.

Tang Yi-Bai suddenly smiled and said, "Besides, I have you now."

Yun Duo suddenly stood up, then leaned over to cup his face and smack a kiss onto his cheek. After that, she straightened again and looked at him with steady determination. "Tang Yi-Bai, I believe you. I believe in you more than I believe in myself."

Tang Yi-Bai's lips curled upwards.

Wu Yong stood outside the hospital room. The door was slightly ajar, so he merely knocked as a courtesy before saying weakly, "You two are really bold and carefree, still able to be all lovey-dovey right now."

Tang Yi-Bai said, "You're a bachelor. You won't understand."

"You... you rascal! You make me so mad. I don’t care anymore!" Wu Yong said and he turned to go. But less than a minute later, he returned and asked Tang Yi-Bai, "I say, are you going to just stay here tonight?"

Tang Yi-Bai replied, "Depends. I'll ask the team doctor in a bit if I can be discharged so I can go home."

At this moment, Yun Duo's cell phone rang again. The display identified the caller as Chen Si-Qi.

Chen Si-Qi did not beat around the bush — as soon as Yun Duo picked up, Chen Si-Qi was hollering, "Yun Duo, has your Tang Yi-Bai been hurt?"

Yun Duo was surprised, but she wisely did not admit or deny the claim. She merely asked, "Where did you hear this?"

"Someone has exposed it on the internet, and it sounds legit. They even mentioned which hospital he's at. I received a call from my team leader to hurry over to XX Hospital. Goddamn, could you quickly tell me if Tang Yi-Bai is there now or not?"

Yun Duo suddenly had a scary thought. "Have many other reporters received this news?"

"Probably. That's why I wanted to give you a heads up. If Tang Yi-Bai really is at that hospital, you all better isolate him quickly and don't let anyone else get close. It would be best if you don't let even a single reporter into the hospital. Geez, I'm actually telling you all this as an entertainment reporter myself. I've used up all my morals and ethics on you here today, so don't say I'm not friend enough!"

"Oh, yes, thank you, thank you, thank you! Chen Si-Qi, you're such a good friend! I'll treat you to a meal when this is over!"

"Okay, you better hurry up and got through this! Remember, entertainment reporters are relentless and resourceful. You must be vigilant!"

"Okay!"

After hanging up, Yun Duo said urgently to Wu Yong, "Coach Wu, there might be many reporters rushing here right now. What should we do?"

Wu Yong's brow furrowed. "These reporters are like flies! I'll go and ask the hospital's security guards to block for a while. Let's see if we can transfer him to the training department's rehabilitation centre later."

Yun Duo nodded. Wu Yong was just turning to leave when they saw Tang Yi-Bai's team doctor running over. As he ran, he cried out, "Move quickly, there are reporters outside!"

"Where?" asked Wu Yong, rolling up his sleeves in preparation to chase some reporters.

The team doctor stopped him with a pull. "Coach Wu, have you gone mad? If the reporters could recognise me, how could they not recognise you?"

Wu Yong realised that he had indeed been caught up in the moment and had almost done something stupid.

The two of them could only go to the hospital's management office to ask for the help of the security guards. Yun Duo returned to the hospital room and locked the door, and then she made sure all the windows were locked up tightly as well and pulled the curtains closed. Tang Yi-Bai sat on the hospital bed, as calm as ever. When he saw Yun Duo pulling the curtains closed, he raised an eyebrow. "What do you plan to do to me?"

Yun Duo gave him a chastising look. That look carried a faint touch of dominance, but was filled with more tenderness, making his heart itch.

After doing all that, Yun Duo was still very worried. "The security guards of the hospital might not be able to hold back all those reporters. What should we do?"

"It's simple. Coach Wu should be sending someone from a bodyguard company soon."

Yun Duo had just sat down when her phone rang again. It was Auntie Lu again — they had probably arrived.

Judging from her voice, Auntie Lu was in a horrible mood. She said, "Yun Duo, we're outside the hospital right now, but the guards won't let us in. What's going on?"

Yun Duo planned to go get Auntie Lu and company, but then she thought that her appearance would not be convincing enough for the guards anyway, so she could only go look for the doctor on duty for help. She finally managed to get Uncle Tang and Auntie Lu into the hospital, and then her phone rang again and again. So she left the Tang family of three to speak with each other while she ran into the stairwell to answer the phone.

The calls were all from her colleagues, from Teacher Sun, from Qian Xu-Dong, and also from Director Liu. The contents of their calls were mostly the same. They all wanted to ask about the situation, about whether Yun Duo could get in touch with Tang Yi-Bai or his coach. Yun Duo managed to put off the first two, but she was unable to dodge the question with Director Liu. Director Liu insisted that she follow up with the situation and that she must get the first-hand news.

Yun Duo felt rather aggravated.

Director Liu was still nattering on about the pros and cons to her — the long and short of it was that this news would have a great positive effect on her professional development.

Yun Duo took a deep breath and said, "I'm sorry, Director Liu, I can't do that." She could not bear to benefit from Tang Yi-Bai in any way at this point in time. She only wanted to be by his side.

Director Liu raged, "You haven't even tried and you already think you can't do it? I noticed that you have been slacking lately. Are you planning to quit?"

Yun Duo also became angry. "Whatever. I can't do it."

"You! Hey, are you trying to revolt? Who gave you the guts?"

Yun Duo hung up on him.

When she returned to the hospital room, Auntie Lu had pretty much finished lecturing Tang Yi-Bai. Auntie Lu was a cold-faced but warm-hearted person. The way she expressed her love and displeasure to her son was very similar. Tang Yi-Bai could only smile and agree to whatever his mum was saying. By the end, Auntie Lu ran out of steam, and after taking in a deep breath, she rolled her eyes helplessly.

Yun Duo stood cautiously to one side and remained silent.

Auntie Lu glanced at her and said to Tang Yi-Bai, "Let's go home tonight. You can stand, right?"

"Yes, I injured my hand not my leg."

But Yun Duo chimed in helplessly, "We can't go now. The in-patient wards have been surrounded by reporters. I just asked, and there's a basement here which connects to the underground car park, but I suspect that there will be reporters lying in wait there too. The entertainment reporters these days are insane."

"So he has no choice but to stay here tonight?"

"Let's see what happens. If it gets too late, then we'd better leave it alone. Coach Wu is hiring some bodyguards now," said Yun Duo. "Why don't uncle and auntie go back home first to rest. I'll stay here and accompany him. Don't worry, I'll take good care of him."

Uncle Tang said, "Yun Duo, you go home with Auntie. I'll stay."

Tang Yi-Bai felt a little sheepish. "You all don't have to, you know. It's not like I'm incapacitated. Just go home, all of you."

"No." Yun Duo shook her head stubbornly. "If no one stands watch, I'm afraid some reporters might make their way in here. It's better to be a little more alert."

In the end, they could only listen to Yun Duo. Before Auntie Lu left, she pulled Yun Duo out of the room and asked, "What exactly happened? Doudou didn't go into the details." She deeply suspected that he was hiding something from them.

"This was probably a calculated scheme." Yun Duo gave a brief explanation of the matter.

Madam Lu was furious. "Daring to go after my son? I'll break their limbs when I find them!"

Yun Duo nodded solemnly. "My thoughts exactly!"

After the Tang couple left, Yun Duo caught two reporters trying to pass themselves off as nurses, and only after she chased them away did Coach Wu finally arrive with some bodyguards. The coach, team doctor, and Dr. Xu left after leaving the bodyguards behind to stand guard. Only Yun Duo remained to accompany Tang Yi-Bai.

After such a long night, Yun Duo was feeling rather worn out. After fussing over Tang Yi-Bai for a bit and making sure he was comfortable, she settled onto the bed with him. Even though she was sleepy, she could not manage to fall asleep. All of her attention was on him lying beside her.

In the dark, Tang Yi-Bai said, "Duoduo, are you asleep?"

"No. Why aren't you asleep?"

"I haven't gotten a good night kiss."

Yun Duo was amused. She fumbled her way off the bed and without turning on the lights, she went around to his left side, cupped his face and bent down to kiss him.

Like a butterfly kissing a flower, very softly without lingering. She wanted to leave after that, but Tang Yi-Bai used the tip of his tongue to lick her lips. The hint was obvious.

Yun Duo opened her mouth and slowly deepened the kiss. Her kiss was like water, tranquil and gentle, but it held a tenderness capable of melting anything in its path. Tang Yi-Bai indulged himself in this tenderness, his heart warm. He thought that it must be because she was always by his side that he was able to get past the pain of not being able to compete so quickly. He had been through such a terrible ordeal, having such terrible luck, but at least he still had her by his side. This alone made him think that God was still pretty nice to him.

After the kiss, Yun Duo let go of him, although she continued to cradle his face. As the curtains were closed, the room was very dim. They could not see each other. This created a favourable condition for some difficult things to be said. She held his face in her hands and said softly, "Tang Yi-Bai, I love you."

Tang Yi-Bai was so moved his eyes felt hot. He had never thought these three words could hold such magic. He felt like he was floating on top of vibrant clouds, like his heart was wrapped in honey, so sweet that it was melting. At that moment, he even thought that he could die for these words.

He clasped her hand and said, "Duoduo, I love you too. There are some things I really want to say to you."

"What?"

"Do you think that I'm unlucky?"

"Yes." He could not be more unlucky. All kinds of mishaps happened to him.

Tang Yi-Bai smiled and said, "I used to think I was unlucky too, but after meeting you, I think that I'm actually quite lucky, really. I think, even if I had to use my whole lifetime's worth of luck to meet you and fall in love with you, I am willing."

Yun Duo quickly covered his mouth. "Don't say stupid things. You can't be unlucky all the time. You'll definitely be lucky in the future."

"I'm very lucky. I've already gained so much."

The two of them spent the night in the hospital as the surroundings outside turned dark. All sorts of rumours were flying around — the only commonality they shared was that they all said that Tang Yi-Bai was injured. As for where the injury was, how bad it was, and how he got injured in the first place... the rumours were all over the place. Some were overly sorrowful, some were gleeful at his misfortune, some tried to take advantage of the situation, some pressed the swimming team for answers... and there were also many who spread rumours that they had exclusive news, a major exposé, muddying the waters. In the end, the dominant version of events went like this: Tang Yi-Bai and Qi Rui-Feng had become jealous over the same woman and ended up fighting, and then Qi Rui-Feng had seriously injured Tang Yi-Bai, sending him into the hospital.

The short rumour contained the eye-grabbing themes of 'woman', 'violence', and 'brothers turning on each other' — it was no surprise it managed to overrun the other rumours from behind.

When Tang Yi-Bai and Yun Duo saw these rumours after breakfast, Yun Duo could not help but roll her eyes.

Tang Yi-Bai said, "Duoduo, don't you have to go to work today?"

Yun Duo puffed out her cheeks, like a little fish which had been stuffed full. "I don't want to go to work."

"Have you taken leave then?"

She looked down at her fingers, feeling a little guilty. "Even if I asked for leave, my head would definitely not approve it."

"Why?"

"I offended him yesterday."

Tang Yi-Bai was a very perceptive person — he very quickly figured out why she would have offended her head. He was rather moved, and after some thought, he said, "Actually, this news will be reported sooner or later, why don't you get a head start? You should enjoy the benefits of being in a favourable position. Don't let others beat you."

Yun Duo rejected this flatly. "No, who knows whether those bad guys have any other schemes? We cannot let anything slip right now, and I will not risk your safety just for a news scoop. Let's see what the cops and your team have to say about this first. You need to listen to me on this."

Tang Yi-Bai smiled. "Okay, we'll do it your way. But what will you say to your head?"

Yun Duo was troubled. "I don't feel like talking to him right now. I'll apologise a few days later. It's fine. At worst, I just won't be able to continue working at the agency. I was thinking of quitting anyway. Big deal! I can just go film a documentary instead. Tang Yi-Bai, when you become an Olympic champion, I will film a documentary about you!"

Tang Yi-Bai smiled, nodding his head, and then he reached out to her. "Since you feel bad about it, let me help. I'll talk to him for you."

"What will you say?" Yun Duo handed her phone to him.

He did not reply, merely dialling Director Liu's phone and then putting the call on speaker. He said, "Hello, Director Liu, this is Tang Yi-Bai."

Director Liu was obviously taken off-guard. He stuttered, "Tang- Tang Yi-Bai?"

"Yes, it's me. Director Liu, do you remember me?" "

"O-o-of c-course! Hey, Tang Yi-Bai, aren't you injured? Why are you calling me from Yun Duo's phone? You two..."

"Director Liu, I know what you want to ask. I can tell you right now that Yun Duo is my girlfriend. She was too worried about me yesterday, so you won't take things to heart, right?"

Director Liu quickly said, "No, no, it's understandable. Tang Yi-Bai, where are you injured? Is it serious?"

Tang Yi-Bai ignored those questions, saying instead, "Director Liu, I want to request two days leave for Yun Duo. Is that okay?"

At this point, Director Liu could tell that even if he did not approve Yun Duo's leave, the girl would probably not show up for work anyway. Moreover, it just wasn't worth it to offend Tang Yi-Bai over this matter. Even though the punk was rather cunning, evading his questions no matter what. Still, now that Yun Duo has him securely in hand, there was no worry that they would lose out on news... and so Director Liu agreed readily. "Okay. Let her take good care of you. You watch yourself as well."

"Yes, thank you, Director Liu. Also, sorry that I can't answer any of your other questions. The team has some regulations about this. But the team should be releasing an official statement very soon."

With these words, he defused Director Liu's temper completely. The director could only say, "Okay, okay..."

After Tang Yi-Bai hung up, Yun Duo said cheekily, "Tang Yi-Bai, I have never seen Director Liu so meek. Haha."

Tang Yi-Bai rubbed her head with a smile. Yun Duo can continue staying by his side. How nice.

Later in the morning, Tang Yi-Bai received a call. It was from the policeman from yesterday. The policeman said that the department had specially assigned a forensic expert to investigate this case. This morning itself, they had discovered four miniature cameras installed across from the training base of the national swimming team. These miniature cameras had been very well-concealed and had very likely been used to track Tang Yi-Bai's movements. This explained how Tang Yi-Bai could have been ambushed even though his decision to return home had been an impromptu one. Besides that, the "Construction Ahead, Please Detour" near his house last night had also been placed there on purpose. There had been no road work at all there.

The evidence was piling up to point towards deliberate harm. The policeman briefly summarised these findings, and then he asked Tang Yi-Bai to try and recall whether he had anything to add.

After the policeman's call, Yun Duo and Tang Yi-Bai speculated for a long while on who could be trying to harm him, but they eventually realised they had no clue at all. To go to such painstaking effort, that person must have some deep enmity with Tang Yi-Bai. Who could have such a terrible grudge against Tang Yi-Bai? If this was due to him blocking the path of someone's development, that would be even stranger. In China's short-distance freestyle, he left so many competitors in the dust, so there was no close rival to consider.

Later on, in a random leap of imagination, Yun Duo asked Tang Yi-Bai, "Could it be that girl who you rejected so harshly when she confessed to you? She held onto a grudge for so long and has come back for revenge?"

"Impossible."

"Yeah, I also think that it's impossible. That's taking it too far."

Around 10 o'clock in the morning, the national swimming team and the public security bureau issued their respective statements reporting on the incident to quell the rumours. Of course, the imagination of the masses was boundless. There would always be those who viewed official announcements with suspicion, claiming that the statements were "riddled with holes" and "filled with suspicious points". Thus, these people staunchly stuck to their rumour of choice... even the most powerful people in this world could not get them to budge.

After that, Coach Wu came to the hospital with an escort team of bodyguards to take Tang Yi-Bai to the training department's rehabilitation centre. Dr. Xu gave Tang Yi-Bai another full check-up once they got there to make sure that everything was okay. After that, Team Lead Xu also came to visit Tang Yi-Bai. Qi Rui-Feng and the other swimmers could not come because they were still in training, so they would only come later at night to see him.

In front of the group, Dr. Xu said, "Actually, I have a way to speed up Yi-Bai's recovery, but it's not very reliable."

Coach quickly asked, "What way?"

"Have I told you all before? I have a grand-uncle, he turns 82 this year. He's a practitioner of traditional Chinese medicine who specialised in (Dit-Da) treating muscle and bone injuries. He's quite famous in my hometown. His skills have been passed down from generation to generation, only to the men and not the women. Even my grandmother was not allowed to learn. Some of his recipes have really shown effect in speeding up recovery, but of course, it still depends on the person. It isn't effective on everyone who takes his medicine. I think that Yi-Bai is young and he has a good physical foundation. There is a high chance that his recipes would work on you."

Yun Duo asked worriedly, "Are there any side effects from taking his medicine?"

"There isn't. At most, it just doesn't work."

Team Lead Xu asked, "The doctor is already 82 years old. Can he still travel? It's not very safe for Yi-Bai to go out right now. Can we invite the doctor to come here?"

"Let me ask. My grand-uncle doesn't have to come himself. I still have two uncles who have inherited his skills."

"Okay, go ahead and ask. We'll discuss this again a little later."

Hope rose up in Yun Duo's heart, but she very quickly calmed down again. After all, it was a bone injury. Even if they managed to speed up the recovery, how much faster could it be?

After Team Lead Xu and the others left, Tang Yi-Bai said to Yun Duo, "Duoduo, I have a great suggestion."

"What?"

"It's great here. The air is clean and the environment is lovely. You can stay here."

---

Previous: Chapter 78
Next: Chapter 80

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