Chapter 86

That night, after Tang Yi-Bai was done with his evening training in the water, Yun Duo was about to leave.

"Let me send you off," he said, "Let's go for a walk."

The two of them left the training hall and strolled around the base for a while, holding hands. The night was very quiet, and under the street lights, their shadows lengthened, shortened, and lengthened again... unknowingly, they had returned to the dormitory building. Yun Duo was a little slow and had yet to realise that he had done so on purpose. She smiled and said, "Forget it. You've sent me home so many times. Let me be the one to send you home this time. Go on up."

Tang Yi-Bai pursed his lips and said softly, "Duoduo, Coach Wu and Feng and the others will only be back the day after tomorrow."

"I know. So?"

"So, there's no one else in the dorm room tonight."

"..." Only then did Yun Duo understand his intentions in bringing her here. Her face heated up. "Tang Yi-Bai, can you please focus on your training!"

"I am very focused when I'm training, but now it's time to rest."

Yun Duo could not win this argument. She turned to go. "I'm leaving."

Tang Yi-Bai held her back. "It's so late now. Just rest here. Don't worry. If you don't consent, I won't do anything. I can sleep on Feng's bed."

"But that's against regulations."

"It's fine. I've already cleared things with Team Lead Xu."

"You..." It sounds like he had been planning this for a while...

She was still trying to think of a reason to refuse when Tang Yi-Bai became impatient, and with a dip of his waist, he hoisted her over his shoulder. Yun Duo's world spun and her head was soon facing the ground. Blood rushed to her brain and her face turned extremely red. She slapped him on the back, "Tang Yi-Bai! Let me down now!"

Tang Yi-Bai carried her into the dormitory, and then he smiled and said, "Duoduo, if you yell any louder, everyone in the building will hear you."

Yun Duo instantly shut up. However, her hands did not stop pounding at him.

Her weak punches were not painful at all to him, merely an itch. The itch was not just on his skin but in his heart.

He carried her to his room, closed the door and locked it before placing her down on the bed.

Yun Duo sorted out her messy hair, head bowed to avoid looking at him. Tang Yi-Bai could see that even her earlobes were red now, and wondered whether it was due to embarrassment or having her head down for so long. He was rather amused. He sat down beside her and moved closer. "Duoduo..."

Yun Duo abruptly stood up. Staying in his bedroom so late at night made her nervous. She stuttered, "That, I-I would like a shower."

"Okay."

Tang Yi-Bai found her a brand-new toothbrush and a towel. Who would keep a new toothbrush and towel at a place where they usually lived? This wasn't a hotel. To say that this wasn't a sign he had planned this, Yun Duo would never believe it.

She fled into the bathroom with the items, but then quickly poked her head out again. "Tang- Tang Yi-Bai?"

"What?" Tang Yi-Bai raised an eyebrow at her. She felt like he was holding back a smile.

"You... do you have any spare pyjamas?"

"Nope."

"..." What does 'nope' mean? Was she supposed to come out naked after her shower? What a pervert! Yun Duo was so embarrassed she could die. "Tang Yi-Bai! How could you treat your girlfriend this way?! Give me some pyjamas now!"

Tang Yi-Bai passed a clean short-sleeved T-shirt printed with red flowers through the slit of the doorway. "You won't fit my pyjamas. Make do with this."

"Okay, thanks... wait..."

"What?" He peered at her through the opening of the door.

She hid behind the door and said feebly, "Do you have any underwear?"

"Female underwear?"

"Well, that would be best."

Tang Yi-Bai chuckled. "Why would a man like me have ladies' underwear? If I did have any, you should be seriously thinking about breaking up now."

"That's not what I meant... can you lend me yours then?"

"No."

"Why?!"

Why? Looking at this from a man's perspective, the answer should be right there...

Tang Yi-Bai suppressed his smile and said with a straight face, "There's a taboo within the team, and that is that we should never let others wear our swimming trunks or underwear. I don't know why that is, but I have always followed the rule."

Yun Duo innocently believed him.

Tang Yi-Bai was in a good mood after tricking his girlfriend when he heard Yun Duo's phone ring. He glanced at the screen to see that the caller was his mother.

He answered immediately.

Tang Yi-Bai: "Mum. Yun Duo's here with me. I was just about to call you."

"Got it. Hmph, well, between your love life and your career, you should be doing well in at least one of them."

"I choose to do well in both."

Madam Lu did not comment on that, merely advising her son, "Be careful, you. If you get Yun Duo pregnant, you two must get married."

Tang Yi-Bai flushed at his mother's words. He cleared his throat and replied, "I know."

"Tang Yi-Bai."

"Hm?" He was somewhat puzzled that his mother would call out his full name in such a serious tone.

"No matter what you do, I will always support you."

Tang Yi-Bai almost burst into tears. Let it be known that his mother had always been a rather cold person — in modern slang, she could be described as a 'tsundere'. To obtain verbal support from his mother was really not easy. He was really moved. "Mum..."

Madam Lu then added, "After all, you are my son, although I sometimes really want to throw you away and give birth to a new one."

Tang Yi-Bai: =.=

Forget it. Why did he bother being moved?

After hanging up on his mother, Tang Yi-Bai send a text to Qi Rui-Feng.

Tang Yi-Bai: Feng, can I sleep on your bed?

Qi Rui-Feng: Did you wet yours?

Tang Yi-Bai: ...

Qi Rui-Feng: Don't worry, I'll never tell.

Tang Yi-Bai: I did not wet my bed! I just wanted to ask you that. You can just say 'no', you know.

Qi Rui-Feng: Why not? You're my good bro. You can even pee on my bed if you want.

Why would I want to pee on your bed? You nutcase...

Tang Yi-Bai could not believe how he had been good friends with such a strange person for so many years. He pressed on his temples, suddenly not sure how to continue the conversation. He could only say: Forget it. Let's not talk about that anymore. Forget I said anything.

Qi Rui-Feng: Oh. How's your training going?

Tang Yi-Bai: All good. Just recovering my water sense and balance training.

Qi Rui-Feng: Yup, don't rush it.

Tang Yi-Bai: Yep.

Qi Rui-Feng: Tang Yi-Bai, a friend at the highlands gave us a lot of yak jerky. It's all organic, very delicious. I'll bring back some for you.

Tang Yi-Bai: Ok, thanks.

Qi Rui-Feng: No need to be all polite with me.

Qi Rui-Feng: Oh, right, Xiang Yang-Yang saw me completely naked during my shower today.

Tang Yi-Bai: !!!!!!!!!!

In all honesty, he was not a busybody person, but he was still quite curious when it came to Feng. So he asked: And then what happened?

Qi Rui-Feng: And then I was super angry and asked her to take responsibility.

Tang Yi-Bai was invested in the story now. He asked: And?

Qi Rui-Feng: So I asked her to compensate me with all the yak jerky she had, and now I have two portions of jerky to eat!

Tang Yi-Bai: ...

Qi Rui-Feng: What?

Tang Yi-Bai: Nothing. As long as you're happy.

He scrolled through the news and then used a side account to publish some Weibo posts. After that, he threw aside his phone and waited quietly for Yun Duo.

When waiting was paired with anticipation, time felt exceptionally long.

Yun Duo came out after her shower, drying her hair as she did so. She was wearing Tang Yi-Bai's large slippers and his large T-shirt. The T-shirt was really way too big on her, so big that she could wear it as a dress, but there was nothing under the dress... it was loose and airy, leaving her feeling especially insecure. She unconsciously kept her legs close together as she walked.

She felt like a huge pervert! qaq

Tang Yi-Bai was sitting in a chair, his long legs crossed, his hands clasped together primly over his knees. His posture was very proper. His eyes were on her as soon as she appeared, his gaze never straying from her body, heavy and intent. He looked her over from top to bottom, his gaze lingering briefly when it reached her lower half.

Yun Duo's face was burning up again. She really felt like covering her face and running away.

Tang Yi-Bai quirked an eyebrow at her.

Yun Duo tried hard to keep calm, and she asked Tang Yi-Bai as she dried her hair, "Do you have a hair dryer?"

"Yes, let me help you."

He asked Yun Duo to sit on the bed and then he stood behind her with the hair dryer plugged into the socket at the head of the bed. He began blow-drying her hair. This was his first time helping a girl blow-dry her hair and her hair was long as well, so he was rather clumsy. The hair dryer was on the highest power setting and he was disorganised in his approach, so quite a lot of hair was blown forwards to cover Yun Duo's face.

Yun Duo was speechless. "I must look a lot like Sadako right now."

Tang Yi-Bai said, "Not from behind you don't." A classic evasion.

Yun Duo: "I feel like I've been hit by a sandstorm."

Tang Yi-Bai: "Just bear with it."

Yun Duo: =.=

When has someone needed to 'bear' their hair being blown-dry ...?

Later, he finally grasped the trick to it, moving through her hair piece by piece, blowing them till they were dry and fluffy. Yun Duo ran her fingers through her messy hair to try and comb them into submission. She was not going to hold out hope for an actual comb in a bachelor's pad like this. As she finger-combed her hair, she said, "I feel like I'm trying to search for lice!"

Tang Yi-Bai laughed in amusement. He cast aside the hair dryer and hugged her from behind. "How are you so adorable?"

Yun Duo was dragged into his arms and she was abruptly wary. The pain of her first time was just too profound, leaving her unwilling to try again so soon. She pushed his hands away. "Go sleep on Qi Rui-Feng's bed."

"Okay." Even as he said this though, he was lifting her hair to kiss the nape of her neck, showing no signs that he was planning to move.

This fellow... how could he be such a rogue! Yun Duo leaned forwards to avoid him. "Tang Yi-Bai! You still need to train tomorrow. Go sleep now!"

He moved forwards with her, smiling. "Duoduo, if you really want me to go to sleep properly, then just play along with me now!"

"No, it hurts!"

"I promise it won't hurt this time."

"I don't believe you!"

"Really. I've been studying for 10 minutes every night."

"Studying? Studying what?" As soon as she asked the question, she figured it out and her face flushed crimson. "You rogue!"

He pushed her down onto the bed and his body leaned over hers as he kissed her gently. His throat rumbled with pleasing laughter as he kissed her, and he said, "Now it's time to test the results." Yun Duo's expression was still sceptical and reluctant, so he said, "Duoduo, if you find that it still hurts, then you can tell me to stop then, okay? I promise I'll listen to you."

Yun Duo still hesitated, but when she saw his pleading face — all he was missing was a wagging tail — she just could not find it in herself to deny him. She could only say, "I'll give you another chance."

[This part has been nommed-nommed away.]{2nd censored part. As before, let me know if any of you find it and want it translated.}

After this round of love-making, the couple was drenched in sweat, like they had been fished out of the water. Yun Duo's strength was completely depleted. Her entire body was limp and weak — she did not even want to move a finger.

Tang Yi-Bai embraced her from behind and dropped light kisses on her rounded shoulders. The kisses were as soft as the lightest fall of rain, filled with tenderness.

His kisses trailed up her shoulders, finally ending by her ear. He asked, "Was it good?"

Yun Duo did not say anything. Was it too late for embarrassment now...?

His hand rested on her belly, his fingers tracing circles around her belly button. He said teasingly, "Even if you don't say anything, I know."

Yun Duo thought, 'Why ask then?!'

********
Two days after Yun Duo left, the large group who had gone up to the highlands for training returned to the base. Wu Yong had not seen Tang Yi-Bai for many days, and he could not help feeling a little emotional at seeing him again. The coach and the athlete chatted for a while and then Wu Yong checked on Tang Yi-Bai's most recent training records. He found that Tang Yi-Bai was doing much better than he had expected. Over the past few days, Tang Yi-Bai had regained his water sense, and although he was still a long way from his best condition, his efforts in training was showing significant effect.

Tang Yi-Bai discussed his thoughts with Coach Wu. Before his injury, he had already arranged with Coach Frank to train under him in June. Now, Tang Yi-Bai felt that the trip to Australia was no longer necessary. He had stopped training for a while due to his injury, so the main priority now was to regain his condition prior to his injury. Hurrying off to Australia for targeted training while he was not in good condition was not going to be ineffective and may well delay his recovery. Thus, he might as well gradually take the time to calibrate his condition.

Besides that, the point of external training was to improve the finer details — Tang Yi-Bai did not think it played a decisive, irreplaceable role in performance.

Wu Yong listened to what Tang Yi-Bai had to say and could not help but give him a mental thumbs-up. Wu Yong said, "Yi-Bai, you're very good. You see things clearly and are very rational. I was still thinking about all this before returning, worrying about how I could persuade you to give up on your external training."

External training was state-funded — only the athletes with the highest potential was eligible for it. If someone of average abilities wanted to go, they would have to fund themselves. Therefore, for the vast majority of athletes, external training was a rare opportunity, something to be proud of. It was not so easy to give it up.

Tang Yi-Bai's sensible decisiveness in giving up on the opportunity drew the attention of the leaders. The old men all felt that this young man was very steady and reliable, and he had a very promising future ahead of him.

And so the issue was settled. However, the money had already been paid to the Australian club and should not be wasted, so the team decided to send another athlete instead. As for whom they would send, that had nothing to do with Tang Yi-Bai.

When Yun Duo reported this incident, Tang Yi-Bai earned a wave of praise from the fans. However, there were also some fans who felt that their idol had been wronged, that there must have been something shady going on behind the scenes. They banded together and ran off to the official Weibo account of the national swimming team as well as the account of the athlete who had been chosen to go in Tang Yi-Bai's place and began provoking trouble. It was said that 'a brain-dead fan was worse than 10 anti-fans' — this was probably the situation as it stood. Luckily, Yun Duo was managing Tang Yi-Bai's Weibo. She saw the signs of this early and quickly published a Weibo post to clarify.

This Weibo post was also the longest post ever published by 'Tang Yi-Bai'. In order to placate the fans, Yun Duo had even offered up some of her treasures — Tang Yi-Bai in the training room photo series #1, 2, and 3.

What followed was a cacophony of wolf howls.

Aside from the usual 'nose spouting blood, oh hubby' threads, some people once again brought up the question: Tang Yi-Bai, who is the one helping you take the photos for your Weibo? !

This question had been around ever since Yun Duo had begun managing Tang Yi-Bai's Weibo. Because the style of his photos had changed — they had become even better-looking, more artistic, and more professional. Analysing the various Weibo posts, everyone came to the conclusion that the photos were all taken by the same person.

But who could this person be?

Qi Rui-Feng? Impossible. Qi Rui-Feng could turn a human into a dog in his photos. Although many people hoped that it was Qi Rui-Feng, even if their brains had been riddled with homoerotic rot, they had to admit the truth: It could not be him!

Then could it be Coach Wu? Hehe, Coach Wu's Weibo often featured the wondrous sight of a frame full of his big beard. How could he produce such high-level photos?

Xiang Yang-Yang? See above reasoning. Ming Tian? See above reasoning.

Then who could it be?

One day, a small insignificant account by the name of declared authoritatively in the comment section of Tang Yi-Bai's Weibo post: The one who took the photos must definitely be his girlfriend, you stupid Earthlings!

And then this little was ganged up upon by Tang Yi-Bai's 'wives'...

Yun Duo smirked as she privately messaged : Serves you right!

Very soon, replied: I'm hurt. Can you come and comfort me tomorrow?

Yun Duo cheeks were suffused with an instant blush. After a good long while, she replied with a simple 'ok'.

Ever since he had done this and that in his dorm room, she was no longer able to look straight at the place. Every time she went looking for him, she always felt embarrassed. And Tang Yi-Bai was as sly as ever, especially fond of dragging her towards his dorm room. Not because he wanted to do nefarious things, but just because he liked teasing her, in various ways.

The next day, Yun Duo went to meet Tang Yi-Bai and she sat by the pool watching him train. Wu Yong said to Yun Duo, "When you're around, he trains better than usual."

"Really?" Yun Duo was very happy to hear that.

"Yes, so you can come over more often."

"Okay, I will!"

When Tang Yi-Bai was done with training, he said to Yun Duo, "Feng has gone to Australia for training today."

"I know. Our paper even ran an article on it."

"So, there's no one else in my dorm room tonight."

Yun Duo blushed and turned away. Again?!

But Tang Yi-Bai had moved on to even deeper thoughts: "But I don't think we should always rely on these random chances. It would be great if you could move into the family units."

Yun Duo kept her head low as she walked before him. She needed to calm down right now and did not want to talk to him.

No matter how fast she walked, Tang Yi-Bai could keep pace to stay right by her side. He looked at her face and said tentatively, "Duoduo, shall we go get registered?"

Yun Duo came to a sudden stop and turned her face to look at him.

Tang Yi-Bai pressed his lips together, his heart pounding erratically.

She looked both exasperated and amused as she punched him lightly on the chest. "Tang Yi-Bai, is there anyone else who would propose like this?!"

---

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Next: Chapter 87

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