Side stories (1) from the print book

Translator's note: A whole bunch of side stories in one go. Took longer than I expected to translate them, but they're out now. XP Enjoy!

1.

Tang Yi-Bai's feat in conquering the summit in winning the 100-metre freestyle in the World Championships had already stirred up the Chinese audience into a frenzy. And then, when the images of him kissing a female reporter was broadcasted on live TV, the hosts and commentators were left at a loss for words, let alone the regular audience members. On top of that, he then responded to the provocation of a foreign reporter with a classic "love"...

Very well, he had triggered a hurricane-level of discussion all on his own. The hurricane swept through the entire nation of China, pulling all its citizens into discussion surrounding him. They went wild over his dominance and wisdom, but were also insanely curious about the relationship between him and that female reporter.

As if in response to the desires of the people of his motherland, a television reporter very formally asked Tang Yi-Bai about his relationship with Yun Duo during an interview the next day. In actual fact, everyone within the field already knew the truth...

"She is my wife. We're already engaged."

Boo hoo hoo, he admitted it! He admitted it so directly! With no hesitation and leaving no room for ambiguity or second-guessing! Adonis, you're just too earnest! Can't you leave us some hope and let us indulge in our fantasies? Didn't we say that we were going to be each other's angels /(tot)/~~

With Tang Yi-Bai's quick and easy admission, it wasn't surprising that Yun Duo's Weibo was discovered by some resourceful netizens. Overnight, her Weibo changed drastically. She had more fans now, and more messages, so many that she could not read them all in time. Frankly, there was no need for her to read every single message carefully — doing so would only affect her emotionally. Yun Duo found that there were quite a number of netizens who said she was ugly.

How horrible, how am I ugly?!

In her 20 odd years of life, Yun Duo had always been praised for being beautiful, so she was quite confident in her looks. She would not so easily believe she was ugly just because some netizens said so.

Aside from those calling her ugly, there were also many who wished her well and conveyed words of blessing. Yun Duo picked one such message and shared it along with a comment:

Thank you! [Touched] [Moved] And here I thought you all wanted to burn me alive /(tot)/~~

As soon as the Weibo post went out, comments appeared almost instantly.

One Candy: You're welcome, but actually we really want to burn you alive.

Wuli-BaiBai: You're welcome, but actually we really want to burn you alive.

Tang Yi-Bai is My Hubby You All Can Go Die: You're welcome, but actually we really want to burn you alive.

Going to Kidnap Male God Tang Yi-Bai: You're welcome, but actually we really want to burn you alive.

...

...

...

Honestly, the netizens these days were increasingly cheeky. ~~o(>_<)o~~

---

2.

When the swimming team returned to China, the airport was crowded with reporters and fans there to welcome them back. They were completely surrounded. The snapping of camera shutters, the rapid-fire questions from the reporters, the screams of the fans... the noise bombarded Tang Yi-Bai like a sonic weapon. The flashes of the cameras were so dazzling that he could hardly keep his eyes open.

As a strong and fit athlete, he had never before felt like he needed protection. But now, he was really feeling a little overwhelmed.

Team Lead Xu, what happened to the bodyguards who were supposed to help us open a path through the crowd...?

The bodyguards had indeed come, but they had been led to the wrong place by a feather-headed staff and were now rushing as fast as they could towards the team. As expected of professionals, they managed to crack their way through the crowd which was packed like sardines in a can, forging a path for the athletes to leave.

Finally making their way onto their bus, Tang Yi-Bai felt as if he had escaped from the clutches of death. Coach Wu sat down beside him and looked out at the worked up fans outside the window. He said with a long sigh, "I think that I should reassess your commercial value."

Tang Yi-Bai was holding onto his cell phone, browsing through it, deep in thought with his head bowed.

"What's up with you?" asked Coach Wu.

"I miss my wife."

Goddammit! Bragging about your love life again! Coach Wu rolled his eyes and glared at him, and then he said, "Call her then."

"No, I can't. She's sleeping right now."

Coach Wu felt a trace of envy but acted like he did not care, turning his head aside to ignore Tang Yi-Bai. He then continued to ponder on the commercial value of his charge.

With regards to Tang Yi-Bai's commercial value, let alone Coach Wu, the entire team could not be sure of the true estimate.

Three years ago, the swimming team was not a very affluent sports team. At that time, there was very little national interest in swimming and not many chose to learn and focus on swimming. Some swimmers were not able to receive advertising endorsements even after winning medals at international competitions. Swimming only really became popular after Qi Rui-Feng had won a gold at the Olympics. Subsequently, the endorsement price range of the entire swimming team was elevated in response, and of course, Qi Rui-Feng was undoubtedly the one with the most commercial value.

Qi Rui-Feng's worth was valued at the level of a mega superstar.

Generally, an athlete's value was directly correlated with their results. This went without speaking. However, such a simple rule was unable to be applied in the case of Tang Yi-Bai. In reality, even before the World Championships, Tang Yi-Bai's advertising fees were already extremely close to Qi Rui-Feng's!

A swimmer who had only won a gold medal at the Asian Games, who had never participated in any major international event or produced any superstar results... but he had the valuation close to that of a superstar's. If this had been three years ago, Team Lead Xu would never have entertained the thoughts even if he had been pressured with a knife at his neck.

And yet such an almost fantastical thing had actually happened. Hard cash did not lie.

Thus has it been said that life was truly a masterpiece of magical realism...

While he had still been "just a gold medal away from the world-class sports superstars", Tang Yi-Bai had already been a glimmering golden cash cow, what more now? Now, this cash cow must have grown significantly. As for how much fatter it was now, no one in the team management could guess.

They could not be blamed for this. After all, they had lived over 10 years of lives of poverty within the team, and so they did not have much experience dealing with cash cows. The most valuable case they had ever handled was Qi Rui-Feng, and that alone was already a testament of a lifetime to them...

---

3.

Yun Duo only returned to China after the closing ceremony. Finally able to relax after being busy for so long, and under the influence of jet lag, she dropped like a log as soon as she returned home, sleeping the entire day away.

When Yun Duo opened her drowsy eyes again, she was lying on a soft bed, and she was still a little dazed. Her bedroom was dark, and her surroundings were way too quiet. Not a sound could be heard; the house felt cold and deserted.

... How could it not be? Right now, she was the only one breathing in the house.

Here's the thing — a few days ago, Uncle Tang and Auntie Lu went abroad on a holiday. The original plan was that they would return yesterday, just in time to welcome Yun Duo back, but Uncle Tang lost his passport overseas and so the couple could not return as scheduled. Er-Bai had been placed in a pet hotel, and Yun Duo was still considering whether to go pick him up and bring him home.

She lazily reached out for her handphone and saw that Tang Yi-Bai had sent her a message.

Tang Yi-Bai: Are you awake?

Yun Duo: Yep.

She looked at the time. At this time, he should still be in the pool. He would not see her message right now.

Surprisingly, she quickly received a call from him.

"Hello, Tang Yi-Bai, don't you have training?"

"Nope, I'm at the TV station for a program recording."

Yun Duo laughed. "Having fun?"

Tang Yi-Bai laughed as well, deep and pleasing to the ear, mesmerising. "Kinda boring."

The recording was for a variety show, where he was one of the guests. Right then, outside the recording studio during a break, Tang Yi-Bai was leaning casually against a wall as he chatted on the phone with the person who was constantly on his mind. Yun Duo's voice was still slightly raspy from sleep, and soft and slow like a lazy cat, tickling him right in the rib cage. He wished he could pull her into his arms right then so he could snuggle her.

Not too far from him was a female guest star who had a lot of clout in the entertainment industry. Tang Yi-Bai called her 'Big Sister Rui'. Goddess Sister Rui was sexy and charming. At this moment, she was holding a cigarette in one hand as she observed Tang Yi-Bai through the wafting tendrils of smoke.

The young man was dressed in a white shirt and a pair of dark blue casual trousers. The cuffs of his shirt were neatly folded back to reveal his sturdy forearms, a sports watch on one of his wrists. Nothing from his clothing to his accessories were from any major brands. Compared to the men in the entertainment circles, he appeared plain and simple. However, his face and body were just too lovely — so lovely to the extent that it really didn't matter anymore what he wore. Perhaps, it would be best of all if he weren't wearing anything at all...

Even among the entertainment industry which was teeming with handsome men and gorgeous ladies, his level of good looks was extremely hard to come by. Even rarer and more remarkable was the fact that he also had high emotional intelligence, thought Rui. If he really entered the entertainment circles, it went without saying that he would have everyone eating out his hands.

Tang Yi-Bai did not notice her. His head was bowed, his eyelashes fluttering slightly, the smile pulling at the corners of his lips even gentler than the spring breeze. Rui had forgotten all about smoking, her ears pricked up as she shamelessly eavesdropped on his phone conversation.

"Are you afraid being at home all alone? ...Er-Bai? Why should you go pick him up? After you take him back, you won't have any time to watch him anyway. Just leave him at the pet hotel... You've slept the whole day, so you haven't eaten anything yet, right? Go and eat something. No junk food though, and don't eat anything too greasy... drink some hot soup..."

On the other end, Yun Duo listened as Tang Yi-Bai nagged and could not help laughing, "Tang Yi-Bai, when have you become so naggy?"

Tang Yi-Bai stopped and after a moment of silence, when he spoke again, his voice carried a tinge of helplessness and an indescribable tone of complaint: "Duoduo, I miss you so much."

Yun Duo's heart became like cotton candy in an instant, soft and sweet.

Tang Yi-Bai put away his phone after that, and only then did he notice Rui staring at him. He gave her a polite nod. "Big Sister Rui, can I help you?"

Rui asked him in return, "Were you talking with your girlfriend?"

"She's my fiancée."

His serious attitude made her crack a smile, after which she said, "I find that you're very good at caring for another." As she said this, she fluffed her hair, her sultry eyes staring right at him.

Arms crossed, Tang Yi-Bai walked past her without even glancing at her. "A person's wife is for them to care for."

Rui was a little taken aback, and then she was struck by melancholy.

After the recording was over, Rui asked Tang Yi-Bai: "Will you enter the entertainment industry in the future?"

"No."

"So certain? Do you dislike how messy the industry is?"

"No." As if thinking of something, his gaze turned gentle. "I am an athlete, so I usually don't have much time to spend with her. I don't want things to still be like this after I retire. The entertainment industry is too busy. It doesn't suit me."

The corners of Rui's lips quirked upwards, some cheeky playfulness of a young girl suddenly peeking through. "If I were 5 years younger, I would definitely chase after you."

In the entertainment industry, people never forget to flatter each other even if they forget to eat. Tang Yi-Bai naturally did not take these words to heart.

---

4.

Yun Duo was out eating at a small restaurant, texting with Tang Yi-Bai as she did so. Where she was, what she was eating, whether the food tasted good... their conversation was as plain as room-temperature water, but the two of them were very happy to engage in it.

When she was done eating, she said to him: "I'm going home now."

Tang Yi-Bai: "Okay."

And then there were no more texts.

Yun Duo felt just that little bit of disappointment. Alright, so she had said that she wasn't afraid to be home alone, but wasn't he not even a little bit worried anymore? Have they been together too long that they've already begun to get tired of each other?! /(tot)/~~

She held onto her handphone, waiting, but after a while without any further texts from him, she decided to let it go. She kept her phone away, paid her bill and left. As she walked home, she glumly kicked the pebbles in her path. There weren't many pedestrians on the road. Her shadow grew and shrunk as she passed by under the dim yellow glow of the street lights, again and again. After walking for a long while, Yun Duo suddenly felt an internal nudge, as if sensing something magically, she looked up.

A figure stood under the street lights ahead of her. The person was wearing a white shirt, long pants, and he currently had his arms crossed leisurely as he grinned at her. Under the dim yellow light, his features were vivid yet soft, like the clean and lovely lines of a freestyle landscape painting.

Yun Duo's heart pounded — badump, badump — as swiftly as a swallow's wings in its first flight. She sprinted towards him.

Tang Yi-Bai welcomed her fully into his embrace with open arms. He hugged her securely, bending his head down to kiss her soft hair. Now he was finally able to hold his sweetheart in his arms, he felt both moved and settled.

"Why are you here?" asked Yun Duo.

"What do you think?"

So in the end he was still worried about me? She laughed, her mood soaring. But then, on the surface, she was still going to act tsundere a little. "Didn't I already tell you that I'm not afraid?"

Tang Yi-Bai's reply was simple but powerful. "I'm afraid."

The two of them walked home hand in hand. Yun Duo turned her head to look at him, checking him out from head to toe, and then she commented, "I find that you're very handsome today."

"When am I not handsome?"

What a narcissist! And yet she could not deny it, because after some contemplation, she found that her answer was: There was not a single day where he isn't handsome...

Yun Duo: "What I mean is, you look exceptionally handsome in a white shirt today."

"You like it?"

"Mhm."

He laughed airily. "Then I'll wear it regularly after this for you."

His sweetness made her face heat up, and she bowed her head to avoid looking at him.

Although there were very few pedestrians, almost every single one recognised Tang Yi-Bai, constantly stopping him to get an autograph. In the end, he could only put on a face mask and walk with Yun Duo in the shadows, sneaking around like they were thieves.

Yun Duo suddenly recalled something and said happily to Tang Yi-Bai, "Hey, did you know? I've earned some big bucks overseas!"

"Really? How much?"

"Seven hundred thousand! Hehehehe, it's all earnings from betting on you. Too few people bet on you becoming champion. Only I had a discerning eye!"

Tang Yi-Bai was in a happy mood. He gently squeezed her palms and said with a smile, "How amazing. My Duoduo has the best vision."

"Of course, of course. Oh, right, Tang Yi-Bai, I heard that your endorsement prices have been increasing day by day. How high has it risen now? Tell me about it?" Yun Duo had barely finished saying this when she suddenly covered her mouth. "Oh, no, this should be something confidential. You can't talk about it with others, right?"

"You're not others." He stroked her hair. "I signed a contract yesterday. The price was one point three."

Yun Duo was stunned, staring at him dazedly. "1.3... million?"

He chuckled, "Or else? 1.3 thousand?"

"Just one brand? For one year?"

"That's right."

She looked at him, stupefied, like she was seeing some prehistoric monster. "You... you..."

Seeing how silly was in her shocked state, Tang Yi-Bai snickered and he couldn't help but pinch her cheeks. "What about me?"

"You're so expensive!"

Tang Yi-Bai burst out laughing. "Am I? For you, it's free."

Yun Duo turned her face away, embarrassed.

He sidled closer and bending over slightly, he removed his face mask to whisper lowly by her ear, "Free. You can take me home and do whatever you want to me."

Yun Duo face turned as red as a tomato. Dear lord, could they even continue to have a decent conversation...

---

5.

Yun Duo was somewhat missing Er-Bai, so they went by the pet hotel along the way. At Tang Yi-Bai's insistence, she did not take Er-Bai back home with them, instead only stopping by to visit. Er-Bai was so very happy to see them that he was acting super spoilt, thinking that he was finally about to go home.

And then they just left... left... left...

Er-Bai slumped to the ground, watching as their backs drew further away, heartbroken.

Big brother, don't you want your younger brother anymore? /(tot)/~~

As soon as they arrived home, Tang Yi-Bai pressed Yun Duo up against the door and kissed her passionately. He had been wanting to do this for a long time. He had already been holding back all the way home. His kiss was so insistent and impassioned that she felt unable to resist. She cooperated passively with her head tilted upwards, her body feeling heated and weak.

Tang Yi-Bai caressed her waist, and his hands gradually found their way into her clothes, his hot palms exploring upwards.

Yun Duo pulled his hands away, gasping, "I- I'm going to take a shower."

He chased her lips to nibble on them gently, a chuckle spilling out from the depths of his throat. "Together."

Embarrassed, she pushed him aside. "Stop fooling around."

"I'm not." When he saw her trying to leave, he grabbed her again and locked her tightly in the embrace of his arms. He leaned down and traced her ear with his lips, saying with a smile, "You seem to have forgotten what you said before."

"What did I say?"

"You said, once we returned, I could do whatever I wanted."

Yun Duo smacked herself on the head. She actually did seem to recall having said something like this...?

As an upstanding youth with good morals, Yun Duo would never go back on her word, and so the two of them entered the bathroom together. At first, they were really just showering. Tang Yi-Bai even helpfully took the initiative to scrub Yun Duo's back. But very soon, things escalated and their inhibitions were dashed all over the floor. In the steam-filled room, he pressed her against the smooth tiles of the wall as they made love, and then their battlefield moved to the sink. He stood behind her and hugged her from behind, their bodies glued to one another. She could see their overlapping bodies in the mirror in such close distance that it was hard to look straight at it. In an instant, her shame was off the charts. She wrenched herself free and tried to run away with her eyes closed.

With a reach of his long arms, Tang Yi-Bai reeled her back in easily, keeping a secure hold on her. Panting, he said with a low chuckle by her ear, "Why are you running?"

Yun Duo: qaq

Tang Yi-Bai: "Breaking your word."

Yun Duo: qaq

Tang Yi-Bai: "So naughty."

Yun Duo: ...

Tang Yi-Bai: "You need to be punished."

Yun Duo: /(tot)/~~

On this night, Tang Yi-Bai's actions could be summed up like so: he had his way with her.

The next day, Yun Duo had no idea when Tang Yi-Bai left. She slept till high noon, only discovering that her alarm clock had been turned off when she woke up.

Oh no, she was going to be late!

She jumped out of bed and turned on her phone only to receive a text message.

Tang Yi-Bai: You can continue sleeping. I've helped you apply for leave. ^_^

Yun Duo: Thanks. -_-#

---

6.

In October, on National Day, Yun Duo did not have to go in to work so she went back to City-N for a vacation. Tang Yi-Bai begged Coach Wu for a long time so that he could take a day off on Yun Duo's birthday. He would take a flight to City-N in the morning and fly back to the training base at night.

He not only planned to celebrate Yun Duo's birthday with her, he also wanted to bring Yun Duo to meet the elders in his family. They were already discussing marriage now — to let Yun Duo go to meet his relatives alone was just too unreasonable.

The relatives on both sides decided to take advantage of this opportunity to meet one another. They reserved a large private room in a hotel to hold a grand birthday bash for Yun Duo. During the dinner, the conversation turned to when the two young ones would be getting married. Tang Yi-Bai personally hoped that they could be married as soon as possible — after all, she was the only one for him in this life. However, marriage was a sacred and solemn thing — he couldn't just tie the knot tomorrow just because he wanted to. The elders also wanted more time to prepare and then choose an auspicious day to have a grand celebration. After a round of discussion, everyone decided to set the ceremony for the end of March next year.

Tang Yi-Bai had his own thoughts on this: he wanted to register the marriage and obtain the certificate first.

He had too little time to spend with Yun Duo normally. If Yun Duo could move into the family quarters in the training base after they were officially registered as married, he would be able to see her every day.

This was Tang Yi-Bai's lovely wish — he carried this hope back with him to the team, going over to the family quarters to check out the houses there in advance. However, the staff in the management office told him a cruel truth: There were restrictions which applied to family members holding certain sensitive careers, among which included reporters.

Tang Yi-Bai left the family quarters with dashed hopes. The heavens were really doing its best to keep them away from each other...

Later on, he asked his mother to look for a villa with an underground swimming pool close to the base, intending to use it as a marriage home.

Before their wedding, he and Yun Duo often went to the villa to date.

Tang Yi-Bai's favourite dating activity was to teach Yun Duo how to swim. ^_^

---

7.

When spring came, Tang Yi-Bai and Yun Duo got married.

Tang Yi-Bai's ideal wedding venue was definitely not City-B. However, his teammates did not have the time to fly to another city to attend his wedding ceremony, so he could only hold it at City-B.

Their wedding did not welcome any sponsorship nor media coverage. Someone from the national team was responsible for filming the proceedings, and then the team would publish it on the team's own platform. Frankly, if things could be done according to how Tang Yi-Bai wanted it, even this step could have been omitted. Despite his wishes, his fans were crying on the national team's official Weibo, on Coach Wu's Weibo, on Team Lead Xu's Weibo, and even on the Weibo accounts of his close friends, all in the hopes of gleaning any morsel of information about the wedding to satisfy their curiosity.

The power of the fans was great. In order to guarantee his personal safety, Team Lead Xu did not dare to defy them. -_-#

The ceremony was conducted in Chinese fashion. Yun Duo had a classical air to her — dressed in traditional bright red wedding attire, her beauty was beyond compare; no one could turn their eyes away from her. Tang Yi-Bai was elegant and dashing, stately and handsome, his demeanour as clean and refreshing as a fresh breeze on a clear moonlit night. When the pair of newlyweds stood together, they were so beautiful that they seemed immortal and ethereal. No matter how you looked at it, they were like a match made in heaven. Aside from the official photos released, there were also some photos taken by close friends and family who were present at the ceremony to be found on Weibo. On this day, countless netizens lurked on the various Weibo accounts of interest, waiting to mine some on-the-scene photos. Previously, during an interview, Tang Yi-Bai had mentioned that he wanted to keep his wedding low-profile, but the entire nation was witness to their wedding ceremony on this day.

Honestly, since you're sporting such good looks, stop being delusional about wanting to keep a low profile! As a top-quality looker, you need to be prepared for the attention...

At the scene of the ceremony, the groom held the bride's hands, looking into her eyes as he said to her, "Through the divides of life and death, this I promise you. I shall hold your hand and stay, and grow old together with you."

This short video clip was first posted by Qi Rui-Feng onto his Weibo. When the netizens saw it, they screamed in excitement. How strange. This phrase was not uncommon, but why did it just sound so special coming from God Yi-Bai's lips? The feeling it evoked was warm and fuzzy, causing the heart to tremble.

Someone on the internet analysed that this wasn't only because the groom was handsome. More importantly, he was saying these words straight from his heart. The words were filled with emotion, and that was why they were so especially moving.

The netizens: Yun Duo, you must have saved the galaxy in your last life to have met such a great man!

When Yun Duo and Tang Yi-Bai were on their honeymoon by the beach, they saw this topic of discussion. She pouted slightly and commented dismissively, "So my man is good. Am I not good then?"

As "Yun Duo's man", Tang Yi-Bai felt that he had great speaking authority on this. He gently wrapped his arms around her waist. "Of course, you're good. You're the best."

Yun Duo nodded, satisfied. "What's good about me?"

Tang Yi-Bai bit down on his lower lip and smirked. "Well, we'll have to peel some things off to see them..."

"Shoo..."

---

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