Chapter 21 - A compet.i.tion (Translated by Xing and edited by Souhi)

Tang Xue heard Liao Zhenyu claim to be bullied and laughed. "Don't try to s.h.i.+rk your responsibilities."

"It's true. Boss, today at Shanghu Square……"

The result of seven separate universities' merger, Rain City United University's campus layout was a little complicated. There were some areas belonging to the school that outsiders had free access to. Shanghu Square was one such area. It was a recreational square and residents nearby often went there for walks or dance activities.

Some RCU clubs also liked to hold their activities there. There was no need to first gain the school committee's approval, which made things much more convenient.

"What happened next? Did you guys fight?"

"No, but we almost did. I accidentally b.u.mped into one of them and they started shoving and scolding me. Then, our two groups started quarrelling."

"And then?"

"And then they challenged us."

"……The heck?"

"We decided to have a friendly match. The losing team will have to apologize."

"Mm. Everything's fine as long as you're alright."

"Boss, I'm so touched at your concern."

"Don't forget to wash the socks when you're back."

"……" Being touched was a delusion.

At night, Tang Xue made sure that Li Yubing's socks were safely delivered into Liao Zhenyu's hands. Then, she appraised him from head to toe and asked, "Sure you didn't get beaten up?"

"Nope. But Boss, they're way too arrogant. Look.' As Liao Zhenyu spoke, he pa.s.sed his phone to Tang Xue. "They spread this incident all over the internet and uploaded it on Weibo[1] and WeChat. They even posted this on both the city and our school's online forums. To make things worse, I've just searched and found out that there's someone in their club who won a prize in an artistic roller skating compet.i.tion before. I think our club is doomed." Head over to teafragrance[dot]wordpress[dot]com if translator's notes are missing or if you simply want to read without ads.

Tang Xue moved her finger and scanned the content of the forum post. She then did a quick search of the opposing club's information. She pondered the whole incident. "Heh."

"What?"

"Dummy, you guys have been set up."

"What do you mean?"

"They're a newly established club that badly needs publicity. Intentionally finding fault on Sat.u.r.day night, provoking the bunch of you, attracting widespread attention, unabashedly circulating this entire incident…… all these speak of a publicity stunt. They're trying to hype up their own club at the expense of RCU."

"Eh."

Liao Zhenyu felt that things were not looking good and immediately reported Tang Xue's suspicions to his club president.

The club president had also suspected the same. However, the problem was that regardless of whether it was a publicity stunt, it was impossible to retreat halfway. There were only two options now—to either win or be an embarra.s.sment.

"I'm going to try obtaining help from someone in the figure skating team," The club president said.

Tang Xue who was listening at the side immediately shook her head. "That's too much. It's going to blow things out of proportion."

After hanging up on his call with his club president, Liao Zhenyu softly tapped Tang Xue's arm. "Boss, you have a solution, right? Please… help?"

"Wash the socks."

"Yes, yes, yes, I'll wash them."

Sunday evening arrived and the gossip spread like a virus online. Within one night, everyone in school knew that the inline skating club was going to compete with a bunch of outsiders. Some people made sarcastic remarks while others were in it for the drama. There were also some who suggested tips and ideas while a few people broke into a sweat thinking of the potential outcomes. However, they all had one thing in common—all of them were united against a common enemy. After all, as a member of RCU, no one was willing to see their own fellow students being bullied by others.

They must win!

This was the thought of most people as reflected in the constantly ticking feed of status updates in WeChat.

Tang Xue oddly felt like she was under a lot of pressure.

The compet.i.tion was set on the next day, a Monday. After learning of the incident, the school committee quickly gave the inline skating club special approval to use the east sports field from 5.30 pm to 6.30 pm. The school committee teacher expressed the school's heartfelt wishes, saying that they could not help much beyond providing a home ground advantage, and hoped that the students will perform to the best of their abilities blah blah blah……

The inline skating club had never enjoyed such a huge activity ground before. The club president was overwhelmed by this special treatment.

Tang Xue rushed over to the sports field immediately after her lesson. When she reached the place, she got a shock from how many people there were.

The majority of them were there to watch a show.

Li Yubing was also there. Bag was slung over one shoulder and wearing his signature white tracksuit, he was casually leaning against the wire fence surrounding the sports field and attracting his own circle of attention.

Some people were simply this extraordinary. Although he was low-key and kept silent, he was impossible to overlook even without speaking a word.

Tang Xue did not have time to deal with Li Yubing. She ran into the true centre of the storm.

Li Yubing spotted her as well. Seeing her head over, he immediately followed.

Tang Xue walked to the inline skating club president's side. Under the semblance of concern, she asked, "President, has it began?"

"No, we're still deciding on what to compete," The club president replied.

Tang Xue glanced at people standing opposite the club president. There was around five or six of them and they were all guys. They were led by someone with hair dyed in the shade of a granny grey. She asked Grey Hair, "So what are we competing?"

"Need you ask? Of course it's roller skating tricks."

"Roller skating tricks can't do. There are no judges. How would we know who won? In order to decide the winner, we'll need to greatly increase the difficulty of the tricks performed. What if someone gets injured? Have you bought insurance? Furthermore, you bunch have someone who won gold in the Nationals before. Coming over to compete with us who are doing this for recreation, what are you guys up to?"

"Hey no, what are you up to? What else can we compete if we don't compete on roller skating tricks?"

Tang Xue nonchalantly shrugged. "We can compete on speed. Everyone here can be the judge."

At her words, numerous people in crowd nodded.

Grey Hair was amused. With a slightly mocking expression, he asked, "Little girl, are you taking me for a fool? You've already prepared external helpers, haven't you? You're just waiting for me to take the bait."

Tang Xue crossed her arms. She mimicked his expression and replied, "Don't you take us for fools either. Who's the one laying a trap here, everyone knows." As she spoke, she fished out her student ID and pa.s.sed it to him. "My student ID. Take a good look. The metal emboss on it is different from the ones you find on fake IDs that you can get for 20 yuan. If you don't believe me, you can verify it at the Academic Affairs Office."

Her action startled Grey Hair. "You?"

"Yea, me."

"You're racing against us?" Grey Hair was in disbelief and asked again for confirmation.

"Why? Can't I compete?" Tang Xue spoke and looked at the club president. "President, can I?"

"Yes… yes……" The club president felt himself breaking into a sweat.

Grey Hair was dissatisfied. "How can this do? By competing with you, we're going to win with an unfair advantage. Ask a guy to come up instead. Speed skating it shall be. Whoever who's afraid is a turtle."

"Heh," Tang Xue scoffed. Her laughter was arrogant and domineering. "Say, even though I'm a girl, you guys might not necessarily win against me either."

Grey Hair frowned and was about to speak when someone behind him stepped forward. "I'll compete with her."

Tang Xue looked at the speaker. He was of an average build with tanned skin. He wore a red jacket with a skull design and a dog tag necklace, looking like a young rapper. If you see this, this translation has been reposted without permission from teafragrance[dot]wordpress[dot]com.

He walked in front of Tang Xue and said, "I'll compete with you."

"Sure."

"Loser will streak."

At his words, the crowd stirred. Many immediately objected, saying that he was being a bully. From the beginning, most people felt that losing was a given after learning that a girl would be speed skating against a guy. Some people had already helped the inline skating club to come up with an excuse. By letting a girl compete, even if they lost, it was nothing to be too embarra.s.sed about. The inline skating club must had done this as they felt that they were bound to lose, and wanted to minimize their level of embarra.s.sment. Even though sending out a girl to mess things up was nothing glamorous, it was still a very effective solution.

Actually, it wasn't just the crowd who thought this way. Grey Hair had the exact same thoughts.

To be honest, even the club president thought this way.

However, this condition from Skull Head had aggravated things and it was now impossible for the RCU inline skating club to muddle their way through this challenge.

Tang Xue was stunned for a moment. She solemnly met his eyes and asked, "You're serious?"

"Of course."

Tang Xue pointed at him. "I admire your courage. Alright, we'll do as you say. Loser will streak."

The crowd went into an uproar and felt a wave of pity for her. Girl, you've lost your mind!

Liao Zhenyu was almost in tears. "Boss, we won't compete!"

At this moment, a voice sounded from the crowd. This voice was low and reserved, and his tone was like frosted steel with a bite of unhappiness to it. "I'll do it."

The crowd looked over and saw Li Yubing stood out. He walked to Tang Xue's side and said, "I'll compete instead. Loser will streak."

Whoa——

The surrounding students were once again sent into a flurry. Even Li Yubing had appeared! And he wanted to stand in for a girl in a compet.i.tion too! Just what was his relations.h.i.+p with this girl??

Based on the numerous plot twists in this "show" so far, it was more than well worth their time here.

Tang Xue did not even turn her head. She put one hand back and it coincidentally landed on Li Yubing's chest, managing to stop him in a very suave manner. She said, "There's no need. Get your phone ready for recording. He's going to streak in a bit."

Li Yubing sounded exasperated. "Stop fooling around."

"I'm not."

Li Yubing grabbed her wrist. "Have you forgotten? You need to do as I say."

"Stand at the side and watch me. I'll do as you say tomorrow."

Li Yubing's face was a little grim. "The one named Tang, why are you still so dense?"

"The one named Li." Tang Xue turned to meet his gaze. "Right now, it's enough if you just cheer '666'[2] for me."

The surrounding audience all felt their hearts… clamouring. How come there was even a lovers' quarrel? Jesus, where did this drama popped up from……

Li Yubing was ultimately unable to change Tang Xue's mind. He retreated into the crowd and stood beside Liao Zhenyu. He quietly said, "Later, if she loses, I'll just scoop her up and run. Clear the way for me."

"Alright!" Liao Zhenyu heavily nodded. He suddenly felt that Li Yubing was not that detestable after all.

Even though Li Yubing was always going against his boss, he was still quite dependable at crucial moments……

"I'm willing to wash your socks for you." Liao Zhenyu said sincerely.

Li Yubing was speechless. "I'm not willing……"

Translator's Notes:

[1] Weibo is a very popular Chinese microblogging platform that you can either access through a website or an app. Think of it as a highly effective and integrated Facebook, Twitter and YouTube hybrid. The difference between WeChat and Weibo is that WeChat is primarily a communication and messaging tool with features of a personal profile "wall" that you can upload things to share with your friends and a feed of friends' update (it's called Moments). As for Weibo, it's purely a social media tool. If you want to see what your favourite Chinese actors/actresses/authors are up to, following them on Weibo is the way to go. You can even legally stream music on Weibo for free.

(Someone correct me if I'm wrong as I don't have WeChat.)

[2] Nothing to do with the devil. 666 is a Chinese internet slang that originated from online games. The number 6 (liù) sounds like another Chinese character, 溜 (liū), that is used colloquially as a praise when someone did something amazing or when something brilliant happens. 6 is used in its place as it's easier to type. It's a pretty common Chinese internet slang that's the equivalent of "awesome". The number of 6 used isn't fixed. It can range from one 6 to a spam of 66666666666666666666 or even more.

"Stop fooling around." It's been so many years and Li Yubing is still saying the same thing to Tang Xue.