Chapter 26 – The compet.i.tion and being drunk (Translated by Xing and edited by Souhi)

Besides RCU students, quite a number of the ice hockey match audience was made up of members of the public . Most of them had officially purchased their tickets from the school at a clearly marked up price .

Yup, that was right . Impatient to prove that their ice hockey team was fully capable of recovering past losses and raking in profits, the school administration had taken two thirds of the available seats for sale .

The result was that sales were actually quite good .

Tang Xue originally planned to pretend to watch the match for a few moments before sneaking off . However, ten minutes into the match, she gradually drew her brows together .

Ice hockey was a sport that was rather exciting . Everyone on ice were quick as lightning and the compet.i.tion pace was extremely fast . Precisely because of the speed, it was inevitable that collisions would happen . Therefore, it was the norm for most ice hockey players to be of a bigger build .

RCU’s ice hockey team was teasingly called the “male models team” by RCU students .  From this, one could imagine how well-built they were . However, when contrasted against Caucasians, they were still slightly not up to par .

Therefore, from the start of the match, RCU was suppressed by the opposite team . The German ice hockey players went on a strong offensive and the puck was contained by them in RCU’s defensive zone . Thankfully, RCU’s goalkeeper was reliable and fended off the opponents’ numerous attacks .

Unfortunately, as the match proceeded, he ultimately missed a puck .

The stadium was filled with unceasing cheers of encouragement . The audience was anxious and no one was willing to see their team losing on their home ground .  This translation is a labour of love that should not be found/reposted outside of teafragrance[dot]wordpress[dot]com .

Sitting in the corridor, Tang Xue could hear the incessant grumbles of a fatty[2] sitting nearby that was filled with rage . “…playing like s.h.i.+t . Just surrender already . You guys are an embarra.s.sment to China!”

Tang Xue’s face was grim .

After he finished grumbling, the fatty got up and headed to the washroom . Tang Xue twisted open a bottle of mineral water and emptied its contents on the fatty’s seat .

Tang Xue was never someone with a high moral standing . Carrying out this bad deed, she did not feel a p.r.i.c.k of guilt at all .

When the fatty came back, he sat down on the puddle of water and nearly died from anger . He loudly swore in rage .

Everyone ignored him .

Tang Xue turned back to the ice rink, and while listening to the fatty’s curses, continued watching the match .

The German team had been dominating the match for almost 15 minutes . Tang Xue could clearly sense that RCU’s morale was low . Actually, even though the difference in physique did affect the match a little, it was not to the extent that it could determine the match’s outcome .

Sigh……

The turning point happened in a flash .

Li Yubing suddenly intercepted the puck and single handedly brought it across the line . Guessing his intent, the opposing team quickly sent out players to defend .

However, he was too fast . With swift and nimble movements, he snaked through the rink and successively evaded two people . In a blink of an eye, he was at the other team’s goalmouth . He aimed the puck at a gap in the goalkeeper’s defence and swung .

Goal!

Tang Xue leapt up from the floor .

The crowd lagged for two to three seconds and erupted into enthusiastic cheers . They could not be blamed for reacting too slowly—it was simply that Li Yubing was too fast .

“Go[1]! Go! Go!” Tang Xue shouted at the top of her voice .

Li Yubing seemed to hear her cheers . He suddenly turned and faced her direction .

Tang Xue touched her nose and surrept.i.tiously sat down .

The match continued .

Li Yubing’s actions of being the lone hero who stormed the enemy lines and scored a goal were without doubts a much needed fix for his teammates’ low spirits .  This translation is meant to be published only on teafragrance[dot]wordpress[dot]com .

Li Yubing’s actions of being the lone hero who stormed the enemy lines and scored a goal were without doubts a much needed fix for his teammates’ low spirits .  This translation is meant to be published only on teafragrance[dot]wordpress[dot]com .

The morale of the RCU team was greatly boosted and they no longer played with a subdued att.i.tude for the remainder of the match .

The rest of the match, Li Yubing shone .

He had a physique that did not pale in comparison to the opposite team and also outstanding skating and puck control skills . What made him even more fearsome was the exceptional skill he had at a.n.a.lysing the match . The possibilities of what could happen in an instant were endless . Knowing how to react at every moment in order to reap the greatest benefit was also a type of complicated knowledge .

It was not something that could be done without brains……

The audience waved their banners and yelled, “Li Yubing! Li Yubing! Li Yubing!”

Excitement surged in Tang Xue and she could not resist shouting his name as well . In any case, there were so many people shouting . She rea.s.sured herself that Li Yubing could not possibly hear her voice .

There was a price to be paid for being in the limelight—Li Yubing was heavily targeted .

However, this was after all a team compet.i.tion . Even though he had been targeted, his teammates had already been geared into the right mind-set .

When the two teams were carefully compared, it could be seen that the RCU team had better teamwork than their opponents .

Both teams had their own strengths and the match played out rather evenly . One moment, one team had gained the upper hand with a point and another, the other team had caught up with the score and was in the lead instead . Tang Xue’s blood raced from the match and she was rapidly losing her voice from shouting too much .

A match like this was a brilliant display . Even if they lost, people would at most feel pity instead of bitter resentment .

The match ended with Li Yubing taking a penalty shot .

Having been viciously targeted by the opposing team, it was time for him to finally gain something in return .

The score on the board was tied at 5:5 . When he was given the penalty shot, the crowd was beyond nervous . Everyone held their breath and there was pin drop silence in the stadium .

Li Yubing drove the puck towards their opponents’ goal .

Li Yubing drove the puck towards their opponents’ goal .

The goalkeeper on the other team was tall and muscular . Despite hunkering down into a defensive position in front of the goal, he held a towering presence . His gaze was sharp and vigilant, his body geared to spring into action at any moment . He was completely fixated on the incoming enemy .

The moment Li Yubing rose his hockey stick, the goalkeeper immediately determined which direction he was going to attack from—right!

When Li Yubing sharply swung down the hockey stick, the trajectory was indeed towards the goalkeeper’s right . The goalkeeper lunged right .

However, just before the hockey stick was about to strike the puck, Li Yubing suddenly adjusted his posture . With a beautiful shot, the puck flew across the ice towards upper left corner of the goalkeeper .

When the goalkeeper realized that he had been tricked, it was already too late . Belly down on the ice, he heard cheers flooded the stadium . He felt a wave of pity and gave a heavy thump on the ice .

The final score on the board was 6:5 .

From the end of the match to when he exited the stadium, Li Yubing kept a poker face . His aloof att.i.tude won the screams of countless girls .

Tang Xue thought that Li Yubing’s skill at being pretentious was just as fantastic as his ice hockey skills .

……

This was an extremely satisfying match . After watching it, Tang Xue was in a fantastic mood . This was to the extent that when she walked out of the ice stadium and saw Li Yubing calling her, for the very first time, she did not feel annoyed .

“Hey, Li Yubing, what’s up?”

“Just now, while watching the match, did you cheer my name?

“…… No . ”

“I think I heard you . ”

“Lunatic . ” Tang Xue hurriedly hung up .

“I think I heard you . ”

“Lunatic . ” Tang Xue hurriedly hung up .

Li Yubing called back again . “Later, we’re having a team dinner . You need to come . ”

“Why should I?”

“You’re my lackey . ”

“Fine, I’ll put up with you for one more day . ”

Mm, her one month’s notice was nearly over . She was about to regain her freedom .

Chapter 26 incomplete . Part 2 on dinner shenanigans (look at the chapter t.i.tle hint hint) will be updated on this same page next week .

Translator’s Notes:

[1] I translate it as “go” or “go for it” but the original phrase 加油 (jiā yóu) literally means “add oil” . It is a super common phrase of encouragement that some of you might have already encountered . Some people translate it as “good luck” but it’s not accurate . 加油 has nothing to do with luck and is more of a rallying cry for another to put in more effort or “fuel” into what they are doing to increase their odds of success . Kinda similar to j.a.pan’s “ganbatte” and Korea’s “fighting” . Fun Fact: “add oil” was officially added into the Oxford English dictionary last month as a Hong Kong English phrase .

[2] The author used the term 胖子 (pàng zi) . This term, which translates as fatty or fatso, is used very commonly, both as an insult or a form of endearment (e . g . to describe an adorable and chubby kid), but usually as an insult . We won’t change the author’s original intent so as to be true to the original work .

[3] Advance TN for the second half of Chapter 26 that would be helpful . 良心被狗吃 (liáng xīn bèi gǒu chī) is a saying that one’s conscience has been eaten by a dog and is used to refer to people with no scruples . Full TN will be uploaded next week with the remainder of this chapter cause spoilers . Let’s see if any of you can get what’s going on before I explain it .