Chapter 52 - Brother Bing's return (Translated and edited by Xing)

After finals were over, Tang Xue diligently switched into compet.i.tion mode.

The "Ascendance Cup" was a short track speed skating champions.h.i.+p organized by Rain City's Winter Sports Administrative Centre and was named after a sports product company named "Ascendance". The level of this compet.i.tion was not high but as the prize money offered was quite attractive, there were still numerous highly-skilled partic.i.p.ants.

Tang Xue had signed up for both the 500 metres event and 1000 metres event but at the present, her focus was the 500 metres event.

"My demand for you is not high. There are two events—proceed to the semi-finals for one of them," Chu Xia said.

"Coach Chu, I have very high demands for myself."

"Oh?"

"The goal of every contestant on the rink is to become the champion." Tang Xue put on a pretentiously profound look on her face. If she stared into a mirror at that very instant, she would realize that it was possible she had been possessed by Li Yubing.

Zhang Yuewei happened to pa.s.s by and hear Tang Xue's boast. She could not help but to roll her eyes. "Heh, a snail coming in first. Dream on."

Tang Xue replied, "What do you mean by this, Zhang Yuewei? Are you going to bark like a dog if I come in first?"

Zhang Yuewei straightened her neck and looked at her coldly. "Are you going to bark like a dog if you don't come in first?"

Chu Xia felt her head ache. "Stop it, both of you. First a snail, then a dog. The two of you are turning our speed skating team into a zoo."

The day of Li Yubing's return to Rain City was the day of Tang Xue's compet.i.tion. He dashed off upon getting off the plane. The wheels of his poor luggage were nearly flying off the ground as he rolled it along with him. Even more pitiable than the luggage was Jiang s.h.i.+jia. Despite not wanting to chase along, he had no choice but to do so. As he closely followed the wind left in Li Yubing's wake, the two of them became the most eye-catching duo in the airport.

After getting on a taxi with much difficulty, Li Yubing stated RCU's address as the destination; the Ascendance Cup was held at RCU's ice stadium. Then, he proceeded to beseech the driver repeatedly, "Sir, please hurry, thank you."

The driver was annoyed. "Stop rus.h.i.+ng me. Why are you youngsters so impatient—what major issue could you possibly face?"

Jiang s.h.i.+jia said, "Sir, his wife is about to give birth. Please hurry."

The driver looked at them through his rear-view mirror. "Do you take me for an idiot? Why are you going to school if his wife is about to give birth?"

"She's giving birth in the school hospital."

"…" The driver stepped on the gas and lamented, "Youngsters these days are way too incredible."

Thanks to Jiang s.h.i.+jia, the driver discussed the topic of babies with Li Yubing throughout the entire trip. This caused him to be utterly speechless. Towards the end, when he closed his eyes, he could immediately visualize Tang Xue with an adorable baby in her arms.

Pfft, he could not help but burst into laughter.

Jiang s.h.i.+jia silently s.h.i.+fted to the side, away from Brother Bing.

After finally reaching RCU, Li Yubing leapt down from the car and sprinted off, leaving Jiang s.h.i.+jia to slowly haul down their luggage and pay the taxi fare. After doing so, with one giant luggage in each hand, Jiang s.h.i.+jia stood in the chilly wind and mourned for a moment before trudging his way back.

On the coaches' stand, Chu Xia observed the athletes on the rink warm up as she chatted with people next to her. She turned her head and suddenly saw Li Yubing, getting a huge shock. "Why are you here?"

Li Yubing was still wearing the signature red, yellow and white tracksuit[1] with a tiny red flag with five stars printed over the left side of his chest. Drenched in sweat from running, he asked Chu Xia in a panting voice, "Which stage of the compet.i.tion is it now?"

"Semi-finals, she's still there." Chu Xia nudged her head towards the rink.

"Mm, I saw her." Li Yubing had long spotted Tang Xue. He had waved to her when he first came in but she did not see him. This chapter is a labour of love that should not be found outside of teafragrance[dot]wordpress[dot]com.

Li Yubing was afraid that Tang Xue would be distracted and did not try to attract her attention again, choosing to watch her quietly from the coaches' stand.

Chu Xia realized that Li Yubing had a staff pa.s.s hanging in front of his chest that she had no idea where he got it from. Chu Xia felt that Li Yubing was quite an amazing person. Though he had a quiet personality and was not extremely sociable, numerous people—ranging from coaches to other athletes—seemed to like him a lot. Was it really due to his looks?

Seeing how Li Yubing's line of sight kept tracing Tang Xue's figure, Chu Xia said, "She's made a vast improvement. To be honest, I'm quite surprised."

Li Yubing looked over and explained, "She sets extra training for herself every day and has been strict with her diet."

"No wonder." A rare look of admiration appeared on Chu Xia's face.

For some unexplainable reason, a wave of pride swelled up in Li Yubing.

As they talked, the compet.i.tion began on the rink. When he saw Tang Xue get into proper position, Li Yubing could not help quirking his lips. His eyes softened as well.

"Go for it, little fool," he mumbled.

Everyone else's attention was on the rink and no one paid attention to him. Only Chu Xia who sat near him heard his words. In an instant, gooseb.u.mps covered her arms.

She silently s.h.i.+fted to the side.

Bang——

The starting pistol went off.

Tang Xue got off to a good start and was in second place. However, all four contestants were closely matched in abilities and no one was falling behind. It was obvious that the person in the lead was the most experienced contestant. There were numerous times when Tang Xue tried to overtake her but failed to do so. She seemed to have eyes on the back of her head and knew Tang Xue's movements, allowing her to obstruct Tang Xu's path.

One lap, two laps, three laps.

The track for the 500 metres event was merely four and a half rounds that pa.s.sed in a blink of an eye.

Li Yubing's heart slowly tensed. He had never been so nervous even for his own compet.i.tion.

Actually, it was possible for Tang Xue to surpa.s.s the other contestant by moving to the outer lane but she did not do so. Surpa.s.sing someone on the outer lane meant skating a larger distance. She was not someone who blindly overestimate her own abilities. With how close the race was, she risked falling into third or even fourth place if she moved to the outer lane rashly. Only the first two contestants from the semi-finals could advance to the next stage of the compet.i.tion.

Though Tang Xue did not take action, the contestant behind her was discontent to resign to fate. The contestant in third place suddenly tried to cut past Tang Xue through the inner lane. Unfortunately, she miscalculated her actions, slipped and fell onto the ice.

Towards Tang Xue.

Without warning, Tang Xue felt a huge impact knock against her, causing her to fly wildly towards the edge of the track. Her entire body was on the ice and she did not slide for long before her b.u.t.t knocked against the plastic boards of the ice rink with a loud thump.

She sat up and gazed around in confusion.

The ice stadium was in a clamour. The two contestants who managed to reach the finis.h.i.+ng line waved to their family and friends.

While she sat on the ice.

Everything did not seem real.

"I'm sorry," Someone said suddenly.

Tang Xue's gaze refocused and she saw that it was the culprit of the accident. Her face was filled with guilt as she bent over, intending to help Tang Xue up.

Tang Xue waved her hands and climbed up from the ice herself.

That's short track speed skating for you. The ice rink is always filled with countless uncertainties that though merciless, is also what gives it its appeal. Since she was bold enough to compete, she should also be bold enough to accept this and not be a sore loser. This was what she told herself in her heart.

Then, she finished skating the remaining short distance. Without caring to look at the results, she pressed a hand against her b.u.t.t as she skated towards the exit leading to the stands. She put on her skate guards and left the ice.

When she stepped out from the ice rink, she saw an unexpected figure when she raised her head.

Instead of wearing a white tracksuit, that person wore egg and tomato colours. For a piece of clothing with such an indescribable design, he actually managed to wear it into something that exuded grace and confidence. Translated by Xing for only teafragrance[dot]wordpress[dot]com.

It has really been quite some time since she last saw him…

However, thinking of how he saw her disgraceful state earlier, she began to feel extremely uncomfortable. She avoided looking at him and without turning her head, strode past him and said, "Where in the world did you come from?"

Li Yubing pulled her into his embrace.

Caught off guard, Tang Xue was roughly jerked into his embrace. She was about to start cursing when all of a sudden, he drew in his arms and wrapped her in a hug.

Tang Xue was startled. She was fully wrapped in his embrace and enveloped in his scent. The smell of dust and weary travel was a little foreign and also a little familiar. With how the two of them were pressed so closely together, she tried to wriggle away instinctively.

Li Yubing pressed his palm against her back. As if coaxing a child, he patted softly and soothed in a gentle voice, "It's okay."

Tang Xue originally felt that it was okay too. She had convinced herself that she was a champion of unbreakable spirit. However, now that Li Yubing said this to her, she felt that everything was somehow not okay after all. Numerous grievances suddenly surfaced in her belly. Her nose soured and tears welled up uncontrollably.

She closed her eyes, lightly pressed her face into Li Yubing's s.h.i.+rt and felt the area dampened.

Good grief…

Translator's Notes:

[1] Red, yellow and white—traditional colours for the uniforms of Chinese athletes.

I've never watched speed skating before translating this novel and if any of you are like me, you might be curious how speed skating plays out in real life.

Here's a video of Wu Dajing (the Chinese speed skater involved in the drama adaptation) clinching gold in the PyeongChang Winter Olympics 500m while setting a world record. I read that he will be playing an actual role in the drama instead of merely helping the production to replicate the speed skating elements accurately.

Btw, the drama adaptation has released official cast photos! I've published them on a separate post before this chapter so go check it out!

(Previous/ b.u.t.tons added only for Chapter 51 & 52 cause of the drama post in between. I think the blog's default Previous/Next Post b.u.t.tons work quite well in bringing readers to the next or previous chapters.)