Chapter 76 – Contrary to expectation (Translated and edited by Xing)

The next day, Tang Xue remembered the mission of winning a medal that Coach Chu gave her . When she went to search for the results of last year’s National University Champions.h.i.+p, her young teenage heart got a huge shock .

This was a national compet.i.tion where numerous top professional athletics would represent their affiliated universities . As a result, the level of compet.i.tion was greatly raised .

Though Tang Xue had the habit of boosting, she was clear of her capability . Based on her current performance, she would have difficulties entering the finals alone, not to mention obtaining a medal .

Ahhhhh!

Li Yubing tried comforting her after seeing how nervous she was . “There’s still time . ” As he spoke, he used his finger to prod her cheek . Soft, smooth and bouncy, the face of a teenage girl was really nice to touch .

Tang Xue ducked her head to escape him . “Shoo!”

Li Yubing’s lips curved .

Looking at Li Yubing, Tang Xue thought, why can’t you confess to me already? Hurry up and confess!

Truth to be told, Li Yubing was in a bit of a dilemma .

—He did not know whether he should confess or apologize first .

……

Just like this, the two of them maintained a delicate balance . Neither of them advanced nor retreated .

The Chinese Ice Hockey Champions.h.i.+p ended a few days later . The RCU ice hockey team placed fifth in the country . This was a pretty good result beyond the expectations of the club and the school . Right after the compet.i.tion ended, some local companies contacted the school to sound out the cost of product sponsors.h.i.+ps .

What made the club and the school even more delighted was Li Yubing’s personal appeal . The tickets for compet.i.tions which he appeared in always sold very well . Sensing a business opportunity here, some online merchants began selling unofficial merchandise such as the same jersey that Li Yubing wore and “Li Yubing teenage pink” tapes . In the end, their sales were actually quite good .

All these showed his commercial value .

The club held several meetings with the school to discuss how to manage Li Yubing . After their meetings, they consulted Li Yubing and expressed that they would respect his opinion .

Li Yubing only had one opinion .

“I don’t wish to interact closely with the fans and hope to maintain some distance from them . ”

“Why?”

“Because… someone will get jealous . ”

……

After the compet.i.tion, the ice hockey team organized a spring outing to a holiday villa . As they were allowed to bring their family, Li Yubing asked Tang Xue if she wanted to go .

Tang Xue was exhausted by her recent training and her mind was tightly strung like a bow . She agreed gladly to the rare opportunity to relax .

There were numerous interesting activities at the villa such as fis.h.i.+ng, picking fruits, barbequing and singing .

Baskets in hand, Li Yubing and Tang Xue went to pick strawberries . As the strawberry season was almost over, people were not as interested in picking them . There were only two of them in the polytunnel . Tang Xue ate as she picked along and her basket ultimately remained empty . After a while, she went over to Li Yubing and commanded, “Li Yubing, close your eyes . ”

Li Yubing closed his eyes . Not knowing what she was going to do, his heartbeat quickened and he pressed his lips together nervously .

Tang Xue stuffed an enormous strawberry into his mouth .

The strawberry was fully ripe and disintegrated upon entry . Li Yubing moved his tongue and savoured the sweetness in his mouth . His eyes snapped open to look at her .

His bright and clear gaze stared right into her eyes .

Tang Xue’s guts failed her once again . She ducked her head and left him with the view of the top of her head .

“Tang Xue,” Li Yubing whispered her name .

“Mm?”

“I have something to tell you after your compet.i.tion is over . ”

Her head still lowered, Tang Xue curved her lips . “Sure . ”

——

In the wink of an eye, time flew till it was April .

On the 11th of April, the RCU speed skating team took the plane to Beijing to partic.i.p.ate in the National University Champions.h.i.+p . Along with them was someone not in the team—Li Yubing .

Mm, Li Yubing was there as a cheerleader .

It was a three-day event held from the 13th to the 15th . The first round of every compet.i.tion was held on the first day while the subsequent rounds determining the medallists took place over the next two days .

Tang Xue’s focus, the 500 metres event, was on the morning of the second day .

She was in excellent condition and progressed smoothly to the semi-finals . She was placed in the third lane of the second heat .

After the broadcaster recited her name, she skated to the starting line and waved towards the crowd .

Li Yubing gazed at her from his seat in the stands . After training for so long, Tang Xue had finally built up her muscles . However, due to her naturally slender frame and height of 1 . 68 m, her overall appearance was still tall and willowy . Like a beautiful leopard, the lines of her body were graceful and taut .

The more he looked at her, the more beautiful she got .  Translated by Xing for only teafragrance[dot]wordpress[dot]com .

Li Yubing’s eyes revealed traces of soft warmth as he raised his hand and waved to her .

Tang Xue was not looking at him . She was gearing up at the starting line .

The lane placement for speed skating proceeded from the inner to outer lanes . The further out the lane was, the lesser the starting advantage . For such a short distance like 500 metres, this advantage was of utmost importance .

Being in the third lane, Tang Xue’s advantage was only slightly more than the skater in the fourth lane .

She was wholly focused on setting off and her body reacted much quicker than her mind, resulting in her shooting out the very same moment the gun went off .

The referee halted the race and gave Tang Xue a warning . She had committed a false start .

Tang Xue’s heart sunk . She quickly adjusted herself mentally and returned to the starting line .

For a speed skating compet.i.tion, all skaters had the grace of one false start . The second time it happened, the skater would be disqualified immediately . Tang Xue did not dare to make light of her mistake . She took great effort to rein herself in and only moved after hearing the gunshot distinctly .

As a result, she started a tiny bit slower than the others .

Even though she was only slower by a hair, this difference quickly manifested into an apparent physical distance . She immediately fell to the fourth spot, coming in last in the entire race .

She fought to make a comeback . However, this was not an easy task as no one on this track was here to play . After using every inch of her strength, she only managed to surpa.s.s one person after four and a half rounds . She entered the “B” final after finis.h.i.+ng third .

Skaters in the “B” final could roughly count as backup medallists . They usually had no fate with the medals . However, under special circ.u.mstances where enough skaters from the “A” final got disqualified or did not manage to finish the race, those in the “B” final stood a chance of being awarded accordingly .

In summary, entering the “B” final meant that 93 percent of the outcome was now up to fate and only 7 percent was down to individual effort .

Tang Xue was a bit dejected . She left the rink and went to the resting area . As she patted her muscles and prepared for the “B” final that would take place shortly, she raised her eyes and swept them across the stands .

The stands were not completely filled and spectators were scattered across the seats . Wearing a white tracksuit, Li Yubing’s fair face was attractive even from afar .

He saw her as well and their eyes met across the distance . He suddenly raised both hands and curved them over his head to gesture a heart .

Tang Xue giggled . “Lunatic . ”

After the men’s 500 metres semi-finals, Tang Xue was up on the rink again .

Her performance for this round was much better than the previous round and she did not mess up at the start . She fought for a better spot for the first two rounds and in the subsequent rounds, used pure effort to overtake from the outer lane . After taking lead, she maintained her spot and prevented overtakes until the end of the race .

Tang Xue was quite elated . She finally had the chance to lead and be in a position to obstruct others . This sensation was simply way too amazing!

After her delight, envy welled up as she looked at the contestants in the “A” final .

The “A” final proceeded smoothly and the medallist positions were filled up without a hitch . This meant that even though she came in first in the “B” final, it did not mean scratch and she could make herself scarce and chill off at a corner .

Zhang Yuewei narrowly won the “A” final, reaching the finis.h.i.+ng line faster than the next skater by the distance of half a finger . After obtaining the award, she strutted in front of Tang Xue .

Tang Xue checked off the events she was partic.i.p.ating in; there was a grand total of three events .

The women’s 500 metres event: flopped .

The women’s 1000 metres event: most likely flopping .

The only event left that she could look forward to was the women’s 3000 metres relay .

For this relay, Zhang Yuewei was their trump card .

“Wei Wei, sit here . ” Tang Xue patted the empty seat next to her .

The way her face radiated warmth thoroughly weirded Zhang Yuewei out . Zhang Yuewei said, “You’re crazy . ”

“Let’s do our best for the afternoon relay and enter the finals . ”

“Of course . ”

“Do you think we can get gold?”

“We can as long as you don’t screw up . ”

……

Tang Xue did not screw up but Zhang Yuewei did .

Things progressed smoothly for the relay in the afternoon . However, during the women’s 1000 metres event, Zhang Yuewei accidentally crashed into another skater while turning and trying to overtake . Both of them crashed out of the tracks and fell heavily . Zhang Yuewei was unable to even get up from the ice and had to be carried out .

Tang Xue got a huge shock .

There were still other compet.i.tions left and Coach Chu was unable to leave . Teacher Xie, the teacher in charge of all RCU ice sports, was the one who brought Zhang Yuewei to the hospital . Tang Xue followed along . Thankfully, the x-ray showed that no bone was broken . Seeing that only it was only a knee soft tissue injury, Tang Xue exhaled in relief .

Zhang Yuewei asked the doctor, “Doctor, can I still ice skate?”

The doctor was scribbling something on his notepad . Hearing her question, he nodded . “Yes, after rest and recovery . Don’t worry, it’s not a major injury . ”

“I mean tomorrow . I still have a compet.i.tion . ”

The doctor’s scribbling hand paused . He looked at Zhang Yuewei through his thick gla.s.ses . “Tomorrow? How do you think you’ll place if you go up like this tomorrow? Are you trying to re-enact the race between the tortoise and the hare?”

“What if… I get a nerve block injection?”

“Are girls these days all so tough on themselves?” The doctor immediately shook his head after hearing her words .

Coach Chu rushed over once the compet.i.tions were over . She flipped through the medical report as Teacher Xie described Zhang Yuewei’s condition to her . When she heard that Zhang Yuewei still wanted to go up the next day, Coach Chu put the medical report aside and shook her head . “I won’t agree . ”

“Why?”

“The damage to your body would be too much . It’s not worth it . ”

Zhang Yuewei was a little agitated . “Then what do we do for tomorrow’s relay? We narrowly missed the gold for this event last year . I’ve been pulling out all the stops to make sure that we can win it back this year . ”

“That’s not for you to worry anymore . Rest well . ”

“I can’t rest well! No, listen to me, Coach Chu, who else can we depend on? Just who?” As Zhang Yuewei spoke, she saw Tang Xue standing at the side and pointed to her . “Do we depend on someone like her?”

Being suddenly criticized, Tang Xue thumbed her nose and retorted, “Zhang Yuewei, don’t look down on others . A relay involves the effort of all four skaters, not just you alone . ”

“Oh, then enter the finals of a singles event for me to see first . ”

“Doesn’t the “B” final count as a final? Don’t be so narrow-minded . ”

“You…”

Coach Chu felt her head hurt .  Here they go again, these two .  “Stop fighting . ” Coach Chu interrupted them . “Listen to me . Zhang Yuewei, and Tang Xue you as well… What I want to say is that your parents have entrusted you guys to me and also Teacher Xie . We need to be fully responsible for everyone and make sure that no physical harm comes to any of you . You’re all still young and have far to go . It’s only a gold medal . We can afford to give it up . ”

At the side, Teacher Xie quickly nodded . “Yes, that’s how it is . ” However, he still felt a tiny twinge in his heart . The compet.i.tion was fierce and Zhang Yuewei was their greatest hope in obtaining gold . Giving up the gold medal meant giving up the prize money .

“But…”

Coach Chu waved her hand . “Enough . No buts . I’m the head coach and that’s my final decision . ”

“Coach Chu, then what about tomorrow’s relay?”

Coach Chu inhaled deeply and pondered the question . “Have Zhao Ruiying fill in instead . Her performance is not too bad . ”

“Who will be the second skater?”

Coach Chu’s eyes darted for a few moments . Finally, her gaze slowly drifted towards Tang Xue and settled on her . Coach Chu watched her pointedly .

Tang Xue was thunderstruck .  This chapter is a labour of love that should not be found outside of teafragrance[dot]wordpress[dot]com .

Zhang Yuewei slumped back on the bed, rolled her eyes and sighed . “Forget it . As long as you guys are happy . ”

For the relays of other sports such as track and field and swimming, the most important position is usually the last and the person in this position is also known as the anchor . However, the anchor of speed skating relays is usually the second skater .

This is because unlike other sports where partic.i.p.ants could only take over the race once, short track speed skating relays allows skaters in the same team to take turns freely for the bulk of the race . The only requirement was that the final two laps must be completed by the same person without changing skaters .

Based on the numerous years of data, the generally accepted strategy was that the first skater would skate for one lap before switching out with subsequent skaters who would all skate for one and a half rounds each . This rotation would continue until the end where the last person would be responsible for finis.h.i.+ng the final two laps .

Going by this strategy, the second skater would be the anchor responsible for finis.h.i.+ng the race .

Zhang Yuewei was originally the second skater while Tang Xue was the third . Now that Zhang Yuewei was injured, Coach Chu planned to elevate Tang Xue to the key position of the second skater, which explained Zhang Yuewei’s anguish .

“I don’t understand, why it must be her!” Zhang Yuewei was still unable to accept this mocking truth .

Coach Chu said, “When you can understand this, you can be a coach . ”

——

After dinner, Teacher Xie and Coach Chu gathered everyone partic.i.p.ating in the next day’s compet.i.tion for a meeting . After the meeting, Coach Chu retained Tang Xue and the other three who were up for tomorrow’s team relay . Due to the change in the line-up, part of their original strategy was no longer suitable and Coach Chu had to make some adjustments .

After the strategy briefing, Tang Xue lingered, reluctant to leave . Coach Chu asked, “Anything else?”

“Coach Chu, can I ask you a question?”

“Mm? Go ahead . ”

“Why me?”

Coach Chu did not answer . She asked a question of her own instead, “Tang Xue, do you have confidence in yourself?”

Tang Xue’s body jolted . She scrambled to reply, “Yes!”

Coach Chu smiled, “Then, that’s enough . ”

Tang Xue startled .

However, still feeling uneasy in her heart, she went out of the hotel for a stroll . She was not used to how Beijing’s spring differed from Rain City . The environment was dominated by grey while the air was extremely dry . White pollen drifted through the air and filled the ground . After strolling in this weather for a while—and sneezing several times as she did so—she called Li Yubing .

“Li Yubing, where are you?”

“In the hotel . You?”

“I want to see you . ”

“Sure . Send me your location and wait there for me . ”

“Mm . ”