Chapter 96 - Roses (Translated and edited by Xing)

Ice hockey was an event with an extremely fast compet.i.tion pace. The possibilities of what could happen in an instant were endless. Sometimes, spectators could lose sight of the puck despite fixing their attention on it. On whether his reaction had indeed slowed, even Li Yubing himself was not sure, not to mention Tang Xue when she only sat in the stands without a first-person view. Like the rest, she merely felt that Li Yubing's condition was poor and his tempo was off.

Of course, what differed her from everyone else was that others only cared whether he was playing well while she was worried about his health.

"You might be facing too much stress," Tang Xue said.

To be honest, Tang Xue could understand Li Yubing's pressure. The world was holding too much expectation for him. From the media to ice hockey fans, everyone praised him to the skies. There were some who even claimed that he was the "saviour of China's ice hockey". It was obviously an overblown praise that could cause trouble and yet many had followed along blindly to praise the same.

"Mm, I'm don't know." Li Yubing was distracted as he replied. With how Tang Xue was mounted on his waist and her firm b.u.t.t was pressing against his lower abdomen, it was hard for him to focus.

Tang Xue said, "How about, you take a rest?"

"Hug me."

"I'm not talking about now…" Tang Xue was a little embarra.s.sed. But she still got down from his body, snuggled into his embrace and pillowed her head on his arm while wrapping her arm around him. She continued, "I'm talking about taking a break from the club to adjust your state. The way you're playing in compet.i.tions without stopping is too taxing."

"I can't take a break."

"Why?"

Why? The answer to this question was a bit complicated.

There was too much attention on him now. Many audience had bought compet.i.tion tickets because of him. Some sponsors required that he appear on the rink for a certain amount of time before they decided to provide sponsors.h.i.+p. His each and every single action was now tied up with the interest of too many parties, making him unable to simply do as he wished.

Of course, there were pros to this as well. It was difficult for compet.i.tive sports to be purely focused on the compet.i.tion spirit. Compet.i.tive sports needed to go through certain steps and involve financing before it could have enough strength to thrive. For instance, the speed skating team lacked funding and Coach Chu was always poring over their performance and the prizes they could win. Head teacher Xie was also constantly thinking of ways that the prizes they won could be used for them to climb even higher. Needless to say, even more needed to be done when it came to carving a share of the large pie that ice hockey was.

A purely compet.i.tion-driven match that did not involve any commercial value could probably only be held by the elderly uncles and aunties playing table tennis in the park. Of course, for people partic.i.p.ating in such matches, the chances were high that they might be defeated into tears by some hidden experts as well.

Li Yubing briefly explained it to her. He played down the issue but Tang Xue's heart still ached when she heard. She tightened her arms around him and asked, "How about we return the sponsors' money? We didn't spend much of it anyway. Once we return the money, you can rest for a few compet.i.tions and take a breather."

"It doesn't work this way." Li Yubing did not know whether to laugh or cry. He rubbed her head. "I'm fine."

However, not everyone could accept Li Yubing's frequent appearances on the rink. Many ice hockey fans felt that if a person was going up, they should be doing their best. It was not only a matter of Li Yubing not playing well. It was the fact that he was monopolizing a spot while playing poorly, the fact that he was hogging the team and dragging them down legitimately.

Some people speculated the people he had backing him. Others imagined how he threw his weight around in the team and bullied the rest with his power. Rumours flew and opinions were diverse as people weighted in on this. Casual netizens' impression of Li Yubing deteriorated greatly. Even Li Yubing's own fans had many doubts and numerous people stopped fanning over him. The remaining fans had faith in Li Yubing and all scrambled to help him quell the rumours.

But it was useless. Translated by Xing for only teafragrance[dot]wordpress[dot]com.

Slowly, as Li Yubing's poor condition sustained in subsequent compet.i.tions, there were more and more voices condemning him. The media that once praised him to the skies and said that he was a "rare genius", a "master at controlling the compet.i.tion tempo" and the "saviour of China's ice hockey" now changed their tune. They said that he was a "flash in the pan", the "scourge of the team" and the "one bad apple that spoils the entire barrel".

Li Yubing changed his ID back from "Tang Xue's Global Fan Group" quietly.

Tang Xue was furious. Once, she tried reasoning with those scolding Li Yubing over the internet.

Netizen: Can Li Yubing get lost from the ice hockey community?

Tang Xue: It's normal for an athlete's condition to fluctuate. Give him some time to adjust. It's up to the coach to decide whether to let him go up. Do you think you know more than the coach?

Netizen: In poor condition? His condition was great when I saw him partic.i.p.ating in some events. He should be an actor.

Tang Xue: The commercial activities are all arranged by the club.

Netizen: He's so enthusiastic when earning money but playing like sh*t in compet.i.tions.

Tang Xue: Can you mind your language?

Netizen: Oh ho ho, I see someone is being anxious?

Netizen: The reason why your boyfriend is playing like a weakling must be because you tired him out in bed?

Netizen: Stop troubling him. Come find me, I'll satisfy you.

Tang Xue's face was drawn as she blocked a bunch of people. Then, she ranted to Xia Menghuan.

Xia Menghuan was puzzled. "My king, I thought you usually don't care about those ridiculous internet criticism?"

Tang Xue did not care about those but she cared about Li Yubing. Her heart felt terrible at how badly Li Yubing was being scolded.

"My king, don't be angry. Let me tell you, there are way too many haters on the internet these days and their mouths are awfully filthy. It's impossible for you to get mad at all of them. Over the internet, you can't even be sure that they're humans and not dogs."

"Don't say that, dogs are so cute."

That night, Tang Xue bought roses at the school florist. As the shop was closing, the roses were on discount. She decisively bought a huge bouquet and held the roses as she stood under Li Yubing's dormitory building and waited for him. When the boys entering and exiting the building saw her, their eyes brightened. However, when they recalled whose girlfriend this was, they wiped their drool off surrept.i.tiously. This chapter is a labour of love that should not be found outside of teafragrance[dot]wordpress[dot]com.

Li Yubing returned only when it was almost 11 pm. He was overseas for a compet.i.tion and was travel-worn as he hauled an enormous luggage.

When he came back, the first thing he found was his girlfriend waiting for him with flowers. He could not imagine a more heart-warming scene.

The exhaustion in his body vanished into thin air. He walked towards her with a smile in his eyes, his steps light and brisk.

The light reflecting off the roses made Tang Xue's cheeks seemed rosy and flushed. She looked both adorable and delicious.

Li Yubing really felt like hugging her. But there was the huge bouquet of roses between them.

She held out the roses to him. "Here, for you."

Li Yubing used one hand to take the bouquet and the other hand to pull her into his embrace.

Tang Xue felt that this was too conspicuous and wanted to resist. He tightened his arm. "Don't move."

Thus, she stopped squirming and returned his hug.

Li Yubing lowered his head and buried it into the side of her neck. He inhaled deeply.

Tang Xue leaned her face on his chest. She asked him, "Tired?"

"Not after seeing you."

Tang Xue's lips quirked. "Li Yubing."

"Mm?"

"If anyone scolds you, don't take it to heart. They're all monsters."

Li Yubing gave a light chuckle. "All right."

"Also, I will be heading over to support you for your compet.i.tion in Beijing next Tuesday."

"Skipping lessons?"

"Skipping lessons."

Li Yubing's heart warmed. He nipped her ear. "I wish I could put you in my pocket and take you out for a look whenever I miss you."

Carrying the roses back to his dorm, Li Yubing sensed his roommates' avid attention. He explained, "From my girlfriend."

"We know!" His roommates all expressed their disdain to know more.

Li Yubing displayed the roses carefully. Old Deng spun several rounds around the glorious and still dewy blooms. He closed his eyes and took a deep whiff, luxuriating in the strong fragrance. He let out an exaggerated sigh. "Mm… I feel like a fairy right now."

"Are you sure you're not the fairy's pig?" Their dorm leader looked at Old Deng's body and scoffed.

"Nonsense, why would a fairy raise a pig?"

"Can't the fairy be fond of pig trotters?"

"f.u.c.k…"

As his roommates continued bickering noisily, Li Yubing tidied his luggage quietly at the side. After a while, Old Deng scooted over and said, "Hey, Li Yubing, do you know that your wife got into a fight?"

The two words "your wife" made Li Yubing's lips quirked. But when he heard about a fight, he frowned. He lifted his eyes and looked at Old Deng, "What happened?"

"She flew into a rage and fought with some people on Weibo for you. You're way too lucky to have a wife like this." As Old Deng spoke, he patted Li Yubing's shoulder. "Introduce Tang Xue's friends to me next time."

Li Yubing looked at Old Deng's pudgy body. Mm, he was definitely not going to push Tang Xue's friends into a fire pit.

He picked up his phone and went online. After clicking into Tang Xue's Weibo profile, he browsed her conversation history with netizens.

The more he read, the darker his face became.

After he finished reading, Li Yubing exited Weibo with a grave expression. He thought for a moment with narrowed eyes. Then, he called his dearest mother.

"Mom, your daughter-in-law has been bullied."

Aww, it's so sweet my tooth aches. Most girls want to receive roses but no, not me. I want to buy roses for a guy as well ??