Chapter 63
That night, Tang Yi-Bai did not dare stay at home, hurrying back to the training base . When he returned, he asked Qi Rui-Feng and found out that Coach Wu had not come looking for him . Lucky, lucky .
Still, Tang Yi-Bai found that something was off with Qi Rui-Feng . Feng's strange behaviour was not a sudden thing . It was just over the last two days — as soon as Feng saw him, his mood would turn sour and he would be unresponsive towards him . During meal times, Feng would made absolutely sure he did not sit next to him, and if he had something to ask, he'd seek out Ming Tian or Zheng Ling-Ye and the others, even going so far as to seek out Xiang Yang-Yang to avoid him .
It was so strange . Tang Yi-Bai searched his memory and could not recall doing anything to offend Feng, so why then did it feel like Feng was . . . distancing himself from him?
Yes, distancing himself .
One could not beat around the bush when dealing with someone as straightforward as Qi Rui-Feng, so Tang Yi-Bai asked him directly, "Feng, are you mad at me?"
Qi Rui-Feng looked stunned . "Why would I be mad at you?"
"Then, are you still mad at Yun Duo?"
"Why would I be mad at her? Oh, she called me a mascot . Yes, I'm very angry about that . Hmph!"
So that wasn't it either? Tang Yi-Bai thought of the worst possibility . "Are you interested in my Yun Duo? Are you planning on fighting a brother over a girl?"
Qi Rui-Feng bristled in anger . "Tang Yi-Bai, are you mental?"
Tang Yi-Bai spread his palms . "Then why have you been keeping a distance from me recently? Are you planning to end our friendship next?"
"I . . . " Qi Rui-Feng deflated . "You absolutely do not want to know the real reason . "
"No, I want to know . I can only resolve the issue once I know what it is . "
Qi Rui-Feng used his phone to pull up a video and showed it to Tang Yi-Bai .
The video was a fanmade MV . The song and lyrics were haunting and sentimental, and then, the images in the video were all clips of Qi Rui-Feng and Tang Yi-Bai interacting with each other . Hugging each other, staring at each other, smiling at each other, and so on . . . This fan was truly a whiz at video editing . He strung together clips of ordinary innocuous interactions and made them extremely clingy and cringey — the two men felt like their world view was crumbling around them by the end of the video .
Tang Yi-Bai put a hand on his forehead . "This . . . just ignore it . . . " Honestly, it wasn’t that easy to ignore it — this video had already inflicted some psychological trauma on him .
"There's also this . " Qi Rui-Feng opened his Weibo and showed him some top comments .
Many of the hot comments were urging Qi Rui-Feng to become Tang Yi-Bai's bride .
Tang Yi-Bai: =?=
Qi Rui-Feng was sullen . "In fact, most of the comments were asking me to take you as my bride before, but after I became a mascot, now they're asking me to be the bride . "
Tang Yi-Bai: =?=
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He suddenly felt that he had made a wise decision to not check his Weibo . If there were new comments every day urging him to take Qi Rui-Feng as his bride, he would not be able to take it .
Qi Rui-Feng said anxiously, "I don't know how to face you anymore . What if the netizens manage to make me bent?"
Tang Yi-Bai wiped a drop of sweat from his temple . "Feng, you’re thinking too much . " And even if you become gay, I am absolutely loyal to Yun Duo . . .
"But I really don't want to see things like this . Which leads to not wanting to see you . "
" . . . "
He felt like he needed to re-evaluate the weight of their friendship .
Holding back, Tang Yi-Bai said, "If you don't want to see those things, then just say so to the netizens . They should be pretty reasonable, especially when facing their own idol . "
"How should I tell them?"
"Forget it, give me your phone . "
Tang Yi-Bai entered a passage on Qi Rui-Feng's Weibo: I am as straight as a pencil . So straight that I do not wish to see anyone posting homoerotic things about me with others . I hope you all can understand, and stop asking me to become Tang Yi-Bai's bride, not even to take him as my bride . Okay?
Qi Rui-Feng looked it over and felt good about it, so he published it .
The netizens commented ——
A: Okay!
B: Yes, yes, yes, whatever you want . You're the lucky mascot!
C: Those shipping people can just go ship behind closed doors . Pushing their homoerotic fantasies to the front, that's really not very polite . I support Feng-feng!
D: What's going on? Why isn't this Weibo radiating powerful Chuunibyou vibes? Mascot Feng, have you changed character?
Qi Rui-Feng was rather satisfied with the netizens' reaction, though the one calling him Mascot Feng was a bit . . .
After several minutes, Tang Yi-Bai shared Qi Rui-Feng's Weibo, adding only one comment: Brother Feng said it well .
Qi Rui-Feng rolled his eyes . You're just praising yourself, aren't you?
The comments on Tang Yi-Bai's repost increased at a rate equal to that on Qi Rui-Feng's original post . However, when he took a closer look at the comments, he was dumbfounded ——
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A: My hubby said it well .
B: Husband, you've updated your Weibo! Heavens, you've updated! Oh my god! ! !
C: Hubby, where are the photos? It's been so long since you updated and it's just a repost? Where's the sincerity? I demand photos!
D: Girls these days really have no self-respect . Calling any young handsome and successful man they see husband . It's annoying! Have some respect! Isn't that right, husband?
E: Hubby, our baby is already 3 months old . When are you coming to take him home?
Tang Yi-Bai was erupting in cold sweat as he read, and he quickly exited from his Weibo .
Qi Rui-Feng was muttering to himself, "I still think I should go get a girlfriend . "
The next day, when Tang Yi-Bai saw Coach Wu, Coach Wu did not glare or huff at him, which proved that Coach Wu had not found out about him sneaking out of the team base .
There was bruising around Coach Wu's left eye, left there by Matron Yuan . It had been darker when he had first been hit, but it had become a little lighter . Coach Wu was a reasonable man . Even though he had been beaten, he had still ordered a large bouquet of roses for Matron Yuan as compensation yesterday, though they had all been thrown away by Matron Yuan in the end .
Tang Yi-Bai, Coach Wu was in high spirits . He said to Tang Yi-Bai, "I have something to do in the afternoon . Train on your own while I'm gone . Be disciplined, don't slack off . "
"Okay . " Tang Yi-Bai saw Coach Wu glowing face, and he could not help but ask curiously, "Coach Wu, something good?"
"I found you an endorsement . "
Tang Yi-Bai frowned at the mention of an endorsement . "What is it this time? Facial masks? Moisturising cream?" Ever since he became famous, all kinds of companies have been after him to be their celebrity spokesperson . Face masks, lip balms etc . . . these things instantly brought to mind feminine girly things, leaving him uneasy and embarrassed . Luckily, Coach Wu's aesthetics were aligned with his and had helped him decline all those nonsense things .
So now, whenever Coach Wu brought up a new endorsement, Tang Yi-Bai instinctively responded with suspicion .
Coach Wu smiled and said, "This one is very proper and reliable . I'm just not sure whether you can get it . "
"What is it?"
"Tell you when I come back . "
So Tang Yi-Bai did not ask any further . He wasn't that keen on advertising endorsements — after all, too many of them would affect his primary job, and even the team does not recommend their athletes take on too many endorsements .
In the afternoon, Coach Wu returned and said happily to Tang Yi-Bai, "Let me tell you, there's hope! You'll come with me to see the advertiser tomorrow . "
"Okay . " Tang Yi-Bai just stepped out of the pool and was currently in the training room doing his dryland training . When he saw Coach Wu come back, he stopped temporarily .
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Coach Wu said, "Aren't you going to ask what it is?"
Tang Yi-Bai was amused . "Coach Wu, you can keep it a secret for now . Please don't tell me what it is . "
Coach Wu choked, his beard trembling from anger . "Once tomorrow comes, I'll let you endorse facial masks, and lipsticks, and nail polish!"
"Coach Wu, I was wrong," Tang Yi-Bai quickly played nice, "What is the new endorsement?"
Coach Wu was gleeful . "It's for a branded watch!"
The watch company was a Swiss brand, not particularly famous, but not insignificant either . Tang Yi-Bai had heard of them before . The company had taken a shine to Tang Yi-Bai's good looks which were comparable to that of a supermodel's . Furthermore, his popularity was skyrocketing and he was also well-known in China, on top of having a wholesome sunshine personal image .
Tang Yi-Bai was fine with or without the endorsement, but he would cooperate since Coach Wu asked for his cooperation . Still, he felt that it was about time he earned some funds for a wife — he needed to support Yun Duo in future . . .
At the thought of Yun Duo, his heart grew warm . He could not help but duck his head to hide a smile .
Coach Wu cuffed him lightly on the head and ordered him to continue training .
At this moment, Matron Yuan walked by the entrance . Coach Wu quickly scrambled over and called out to her, "Hey!"
Matron Yuan stopped and swept a glance at him .
Coach Wu leaned against the door frame and smiled sleazily, "Let me share some good news with you . Yi-Bai is about to endorse a brand-name watch soon, hehehe . . . Has your Lil' Feng accepted any endorsement offers recently? Oh, I almost forgot, he did, an endorsement for some yogurt, right? Hehehe . . . "
Matron Yuan walked towards him without any expression on her face . One step, two steps, three steps . . . she walked to stand right before Coach Wu and raised her head to stare at him .
Coach Wu actually felt a little nervous, his back pressing back against the door frame . His felt rather faint of heart . "You— what are you doing?"
Matron Yuan suddenly grabbed hold of his collar and tugged him down . Coach Wu had no choice but to bend his head, bringing the two of them even closer, face to face . Coach Wu stammered, "are y-y-y-you planning to molest me?! I-I-I-I'm going to scream!"
"You're . In . Sane," spat Matron Yuan, and then she released him and turned to leave .
"You're the one who's insane," muttered Coach Wu under his breath . When he turned around, he saw Tang Yi-Bai looking at him with a stifled grin .
Godd*mn, even though I can't go against Matron Yuan, I can definitely handle you! Coach Wu raised an eyebrow at him . "Additional training for today!"
Just because of one look, Tang Yi-Bai found himself saddled with additional training . After extra practice, Coach Wu told him more bad news: The leaders have given notice that the athletes were to practice speaking English, especially the more well-known athletes . Negative examplar Qi Rui-Feng was once again brought up for criticism, and the leaders reminded everyone to not learn from his example .
The motion this time was rather impactful — it was said that there would even be spot checks, and those who were found lacking would have their allowance deducted .
Tang Yi-Bai nodded to indicate his acknowledgement .
And so, at the dinner table that night, "English" once again became the topic of conversation among the friends . Basically, everyone was very worried — even the typically bold Xiang Yang-Yang was afraid she'd be chosen for a spot check . No need to even mention Qi Rui-Feng — he was fearless like a dead pig in boiling water with regards to English; he knew he was hopeless at it . However, he was vain and it felt horrible being criticised by name .
Only Tang Yi-Bai remained as calm as usual .
Ming Tian said, "Big brother Yi-Bai, aren't you worried?"
Tang Yi-Bai replied, "Nope, I have a girlfriend who's excellent at English . "
With just one statement, he drew the envy and hate of the crowd . Ming Tian stabbed his own rice bowl with his chopsticks and huffed, "Why did I give you the chance to say this?!"
Qi Rui-Feng said to Xiang Yang-Yang, "Let's go dating too . "
Xiang Yang-Yang immediately thumped him over the head . "Who wants to date you?!"
Qi Rui-Feng felt wronged . "Who said I would be dating you?!"
Tang Yi-Bai ignored them messing around as he quietly sent Yun Duo a text .
Tang Yi-Bai: There are going to be spot checks for English in the team . [Pitiful]
Yun Duo: Ah, what are you going to do? When are the checks starting? Is there enough time to brush up?
Tang Yi-Bai: There's enough . Help me?
Yun Duo: Sure . I'm pretty good with oral English . Back when I first had my interview for the agency, the management suggested I go work for the international version of the publication, but I didn't want to go .
Tang Yi-Bai: Ok . Then I'll ask you anything I don't understand . ^_^
Yun Duo: Okay . ^_^
Tang Yi-Bai: Then, how do you say "I really like you, I'm obsessed with you" in English?
Yun Duo: . . .
Tang Yi-Bai: Send a voice message .
Yun Duo: Get lost . . .