Chapter 77
Tang Yi-Bai scurried back to the national team and worked like a dog; he did not have time to even leave the premises of the training base . Meanwhile, Yun Duo was also very busy lately . The news agency was always short-staffed and there was a lot of mobility within the new hires . As such, she was transferred to another team every so often to put out fires, and she still had to ensure her own work was completed well . One person doing the job of two people — it was exhausting .
It wasn't until two days before the Champions Tournament that she was able to relax a little and end work a little earlier to go meet Tang Yi-Bai .
She left her office and went to buy two cups of freshly squeezed juice, one cup of orange juice and one cup of pomegranate juice .
After that, she hailed a taxi while holding the two cups of juice .
Lin Zi happened to be driving by . He rolled down his car window and said, "Yun Duo, where are you going? I'll give you a ride if it's on the way . "
Yun Duo shook her head . "Thanks, but I'm going to the swimming training base . It's not on your way so it's fine . "
Lin Zi tilted his head and asked, "Going to see Tang Yi-Bai?"
Yun Duo ducked her head and smiled, shy and sweet like a flower bud about to bloom . Lin Zi's gaze shimmered slightly, and he smiled and said, "Let me give you a ride . I'm free anyway . "
"Thank you then . "
"No need for pleasantries . You're my boss!"
After Yun Duo got in, she placed both cups of juice in the cup holders . Lin Zi looked at the cups and asked, "For him?"
"Mhm . "
"Yun Duo, you've never treated me to any food or drinks," he complained, an slightly disgruntled look on his face .
Yun Duo laughed . "Is that so? I'll treat you next time . "
"No need for next time . Why not now? I want some snow pear juice . "
"Huh? Oh, ok . Wait a moment, I'll go buy it for you . "
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Lin Zi was going to give her a ride, so she felt that it was perfectly justified for her to buy him a drink . She decisively got out of the car to go buy it .
Inside the car, Lin Zi watched her leave and when she was a distance away, he reached into his coat to take out a packet of white powder . He opened up the lids of both cups to see that one cup held a red liquid while the other was yellow .
Sang's voice rang out in his mind: "Brother, Yi-Bai actually likes to drink pomegranate juice! Haha, it's so odd for such a grown boy like him to like pomegranate juice, isn't it?" "Brother, I bought some pomegranate juice for him today . He was very happy . He even obediently ate all the medicine . " . . .
Lin Zi's expression was dark as he poured all of the white powder into the red pomegranate juice .
When Yun Duo returned with the snow pear juice, she did not notice anything strange . However, after she got out of the car, as she was heading towards the gates of the training base with the cups of juice, her old quirk reared its head again .
Pomegranates ripened in autumn and it was already spring now . For pomegranates to be preserved from then till now, how much preservatives had to be added to the fruit? It must be particularly bad for the body . What if Tang Yi-Bai got diarrhoea from the pomegranate juice? He was going to race in two days . . .
Boo hoo hoo, she had better not let him drink it . There was no room for error now with Tang Yi-Bai's diet — no mistakes could be made .
At the thought, Yun Duo threw away the pomegranate juice into the trash can by the side of the road . Sigh, it felt like a crime to waste food .
Still, so what? For Tang Yi-Bai's sake, she was willing to commit a crime .
Since Yun Duo had already come over to visit many times before, the guards would not stop her as long as Coach Wu gave them a heads up in advance . As a reporter, Yun Duo blatantly entered the training room .
Tang Yi-Bai had just finished his afternoon training — his face was covered in sweat, and his T-shirt was drenched . When he saw Yun Duo, he bopped her lightly on the nose and said with a smile, "Let me take a shower . "
Yun Duo said, "Blow your hair dry before coming out . "
"Okay . "
Coach Wu tsked from the sidelines, shaking his head . "Oh my, things are different with a girlfriend around . "
Refreshed from his shower, Tang Yi-Bai led Yun Duo away . Yun Duo did not want to delay his evening training later, so the two of them chose to have dinner at the team canteen .
See, dating a professional athlete was just that troublesome . They could only have a date at a canteen .
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Of course, since they were at the training base, how could she and Tang Yi-Bai have a date all on their own? Dp-boys onlookers were unavoidable . . .
Xiang Yang-Yang was very excited; she ordered many dished for Yun Duo . Tang Yi-Bai frowned at this . "Yang, my girlfriend is here to see me . Why are you so excited?"
Qi Rui-Feng said, "Xiang Yang-Yang has a crush on your girlfriend . " He was attacked by Xiang Yang-Yang after this declaration .
Tang Yi-Bai stared at Xiang Yang-Yang through narrowed eyes . "Yang, is this true?"
Xiang Yang-Yang raged, "Are you crazy? I'm a girl too! How could I have a crush on another girl?!"
Ming Tian slapped his own head in sudden enlightenment . "Oh, so big sis Yang-Yang is a girl? Geez, I've known you for so long and only now know you're a girl! Big sis Yang-Yang, hide your wee-wee quickly! You're a girl, you know!"
"Ming! Tian!!!!!"
And then Xiang Yang-Yang hunted Ming Tian all over the canteen .
Yun Duo was greatly amused by the antics of this group of living treasures, and thus unconsciously ate more than she usually would .
There was some break time after dinner, so Tang Yi-Bai brought Yun Duo back to his dorm room . Before going back, he warned the dp-boys several times to not follow them, and he even asked Qi Rui-Feng to go play with someone else and stay away from the room . This made the 4-man team stare at them with salacious looks . Yun Duo did not know how she could explain . She really only wanted to spend some time alone with her boyfriend!
Tang Yi-Bai's dorm room was very spacious . The minimal furniture in the room just made the room appear even more spacious . As a well-known athlete, he and Qi Rui-Feng were actually both eligible for single rooms . However, neither one of them had any plans to change their current living arrangement . After all, they were already used to it . Qi Rui-Feng accidentally mentioned this once, and, well, the bee's nest was stirred . The shippers were more high than if they had taken stimulants . . .
Forget it, let's not go there .
Tang Yi-Bai dragged Yun Duo into the room and first got his fill of kissed . After Yun Duo called a stop to it, he moved two chairs to the balcony and the two of them sat there watching the scenery outside the window . There were people walking outside, and there were even some children among them . Yun Duo asked, "There isn't really a 'national team-affiliated kindergarten', right?"
"Well, there is a kindergarten nearby, but it's not affiliated with us . See there, that's the family apartments . The families of the coaches and the athletes live there, so it's not surprising if there are kids around . " He paused and then gave her a look . "In fact, you can go live there too . "
Yun Duo blushed . "I don't want to . It's too far from my workplace . "
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"Wait, you can't live there . " Tang Yi-Bai suddenly shook his head . "There are forms to fill to live in the family housing . We aren't married yet so they won't approve the application . Once we're married, you'll be able to move in, and then our children will be able to attend the nearby kindergarten . . . "
Yun Duo quickly interrupted him . "What children now?"
Tang Yi-Bai nodded . "Right, our child cannot go to the kindergarten here . Our child would probably only be able to attend kindergarten a few years later . By that time, I should already be retired and we can't be sure what I'll be doing then . "
"Big brother, you are thinking a little too far ahead . . . "
"Duoduo, my training every day is very boring . This is what I think about to ease my boredom . A little fantasy can help reduce my fatigue . "
Yun Duo suddenly felt some sympathy for the athletes . Such arduous training, and they can only rely on their imaginations to entertain themselves . Their quality of life was on par with that of mental patients . Thus, how could she deprive him of his only source of entertainment? And so she gave him a decisive thumbs-up . "Good thinking!"
Tang Yi-Bai squinted at her for a moment and then he suddenly said, "Duoduo, I think I ate a little too much earlier . "
Yun Duo was a little anxious . "Ah, so what should be do? Do you have any antacid pills?"
"Nope . Why don't you help me rub my tummy?"
"Okay, but I'm not very good at it . If it doesn't help, you should go see the team doctor . "
"Okay," said Tang Yi-Bai, pulling up his shirt to expose his belly .
Yun Duo was a little embarrassed . "I can do it over your clothes . "
"It's better this way . "
With that, she did not say anything more . She quickly found his stomach area and began kneading it gently . It did not feel very hard, so she was less concerned and focused on kneading to make him feel better . Naturally, her gaze was on his abdomen . His lovely neat abs made her her pound, and there was a sparse trail of hair from his belly button which stretched all the way to the edge of his trousers .
She felt flustered looking at it and quickly turned her eyes away . When she raised her head, her eyes met his heated gaze . He was staring at her face, his lips slightly parted, exhaling warm puffs of air . Yun Duo perceptively noticed something unusual in the flush stealing over his cheeks . She looked down, and — boo hoo hoo — he was playing the rascal again!
Tang Yi-Bai grabbed her hand and pushed it downwards . After having had a taste, he had taken a liking to it . How could he let this opportunity slip by?
Yun Duo hurriedly pulled her hand away . "You have a race in a few days . Can you first focus properly on your race!"
Tang Yi-Bai held her hand and said to her, panting, "If you don't help me, I'll hurt myself from holding back too much . How can I race properly then?"
"You . . . " What rubbish reason is this?!
Yun Duo still ended up helping him in the end . He had stared at her longingly, his eyes pleading desperately, like a fish out of water, as if he would die of thirst if she did not help him . . . She had been taken in by his behaviour and could not find it in herself to refuse, and so . . . she helped him . . .
Yun Duo exited the dorm room with a red face, trailing behind Tang Yi-Bai . Tang Yi-Bai wanted to send her home, but he really could not delay his training . So he thought of a compromise — Yun Duo should watch him as he trained, and he would send her home when he was done .
Yun Duo asked Tang Yi-Bai, "I'll be seen by many people then . I was already seen by many people earlier in the canteen . How will you explain it to them?"
"No need for explanations . They can all guess that you're my girlfriend . "
Yun Duo was shocked . "What should we do then? Will we be exposed?"
Tang Yi-Bai rubbed her head to comfort her . "Most likely not . "
Yun Duo found that even more surprising . "Are all athletes so tight-lipped? I remember that some are pretty gossipy . "
"Even if they gossip, it'll be internally . They won't gossip to outsiders . The team has made it a rule that no one can talk about my love life with outsiders . If they're caught violating this rule, they might be punished . "
Yun Duo was stunned . "The national team is really very strict, even controlling things like this . "
Tang Yi-Bai smiled and said, "They don't control everyone's private matters like this . It's mainly because I have commercial value right now and can bring in a lot of revenue to the team . So the team is paying a little more attention to things like this . "
The two of them arrived at the pool as they were talking . Wu Yong was not surprised to see Yun Duo, and he just asked Yun Duo to observe from the side .
And so Yun Duo watched as Tang Yi-Bai swam around in the clear blue water of the pool like a mermaid . Wu Yong felt that Tang Yi-Bai's condition in training this time round was very good . He turned his head to look at Yun Duo, realising something . Having a girlfriend around really made a difference . . . Wu Yong mused once again .
Another lap down, Tang Yi-Bai stopped by the edge of the pool and made eyes at Yun Duo as he leaned against the pool wall . Yun Duo smiled through closed lips and pretended not to see him .