Chapter 39 – Do You Guys Still Want This Fatty?
It was unclear whether Little Blue actually understood or was just playing along. Either way, he was happily slurping the juices from the grilled eggplant stuffing, then stretched out his arms and made a massive, bright blue heart gesture.
Back at base, training days were hectic and strict—it was rare to get a night like this to unwind. Shao Zhan pretended not to notice, turning a blind eye to the chaos. Sitting next to the overly theatrical Tangyuan, he sipped his cola slowly and calmly. Every now and then, he’d chime in to remind someone about their dangerously high cholesterol intake and that they really should tone it down.
Over at an angle, Yang Sa sat quietly. He occasionally sampled a veggie skewer, but most of the time he was helping their foreign friends understand the dishes or translating whatever slang Tangyuan had just yelled across the table.
He didn’t like meat, preferred lighter, cleaner flavors.
Shao Zhan, saying nothing, silently memorized everything Yang Sa had eaten that night—every single dish.
The energy at the table showed no signs of slowing down, and with the sheer amount of food, they wouldn’t be finishing anytime soon. Shao Zhan got up to borrow a charging cable from the restaurant, plugging in his phone while dialing Coach Lao Du.
The moment the call connected, Yang Sa, amid the noise and bustle, turned around as if sensing something. He silently watched the figure bent over in the crowd, speaking quietly on the phone.
The faint, cool light landed on those slim, broad shoulders, outlining a striking silhouette.
Yang Sa grabbed a bottle of Coke and poured himself a glass, drinking quietly. This startled Little Black, who was busy skewering meat. “Wait, I thought you don’t drink soda?”
At that moment, Little White, who had been brushing up on idioms at the dinner table, punched him in the stomach. “Shh.”
“Shh what? Why’d you hit me?” Little Black growled, biting his skewer indignantly. “Sa…”
Little White quickly dragged the grumbling black-haired boy back. “I don’t know this one. Help me.”
He shoved his phone in Little Blac’s face—an idiom-matching game on the screen. In an instant, Little Black was drowned in a sea of knowledge.
Meanwhile, Yang Sa remained completely unaware of the commotion between his friends. His attention stayed fixed in one direction.
Shao Zhan, already delicate-featured, had a soft flush blooming on his cheeks from the heat of the grill. Standing next to the burly restaurant owner, he looked even more striking.
At that moment, his side profile as he spoke on the phone resembled a tall, slender bamboo in a dense grove—graceful, upright, and quietly composed.
Responding half-heartedly to Coach Lao Du’s nagging, Shao Zhan’s eyes wandered until they met a gaze reflected faintly in the glass—Yang Sa’s. He looked back, eyes steady, but the watchful gaze had already vanished.
He let out a quiet, self-deprecating chuckle, rubbed the spot between his brows, and sighed, “Barely in my twenties, and my eyes are already going bad.”
What he didn’t know was that this fleeting, self-mocking smile had already been silently caught and tucked away by someone else’s gaze.
At the table, Tangyuan, now completely unleashed without his “boss” reining him in, had taken his antics to another level. He sneakily asked the restaurant auntie for two pitchers of beer and, like a thief, poured them into already emptied soda cans. Alert and mischievous, he kept watch in all directions, begged the waitress to block the view of his misdeeds, and carefully sipped the overflowing foam from the rim.
Watching him, Jiang Ranan and Zhuang Bai couldn’t help but shake their heads. Clearly, this guy had absolutely no self-awareness about his weight.
Wearing a floral apron, the part-time waiter fidgeted awkwardly with the nametag on his uniform, clearly unsure of what to do as he stood there.
But honestly, there wasn’t much he could block. Most of Tangyuan’s body was still exposed, leaning out and whispering with his colorfully dressed friends across the table. Anyone could tell at a glance—they were up to no good.
To be fair, if he hadn’t drawn attention by asking someone to cover for him, it wouldn’t have been so obvious.
By the time Shao Zhan returned, Old Tangyuan had already switched to a Turpan accent, with two fake mustaches drawn on his face using charcoal. “Come on, take a look! Authentic Xinjiang lamb skewers! Fresh lamb skewers right here…!”
Shao Zhan approached with an amused look, giving him plenty of space to finish his performance. Finally, he slung one long arm over Tangyuan’s neck and asked in a low voice, “How’s the draft beer?”
The fat on Tangyuan’s cheeks visibly trembled. Cold sweat practically started dripping down his face.
Shao Zhan patted the top of his head and said, “Don’t let it happen again,” before taking a seat beside Jiang Ranan. Just before sitting, he slipped something into the barbecue chef’s pocket.
Tangyuan clutched the small bag of fresh milk with tears streaming down his face. “Captain, I knew you loved me. I’m taking this milk home and putting it on the altar. My family will pass it down for generations…”
Shao Zhan shoved the guy away before he could throw himself into a hug.
“Get lost,” he said, eyes drifting to a quiet corner.
Yang Sa suddenly found the can of Coke next to him incredibly annoying. He grabbed it and took a swig—only to find it was the “drink” Tangyuan had secretly prepared for Litlle Blue.
Caught off guard, he started coughing violently.
Little Blue and the others were too focused on learning Tangyuan’s new party trick—something about “bees buzzing through flower fields”—to notice anything wrong.
Still coughing, Yang Sa felt a warm palm gently press against his back, and a mint-scented tissue was offered to him.
He hesitated for a brief moment, then took it and pressed it to his chin.
After confirming he was okay, Shao Zhan returned to his seat, chatting and laughing with the people around him.
Yang Sa kept the tissue clutched in his palm and turned his head to look at the scenery outside the restaurant door.
But his face flushed uncontrollably—whether it was from the alcohol or something else, he didn’t know.
When someone suggested heading to a second venue, the proposal was almost unanimously shot down. Tangyuan, drowning his sorrows in booze, ended up drinking himself completely under the table.
At 2:30 a.m., distant lights dimmed, and the whole street seemed to have fallen into slumber. Behind them came the sound of the restaurant owner yawning, locking up for the night.
The players of Xinghai and LAP stood silently in the cold night wind, on a nearly deserted street.
They watched as, sprawled on the brick-red pavement, two hopelessly drunk figures—clinging to each other like octopuses—shouted things like “brothers forever” and “never parting,” completely wasted beyond saving.
With a face like thunder, Shao Zhan pointed a trembling finger at the belly-up, snoring Tangyuan.
“This thing. We leave it here. Any objections?”
The Xinghai players, standing in a neat line, all shook their heads in perfect unison. From a distance, they looked like a row of alert meerkats.
When Shao Zhan’s finger moved toward the blue-clad little guy tangled up with Fat Tangyuan, the rest of LAP didn’t hesitate for a second—
“No problem at all.”
“Both hands raised in favor!”
Little White and Little Black added, “If both hands aren’t enough, we can raise our feet too.”
Yang Sa stood a little farther away, smoking a cigarette. He couldn’t even be bothered to glance at the mess on the ground.
“Alright,” Shao Zhan clapped his hands. “Unanimous vote. Let’s go home.”
Their tall silhouettes strolled down the street, the sound of their footsteps overlapping and gradually fading into the distance.
Just a few hours ago, these two teams were at each other’s throats. Now, they’d reached an unprecedented level of agreement.
…
At the small table in a 24-hour convenience store meant for customers to eat at, Jiang Ranan blew on the hot steam rising from his mushroom soup and cautiously glanced at the person next to him.
“Um… Is it really okay to just leave him there like that?”
“What’s the problem?” Zhuang Bai asked, not understanding the concern.
“Well…” Jiang Ranan looked uneasy. “Doesn’t that count as abandonment?”
“Relax,” Shao Zhan peeled a soft-boiled egg and dropped it into his bowl. “Letting tr*sh stay where it belongs—what’s wrong with that?”
“I guess…” Jiang Ranan mumbled as he munched on the egg. “But the ground’s so hard… What if he gets hurt?”
“Don’t worry,” Zhuang Bai reassured him. “With that kind of physique, if anything’s in danger, it’s the people around him.”
“But even if he is a pile of harmless tr*sh,” Jiang Ranan said with a tearful tone, “it still feels wrong to just leave him there…”
Shao Zhan slapped his forehead—he’d left in such a rush that he forgot to sort the garbage.
“And, and,” Jiang Ranan seized on his breakthrough, speaking quickly, “the sanitation worker grandpa is probably starting his shift soon. If he gets scared… that wouldn’t be good!”
Shao Zhan, arms folded, nodded in agreement. “True. No way the sanitation grandpa’s truck is big enough to carry that much tr*sh.”
So, the whole group marched back down the road, seriously debating how that thing should be sorted: dry waste or wet waste? Toss the whole thing, or chop it up first?
Sure enough, when they got back to BBQ Street, the sanitation grandpa was standing in front of two mysterious creatures on the ground, hesitating—unsure whether to call the police or an ambulance.
Upon seeing the unconscious fat guy wearing the same team uniform as the others, the sanitation grandpa quickly handed the person over and ran off in a flash, as if afraid they’d change their minds and give the problem back.
Shao Zhan crouched down, trying to establish some kind of effective communication with the drunken corpse of a man, when Jiang Ranan suddenly felt someone watching him.
To be exact, ever since they left the convenience store, he’d felt an unusual gaze fixed on him.
Still hugging the cup of instant mushroom soup the convenience store clerk had helped prepare, Jiang Ranan turned his head—only to catch Yang Sa staring at him.
That gaze was as cold as always. In the darkness, there was something else flickering within it—something difficult to name, like… resentment?
Jiang Ranan licked his lips and looked himself over. His uniform was fine, and nothing he said or did should’ve been offensive. He did his best to smile politely.
But it was like kicking a steel wall—no response at all.
Yang Sa remained as distant and aloof as ever, keeping up his “do not approach” aura. Only now, his expression seemed even colder than it had been during the day.
Jiang Ranan, who had the worst dynamic vision on the team, squinted through the darkness and studied the situation seriously. He finally realized—the other guy seemed to be staring at what was in his hand.
Ever the honest and well-behaved youngest member of Team Xinghai, Jiang Ranan extended his arm and offered the soft-boiled egg—still marked with teeth imprints—to Yang Sa.
“Want a bite?”
Yang Sa, hearing the innocent-sounding “Want a bite, want a bite, want a bite…” echoing in his ears, felt an overwhelming urge to wipe that pure and naive smile off the boy’s face with his own hands.
To stop himself from actually doing it, he let out a cold snort and turned away.
And so, in the midnight chill, there stood a thoroughly disoriented Jiang Ranan… and a thoroughly disoriented soft-boiled egg…
Meanwhile, Shao Zhan was patting the chubby, squishy face of Tangyuan with growing impatience. “Tangyuan Yuan…” he called, trying to rouse him. His patience was wearing thin. He pinched the philtrum, rubbed the cheeks, squeezed the nose…
As a result, the fat Tangyuan showed no signs of waking up, but hummed twice as if he was very happy, and hugged his good brother tighter.
Little Black took a moment to slap the blue guy’s face twice—also with no results. “What do we do now?” he asked, his dark-skinned face full of gloom, nearly blending into the night.
“No worries. Dealing with drunks…” Shao Zhan patted him on the shoulder and stood up, his tone oddly upbeat, “…we’re professionals at this.”
Then he glanced down at the blue fat lump tangled with Tangyuan and added,
“But… do you guys still want this one?”