Chapter 40 – Opening
September 12th, the opening ceremony of the KPL Autumn Tournament.
The venue was magnificent, with a star-studded lineup of guests and impressive investors. Everything was top-notch.
Everyone thought that the members of DCT, the reigning champions of K League, who were considered inexperienced, would react like this: “Wow~”
Or maybe: “Wow, amazing!”
In reality, the DCT members were like:
Cheng Che lowered his head in silence, wondering why his father appeared here… It wasn’t until the host introduced him that he found out his father, Cheng Ming, was one of the major investors in the competition.
For a moment, they didn’t know what to say.
The other teammates were also silent, except for Wu You.
Wu You spoke excitedly like a chattering sparrow.
Phantom, who was sitting next to him, annoyed by his constant talking, covered his mouth.
“Shh, be quiet.”
Wu You blinked his almond-shaped eyes and made an okay gesture with his hand, and then Xiao Pei let go of him.
Brother Feng, sitting in the corner, yawned endlessly and only sent a message in the group chat when it was about to end.
[Brother Feng: Who wants to go get a haircut later?]
[Long Legs Club]
[DCT-Stars: Let’s all go for the new season.]
[Don’t have 460: Yeah!]
[DCT-Clear: Okay.]
Wu You over there said, “You guys are sitting so close and still messaging each other, it’s confusing human behavior.”
Liu Ying, quick-witted, retorted, “You and Xiao Pei’s rooms are just across the hallway, and you two talk on the phone every night.”
After saying that, he covered his mouth, as if he said something he shouldn’t have.
Cheng Che tilted his head and looked at Wu You, “Chirping?”
Wu You shrugged, indifferent, and said, “There’s nothing to chirp about. If I want to chat with Xiao Pei, I’ll just call him.”
Seeing that Cheng Che still wanted to ask, Phantom advised him to drop the thought, “We don’t live together like you and Star, so naturally we call each other if we want to chat at night.”
Phantom remained silent.
Lin Xingling patted Cheng Che’s shoulder and smiled, “Wu You and Xiao Pei were classmates in high school and came to play professionally together. They have a good relationship.”
That’s right… Cheng Che nodded, he could tell, but Xiao Pei didn’t seem interested in paying attention to Wu You.
“We are the closest brothers.”
Wu You emphasized.
Liu Ying echoed, “Yes, that’s right.”
“So, we’re all going to get haircuts, right? I told the barber downstairs to stay open a bit later and wait for us.” Brother Feng sent a message to the owner of the barbershop after they responded.
“Okay, nice~”
…
After this little incident, the opening ceremony above finally finished, and everyone could finally go home.
Wu You and Cheng Che were like birds released from a cage, they quickly got up and ran to the door, full of energy, and soon reached the entrance.
Then they turned back to pick up Lin Xingling and the others.
Brother Feng said, “You two have so much energy and nowhere to vent it.”
Lin Xingling just smiled and watched them. When Cheng Che approached, he ruffled his hair.
Cheng Che impatiently swatted his hand away, but this time he did it more gently.
Leaving the studio, Cheng Che was called aside by his father to explain some things, and then Liu Ying was stopped by a pretty girl.
She called him “Ying Ying” very affectionately, leaving Liu Ying bewildered.
“Hey~”
Everyone tactfully stood aside.
“Junior Ying Ying, is my teacher doing well?”
This person is a popular actress in the entertainment industry named Ling Meng.
Teacher? Liu Ying looked at her face and felt familiar, and when it came to the teacher, he suddenly remembered: Ling Meng was a student of his mother, who was a dance teacher. His mother had mentioned it to him before.
Being versatile, like Liu Ying, he quickly said good things, “My mom is doing well… um, she often praises you, saying that your basics are solid, and you have great talent. You will definitely achieve great things in the future!”
“Where, where…”
Ling Meng’s face blushed slightly. She took out a pink floral hairpin from her bag and handed it to Liu Ying with both hands. “I just found out that Junior Brother was at the venue watching the opening ceremony, so… this is for you.”
“Thank you, Senior Sister.” Liu Ying obediently accepted it.
“I wish Junior Brother good luck in the competition and hope you win the championship!”
Ling Meng made a cute cheering gesture, and upon hearing her manager calling her, she hurriedly said goodbye.
“…”
After Ling Meng left, Liu Ying turned around and saw four gossiping faces and Xiao Pei’s poker face.
Cheng Che said, “Speak.”
Lin Xingling: Her.
Wu You: Yes.
Brother Feng: Who?
“That person is my mother’s student, my senior sister, that’s all.” Liu Ying explained concisely.
Everyone made a sound of understanding.
They left the venue together and took a bus back to the base.
…Unexpectedly, the bus at 8 o’clock in the evening was quite crowded, so they had no choice but to stand.
“Don’t grip the rings or the horizontal bars.”
Cheng Che worried that Lin Xingling might have injured his hand and it would be uncomfortable for him to hold it.
After speaking, he shook his own arm, which was gripping the horizontal bar, and said, “Hold… you can hold onto my arm.”
Lin Xingling looked at him blankly and shook his head.
It wasn’t to that extent, he wasn’t that fragile or exaggerated.
“Captain, listen… your hand is hurting,” Cheng Che spoke anxiously, as if someone might mistakenly think that he was the one in pain.
Knowing Cheng Che’s nature, if he didn’t listen to him, his heart would be tied up and he would feel uncomfortable.
…He couldn’t understand why Cheng Che treated him well, but he didn’t listen.
Even though he was only seventeen or eighteen years old, he had become like a little adult.
“Okay, okay, okay.”
Lin Xingling couldn’t bear to see him upset, so he obediently placed his hand gently on Cheng Che’s arm.
“Um.”
Perhaps it was late at night, or maybe it was because the air conditioning in the car was on and the temperature was low… Cheng Che’s arm was cool, soft, and smooth, and it felt comfortable to hold onto it.
Due to the height difference, when Lin Xingling held Cheng Che’s arm, it looked like he had wrapped his whole person in his embrace, like a mother hen protecting her chicks.
He looked down, and Cheng Che also lowered his head, so all he could see was his hair.
“It’s been a month, I’m going to cut my hair shorter today.”
“Okay.”
“…”
After a while of silence, Lin Xingling’s phone vibrated a few times, and it was a message from the family group.
[Happy and Loving Family]
[Father Zhuzhu: Guess who I took a picture of today?]
[Mother Zhuzhu: My son?]
[Xiao Rong: My brother?]
[Da Ling: Me?]
He didn’t listen carefully to the names the host mentioned, but it seemed like someone’s father was there, after all, he had mentioned a few days ago that he had been invited to attend some game opening ceremony… he wasn’t interested, so he didn’t ask for details.
[Xiao Rong: What’s so special about taking a picture of my brother, he’s always like that, pretending like he’s never been seen before. [Facepalm]]
[Mother Zhuzhu: Agreed.]
After all, Lin Xingling only went home once a week, so there was nothing special about it.
Lin Haiqing posted a photo in the group.
[Father Zhuzhu: No, it’s Da Ling’s crush.]
Mother Zhuzhu and sister got excited immediately.
The picture was of Cheng Che, precisely when he was tired and sleeping with his eyes closed, unknowingly resting his head on his shoulder.
Lin Xingling was puzzled: ???
[Mother Zhuzhu: @Da Ling, do you have a crush?]
[Xiao Rong: Has the miracle happened?]
[Father Zhuzhu: Is my Lin family going to be continued?]
Lin Xingling sighed and thought that his father’s words had come true.
[Da Ling: Firstly, he’s a member of our team.]
He didn’t have a chance to type the second point, as his father, mother, sister, and others automatically filled in the blanks.
[Xiao Rong: Did you keep it a secret within your team?]
[Mother Zhuzhu: Is he a boy? Why is he so small, like a doll? [Smile]]
[Father Zhuzhu: Rabbits don’t eat grass beside their nests!]
[Da Ling: Secondly, he’s a boy, not a partner, and he doesn’t eat grass. Understand?]
[Mother Zhuzhu: Is the Lin family going extinct?]
They laughed.
[Da Ling: I don’t know.]
After all the fuss, it turned out to be a big misunderstanding. Lin Xingrong continued researching his paper, while Lin Haiqing went home and got scolded by his wife, pulling on his ears for a while.
On this side, Lin Xingling and the others finally arrived at their destination.
Cheng Che stumbled off the bus and ran to the side, leaning against an electric pole, feeling nauseous.
He himself was so carsick that he couldn’t move, but in order for the captain to hold onto his arm steadily, he endured not moving for nearly an hour.
True love without a doubt.
Lin Xingling asked everyone to go to the barbershop first, while he stayed by Cheng Che’s side, patting his back and accompanying him to recover.
“Captain… um…”
No, don’t call him Xingling… Cheng Che thought to himself, bending down and shaking his body in discomfort.
“… This time it was because the electric scooter wasn’t charged. It won’t happen again. I’ll take you on a bike next time, we won’t take the bus, okay?”
He didn’t know why, even though they were around the same age, and he even had memories from three years ahead… in front of Lin Xingling, he felt like a little child.
Cheng Che sighed and lowered his head, not saying anything.
“Let’s go, I’ll take you to buy sausages.”
It’s easy to please a child, just give them sausages… if one is not enough, give them two, and if two are not enough, add a bottle of Sprite.
Lin Xingling understood this well.
“Great!”
His salary card was held by Lin Xingling, and he only had a few tens of yuan in his mobile wallet… Cheng Che dared to say that he had never been so destitute even when he ran away from home.
But, having someone to take care of you… was quite nice.
Having someone take care of your food, clothing, and expenses, all you needed to do was stretch your hand for clothes and open your mouth for meals.
Having a sense of home in DCT, even if you didn’t have a single cent on you, it was not a problem.
“Little brat, ask Liu Ying and Xiao You if they want some.”
“Okay.”
He followed behind Lin Xingling like a little follower, accompanying him to the stall selling sausages.
There were quite a few people.
“DCT-Clear: Does anyone want to eat sausages?”
[Long Legs Club]
[Xiao Pei, I’m level two: Me, me, me!]
[Xiao Pei, I’m level two: Remember to bring some for Xiao Pei too!]
[Don’t have 460: Add one!]
[Brother Feng: Buy as much as you can!]
The current trio is not in the team.
[Hua Xin Radish: That’s just mean!]
[DCT-Cheng: I’ll bring some for you when I get home.]
[Xiao Nuo Duck: So envious, haha [Resting Chin on Hand]]
[Don’t have 460: @Xiao Nuo Duck, when we’re not busy with the competition in a few days, we’ll come see you!]
[Xiao Nuo Duck: Great!]
So everyone waited for a long time in the barbershop, and Liu Ying and Brother Feng had already finished their haircuts, but they hadn’t returned yet.
Wu You poked them in the group chat:
[Xiao Pei, I’m level two: @DCT-Clear, are you still not done?]
[DCT-Clear: Done? Captain is dead.]
Wu You was confused, “What do you mean the captain is dead?”
Brother Feng was still talking about how Liu Ying’s haircut was barely noticeable, but he was startled by the words, “Lin Xingling?”
What do you mean the captain is dead?
Phantom frowned and opened his phone to check.
[DCT-Clear: I’m so annoyed.]
Author’s Note:
【Mini Theater】
Hamster Xing Ling: So you’ve been going around saying that I’m dead?