My Mr.Mermaid

After boarding the plane, Qi Rui-Feng was still nattering on about Yun Duo . It was clear to see how much the words "dominates the world forever and ever" had captured his heart . He asked Tang Yi-Bai, "Say, do you think Yun Duo has a crush on me?"

"Impossible . " Tang Yi-Bai gave a decisive shake of his head, his tone as hard and cold as iron .

Qi Rui-Feng did not believe him . "Why not? She"s a fan of mine . What"s so impossible about a fan having a crush on their idol?"

Tang Yi-Bai was expressionless as he explained, "You"re taller than her by over 30 cm . If she wants to kiss you, she won"t be able to even if she jumps . So it"s impossible between the two of you . "

This argument was very convincing . Qi Rui-Feng nodded seriously . "True . Then I don"t have to take the trouble to reject her . . . Matron Yuan doesn"t want me to date right now . "

Matron Yuan did not allow Qi Rui-Feng to date — this was something Tang Yi-Bai knew as well . The reason was none other than fear that he would be distracted and let that affect his performance during compet.i.tions . In fact, many coaches would either expressly or secretly forbid the successful athletes in their care from dating . The golden years of an athlete"s career was just too short — finding a girlfriend can wait till one is 30 years old, but missing out on a gold medal will be a regret of a lifetime . Even though Qi Rui-Feng had already won an Olympic gold medal, who would ever complain over having one too many medals? Moreover, in terms of the present situation of the organisation of sports within the country, a gold medal was not just a personal matter of the athlete but something which concerned the efforts and expectations of a lot of people .

Also, taking Qi Rui-Feng"s low IQ and EQ levels into consideration, it was impossible to tell what drama might result from him dating around . Hence, Matron Yuan had him under a strict ban against dating .

In contrast to these cruel and inhumane coaches, Coach Wu Yong was rather different . After all, he paid regular attention to Tang Yi-Bai"s social emotional life, periodically asking "Is this your girlfriend?" "Is that your girlfriend?" "Young man, why haven"t you dated yet?" — a whole range of meaningless questions .

In truth, behind these questions lurked Coach Wu"s deep concern .

Professional athletes were a young demographic, a very restless group . They had no time to date, but this did not mean they did not want to date . After all, they had never been short of testosterone — they might even have more than the average male . For instance, at just 17 years old, Qi Rui-Feng had already been lured away by female fans for s.e.x (though he was rescued by his coach) . And then there was Ming Tian — that little fellow had already learned how to banter and flirt with the ladies of the artistic swimming team at such a young age . And so on . It could be said that a restless and eager athlete was a normal athlete .

But Tang Yi-Bai was not like that . Whether in terms of appearance or body figure, Tang Yi-Bai was the athlete with the highest aesthetic value among the members of the swimming team . No one else could compare . He was the "team gra.s.s" of the swimming team, and as a "team flower" had never been decided among the female members of the team, Tang Yi-Bai was simultaneously also the team flower . Such a handsome chap, and with such a nice personality and high EQ . . . Thus, even during his three-year ban, the ladies had still chased after him, lining up as if they were waiting to taste some fine dumplings . Even the serving maids in the canteen liked him — as for the cooking boys, they looked at him like he was their archenemy . A person like this, yet he never pursued the fairer s.e.x, seeming to have no desires, living like an old monk .

"Abstaining from women" — such an esteemed state of being in the past, but with the proliferation of BL culture in the world today, the phrase was a little terrifying . Coach Wu"s mind could not help but run wild with the possibility . Taking a step back, even if Tang Yi-Bai wasn"t bent, repressing his own human nature like that would easily make him twisted eventually . . .

Coach Wu did not want to see Tang Yi-Bai become a pervert .

So, when he saw Tang Yi-Bai finally willing to flirt around with a girl, he felt very pleased and relieved .

Advertis.e.m.e.ntIn June, it was still winter in Brisbane, but the temperature was not very low . It was equivalent to an autumn day in Beijing . The temperature of the ocean was about 20 degrees; it was already unsuitable for swimming, so Tang Yi-Bai and the others were all training indoors . Even though they had travelled halfway across the globe, their training life had not changed by much — it was just as boring and tiring . An athlete"s performance was the culmination of sweat . Although every athlete had a clear understanding of this, the fatigue could not be warded off by mental awareness — it was a natural bodily response . Yun Duo and the other reporters could only guess at the difficulty of being an athlete through the numbers: Every day, at a conservative estimate, they had to swim approximately 12,000 kilometres . And this was just training in the water; it did not include all the other miscellaneous physical training they had to do on land . However, if one did not personally go through it once, it was very difficult for the normal person to comprehend that kind of all-encompa.s.sing, bone-deep fatigue .

Such a boring and tiring lifestyle naturally required some mental relief . Thus, it wasn"t long before the two Asian boys, Tang Yi-Bai and Qi Rui-Feng,became the mental relief of the female members at the swimming club . The muscles of Asians were not as stocky as those of Europeans . Even professional athletes like Tang Yi-Bai were leaner than European athletes, though the body lines of Asians were more refined and beautiful . Whether it was out of fascination for something new or if aesthetic appreciation for flower boys had already spread to the European sports circles, the ladies at the club liked to hang out around Tang Yi-Bai whenever they were free . Even when they were just walking by him, they would greet him with a wink, and one especially bold girl even knocked on Tang Yi-Bai"s dorm room door after evening training .

Tang Yi-Bai was speechless .  I"m already as tired as a dog . Who has the energy to bother with you all?!

At lunch that day, the two of them had just sat down to eat when they were surrounded by ladies again . The blonde-haired beauty Angelina sat beside Tang Yi-Bai, and with her jaw propped up on one hand, she winked flirtatiously at Tang Yi-Bai and asked, "Tang, does my hair look good?"

She knew that Tang Yi-Bai and Qi Rui-Feng"s English wasn"t very good, so she thoughtfully spoke slower . After asking this, she added, "None of your girls in China has blonde hair, right?"

Tang Yi-Bai replied slowly, "I like black hair . Not very long, especially soft, like a waterfall . . . " He suddenly broke out into a smile, eyes soft and gaze lowered, and his smile was warm and gentle, like the sunlight currently streaming over the seaside .

Angelina stared dumbly at his smile . "You"re so good-looking . "

Right at that moment, a shadow suddenly fell over them . Tang Yi-Bai raised his head in surprise and saw that it was Bayard . Bayard, Englishman, 19 years old . His main event was the short-distance freestyle; his best time this year in the 100-metre freestyle was 47 . 80 seconds . He had come to Australia for external training because one of the coaches here was famous . Coach Brown at the club here was very experienced in coaching short-distance freestyle swimmers . He had cultivated two world champions . Bayard believed that he would become the third .

But after coming here, he found that Coach Brown seemed to favour the Chinese guy Tang Yi-Bai more . The coach was always praising Tang Yi-Bai . Not only did the coach like him, even the ladies all liked him . It was ridiculous! The man was as thin as a goat, what"s there to like?!

Right then, Bayard looked down at Tang Yi-Bai from a higher vantage point, and his eyes were full of contempt .

Tang Yi-Bai bowed his head and continued to eat silently under his contemptuous gaze .

Bayard felt awkward standing there, so he said loudly, "Tang, I want to challenge you . "

"Hm?" Tang Yi-Bai raised his head to look at him . "What do you mean?"

"Let"s have a match . How about this afternoon?"

"I have training this afternoon . "

"You chicken?"

Tang Yi-Bai shook his head . "You can go ask Coach Brown . I can only agree if he agrees . "

"Hmph, no wonder Coach Brown likes you . It"s so nice being his yes-man, isn"t it?"

Tang Yi-Bai ignored him, keeping his head down to continue eating . Qi Rui-Feng was seated right across from him . Even though he had not really understood what Bayard was saying, he could tell from appearances that it wasn"t anything good, and so he proudly shouldered the responsibility of glaring angrily at Bayard . In order to better intimidate, he stood up . He was taller than Bayard .

Bayard spat out "Wait to cry your nose off when you lose" and then stormed off .

After lunch, Qi Rui-Feng gave Matron Yuan a call to report the situation while Tang Yi-Bai went for a walk on the beach alone . With his back to the sea, he snapped a selfie and sent it to Yun Duo . He had been planning to send a text message, but then he suddenly really felt like hearing her voice . So he deleted the words he had typed and changed it to a voice message .

Tang Yi-Bai: "What are you doing?"

After a short while, Yun Duo"s message came back, also a voice message . "Haha, Tang Yi-Bai, your photo-taking skills suck!"

Tang Yi-Bai"s face became clouded with a dark shadow . Not because of the message itself, but because there seemed to be a man speaking in the background of the message? He replayed the message several times until he could finally confirm for sure — there really was a man speaking, though it was unclear what he"s saying .

He thought, "She must still be at her office . It"s perfectly normal for there to be colleagues speaking there . " Still, he felt rather irritated . So he asked again: "What are you doing?"

Yun Duo: "Watching the sunset . "

Watching the sunset? There was only a 2-hour time difference between them . Where could she be to be watching the sunset? Tang Yi-Bai sensed something off, so he asked, "The sunset where?"

Yun Duo sent a selfie of her own . The backdrop was an ocean coast, dim in the evening light . The sun had already set and the houses by the seaside had all lit up . She was smiling radiantly at the camera, and the side profile of a man could be seen seated behind her . His face was obscured by her so it could not be seen .

Tang Yi-Bai"s heart clenched, beset with a sudden gloom .

Yun Duo sent another voice message: "It"s the Aegean Sea . "

The Aegean Sea! She"s gone to the Aegean Sea with a man! They were sitting on the beach chatting as they watched the sunset . . . she was doing such a romantic thing with someone else! Tang Yi-Bai gritted his teeth . He knew it was unreasonable of him to think this way — Yun Duo was free to do as she liked; she could go see the ocean with whomever she wanted to — but he just felt really unhappy about it . He almost wanted to interrogate her about the ident.i.ty of the man, but he managed to stop himself in time . Instead, he adopted a roundabout tactic .

Tang Yi-Bai: "You went alone?"

Yun Duo: "No, with my lackey . He insisted on eating Greek roast lamb . "

Lackey? Yun Duo had mentioned this person more than once . A pale and thin figure surfaced in Tang Yi-Bai"s mind . How could such a weak man be worthy of her!

Gritting his teeth, Tang Yi-Bai said sourly, "That"s pretty romantic . "

Yun Duo: "So-so . It would be better if he weren’t so talkative . "

Tang Yi-Bai wanted to gather more information, but a team member had just come calling for him . "Tang, Coach Brown is looking for you . "

He could only say goodbye in a hurry .

Yun Duo heard that Tang Yi-Bai needed to go meet a coach, so she put away her phone . Lin Zi was particularly observant . When he noticed she had stopped chatting, he handed her a small bottle of yogurt . "Try this yogurt . It"s a Greek specialty, garlic flavoured . "

Can garlic be made into yogurt too? Yun Duo was extremely curious . She took the bottle and drank a mouthful . And then she almost burst out crying . "What the h.e.l.l is this?!!!"

Lin Zi bit down on his straw and smirked evilly .

Yun Duo raged, "What flavour are you drinking?"

"Wheatgra.s.s . "

"Confiscated!"

Lin Zi did not resist, easily handing over his half-drunk yogurt . Yun Duo took it and then looked down at the straw he had been using . When she raised her head, she saw him staring at her with a half-smile .

In the dim daylight, she did not catch the strange antic.i.p.ation in his eyes .

Yun Duo was not going to eat his saliva . She took out the straw and threw it away, ripped open the seal foil, and drank straight from the bottle .

As Yun Duo drank the yogurt, she asked, "Why did you insist on coming to Greece? Is it really just to eat roast lamb?"

Lin Zi looked out at the deep blue sea under the dark night sky . He replied, "I promised my little sister that I would bring her to see the Aegean Sea . "

Yun Duo paused, looking at him with a questioning tilt of her head . His expression was placid — it was unclear whether he was feeling sad or nostalgic . She asked tentatively, "You . . . are you subst.i.tuting me for your sister? Do we look alike?"

Lin Zi turned to peer intently at her face . After a moment, he said, "No . My little sister is much prettier than you . "

Yun Duo pursed her lips . "Well, I don"t believe you . No picture, no proof . "

Lin Zi pulled out his phone and showed her a picture . "Proof . "

As soon as Yun Duo saw the person in the photo, she exclaimed out loud in shock . It was indeed a great beauty . Well-defined facial features, skin as white as snow, and soulful eyes which were smiling at the camera at the moment the picture was taken . She had taken the selfie from a straight-on angle, unlike the trendy top-down angle currently popular on the internet . This refreshing natural angle was able to most accurately display a person"s true features . Unfortunately, she could only take a shot of her upper body this way, so her full figure could not be seen . Still, it could be imagined that the figure of such a gorgeous woman must be amazing as well .

The selfie had been taken outdoors . Due to the limited range of the lens, Yun Duo could not tell the exact location of the shot . There were a few more people behind the woman . Yun Duo looked at the picture carefully . Suddenly, she pointed at one of the figures in the shot and said, "The back of this head really looks like Tang Yi-Bai . Haha . "