Rock Sugar And Pear Stew

Chapter 42 - Touched (Translated and edited by Xing)

Tang Xue thought that this was the end of the gossip. What she did not expect was the final "boss"[1] awaiting her.

That afternoon, she was called to the side by Coach Chu immediately after reaching the practice venue.

Coach Chu had heard the outrageous gossip during lunch that afternoon. After narrating the whole incident, the other party had even asked, "Is it true that this Tang Xue is now in your speed skating team?"

Even though this was asked without any bad intentions, Coach Chu still felt dissatisfied. Youngsters these days were too much!

Here, looking at Coach Chu"s displeased face, Tang Xue"s heart skipped a beat.

"By right, your private life is not something that I should nor could interfere with." Coach Chu was genuinely angry. Her expression did not hold a trace of her usual warmth and she was speaking at a much faster pace than normal. "But Tang Xue, this is something that I must say. From this incident, I can tell that your heart is not here. You"re not truly focused on speed skating."

She did not hold back in laying out these brutal words. A short distance away, some students were doing frog jumps. As they were close enough, they could hear Coach Chu"s reprimand clearly. No longer in any mood to focus on their training, all of them perked up their ears to hear the drama going on.

Being lectured by Coach Chu, Tang Xue could not help but to explain herself, "It"s not like this, Coach Chu…"

Coach Chu waved her hand and cut her off, "I don"t want to hear any excuses. I only look at facts. The fact is, you have the worst result in the entire speed skating team. If I were you, I would be too embarra.s.sed to even get into relationship." Not to mention two at one go! Coach Chu left this last line out, ultimately sparing some thought to the young girl and not making matters too ugly.

Tang Xue knew that explaining was useless. She could only apologize, "I"m sorry, Coach Chu."

"It"s not me you should be apologizing to. The person you"ve let down the most is Li Yubing."

Tang Xue was confused. "I really don"t have that sort of relationship with Li Yubing…"

"Oh, then why would Li Yubing pay out of his own pockets for you to do speed skating?"

Hearing her words, Tang Xue was stumped. She stared at Coach Chu blankly, and in an uncertain voice, repeated her words, "Coach Chu, you mean… I was able to enter the speed skating team because Li Yubing paid for me?"

"Every single cent."

"Wasn"t it supposed to be temporarily covered by the team?"

"How would this be possible? The team has its rules. Why did you think I changed my mind? Li Yubing begged me for a long time and deposited a lump sum to cover the training expenses for your first three months."

Tang Xue was stunned. Her gaze became somewhat unfocused, lost in some unknown thoughts.

Seeing her like this, Coach Chu was a little disappointed[2]. She stated, "My stance is this: the speed skating team is not a place for you to fool around—not even if you"re paying out of your own pockets. I will give you two months" time. Two months later, the "Ascendance Cup" will take place. If you"re still unable to show some results by then, you can head back to wherever you came from. You… hey, where are you going?!"

Tang Xue had turned and ran off.

Chu Xia opened and closed her mouth. A she watched Tang Xue"s leaving figure disappear into the distance, she shook her head and sighed, "Kids these days…" She glanced away and found that the students who were supposed to be doing frog jumps had all stopped and were looking in her direction. Translated by Xing for teafragrance[dot]wordpress[dot]com and no other sites.

"What are all of you doing?" Coach Chu asked, "who allowed you to stop?"

A girl piped up, "Coach Chu, are you really going to let that snail sign up for the "Ascendance Cup"? When the time comes, it"ll be our RCU speed skating team that she"s embarra.s.sing!"

Everyone guffawed with laughter.

Coach Chu felt her head hurt. "Carry out another 20 sets."

The rowdy laughter turned into anguished wails.

After leaving the speed skating practice venue, she ran into the ice hockey practice venue and nearly b.u.mped into someone.

Manager Wu was on the phone and was startled by Tang Xue. He covered the receiver and looked at her with a questioning look in his eyes.

"I"m looking for Li Yubing," Tang Xue said.

"He"s in the changing room. You can wait for him outside," Manager Wu pointed in a direction as he replied, "walk straight and turn right. It"s the second door." He then continued his call.

Ice hockey stick in hand, Li Yubing strode out of the changing room after changing into his gears. He immediately spotted Tang Xue standing outside the door. She leaned against the wall, her body slightly slumped. Her head was lowered and lost in thoughts, presenting Li Yubing with a clear view of her jet-black hair.

Li Yubing did not see her face. However, he could recognize her from the top of her head alone.

"Tang Xue."

"Ah?"

Tang Xue raised her head and found her vision filled with a figure.

Fully decked in protective ice hockey gears and wearing his skates, Li Yubing appeared especially tall and st.u.r.dy like a small mountain. As he stood in front of her at a close distance, Tang Xue had difficulties looking at him in the face. She struggled to stretch her head as high as she could. Only when her upper body and the back of her head was pressed tightly against the wall could she barely manage to see his face.

Li Yubing lowered his head to look at her. The way she stretched her head with enthusiasm felt like she was seeking a kiss. Through the visor, Li Yubing"s eyes flitted across her adorable and petal-like lips. His pupils dilated subconsciously.

Tang Xue"s gaze was a little unfocused as her thoughts seemed to wander.

Li Yubing teased her on purpose. "Tang Xue, you actually peek at me while I was changing."

"I didn"t."

Her temper did not flare nor did she characteristically jump down his throat. This Tang Xue seemed like a fake. Li Yubing was somewhat caught off guard and stared at her curiously. "What"s wrong with you?"

"Li Yubing, why did you fork out money for my speed skating?" Tang Xue asked. This chapter is a labour of love that should not be found outside of teafragrance[dot]wordpress[dot]com.

"I just feel that it"s a bit of a pity if you don"t skate anymore," Li Yubing answered. Then, he seemed to suddenly recall something and grinned. "Do you remember when we were in primary 3, you said that you were going to join the Winter Olympics and make our country proud?"

At that time, she had just won a prize in a compet.i.tion. She would hold her darned trophy and flaunt it to him every day while boasting excessively. All of her prize money was splurged on Kinder Joys, resulting in so many Kinder Joys that it took her more than a week to finish them.

At that time, he kept looking forward to the day when he could enter ice hockey compet.i.tions and win an even better prize that could shut her up.

At that time, day after day, she stole his Hot-kid milk. At that time, his biggest wish was to become taller than Tang Xue. At that time…

At that time.

Tang Xue was a bit embarra.s.sed after hearing Li Yubing"s words. "Let"s not mention something that happened in primary 3."

"Too bad for you, then. I have a naturally great memory." Li Yubing pointed to his head. He lowered his voice. "What should be remembered and what shouldn"t be remembered—it"s all in my head now."

Tang Xue suddenly recalled something and asked, "Is it that you don"t even have enough money left to top up your meal card? Li Yubing, are you stupid? Forking out such a large sum of money like this without even mentioning it to me."

"It"s nothing. I"ll wait for you to return me the money after you win it back in compet.i.tions. It"s not like I would have made a loss."

To be honest, Li Yubing could simply ask his parents for money but he did not wish to do so. He had planned to take up a part-time job for a few days while waiting for the following month"s allowance. As the ice hockey team"s core player, the allowance he received was much higher than the rest.

Tang Xue asked, "How are you so sure that I can definitely win it back in compet.i.tions? I haven"t skated for so long."

"I believe in you."

"Why?"

"Probably because…" Li Yubing thought for a while before he grinned and quoted her, "You have an unbreakable spirit."

Tang Xue raised her head to look at him. Without saying anything, she merely gazed at him for a while. The next moment, her lively eyes reddened and were slowly coated with a watery sheen. Under the bright light from the ceiling, the welling tears glistened.

This was a side of Tang Xue that Li Yubing rarely saw. He felt a light ache in his heart—though feather-light, this ache felt so painful that it seemed to want his life. He stared at her eyes, at a loss what to do. "You…"

Tang Xue was a little embarra.s.sed. She ducked her head and avoided looking at him.

"Li Yubing, I"m actually not as strong as I look," she said in a small voice.

In fact, she had not been doing so well these few days. She was way behind on her school a.s.signments and had to meet the intensive training requirements. This was making her feel anxious, upset, and unable to fall asleep at night. She would experience bouts of crankiness and sometimes be overwhelmed with self-doubt. Yet she still had to put on a front and pretend that she was fine. With all the negative feelings buried in her heart, she was driving herself nuts.

At a time like this, having someone who believed in her unconditionally was way beyond significant to her.

"Thank you," Tang Xue said at last. Without raising her head, she turned and left after thanking him.

Li Yubing lowered his head and looked at the spot that Tang Xue was standing at. On the light grey floor were a few dark spots stained by water droplets.

He watched her leaving figure. Only when she was a distance away did he murmur, "Then why not pledge yourself to me…"

Author"s Notes

Don"t worry, the money will be returned.

I cried while writing this chapter. I think my tears threshold is getting lower and lower. /(ㄒoㄒ)/~~ With such a low tears threshold, how do I continue tormenting Li Yubing in the future…

(Li Yubing: Wow, thanks.)

Translator"s Notes:

[1] "Boss" was originally written in English. It refers to final level monsters in game dungeons that players usually have slay before they can pa.s.s.

[2] Original phrase used, 恨铁不成钢 (hèn tiě bù chéng gang), means hating the iron for not becoming steel. There is exasperation/ disappointment in this phrase where a person is feeling annoyed or angry at another person for what they are doing. However, in this particular case, this exasperation is directed towards the other person (usually a junior in the family) for failing to meet certain expectations or develop in a more satisfactory manner.

Jiu Xiaoqi is such a sweetie. I"m waiting for her to start a new novel but I"m not sure if it"ll happen anytime soon. When writing Rock Sugar and Pear Stew, she got a lot of flak from readers for irregular and non-daily updates. She was so exhausted and discouraged that she deleted the synopsis of the next book she had planned.

I read books like this for the fluff but it"s chapters like this that draws me more. Tang Xue is not as silly as she leads everyone to believe. She always puts on a cheerful font but this doesn"t mean that she"s not struggling to correct her past and fight for her dreams.

Next chapter will be more light-hearted ?