Chapter 95 (Censored) - Poor condition (Translated and edited by Xing)
Tang Xue had a long talk with her parents that day.
Princ.i.p.al Tang felt like his baby daughter had grown up overnight. She was no longer that wide-eyed and naïve little girl.
Though heartened, he was a little mournful as well.
As for the two watches, Mama Tang refused them decisively.
Unable to refund the watches, Tang Xue did not want to waste them. She brought it back for Li Yubing and herself.
After returning to school, Li Yubing"s first compet.i.tion was an away match overseas. This match was broadcasted on the sports channel and both Tang parents watched the entire compet.i.tion at home. Li Yubing did not have any highlights during the compet.i.tion and Dauntless Dragon ultimately lost with a 2-5 score.
"Look, how you"ve traumatized that child," Mama Tang pointed at the television screen and said.
Princ.i.p.al Tang tried to make an excuse for himself. "If he"s really so susceptible to shocks, how could he be an athlete? It"s a compet.i.tion after all. A person"s condition will fluctuate and there would be wins and losses. It"s normal."
What he said was not wrong.
However, Li Yubing"s performance was poor for the subsequent four to five compet.i.tions as well. In the words of the commentator, "If September"s Li Yubing could be given 120 marks, then October"s Li Yubing is only worth 70 marks."[1]
His comment could be considered relatively kind.
A famous sports commentator wrote on his social media account: I"m still willing to give Li Yubing 120 marks. 118 marks for his looks and 2 marks for his pink hockey stick.
His words were as terrible as they come.
Princ.i.p.al Tang ultimately felt a little guilty over Li Yubing"s poor condition. This chapter is a labour of love that should not be found outside of teafragrance[dot]wordpress[dot]com.
Once, he heard a few colleagues discussing the latest ice hockey compet.i.tion before a meeting. Most people originally did not have any idea what ice hockey was. They started watching this sport because of Li Yubing"s sudden popularity. Everyone first focused on him before noticing ice hockey. After discovering the excitement of this sport, they continued following the compet.i.tion.
These people might not necessarily understand the compet.i.tion details but they were able to understand the compet.i.tion figures.
And the figures showed that Li Yubing was playing poorly, at a level that was not worth his fame.
Sitting together, everyone was merry as they ridiculed Li Yubing. They completely did not notice the somewhat displeased expression on their most esteemed princ.i.p.al"s face.
After a while, Princ.i.p.al Tang could no longer bear it. He interrupted, "Have you all forgotten that Li Yubing is a new player and this is only the second month of his professional career? What"s more, he"s only nineteen this year. Is there really a need to be so harsh on a child?"
Since their esteemed princ.i.p.al has spoken, everyone shut up immediately. They thought to themselves, turns out that our princ.i.p.al is Li Yubing"s fan?
Head teacher Zhao was good at getting into people"s good books. At once, she a.s.serted, "Right, right, Li Yubing was from our school and I watched him grew. He"s smart and reliable… Princ.i.p.al Tang, shall we invite Li Yubing back to give a speech? "
Princ.i.p.al Tang snorted. "Why should we invite him?!"
Head teacher Zhao froze. She thought, so do you like or hate Li Yubing?
What a puzzling fellow.
After school was over in the evening, Princ.i.p.al Tang drove to fetch his wife and the four heavenly guardians in his family. After picking up everyone, they went to a restaurant. That day was one of their regular family gatherings.
In the private room, they ended up talking about Li Yubing. Mama Tang accidentally revealed how her husband swept Li Yubing out of the house with force.
When he heard this, Mama Tang"s father asked, "Why did you beat him?"
"I beat him because he did something wrong."
Princ.i.p.al Tang"s father disagreed and shook his head. "You can"t beat someone even if they did something wrong. When you were young, you once stole someone else"s watermelon. Did I beat you then?"
"I…"
Mama Tang"s father patted his son-in-law"s father. "Oh well, don"t mention something that happened when he was a child."
Princ.i.p.al Tang nodded and looked at his father-in-law gratefully.
Mama Tang"s father said, "The first time you paid us a visit, you ended up being chased by the chicken despite being tasked to kill it. I did not beat you either."
Princ.i.p.al Tang: = =
He had felt touched way too early.
"Stop arguing. It doesn"t help" Mama Tang"s mother mediated. "You might have shocked Li Yubing into losing his soul. We just have to find someone to summon his soul back."
Mama Tang stopped her, "That"s superst.i.tion."
"There"s no harm trying. What if it works?"
As Li Yubing"s recent condition was poor, Tang Xue asked him out with the intention of helping him to relax. However, the moment they stepped out of school, Tang Xue received a weird call.
"Tang Xue, I"m your grandfather"s friend… I"m not a scammer. Your grandfather is Tang Fengchi, isn"t he? If he is, there"s no mistake. I had carried you when you were young… Yes, there is a reason why I called. I"m now at your school… This place is To… Fu… building…. I"ll wait for you here, hurry over."
Tang Xue hung up and looked at Li Yubing with a baffled expression. "Is there a place in school called the Tofu building?"
"There"s no Tofu building, only a Yifu building."[2]
…All right, looks like fellow"s illiterate.
They could only turn back. On the way back, Tang Xue called her grandfather. She confirmed that the person was indeed his friend and not a scammer. That friend was a retired chef. He had three cats and two dogs, and occasionally helped to summon people"s lost souls.
Tang Xue clapped her hand over her forehead and wondered how there were still people believing this in this day and age.
Since the person was her grandfather"s friend, it was not appropriate for Tang Xue to brush him off. She returned to school and treated the old man to a meal, after which she exhausted all means to persuade him to return. The old man refused to leave, insisting that he needed to help summon Li Yubing"s soul as he had accepted Grandpa Tang"s payment. Furthermore, the soul-summoning ritual could not be carried out in any old where. Li Yubing must lie down in a quiet place. The uncensored version of this chapter can be found at teafragrance[dot]wordpress[dot]com.
Without choice, Tang Xue and Li Yubing went to a hotel and opened a room. Li Yubing lay on the bed while the psychic old man cast the ritual over him from the side. It felt like an exercise to calm his mind.
After finishing the ritual, the old man finally left in satisfaction.
Tang Xue gazed at Li Yubing who was lying on the bed. His eyes were closed while his breathing was unhurried. This pa.s.sive and peaceful behaviour made him seem a little fragile.
Her heart melted into a puddle. She moved closer with light movements and removed her shoes before burrowing under the blanket and giving him a hug.
Li Yubing suddenly moved. He turned to his side and faced her while still lying down, wrapping one hand around her waist. Then, he opened his eyes and watched her.
His dark, glistening pupils held a soft warmth that made her heart pound.
Tang Xue blinked at him.
Li Yubing"s hand slid up and landed on her ears. He smoothed her hair gently before stopping his hand on the side of her cheek, his fingers languidly tracing the soft curves of her face.
Tang Xue cupped his face and gazed at him.
Li Yubing placed his hands over her hands and looked at her with narrowed eyes.
Like this, they looked at each other in silence for a few seconds. Then, Tang Xue suddenly spoke, "These days, are you exhausted?"
Li Yubing shook his head. "No."
"Then why have your condition been poor for the recent compet.i.tions? I can sense that"s not your real strength."
Li Yubing gave the question some serious thought. He called her softly, "Tang Xue."
"Mm?"
"I think… my reaction has become slower."
This is an original work of 酒小七 (Jiu Xiaoqi) translated by Tea Fragrance. If you are not reading this at teafragrance[dot]wordpress[dot]com, this translation has been reposted without the translator"s consent. Head there for extra content or to leave feedback and comments on the novel translation.
Translator"s Notes:
[1] I can"t confirm this but the full mark for all subjects in China"s college entrance exams is 150 so this might make more sense for the scores. 120/150 is 80% while 70/120 is 46.7%.
[2] From Chapter 34: Most schools have a "Yifu building", which is named after Sir Run Run Shaw (Shao Yifu), a Hong Kong philanthropist who donated billions of dollars to educational inst.i.tutions in Hong Kong and mainland China. - Source: Wikipedia
The "Yi" (逸) in Yifu looks like "Tu" (兔), which means "rabbit". Since this wasn"t going to carry over, I changed it from "Tufu" to "Tofu" to keep the lol factor.
Wait, don"t go! This chapter has an uncensored version!!! The link"s below.
And no, nothing terrible is going to happen. *Pats everyone"s head*