"You know, if you have enough confidence in yourself, you don"t have to hit me in the dressing room." Before his rebirth, Lin Yifei experienced numerous international compet.i.tions. How could he not know why the child hit him?
What was meant to be a kind reminder obviously turned into a demonstration in the eyes of the other party. Lin Yifei shook his head. He was already in the qualifier. In the afternoon, it would be the quarter final. He had no extra thoughts to worry about the defeated child. Mark and they should be waiting for him to eat lunch.
Before reaching the dressing room, his entire person was. .h.i.t, and his shoulder slammed against the wall. Lin Yifei painfully gritted his teeth. He looked up and saw the big guy. Lin Yifei was intolerable of the heat. He would take off his protective gear as soon as the match was over, but the big guy was still wearing his. He hit him so hard, but it was Lin Yifei who suffered.
"Don"t think that you"re great because you won." The big guy lowered his head and wanted to drag Lin Yifei up by his collar.
When it came to fencing, Lin Yifei had 100% advantage. However, when it came to fighting, he had never been a good fighter.
At the same time, a tall figure slowly walked behind the big guy and twisted his wrist.
"This is a fencing hall, not a wrestling hall." A pure London accent came. It sounded languid and lazy but with gentlemanly poise.
When the big guy saw the other person, he angrily shook off his opponent"s hand and walked to the dressing room.
Lin Yifei rubbed his shoulder and stood up. Once he clearly saw the face of the person in front of him, he blinked.
Did he hallucinate?
The face belonged to an engaging young man, seventeen or eighteen years old. His light brown hair looked soft. He had a mature charm between his eyebrows. The upper body was wearing a light brown plaid waistcoat, which complemented his hair color. The lower body wore black trousers, revealing slender and elegant outlines of his legs.
"Kevin…Phil…"
Did his eyes see wrong? He wasn"t ready to meet this guy so soon.
Kevin was four or five years older than him and Chris. He should be studying at Cambridge University now. He would win his first Olympic Championship in two years.
Before his rebirth, Lin Yifei had always admired Kevin"s demeanor. Instead of being a traditional English gentleman, he was more like a round work of art, making people unable to find edges and corners. (T/N: unable to see through him?)
"You know my name. I didn"t expect anyone in Washington to recognize me." Kevin smiled calmly and looked at Lin Yifei"s shoulder. "Is your shoulder hurt?"
Lin Yifei shook his head stupidly.
"You did very well in the compet.i.tion just now. I didn"t expect that the level of middle school students under the age of 16 would be so high in the United States."
Lin Yifei still didn"t return to absolute being. He just stared at Kevin"s face. Before his rebirth, he and Kevin met at the Olympic Championship. At that time, Kevin had one Olympic Championship and three other world championships under his belt. He was called the glory of British fencing.
"What"s your name?" Kevin asked.
"Lin…Lin Yifei, my English name is Ethan." Lin Yifei"s breathing gradually calmed down.
(T/N: I changed Eason to Ethan, according to google)
"Listening to the p.r.o.nunciation of your name, are you an immigrant from China to the United States?" Kevin leaned against the wall. His eyes and brows showed his languid manner. However, Lin Yifei knew that his achievements never came from talent, but from hard work.
"Yes…" Lin Yifei looked at him with his head tilted back. Kevin was a whole head taller than Lin Yifei.
"I look forward to your match this afternoon." Kevin stretched out his hand to Lin Yifei.
"Thank you."
Just then, a cool voice sounded from behind, "Yifei."
Lin Yifei looked back and saw Chris.
"Hey Chris!" At this time, Kevin was holding Lin Yifei"s hand. "Is your compet.i.tion over?"
Chris walked over to Lin Yifei and looked at Kevin. Kevin"s lip pulled up a smile. He could see from Chris"s eyes that he was a fencer. He also sensed the hostility that ordinary people could hardly detect.
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"h.e.l.lo, I"m Kevin Phil, from England." Kevin held out his hand to Chris. "Your name is Chris. I saw your match just now. Your opponent was completely overwhelmed. It was very exciting."
Chris didn"t answer him. He just grabbed Lin Yifei by the wrist and dragged him into the dressing room.
"Change clothes for lunch." Chris"s voice was a little cold, but Lin Yifei didn"t understand why. He always thought that the meeting between Chris and Kevin shouldn"t be in such an atmosphere. After all, if there was no accident, after several years, Kevin Phil would become Chris"s target goal.
Lin Yifei took off the rest of his protective gear, then wiped his sweaty hair with a towel before changing his clothes.
"Let"s go. Mark and they must be waiting." Lin Yifei hugged Chris"s shoulder and hung from him like a monkey.
"The man just now, do you know him?" Chris asked.
"Ah…don"t really know…" In actuality, he shouldn"t know Kevin now.
"You seem to admire him very much."
"He belongs to the fencing team of Cambridge University!" Lin Yifei tilted his head and looked at Chris"s expression. Chris felt a little strange since before, but he couldn"t see anything.
"You can also take an exam for New York University in the future."
The fencing team of New York University was among the best in the United States. Some professional fencers also attend that university. Almost every Olympic team match would select one or two compet.i.tors from the fencing team of New York University.
"Kevin isn"t just on the fencing team of Cambridge University. He"s also really strong. He"s already a professional athlete."
"Is he?" Chris"s brows were slightly raised.
Lin Yifei suddenly had a thought in my heart. In fact, before his rebirth, Lin Yifei didn"t quite understand the subtle hostile relationship between Chris and Kevin. Clearly Chris acknowledged and respected Kevin"s fencing skills, but whenever Lin Yifei mentioned Kevin, Chris looked very upset. Even if they met outside the fencing arena, they always gave off a hint of hostility.
During lunch, Katherine didn"t eat much. This was the first time that she had entered the top eight of the Washington division. In the afternoon, it would be the quarter final. Her parents also came to watch the compet.i.tion in person and brought home-made spaghetti. However, Katherine obviously had no appet.i.te.
Lin Yifei who sat opposite from her gave her a funny flick on the forehead with his index finger.
"No way, are you really this nervous?"
"Aren"t you nervous?" Katherine looked at Lin Yifei who had a bright smile and didn"t understand why he always looked so calm.
"Because this is only the quarter final in Washington. If you keep going, you will meet the others at the regional quarter final, then the national quarter final, and the semi-final and final. Now you"re just standing on the starting point. If you"re always nervous, then you"re just torturing yourself." Lin Yifei unceremoniously forked a shrimp from Katherine"s plate. "And Katherine, you are stronger than ever before, aren"t you?"
Katherine took a glance at Lin Yifei. When she saw his sage appearance, she suddenly felt that her nervousness was funny.
"Hey, Chris, draw the lot well. I don"t want to match with you at all." Lin Yifei said while pointing his fork.
"Because you want to compete with me in the final."
"Oh, Chris, you really know me." Lin Yifei leaned on Chris"s shoulder like a little girl.
"Can you two not be so disgusting? I really can"t eat any more." Katherine made a vomiting gesture.
It was Philip next to her who took the camera and snapped.
"h.e.l.lo-" Lin Yifei rose from Chris"s shoulder, "Why do you always take pictures at such time!"
Philip smiled proudly and threatened to plaster Lin Yifei"s ugly appearance at school if he lost the next match.
After lunch and a short rest, Chris and Lin Yifei went to the organizing committee to draw lots.
The remaining eight teenagers stood in line in front of the number box. An organizer who wore gla.s.ses recorded their numbers and names.
Lin Yifei took a deep breath. He reached into the box and drew Group D, Number 2. He turned to Chris and waved his number.
Since Chris got Group A, Number 1, it made Lin Yifei very happy. That was to say, as long as they kept winning, the final must be a match between them.
Another hour later, the quarter final officially began.
Chris and Lin Yifei were at two adjacent courts.
Wearing masks, Lin Yifei and Chris clapped each other, then turned their backs and walked straight into the compet.i.tion court.
Lin Yifei"s opponent"s level wasn"t bad. After all, he was already among the top eight middle school students in Washington. Whether he was thrusting or lunging, his foot movements were quite coordinated. Lin Yifei responded with great care. There was no obvious mistake in the opponent"s attack. Lin Yifei bet that the child learned fencing at least from the age of six since he could achieve this level.
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Although the last bout was breathtaking, Lin Yifei still scored two points, leaving no room for the other to turn. In the second set, his opponent also adapted to Lin Yifei"s flexibility and sudden attack. When Lin Yifei stepped back, the other side stabbed him in the shoulder with a sabre. The referee judged it scored.
"Aha!" Lin Yifei flexed his wrist. Except for Chris, since he became a child, he hadn"t met such a challenging opponent for a long time. As his attention became fully concentrated, all sounds seemed to disappear.
Lin Yifei"s fingers touched the tip of the sabre. He adjusted his breathing. When his attack went out again, it was extremely sharp and drove the other side to the edge of the field. The sword kept pressing mercilessly, making the outcome of the other side inevitable.
The momentum of his sabre was so strong that his opponent fell to the ground and looked at Lin Yifei with his head tilted back.
Lin Yifei stepped forward gracefully. He pulled him up before nodding back at the referee. Only then did the referee return to absolute being to judge the score.
In the audience, Kevin felt his chin and showed a curious expression. His friend next to him hit him with his shoulder and whispered, "I can"t believe that American children are so good at fencing. Look at that kid in Group D. He"s just like a prodigy."
Kevin just put his index finger on his lips and made a gesture of silence. His eyes rested on Lin Yifei"s back.
The match had just been played for two rounds. Group A match was already over. Chris got 15 points ahead of time and won the match. The child who lost was still gasping for air after taking off his mask. It seemed that he hadn"t come out of Chris"s suppressive momentum.