Chapter 161 – The Problem of Vice-Captain Bai

The interview ended and the Canglan team followed their captain to a nearby restaurant. Liu Chuan had already booked a table for the celebration party. Once everyone entered, he immediately stepped forward and said, “Everyone has worked hard. I will treat you this evening.”

The teenagers stared at the table of food, especially the hungry Gu Siming who was about to drool. Li Cangyu glanced at them and smiled. “Don’t be polite and sit down. The boss will treat us so we can eat a lot.”

The group immediately sat down to eat.

Liu Chuan watched the people quickly grabbing the food and couldn’t help laughing. “You seem to be starving?”

Xiao Gu spoke while eating, “Of course. In the afternoon, we rushed to the venue and played three consecutive games. There was no break in the middle and lunch has already been digested. I was so hungry that my stomach went up to my chest.”

Liu Chuan looked at him curiously. “But you didn’t play?”

Gu Siming made an upright expression. “A soy sauce will also be hungry!”

Li Cangyu patted him on the shoulder. “Then eat a bit more and save energy. You have to play well in the next match.”

Gu Siming excitedly replied, “No problem, wait to see my handsome performance!”

Xie Shurong couldn’t help interjecting, “This line was originally mine. Why is everyone learning it?”

Zhang Jueming agreed. “Yes, it isn’t good for you little guys to learn how to brag from Ah Shu.”

Xiao Han mused, “Uncle Zhang, didn’t you say that you are very handsome in today’s interview?”

Zhang Jueming pretended to be innocent. “Did I?”

During this time, Li Cangyu quickly took care of the plate of fish in front of him. Bai Xuan picked up the chopsticks and only took a bite when he saw empty plates. Bai Xuan helplessly asked, “Aren’t you going to leave anything for me?”

Li Cangyu wiped his mouth with contentment and replied seriously, “Eating is about seizing opportunities. You were listening to their bragging and missed the best timing to eat fish. You can’t blame me.”

Bai Xuan laughed. “You are so serious when talking nonsense!”

Xie Shurong suddenly gave him a piece of ribs in a thoughtful manner. “This one is for you. It is the last piece.”

It was like a war zone at the table. Xie Shurong’s hand speed was truly much faster than the four newcomers if he could grab the last piece of ribs. However, his favourite dish was ribs. How was he willing to give the last piece to Bai Xuan? Bai Xuan was very confused about this. “Shouldn’t you keep it to eat yourself? Why are you trying to curry favour by giving it to me?”

Xie Shurong laughed. “Giving my favourite food to you to eat, isn’t this true love?”

Bai Xuan was startled and he suddenly felt a bit awkward.

A joke like this between men wasn’t a big deal. When he was in university, a roommate saw him washing clothes and stated, “Bai Xuan, you are outstanding. I really want to marry you,” and other such jokes. These roommates had girlfriends but jokes like this were part of the daily life of a boy’s dormitory. Bai Xuan didn’t think there was anything wrong with it.

Today, Xie Shurong called him the perfect partner. This sentence spoken by a mature professional player was a bit excessive.

There were many excellent teammates in the team. If Ah Shu was partnered with Cat God, they would form a very fast output combination. If he was paired with Old Zhang, his output would double. In the second division, he teamed up with Li Xiaojiang as a demonstration to Zhuo Hang and the effect was good.

Xie Shurong’s words about the perfect partner were excluding all other teammates.

Of course, the other players knew that this person had a bragging personality and his words wouldn’t be true. Thus, they didn’t become angry. However, Bai Xuan couldn’t help feeling strange.

There was also the ‘true love’ that Xie Shurong said just now. Bai Xuan looked at the ribs on the plate and suddenly found the food hard to swallow.

The other teammates were present so Bai Xuan didn’t care about this person for the moment.

Then after they returned to the dorms, Bai Xuan took a shower and lay in bed. The more he thought about it, the more he felt that things weren’t quite right.

In New York, Xie Shurong’s main purpose of his spoiled actions was to eat. The American ICE Club’s food was mainly Western food and Ah Shu wasn’t used to it. Bai Xuan’s cooking was also excellent and his homemade dishes delicious. Ah Shu never forgot it after eating once and often ran over to eat ribs. This was understandable.

Yet there was no need to cling to Bai Xuan after returning to China.

Come to think about it, Bai Xuan had never cooked since moving into the team dorms of the Dragon Song Club. First, the Dragon Song Club had its own restaurant. Liu Chuan spent a lot of money to hire a few local chefs who were very good at cooking in order to manage the players’ diet. Second, after the establishment of the Canglan team, the training time was heavy. Bai Xuan was a professional player and must take care of his hands. Li Cangyu also didn’t want him to waste time cooking.

Why was Ah Shu still clinging to Bai Xuan?

During the last away game, he shared a room with Ah Shu. Then Ah Shu sleepwalked in the middle of the night and hugged him all night. In retrospect, Ah Shu’s sleepwalking problem might not be real.

Bai Xuan became more confused the more he thought about it.

A man with a good relationship with another man would hug each other, clasp hands to encourage each other and place an arm around the shoulders. These movements were normal. However, Xie Shurong always liked to hug him from behind, put his head on Bai Xuan’s shoulders and also pretended to sleepwalk to hold him while sleeping. This was overdoing it.

If it was Xiao Han or Li Xiaojiang doing this, Bai Xuan would think that they were treating him as a big brother. On the other hand, Xie Shurong was already in his twenties. Shouldn’t there be a limit to acting childish?

Did he think that Bai Xuan had a good temper and was easy to bully, which was why he joked around unscrupulously?

Bai Xuan couldn’t help feeling a bit angry when he thought this. He lay under his blanket and frowned slightly.

***

That night, Bai Xuan didn’t sleep well because his head was in a mess. Xie Shurong was also tossing and turning next door because he was thinking about how comfortable Bai Xuan was to hold and fantasizing about kissing Bai Xuan.

They met in the bathroom the next morning and both of them had panda eyes.

Xie Shurong asked, “Vice-Captain Bai, didn’t you sleep well?”

Bai Xuan reluctantly smiled. “Yes, I had insomnia. What about you?”

Xie Shurong smiled. “I also had insomnia. What were you thinking about?”

Bai Xuan’s face became slightly cold and he turned his head to ignore Xie Shurong.

Xie Shurong felt concerned. “What is it? Are you feeling uncomfortable?” He gently placed a hand on Bai Xuan’s forehead to check if this person had a fever. The result was Bai Xuan taking a step back, his brow slightly wrinkled. “I’m fine.”

Xie Shurong was puzzled as he watched Bai Xuan walk away stiffly. Why did he feel that the vice-captain was rejecting him this morning? Had he offended Bai Xuan somehow?

***

Everyone came to the training room on time. Li Cangyu connected to the big screen and briefly summed up the match against Flying Feathers. He also praised the progress of the teenagers.

“The important thing isn’t the 2:1 score. It is that you have learnt a lot. Your level and mentality have improved. I hope that all of you will continue to work hard.”

He turned off the video and opened a PPT file on the USB. “Our next opponent is the Red Fox team. Everyone knows that this is a very special team. It is the only pure women’s team in the Miracle League.”

“Everyone shouldn’t underestimate the female players. In the years that Yu Bing was captain, Red Fox beat many strong teams. Now Red Fox has Liu Xiang, who is a meticulous and hard-working captain. Their overall strength isn’t as high as Flying Feathers and Time but they can be more difficult to fight than Flying Feathers and Time.”

“I can guess 50~60% of Su Guangmo’s arrangements but I can’t guess Liu Xiang’s thoughts at all…”

Old Zhang heard this and interrupted. “Cat God, you don’t understand what girls are thinking. It is no wonder why you have no girlfriend.”

Li Cangyu smiled and touched his nose, not refuting the words. He only thought in his heart, ‘I have no girlfriend? I have a boyfriend! I won the first male god of the Miracle League. I’m not saying anything because I don’t want to abuse you single dogs.’

Li Cangyu’s eyes swept over the team and found that Bai Xuan was in a daze. He asked doubtfully, “Vice-Captain Bai, is something wrong?”

Bai Xuan recovered his spirit and smiled awkwardly. “It is nothing. Go ahead and continue talking.”

Li Cangyu went on to analyze the Red Fox team but Bai Xuan was uneasy. His state wasn’t very good when training in the morning and the depression in his heart choked him at lunch.

***

The team members had a fixed lunch break every day. Xie Shurong entered the dormitory and ran to Bai Xuan’s bedroom, asking with worry, “Vice-Captain Bai, what’s wrong with you today? Are you in a bad mood?”

Bai Xuan had endured it all morning and finally couldn’t suppress it anymore. “I have something to say to you.”

Xie Shurong saw his serious expression and immediately sat down like a good student. “Mr. Bai, please tell me. I am listening.”

If this was a normal situation then Bai Xuan would be amused by his appearance.

Today, Vice-Captain Bai just watched the young man in front of him and told him seriously, “Ah Shu, we are teammates. I want to get along with you so I haven’t paid much attention to your wayward actions. However, you can’t keep doing it because I don’t mind. The joke had gone too far. In particular, sleepwalking to hold me while sleeping and clinging to me all day. I can’t accept jokes like this. Do you understand?”

The smile on Xie Shurong’s face gradually faded as he watched Bai Xuan seriously.

Bai Xuan realized that he might’ve hurt Xie Shurong’s self-esteem and changed his expression, making it more like a joke. “Cough, I mean… there are many ways to express a good relationship between men. Your way… feels too overdone. If you go on, you definitely won’t get a girlfriend in the future.”

“I’m not going to get a girlfriend. You don’t have to worry about this.” Xie Shurong suddenly interrupted Bai Xuan, looking a bit hurt. “Bai Xuan, do you think I am deliberately bullying you by making these jokes?”

Bai Xuan was stunned by Xie Shurong calling him by his full name.

The young man in front of him was particularly serious. He was no longer as shameless as usual as he stared at Bai Xuan. “Haven’t you thought of another possibility?”

Bai Xuan’s spirit returned and he wondered, “What.. possibility?”

Xie Shurong smiled. “For example, I want to be close to you, I want to hold you because… I like you?”

“…Eh?” Bai Xuan was completely dumbfounded.