Lin Miao had never been someone who could keep a lot to herself. After a bit of hesitation, she could no longer resist asking the Young Master: “Gege, has anyone written a love letter to you?”
Meanwhile, the Young Master had just stepped out of his shower and was drying his hair with a towel. Reading the message, his hand with the towel paused on top of his head. It wasn’t because of the content of the message, but rather the reason why Lin Miao was asking him this.
No one bothered to do anything as complicated as writing letters to him. It was mostly messaging him, or confessing to him in person.
He rejected all of them.
So, the Young Master replied, “No, what’s up?”
Immediately after, he felt endangered. Without waiting for a response, he followed up his message, “Have you?”
He already had an answer in his mind when he sent the text. If she hadn’t, why would Lin Miao suddenly ask this question?
Lin Miao was pretty, and she was also one of the top athletes in her team. Since she probably had many teammates her age, how could no one have affection for her?
Furthermore, Lin Miao didn’t use her phone often, so love letters were actually a possibility.
The Young Master visualized the scene of a badminton player her age handing her a love letter, panicking.
He suddenly felt a bit of unreasonable anger towards himself.
Then, he heard a notification ring.
Lin Miao: “I have, but I knew what he really wanted the moment I saw it. He just wanted to practice badminton with me. Gege will definitely receive these letters in the future as well, you need to find their real intentions.” I have to share my experience with Gege, so that he won’t be swindled.
The irate Young Master instantaneously burst into tears and laughter. He was also gratified and assured, feeling that the entire team was safe, as they all just wanted to practice badminton with her.
So he replied, “What type of love letter isn’t deceitful?”
“I don’t know.” Lin Miao had no more experience in this.
The Young Master: “…” His dunderheaded girl.
After her birthday, Lin Miao returned to her sports school.
Tan Jing welcomed Lin Miao back with a late birthday present. She gave her a rainbow-coloured bracelet she made herself.
Lin Miao joyously put on the bracelet around her wrist and continued practicing as usual.
Due to the upcoming Olympics, there were occasional visits from reporters. However, since Lin Miao didn’t feel very comfortable with them, her coach didn’t compel her to talk to them.
Because of this, the brother Shui fans didn’t get a single update from her for many months.
Mu Qingqing didn’t think that she liked Lin Miao, but she still followed the feeds related to her. She didn’t receive any updates, so she thought that Lin Miao wouldn’t compete with her for resources.
She had received an offer for a highschool life drama, so her popularity will rise slowly but surely.
Mu Qingqing wanted to visit the Yu family, but they never accepted her. Then, she found a rare opportunity and met the Young Master’s mother at a banquet.
She studied the still glamorous woman with her eyes. She remained the spotlight wherever she went. Mu Qingqing’s heart was filled with envy. One day, she thought, I will also be where she is.
Mu Qingqing looked around the hall and confirmed that the Young Master wasn’t with his mother, a bit saddened.
Even though she had to participate in some photo shoots, she was sure that she would have an edge over a person detached from society who devotes herself to practicing.
She followed her mother to the Young Master’s mother, intending to bridge a relationship between them.
The Young Master’s mother turned around, and saw… that girl!
Even though she had some fun ridiculing her on the plane, it wouldn’t be enjoyable if she continued, so she took the opportunity to greet them first, “Hello, we meet again.”
Mu Qingqing was shocked. She had met the Young Master’s mother when she was sent to their house at a very young age. She didn’t expect her to still remember her, “You… still… remember me?”
The Young Master’s mother smiled. “Of course, we met on the plane during the flight to the last world championships.”
Mu Qingqing was a bit confused. Did we meet on the plane?
She continued in her friendly tone, “I sat beside my little Yu, did you forget?”
“Oh really, what a coincidence.” Mu Qingqing’s mother said smilingly.
Mu Qingqing swallowed, looking at the person in front of her, finally associating her with the simple university student beside the Young Master.
The memories of her teasing her in the washroom flooded Mu Qingqing's mind, so she hurriedly wrapped up the conversation and left.
The Young Master’s mother told this to her son when she returned from the banquet, jokingly poking fun at him, “She’s an adorer of yours. You don’t like her, do you? Or else I’d have sinned.”
The Young Master had no words to reply to this mother of his. He could only state his viewpoint, saying, “I won’t date prematurely.”
The Young Master’s mother thought that… There’s quite a difference between that and having a crush on somebody.
To be honest, she felt that there was something up with her son, but he never told her.
Lin Miao was probably one of the closest people to him, but her days were occupied with badminton practice, so she didn’t have many opportunities to ask her what he was hiding.
Lin Miao was also in an awkward situation.
Someone caught and stopped her during one of her morning runs. She always starts at 5:15 in the morning. In her many years of following this habit, she has barely met anyone. It was quite surprising that someone would find her this early.
“Brother Shui, I have something to ask you.” The person who stopped her was the tall and skinny Tong Jin, the boy’s singles champion in China last year.
Lin Miao stopped to look at him, waiting for him to continue.
Being met with this gaze, Tong Jin tightened his fists and asked, “You looked really good in your competitions, how about we have a match?”
Lin Miao willingly accepted. She also liked playing with new people as it could better prepare her for surprises and accidents in competitions.
Most of her opponents in tournaments were basically total strangers to her.
The two played two games, and Lin Miao won both of them. Even though both were tough games, she still won them, fair and square.
Tong Jin felt a bit awkward, so he left.
Lin Miao: “…” She wanted to play again some other day, but it seems like that would never happen.
After her own morning exercise, came the team’s practice.
Unlike Lin Miao, Tan Jing would feel very uncomfortable if she woke up too early, so she usually followed her team’s morning schedule.
The days of practice were repetitive and boring, but they were always kept busy. The most mentioned term, now, was the Olympics.
Due to the upcoming Olympics, she was under a lot more pressure than before.
Lin Miao was now a complete caveman. She used to turn on her phone every week, but now it is every month. She would only talk a bit with the Young Master and her family.
It was just chatting; she didn’t mention her competitions nor the Olympics.
She realized that her older brother’s English was very euphonious. Sometimes, when she was tired, she would listen to him read some English literature.
She had been abroad many times, and had heard much authentic English, but she still found her older brother’s voice the most appealing.
In Tan Jing’s words, she was pure-hearted, desireless, and just devoted herself to practicing.
Her practice scores that followed were pretty stable. Lin Miao stayed calm and relaxed, waiting for the Olympics while training.
The popularity of the Olympics rose exponentially as athletes moved into their competition lodging.
Her teammates all brought their phones along with them, but Lin Miao was too afraid of losing her phone abroad. It was the phone the Young Master gave to her, and she had many pictures of him on it. She wasn’t taking the risk, as there had been multiple instances where she lost her badminton racket. If it wasn’t for her winning all her competitions, her coach would definitely scold her.
She also didn’t have many uses for a smartphone during the Olympics.
She didn’t contact the Young Master in advance, so she didn’t even know if he was there to spectate in person.
She was also unaware of how happy her fans were when they finally got their hands on some fresh pictures of her. Out of all the athletes, Lin Miao was the only one who had gone completely silent during their intensive training sessions.
Even though Lin Miao didn’t have any social media accounts and barely made any messages, she couldn’t stop others from spreading the updates.
And because of her lack of social media, at least discovered accounts, the sports enthusiasts created a little community account.
It had all of Lin Miao’s pictures. Some of them were from when she arrived at the airport, and the rest were from when she was moving into the Olympics’ athletes’ lodge.
To everyone's surprise, the retired but still popular Young Master’s mother followed the Weibo account.
She also reposted the top post there, saying, “Go brother Shui!”
It felt as if worlds were colliding. The two were in completely different places, if not dimensions.
But others made a point that all the stars in the entertainment circle were focused on the Olympics. It was the biggest thing in society, and Lin Miao was already pretty popular, too.
Longtime followers say that things went further back, and that the Young Master’s mother had reposted Weibos about Lin Miao a couple of years ago in a motherly tone. There were also pictures of the Young Master watching a competition, but they couldn’t tell if it was Lin Miao’s match.
Then, they dug the old post out.
It made many peoples’ jaws drop, as Lin Miao wasn’t the world champion then, but the Young Master’s mother still found her without her champion’s halo. She probably likes her a lot.
“Celebrities are still people, they can have their own idols.”
Another group of more experienced people meekly posted that there was a mad argument between Lin Miao’s fans and the Young Master’s fans half a year ago. It didn’t make it out of their small circles, but one could still find the stacked threads if they searched hard enough.
So, everyone fell silent, and the scene became quite awkward.
The Young Master’s mother also finally became aware of this.
She followed the details to the threads, and scrolled through their entireties with amusement.
Finally, she concluded that she missed this great scene because she was celebrating her son’s birthday.
So, to make the scene even bigger, she sent this thread to her son.
The Young Master’s fans were finally able to confirm that the Young Master did have a Weibo, and it was the “Yuyuyuyuyu” account.
Even though the name was a bit odd, it didn’t affect his handsome face!
The Young Master’s first post was the repost of the Lin Miao community Weibo’s pinned post: “Go Shuishui”
Some other netizens posted things directing others back to the Young Master’s mother’s Weibo.
Everyone realized that the Young Master’s mother’s last top trending Weibo was about what happened then.
Watching the netizens conduct their investigation, she couldn't help but admire their creativity. Even though things aren’t as they suspected, they somehow made it seem logical and convincing.
However, she didn’t explain anything. After all, posting things like “We’re family with Shuishui” seemed pretty lunatic.
Lin Miao was absent from the discussion online. She had already begun her first match of the Olympics.
It was like any other game.
Only when she won did it become apparent to Lin Miao that this was the Olympics.
However, while wiping her sweat, she realized that aside from the increased amount of fans cheering for her, this wasn’t much different from the other international competitions. This thought made her much more relieved.
Exiting the field, she was met with a sea of microphones.
The reporters surrounded her, trying to get an interview.
“How do you think you performed?”
“Do you have any confidence in the next match?”
Lin Miao: “…” What a complicated question, should I say that I’m confident, that I did well, or not very well?
It would be awkward if I lose right after I say that I’m confident.
But if I said that I’m not confident, wouldn’t that build others confidence, and make me look weak?
So, Lin Miao responded, breathing heavily, “Let me go ask the others what our lunch menu is. I’m starving…”
Then… She lightly ran away, bag over her back, and towel in her hand, leaving the cameramen with a shot of her back!
Leaving the reporters frozen in their places.
It gave all of Lin Miao’s fans watching the livestream a real good laugh.
There were comments saying that she should’ve answered the questions properly, but others rebutted that Lin Miao had the choice to decline. She happily finished and won the match. She was hungry, so they should let her go eat. An athlete’s job was to fight for their homeland and compete for excellence. Which one was brother Shui missing? Her job wasn’t to take interviews.
That discussion ended there.
She kept herself occupied during and after lunch. She watched other people’s competition videos, as she would be matched up against some of them.
Then, Lin Miao saw a familiar figure. It was the Japanese girl she won against in the world championships.
Even though the web was still praising Lin Miao for her being able to win with an injury, Lin Miao knew that she was a formidable foe.
Lin Miao took a bite out of her apple. Looking at her on the screen, she felt that she would still be matched up against her if she were able to make the cut into the finals.
Lin Miao carefully analyzed all her competition footage.
The news of Lin Miao qualifying for the semifinals was mostly overshadowed by the medal ceremonies of other events.
Of course, those focused on badminton were glad for her, and waited anxiously for her next match.
Even though she was on foreign soil, Lin Miao fell asleep shortly after eight.
She slept well and sound, so much that she didn’t even dream.
She still exercised in the early morning, keeping her normal rhythm of life.
Her next match was in the afternoon, so she relaxed herself and went to watch some other competitions.
There were even more eyes on her during the semifinals. Striding onto the field, she heard many chanting her name.
Lin Miao had become a veteran at international competitions. She was mostly unaffected, her expressions unchanged.
In the audience rows, the Young Master’s mother cupped her tender face, exclaiming, “Brother Shui’s entrance is so forceful, full of vigor!”
The Young Master: “…”
The audience was always more nervous than the people competing down on the field.
Especially the live broadcast audience, wanting to jump on the television and to the live scene.
There wasn’t much negativity around on the internet. Most of the people who would stay up so late for the live broadcast were the sports fans.
Lin Miao always followed the same strategy, which was stability.
She kept a positive mindset throughout the entire match, playing conservatively until her opponents became impatient and tired.
Then, she would finally start her aggression with her smashes.
So, the first halves of her games were all so gut-wrenching for the spectators.
Then, seeing that Lin Miao had won, the crowd erupted and boiled of cheers.
Looking at Lin Miao walking out, the Young Master’s mother exclaimed again, “Brother Shui is too good!”
Then, her typical “sharing everything positive” celebrity habit kicked in, already posting on Weibo.
“What to do when my son’s too cold: Brother Shui winning in style! I cheer for her! [Picture]”
It was a picture of the live scene. Being at the top of the entertainment circle, the photography was immaculate! Lin Miao did really look like a pretty girl filled with vitality.
Most of the comments and replies were:
“You’re watching it in person?!”
“My goddess is using this fangirling tone!”
“My goddess and I both like the same person!”