Lin Miao’s family couldn’t stay long due to work back in China, so they returned the day after.
Lin Miao had to wait until the Olympics ended, so she stayed for a few more days.
The dress she wore yesterday was her teammate’s. Her figure was small, so the dress was naturally a bit big for her.
One morning, when Lin Miao came back from her jog, her coach handed her a box, “It’s from your brother.”
Outsiders weren’t allowed to come into the athletes’ lodging area, so the Young Master gave it to her coach.
Lin Miao was surprised. What would Gege give me?
The box was nicely decorated. Back in her room, Lin Miao opened the box and saw a white dress laying inside.
Taking it out, she noticed that it was quite long. There was a set of clothes underneath, too.
Lin Miao’s face reddened. Coincidentally, her teammates came in and saw her dress.
“Brother Shui, your dress is so pretty, when’d you buy it?”
Because everyone knew yesterday that Lin Miao forgot to bring extra clothes.
“My older brother bought it for me.” Lin Miao explained.
The girls looked at her profoundly, and then all spoke, “Go try it! It’ll look great on you!”
They were right, and the fabric was comfortable, too.
However, the Young Master had gone back to China due to things in his school.
Lin Miao continued to watch the Olympics with everyone during the day, trying out foreign gourmets during mealtime. At night, lying on her bed in her pajamas and looking at the dress hanging on the side, she wanted to message the Young Master.
But, Gege was probably already asleep.
Back in China, the web quickly turned their focus to other sports, but a lot of the badminton fans still hoped for another interview of Lin Miao, or even a film about her daily life.
Many older fans commented that brother Shui went silent for three months after the last world championships. She didn’t even participate in any competitions. After that, there weren't many updates, either. All that was public was her competition footage.
They were afraid of her going silent for months again after the Olympics, or even all the way until next year’s world championships.
But someone said that she could accept some advertisement offers since she was pretty and now world famous from the Olympics. It would be another way to see her face.
The comment was met with discontent. A portion of the fans thought that no matter how mature brother Shui was, she was still only 16, and the entertainment circle was an impetuous place. It was very dynamic and violent, especially because insults came easily. People there would definitely start attacking her upon the slightest drop in her performance, so they didn’t want her in the entertainment circle no matter what.
The one who suggested this had to clarify that they only meant signing some advertisement contracts, and not for her to enter the circle.
Lastly, there was another group of fans who were afraid that Lin Miao might not have as many opportunities to study techniques with all the compliments and praise that’s circulating.
And so Lin Miao’s fanbase spent days discussing this problem that didn’t even have a sign of appearing.
Lin Miao’s days consisted of watching competitions, eating, and sleeping. She didn’t have any interviews apart from the one right after the finals. She didn’t show up in any of the follow up interviews.
Her fans were originally displeased, thinking that the Olympics team didn’t like her, but later realized that Lin Miao didn’t like interviews, so they didn’t force it upon her, either.
The team manager didn’t really pay much attention to her until the Olympics, when they realized that she was quite a talent. They didn’t place much importance on interviews, so they let her drop out if she didn’t like them.
Even though Lin Miao didn’t speak for herself, she couldn’t go unmentioned in her teammates’ interviews.
It was only then when her fans knew that their brother Shui was so hardworking and never played on her phone…
They stocked up on her pictures and recordings, hoping to even out the lack of updates when she disappears again.
She was received by many fans when she landed back in China. Of course, there weren’t only her fans, but fans of other people in her team, too.
She quickly returned back to her school.
Tan Jing was already waiting in front of the building and immediately pounced on her when she saw her.
Lin Miao hugged her, “Oh, this is for you.”
Lin Miao took out her gold medal and gave it to Tan Jing.
Tan Jing blinked in confusion, not understanding what she was doing.
“When we first came here, we agreed that I’d give you my Olympic medal for you to take back if I were to get one before you.”
Tan Jing froze, and then remembered how when she first left her home, her mother kept telling her that she must win an Olympic gold for her father to love her.
She had cried under her quilt, and then brother Shui came to comfort her. They shared beds that night, and when talking about their dreams, she had said that she wanted to win an Olympic gold. She was so naive back then, but she still remembered saying that.
It came to her as such a surprise that brother Shui also remembered this.
Tan Jing hugged Lin Miao back tightly, “Brother Shui, how could you be so kind to me!”
Lin Miao: “…“ Why does that sound so weird?
Alas, Tan Jing rejected it. She didn’t have any use for it, as her parents had divorced, and she didn’t need her father to love her.
However, she still gleefully wrote about this on her alt.
Did my brother Shui win today: “Hahahahahaha, my older brother is truly the best to me, she says that she wants to give her gold medal to me! Who can compare? Try beating that!”
These alts were like drops of water in an ocean so of course no one noticed the post.
Lin Miao did receive some advertisement offers, but she turned all of them down. She didn’t even pay attention to the news from outside.
The occasions she did see them, she always thought that they were overkill with their compliments.
She was more experienced with the compliments now. Last time, after the world championships, it made her feel very nervous, but this time, she was at ease. She just pretended that they were for another person and waited the period out with practice.
Initially, everything went as she expected, but then, she suddenly rose to popularity from a talk show.
When popular young actor Shang Ze was asked in an interview whether he had an idol, he responded that he liked Lin Miao, the ping pong player.
Awkward, super awkward.
It wasn’t that big of a deal for them to have a script, but it became a huge issue when he recited the script wrong.
He was definitely referring to Lin Miao, but such a mistake wouldn’t be made if he just paid even a bit of attention.
His lack of differentiation between ping pong and badminton not only drew the taunts of passersby, but also made the badminton circle very mad.
Especially when they received no statement from the program staff. They were left dumbfounded by this stupid mistake.
However, the actor’s fans immediately started protecting their idol, “The program team must have done this on purpose, my baby boy was just reading off the script.”
“Program staff does whatever they can to get more views, and now our baby has to take the blame.”
“Feel bad for our baby boy!”
Lin Miao’s fans were also unhappy: Your 24 year-old man’s a baby, but is our 16 year-old not a baby?
They were already displeased: Our brother Shui was training hard at home, and now out of nowhere is a new nickname, ‘that ping pong player.’
Can’t we also protect and defend our baby?
Lin Miao hasn’t been on the web, but some of her teammates still joked with her, “Brother Shui, what’s this? You learned ping pong?”
“Huh?” Lin Miao wasn’t in the same world as them.
Tan Jing said, “Brother Shui, just practice badminton.”
Seeing that Lin Miao was unaware of this, they didn’t mention the joke again.
Shang Ze soon sent an apology, simply saying “I was speaking too fast and misremembered. Apologies, apologies.”
The comment section was filled with his fans’ kisses, some even said that the two ball sports were about the same anyway.
The Young Master also came across this Weibo. He reposted it with a picture of badminton, and then ping pong.
A picture is worth a thousand words.
The Young Master’s mother also replied, but in a much more straightforward way, “It’s okay, things like this happen in life. Oh, your sketch comedies are pretty good. I’ll definitely support them in the future.”
Now, the crowd was hysterical. They had originally expected her to be here to support him with all her resources she still had on her hand, being one of the best. After her retirement, she has also had quite a successful career as a teacher, having taught many excellent actors and actresses.
But they didn’t expect her to be so direct in the latter half of her post.
There was a joke a while back about how Shang Ze looked similar to a young comedian.
But it was just a joke. No one would say it to his face.
Whether she purposely posted it was up to the audience.
But considering how she watched Lin Miao live at the Olympics, her posts, and how she had followed Lin Miao for many years already, one answer was more probable than the other.
Many netizens commented: “Nice job goddess, star chasing and fighting others, both done so well!”
And so the people thought that the Young Master’s mother told the Young Master to repost that post on his Weibo.
Now, Lin Miao became somewhat known in the entertainment circle, as such an event was a once in a lifetime occasion.
This time, Shang Ze’s fans weren’t able to control the scene. He was getting insulted as lacking professional expertise.
Since there was a script, then he should review it. No one would make such a beginner’s mistake.
Furthermore, some heat still remains about the Olympics, so even if he wasn’t a sports fan, he should still remember who won which sport category, right?
Lin Miao’s fans were enraged, but they didn’t want to make this any bigger in fear that they would affect Lin Miao.
Obviously, they overthought. Lin Miao only knew of this a month later.
She didn’t mind, but she was just curious about why he would say his idol was her even though he didn’t even know her.
These unanswerable questions were better left alone.
However, she did have a question she wanted to think about, which was a message from an unknown number she received tonight when she was about to message her parents and the Young Master.
“You’re brother Yu’s childhood friend right? I’m his girlfriend, can you not call him every night? You taking advantage of your early friendship and engaging with him is very annoying, you know?”
She understood every word, but it became cryptic once she linked it all together.
Lin Miao blinked and then reread the message.
Then, her heart felt… painful.
Even though she didn’t call him everyday…
But the sender’s lofty and disgusted tone tugged at her heart.
Was she… annoying?
She didn’t care what this stranger said, but rather… she wondered if the Young Master thought the same.
Lin Miao recalled that… she did call Gege often, even though it wasn’t daily, but there were still tons of times when she called…
Gege seemed to rarely call her first…
Lin Miao laid on her bed, a quilt over her. She felt her head ache, her body cold. There was something pulling down in her heart, and it was excruciating.
She didn’t want to look at her phone any more. Tossing it aside, she wanted to play badminton, but it was too late and she was exhausted from today’s practice.
Lin Miao took multiple deep breaths, wanting to calm herself. It was useless, and she still felt uncomfortable.
As if the person who seemed to be able to fly while walking before wasn’t her.
She lied on her bed for a bit more. She didn’t reply to this message, and instead couldn’t resist sending a message to the Young Master: “Gege, can you call…”
A call from the Young Master soon came.
Lin Miao picked up, but clutching her quilt, she didn’t know what to say.
Should she first ask him if he had a girlfriend?
Or ask whether he thought that she was annoying or not?
She couldn’t open her mouth, it was so uncomfortable, the most she has ever been. She didn’t dare imagine what she would do if he fell silent to her question, or admitted it.
When he rejected her when they first met, she wasn’t this sad.
But she felt so distressed.
Even more than how she would feel if she lost her competitions.
Because she wasn’t afraid of failure. She had confidence in winning it back. But now, her brother thinks that she’s annoying?
What if he really felt that way? What would she do? She had never thought of herself as annoying.
Gege had said before that he wouldn’t date, and wouldn’t marry…
No, it would be great for Gege to date or even marry. Someone would always be with him, but when he does date or marry, she should distance herself from him…
But she was still sad and afraid of growing up. Everyone changes when they grow up.
She remembered the story of Little Mei and felt even more distressed.
On the other hand, the Young Master sensed her abnormal emotions, “Shuishui, what’s wrong? Did something happen with your team?”
“No.” Lin Miao forced her tears back, but she was still sniffling loudly.
“Shuishui, are you with your team right now? Or are you at home?” The Young Master said as he walked out.
“With my team.” Lin Miao mustered her strength and asked, “Gege, do… do… you think I’m annoying?”
She felt her body freeze the moment the words came out of her mouth. She seemed to lose her senses everywhere except for her ears and heart.
The Young Master paused awkwardly, “Why would you have these thoughts? I’ve never felt that you’re annoying.”
The Young Master then spoke with his own intentions, “I love Shuishui the most, how could I find you annoying?”
“But… Gege rarely calls me.”
“Dummy, you keep your phone off all the time. I can only wait for your calls everyday.” The Young Master was already out of his house.
Lin Miao paused in silence, finally realizing that she was panicking too much, being too nervous, too scared from the “Do you know that you’re very annoying” sentence and forgot about that.
She wasn’t annoying, so she didn’t feel bad anymore.
She felt the thing gripping her heart loosen.
Gege was still speaking, “Why are you still thinking about this? Do you think I’m annoying?”
“No, not at all.” Lin Miao quickly denied. It felt horrible to be thought of as annoying by a person you valued. She would never make Gege feel this way.