“How do you know?”
Wu Qi looked at him with some surprise. The girl over there had finished her leg presses and was walking in another direction with her friend. There was a small gate on the side of the stadium, and a few minutes’ walk from there was a cafeteria at A University, presumably where they were going to eat.
Xu Jingyu watched her slender figure and remembered her patient and gentle way of coaxing Ying Chi. He felt that most people wouldn’t be able to refuse her, especially not someone like Ying Chi. Seeing that she was about to leave, he nodded towards her, “What do you think? Should we call her back?”
But what was her name?
Wu Qi smiled, “Forget it, it’s not good to push too hard. I left my business card with Ying Chi. If he changes his mind, he’ll call me.” He had recently discovered a few good prospects and was busy with that. He planned to put things on hold with Ying Chi for now.
In boxing competitions, it wasn’t just about skill, but also about fighting spirit and passion.
If Ying Chi didn’t even have the basic fighting spirit, then even if he recruited him into the team, it would be useless.
Xu Jingyu understood what he meant, smirked, and didn’t say anything more.
On the other side, Zhong Weiwei turned her head a few times and couldn’t help but ask Ying Huan, “Do you know that guy in the red baseball jersey?”
Using terms like “man” and “boy” to describe Xu Jingyu seemed a bit inappropriate, because he did indeed look different from many male students on campus. With his short crew cut, sharp facial features, and tall and straight figure, he looked like a man full of hormones, a young man.
Most importantly, he looked somewhat familiar, as if she had seen him somewhere before…
Ying Huan thought for a moment and said, “I guess you could say I do. Ying Chi fought him in a boxing match and lost ten thousand yuan.”
“Ah?”
Ying Huan briefly explained the situation, including the fact that her orthodontist was Xu Jingyu’s mother.
“So, he’s a boxer then?”
“Yeah, a professional boxer.”
Zhong Weiwei smiled, “You two seem quite fated.”
Ying Huan said, “A doomed fate.”
Zhong Weiwei laughed heartily, still feeling that Xu Jingyu looked very familiar. A man as handsome as him, she wouldn’t forget if she had seen him before. “What’s his name? I feel like I’ve seen him somewhere. Is he an athlete? There should be some information about him on campus forums or online.”
“Zhou Baihao.”
“Let me search for him later.”
“Why are you searching for him?”
“He’s good-looking, I want to see if he has a girlfriend, hehe.”
Ying Huan was speechless. However, like Ying Chi, when Zhong Weiwei searched for “Zhou Baihao,” she found nothing. Lin Siyu was in the Student Union, and she asked classmates from other colleges, but no one knew him!
Zhong Weiwei remarked, “Mysterious.”
Lin Siyu said, “Maybe he’s not a student?”
“He is a student.”
Ying Huan remembered Dr. Du mentioning that her son also studied at A University. As for his major and year, she didn’t know.
She didn’t dwell on this matter much. Sometimes, when she saw a boy wearing a red baseball jersey on the street, she would think of him. Because she really hadn’t seen anyone else who looked as good in red. They all looked the same to her.
On the weekend, she went home.
A University was quite far from her home. She had to take two subway transfers and a bus to get there. When she returned home, Ying Chi hadn’t finished his self-study yet.
Ying Huan put the review materials she bought for him on his desk. His desk was messy, so she tidied it up for him. She sorted out the books and stood them up so that they were easier to access.
When she picked up the last book, she found a card underneath. Ying Huan picked it up and looked at it, feeling a moment of confusion. Images of Xu Jingyu’s T-shirt and the logo on the baseball jersey flashed through her mind, and they matched the logo on the card.
Wu Qi.
Tianbo Boxing Club coach.
So it was a team uniform.
Ying Huan knew about the Tianbo Boxing Club. Its headquarters was in Beijing, and there was a branch near their school’s west gate. It was the largest and best boxing club in China, hosting many events. Many excellent professional and amateur boxers came from there.
She pressed her tongue against her small teeth. What did the club coach want with Ying Chi? Was he trying to recruit him into the team?
Previously, the underground boxing club where Ying Chi fought had a very strong boxer who was later poached by another club, reportedly to go to the United States to compete professionally. Ying Chi only started winning consecutive cash prizes after he left.
Ying Huan pinched the business card, feeling that this was a good opportunity. She didn’t know why Ying Chi hadn’t told her.
The siblings rarely had secrets. Ying Huan waited for Ying Chi to come home after evening self-study, closed his door, held up the business card in front of him, and directly asked, “Why didn’t you tell me? Don’t you want to go?”
Ying Chi slumped in his chair, seeing the business card, hesitated for a moment. He scratched his head and said softly, “I don’t want to go. It’s almost the senior year, and you and Mom and Dad want me to focus on studying, right?”
Ying Huan breathed a sigh of relief. “What did the coach say? Can you still go after the college entrance examination?”
“…Maybe.”
“Maybe my foot. You already refused.”
Seeing Ying Chi’s eyes flickering, Ying Huan half-closed her eyes. “Tell the truth, or else I won’t care about you in the future.”
Ying Chi: “…”
Ying Huan: “Will you tell me or not?”
Ying Chi wanted to struggle a bit more, pretended to be reluctant, and lay on the bed, “I really don’t want to go. Even if I go, I don’t know how many years I can compete. I’ll just go to the gym for small competitions, earn some prize money, I never planned to make boxing my profession…”
Not knowing how many years…
Ying Huan suddenly didn’t know what to say. She bit her lip, threw her school bag at him, “Get up and do your homework.”
She took the business card away.
Ying Chi hesitated for a moment, wanting her to leave the business card, but he didn’t dare.
The next morning, after Ying Huan got up, she saw Ying Chi practicing shadow boxing on the balcony. Shadow boxing was the most common training method in boxing. Since there were no training tools at home, Ying Chi spent almost every day practicing shadow boxing.
She watched for a few seconds, went to brush her teeth and wash her face, changed her clothes in the room, and then dragged Ying Chi out the door.
Ying Chi didn’t understand and asked where they were going, but Ying Huan didn’t tell him. When he stood in front of the Tianbo Boxing Club, he was stunned for a moment, then realized what was happening. He quickly grabbed Ying Huan, “Sis, what are you doing? I’m not going…”
Although it was just a branch, Tianbo Boxing Club was still quite large, and through the floor-to-ceiling windows of Norda, they could see the scene inside.
Ying Huan took a quick glance, then turned back to Ying Chi, pursing her lips with a smile. “I’ll go take a look.”
With that, she pushed his hand away and walked towards the entrance.
Ying Chi stood still, glanced at the scene inside, couldn’t resist scratching his head, and followed her.
The siblings walked in one after the other. Just as they passed the front desk, Wu Qi happened to pass by. He saw them, paused for a moment, then looked at Ying Chi, smiling. “Kid, have you made up your mind?”
Ying Huan looked at the man in front of her, around 40 years old, not tall, around 170 cm, but very spirited.
She turned to look at Ying Chi, who reluctantly said, “This is Coach Wu.”
Ying Huan smiled politely. “Hello, Coach Wu.”
Wu Qi thought Ying Chi was persuaded by Ying Huan to come here and looked at her with some admiration. “Xu Jingyu is right. You’re really something.”
Ying Huan: “Huh?”
Who was Xu Jingyu?
Wu Qi smiled, his attention now on Ying Chi. He walked over and patted him on the shoulder. “It’s good that you’ve come to your senses. Isn’t it great to be specially admitted to A University? You’ll be in the same school as your girlfriend.”
Ying Chi: “…”
Ying Huan: “…He’s my younger brother, my real brother.”
Wu Qi was taken aback for a moment, then patted his forehead and smiled awkwardly. “Oh, I see. I… sorry, I didn’t realize, you two don’t really look alike, I couldn’t tell…”
Ying Chi was also speechless and pointed to Ying Huan. “My sister, Ying Huan.”
Ying Huan had already realized what was happening and asked him, “Specially admitted to A University? How come I didn’t know about this?”
Wu Qi looked at her. “You didn’t know?”
Ying Chi was completely passive now, and could only explain the situation quietly.
Wu Qi really thought Ying Chi had come to his senses. He patted his shoulder. “Want to take a tour first? We can talk as we walk.”
“Once you’ve figured it out, that’s good. Getting into A University is a rare opportunity. I’ve told you before about the relationship between A University’s team and the club. WSB is the only professional event connected to the Olympics, and it’s also one of the qualifiers for the Olympic Games. I know you young people are full of passion and dreams, wanting to win gold medals and then pursue a professional career…” Wu Qi rambled on, walking and talking along the way. These words were actually directed at Ying Huan.
This was a very professional boxing gym, with a central boxing ring and various training rooms and equipment.
Ying Chi’s eyes lit up as he looked around.
Ying Huan understood his concerns. Ying Hai had been undergoing dialysis treatment and would eventually need a kidney transplant. In terms of relatives who could be donors… besides her uncle, there was Ying Chi.
She took a deep breath. As they passed by a training room, someone came out of it and almost collided with her. The door was open, and she looked up, only to see a man doing weighted pull-ups facing the door.
At a glance, his face seemed somewhat familiar.
She thought for a moment.
Oh, it’s Zhou Baihao.
The man was wearing red boxing shorts, bare-chested, slowly pulling himself up. Every muscle on his arms was being activated, tight and solid. Sweat dripped down from his prominent Adam’s apple, making his whole body glisten as if it were oiled, looking particularly muscular.
She wondered if it was an illusion, but she felt he looked somewhat different from the last time they met, more robust, more muscular. Ying Huan felt a little dazed, thinking that if she were to poke his muscles with her finger, they would probably be harder than stone, right?
She glanced back at Ying Chi, who had already been led away by Wu Qi. A thought flashed through her mind, and she stopped in her tracks, standing firmly at the door.
From the moment she stood at the door, Xu Jingyu saw her.
He squinted his eyes, following his breathing rhythm, up and down, slightly panting.
Beside him, Shi Lei, who was resting, started counting for him. “197, 198, 199, 200…”
When he counted to 200, Xu Jingyu jumped down.
Ying Huan saw him stop to rest and walked in.
Xu Jingyu raised an eyebrow slightly, grabbed a towel nearby and wiped himself casually, glanced at her, threw away the towel, and picked up the red baseball jacket, putting it on directly.
After Ying Huan walked in, she realized there were two other people inside.
One of them was sitting in the corner, tall and muscular, with long, powerful arms, looking… like a Neanderthal. She paused for a moment, feeling a bit embarrassed as she realized she was somewhat intruding, after all, she wasn’t familiar with him.
She stopped a few steps away and heard the burly man pinch his voice and laugh in a high-pitched voice, “Respectful King, 200.”
Ying Huan: “…”
She got goosebumps all over her body, shocked, and turned her head to look at the ape-like man.
Xu Jingyu pulled the pull-up bar up to the top of his neck and kicked Shi Lei in the leg, saying, “Get lost, stop disgusting me.”
Shi Lei screamed and quickly got up. With a glimpse, he noticed a girl in a white sweater in the training room. Her slightly curly hair fell loosely over her shoulders, pure and white, with black and bright eyes, but her mouth looked a bit strange…
But, she was quite pretty.
He chuckled, “Miss, who are you looking for?”
Shi Lei winked at Xu Jingyu: Is this another girl who came to the club to find you? You really know how to attract people.
Xu Jingyu ignored him, leaned against the equipment, and casually looked at her face, asking, “Looking for me?”
Ying Huan nodded, “Yeah.”
“Go ahead, what’s up?” Xu Jingyu picked up the water bottle next to him, wondering why she was here and what she wanted from him, a little curious.
Ying Huan pursed her lips and spoke a bit quickly, “Um, about Zhou Baihao, I have something I’d like to ask you to help with…”
“Hold on.” Xu Jingyu took a sip of water, glanced at her, put down the water bottle, and interrupted her, “Let me correct you first. My name is not Zhou Baihao.”
“Huh?” Ying Huan was stunned, her first reaction being that she mistook the person?
Shi Lei looked bewildered and asked first, “What did you just call him? Zhou Baihao?”
Was this girl face-blind, chasing after the wrong person? Or did she boldly pursue him without even getting the name right?
Ying Huan was even more confused, looking at Xu Jingyu, “Isn’t that right?”
That night, the host clearly said his name was Zhou Baihao. Even if she remembered wrong, Ying Chi wouldn’t have forgotten, he mentioned it so many times.
Seeing her bewildered expression, Xu Jingyu found it somewhat amusing, feeling no guilt at all after using a false name to fool people, and calmly said, “Of course not.”
Ying Huan: “…Then who are you?”
“I am…” Xu Jingyu stood up straight, chuckled lightly, “Xu Jingyu.”
Ying Huan was silent for a moment. “Then who is Zhou Baihao? A fake name?”
Xu Jingyu: “He’s an investor in the club.”
Shi Lei: “He’s the boss.”
Ying Huan: “…”
