26. Wang Chuqin

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The women’s singles final was underway.

Wang Chuqin had very much wanted to be there to witness his girlfriend claim yet another gold medal, but unfortunately, he had a match of his own. The two of them could only take down their opponents on their respective courts.

Without a doubt, Duan Nanzhou claimed yet another women’s singles gold. After that, all that remained was the women’s doubles match with her dear friend Shasha the following day.

Duan Nanzhou and Sun Yingsha had been opponents in the women’s singles final that day, yet the moment the match ended, they became teammates once more, preparing for the women’s doubles competition ahead.

Watching the “battle” in the women’s singles final, the spectators could not help wondering whether the two athletes could really face each other amicably once the match was over. After all, they would immediately have to become teammates again and cooperate on court. Surely that could easily affect their mental state.

There was an endless stream of discussion about it online. Everyone felt it would be rather difficult to reset one’s mindset immediately after such a match. What they did not know was that Duan Nanzhou held several different roles within the Chinese national table tennis team, so everyone had long since grown accustomed to it.

The team’s core players in particular were practically guaranteed to be “mercilessly abused” before every match. They would then improve with tears in their eyes, only to be put through another round of drills on the court, followed by a post-match review of all the problems they had displayed. It was a bitter road indeed.

So compared with losing a match and missing out on a gold medal, what saddened them more was being dragged into an analysis session afterward. That was nothing short of torture for the brain.

Duan Nanzhou had won gold in the women’s singles, while Wang Chuqin and Fan Zhendong had taken the men’s doubles gold. The young couple had truly blossomed across the Asian Games.

By the final day, the two had claimed gold medals once again. From then on, Duan Nanzhou and Wang Chuqin shared the title of four-time Asian Games champions.

When the final day of competition ended, the internet became even livelier. All kinds of short videos and comments appeared in a veritable carnival of chaos.

“They’re unbelievably strong—two four-time champions!”

“Could there be a more perfectly matched couple?”

“The Nanzhou-Chuqin ship is locked in! Seal it, seal it, seal it!”

“Everyone can finally see Big Head again. He’s finally made it through that hardest period. Sob…”

“Big Head must be thinking, ‘At last, I can stand on the podium beside her.’”

“What kind of heavenly pairing is this? Winning championships together and standing on the podium together!”

“Big Head is going home with his face split from smiling. The whole internet is full of their shippers now.”

“He’s still so young. How could he possibly hide anything? He practically wants to show off their relationship every second of every day!”

There was no denying that Wang Chuqin and Duan Nanzhou had become even more famous after these Asian Games, especially Wang Chuqin. He had endured the period when people disparaged him as lacking ability, and now he had proved to everyone just how formidable he truly was.

After every event had concluded, the Chinese national team once again left the competition with a rich harvest.

The moment Wang Chuqin’s match ended, he wanted to go find his girlfriend. Unfortunately, the reporters caught him and kept him there for an interview.

Thus, viewers watching the livestream were treated to the sight of Wang Chuqin sitting blankly in the interview area beside an equally vacant-looking Fan Zhendong. People began wondering whether the men’s singles competition had been so fierce that the two were now unwilling even to acknowledge each other.

In reality, Wang Chuqin was wondering when the interview would end so he could go find his girlfriend, while Fan Zhendong was thinking about why he still had to be interviewed and what on earth he was supposed to say. He simply wanted it to be over so he could go eat.

And so the two sat there in a prolonged standoff. The reporters were practically wiping imaginary sweat from their brows. Interviewing the Chinese national team was no easy task, especially with Ma Long absent. Without him, it was even harder.

When the interview finally ended, Wang Chuqin instantly transformed from a vacant, dazed mushroom into a blur. He left so quickly that Little Chubby remained rooted to the spot in bewilderment for several seconds.

When Wang Chuqin returned to the venue, he saw that his girlfriend was still taking her time packing up. There were quite a few coaches and other members of the national team nearby, of course, but in his eyes, there was only Duan Nanzhou.

Wang Chuqin pretended to wander over casually. First he chatted with the coaches, then with the staff, and finally with Sun Yingsha, Chen Meng, and the others. Only after making the rounds did he begin speaking to Duan Nanzhou.

The coaches and teammates who had witnessed everything—and had been inexplicably approached by him—were speechless.

That was far too deliberate. Did he really have to talk to every single person first?

Wang Chuqin, meanwhile, was thinking: Hadn’t the coaches told him to keep a low profile? Wasn’t this low-key enough? He had greeted everyone solely so he could talk to Zhouzhou. Surely no one could see through him this time!

He was immensely pleased with himself.

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The spectators, however, had something to say.

“We’re not idiots, you know.” They looked at him the way one might look at an idiot.

“Congratulations, four-time champion!”

Duan Nanzhou had still been packing when her boyfriend directly took over and began helping her. She had no choice but to stand aside and watch.

“Zhouzhou, you too!” Wang Chuqin beamed. He felt that everything had been going his way lately. Now he and his girlfriend had won four Asian Games gold medals together. They were simply a perfect match.

“Let’s go.”

When they left, the spectators had not yet dispersed. Everyone was watching the members of the national team closely. As they saw the athletes preparing to leave, some bolder fans began shouting, “Big Head, give us a flower!”

The moment Wang Chuqin heard them, he stopped without hesitation and prepared to toss the flowers in his hand into the stands. He had done this before, after all, and it had looked incredibly cool.

When the spectators saw him actually throw them flowers, the stands erupted in excitement and screams. Duan Nanzhou and the other staff members also stopped to watch Big Head show off.

Only after Wang Chuqin had thrown the flowers did he suddenly remember that his girlfriend was standing right beside him. Had what he had just done been inappropriate?

With that thought, he cautiously glanced at her, only to discover that she showed no reaction at all. Instead, she pointed at her own flowers.

It turned out that after seeing Wang Chuqin give away his flowers, the spectators wanted Duan Nanzhou’s even more. Her aloof image had been so deeply ingrained in everyone’s minds that no one had previously dared make such a request of her. But this time, seeing Wang Chuqin give away his flowers while Duan Nanzhou smiled beside him, they had cautiously asked.

To their surprise, she agreed at once.

Wang Chuqin then watched as his girlfriend tossed her flowers to the spectators with even greater style. The cheers this time were far louder than the ones he had received. Looking at the stars in the spectators’ eyes and the endless cries of “Sister Duan is so cool,” Wang Chuqin came to a realization.

His girlfriend seemed to be cooler than he was, and even more popular with the female fans.

The spectators on site would have put it this way: Big Head was handsome enough, but that mushroom haircut gave him an unmistakable air of silliness. Sister Duan, on the other hand, was genuinely cool. That bossy, effortlessly aloof aura was absolutely unbeatable!

After giving away her flowers, Duan Nanzhou patted Wang Chuqin on the shoulder, smiled, and walked away.

Wang Chuqin stood there for several seconds, still stunned by the thought that Sister Duan was cooler than Big Head. He considered her smile. Why did it feel faintly like she had been laughing at him?

But when he saw her departing figure, he hurried after her.

Never mind. Whoever was cooler was fine. The two of them were one and the same anyway.

…

The Asian Games had ended, but the follow-up interviews had not.

Afterward, the men’s and women’s squads of the national table tennis team’s Asian Games delegation were separately invited onto programs for interviews. Before appearing on the shows, however, the coaches reminded everyone to be careful with what they said.

Wang Chuqin and Wang Yidi in particular were dangerous. One became a complete blabbermouth whenever Duan Nanzhou was mentioned, while the other could not hide a thing from her face.

At the studio, the host indeed kept finding subtle ways to bring up the Nanzhou-Chuqin pairing. Duan Nanzhou was repeatedly asked what she thought of her mixed doubles partner Wang Chuqin, how well they coordinated, and various other questions.

But Duan Nanzhou was, as always, the very picture of composure. Her answers were tactful, intelligent, and entirely faultless, leaving the host with no opening to pursue.

Still, Duan Nanzhou’s responses were not the main attraction.

The four teammates sitting beside her had already become enormous telltales through their movements and tiny facial expressions. The moment Duan Nanzhou began talking about Wang Chuqin, they either leaned forward to listen more carefully or put on the gleeful expressions of people enjoying a juicy piece of gossip.

The audience all agreed that if the couple’s relationship were ever exposed, it certainly would not be because of Duan Nanzhou. She was utterly watertight. No, it would definitely be Wang Chuqin and the teammates around him who gave everything away. Just look at how eagerly they were feasting on the gossip—it was far too genuine!

The four leading spectators in the women’s team—Sun Yingsha, Chen Meng, Wang Manyu, and Wang Yidi—insisted that they had not meant to do it. It was simply that Nanzhou was so serious that she became funny without realizing it. Besides, who could resist gossip about a young couple?

Apart from a few telling expressions from her teammates, the women’s team gave nothing else away. The men’s team, however, was an entirely different story. They were practically stripped bare by the gossip.

Wang Chuqin had something to attend to, so he did not join the rest of the men’s team for their interview.

When the other four accepted questions, they were immediately asked whether there was any special meaning behind the background music played during the men’s singles final.

The four men exchanged glances. But Captain Long had seen more grand occasions than the others, so he was the first to recover and begin “making things up.”

What special meaning could there be? It was merely a little love song the two had sung together—and also Big Head’s ringtone. Naturally, none of that could be said aloud.

Ma Long had not expected his good friend Xu Xin to stab him in the back as well. When the host mentioned that Xu Xin had praised the choice of song during his commentary, the corner of Ma Long’s mouth twitched.

He had no way to explain it, so he handed the hot potato over to Fan Zhendong.

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Little Chubby, who had arrived late because he had business to attend to, looked bewildered.

“What’s going on?”

Though somewhat confused, Little Chubby still began talking nonsense with a straight face. He said the song had probably been chosen to liven up the atmosphere, and that Captain Long happened to like it very much.

Captain Long, who had suddenly become the song’s biggest admirer, widened his eyes beside him.

He liked it? Fine, then he liked it!

He would carry the blame for today. He would settle accounts with the young couple and Little Chubby once they returned. The scheming Ma Long thought this to himself while maintaining a mild, gentle smile on the surface.

When Wang Chuqin came in for his individual interview, the host immediately pressed him with questions about Duan Nanzhou, apparently determined to uncover some juicy gossip.

Wang Chuqin answered while looking delighted beyond words. Fortunately, he still remembered at least some of the coaches’ instructions. He did not give everything away completely, keeping his words vague enough to leave the audience plenty of room for imagination.

After the program ended, Duan Nanzhou received a call from her boyfriend. The meaning was obvious: he wanted her to praise him, because he had not said anything reckless on the show.

“At least the coaches can relax a little now,” was Duan Nanzhou’s first thought. Otherwise, she was genuinely afraid the coaches would worry themselves gray.

“Baby, I have a wish for your birthday. Can it come true?” Wang Chuqin asked cautiously from the other end.

Duan Nanzhou wondered whether she had misheard him. Surely he meant her upcoming birthday? But that was still two months away. And why would his wish for her birthday have to be fulfilled by her?

“What is it?” she asked, puzzled but still willing to play along. Her boyfriend had displayed so many baffling behaviors that her tolerance for them had grown considerably.

“Can we exchange our Asian Games gold medals?”

Wang Chuqin had been thinking about it ever since the two of them became four-time champions. To him, it was immensely meaningful.

The Asian Games had been the first competition in which they had won four championships together. They had also been the event that allowed the outside world to truly recognize him, and the first time the two of them could stand together on the podium as a perfectly matched pair. Exchanging the medals from this competition therefore carried extraordinary significance.

“All right. I’ll give mine to you when we get back.”

Duan Nanzhou understood her boyfriend’s thoughts, of course. Although he might appear unaffected by the earlier period when people had attacked him as lacking ability, there was still a tiny part of him that cared.

Besides, they were unable to make their relationship public. For someone who wanted to show off their love every moment of every day, that was torture. He probably longed to announce proudly to the entire world that they were together.

Naturally, that did not stop him from displaying his affection in subtle ways. After they exchanged their medals, someone posted on a public social platform, along with a photograph showing eight gold medals together.

The internet immediately guessed who the other four belonged to.

“Wow, he’s showing off his relationship! Front row, front row!”

“He actually put all eight medals together without saying a word. Big Head, you really know what you’re doing!”

“Four-time champion plus four-time champion equals eight-time champion! The couple I stan is unstoppable!”

“He really couldn’t hold it in! He truly couldn’t hold it in! What can he ever hold back?”

“I’m looking forward to seeing them stand on the podium together in Paris!”

“This is too sweet. One of them is airtight, while the other is a gigantic blabbermouth. I’m dying!”

“Big Head practically wants to tell everyone that Sister Duan is his! There are simply too many rivals!”

“Sister Duan: Watch what you say, Big Head!

Big Head: Hahahaha, yes, we’re a couple.”

“Dreaming of them fulfilling their dream in Paris and making their relationship public!”