Wang Chuqin

The airport.

Following the conclusion of the Asian Games, the national table tennis team faced an even more grueling schedule, as if the intent was to squeeze every ounce of energy from them. After the Games, both Duan Nanzhou and Wang Chuqin saw a surge in popularity, and public interest in table tennis soared. While increased attention is generally positive, some of it proved problematic—particularly for Wang Chuqin, who found himself constantly swarmed by irrational fans.

When the team appeared at the airport, they were immediately surrounded. The sea of cameras was a testament to their newfound fame, yet it severely hindered the athletes’ movement. Looking at the ring of smartphones surrounding her, Duan Nanzhou felt a sense of déjà vu, reminiscent of her time as an idol. Still, seeing the even larger crowd surrounding her boyfriend, she decided her own situation was quite manageable.

Wang Chuqin, already exhausted from the intense schedule, was frustrated by the throng of people preventing him from walking alongside his girlfriend. Some so-called "fans" kept pushing toward him, and he was on the verge of losing his temper. However, seeing his girlfriend quickly moving ahead, he quickened his pace to catch up, leaving behind a group of "shipping" fans who were squealing with excitement, convinced that the two were definitely a couple.

Because they weren't on a private flight and the plane was crowded, Wang Chuqin couldn't sit next to Duan Nanzhou. He could only watch helplessly as she leaned against Sun Yingsha, both of them drifting off to sleep. He was so envious his eyes nearly turned green. Eventually, deciding that out of sight was out of mind, he pulled down his eye mask to sleep. Unbeknownst to him, his "staring at his girlfriend" act had already been filmed by fans on the same flight and uploaded to short-video platforms, adding yet more evidence to the rumors of their romance.

***

The non-stop WTT tour began to take its toll on the national team’s core players, with many showing signs of fatigue. This was especially true during domestic tournaments, where they often encountered "domestic competition kings"—players who specialized in studying the national team's tactics. While the others struggled to adapt to the specialized strategies and back-to-back matches, Duan Nanzhou remained unfazed.

Watching her calm demeanor on the court, the other core players were baffled. They wondered how she had "evolved" and why she was so different from the rest of them. Duan Nanzhou simply attributed it to that mysterious "system," which had significantly enhanced her physique; combined with her lifelong training, she had become, for all intents and purposes, an iron woman.

Watching her opponents, Duan Nanzhou arched an eyebrow. It was clear they had been studying her, crafting specific solutions to counter her playstyle. Unfortunately, they had yet to grasp that her greatest strength was her ability to learn from her opponents on the fly and catch them off guard. These "domestic kings" were too obsessed with formulas and patterns; they could dissect the national team's play, but they crumbled when facing international competitors. They needed to look at the bigger picture. In these matches, Duan Nanzhou taught them a lesson, demonstrating with cold hard skill that her style was far too complex to be solved by rote analysis. Her total domination and effortless performance reminded everyone why she sat firmly at the top of the national team.

***

However, continuous competition is a massive drain on stamina. With several core players struggling, some chose to withdraw from certain tournaments to rest and recover. During these breaks, Duan Nanzhou’s role shifted from athlete to part-time coach and sparring partner. She became the busiest person on the team, leaving her with very little time to spend with Wang Chuqin.

Watching his girlfriend work like a spinning top, Wang Chuqin felt both heartbroken and aggrieved. She was so capable that everyone needed her, which meant less time for him. Worried she would lose weight from exhaustion, he spent every day preparing delicious food for her, fearing she would wither away—after all, he believed a little body fat was necessary for protection on the court!

Thinking this, he glanced down at his own small paunch. He seemed to have gained some weight; he was once a fit young man with visible abs, though that period had been tragically short-lived. Now, while the weight gain was somewhat necessary for his game, his teammates teased him about his "happy post-marriage weight."

He wondered why his Zhouzhou never seemed to gain weight. He fed her constantly, and she ate plenty, yet she remained slim. In fact, she had previously been ordered by the coaching staff to put on weight, just like "Little Fatty," to protect herself, but after a while, everyone noticed that even though she ate more than Little Fatty, she never gained an ounce, and they eventually stopped bringing it up. (Little Fatty, having been slighted twice, just kept eating his snacks, unbothered.)

Duan Nanzhou, with her enhanced physiology, was very careful during matches. Unlike her boyfriend’s explosive, high-impact style, her play was relatively "quiet," with only occasional bursts of movement, which kept her largely injury-free. Wang Chuqin, who was constantly dealing with "wear and tear" and carrying a bit more body fat, often wondered if she minded his weight.

Recently, after they gained fame, Wang Chuqin’s life was an open book. Fans had even dug up old photos and videos of him training without a shirt. Most infuriatingly, netizens had commented that his physique looked like a potato stuck with four chopsticks. As a 5G-surfing youth, Wang Chuqin saw the comment immediately. How could he endure that?

He worried that his Zhouzhou might feel the same. What if she disliked his body? During the Asian Games, he had seen Sun Yingsha take her to watch the swimmers with their defined abs, and his girlfriend had happily tagged along! Wang Chuqin was green with jealousy. Sometimes he would deliberately bring up a swimming video, acting as if the competition was great, only for Duan Nanzhou to give him a confused look, wondering what he was trying to say. She assumed his brain had just short-circuited again and ignored him.

Driven by spite, Wang Chuqin vowed to train until he had abs, so his Zhouzhou would never take her eyes off him. Yet, every morning he made that vow, he would abandon it by nightfall when Duan Nanzhou would rub his soft belly and say she "loved it." He decided he would wait until she actually wanted abs before he started training again.

Duan Nanzhou was oblivious to her boyfriend’s ever-changing thoughts. Even if she knew, she would only think he was overthinking things. She didn't really care about abs; she liked Wang Chuqin just the way he was, provided his looks didn't decline too drastically.

***

However, the image-conscious young man didn't see it that way. Ever since he realized his girlfriend was a fan of good looks, he became extra attentive to his appearance. For instance, right after returning to Beijing from the Asian Games, he went to a hair salon to salvage his style. He couldn't stand the "king oyster mushroom" haircut he’d been sporting; he could practically see the amusement in his girlfriend’s eyes every time she looked at it.

After the trim, he looked much better. Feeling more confident, he went to show off his "improved mushroom cut."

"Handsome!" Looking at her boyfriend, who was clearly fishing for a compliment, Duan Nanzhou suppressed a laugh, gave a mock-serious nod, and ruffled his hair.

Satisfied, Wang Chuqin nodded. Beijing barbers were truly reliable!

"Right, baby, this is for you." Wang Chuqin took her hand, ready to present her with the red string bracelet he had made himself—a token of blessing and love. Looking at the red cord on her slender wrist, he thought it looked better and better; it was, after all, his own handiwork.

"What a coincidence, I made one for you, too." Touched by their telepathy, Duan Nanzhou took out the two red bracelets she had crafted. "I made two, but since you’ve already given me one, I’ll put this one away for now!"

"No!" Wang Chuqin hadn't expected such a surprise, but he couldn't prove they were a set if she hid it. "You can stack them!"

Seeing the stubborn look in Wang "Big Head's" eyes, Duan Nanzhou paused, then put it on. Two it was; if she didn't, he’d just sulk. Actually, she preferred his string of beads; she loved watching him fiddle with them. But she found them cumbersome, so whenever she wanted to play with them, she’d take them off his wrist for a while before giving them back.

Previously, when Wang Chuqin saw her interest in his beads, he thought she had great taste and gifted her several. But Duan Nanzhou found them distracting during matches and was too lazy to keep putting them on and taking them off, so she mostly left them in storage, preferring to just play with the ones on his wrist.

The couple's matching red strings were soon discovered by fans during a match. However, the fact that one person had one and the other had two left the fans confused. Besides, red strings were common, and many on the national team wore them, so the fans couldn't be certain they were a matching set—they could only treat it as a potential "romance crumb" to speculate over.

Seeing the fans' uncertainty, Wang Chuqin felt like they were missing the obvious. It was a pair! Dig deeper! Use the same energy you used to dig up his dark history!

Duan Nanzhou watched her boyfriend fiddle with her hand, interlocking their fingers or touching the red strings on their wrists, and she knew exactly what he was thinking. He was desperate for the fans to connect the dots and realize they were dating. His heart was constantly set on getting their relationship discovered and made public!

No wonder the coaches were always keeping such a close eye on him, fearing that one slip of the tongue or one careless gesture would expose everything. He really was a handful!