52. Malone

The Rio Olympic Games.

This was the first major tournament for the young couple after getting back together, Ma Long’s second time participating in the Olympics, and his great chance to make up for the regrets of the past.

"Zhouzhou, come with me, please, go, go, go... I'm begging you..." Ma Long was still acting spoiled, burying his head against Duan Nanzhou's shoulder and rubbing back and forth while trying his best to persuade her.

"No!" Duan Nanzhou replied with a cruel word, pushing his "big face" away in the process.

"Why?!"

"Wherever you go, there are only reporters and fans." Duan Nanzhou had zero desire to be exposed in the spotlight, even though she had once been accustomed to it. But now, she just wanted to live as an "unemployed vagrant" and enjoy her wonderful life.

Therefore, Duan Nanzhou rejected Ma Long's publicly-implying proposal without a second thought.

In fact, people within their circle were well aware that the two were dating. Besides, since Duan Nanzhou used to be a well-known sports journalist, most of her journalist friends had brushed up on their knowledge and knew their situation.

Thus, they were in a semi-public state; perhaps the fans and the general public were not entirely clear about it. But the truth was, the two of them had never hidden it, and loyal fans who followed them closely all knew that Captain Long had a partner.

Duan Nanzhou had thought that by turning down Ma Long's proposal this time, she could continue her happy, lying-flat lifestyle. Little did she expect that because of the Olympics, not only did her beloved Ma Long trend on Weibo's hot search, but she was dragged into it as well.

During this Olympic Games, Ma Long could be considered the biggest winner, capturing both the men's singles gold medal and the team gold medal. Coupled with his adorable, "milky" persona off the court and his fierce demeanor on it, he gained a massive following of female fans in an instant.

The same applied to the other two members of the Chinese Table Tennis trio. However, soaring attention was not entirely a good thing. While heightened public interest in table tennis could elevate the commercial value of the athletes, it inevitably sparked all sorts of controversies.

For instance, thanks to his superb skills and handsome appearance, Ma Long briefly became the dream lover of countless fans, many of whom could not resist digging into his past matches and personal life.

As an athlete who entered the provincial and national teams at a very young age, most of Ma Long's life up to that point had been spent within the team. Therefore, his past was quite easy to trace since much of it had been recorded by cameras.

As more discoveries came to light, many fans realized that Ma Long did not seem to be single; rather, he had a girlfriend who had been with him for a very long time. This kind of gossip was precisely what the public loved, so Duan Nanzhou was catapulted onto the hot search charts alongside Ma Long.

In itself, the matter was quite ordinary. After all, as an ordinary civilian, Duan Nanzhou appeared in the news exclusively as Ma Long's girlfriend, with nothing else particularly noteworthy about her.

Instead, Ma Long's sudden surge in popularity led many mutual friends to tease Duan Nanzhou, asking if she should keep a closer eye on Ma Long so he wouldn't be "seduced" away by someone else one day.

However, when they looked over at the exceptionally clingy Ma Long next to her, they couldn't help falling into a brief silence. Perhaps they should be worrying about whether Ma Long needed to keep a closer eye on Duan Nanzhou to prevent her from being "seduced" away instead.

The trouble the Olympics brought to the young couple was that Ma Long's visibility skyrocketed to the point where certain fans and supporters staked out the entrance of the General Administration of Sport every day, wanting to follow Ma Long wherever he went.

This created difficulties for the couple's dates, as Ma Long discovered that going out was no longer free, with people constantly trailing behind him. Consequently, Ma Long was told by his dear girlfriend to stop visiting her so frequently for the time being, on the grounds that she didn't want his fans and followers to disrupt her private life.

Ma Long, forced to stay behind in the team and barred from seeing his girlfriend, felt thoroughly unhappy and pouted in grievance.

Of course, besides the young couple, the other main players of the Chinese Table Tennis Team who participated in the Olympics also profoundly felt the sensation of being "hot."

Their routine training transformed from the familiar daily practice into sessions watched by crowds, and the various online discussions and even vitriol brought a fair share of distress to everyone.

Just as everyone was waiting for the hype to die down a little so they could return to their usual "tranquility," they discovered that the public's enthusiasm for them seemed remarkably enduring.

For instance, the male and female star players of the national team were all being " shipped" in pairings—either paired up with teammates or with players from foreign associations. For example, netizens paired Ma Long with Ding Ning or Ma Long with Mima Ishikawa, feeling that the two made a great match, and dedicated themselves to hunting for "sweet moments" in major competitions, interpreting every interaction between them as romantic ambiguity and sweetness.

Initially, the athletes paid little attention to the internet. Although some saw the related topics, they didn't think much of it. After all, there were countless discussions online, and it was impossible to stop people from speaking.

That was until a post-match interview at a domestic tournament featured an intern reporter who actually wanted to ask the members of the national table tennis team about gossip, bringing it right up to the principals themselves.

At that moment, when the reporter asked, "Captain Long, what do you think of netizens believing that you and Ding Ning are a match made in heaven on the court?", the expressions of both Ma Long and Ding Ning froze for a fraction of a second, because they could already sense that this was no longer an ordinary, innocent question.

However, upholding the principles of interviews, Ma Long and Ding Ning delivered a series of responses praising each other as "good teammates with great coordination," successfully dodging the bullet.

Even so, after the interview video was released, people dissected it over and over again, striving to unearth hidden traces of sweetness.

Therefore, the next time Duan Nanzhou visited the national table tennis team, she was intercepted right away by a flustered Ding Ning, who unleashed all sorts of complaints about netizens being blind and looking for trouble out of nothing, indirectly illustrating that she was a major victim herself.

Duan Nanzhou had heard a whisper or two about the online gossip, but she didn't care about it at all. She had known since her past life just how much netizens loved to speculate wildly, so she felt zero shock whatsoever.

She merely sighed, feeling that for the current national table tennis team, such traffic and discussion were indeed a bit "frightening." Just look at how terrified Ding Ning was of affecting the young couple's relationship, and you would understand.

However—

"Longlong, I heard that you and Ishikawa make a quite compatible pair?" Duan Nanzhou asked with a smile on her face, which instantly caused Ma Long to freeze in sheer terror, breaking out in a cold sweat.

"No, no! That's just the media and netizens talking nonsense!" Ma Long hurriedly waved his hands.

"Is that so?" Amidst Ma Long's affirmative nods, Duan Nanzhou pressed on with her lethal questioning:

"But a year ago, you never explained that to me! I almost thought it was true. How heartbroken I was!" What Duan Nanzhou was referring to was the period when the two had previously broken up, and Ma Long had unilaterally engaged in the silent treatment while refusing to address the gossip scandals.

Ma Long never imagined that a mistake committed in the past would still demand atonement today. Back then, he had stubborn lips and refused to explain; now look where it got him. Judging by Duan Nanzhou's expression, if he didn't give her a satisfactory explanation, she was going to lose her temper.

Even as his brain raced to figure out how to phrase things to coax his girlfriend, his physical actions didn't pause for a second as he directly embraced her to cuddle close.

Following Ma Long's "territory ceding and indemnity payments," Duan Nanzhou finally indicated that the matter could be turned over and put in the past.

As for what was "paid," that remained a "secret" between adult couples, unspeakable and unsaid.

Life and its turbulent ripples passed by amidst the ups and downs, yet sweet and tender moments, of the young couple.

Some time later, the public's focus on the national table tennis team did indeed decrease significantly, no longer keeping a constant watch as they had right after the Olympics.

However, a post online carrying the title "#MaLong'sGirlfriendIsFickleAndPromiscuous#" began to slowly rise in traction, with various so-called exposé posts and claims from "acquaintances" corroborating the story as the comment threads grew longer and more heated.

By the time Duan Nanzhou and Ma Long became aware of it, the situation had already fermented to its most intense peak. Ma Long's immediate reaction was a face turning livid with fury, itching to immediately tear into the rumor-mongers online.

Duan Nanzhou's first reaction, however, was a sense of absurdity and ridicule. She was merely an ordinary private citizen, yet she could still be hunted down and subjected to fabricated rumors. Was this what the "full-scale internet blackening" felt like, something she had never experienced in her past life?

Regarding this matter, not only the young couple cared, but the national table tennis team cared deeply as well. On one hand, quite a few members were close friends of the two; on the other hand, such malicious black propaganda severely impacted an athlete's career.

Therefore, while Duan Nanzhou was still busy gathering various fabricated rumors, slanderous posts, and evidence, Liu Guoliang also stepped forward, offering to help clarify and explain the situation. Whether acting as an elder who appreciated Duan Nanzhou or as the head coach of Ma Long's national team, this was a matter he had to handle.

"OK then, I have no problem with that, Coach Liu. I'll cooperate with whatever you need on your end."

"However, I won't let these rumor-mongers off the hook either. I have money and leisure now; I am neither short of time nor energy to go head-to-head with them."

For people who constantly liked to stir up trouble in her peaceful life for no reason, Duan Nanzhou felt she needed to teach them an unforgettable, profound lesson.

Meanwhile, Ma Long could only grip his phone, engaging in fierce online combat with the various rumor-mongering netizens, because he discovered that his girlfriend had already taken care of everything, leaving him with zero arena to display his prowess.

The furious little Ma had nowhere to vent his anger, so he could only thoroughly curse out those chief culprits!

Standing nearby and witnessing the dynamic of the "strong woman and weak man," the "outwardly dominant woman and inwardly soft man," alongside Duan Nanzhou's doting gaze towards her own boyfriend, Liu Guoliang felt a sharp twinge in his teeth. Was something deeply wrong with the power dynamics in their household? Why did it feel like Ma Long was the "submissive little wife"?

Ma Long: Ah? (Looks up, dazed)

Duan Nanzhou: Smiles without speaking.