Chapter 46: When Glory Returns (5)
The sky had completely darkened.
A small gap in the window let in the night breeze, pressing the curtains against the wall. Through the fabric, the outline of the window was faintly visible, along with the moonlight—or perhaps streetlight—filtering through the thin material.
She rested her head on his arm, looking up at him, tracing the curve of his jaw and the distinct Adam’s apple that marked his masculinity. Suddenly, she thought of the box of razor blades in the bathroom, the sharp, paper-thin silver edge gliding across skin, and the scruffy, unshaven look he had when he was exhausted.
On his birthday, she had secretly gone to Washington and waited for him at the pool hall. When Lin Yiyang arrived, stepping out of the elevator after half a month of nonstop work, unshaven and disheveled, everyone had teased him, urging him to kiss her—otherwise, how could he express the joy of his beloved appearing out of nowhere? In the end, he had playfully roughed up every single one of them.
He wasn’t the type to openly show affection. Amid the laughter filling the room, they hadn’t even hugged, but she could tell he was happy.
…
“Lin Lin talked to me once during training,” she recalled.
Lin Lin knew about Yin Guo and Lin Yiyang’s relationship and, worried that their inexperience might lead them to rely too much on external precautions—risking an accident that could affect the World Championship—had privately spoken to her, even sharing her own past mishap as a cautionary tale. At the time, Yin Guo had been burning with curiosity, but since one was Lin Yiyang’s childhood friend and the other was her own brother, digging for gossip felt awkward… so she had kept it to herself as a secret.
Not wanting to reveal Lin Lin’s privacy, Yin Guo avoided specifics and instead asked indirectly, “Has she ever liked anyone else? Besides my brother?”
Lin Yiyang leaned against the headboard and shook his head. “Probably not.”
Though they hadn’t been in touch much in the past, judging by the tension between Lin Lin and Meng Xiaodong that day—and based on his understanding of Lin Lin—she probably still had feelings for Meng Xiaodong. Lin Lin had always been decisive. If she had truly moved on, she would have cut all ties without hesitation.
“Do you think… my brother’s slump this past year might be related to relationship issues?”
“No.” He knew his old rival well enough—Meng Xiaodong wasn’t that fragile.
“From the time he was nineteen, he never had to play in the Qualifying rounds for Opens—he always advanced directly. But for the European Masters Cup, his ranking dropped out of the top sixteen, forcing him into the Qualifiers. I was upset about it for weeks when I heard.”
Yin Guo had been brought into the sport by Meng Xiaodong himself. Though they weren’t particularly close due to his reserved nature, she held deep affection for him and worried whenever she thought about his struggles.
Last year had been turbulent, but this year had been a steady decline. It was already nearly May, and his best result so far was the semifinals at the recently concluded China Open—a small resurgence spurred by Lin Yiyang’s own meteoric rise.
Lin Yiyang gently stroked her hair. “He’ll get through it.”
“He’s younger than you—he still has a chance to bounce back, right? If he really starts declining, I’m afraid he won’t be able to handle it.”
Meng Xiaodong had started playing Snooker at seven years old and had always been the brightest star among his peers. For over a decade, his entire life had revolved around those 22 balls, the cue, and the table…
She couldn’t imagine him retiring. The thought alone was unbearable.
Lin Yiyang told her frankly, “In this profession, effort doesn’t always guarantee results. No matter how great your achievements, every athlete’s future ends the same way. It’s just a matter of time. Whether he can handle it or not, he’ll have to.”Lin Yiyang had been through it all—peaks and valleys—so his words carried weight, but they were also brutally honest.
Her heart sank.
Seeing her silent for so long, he realized he’d been too stern. After half a minute of self-reflection, he remembered that his little girlfriend seemed particularly interested in Lin Lin and Meng Xiaodong’s past. So he said, “If Lin Lin were here, she’d help him.”
She hadn’t expected Lin Yiyang to suddenly bring this up.
“Lin Lin once told your brother, ‘I love watching that face of yours—prettier than any girl’s—stay stone-cold while you wipe the floor with people. Even when they’re crying, you don’t crack a smile. That punchable look of yours.’”
He summed it up: “If Meng Xiaodong still has feelings for her, he’ll get back up.”
Yin Guo perked up. “Tell me more about them.”
Lin Yiyang smiled. “That’s it.”
“You always say you don’t know anything, but you actually know a lot,” she protested, unwilling to let him off the hook now that her curiosity was piqued. “Think harder, help me out here.”
He shook his head. “I’ll tell you if I remember anything else.”
Just then, there was noise outside.
“An’an’s awake,” Lin Yiyang changed the subject.
As if on cue, there was a knock at the door. “You up?”
“Just woke,” he answered.
“Last time I was here, Jiang Yang mentioned a billiard club nearby? Where is it? I should go train.”
Lin Yiyang replied, “Wait, we’ll go together.”
With Chen Anan already awake, they couldn’t laze around in bed any longer.
He and Yin Guo tidied up before getting dressed. As they did, he told her, “An’an’s retiring right after the Nine-ball World Championship. This is his last Open.”
So soon? Chen Anan was around the same age as him, not even thirty yet… But during training, his results had indeed been unremarkable, lagging far behind the younger players.
“When we go out later, act like you don’t know,” he said, ruffling her hair.
“Okay.”
Lin Yiyang had come to the U.S. for two reasons: to accompany Yin Guo and to see Chen Anan.
That kid was stubborn. Because his own performance wasn’t outstanding, he focused solely on competitions and the billiard club.
No matter the tournament, domestic or international, he’d only ever shuttle between training and the hotel, unwilling to waste the club’s money. Once a competition ended, he’d never stay an extra day, always among the first to return home. So even though he’d been here last year, his routine had been strictly hotel and stadium, with only the occasional visit to this apartment to see Lin Yiyang.
Lin Yiyang figured he’d take this last Open as an opportunity to show Chen Anan around.
With the older brother playing host, the younger one wouldn’t dare refuse.
After dinner, they headed to the billiard club for training.
A year had passed since her last visit, and from the moment she descended the stairs, Yin Guo couldn’t help but gaze at every familiar corner.
Lin Yiyang had been living in this apartment for the past year, so naturally, he trained at this club. The private room he frequented had even had its table specially swapped for a Snooker one, permanently reserved for him.
Yin Guo and Chen Anan each completed their daily training on separate nine-ball tables in one of the private rooms.
Lin Yiyang acted as their coach, leisurely and seemingly thoroughly enjoying himself. Truthfully, he still loved this kind of life—booking tables for his girlfriend and friends to practice, keeping them company, occasionally stepping out to banter and play a few casual games with others. A bucket of ice-cold beers, where regional champions, national champions, and amateurs all mingled together. Those who liked to lecture could lecture, those who liked to drink could drink, and those who liked to tell jokes could let loose. Simple, straightforward, and pure.
That night, Yin Guo once again saw the Lin Yiyang she had missed for so long.Just like that night in Flushing, he was dressed in a black cotton casual jacket, long pants, and sneakers, holding a public cue in an unknown small pool hall, playing the role of an obscure, hidden master.
This was the man unbound by rules, the brilliantly talented man who enjoyed playing the game, whether it was a competition or not, whether there was prize money or not—a man who wandered through life with joy.
“He’s so much better like this, free,” Chen Anan said beside Yin Guo, her words unusually plentiful thanks to a few bottles of beer. “Lin Yiyang, untamed by anyone, is truly himself.”
She nodded in agreement. “The first time I saw him play, that was the impression I got—in another Chinese pool hall. That day, he was downright arrogant. His opponent was a well-known regional champion, and he just said to him—come on, show me what you’ve got.”
To this day, she still remembered him holding a cue, bouncing a ball in one hand, his back turned as he spoke to his opponent.
Chen Anan chuckled at the memory, gripping the brown glass bottle as she continued wistfully, “He’s a pretty contradictory person. On one hand, he’s incredibly carefree—if he says he doesn’t want something, he just drops it. On the other, he’s too sentimental, and that can tie his hands.”
But who isn’t contradictory? People are multifaceted.
Chen Anan paused for a moment before suddenly saying, “Sometimes I wonder, if we hadn’t shown up, he might have been fine staying here.”
“You don’t want him to go back?” Yin Guo had assumed that everyone from East New City who came last year shared the same goal—to bring Lin Yiyang back to China.
Chen Anan shook her head.
After a while, she added, “It’s Jiang Yang who wants him back. Jiang Yang wants him to take over East New City.”
Take over East New City?
Yin Guo glanced at the man by the distant Snooker table, where he was playing a casual game with an elderly white-haired man, an enthusiast who was nowhere near his skill level but loved asking questions. Lin Yiyang answered earnestly, treating it as both a game and a Q&A session.
“He didn’t agree?” Yin Guo asked softly.
She guessed he must have refused—if he had agreed, he would have told her.
“Right, he didn’t.”
Chen Anan paused again, as if she had a lot more to say, but given her usual lack of conversation with women, she circled back to the past: “Back then, among us, only he and Jiang Yang were He Lao’s disciples. The rest of us had our own coaches. My coach left in my second year at East New City—I was in seventh grade, just average in skill, and no other coach wanted to take me on… But I didn’t want to leave. I wanted to keep playing, even if it meant staying without a coach.”
Yin Guo guessed, “He asked He Lao to help?”
Chen Anan laughed, shaking her head. “He told everyone at East New City, ‘Since I’m the champion, I’ll teach him.’ The things he said—so full of arrogance. He offended several coaches at East New City over it. They all said he was insolent, that He Lao spoiled him so much he dared to say and do anything.”
But without Lin Yiyang’s stubborn, self-assured persistence, Chen Anan would have changed careers long ago—a completely different life trajectory. Maybe better, maybe worse, but certainly one without billiards."Dun Cuo isn't one for sweet talk. His life philosophy is that true strength comes from within—he's never been one for social networking. When you're doing well, you won't find him cozying up to join the crowd. But when you hit rock bottom and everyone else has scattered, you'll realize he's still there."
Lin Yiyang motioned for her to follow him outside for some fresh air.
Yin Guo set her cue on the rack and weaved through the crowd, trailing him up the steps.
The scaffolding outside the pool hall was still there. She grabbed Lin Yiyang's hand and looked up. "What are they renovating? It's been a year and they still haven't taken it down."
He chuckled—who knew?
Lin Yiyang held a pack of cigarettes he'd gotten from the pool hall owner. In high spirits, he leaned against the doorframe, gazing at the street as he tapped the pack until a cigarette slid out. Lighting it with a lighter, he took a slow drag.
Pale smoke dissipated into the night. He squinted at her through the haze, watching until it vanished entirely without saying a word.
"Had too much to drink?" She waved a hand in front of his face.
This much alcohol might give him a buzz, but it was far from enough to get him drunk.
"Look there." Suddenly, he grabbed Yin Guo's wrist, pulling her arm back as he embraced her from behind. The hand holding his cigarette pointed into the distance—toward the next intersection.
An ice cream truck.
She knew it—he was about to feed her again...
"Is feeding people your way of showing affection?"
Now that she mentioned it, pretty much.
His parents passed early. For the first couple years, before reconnecting with relatives, he'd raised his younger brother alone. When the kid wouldn't calm down, he'd buy him treats. Even after scolding him, he'd still buy treats. It worked like a charm. Back then, it was exhausting—juggling school, shifts at the pool hall, and biking his brother to and from kindergarten. Life was tough, and good food was the greatest comfort.
Suddenly energized, he took a few quick puffs before stubbing out the cigarette and pulling his wallet from his pocket.
Then Chen Anan came out and was also handed an ice cream—one for each of them.
"A grown man like me," Chen Anan, a rough-around-the-edges guy, clutched the ice cream cone awkwardly, "buying me this..."
He grinned at Yin Guo. "When he was little, he only had three ways to handle his brother: scare him, hit him, or buy him food. Guess he just went straight to the third option with you—not like he knows any other tricks."
Yin Guo burst out laughing. "Exactly! He loves treating people to meals. That's literally how he won me over."
"A little sister from Beicheng, and you were short on people treating you to meals?" Chen Anan smirked.
She pressed her lips together, smiling. It wasn't that she lacked offers—but none could compare to him. Not even close.
A man who carried his entire savings, whose every thought was planning where to take you to eat next, who'd spend his last penny to buy you a vintage bottle from the year you were born—no one could measure up to that.
Lin Yiyang lit another cigarette nearby, watching the two of them finish their ice creams like they were kids. Inside the pool hall, someone called for more buckets of beer, shouting, "Lin, is this going till midnight? You covering all of it?"
Leaning against the doorframe, Lin Yiyang laughed. "Till sunrise. However much they drink, I'll cover it."
Cheers and thanks erupted. Noticing two homeless men watching from the sidewalk, Lin Yiyang tossed them the half-empty cigarette pack. "Enjoy."
Their repeated exclamations of "Amazing!" lifted the mood even higher.
Yin Guo stood to the left of the door, Lin Yiyang to the right. He smoked, watching her.Yin Guo was caught in his gaze. She took two steps forward, right up to him, and wrapped her arms around his neck. Lin Yiyang looked down at her, his dark pupils filled with something intense, though it remained hidden deep within.
On this street, at the very spot where he had first held her, amidst the flow of cars and passersby, he lowered his head. Afraid she might dislike the strong smell of smoke, he pressed a light kiss to the corner of her lips before slipping his tongue between them, teasing hers briefly before pulling away.
Then, with a low chuckle, he murmured, "The ice cream was pretty good."
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