Chapter 48: The Tide of Fate (2)
Such moving words, spoken by such a charismatic man, were already enough to stir emotions.
Unfortunately, he was Lin Yiyang, and the audience’s expectations of him went far beyond that.
The female commentator dramatically covered her face. "He's saying he hasn’t succeeded yet?"
...
The male commentator laughed, feigning heartbreak as he pressed further. "Lin, you’ve let us down. Last year’s most valuable star player still hasn’t won the love he desires?"
"This is going to break our hearts," the female commentator chimed in.
Lin Yiyang couldn’t help but laugh at their exaggerated performance.
Really, there was no dealing with these two commentators.
Because they knew him so well, they refused to let him off the hook—not with this suddenly exposed topic.
Even Sun Zhou and a few students beside Lin Yiyang couldn’t hold back their laughter, urging their leader to just tell the truth already. Clearly, they weren’t going to let this go. If this continued, the entire venue would probably go wild.
"Let’s be blunt," the male commentator finally cut to the chase. "Lin, today’s ratings peak is riding on you!"
"That’s right," the female commentator agreed. "Someone who’s been so heartless in leaving must leave something behind here."
...
The entire audience joined in the uproar, chanting in unison, "Tell her! Tell her!"
Amid the waves of noise, Lin Yiyang was forced to switch the microphone to his other hand—for the third time.
He rarely repeated actions like this. This was a man who picked things up decisively and put them down just as firmly, his personality leaving no room for hesitation. Yet today, he was unusually cautious.
"How should I put it?" He looked at the girl on the court again, silent for a long moment before finally expressing his feelings for her with a single line of praise. "She’s so perfect, I might have to spend my whole life chasing her."
A beat of silence.
"So, there’s no rush," he finally lifted his gaze to the crowd, his eyes brimming with amusement beneath the brim of his cap as he looked at his cheering fans. "See? I’m not in any hurry at all."
...
After the silence came thunderous applause.
The king of the court had given his beloved the highest praise—so candid, so direct.
On screen, Lin Yiyang finally turned his attention back to the commentators’ booth, as if to say: Happy now?
The male commentator, who was very close with Lin Yiyang, gave him a thumbs-up in response: Thanks, old friend. Drinks after the match.
Today’s warm-up had everyone fired up, hearts racing. They could already predict the ratings peaking right at this moment.
The boy from back then—
Who had been terrible at every subject, who played pool with strangers just to earn money for his brother and a few more workbooks, who only wanted to scrape by with a high school diploma to give his teachers some semblance of closure—was now sitting in the audience of the U.S. Open, telling the world about his love for a girl.
No one knew his full story. No matter how close any of his friends were, they had only ever seen fragments of him. Every phase of his life had been disjointed, abrupt, and so were the people around him. All those lonely days, all the frustration and the struggle to find his way out of the fog—he had walked through them alone.
After saying those words, sitting in this roaring arena, even he himself felt a sense of unreality.Every step taken today left a deep imprint, including being able to sit here, including being able to be with her.
Lin Yiyang turned off the microphone and handed it back to the staff.
The camera cut back to the competition venue.
Yin Guo was trying to hold back her tears. Su Wei hugged her, her voice thick with emotion: "Oh my god, I cried just listening to it."
Taking advantage of Su Wei's embrace, Yin Guo wiped her tears with the back of her hand: "Don't let go... let me wipe my tears first..."
So, under the cover of Su Wei in the live broadcast, Yin Guo dried the tears on her face.
...
Five minutes later, the match officially began.
Yin Guo's eyes were still slightly red as she picked up her cue and walked toward her opponent. She proved to everyone the mental fortitude of a professional athlete, especially since in the hearts of her fans, she was the perfect "emotion master."
The pre-match warm-up seemed irrelevant to her. Standing by the table, her calmness was astonishing.
A perfect strike, and she secured the break.
After nodding to her opponent, who was a head taller than her, Yin Guo walked to the table and set up the cue ball.
Five seconds of aiming, followed by a loud crack—the cue ball flew out, scattering the Color balls across the table.
Amid the thunderous sound of the break and the powerful collision of the cue ball, the audience erupted into even more enthusiastic applause than before. This Chinese girl had sunk four balls in a single shot, including the nine-ball!
First game, won in one break.
She was telling the fans in the venue: The one Lin likes is the true King of today's match.
The semifinals of the U.S. Open had the most perfect start with Yin Guo's first break.
When she successfully secured her game, packed up her cue, shook hands with the referee, and prepared to leave, the entire audience erupted in applause once more. To everyone's surprise, Lin Yiyang stood up immediately, ready to leave with his entourage.
His intention was clear: My girlfriend is leaving, so I'm out too...
One walked through the corridor inside the venue, the other through a side exit in the stands.
As soon as Yin Guo stepped out of the corridor and backstage, she saw Lin Yiyang descending the stairs into the players' lounge.
Berry, who had teased Lin Yiyang earlier, was chatting with someone. The moment he saw Lin Yiyang, he burst into laughter, eager to high-five him to celebrate their reunion.
Lin Yiyang pointed at Berry, jokingly warning him in English: "Too much, this time."
Berry laughed heartily.
Witnessing Lin Yiyang's pursuit of Yin Guo from start to finish was the most braggable experience of his life.
Yin Guo leaned against the wall, watching Lin Yiyang greet everyone, catching up with friends he had made on the circuit over the past year.
This was his second time in this backstage area, but the circumstances were entirely different from last time.
Back then, only the Chinese from East New City and North City knew who he was, knew his past.
But today, everyone here had competed against him—many of them his former opponents...
Lin Yiyang took off his baseball cap and walked toward Yin Guo.
She rested her head against the soft wallpaper-covered wall, watching him approach, close enough for him to ruffle her hair and press a warm kiss to her forehead.
Lin Yiyang was silently congratulating her for making it to the semifinals.
"If only I had been here last year..." She slipped her hand into the pocket of his sports jacket and whispered, "I wanted to watch you play, wanted to see you chased by fans."Amid the staff's greetings, Lin Yiyang also slipped his hand into his pocket, clasping her small one.
"The fans are waiting for you outside—they came after watching the livestream," a young player behind them said with a laugh, patting Lin Yiyang's shoulder in English. "Don't go out the main door later."
The guy was familiar with Lin Yiyang and gave Yin Guo a nod as a greeting.
Lin Yiyang smiled but didn't respond.
Goodbyes were melancholic; he'd rather let the local fans remember him as he was just moments ago.
Now, he was just an ordinary man.
Her advancement to the semifinals was unsurprising.
Chen Anan making it to the semifinals, however, was a delightful surprise.
That night, they took Chen Anan to Red Fish to celebrate.
After hearing Lin Yiyang's impromptu speech in the players' lounge, Chen Anan had developed a keen interest in this bar. Yet there was nothing particularly special about it—just a regular bar with a wooden door, an old handle, an American-style counter and stools, a band, fried chicken wings, onion rings, and various cocktails.
The only thing that stood out was its reputation for jazz music, passed around in small circles. But why they played "Yellow" that night in a jazz bar remained a mystery. Perhaps it was the blizzard outside that made everyone crave a few sunlit old tunes to soothe their nerves.
Yin Guo and Lin Yiyang sat at the same table she had shared with her cousin that night, shoulder to shoulder, gazing at each other.
Chen Anan found a separate seat to spare herself the awkwardness.
Back home, it was already dawn.
After the match, she had asked her cousin—since the game had aired between 2 and 3 a.m. local time, none of their family had seen it. She also reminded him to keep it a secret for now... She hadn't figured out how to break the news yet, so every extra day of secrecy counted.
Yin Guo bit her straw, sipping a little juice. "Say something. You've been quiet the whole time."
Lin Yiyang countered, "What should I say?"
"About that night," she tilted her head to look at him. "I want the truth."
After watching Lin Yiyang's interview at the China Open, her perception of him had completely shifted. It was true he usually spoke little, but his emotional intelligence—especially his ability to think on his feet—was undeniable. In today's unexpected situation, he had organized his thoughts in mere seconds and deftly handled all the "interrogation," leaving her deeply impressed.
But no matter how polished his public remarks were, they were for outsiders. She wanted to hear the unvarnished truth.
Lin Yiyang rested one arm on the bar's edge and the other around her waist, murmuring, "It was all true."
Seeing Yin Guo's skeptical look, he chuckled.
"Come." He pulled her from the stool, pushed open the bar's wooden door, and stepped onto the small path outside.
They weren't alone—groups of young international students chatted and laughed nearby. Amid the noise, Lin Yiyang recounted that night: "Jiang Yang was also in the U.S. then, stranded at Chicago's airport. He called me, wanting to meet. After hanging up, I was restless and just needed a drink."
Sometimes, it felt like fate truly dictated human connections. If Jiang Yang had made it to New York that day, Lin Yiyang and Wu Wei wouldn’t have gone out—and they wouldn’t have met Yin Guo.
"That night, I came here but didn’t go in right away. I wanted a cigarette first." Standing where he had been that evening, he continued.He didn't have much need for cigarettes, but would crave them intensely when in extremely good or bad moods.
It just so happened to be terrible weather outside—below minus twenty degrees Celsius, with howling winds and heavy snow. After several failed attempts to light his cigarette, frustration mounting, he looked up and spotted her through the slanted row of glass windows ahead. Among the various faces inside, only Yin Guo in the corner shared his Asian heritage.
The innate affinity for one's own race is something people are born with.
And that day, a sense of rootlessness lingered in his heart because of Jiang Yang, stirring up memories of the past. Seeing Yin Guo then was like catching a glimpse of a distant homeland through her.
"Right there," Lin Yiyang pointed at the window, "I watched you for three or four minutes."
Watching her tilt her head in frustration at the blizzard snapping tree branches, watching her tap the glass with a troubled expression, watching her startled gaze as a branch crashed onto a car below...
At that moment, he had really wanted to push the door open and ask her: Little girl, what’s there to worry about? The blizzard will pass eventually.
"I really did want to go in—to buy you a drink, to get to know you, to ask for your contact, to make sure you got back to your hotel safely," he said with a smile. "Every word is true."
Following his description, Yin Guo shifted her perspective, looking back at the corner where she had been making that phone call in the bar.
It was as if she could see herself at her most helpless and dejected that day.
What was so appealing about her then? Unwashed for days, stranded at the airport... Just thinking about it made her cringe at how disheveled she must have looked.
But no matter how messy she was that day, to Lin Yiyang, she held an inexplicable pull.
Though later, it became clear that this pull was unique to him. Wu Wei, who had met Yin Guo alongside him, only remarked that the girl was sweet—nothing more. And while Wu Wei would get tongue-tied every time he saw the Japanese girl at the ramen shop, Lin Yiyang merely thought she was cute, nothing beyond that.
Had it been Lin Lin making that phone call that day, she’d probably have been scowling and cursing. Lin Yiyang’s first thought upon seeing that would’ve been— better find somewhere else. But if Meng Xiaodong had been the one passing by and seen Lin Lin, the outcome would’ve been entirely different.
Truthfully, no one could really explain it.
If it weren’t you, there’d be no urge to approach, no lingering thoughts, no losing all composure. If it weren’t you, no matter how perfect or outstanding, it would mean nothing to me.
Or perhaps, the word love was always meant for that one specific person.
That night, Yin Guo was woken by the sound of Lin Yiyang’s phone ringing in the middle of her sleep.
He stepped out to take the call.
It was brief. Soon after, he returned to the bedside in the dark. Without turning on the lamp, his face brushed against hers, his voice low and soft: "Sun Zhou needs me at the pool hall. I won’t make it to your match tomorrow."
Still half-asleep, Yin Guo murmured an "Mm," watching him dress in the dim glow of the outside lights. Lin Yiyang was usually quick in everything he did, including getting dressed, but tonight, every movement was slow—so slow it made no sound.
By the time she was fully aware again, he was already gone.
The warmth he left behind still lingered in the blankets. She burrowed into his side of the bed, breathing in his scent on the pillow, and fell into a deeper sleep.
The next day, in the semifinals, Yin Guo played with exhilarating intensity—thoroughly enjoying herself.In the Chinese lounge, everyone was congratulating her on successfully making it to the semifinals while also teasing her about her blossoming romance. Flushed from the well-wishes, Yin Guo found a corner and began wiping down her cue with a cloth.
Beside her, a senior teammate who was about to compete grabbed her arm. "Chen Anan withdrew from the tournament."
"Withdrew?" She was completely unaware.
Yin Guo had left early in the morning and hadn’t run into Chen Anan. The women’s matches were scheduled before the men’s, and during her own game, there was no way she could have heard the news...
The senior added, "East New City only has one player left competing today. The rest have all left."
A sense of unease washed over her.
Yin Guo set down her cue and rushed out to retrieve her phone from the coach.
Powering it on, she nervously entered her password and searched for Lin Yiyang.
The call wouldn’t go through.
Forcing herself to stay calm, she opened his WeChat.
Fruit in the Woods: Did something happen? Chen Anan withdrew?
Standing in the hallway, she barely noticed a commentator walking past during a break, who greeted her warmly, "Congratulations."
Yin Guo smiled hurriedly. "Thank you."
Suddenly, a reply appeared on WeChat.
Lin: Is your match over?
Fruit in the Woods: Yes, it’s over. I made it to the finals. Are you in Washington? Do you know about Chen Anan withdrawing?
Lin: I know.
Lin: My mentor passed away.
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