Chapter 63: The Voice of Youth (7)
Yin Guo returned with her thermos after waiting in a long line of athletes filling their bottles with hot water.
The two team gold medals for China were the grand finale, the main event of the tournament.
Among the six players, five were seasoned veterans, with Yin Guo being the only one in her early twenties—naturally drawing attention. While queuing, a young guy had greeted her in broken English, but all she could think was: Hurry up and fill your bottle so I can get mine...
Once she finally got her hot water, she rushed back to the lounge.
The team doctor smiled and made space for her as soon as she entered.
Yin Guo quietly slipped behind the sofa.
Lin Yiyang was draped in the red-and-white Chinese team jacket, his back to her. Just as she was about to peek at him, his hand reached back and found her arm. "Where'd you go?"
"To get water." She had wanted to surprise him, but his ears were too sharp.
He pulled her down to sit beside him.
Lin Yiyang studied her, as if wanting to say something.
"I was planning to give you next year's birthday present," Yin Guo said, feeling uneasy under his gaze. Had he seen something? Why so serious?
She glanced at him.
He was still staring at her, head slightly tilted.
......
Finally, Lin Yiyang lightly patted her knee with his left hand, took the thermos she had brought him, and stood up. But just before straightening, he murmured near the top of her head, "Thank you."
It reminded her of that time in the deserted area of Hawaii's Big Island, when he had texted her: Thank you.
No matter how many layers of masks were peeled away, no matter how much education and life experience were stripped back, no matter how much self-protective armor was shed—he was still that same boy from back then.
Awkward with words. The deeper the love, the harder it was to express.
Just like when he first met her, when countless phrases had run through his mind, only for him to fear ruining everything.
In the end, those three simple words—"It's on me"—were the result of dozens of discarded sentences.
Yet Yin Guo felt utterly bewitched by him. The fewer the words, the sparser the speech, the more she believed it was his truest sincerity.
Lin Yiyang's phone was still with her, but he had already left the room.
The moment Lin Yiyang was gone, Wu Wei darted to Yin Guo's side. "Did you see it? Weibo."
"Yeah," she said. She had been refreshing it nonstop.
After the men's team gold was secured, the online mockery was drowned out by waves of congratulations. Sometimes the world was just that cruel—no matter what you did, the only way to silence the naysayers was with undeniable skill and results. There was no other way.
"You saw it, and this is your reaction?" Wu Wei looked utterly disappointed.
"...It's fine. I'm used to it by now."
" Used to it ??" Wu Wei was stunned. Did Lin Yiyang's girlfriend really have so many admirers that she was used to this kind of attention?
......
But since Wu Wei had known Yin Guo the longest, he reconsidered—maybe she just didn’t understand what he was referring to.
"Lin Yiyang is trending."
"So are my brother and Jiang Yang."
The men's Snooker team gold had just concluded, naturally becoming the hottest topic of discussion.
While filling her thermos, she had already seen several trending keywords about the three men from the gold-winning team. The usual patriotic praise, sudden interest in a niche sport, and—most unexpectedly—how many good-looking guys were in this obscure event. Of course it would spark conversation.
"You saw all that? Did you check his alt account?" Wu Wei pressed.
Alt account? Yin Guo was confused.
Wu Wei shoved his phone into her hands.The latest trending keyword—"LinY"
So he really has a secondary account? I thought he didn't use Weibo?
Yin Guo clicked on it and immediately saw screenshots flooding the page—all of LinY's Weibo posts.
These were all dug up after the competition.
It started when, before the Snooker team event, kind-hearted netizens wanted to console this billiards team captain who had won double gold but was still being mocked for withdrawing from the competition. They tried leaving messages on his Weibo, only to discover Lin Yiyang hadn't registered an account.
Of course, no one believed this and kept searching for clues.
Soon, netizens noticed that veteran players from East New City had all followed an obscure account named LinY with barely any followers. Matching this with Lin Yiyang's competition name "Lin" in the U.S., they confirmed it was him.
Everyone unanimously concluded—only this captain himself could warrant so many fellow professionals following him.
What made it trend wasn't the novelty of a "secondary account."
The real surprise was that this account served only one purpose: reposting news and videos about one female player's competitions. A series of system-default "Reposted Weibo" texts, with just one exception—a three-word comment...
Repost: Singapore Open video.
"Reposted Weibo"
Repost: China Open video.
"Reposted Weibo"
Repost: Nine-ball World Championship finals video.
"Reposted Weibo"
Repost: News about this year's Hangzhou competition champion.
"Breakthrough achieved."
Repost: This year's World Championship video.
"Reposted Weibo"
...
Yin Guo was laughing her head off.
He really economized wherever possible—never typing unless absolutely necessary.
Lin Yiyang never mentioned her competitions, so Yin Guo assumed he hadn't watched them. After all, last year he'd been juggling both Snooker and domestic Nine-ball tournaments alone, swamped with commitments.
Suddenly seeing him repost all her competition news and even going out of his way to find videos to share on Weibo made her truly feel—throughout their over-a-year-long long-distance relationship, he'd been silently following her in his own way.
Of course, besides videos and news.
He'd occasionally post a nine-grid collage of newly collected photos.
All were well-angled, beautiful shots—some even screenshotted by him from competition videos.
For Yin Guo's photos, Lin Yiyang never added any captions.
Except for one set of training photos from this year's Nine-ball World Championship, where he commented: Who designed these outfits?
It was under this clearly disdainful post about the sportswear that Jiang Yang's reply confirmed LinY was indeed Lin Yiyang.
Jiang Yang: Why don't you repost our matches?
LinY: Not interested.
Jiang Yang: ...
These were the only two lines of text in all his Weibo posts, plus that one exchange with Jiang Yang.
But it was enough to convey one message: This impossibly handsome national billiards team captain had a sweetheart—a fellow player, a beautiful Nine-ball prodigy.
And it seemed this young beauty couldn't be bothered to interact with him? Not even following him back.
Billiards being such a niche sport, no one had cared to gossip about this before.
So were they close? Had he succeeded in pursuing her? Or was he still silently crushing from afar? This became a massive mystery.
She couldn't stop laughing while reading.
People were imagining Lin Yiyang as some tragic romantic figure...Soon, an even more dedicated netizen captured a screenshot of Lin Yiyang confessing to Yin Guo in the audience before the U.S. Open, complete with a Chinese translation: "Stop guessing, everyone. Even before this captain made his comeback, he was already chasing her like crazy."
"Did he actually succeed or not?"
"I watched the video over a dozen times—he was pretty vague. Probably didn’t succeed yet?"
"As a longtime fan in the billiards scene, reliable sources say he’s still pursuing."
"Damn. Someone that handsome and still can’t get her?!"
"Calling him an idol doesn’t do justice to his skills, and calling him a sports prodigy doesn’t highlight his ridiculously handsome face… Just when I was about to shamelessly call him ‘hubby,’ you guys show me this… Should’ve never clicked on this trending topic."
"So jealous… What does it feel like to be pursued by someone like this? Aaaaaah…"
……
Yin Guo scrolled further, growing increasingly embarrassed, while Wu Wei watched excitedly beside her: "Feeling the ego boost yet?"
Just thinking about it was thrilling.
A man who dominates the spotlight on the court, revered by thousands, was exposed for acting like a starstruck fan—using a burner account to post nothing but her match videos, news, or even screenshots of her games saved on Weibo…
No matter who the "you" in this scenario was, they’d be moved to tears.
And to make it even more tantalizing, their relationship was still semi-secret. Everyone still believed this man hadn’t succeeded yet, that he was still tirelessly chasing—
Which only made the envy even more unbearable.
"What are you looking at?"
The man’s voice came from above her.
Wu Wei quickly wiped the grin off his face and snatched his phone back from Yin Guo. "Time to go. Coach said we’re leaving."
He explained that the head coach had decided to let the Chinese team take the lead and go out to shake hands with the local fans. Otherwise, it’d be pitiful for the crowd waiting outside—and equally pitiful for those still stuck inside the stadium.
After delivering the message, he bolted.
Yin Guo couldn’t admit she’d been scrolling through his trending topic with Wu Wei. "Let me help you with your jacket," she said, referring to the team jacket draped over his shoulders.
"I can do it myself," Lin Yiyang replied.
He was immediately met with a displeased glare from Yin Guo.
Relenting, he let her help.
She carefully slid the right sleeve onto his arm, then the left. Standing in front of him, she fastened the zipper. The sound of the plastic teeth sliding together was audible only to the two of them.
"You have a burner account on Weibo?" she asked tentatively.
Lin Yiyang paused for a second… So that’s what she was looking at.
He explained, "Weibo’s convenient for saving stuff."
"Oh," she replied, suppressing a laugh.
Lin Yiyang was baffled by her amusement.
When he’d first registered on Weibo, it really was just to save news and videos—it was easier to search for content there compared to platforms like Moments, where nothing could be found.
He hadn’t told her about it because he occasionally left comments. Men and women think differently, and he worried she might not like what she saw.
In the end, Yin Guo didn’t tell him that his "LinY" account had already been exposed. Imagining his reaction when he checked his notifications later and saw his comments section flooded with thousands of replies, she couldn’t hold back another laugh.
Lin Yiyang sensed something was off. "What’s so funny?"
She shook her head, smoothing out the collar of his tracksuit. "I didn’t realize you’ve been watching my matches all this time. And saving them, too."
He didn’t see anything unusual about it.
Of course he watched. On days they couldn’t meet, watching her matches was his greatest pastime.
Whether in text or video.Yin Guo found his cue case: "Let Jiang Yang carry your sports bag. I'll take the cue."
Lin Yiyang watched Yin Guo walk away, still sensing something—something everyone was keeping from him.
For now, he couldn’t figure it out. He’d think about it back at the hotel.
Soon, the entire Chinese billiards team had gathered their belongings. Each member slung their sports bag over their shoulder and carried their cues, following Lin Yiyang as the event organizers led them toward the glass doors.
Outside the glass doors, the stadium’s exterior lights were all on. The moment the doors were pushed open, a wave of deafening cheers crashed against everyone’s eardrums. Yin Guo could barely hear anything.
Everyone expected Lin Yiyang and Jiang Yang to step out first, but he stopped.
Lin Yiyang braced one glass door open with his left hand, while Jiang Yang, smiling, pushed the other door open. The two tall men stood at the front, clearing a path for those behind them.
Leaning against the glass door, Lin Yiyang urged the others, "What are you waiting for?"
After a brief pause, the team members hurried forward one by one, stepping into the sea of cheering fans.
Lin Yiyang and Jiang Yang waited until the last teammate had passed through before exchanging a smile.
They released the doors simultaneously, letting them swing shut.
Yin Guo glanced back just in time to see Lin Yiyang and Jiang Yang swallowed by the crowd—unlike the others, they wouldn’t escape so easily. For some reason, she thought back to the first time Lin Yiyang had returned from a long trip and practiced with her at the small pool hall near her New York apartment. That day, a song had been playing—
"Riding the wind and waves, I charge ahead as thousands gaze.
Riding the wind and waves, I never need to look back.
Turning the world upside down, I write my own laws…"
Perhaps from that day onward,
when she stood by the pool table and saw the back of that man—wearing a black long-sleeved T-shirt and ordinary jeans, picking up a house cue—she should have known he would one day stand where he did now.
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