Chapter 89
Clearly, Su Yun still had no idea what was about to happen to him next.
He was still training with his beloved coach, Zhang Mingran, as if no one else existed.
Song Fengshi lifted the cup of water at his side and took a sip. Lin Zhiqiao’s chirping inner commentary filled his ears, yet instead of finding it noisy, Song Fengshi felt something soft and tender stirring in his heart.
Even his gaze stayed fixed on the figure gliding slowly across the rink, as though he did not want to miss even the slightest movement.
After some time, someone suddenly sat down right beside him.
Song Fengshi was not used to having people sit so close to him. He instinctively frowned and was about to stand up and leave, but when he caught sight of the small figure from the corner of his eye, he realized it was Song Xinqiu.
Song Fengshi: “…”
He had almost forgotten about her.
“Not almost. You already did,” Song Xinqiu rolled her eyes. “My dear uncle, if your thoughts were usually this easy to read, Great-Grandpa wouldn’t be so worried that he’d have to eat three extra bowls of rice.”
Song Fengshi had no response.
Song Xinqiu also held a teacup and took a slow sip. Despite her young age, every move she made carried an air of maturity.
“He’s pretty interesting,” Song Xinqiu suddenly said, staring at the chestnut-haired young man on the ice.
Song Fengshi’s fingers twitched slightly. Out of nowhere, he asked, “You can hear it too?”
Song Xinqiu nodded as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. “Of course.”
Song Fengshi: “…”
Some of the things Lin Zhiqiao thought really were not for children to hear.
Just as he was wondering whether he should cover his little niece’s ears, she turned her head and shot him a sidelong glance.
“All I hear are a bunch of censored words and bleeped-out bits. It’s so noisy it makes my head hurt,” she said.
Song Fengshi thought, So it even comes with automatic filtering. That’s even more magical and considerate than I imagined.
Song Xinqiu curled her lips. “But I can more or less guess what it means. It’s nothing more than that sort of thing.” She tugged at the corner of her mouth. “I’m not that young anymore. I’ve seen all kinds of things.”
Song Fengshi replied, “You’re still little.”
“Really?” Song Xinqiu gave a light snort and said in an old-fashioned tone, “Small in body, not small in mind. I’ve seen plenty.”
This was something Song Fengshi could not refute.
Growing up in their circle, hearing about one absurd and outrageous affair after another, Su Yun and Adeline’s situation really was nothing that shocking to them.
Still… as something to gossip about after a meal, the scandal was certainly sweet enough.
The uncle and niece had not been talking for long when Su Yun and Chen Mingran on the ice could no longer sit still.
They exchanged a glance, immediately understood each other, and left one after the other in tacit coordination. Judging by the direction they were heading, it seemed they were going to the changing room.
Song Fengshi watched the two of them leave and assumed they were preparing to head out.
Thinking of Adeline’s earlier request that he “keep the two of them here,” Song Fengshi hesitated for a second—then that familiar chirping voice sounded in his ear again.
Well, well. So they’re not favoring the restroom today—they’re changing locations? Lin Zhiqiao clicked his tongue twice. Coach Zhang’s private changing room… today’s theme is changing-room play? They really know how to have fun.
While Lin Zhiqiao was still marveling over it, the corner of his eye suddenly caught sight of a golden-haired figure rushing past beside the rink.
She looked familiar. Not sure. Better take another look.
Lin Zhiqiao focused his gaze—
Wasn’t that Adeline?!
Why had she suddenly come to the club? And the direction she was heading in… however he looked at it, it was toward the changing room.
Lin Zhiqiao’s eyes lit up at once, and his heart immediately began to itch with anticipation.
The people beside him were clearly unable to sit still anymore either.
Wen Li gave a light cough and waved a hand grandly. “Everyone’s been training for so long, I think we can take a break now.”
As soon as the words fell, the whole group scattered toward the side of the rink.
Following in Adeline’s wake, they all surged toward the changing room in a great wave.
The cameraman also did not want to miss such an exciting scene, but he was worried that if he accidentally caught anything unbroadcastable, the livestream would get shut down on the spot. So, taking advantage of the break time, he simply paused the broadcast.
By the time Lin Zhiqiao and the others reached the changing room, Adeline had already charged inside. In the not-so-spacious room, the three of them were fighting in a tangled heap—
More accurately, Adeline was taking on both of them alone, and even combined, Zhang Mingran and Su Yun were no match for her.
Lin Zhiqiao watched in astonishment. [Good lord, Coach Zhang looks so strong, but he can’t even take a beating? He even shoved Su Yun out in front of him to take the blows. Too weak!!]
[And Adeline’s combat ability is actually this high? One look and you can tell from those punches and kicks that she’s trained before. The way she’s beating them up is like she’s pounding a sandbag—this is amazing!]
At that moment, Song Fengshi, after hesitating for a bit, also followed the crowd over.
By the time he reached the battleground, the fight among the three had already entered its final stage. A pink rabbit-ear headband flew out from inside the room, barely grazing past Song Fengshi’s eyes.
That cute little thing had originally been on Su Yun’s head.
Lin Zhiqiao’s gaze followed the rabbit ears, and he let out an exclamation. Wow!
Song Fengshi: “…”
At last, the changing room fell silent. Adeline emerged from inside and said with composure, “I’m sorry you all had to witness such a farce.”
The group shook their heads in unison and collectively stepped back.
It was not that they were afraid of being implicated by Adeline’s anger. It was simply that the condition of the two men inside was genuinely horrifying.
Adeline gave them all a friendly smile. When her gaze landed on Lin Zhiqiao standing amid the crowd, she paused, then turned on her heel and walked straight toward him.
A tall shadow suddenly fell over Lin Zhiqiao’s head. He looked up, saw Adeline’s sharply defined and strikingly beautiful face, and instinctively shrank his neck back a little.
For some reason, he felt a bit guilty.
[She’s not going to beat me up, is she? I’m just here for the gossip, please don’t hurt me, boohoo QAQ!]
But Adeline’s smile was perfectly amiable. “Lin Zhiqiao.”
Lin Zhiqiao looked blank. Reflexively, he answered, “Yes?”
At the side, Song Fengshi’s brows drew together. Thinking of Adeline’s usual style, he immediately sensed trouble.
Adeline got straight to the point. “Would you like to come with me?”
Lin Zhiqiao: “…Huh?”
“I can guarantee you food and clothing, endless resources, constant trending topics, and a nonstop stream of work.” Adeline extended an olive branch, not forgetting to confess at the end, “I like cute little boys like you best.”
Lin Zhiqiao froze. “Huh???”
[So she’s not trying to hit me… hold on, what? Is she trying to keep me? Lin Zhiqiao nearly tripped over his own thoughts. But I’m a man who likes men. I’m not into girls, and I’m even less interested in female-dominant relationships!]
And the most important thing was—
[A nonstop stream of work sounds terrifying! I just want to be a happy, lazy little salted fish lying flat… a gossip-loving one!]
Adeline blinked and quickly added, “Whatever conditions you have, just say them. I—”
Before she could finish, someone interrupted her.
Song Fengshi stepped forward two paces. Whether intentionally or not, he positioned himself perfectly to block Adeline’s line of sight toward Lin Zhiqiao.
“Adeline.” His voice was light, but the warning in his tone was unmistakable.
Adeline showed no fear in meeting his eyes. Very quickly, she seemed to pick up on the seriousness and determination hidden beneath his outward calm.
She looked at Lin Zhiqiao, then shifted her gaze back to Song Fengshi, letting out a long, drawn-out “Oh,” as if she had figured something out.
Then she switched languages. “&*#…?”
Lin Zhiqiao looked completely lost. It was neither Chinese nor English, and he could not understand a single word.
What he did not notice, however, was that Ji Ran’s expression beside him had suddenly turned strange.
Song Fengshi did not answer her. Instead, Song Xinqiu, who had been standing nearby, spoke up first. “Yes.”
Song Fengshi did not deny it, which amounted to tacit admission.
Ji Ran’s expression immediately became even more colorful. His eyes went round—truly wide as copper bells.
Adeline shrugged. “If it’s yours…”
She blinked at Lin Zhiqiao. “Farewell, little cutie. Just pretend I never said any of that.”
Lin Zhiqiao inwardly let out a sigh of relief.
Adeline’s combat ability was so high that he had genuinely been worried she might decide to use force.
Good thing Song Fengshi was here, and good thing Miss Adeline is the kind of overbearing CEO who still plays fair.
Song Fengshi had not left yet, so Lin Zhiqiao lowered his voice and thanked him. “Thank you for getting me out of that.”
“It was nothing.” Song Fengshi paused, seeming to hesitate for a moment before adding, “If something like this happens again in the future… you can come to me.”
Lin Zhiqiao nodded rapidly.
Only then did Song Fengshi leave with Song Xinqiu.
Lin Zhiqiao watched his tall back recede into the distance and muttered to himself inwardly, [Good thing it wasn’t Song Fengshi making that offer. If it had been him… with conditions that good, and the gender actually matching my preferences, rejecting him would have been kind of hard.]
Song Fengshi’s steps halted abruptly.
Song Xinqiu tilted her head up and glanced at the tips of her uncle’s ears.
Oh-ho.
They had turned red!
Very soon, it was the final day of the third episode of Life.
Director Fang had lavishly rented out an entire sports arena. On that day, the surrounding audience seats were packed to the brim.
Before going on stage, the six of them encouraged each other. Wen Li asked, “And our goal is—”
Everyone answered in unison, “Absolutely do not fall!”
Even the nearby staff members could not hold back their laughter. Director Fang helplessly covered his forehead. “Can’t you have a little more ambition?”
Lin Zhiqiao responded with complete righteousness in his heart, This is already an incredibly lofty goal!
Everyone silently nodded.
However, plans could never keep up with reality. The five-minute skating performance ended amid laughter and noise from the live audience.
The cause was a tiny, almost unnoticeable pothole in the ice.
As Ji Ran glided over it, the small pit tripped him and he fell flat on the ice with a smack. Tang Zhou, who was right behind him, could not stop in time. His skate caught on Ji Ran’s long leg, and he fell straight onto his backside.
With two large obstacles now sprawled across the route, the people behind them were inevitably doomed as well. Like dominoes, they toppled one after another and made intimate contact with the ice.
Only Wen Li, with her professional background, deftly avoided everyone and escaped disaster.
But after taking one glance at her little companions piled in a heap, she thought for less than a second, let out an “Ouch!” and chose to flop down beside them anyway.
It was a full-scale live accident scene.
Director Fang sat in the stands with a hand over his eyes, practically unable to bear watching it.
Performance effect: -100. Variety-show effect: +10000.
What accident? This was obviously the planned highlight of the show. [doge.jpg]
Does no one else think Xiao Qiao’s figure looked especially good today? Yes, I’m talking about his backside.
Because the Gossip King secretly wore padded shorts under his performance costume. [loudly yelling.jpg]
Hahaha, that was way too foresighted.
It looks so soft and nice to touch. I want to squish it. [hehehe.jpg]
After collapsing into a pile, the group got back up and stubbornly completed the remainder of the “performance.”
When the music ended, the audience tossed plush dolls onto the ice in cheerful excitement, and a rain of stuffed animals fell across the rink.
Wen Li skated over with practiced ease, picked up one of the plushies, and waved it toward the audience. The others quickly followed her example.
Lin Zhiqiao knew that this was a special tradition in figure skating competitions.
So he also skated over, preparing to pick out one or two plush toys that suited his taste. Suddenly, a chubby little stuffed raccoon dog landed right in front of him.
Lin Zhiqiao’s eyes blinked, and his hand moved before his mind could catch up.
The moment he scooped the plush raccoon dog into his arms, he heard a shout from not far away in the audience.
The voice was childish but very familiar. “Brother Zhiqiao! My uncle says you’re just as adorable as that stuffed raccoon dog!”
Lin Zhiqiao looked up toward the voice and immediately saw Song Fengshi sitting in the front row, with Song Xinqiu beside him.
It was obvious that Song Xinqiu had been the one to shout those words.
Lin Zhiqiao waved the stuffed raccoon dog in his hand toward the little girl and flashed a cute smile exactly like the plush toy’s.
The cameraman at the side was very good at his job. The instant Lin Zhiqiao picked up the raccoon dog plush, he turned the camera toward the Song uncle-and-niece pair in the audience.
Oh my god, that little girl is amazing!
So was that line something President Song asked his niece to say for him? [thinking deeply.jpg]
Whispering this, but why do I feel like President Song’s ears are red? Is that my imagination?
Why is this kind of shippable? [heart starting to stir.jpg]
After Lin Zhiqiao turned and skated back toward his friends, and the cameraman’s lens moved away as well, Song Xinqiu immediately dropped the innocent, childlike look from her face and returned to her usual self.
“Why are you looking at me?” She was utterly calm under Song Fengshi’s gaze. “I only said what was in your heart. Or are you saying you weren’t thinking that?”
Song Fengshi: “…”
He really had no way of refuting that.
Song Xinqiu gave a light snort. “Uncle, this is not how you pursue someone.” She said in a measured tone, “At the rate you’re going, even if I give you ten thousand years, he still might not realize you like him.”
Song Fengshi fell silent for a moment, as if actually considering his niece’s lesson.
A moment later, he spoke. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome,” Song Xinqiu replied. “Three million for accompanying you here, three million for helping you throw the plush toy, four million for speaking on your behalf. Oh right, and the stuffed doll itself cost me eighty-eight. Total: ten million and eighty-eight yuan.”
She looked up, her childish face smiling with extraordinary sweetness and innocence. “Please remember to transfer it to my card. Thank you for your patronage.”
