Yonghe Road

Chapter 38 Misunderstanding
"Sister-in-law, why are you up so early to read?"

"I must complete the task you assigned me."

Lin Yingying sat on a bamboo chair, tilted her head back, and looked at Zhong Ziqi with a smile. Xie Anmin's book was spread out on Lin Yingying's lap. The snow-white title page reflected the morning sunlight onto Lin Yingying's face, making her smile even brighter.

Zhong Ziqi felt a little guilty: "I'm sorry, sister-in-law, I just said it casually, I didn't mean to force you..."

Lin Yingying shook her head. "I should thank you, too. Although my academic performance wasn't very good when I was in school, I used to love reading novels. Xie Anmin's novels are really well written. You're right. I'll treat it as prenatal education for my baby, allowing him to be exposed to literature in the womb."

After hearing Lin Yingying say this, Zhong Ziqi sat down on the chair beside her and asked her, "Sister-in-law, do you think Xie Anmin's calligraphy is good?"

"She's a talented woman, how can she not be good?"

"How exactly is it good?" Zhong Ziqi recalled yesterday at the country villa, when Shao Feng had praised Xie Anmin's writing to Director Mei Wending. His words were so well-written and convincing that not only had Director Mei taken it in, but Xie Anmin was also overjoyed. This made Zhong Ziqi curious, wondering if Shao Feng had been flattering Xie Anmin just to please him.

At this moment, he wanted to hear Lin Yingying's opinion.

Lin Yingying didn't disappoint Zhong Ziqi. She closed the book in her hand and said, "Xie Anmin's writing is very delicate and full of emotion. I read her debut novel, 'Looking Up at the Sky', a few days ago. You can't imagine that this was written by a nine-year-old. I have never understood those life insights in my entire life. I can only say that she is truly a genius."

Lin Yingying raised the copy of "Cherry Blossom Memories" in her hand and continued, "The one I'm reading right now is her newest work, and it's even more amazing. It records her time living in Japan. The language is humorous, and every word reflects her concerns and thoughts on topics like literature, art, aging, and death..."

Xie Anmin also talked about his views on sex in "Cherry Blossom Past", which were avant-garde and profound. Lin Yingying's heart was beating wildly and she was uneasy. She couldn't help but admire and envy Xie Anmin.

As both are women, how come Xie Anmin can live so freely and dazzlingly, like a beautiful swan, while she can only be a frog in the well in a small village?

However, Lin Yingying was unable to share with Zhong Ziqi the words about "sex" in Xie Anmin's book.

She is his sister-in-law and he is her brother-in-law. Such a topic is too sensitive and shameful to discuss. Lin Yingying can only simply express her admiration for Xie Anmin.

Zhong Ziqi said, "Why do you admire her? She just came from a better family than us. If you were born into a family like hers, you wouldn't necessarily be worse off than her. If you had the money to go to Japan, you might even be able to write a better book than hers."

Zhong Ziqi felt guilty as he spoke, and he didn't know why he was so stubborn. Was it so difficult to admit that Xie Anmin was excellent?
Lin Yingying accepted Xie Anmin's excellence and said, "Ziqi, if you read Xie Anmin's books carefully, you will know how outstanding she is. It is only because our Baile Village has become so successful that we have big leaders yesterday, big stars today, and great writers tomorrow. If we had lived in Baile Village before, how could we have the opportunity to meet celebrities like Xie Anmin?"

This celebrity had also saved her and her baby. She and her baby were both lucky people. Lin Yingying stuffed the book in her hand into Zhong Ziqi's hand, rubbed her belly gratefully, and got up to go into the house.

That day, Zhong Ziqi was alone in his room, and with mixed feelings, he opened Xie Anmin's book...

The next evening, Luo Chuxiu gathered all the players to practice on the playground of Baile Village Primary School. Except for Shao Feng who was in the city, everyone else arrived, but Zhong Ziqi was late. When he appeared, everyone was shocked because his eyes had turned into panda eyes and his dark circles were so thick that they could not be removed.

"How come you have become like this after just one day?" When Zhong Ziqi stood beside Wang Zian, Wang Zian asked him in a low voice in surprise.

Zhong Ziqi was too embarrassed to tell Wang Zian that he had endured two days and one night to finally finish reading all the books Xie Anmin had given him. However, he did not want to lie to Wang Zian, so he could only mumble two words: "Reading."

Wang Zian insisted on getting to the bottom of it: "Reading? What books?"

"Useful books," Zhong Ziqi continued perfunctorily. However, Wang Zian interpreted this as him reading books related to white tea. When he was in school, he read books for exams. Now that they both run tea factories and do business, the books they read are naturally related to business.

This made Wang Zian very satisfied. He reached out and patted Zhong Ziqi on the shoulder: "Not bad, keep up this learning attitude."

In addition, Zhong Ziqi had not slept for two days and two nights after the night when he and Wang Zian live-streamed selling tea all night long. When Wang Zian slapped him like that, he actually staggered.

His exhausted appearance aroused Luo Chuxiu's imagination and dissatisfaction. After all, in the country villa of Director Mei Wending's female classmate, Luo Chuxiu already knew that Zhong Ziqi and Xie Anmin were in love.

At this moment, Luo Chuxiu had the players line up and stand at attention. He put his hands behind his back and, with the authority of a coach, began to lecture them: "Remember this, everyone! We are representing Baile Village in this competition. In addition to good skills, we must also have good physical strength. Only with good physical strength can we have the capital to compete with our opponents on the field..."

The players took Luo Chuxiu's words for granted, treating them as normal coaching nonsense. If a coach doesn't talk nonsense, how can he have the dignity of a coach? But the more Zhong Ziqi listened, the more uncomfortable he became, especially when Luo Chuxiu changed the subject and started telling the players stories.

Luo Chuxiu said, "I previously led our Baicha Town Central Primary School basketball team to participate in the city's education system faculty basketball game. Do you know what my biggest weakness in defending players is?"

"What?" Lei Sheng was like a good student who listened attentively to the class. When the teacher asked a question, he didn't know the answer, but he still responded to the teacher's question, even if the teacher was actually asking and answering the question himself, just to let the teacher see his serious attitude.

Luo Chuxiu really looked at Lei Sheng with a look of satisfaction in her eyes, which made Lei Sheng very happy. After all, with his poor basketball skills, it was not easy to make Coach Luo satisfied with him.

With Lei Sheng's cooperation and Luo Chuxiu's pause, all the players pricked up their ears at this moment.

Luo Chuxiu cleared her throat and continued, "The night before the game, I kept the players in the hotel. I'd rather play cards with them than let them go out on their own. What if they added some overzealous female fans on WeChat, arranged to meet up, and did something they shouldn't have done? Would they still have the energy to run on the court the next day?"

Luo Chuxiu's words successfully made the players laugh out loud. Only Zhong Ziqi didn't laugh, because Luo Chuxiu had already cast a warning look at him and said seriously: "Those who have girlfriends, please take it easy before the game. It's best not to date or meet up."

Zhong Ziqi reached out and rubbed the bags under his eyes, feeling a little amused and helpless. Wasn't this misunderstanding too big?

As soon as Coach Luo said this, none of the players dared to think it was a misunderstanding. They all heard it and kept it in their hearts.

Ye Shensu asked loudly and seriously, "Then those of us who have wives, do we have to separate?"

"We'll be separated until we make it to the finals. When we win the championship, we'll celebrate with my wife and girlfriend. By then, it'll be like a reunion."

"Yes sir!"

A line I learned from a Hong Kong drama finally came in handy.

While everyone was laughing and joking, Lei Sheng assured Luo Chuxiu very seriously and rigorously that he was not married and did not have a girlfriend. He would definitely maintain good physical strength and train with all his strength during this period to prepare for the competition in the best condition. After all, he was now one of the five seeded players in the first wave.

Unexpectedly, Luo Chuxiu said, "Lei Sheng, you can just be the substitute."

Lei Sheng's smile froze instantly.

(End of this chapter)