Peninsula: Aiming for a Grand Slam

Chapter 91 Karina dared not speak

"Okay, it's open."

The indicator light for the live stream is on.

The comments started scrolling.

At first, there were only a few scattered messages: "Here it comes!"

"Ningning is so pretty."

Did Karina unnie put on makeup today?

Liu Zhimin leaned closer to the screen, squinting at the scrolling comments.

"I only did my eyebrows today," she said.

Ningning stretched and yawned, the towel around her neck slipping down and draped over her shoulder.

"Unnie is lying. She sat in front of the mirror for half an hour. I just changed my clothes, and when I came out, she was still painting."

"That's skincare," Liu Zhimin said without looking at her.

"Skincare for your eyebrows?"

Jin Dongtian chuckled beside him.

The agent stared at Liu Zhimin, as if to tell her: Your expression is a little stiff today.

Liu Zhimin turned her head to look at Ningning, a smile on her face, but a hint of danger in her eyes: "You're being quite talkative today?"

"I usually talk a lot too." Ningning finally arranged the cushions, nestled into them, and sighed with satisfaction.

The comments section started flooded with "Let's argue! Let's argue!"

Liu Zhimin glanced at the screen but didn't respond.

"Has anyone been watching 'Vincenzo' lately?" Kim Dong-won looked up.

She seemed to be asking the comments section, or perhaps the people next to her.

The screen was instantly flooded with comments like "Watched it" and "Song Joong-ki is so handsome".

Ningning peeked out from under the cushion: "I watched it! The latest two episodes are still—"

"Don't spoil it."

Liu Zhimin cut her off.

"I didn't say I was going to give away any spoilers!"

Your expression just now said it all.

The screen was filled with "hahaha". Liu Zhimin's lips curled up slightly, but she didn't laugh out loud.

She saw a comment on the screen—

"Has Karina been following tennis lately?"

She didn't read this.

I didn't read the next one either.

However, her fingers gripped the sofa tightly.

Liu Zhimin turned her gaze to Ningning, as if waiting for Ningning to continue chatting with the comments.

The comments section started flooding again.

"Is Ningning without makeup today?"

When will you return?

Ningning sat up a little straighter: "Almost there, almost there! We practiced until yesterday—"

She suddenly stopped and glanced at Liu Zhimin.

"—Practicing until very late."

Ningning smoothed things over and suddenly became very well-behaved.

The live chat was buzzing: "I almost let it slip."

Ningning is quick-witted.

"Trick her one more time."

"Karina, keep an eye on her."

Liu Zhimin ignored it, simply reached for the water bottle, unscrewed the cap, and took a sip.

Many fans have asked about the comeback.

Everyone used the same phrase: "We're preparing."

"The song is very nice."

"This time the style is different."

He didn't say a word about things that couldn't be revealed.

A Japanese comment was read aloud by Gisele: "When are you coming to Japan for a concert?"

Ningning looked at Liu Zhimin.

Kim Dong-won also looked at Yoo Ji-min.

Liu Zhimin did not respond.

She was reading another comment.

Is Karina really dating J.Chen?

Liu Zhimin's gaze followed the comment for several seconds.

Then, she blinked and looked away, as if she hadn't seen the comment at all.

"When can you come to Japan for a concert?" Kim Dong-won read the Japanese comment again and then looked at Yoo Ji-min.

Liu Zhimin put down her water glass: "We can't go out now; crossing borders will result in a long quarantine period."

Ningning nestled in the cushions, counting on her fingers: "Two weeks of quarantine upon arrival, then another two weeks upon return—basically a month will be gone."

She sighed again, "I haven't had ramen in a long time, the real Japanese ramen, not the kind from convenience stores."

"How pitiful."

"For Ningning's sake, let the pandemic end soon."

A few Japanese comments were interspersed among the comments, probably expressing their longing and support.

Kim Dong-won suddenly asked, "But I saw before that at the US Open, athletes didn't need to quarantine—how did they manage that?"

The agent frowned.

But nothing was said—Chen is too weak, still too far from the US Open.

Someone typed in the comments: "Looks like Bubbles?"

Ningning didn't notice, tilted her head and thought for a moment, then said, "Maybe athletes get some special policies."

Jin Dongtian suddenly remembered something and sat up a little straighter from the corner of the sofa: "By the way, isn't there a famous tradition at the US Open that players have to wear all white?"

"I think that looks really good. Wearing all white while playing basketball, it's like shooting a magazine cover."

Ningning was drinking water when she paused for a moment.

She moved the water bottle away from her mouth and glanced at Jin Dongtian: "That's Wimbledon."

Jin Dongtian blinked: "What?"

Ningning: "The all-white one isn't the US Open, it's Wimbledon, Wimbledon."

Jin Dongtian frowned.

She did not accept the correction: "No, no! There is only one grass court event among the four Grand Slams, and only that event is pure white!"

"Moreover, the US Open is held at Flushing Meadows Park—since it's a prairie park, it should be grassy, ​​right?"

""

Ningning couldn't answer for a moment.

You've got it mixed up.

It's Gisele.

She nestled at the far end of the sofa, holding a coffee in her hand, her tone so indifferent it seemed to float out of thin air.

Jin Dongtian turned to look at her: "The US Open is grass, Wimbledon is grass—doesn't that mean the Grand Slams have two grass courts?"

Giselle took a sip of her coffee, showing no intention of pressing the matter further: "Then I don't know."

Jin Dongtian paused for a moment, then handed her phone to Ningning: "But look, Wikipedia says it's [Flushing Meadows Park]."

"If it's hard ground, why isn't it called Hard Ground Park? Why is it still called Grassland?"

Ningning retorted, "They've been calling it that for hundreds of years, why would they change it when it's perfectly fine?"

Kim Dong-dong: "Then Seoul was renamed Seoul after all?"

Ningning choked and started talking about other things.

The agent leaned back in his chair, his gaze slowly shifting between the four members.

Ningning and Jin Dongtian were still bickering about the hard surface of the grass.

Liu Zhimin leaned quietly against the sofa armrest, not saying a word the whole time.

The agent glanced at the backend statistics and saw that the number of online users was steadily increasing.

The live stream went very well.

There were no sensitive topics, no annoying comments, and the interactions between the members were natural and fun.

She glanced at Liu Zhimin again.

The captain she was most worried about didn't say a single wrong word.

The agent frowned again: "Liu Zhimin's condition is not quite the same as usual."

Liu Zhimin's gaze fell on the screen, but her focus was not on any line of text.

His mind was elsewhere, wandering off into the distance.

But right now, the live stream is very popular, and the comments are very harmonious.

Liu Zhimin's silence was the safest option—she was just sitting there in a daze, and nothing bad would happen.

The agent was relieved.

Jin Dongtian and Ningning are still arguing.

The screen was filled with comments fanning the flames—

"Hahaha"

"Go Ningning!"

"Winter, don't let her go."

"Hard courts and grass don't matter, let's settle this first."

The debate continues.

Jin Dongtian was speechless, caught between a rock and a hard place by Ningning's words; she needed a referee. Gisele, on Ningning's side, couldn't ask any more questions.

She turned to Liu Zhimin, who had remained silent.

"Unnie, what do you think?"

Liu Zhimin did not react.

Her gaze fell on the phone screen, but the screen was black; there was nothing there.

"Unnie!"

"Um?"

Liu Zhimin raised her head and blinked.

Jin Dongtian frowned, leaned forward, and pointed at her phone screen with one hand, as if waiting for her to uphold justice.

Ningning hugged the cushion, nestled on the sofa, her lips pursed, her eyes filled with a pleading look.

The agent sat off-camera, leaning slightly forward, his gaze fixed on her face.

Three faces, from three different directions, are all looking at her.

Liu Zhimin was a little dazed. She seemed to recall a passage: "The US Open was not originally on hard court. Of the four Grand Slams, only it has ever hosted tournaments on grass, clay, and hard courts."

Ningning was stunned for a moment.

Jin Dongtian blinked: "—So Ningning is right?"

Ningning spread her hands out, palms up, with a "see?" expression on her face.

The comments section was flooded with "little-known facts."

"Karina knows everything."

"As expected of the eldest sister in the group."

"Knowledge-based idol"

However, there were also a few less harmonious comments mixed in—

Something's not right.

When did she start paying attention to tennis?

Liu Zhimin didn't look at the comments; she lowered her head to drink water, her eyelashes drooping.

After she finished speaking, she felt a little scared.

But thankfully, it's alright.

It's not Xiao Chen, not Gao Donghe, not the words the agent instructed.

She was just giving a brief overview of tennis history; the US Open has three different court surfaces, which anyone could probably know.

So it's okay.

Liu Zhimin leaned back against the sofa, and the weight that had been hanging over her chest slowly returned to its place.

Ningning blinked.

She looked up at Liu Zhimin, her lips slightly parted as if she wanted to say something, but then she held them back.

"So Ningning is right?" Jin Dongtian pressed on.

Ningning didn't hear what Liu Zhimin said.

She noticed the look her agent was giving her.

Ningning pressed the cushion closer to her chest, her smile still on her face.

Jin Dongtian remained silent for a few seconds.

Her brows were furrowed, as if she were recalling something.

Suddenly, she raised her head and turned to Liu Zhimin.

"I remember now! The US Open's quarantine-free policy, the one Unnie mentioned last time—"

'

She paused, then pointed her finger in the air.

"Bubbles?"

Ningning's smile froze on her face. Gisele pretended to drink coffee.

Liu Zhimin turned her head and stared at Jin Dongtian. Her lips moved slightly, but she didn't speak.

The object, which had just landed halfway, suddenly slammed into my ribs inside my chest cavity.

When Jin Dongtian saw the captain's gaze, he belatedly realized what he had said. His lips parted slightly, then closed again, and he shrank back half an inch against the sofa back.

The live stream chat exploded in that instant.

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