There were no extra flourishes or flowery words.
Standing by the sink, Yin Guo felt those three "Believe me"s strike the softest part of her heart. She had no defenses left; she surrendered the moment she saw them, even feeling a deep sense of guilt, as if she were bullying an honest man.
Though, in truth, he didn't have the face of an honest man at all.
Their sport demanded high standards of etiquette—one had to be a gentleman, and then some. But in her eyes, these men were just ordinary people. In private, many of them told off-color jokes, chased girls, and were world-class trash-talkers. Of course, there were those who were reserved and restrained, like her cousin and Li Qingyan.
But the Lin Yiyang of the past certainly hadn't been the reserved type.
In his own words, he was the kind of reckless youth—a rogue and a bastard. When Yin Guo thought of him, she pictured the kind of boy she often encountered in middle school: the ones who sat on the parallel bars, skipped class to smoke, hung out with social delinquents at the school gates, and got into brawls in pool halls.
Yet, it was exactly this kind of person who, when he stopped talking trash and stopped trying to play you, possessed an irresistible, lethal charm.
Sunday. Thursday.
Five days left.
Five more days until they could meet again. She missed him so much.
***
Lin Yiyang stood on the platform, waiting for Yin Guo’s reply. He was afraid he would lose his signal again once he got back on the subway.
This station was only one stop away from Yin Guo’s hotel, still situated in a bustling downtown area.
A man sat cross-legged on a tattered blanket, beating a hand drum and singing. People hurried past, few stopping to listen. Only someone like Lin Yiyang would stand to the side, keeping the drummer company.
A minute later, Yin Guo replied.
Red Fish: *I’m coming to the station to see you off. Leaving now. See you at the station.*
Just as he received the message, another train pulled in.
A group of kids carrying cue cases stepped off from two of the carriages. They were teenagers competing in next week’s Open, passing by Lin Yiyang with laughter and chatter. Two dark-haired girls turned back to steal a glance at him, whispering and giggling about how rare it was to run into such a handsome Asian man on the street.
However, the man they were eyeing only had eyes for the line of text on his screen.
He looked toward the Gypsy-style drummer and, amidst the rhythmic music, sent her a message.
Lin: *I’m at the next stop. On the platform.*
***
As Yin Guo ran into the subway car, panting as she watched the doors slide shut, she spent three seconds in self-reflection. She felt there was one phrase that described her perfectly: *blinded by his charms.*
She began to wonder exactly when she had started seeing him differently.
It must have been earlier than that drink. It had to be.
It was that day in the Chinese pool hall in Flushing, when his back was to her as he weighed the ball in his hand, urging everyone to raise the stakes... when he said, "Let me see what you’ve got."
Every athlete has a competitive heart. No matter how deeply it’s hidden or how humble they seem, it’s there in their bones. Some want to beat others; some want to beat themselves. Naturally, those with a competitive spirit appreciate the strong.
The station announcement rang out in the carriage.
The next stop had arrived.
Lin Yiyang had said he would be waiting on the platform and told her not to get off.
As the train pulled into the station, she peered through the window of the door, searching for him.
She spotted him almost immediately.
He stood alone with his sports backpack, his eyes scanning the carriages for her. Since they had entered the platform from the same entrance at the hotel station, their relative positions on the train wouldn't be far off. Lin Yiyang had accurately estimated which car she would be in. The moment the doors opened, he stepped inside.
Yin Guo gripped the metal pole by the seats, watching him walk through half the carriage until he came to a halt in front of her.
"I’ve already seen my coach, and my training schedule is flexible anyway. It’s no problem to see you off and come back," she said, finding a logical excuse for her behavior. "You’re always the one coming to see me; it’s my turn to see you off for once."
In a public place, Lin Yiyang couldn't do anything too forward. He simply lowered his head, gazing at her.
The unfamiliar Lin Yiyang, or perhaps the real Lin Yiyang.
At this moment, he wasn't acting like a gentleman. He looked more like a delinquent loitering outside a pool hall, using his eyes to provoke the girl he liked.
Because Yin Guo had been pretty since she was a child, she had encountered people like this often. But her cousin had many friends and had put the word out in school and the surrounding neighborhoods that no one was allowed to hit on Meng Xiaodong’s sister. At most, people would tease her with their eyes.
In the past, she had found it annoying. Now...
Under his gaze, her face grew warm in layers—not burning, just warm.
"If you don't say something, I’m going back at the next stop," she complained softly, unable to bear it.
"I don't have much of a filter," he said honestly. "I’m afraid if I talk too much, I’ll offend you."
Come to think of it, he hadn't actually said many serious things to her. They rarely just talked.
"Were you always like this?" Yin Guo asked curiously. "Not fond of talking?"
"Pretty much," Lin Yiyang recalled. "With guys, you don't have to be careful about what you say."
She understood that. When men are close, they insult each other and trade barbs. When women are close, they gossip, and nine times out of ten, it circles back to emotional issues. They were completely different modes of communication.
"And with girls?" she asked again.
"Girls?" he said. "They were probably scared of me. They rarely approached me."
"There was never a girl you wanted to talk to? Never?" She didn't quite believe him.
Lin Yiyang knew exactly what she was getting at. He countered with a question: "In the past, did you ever see your brother take the initiative with anyone?"
Yin Guo shook her head. Meng Xiaodong was a freak, arrogant to a fault.
He asked again, "So, you think I’d be any less than your brother?"
Finally. She had finally met an egomaniac on par with Meng Xiaodong.
Yin Guo was left speechless by his retort.
However, she quickly spotted a flaw in his logic—he *had* taken the initiative. He had pursued her.
Lin Yiyang noticed the slip-up at the same time. He didn't point it out, but simply met her eyes in a moment of unspoken understanding. It wasn't that he was an egomaniac; it was just that he hadn't met the person who could make him fall. No matter how proud a person is, everyone is equal before love.
They soon reached the next station. In other words, their time together had decreased by another stop.
"Why did you think I had a girlfriend in Washington?" he asked quietly, his voice hovering above her head.
"I felt... it was too fast," she confessed. "I didn't feel very secure."
Even standing here in the subway car with him right in front of her, there was a lack of reality. It felt surreal, mystical, impulsive. It was hard to explain; she knew she wasn't being rational, but she was more afraid of regret.
If she had rationally rejected Lin Yiyang, their lives would have returned to their separate tracks. They would have gradually stopped talking, or perhaps kept in touch only to hear one day that he had married and had children...
Just thinking about it made her uncomfortable. Very uncomfortable.
"Tell me, how can I prove my innocence?" he asked again, his tone much lighter now.
Yin Guo was teased into a smile. "I’ve already come to see you off. What more do you need to prove?"
If she didn't believe him, she wouldn't have come.
He smiled too.
He wanted to tell her that ever since he started school, he had been busy every day making money and earning credits, while still carving out fixed hours for practice. During this graduation season, he was doing the work of three days in one—searching for jobs while applying for his PhD. Even he couldn't have imagined that during such a time, he would be traveling back and forth to New York every week. It turned out that a person's potential for self-exploitation was limitless.
In such a state, having a girlfriend was a luxury, let alone messing around behind someone's back.
...
When they reached the train station, Lin Yiyang nearly missed his train. He hurriedly scanned his ticket at the gate and, before heading down the escalator, waved twice to Yin Guo, signaling for her to head back quickly.
But Yin Guo didn't move. She stood outside the queue, watching until his back disappeared, standing there for a while with a sense of loss.
Just as she was about to leave, Lin Yiyang sent a message—a screenshot of an Uber ride.
Lin: *Take the car back.*
Xiao Guo: *I’ll take the subway back the way I came. It’s very convenient.*
Lin: *The car is there. Go.*
Lin: *Be good.*
Urged by him, she left the station. After finding the car, the driver in the front seat turned around and asked with a smile if she was Lin’s passenger.
Yin Guo nodded, and the car pulled away.
Simultaneously, the train Lin Yiyang was on began its journey toward Washington.
There weren't many passengers. Lin Yiyang looked around the carriage and unexpectedly saw a familiar face—it was the Black mother he had met on the train months ago when he was returning to school after the blizzard.
He didn't recognize her face first, but rather the two infants, one older and one younger.
One was still crying while the other played, and the mother was frantically trying to prepare formula. Lin Yiyang tossed his backpack onto the overhead rack and sat down beside her, saying hoarsely, "Let me help."
She didn't recognize him immediately, but smiled gratefully and thanked him.
Lin Yiyang followed his memory from the last time to help mix the formula. As he shook the bottle and handed it to her, she finally made the connection. She said in surprise, "Wait, we met a few months ago, on this same train?"
Lin Yiyang nodded. "Two months ago."
As she fed the baby, the mother explained that she had to travel back and forth with the two infants to visit her husband regularly. She then asked if he also traveled between the two cities often. Was it for work? A girlfriend? Family?
Lin Yiyang smiled and said nothing.
He was someone who couldn't fully open his heart. The more serious he was about something, the less he said, even to a complete stranger.
During the second half of the trip, he slept for a while. When he woke up, his throat was raw and painful—a precursor to getting sick.
His life was already overloaded. The constant travel between the two cities only added to the exhaustion; it would have been strange if he *didn't* get sick.
When he returned to his apartment that night, he took some Vitamin C and fell into a heavy sleep. He woke up briefly before dawn and saw the WeChat message he had written to Yin Guo. He had finished writing it but hadn't actually hit send.
...
At four in the morning, Yin Guo’s phone vibrated under her pillow.
Dazed, she forced herself awake and reached for her phone, hoping it was a message from Lin Yiyang. She had been waiting for hours for him to tell her he’d arrived safely. She had asked once, but he hadn't replied, so she figured he was busy and didn't press him further.
Squinting in the light of the screen, she read:
Lin: *I’m back.*
Did he just get back? At four in the morning?
Xiao Guo: *Did you run into trouble on the way? You’re so late.*
There was no reply.
Arriving so late, he surely had to go home, unpack, shower, and sleep. Yin Guo didn't think much of it, turned off her phone, and went back to sleep.
The Junior and Youth divisions were competing this week; the Professional Open was next week.
Yin Guo followed her routine at the hotel. Occasionally, she would see people from Dongxincheng in the breakfast room or nearby restaurants. Ever since the news about Lin Yiyang, the entire Dongxincheng crew treated her like their "Little Martial Uncle’s" future wife, being incredibly enthusiastic.
It got to the point where her own club members teased her: "Dongxincheng and Beicheng have been fighting for so long, and in the end, it’s going to be a 'marriage alliance.' Truly, what is long divided must unite..."
On Thursday morning, Coach Chen informed her that she would be watching the Youth division matches that morning.
Yin Guo did the math. If she watched the matches in the morning, her training would have to be moved to the afternoon. No matter how she looked at it, she wouldn't make it for dinner. So, in a corner of the breakfast room by the window, she scooped a spoonful of milk-soaked cereal into her mouth and messaged him with one hand.
Xiao Guo: *I have to go watch the matches today, so I can't have dinner with you. Go eat with Wu Wei.*
Lin: *I won't make it today. Don't worry about me.*
Yin Guo’s heart sank. Suddenly, she didn't know what to say.
She had been planning everything out, cramming all her tasks into the first few days. Though it didn't show on the surface, she had been counting down the days in her head.
Xiao Guo: *Is it the same as usual? Are you coming back tomorrow?*
Lin: *School is very busy this week, more than expected. I’ll head over two days early next week.*
So he wasn't coming at all this week?
If this week was lost, there was only one week left. They would only see each other next week.
The thought that her meeting with Lin Yiyang would be indefinitely delayed once she returned to China made her feel even more hollow. Her spoon stirred the cereal, the ceramic clinking sharply against the bowl. When her phone buzzed again, she thought it was Lin Yiyang, but it was her younger cousin.
Tian Tian: *Sis, I’m here to spend the weekend with you~*
Xiao Guo: *...I don't have time for you. Go play by yourself.*
Tian Tian: *Brother Lin gave me the assignment.*
Meng Xiaotian sent six or seven screenshots of restaurant addresses.
Tian Tian: *He’s already booked the tables and transferred the money to me. He told me I’m responsible for accompanying you to eat from Thursday to Sunday.*
Xiao Guo: *Why did you take his money just to eat?*
Tian Tian: *He said this is a private matter between him and you... I’m just providing the labor.*
Yin Guo propped her chin on her hand, staring at the last sentence. Her empty heart slowly began to fill up again.
Xiao Guo: *He just told you this?*
Tian Tian: *In the middle of the night, I think. Let me check the time.*
Tian Tian: *A little after 2:00 AM.*
So he had arranged everything last night.
Yin Guo lowered her head, silently took two bites of cereal, and made a decision.
Xiao Guo: *I’m not going, but you’re not allowed to tell him.*
Tian Tian: *Oh...*
Xiao Guo: *Transfer the money to me. No embezzling.*
Tian Tian: *Oh...*
Meng Xiaotian quickly transferred the money to her.
Yin Guo picked up the bowl, finished her cereal and fruit in large gulps, and ended her breakfast.
She went back to her room, booked an afternoon train ticket online, and then went to see Coach Chen. She requested a leave of absence starting this afternoon and wouldn't be training at the hotel this weekend, though she promised her training wouldn't be disrupted.
Coach Chen trusted Yin Guo and approved it immediately.
Around 3:00 PM, Yin Guo sat on the train to Washington. Looking out at the empty small platforms passing by, she was still wondering when to tell him.
This was her third time going to DC. The first was with Zheng Yi, the second was two months ago with her cousin... and the third was by herself. This time was also the least prepared, as she didn't have Lin Yiyang’s apartment address and hadn't pre-booked a hotel, fearing she might stay too far away.
The conductor checked tickets one by one. Outside the window was unfamiliar scenery.
Everything felt like it was out of a movie. Yes, a movie, because she was doing something she would never have done in the past: traveling a long distance alone just to see someone.
She arrived, got off the train, and followed the crowd out of the station.
Standing inside the station entrance, she looked at the sky outside, which was turning a reddish-yellow, knowing it would soon be dark.
Finally, she took out her phone, suppressed her inner anticipation, and gave him the surprise.
Xiao Guo: *Are you at school?*
Lin: *Yes.*
Xiao Guo: *I’m here.*
One second, two seconds, three seconds... Was he shocked?
Just as Yin Guo was about to say more, Lin Yiyang replied.
Lin: *Stay where you are. I’m coming.*
Xiao Guo: *No, no need. I wanted to surprise you. Just give me your address and I’ll call a car. There’s no need to pick me up.*
Lin: *Stay where you are.*
Lin Yiyang was a stubborn person. He had likely already set off and wouldn't let her argue.
Based on what she knew of him, Yin Guo didn't reply. She obediently bought an iced Coke and stood waiting. By the time she finished the Coke, he still hadn't arrived. She tossed the cup into the trash and looked outside; it was dark.
The station was large but there weren't many travelers, making it feel cavernous.
Yin Guo saw that the moonlight was nice and thought about waiting outside. Just as the thought occurred, she saw a familiar figure. He was unshaven again, with that weary look in his eyes. He strode in, holding his phone and a black wallet in his right hand.
From the moment she saw him, Yin Guo’s heart felt as if it were being squeezed, suspended in mid-air.
Lin Yiyang didn't see her at first, frowning as he scanned several areas.
"Over here," Yin Guo called out. "Lin Yiyang."
He turned at the sound of her voice. Seeing Yin Guo with her backpack and cue case, he felt a slight sense of relief. He walked up to her. He had truly wanted to see her, and then she had appeared out of thin air. He wanted to hug her, but decided against it in such a public place.
"Aren't you cold?" As he got closer, she saw he was wearing a thin jacket over what looked like a short-sleeved shirt.
Once it got dark, the temperature outside dropped below ten degrees Celsius. He was wearing far too little.
His face seemed thinner too, or was it just the unshaven, weary look? She stared at his face. "I came here to see you. If you’re busy, stay busy. You don't need to worry about me, just find me a pool hall to train in. There should be one, right?"
After she finished, he didn't speak. It was strange.
Her gaze dimmed slightly.
Lin Yiyang looked at her, his pupils reflecting only her. He wanted to speak, but it was difficult. Finally, using his breath, he forced out a low, raspy sentence: "What are you overthinking? My throat is shot."
As he spoke, he pointed to his throat, gave a bitter smile, and added: "Can't talk."
***
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Amidst a Snowstorm of Love | Chapter 21 | A Silent Surprise | Novela.app | Novela.app
