Lin Yiyang was arranging the pool cues one by one. He had a habit of placing new cues on the left side because they were closer to the table, and people tended to pick those first. He, however, always used the one on the far right—the oldest one.
This was also He Lao’s habit. It included searching the entire hall for chalk that was almost used up and giving the new pieces to the juniors; that was also his teacher’s way.
He Lao had been respected in the industry for years precisely because he strictly adhered to his principles and cared for the younger generation. Being able to follow such a teacher was an honor in itself...
After finishing with the cues, Lin Yiyang looked at the phone he had tossed onto the table. His Xiao Guo had replied.
Red Fish: Okay. Three times.
Red Fish: Ten times is fine, too.
Red Fish: Just kidding. I have a good temper and don't get angry easily. Just buy me something tasty to coax me and I’ll definitely forget about it within half an hour.
After this message, she sent an animated sticker of a cartoon bear—a pink bear holding a piece of fruit. It was eating with adorable clumsiness, munching away without stopping...
Lin Yiyang brushed his thumb over the image. He wanted to smile, and in the end, he actually did.
***
Seeing that Lin Yiyang hadn't replied, Yin Guo began sorting through the dirty clothes she had brought back from Washington.
As she pulled them out, she found an unopened plastic box containing a pink Apple charging cable. Behind her, her roommate happened to swipe her card and enter the room, only to see Yin Guo smiling at a box of charging cables.
"A limited edition? You're that happy?" the roommate remarked. "I don't know how you can still smile; you've been put in the Group of Death."
When the draw results came out, Yin Guo’s group was seventy percent veteran powerhouses—all among the highest-ranked players in the world. It was enough to make one shiver just thinking about it; it was practically a purgatory group.
Yin Guo didn't think much of it as she put the cable away. "I’d have to face them eventually anyway. It’s fine to meet them early."
If the goal was the final championship, it didn't matter who she faced in the group stages.
Seeing that it was still early, she grabbed her cue and headed back to the hotel’s billiard room.
After the junior and youth divisions finished their matches this week, Beicheng no longer booked the entire venue. They only provided each participant with a reserved personal table for a week. It was late, and the billiard room was half-empty. There were no other Beicheng people there, only players from various countries.
By coincidence, the person training at the adjacent table was Cheng Yan from Dongxincheng, a veteran who competed in both nine-ball and eight-ball.
Yin Guo didn't know her, so she didn't say hello.
At first, the two of them minded their own business, practicing separately.
Half an hour later, Yin Guo ran out of chalk. She went to the cardboard box by the window to find a new one. When she returned, Cheng Yan had just finished a rack. She set down her cue and smiled at Yin Guo. "I heard you're in the Group of Death. Are you nervous?"
Yin Guo gave a polite smile. "It's alright."
"I heard from my juniors that you and Lin Yiyang are very close?"
The phrase "very close" felt a bit strange, but Yin Guo answered anyway. "Yes."
"Is he doing well over here?"
This question seemed even stranger.
"He's doing great. He graduates with his Master's this year and has already received a PhD offer," she said.
Cheng Yan didn't ask anything else and started another rack.
Yin Guo felt a bit uneasy. The other woman hadn't said anything wrong, but it just felt odd.
She simply set down her cue and sat on a nearby billiard chair. After thinking for a moment, she decided to be direct.
Xiao Guo: I ran into Cheng Yan in the billiard room. She asked how you were doing.
She wondered how he would respond. Lin Yiyang replied almost instantly.
Lin: It's this late and you're still practicing?
He completely ignored the main point. She had no choice but to follow his lead.
Xiao Guo: I had nothing else to do, so I figured I'd practice a bit more.
Lin: You shouldn't overtrain.
Xiao Guo: It's only been half an hour, not much.
Yin Guo slowly typed out a sentence: *Were you two very close in the past?* She read it over and deleted it. How could people from the same club not be close? Her intuition told her there was definitely something there. She wasn't sure if she was being jealous, but she sat sulking on the billiard chair.
A minute later, Lin Yiyang sent a message first.
Lin: She used to pursue me.
No wonder...
Immediately followed by another one.
Lin: Xiao Guo’er.
Xiao Guo: Yeah.
Lin: The first time I saw you, I wanted to get to know you.
The first time... What was he talking about?
Lin: At the bar, outside the window. I saw you and wanted to know you. That’s never happened before. That day at Red Fish, I wanted to talk to you more, but I had zero experience. I didn't know how to talk to girls, so I could only buy you a drink.
This was the longest message Lin Yiyang had ever written to her. It was unexpected and came without warning.
She read that line three times. She thought back to that day—what she had said, what she had done, and his behavior. She hadn't noticed a thing; there hadn't been a single clue.
A dozen paces away, everyone was playing pool. No one was talking, and the sound of balls dropping into pockets echoed continuously.
A small late-night interlude had drawn out a heartfelt confession from Lin Yiyang. It came so suddenly that Yin Guo’s fingers throbbed as she gripped her phone, her mind racing with a thousand thoughts.
The phone vibrated again. She thought it was Lin Yiyang again.
No Worries: At the hotel billiard room?
Xiao Guo: How did you know?
No Worries: What do you think?
The door to the billiard room was pushed open.
Wu Wei had come down from his room wearing white hotel slippers. Because the tournament started next week, Jiang Yang had required Wu Wei to stay at the hotel during the match days. Naturally, that was why he could be kicked over so quickly by a single phone call from Lin Yiyang to "put out the fire."
"Junior sister is here," Wu Wei said cheerfully.
Cheng Yan smiled. "I was just about to leave. Why are you here?"
"I couldn't fall asleep after napping for ages, so I came down to take a look," he feigned ignorance, pointing at Yin Guo. "Let me introduce you. This is Yin Guo, your Sixth Brother's wife."
The news had long since spread through Dongxincheng. It was just that Cheng Yan couldn't quite get over it, so she had avoided acknowledging that status in front of Yin Guo.
With Wu Wei introducing her like this, she had nowhere to hide. "So it's Sixth Brother's lady. Sister-in-law, a pleasure to meet you."
Yin Guo smiled back. "I'm younger than you, just call me Yin Guo."
The atmosphere was so subtle that Wu Wei felt like he was suffering in Lin Yiyang's stead. Cheng Yan felt uncomfortable; she said she was going back to sleep, picked up her cue, and left.
Once she was gone, Wu Wei finally breathed a sigh of relief. He leaned against the pool table and lowered his voice. "What a coincidence. Out of all the people from Dongxincheng who came, you just had to run into Cheng Yan."
"It's normal. If I didn't run into her today, I'd run into her at the tournament," Yin Guo said, her composure nearly slipping.
Wu Wei laughed. "Let me give you a heads-up. Lin Yiyang has been handsome since he was a kid. You know how much people cared about looks back in school. Plenty of girls chased him in Dongxincheng—at least eight or ten. Take it from me: so what if they chased him? Even if they still think about him, what can they do? You should hold your head high. You're the only one who actually made him fall."
After saying that, he thought for a moment and added, still worried: "And he was the one who chased after you."
He thought some more, still not quite satisfied, and added another: "And he was interested the moment he laid eyes on you."
Seeing the smile in Yin Guo’s eyes, Wu Wei gave her one more hint: "Do you know what your contact name is in his WeChat?"
She shook her head.
Wu Wei said, "Red Fish."
It was that bar—the bar where the two of them met.
For a headstrong, independent man to go to such lengths, his intentions were clear.
Sitting on the billiard chair, Yin Guo’s feet kept tapping against the small crossbar beneath her. Her heart had turned into a complete puddle of mush.
"Happy now? If you're happy, let's go eat fried chicken wings," Wu Wei said, tossing a ball onto the table and pulling Yin Guo away. "When I came by last night, I scouted the area. There's a place nearby that's really good."
That night, Wu Wei practically took advantage of the situation, vividly embellishing and exaggerating the stories of Lin Yiyang being pursued by girls at Dongxincheng. Yin Guo ate a large plate of fried chicken wings with her drink, though it felt more like she was eating them dipped in vinegar.
So, was Wu Wei here to sabotage him or to save the day?
***
The group stages began on Tuesday.
This time, 318 players had registered and qualified for the Open, including 109 female players, seven of whom were from China.
In the so-called "Group of Death," Yin Guo was the only player from China. It was her first time participating in a professional-level tournament, and although she had placed third in the youth division before, outsiders didn't have high expectations for her.
Then came Friday.
Every spectator watching the Open remembered one name from the Chinese contingent: Yin Guo.
The Group of Death was the most exciting group in the opening stages. Almost every match was brilliant, and the intensity of the slaughter was comparable to a final. People were eliminated every day; a loss meant you were out. Yin Guo had carved a path of blood all the way to the final group match on Friday.
On Friday, Yin Guo had three matches.
In the two morning matches, Yin Guo defeated a veteran Russian player with a stunning score of 11-3, followed by a dominant 11-4 victory over a Polish player. When she returned to the Chinese players' lounge, she was greeted with applause from almost everyone—not just the people from Beicheng, but also those from Dongxincheng and other domestic clubs.
Yin Guo smiled modestly.
Many players came alone, at most accompanied by a coach. Only a few large clubs and organizations came as a team. The Dongxincheng group was lively, gathered near the east door chatting; the Beicheng group was quiet, whether they had won or lost, everyone huddled together processing their own emotions.
The Beicheng contingent was at the very back.
Yin Guo found a small stool by herself. Facing the wall with her back to everyone in the lounge, she held a box of pre-prepared fruit and a freshly heated sandwich. She put on her headphones, found a song, and silently ate her lunch.
Her phone wasn't with her; it was in her bag.
This was match week. Fearing he would disturb her matches and training, Lin Yiyang would only chat with her for ten minutes before bed to help her unwind. Even then, they never discussed the tournament.
Using a white plastic fork, she poked through the fruit and picked out a piece of mango. Yin Guo tucked the small piece into her mouth, slowly building up her mental fortitude.
She wanted to win too much. That was dangerous.
Having no emotions was her greatest advantage.
But she wanted to reach the quarterfinals so badly so that she could play tomorrow, on Saturday. If it was Saturday... maybe Lin Yiyang would have a chance to come and watch.
Yin Guo lowered her head again, poking around for a strawberry. She took small bites of her sandwich, chewing slowly.
She had her own philosophy regarding pre-match meals: chewing slowly helped calm her nerves, and eating until she was only half-full ensured her stomach wouldn't be too burdened. This prevented her from getting a nervous stomach ache during a match, which would hold her back.
The lounge door was pushed open.
A man walked in.
Wu Wei had been sitting with his legs crossed, shooting the breeze with Chen An'an and a bunch of kids. When he saw the person who entered, he nearly jumped out of his chair. First Wu Wei, then everyone from Dongxincheng followed suit.
Jiang Yang, who was leaning against a sofa armrest talking to two girls who had been eliminated in the group stages, also stopped. He still wore the standard posture of the Dongxincheng leader, but his gaze was trembling slightly.
Jiang Yang’s first instinct was to reach for a cigarette, but remembering they were indoors and he couldn't smoke, he let out a deep, heavy breath from his chest. His eyes had become wet without him realizing it. "Old Six is back?"
Deep within Lin Yiyang’s pupils, something flickered—it looked like tears, yet not quite. It was a burning, suppressed emotion held back for many years that he couldn't quite control for a moment. He lowered his head and smiled, barely forcing down the moisture rising to his eyes. "Yeah, I'm back."
When one finally crosses that hurdle, all words become inadequate.
Lin Yiyang was back.
In that moment, his old brothers felt as if they were seeing the teenage Lin Yiyang before a match.
That handsome, sharp-featured face never wore a smile. He would always walk around the lounge in a pair of long jeans and a white short-sleeved top. He hated trouble and felt restricted by formal wear; he wouldn't change until it was time to play. Sitting in a lounge full of men in shirts and dress slacks, he stood out like a sore thumb.
He wouldn't chat with others, nor would he listen to them. He’d give a greeting upon entering, find a corner of a bench to sit on, and wait for his match.
Today was the same.
From top to bottom, old to young, male to female—everyone in Dongxincheng was there.
They all put down their lunches and phones, pushed back their chairs, and stood up one after another.
"Sixth Brother," "Sixth Uncle," the calls didn't stop...
Lin Yiyang patted the shoulders of a few kids standing nearby. His eyes swept across the room, and he headed straight for the Beicheng corner.
Among the crowd of coaches, some recognized Lin Yiyang. They whispered among themselves, explaining to their players in the briefest terms: *This is the man who used to school Jiang Yang and Meng Xiaodong back in the day.*
And this man was currently walking toward Meng Xiaodong’s younger sister.
Everyone in the lounge watched. Including Cheng Yan.
Yin Guo seemed to have reached a favorite lyric in her song; her lips were pursed, and the dimples on her face were visible even without a smile.
She vaguely heard a few calls of "Sixth Brother" behind her and assumed Meng Xiaodong had arrived.
Someone tapped Yin Guo on the shoulder. She speared a small piece of strawberry with her fork and said in a low voice, "Brother, I think I want to win too much. I want to make the finals, I want him to see me play..." Just thinking about it was discouraging. Truly, a handsome face was a distraction.
A hand reached out and removed her left earbud.
The very "distraction" she was currently berating in her heart had already leaned down. With a smile playing on his lips, he looked at her profile and teased her, "What did you just call me? Brother?"
Yin Guo whipped her head around. She felt like her heart was about to stop. All the blood in her body rushed to her head, making her feel dizzy—truly dizzy...
How was she supposed to play her match now?
***
### Glossary
Chinese | English | Notes/Explanation
--- | --- | ---
炼狱组 | Group of Death / Purgatory Group | A sports term for a group containing many top-tier competitors.
老六 | Old Six | Lin Yiyang's nickname/rank among his peers in Dongxincheng.
承妍 | Cheng Yan | A veteran player from Dongxincheng and a former admirer of Lin Yiyang.
陈安安 | Chen An'an | A member of the Dongxincheng club.
九球 | Nine-ball | A discipline of pool.
八球 | Eight-ball | A discipline of pool.
