That night, as Lin Yiyang and Meng Xiaodong stood side by side outside Yin Guo’s home, both felt the strangeness of appearing there together.
Lin Yiyang handed him a cigarette. Meng Xiaodong hadn’t touched one in ages, but since he was in a rare good mood today, he accepted it.
Yin Guo locked the front gate and ran out, throwing her arms around Lin Yiyang from behind. She was so happy she felt like she was walking on air.
“Thanks, Ge,” she didn’t forget her great benefactor, Meng Xiaodong. “For specifically calling Tiantian back.”
“Regarding Tiantian, you should thank him,” Meng Xiaodong pointed at Lin Yiyang. “You’ve got my brother wrapped around your finger; you’re quite capable.” As soon as he had told his brother to come back and help Lin Yiyang win over the family, Meng Xiaotian hadn’t hesitated for a second. He packed his bags immediately and spent a whole week brainwashing their grandmother.
After finishing his cigarette, Meng Xiaodong drove off.
Yin Guo watched his car disappear before turning her gaze to Lin Yiyang. “My brother never smokes.”
Lin Yiyang patted her head. *Too naive, little girl.* Your brother obviously wears a mask in front of you.
“I’m taking you somewhere.” He beckoned her, leading her with practiced ease past the residential area’s fountain and toward a small side gate via a back path.
Yin Guo walked slowly, enjoying the night breeze. Watching him walk half a step ahead of her, looking at his back, she wondered how she had managed to land such a treasure. He met every single one of her expectations for a man—and even exceeded everything she had ever imagined.
There was no one around.
Seeing her slow pace, he looked back, thinking she had twisted her ankle.
“What are you looking at me for?” She smiled at him under the glow of the moon and the streetlights.
He reached out and grasped her arm, sliding his hand down until he found hers and squeezed it tight.
“You’re really familiar with my neighborhood...”
“I walked around it once on your birthday,” he said.
It was that night, his first time returning to the country to see her for her birthday. After their brief reunion at the hotel, he had dropped her off outside the complex and watched her go through the main gate. Afterward, he had gotten out of the car alone, walked the perimeter of the walls, and entered through the northwest side gate.
Lin Yiyang’s old home hadn’t been owned; it was a rental, a factory-provided dormitory. The old buildings in that compound were packed tightly together, with small flower beds barely half a meter wide that grew no flowers—only dry soil littered with pots and the miscellaneous junk of the first-floor residents.
In contrast, Yin Guo’s neighborhood was quiet and elegant. Half the area was filled with towering trees and shrubs, and the roads between buildings were wide. He had circled the place that night, telling himself that this was where Yin Guo had grown up. This was the environment her parents had worked half their lives to provide for her. In the future, her life with him could only be better; it could never be worse than this.
Yin Guo began unfastening the buttons on his cuffs, helping him roll up his sleeves. “Have you wanted to undo these all night?”
Lin Yiyang smiled. Actually, it wasn't that bad. Tonight was too important; he hadn't had time to worry about such trifles.
The two exited the side gate, crossed a white stone bridge, and headed toward the opposite bank of the river.
At first, Yin Guo thought he just didn't want to leave yet and wanted to wander around. But when they arrived outside a motorcycle shop and the owner greeted them warmly, she was still catching up. “You bought a motorcycle?”
“He did more than just buy a bike,” the owner laughed upon seeing Yin Guo. “Look at this.”
Yin Guo followed Lin Yiyang behind the shop's counter. The owner pulled out a small white helmet. It was exceptionally exquisite, clearly custom-made.
Yin Guo had never ridden on a man’s motorcycle in her life, yet she had a helmet first. she picked it up and looked it over from every angle, absolutely delighted. She put it on and ran to the mirror on the right side of the shop, checking her reflection from the front and back, repeatedly asking him if it looked good.
Lin Yiyang tilted his head, signaling for her to follow him out.
Yin Guo took off the helmet, cradled it in her arms, and ran after him, certain that Lin Yiyang was about to take her for a spin.
It was late, nearly eleven o'clock. There were no streetlights or pedestrians on this small road. The row of shops was dark, with only the light from this one store spilling out onto the empty ground. Seeing how pitch-black it was outside, Yin Guo wanted to suggest they go for a ride tomorrow instead—it was too late, and riding without streetlights was dangerous.
But she didn't want to spoil his fun.
He suddenly raised a hand and pointed toward a tree in the distance. Yin Guo looked over, but there was nothing there. A taxi drove by, its headlights confirming her observation—the spot was empty.
Yin Guo’s vision blurred for a moment as Lin Yiyang dangled a stainless steel ornament before her eyes. He had been teasing her; this was the real gift.
It was a string of red cherries, swaying in his palm. Under the light, each cherry shimmered with a metallic luster. Beneath the ornament was a key—a door key.
She recognized it.
When they had rented the apartment, Wu Wei had collected it from the departing tenant to give to her and her cousin on behalf of the landlord. Later, when Yin Guo moved out, she had left the key directly with Lin Yiyang.
The moment she saw the key, she was dazed for a few seconds as a suspicion took root in her mind. He wouldn't have impulsively bought that apartment, would he? No way.
“Go whenever you want, stay whenever you want,” Lin Yiyang confirmed her suspicion.
“You really bought it?!”
He didn't deny it. “I was in a hurry to buy it then. I didn't have enough for the full amount, so I took out a loan. But by the end of this year, it should be just about paid off.”
Of course, there was one thing he didn't say. Once the loan was paid off, he could transfer the title to her. It was meant for her from the start.
“No, no...” Yin Guo was almost incoherent. “You don't even live there. Isn't that a waste of money?”
Yin Guo saw him smiling as he took her hand and pressed the key and the pendant into her palm.
What he didn't say was this: From the moment she had walked down the stairs of the New York apartment with her suitcase, looking back at that laundry room with lingering reluctance—from the moment she got into the taxi and was still scrolling through photos of that laundry room—he had made this plan. Once he established himself after graduation, the first sum of money he saved would be used to buy an apartment in that building. Ideally the one they had lived in, but if not, at least one in the same complex.
Yin Guo knew this wasn't something he had bought today or even just after returning to the country. She guessed he had been saving for this since his very first tournament. Sometimes she couldn't quite figure him out; his mind jumped quickly, and he was so unattached to things that he often spoke and acted outside the norm.
But when it came to her, he was a total fool. There was no need to guess at all.
Clutching the key, Yin Guo was still trying to process the fact. “You... you really know how to burn through money. If you were going to buy a place, you should have bought one here first. Who buys a place they won't live in often?”
Lin Yiyang smiled, his hand resting on her waist. “One here?” His dark eyes drew close. “Are you talking about a wedding house?”
“Who said anything about a wedding house?” She had just brought him home for the first time; even the Great Leap Forward wasn't this fast.
“If I don't buy it, who will?” he teased. “It wouldn't be appropriate for you to buy it, would it?”
Yin Guo was countered at every turn, left with no room to talk back. In her frustration, she blurted out, “I wasn't discussing marriage...” No, the conversation was getting more and more skewed. “I never said I was getting married.”
“If you're not getting married, why did you bring me home?”
Inside, the owner was wiping down a motorcycle, listening to them talk like he was watching a comedy routine, laughing to himself. He had chatted with Lin Yiyang about motorcycles a few times and felt an immediate kinship, though he didn't know what the kid did for a living. He just felt the guy was free-spirited and generous. With that face, he looked like some playboy from a wealthy family, yet he was remarkably devoted to his girlfriend. Especially tonight, seeing the young girlfriend in person and the way they interacted, they seemed like a student couple—or at least a couple who had been together since their student days.
Normally, if a boyfriend bought a house, a girl would just be happy for him. Everyone is an independent individual, and giving a key is usually just about sharing a romantic space. But Lin Yiyang was different. Yin Guo understood him. For a man of his character, buying a car was easy, but buying a house carried a special, heavy significance. That key was being "returned" to her, preserving the days of their first meeting and giving them back to her.
Consequently, when she followed him back to the residential garage and stood by his car to say goodbye, they lingered by the open driver's side door—one in the car, one outside—simply not wanting to part.
She shook a few of his fingers and said softly, “Congratulations, Captain Lin.”
Lin Yiyang smiled, pressing the index finger of his other hand to his lips. He signaled with his eyes: *Come here, give me something substantial.* Yin Guo glanced around to ensure no one was there, took half a step forward, and was instantly pulled in by his waist.
Before she could take the initiative, he had already leaned down to kiss her—first her lips, then her tongue. After a while, he moved to her forehead. His warm breath pressed against her forehead through her bangs.
After a long moment, he whispered with a laugh, “I really want to take you back with me.” He didn't want to let her go upstairs.
As she was pulling out her house keys after exiting the elevator, her WeChat notification suddenly chimed.
*Isn't he driving? Why is he texting?*
She turned the lock, quietly pushed open the heavy reddish-brown security door, and saw the message he had sent:
*Lin: Happy 30 days.*
30 days?
Seeing such a precisely calculated date, she was momentarily confused. Their first kiss? Their first night? Those were too far back. His return to the country? That was over two months ago.
Then she suddenly thought of the most fitting milestone—the day they had truly met. She only remembered it being about a month; she hadn't counted so carefully. A grown man like him... actually kept track of that?
Lin Yiyang’s car was parked on the small road outside the residential garage. He had been sitting there for a while. He rolled down the window, looking out at the deserted midnight street. There were streetlights but no pedestrians. There were shops but no lights.
In other words, at this moment, on this small road, there was only him and his car. Through the window, he noticed it had started to rain. Droplets splashed against the glass.
Lin Yiyang watched the streaks of water flowing down the glass until the entire windshield was washed clean. He turned on the wipers to clear the water away.
He suddenly felt a sense of trance. What kind of day was this? It felt as though he had been waiting for this day for over a decade, ever since the night he left Dongxincheng.
***
The closed training camp for the Asian Games would last seventy days.
This was the first time Yin Guo would be training alongside athletes from every discipline of billiards. In other words, it was the first time she and Lin Yiyang had the chance to be in a training camp together.
Yin Guo arrived with several senior sisters from Beicheng. Although there were only two spots available for each event, all national team players for every discipline participated in the training. They would all train together; after all, opportunities for the strongest active players to gather under one roof were rare, and it was also a chance to cultivate new talent.
In the female athletes' dormitory, Yin Guo changed into her training gear and tied her long hair back in front of the mirror. She wanted to send Lin Yiyang a message to ask what he was doing, but then she thought better of it. They would see each other soon; it was better to leave a little surprise.
Seeing him at a national team training camp was something she had never imagined in the past.
There were many athletes, all gathered in the small auditorium of the training camp. Aside from the coaches in the front row, the athletes sat scattered about. Those who knew each other chatted, while the unfamiliar newcomers sat to the side with shy smiles.
As soon as Yin Guo entered, she was pulled over to the Beicheng group by her senior sister. In the row ahead were Meng Xiaodong and Li Qingyan, with several boys and girls behind them. Dongxincheng was on the other side, while the middle was occupied by newcomers from various regions and independent players. It wasn't a deliberate choice to sit by club, but rather because people from the same place were more familiar and found it easier to talk.
Suddenly, someone clapped their hands for silence. The head coach had arrived.
He was a man in his fifties, a former snooker coach whom Yin Guo hadn't seen much of. And beside him, walking in wearing the national team tracksuit, was Lin Yiyang. Standing next to the head coach, he was nearly a head taller.
The head coach walked to the center of the room, looking at everyone with a smile. “There are many new faces here,” he said. “Or rather, to many of you, I am a new face as well.”
The room chuckled.
“This is the first meeting for our billiards program's return to the Asian Games after many years. I also participated in the 2010 Guangzhou Asian Games. I am very happy to see athletes from all billiards disciplines gathered here for joint training once again.”
Meng Xiaodong, who was very familiar with this coach, took the lead in applauding, triggering a round of applause from the entire room.
“To keep it simple, I am the head coach of this national billiards team, Zhou Bin.” The head coach smiled and gestured to Lin Yiyang, letting the star player introduce himself.
Lin Yiyang looked up, his gaze sweeping across the front row of coaches and then over the rows of athletes. His dark pupils reflected every person present. “Hello, everyone. I am the captain of this national billiards team, Lin Yiyang.”
There were no extra words, no complex self-introduction.
His registration covered all five men's events, and everyone present was well-acquainted with his resume; there was no need for further elaboration.
In his eyes, she seemed to see the formidable opponent that Meng Xiaodong and every one of Lin Yiyang’s brothers had repeatedly described, reminisced about, lamented, and lost.
At this moment, Yin Guo suddenly felt a sense of reality. The Lin Yiyang of the past, the one who belonged on the competitive stage, had finally, completely returned.
***
| Chinese | English | Notes/Explanation |
| :--- | :--- | :--- |
| 婚房 | Wedding house | A home purchased specifically for a married couple to live in. |
| 大跃进 | Great Leap Forward | Used here metaphorically to describe moving too fast or skipping steps. |
| 周滨 | Zhou Bin | The head coach of the national billiards team. |
| 国家台球队 | National Billiards Team | The representative team for China in billiards/pool/snooker. |
| 队长 | Captain | The leader of the team. |
| 封闭集训 | Closed training camp | Intensive, secluded training for athletes. |
