Chapter Five

Outside , the sun was shining brightly, as if it was just a normal day and her world hadn’t just collapsed.
The building manager kindly asked her where she wanted to go, and helped her call a taxi. Li Yongxuan did not think much, she casually gave the address of the training centre.
Maybe she just wanted to say goodbye to them.
When she walked in slowly, the familiar feeling of the training centre seeped into her.
But the centre was very busy, there many people milling around in the vicinity of the conference hall. As if sleepwalking, she went to the back door and peeked inside. A press conference had been arranged , a long table was covered with white tablecloth and several microphones were placed on it. There were several media people present who were taking pictures.
As usual, the head coach was sitting with the captain at the table. Journalists were taking pictures, the sound of shutters clicking filling the vast hall.
Mai Wei Zhe himself was not unmoved, he was talking enthusiastically about his experience and observations in the game.

So this was a press conference after the game. She looked at him from afar.
They would have just come back from the game. With no time to rest, they would have had to attend the press conference. Mai Wei Zhe"s face looked tired, there was a slight growth of beard in his face, but he still looked decadently handsome.
Sitting next to the head coach, he raised his head and laughed at some remark someone made. It was as if the sun shone brightly in the conference room when
he laughed. Immediately there were sounds of shutters clicking one after another.
Suddenly someone in the team spied her. The rest of the team were also standing at the back of the crowd. They happily called out to her , then one walked over to her.
Soon, one, two ,three..more players walked towards her.
They talked over each other as they told her with great happiness that their performance in the match had been great. The coach had decided to give the players two days off. After the press conference, they could go and rest. Two days ! A whole two days !!
Though her own mood was low, Li Yongxuan could not help but smile when she saw how happy they were.
"Ok. So what are you going to do ?"
" Sleep", they all answered in unison.
How much hope and happiness infected their voices, they were people who still relished the simple pleasures in life.

"Xuan Xuan sister, you don’t have to come to the centre for a few days as we won’t be there", Anrun smiled and asked, " What are you going to do? Work?"
Li Yongxuan shook her head, she did not know what she as going to do , but definitely not work because she was currently unemployed.
Looking at them, she felt some peace of mind. She said softly, " I wish you all do a great job, and that the game will be a great success."

They watched her leave.
" What happened ?"
" I didn’t even get the chance to ask her to wait for the celebration party,"
"Anrun, do you think that Xuan Xuan sister was behaving a bit strangely ?"
Anrun stroked his chin, then thought of something.
" Yes,she was really strange. Do you have a pen and paper ?"

A pen and paper was quickly brought. Anrun quickly wrote a few words and then the paper was folded and relayed all the way to the hands of Mai Wei Zhe on the stage.
Mai Wei Zhe stared at the note , then looked up for a moment.
"… to start the third stage of training, our goals are now.. Mai Wei Zhe ..where are you going ?" The head coach asked as Mai Wei Zhe suddenly stood up. For a moment, he didn’t know how to answer the question.
Then he shrugged, " Sorry, coach,I have to leave now."
" You…", the coach’s eyes were spewing fire at him.
" It’s an emergency." He recklessly shook his head, apologized to the reporters, waved his hand, and pointing to the back of the crowd said, " The vice captain will come up to the stage to answer the rest of the questions."
Then he went out of the conference room, causing a huge uproar among the crowd.

Lin Yongxuan had no idea this had happened. After leaving the training centre, she walked on but had no idea where to go next,
The bag in her hands felt more and more heavy, she was already sweating, and felt tired. At that time she saw a bus, and decided to board it.
Where was the bus going to ?
She found that she didn’t really care.
The bus doors opened and closed, the pa.s.sengers came in and went. The world was still running as usual. She felt like an outsider, looking at all this,
After a long time , the bus finally reached the terminus.The driver stopped the bus and turned to her," Miss, this is the last stop."
" Oh yes, thank you." Li Yongxuan took her bag and got off the bus.

Once she was out of the bus,she could feel the salty breeze of the sea. So she had come to the beach,
The road was empty and the bus shelter was vacant. After the bus drive away, she sat there for a long time. No other buses came. Gradually, the western sky was dyed with the fading golden light of sunset.
The sun went down, she was tired, her stomach was empty and her heart was frozen. Everyone was having dinner at home at this time. But if she didn’t go back today, no one would worry about her,
This,this was the real feeling of loneliness.
An unforgettable feeling that was hard to express in words.

Suddenly a silhouette appeared in the dark. Bathed in the dying rays of the sun, he looked like an ancient G.o.d, his amber eyes reflecting the golden light.
The G.o.d had a plastic bag from a convenience store in his hand. As he approached her, he handed her a can of water from the bag, then sat down beside her without saying a single word. As he sat with her, the night approached, surrounding them with darkness.

Both sides were silent. This man was omniscient, he knew exactly when he should speak, and when not to.
When the stars began to shine in the sky, Li Yongxuan finally spoke. Her first sentence was " I was fired."
"Ok."
Another long silence fell between the two, interspersed with the sound of him chewing gum.
" Where did you get chewing gum?" She asked suddenly.
" There is a convenience store nearby. Didn’t you know ?" He pointed his chin at the direction of the store." I got the water from there as well."
She thought. Did Mai Wei Zhe follow her in the bus, then sit here patiently while she was lost in her own world? He even bought her water, ready to wait till she opened her mouth ?
" You know so much," she muttered.
" Yes", this man did not know modesty, and triumphantly agreed with her,
He continued chewing the gum and then said, " I know you are hungry and need to eat."
As he said this, Li Yongxuan felt a strong pang of hunger , but there was also a rumbling sound- not from her stomach but his.
The athletes had three meals a day at very regulated times during training, hence they would be hungry once the time came.
" What should we eat…" she looked around, but the place was utterly desolate.
He realised she had finally recovered and was back to normal.
He got up and stretched, then fished out his mobile from the pocket and dialled a number.
" h.e.l.lo, it’s me. I am now…" he spent a lot of effort explaining the place, " a little strange, but I need someone to pick me up."
As he hung up the phone, he found a pair of wretched eyes staring at him.

miumiu : I know this is kind of short but this looked like a logical break point. In the next part, she gets invited to MWZ home. ☺️