Rock Sugar And Pear Stew Chapter 72

Chapter 72 – Fan group (Translated and edited by Xing)

Tang Xue’s annoyance stayed with her all the way back to her dorm . When she entered the room, she vented by thumping her bag heavily onto the desk . The strength she used caused the bag to hit the desk with a loud thud .

On the bed above, someone sat up swiftly and squawked in alarm . “What happened? An earthquake?”

Tang Xue jumped in shock . “I, I, I’m sorry I woke you up… Consort Meng, why are you back so early? I thought there wasn’t anyone in the dorm . ”

The beds in their dorm were all special loft beds used by students . The bottom was a desk while the top was a bed . The height of the bed was roughly at the level of Tang Xue’s head . As Xia Menghuan had a pet.i.te build, she was indeed difficult to spot when she lay on the inner side of the bed . Tang Xue felt that with her size, Xia Menghuan most likely had an easy time wriggling out of morning exercises in high school .

“I was too bored staying at home . My king, I bought food to share with everyone . Let me get it for you . ” As Xia Menghuan spoke, she climbed down the bed .

Tang Xue said, “I bought some as well . ”

The two of them were exchanging delicious snacks when Ye Liuying rolled her luggage in .

Their food convention of two immediately expanded to three people .

As Ye Liuying chewed, she looked at the other two with puzzled eyes . “I gained 5 kg over the holiday! Why didn’t the two of you become fatter? Don’t you have the tradition of putting on meat[1] over Chinese New Year?”

Tang Xue replied, “We only have the tradition of eating meat over Chinese New Year . ”

Ye Liuying picked up a piece of pork jerky “Please don’t be so blunt and show some love to your poor roommate . ”

Tang Xue said, “Do you know…”

Both Ye Liuying and Xia Menghuan stopped their motions of eating and looked at Tang Xue curiously .

Tang Xue’s face was a little mysterious as she prepared to gossip . She said in a low voice, “Li Yubing suddenly has a lot of fans! And some of them are not even from our school!” She waited eagerly for everyone’s reaction to her words .

The two listeners were calm . Their expressions were unmoved as they looked at Tang Xue without saying a word .

Feeling like she had overreacted to nothing, Tang Xue was a little embarra.s.sed . She thumbed her nose and said, “Aren’t you two curious as well…”

Ye Liuying mused, “We’re more curious about how you actually don’t know this . All right, I now believe that there’s really nothing going on between Li Yubing and you . ”

Tang Xue was shocked and turned to look at Xia Menghuan . Xia Menghuan also wondered curiously, “My king, do you really not know about it? Don’t you read the gossip columns? I thought that you avoid this topic with me because you were shy . ”

“You know about this as well? I don’t have time… tell me about the gossip . ”

Xia Menghuan gave a brief summary .

Strictly speaking, this matter originated from last year’s World U-20 Ice Hockey Champions.h.i.+p . Li Yubing and the rest of the team had obtained decent results . After returning to the country, they accepted the interview of a relatively popular sports magazine and took several photos with them . As a core member of the team who had shone in the compet.i.tion, the magazine paid special attention to him by giving him close-ups and a one-on-one interview . The men in the publis.h.i.+ng team simply wanted to spread awareness of ice hockey as a sport . Who knew that after the magazine was published, a female reader went to repost Li Yubing’s close-ups onto the internet . The combination of this rascal’s good-looking face, clean and sunny vibes, and fantastic figure was simply irresistible . The post immediately drew widespread attention .

The magazine publisher was pleased to see this and released a new set of Li Yubing’s photos that was not published . This move helped Li Yubing to secure a batch of fans that was attracted to his looks .

Tang Xue failed to comprehend . “Seriously? Purely because he’s good-looking?”

Ye Liuying replied, “Okay, it’s not purely because he’s good-looking . Li Yubing does have some skills . ”

Tang Xue pondered for a moment . “A few days ago, I saw that the account ‘Li Yubing’s Gossip Information Counter’ had been deactivated . Is it related to this? I asked Li Yubing and he said he doesn’t know anything . ”

Ye Liuying nodded . “There was some pretty personal information on that account . It’s fine to gossip about it within our school but it may cause trouble for Li Yubing if leaked to the public . That’s why the account owner closed the account . Oh, right, quite a few threads on the forum had also been deleted . If not, you might have been doxed as well . ”

Tang Xue was at a loss for words after hearing this . She recalled the scene she saw earlier—of how Li Yubing had suddenly become a mini idol who looked beyond grand as countless girls chased after him . He had interacted warmly with them as well… humph!

“My king? My king?” Xia Menghuan called her .  Translated by Xing for only teafragrance[dot]wordpress[dot]com .

Tang Xue snapped out of her thoughts . “Mm?”

“Towards Li Yubing, you…”

That moment, Tang Xue’s phone suddenly rang . Xia Menghuan could only stop talking and let her pick up the phone .

The call was from Li Yubing .

After seeing the caller ID, Tang Xue narrowed her eyes and curled her lips . She picked up . “h.e.l.lo?”

“h.e.l.lo . Why didn’t you wait for me?”

Tang Xue gritted out, “Why should I wait for you . Are you the emperor?”

Li Yubing was puzzled . “What’s up with you?”

“Nothing . I’m doing great . Thanks so terribly much for asking . ”

“Let’s eat dinner together . ”

“Eat? What for? Didn’t you eat yesterday? Eating again today—are you a pig?”

“…”

……

After chewing out Li Yubing, Tang Xue kept her phone and found Ye Liuying staring blankly at her .

“What’s wrong?”

“Tang Xue, were you talking to Li Yubing just now?”

“Yeah . ”

“His fans are going to kill you if they know!”

“Like I’m scared . ” Tang Xue waved her hands and still felt indignant . “I’m so mad . Why does he have fans; I want some as well!”

“Don’t panic, don’t panic . I’ll buy some for you from the market this very instant . ”

“…” Tang Xue was left speechless . After stuttering for a while, she finally spluttered, “You rebel!”

Ye Liuying clutched her belly, utterly tickled . “I learnt it from you . ”

Xia Menghuan soothed Tang Xue, “My king, don’t be anxious . I’ll create a fan group for you immediately . ” As she spoke, she whipped out her phone and created a WeChat group named ‘Tang Xue’s Fan Group 1’ .

Her responsiveness was definitely at the max level .

Including Tang Xue, there were five founding members of the group . The other four were her roommates and Liao Zhenyu .

Tang Xue felt that this was great . Thus, she went to change the name of her family WeChat group to ‘Tang Xue’s Fan Club 2’ .

From now on, she was a mini hotshot with two fan groups .

When Princ.i.p.al Tang saw the name change, he was shocked at the extent of his daughter’s shamelessness . He scoffed to his wife, “Say, why is she so shameless . Who exactly does she take after?”

Mama Tang was tickled . “She’s your daughter . Who do you think she takes after?”

“I’m definitely not so shameless . ”

“Ok, she takes after Old w.a.n.g next door, then . Happy?”

“…” Both his wife and daughter were bullying him . He was so aggrieved .

——

In the evening, Tang Xue a.s.sembled at the west wing training hall for a meeting . There was no training that day as it was the first day of returning to school .

This semester, the speed skating team’s primary focus was the upcoming National University Speed Skating Champions.h.i.+p in April .

“The results of this compet.i.tion would directly affect the funds all of you will receive,” Coach Chu stated bluntly . “And of course, my bonus as well . ”

Her words cracked everyone up .

Tang Xue raised her hands . “Coach, I have something to ask . ”

“Mm, Tang Xue, what do you want to say?”

“Coach, do we have a target for this compet.i.tion? Like the need to obtain a certain number of gold medals?”

Coach Chi laughed, “How many do you have in mind?”

“Of course it’s as many as possible . ”

Beside her, Zhang Yuewei whispered, “Please have a limit even when boasting . Do you think that the National University Champions.h.i.+p is as chill as the Ascendance Cup?”

“Please . Don’t use this tone when speaking to someone whom you have a crush on . ”

“I—f.u.c.k…” Zhang Yuewei did not manage to control herself and directly swore .  This chapter is a labour of love that should not be found outside of teafragrance[dot]wordpress[dot]com .

Actually, Tang Xue was clear that Zhang Yuewei did not have a crush on her . Over the New Year, her New Year’s messages to Zhang Yuewei were completely ignored by her .

Mm, knowing so meant that she could joke about this with no pressure .

As Zhang Yuewei rolled her eyes at Tang Xue, Coach Chu replied, “Mm, it’s good to have a goal . However, it’s still too early to talk about setting targets . We need to be realistic . Tomorrow, we’ll have a test to see how much all of you have regressed over the New Year . ”

After the meeting, Tang Xue invited Zhang Yuewei into her fan group .

Zhang Yuewei was not paying attention and casually accepted . When she realized that the chat group was named ‘Tang Xue’s Fan Group 1’, she was terribly annoyed .

“Can you be even more shameless than this!” Zhang Yuewei exclaimed as she exited the group .

“Of course . Do you want to try me?”

“Get lost…”

The two of them bickered as they walked towards the exit . When they reached the door, Tang Xue saw Li Yubing .

Today, he wore a deep blue tracksuit . He was currently standing still with both hands slotted in his pockets . This was a most ordinary posture—and Tang Xue had no idea how—but he had managed to make it look absolutely das.h.i.+ng . It was undeniable that he was naturally talented at this . Tang Xue really wanted to award him a top prize for being pretentious .

Li Yubing was watching the crowd exit from the training hall . When he saw Tang Xue, he locked his eyes on her .

Being gazed by him like this, Tang Xue felt her heart beat faster like an idiot . She paced towards him while facing his gaze . One step, two steps . In order to prove that she was not nervous, she kept her head high and took great pains to meet his eyes .

When Tang Xue reached Li Yubing, she stood firmly in front of him . His eyes were lowered and fixed on her . The way he watched her eyes attentively seemed as if he could pierce right into her thoughts . His clear and bright gaze was like a magic mirror that revealed everything she has to hide .

A wave of embarra.s.sment suddenly washed over her . Tang Xue turned away and stopped looking at him .

That moment, Li Yubing laughed unexpectedly . Though soft, his laughter was both a little knowing and a little gleeful .

Tang Xue felt her cheeks heat up from his laughter .

This is an original work of 酒小七 (Jiu Xiaoqi) translated by Tea Fragrance . If you are not reading this at teafragrance[dot]wordpress[dot]com, this translation has been reposted without the translator’s consent . Head there for extra content or to leave feedback and comments on the novel translation .

Translator’s Notes:

[1] I translated 长肉 (zhǎng ròu) literally as “putting on meat” instead “gaining weight” in order to keep Tang Xue’s wordplay in her reply of 吃肉 (chī ròu), which is “eating meat” .