A Starry Night (Part 5)

When Zhou Zeyi met Hill Radetz, she was yawning and buying a drink at a café next to the gymnasium. Anna had called her to attend the table tennis hall's anniversary celebration, and she had left home at 5:30 this morning.

The other person was wearing a hat and sunglasses, so Zhou Zeyu didn't recognize him at all. After frowning and struggling for a long time, he still couldn't figure it out and could only awkwardly touch his head and respond to his greeting.

He smiled. "It's an honor to meet you here, Ms. Zhou. Are you also going to the stadium?"

Zhou Zeyu touched his nose, somewhat awkwardly accepted the cup handed to him by the shop assistant, and after giving a few simple answers, he tried to leave: "Yes, I'm going to the table tennis hall."

"The ping-pong hall?" He took his coffee and walked alongside her as if they were old friends. "Is there something going on today?"

The man was tall and strong, like a moving mountain when he walked beside her. His tone was also very familiar, like that of an old friend she hadn't seen in a long time. Zhou Zeyu felt vaguely uncomfortable, but she endured it and didn't say anything, instead silently drinking her beverage with her head down.

The photo kept replaying in her mind, and her heart was filled with doubts. So much so that even though Radetz enthusiastically bombarded her with topics along the way, she could only give perfunctory "uh-huhs" and "yeahs" for a while, desperately hoping to escape as soon as possible.

However, her plan completely backfired. After talking about her love for table tennis, Radetz happily expressed her desire to participate in the event together. Zhou Zeyu's smile immediately froze on her face, and she could no longer smile.

She always felt that foreigners lacked a sense of propriety, and she had been criticized by Coach Xu for having stereotypes, but it seems that she was not wrong.

They just have absolutely no sense of propriety...

She watched Radetz chatting animatedly with others not far away, scratched her head in frustration, and raised her hands to explain innocently, "Don't get me wrong, I didn't bring this guy here, he insisted on following me."

Solkov, arms crossed, asked in a mix of confusion and embarrassment, "Why are you in such a hurry to explain?"

Because you're petty.

Zhou Zeyi chuckled a few times. "You obviously don't like him, so why would I bring him here on purpose? Besides, I don't have the habit of advising people to get back together."

"Make up?" He repeated it again, as if savoring the word, and finally said lightly, "It's not about making up. We've hated each other since the moment we met."

"Why?" she blurted out.

Sorkov tried to tap her forehead with his index finger, but she deftly dodged it. She wondered if it was just her imagination, but she felt that his expression suddenly became incredibly complex. "No reason, because this is competitive sports."

Because this is competitive sports.

Zhou Zeyu froze, as if struck by something, suddenly finding herself in an awkward stalemate. She sighed almost imperceptibly, but it was undoubtedly seen by Sorkov, who nodded toward the ping-pong hall, gesturing for her to hurry inside. "Go do your thing, don't overthink it, and don't worry too much about my feelings."

As she walked, she turned back to look at him. "Are you training as usual today? I'll come find you after the activities this afternoon?"

Solkov seemed to hesitate for a moment; she knew it was a tactful way of expressing his difficulty, which was rather unusual, as he usually refused outright and directly. But just before she was about to offer a helping hand, he nodded.

The venue was packed with people, more than ever before. It had completely transformed from a table tennis exchange into a fan meeting for Radek. Zhou Zeyu had never seen so many people flood into the venue at the same time, and the number seemed to be increasing.

She could only stand idly in the corner with her drink, covering her face with an extra mask, hoping that everyone's attention would be drawn to the radiant Radetz and no one would notice her, and that she would sneak out to find Sorkov in a few moments.

As for Radetz, he was completely trapped inside by the surging crowd of fans, unable to move, signing autographs non-stop with his ever-present smile, looking like his face was about to freeze.

But none of that mattered to her. Afraid of wasting time, she turned around and hurriedly prepared to leave. However, she had only taken a few steps when she was blocked at the door. Anna and Eric were enthusiastically waving their clappers and calling for her to go over there for dessert. She protested for a long time to no avail, and was half-pushed and half-pulled over.

"Don't be in such a hurry to leave!" Anna shoved a piece of cake into her hand. "We've prepared lots of delicious food today, and we can't do without you."

Zhou Zeyu tried taking a few bites, but the sweetness made her throat tingle. She silently put it down and cleared her throat, only to find that the cream was hopelessly stuck in her mouth. She managed to say with difficulty, "I'm sorry, there are just too many people today. I, I, I'm not used to it."

She took the water Eric offered, gulped down several mouthfuls before recovering, and then hesitantly gave Anna a wink, "You know what I mean."

Anna sneered, "Yeah, the event has turned into that guy's personal show. I really don't understand how he managed to attract so many people. The cake I painstakingly made isn't even enough to go around!"

Zhou Zeyu touched his nose, secretly picked up the half-eaten cake, and silently took another big bite.

“That’s not fair,” Eriks protested. “Radetz certainly deserves our admiration, doesn’t he? He’s Serbia’s best swimmer in decades!”

Zhou Zeyu finished the rest of the water in one gulp, swallowed the remaining cake in his mouth, and hurriedly stepped forward to pull the two apart. "Friends, whether they are the best athletes or the best showmen, it doesn't matter. What matters is that I really, really have to escape now."

However, her little scheme backfired once again, because the moment she stepped out, Radetz appeared out of nowhere beside her, smiling at her: "Are you leaving?"

"Yes, goodbye." Zhou Zeyu said decisively, without hesitation, and turned to leave.

Radetz calmly called out to her, "Want to grab a drink?"

Zhou Zeyu chuckled a few times, raised his hand and pulled his mask up higher, then grabbed Anna and Eric, who were glaring at him, and said, "Let's go together."

Anna remained expressionless, while Eric felt like he was about to faint from excitement. Zhou Zeyu was awkwardly sandwiched between the two of them, and with the inexplicably appearing and unclear-intentioned Radetz in front of her, she felt like she was about to explode on the spot.

The wine in her hand was so awful it was almost unbearable, but Zhou Zeyu could only keep sipping it to hide her impatience. What was worse, this Radetz was incredibly talkative, to the point that even after she had finished her glass of wine without tasting anything, he was still going on and on about the recent fluctuations in Serbian stocks.

She and Anna exchanged a glance, then looked at Eric, who was responding enthusiastically, and simultaneously turned to the side, whispering and whispering in each other's ears.

"He's really annoying."

"So handsome!" Zhou Zeyu exclaimed.

Zhou Zeyu shook his head and patted her shoulder. "It's okay, I understand what you mean."

The two exchanged a glance, but Eriksson caught their eye and laughed loudly. "Alright, see you! We were just talking about you. Tell us about your competition experience!"

She forced a smile and said, "Actually, there's not much to say. It's just that I'm constantly running around to different places and playing ball with different people. It's very boring."

“That’s impossible,” Radetz said with a smile. “We all know you were one of the best table tennis players in the world, you must have a lot of interesting stories to share.”

Her expression froze for a moment, but she quickly recovered. "No, neither my life nor my career is interesting. If you're just looking for fun, I'm sorry I can't play along."

Anna quickly nudged his stomach with her elbow, but it was too late. Ericf had already said everything. Zhou Zeyu nodded silently, unsure of what to say, and the atmosphere suddenly turned cold.

Finally, Radetz broke the ice. He held his glass, took a small sip with great restraint, winked humorously, and then smiled as he spoke: "Angelica is a friend of mine for many years. She has mentioned you to me many times, saying that you are a respectable opponent and that she looks forward to our next duel. Of course, she also expressed that she will not hold back at all."

Eric laughed, waving his hands excitedly, "Great, see you! Go and take her down!"

However, Zhou Zeyi didn't reply. She simply nodded indifferently, put down the empty cake plate in her hand, and went straight to the point: "Mr. Radetz, what exactly do you want to say?"

As soon as she finished speaking, everyone's smiles vanished instantly. The fake, almost contrived friendliness disappeared immediately. Radetz stared sharply at her, slowly swirling the wine glass in his hand.

"You should know why I found you."

She shrugged. "Because of Sorkov, you're supposed to be telling me about him, right?"

He pursed his lips, clearly annoyed, and put down the cup with a loud thud as the glass hit the wooden table.

Radetz's delicate smile seemed to have been ripped open, revealing a hideous and painful true nature. "He's a complete scoundrel."

"Why?"

"Why?" Radetz repeated, letting out a few hoarse laughs as if mocking him. "You should ask him himself, ask him why he took someone else's spot in the competition, ask him why he didn't cherish the opportunity, and ask him why he abandoned his own country like a traitor!"

Zhou Zeyu was stunned, almost unable to believe what he was saying. "Wait, what do you mean? What do you mean by abandoning one's own country?"

Radetz laughed heartily. "You don't actually think he'll tell you the truth, do you? Miss, I'm really worried you've been fooled by him all along."

Zhou Zeyu stood there, glanced back at him with a faint smile, seemingly tinged with contempt and mockery, and said in a light tone, "Alright, thank you for your advice, but I still have to ask him first."

She hurried away, but Anna and Eric quickly caught up, each grabbing one of her hands and forcefully pressing her into a chair.

"You need to calm down!"

Zhou Zeyi sighed in frustration, "I don't know what to do. How can I ask him? I can't possibly bring myself to ask."

“Especially since he attracted so many cameras and microphones, and this isn’t a press conference!” Anna said indignantly.

Anna then turned to Zhou Zeyi and said, "Come on, how credible is what that guy says? Everyone knows they don't get along, he wouldn't say anything good about Sorkov in front of you."

"But he wasn't wrong."

Zhou Zeyu remained silent for a long time before nodding, "I understand, thank you."

However, just a second before she turned to leave, she heard a very clear, even sharp, shutter sound.

Directly in her direction, again and again.

She knew that voice all too well. So many times, those dark cameras had stared straight at her, like bottomless pits, pulling her into the abyss. She tried so hard to break free, but in the end, she was still swept up and pulled into the eye of the storm.

Her breath almost stopped, and she stiffly turned her head like a puppet, only to see a man dressed as an athlete standing behind her, smiling at her and extending his hand to her.

“It’s an honor to see you again. I’m Angelica, we know each other,” she said with a smile, winking playfully. “Right, my defeated opponent?”