Eye of the Storm (Part 3)
Taking three long-haul flights in a week is just awful.
When Zhou Zeyu finally landed in Beijing, he walked out of the airport with huge dark circles under his eyes and looked like a zombie, giving Fang Xiaocan, who was waiting outside, a real fright.
"Ouch, are you trying to kill me?"
"It's not that easy." Zhou Zeyu shook his head, unceremoniously shoved the suitcase into her hands, and quickly slipped into the car, waiting for Fang Xiaocan to slowly get into the driver's seat.
"How's it going?"
"It went incredibly smoothly."
"Then why did you stay for so long?"
“Zhang Yuan had something come up a few days ago, so I didn’t go to London until several days later.”
"What were you doing the past few days?"
As expected, it was Fang Xiaocan who immediately noticed something was wrong. Zhou Zeyu subtly shuddered, his sleepiness vanishing instantly. He couldn't help but observe her expression through the rearview mirror, trying to brush it off with a vague answer.
However, the biggest difference between Fang Xiaocan and Coach Xu is that Coach Xu would often wisely stop asking questions when faced with this situation, but Fang Xiaocan is different. Zhou Zeyu kept recommending that she be a police dog in her next life. This spirit of not giving up until the goal is achieved and digging deep to find out the truth is admirable.
Fortunately, Fang Xiaocan was busy berating the road rage driver in front of her for a while afterward. Only after her anger subsided did she finally remember that she hadn't gotten any answers yet. Without wasting a second, she quickly asked, "So, what were you doing?"
Zhou Zeyu knew he couldn't fool her anymore, so he winked at her, but unfortunately, she was focused on driving and didn't see his prominent brow muscles. She even started to urge him on impatiently.
"Where have you been? Are you trying to keep me in suspense?"
Zhou Zeyu swore she originally wanted to speak, but Fang Xiaocan suddenly realized and said "Ah," and began her bold guesses with a blank expression.
"Did you go see that MagicMike?" she asked, feigning sudden realization. "Oh, what's there to be embarrassed about? Looking at handsome guys is good for your health. Don't worry, I won't tell Coach Xu. We'll just say you went for a massage, okay?"
Zhou Zeyi could no longer tolerate it: "You're still not allowed to say a single word."
"Why are you still forcibly covering your mouth?" The other person showed no remorse whatsoever, and even spoke with a rather aggrieved tone, "I haven't even blamed you yet. You went to play with men without telling me. I'm buying a plane ticket to come find you right away."
Fang Xiaocan gave her a puzzled look. "Are you blinded by good looks?"
However, Zhou Zeyu still couldn't stop laughing. She finally understood why Fang Xiaocan's words made her laugh. She seemed to remember a muscular man with abs standing in front of her, righteously questioning her if she mistook him for a male model.
So... Fang Xiaocan's wild imagination is pretty much the same.
Anyway, there's no point in keeping it from Fang Xiaocan, so it's better to confess sooner rather than later. Besides, even if Zhou Zeyu doesn't say anything, he'll eventually be able to force her to admit it through his formidable reasoning skills, so it's better to just tell her sooner rather than later, so she doesn't continue to ramble on and scare people to death.
"Actually, well, you know, I went to Belgrade."
Before Zhou Zeyu could finish saying the word "virtue," the other person immediately smiled meaningfully. If it weren't for the seatbelt restraining her, Zhou Zeyu was afraid that the other person would hook her arm around her shoulder halfway through the drive and say, "You've won a man over, haven't you?"
Actually, that statement wasn't entirely accurate, since she came back empty-handed, without a pitiful 1.8-meter-tall physical education student by her side. However, it did seem to make sense at first glance, so Zhou Zeyu simply didn't refute it and nodded.
"More or less."
Now things were really messed up. The atmosphere inside the car was instantly ignited. Fang Xiaocan went into a frenzy, yelling at her to summon everyone. Zhou Zeyu covered her ears, trying to drown out her voice, while also worrying about a car crash and people dying. She was really stubborn and had no choice but to do everything at once.
When the car finally arrived safely at its destination, Zhou Zeyu swore that he had lost the last bit of his life. He got off the car in a daze, hastily greeted Coach Xu, and then locked himself in the toilet.
"Hey, what's going on?"
Fang Xiaocan smiled mysteriously and winked at Coach Xu, "It's a relationship issue, you know what I mean."
Coach Xu finally understood, and let out a long sigh of relief, feeling a deep sense of empathy. "Heartbroken?"
"No!" Zhou Zeyi's voice came from the bathroom, tinged with anger. "You damned Fang Xiaocan, what did you say?!"
Fang Xiaocan quickly waved his hand: "Heaven is my witness, I didn't say anything nonsense."
After Zhou Zeyu finally sobered up a bit from the cold water, the two of them dragged him to the restaurant. Coach Xu, wearing an apron, smiled and carried the dishes, while Fang Xiaocan stared at the dishes in his hands with shining eyes, as if she was about to pounce on him at any moment.
Zhou Zeyi immediately sounded the alarm, sat down next to her, and subtly tugged at her sleeve to prevent her from actually rushing out.
When all the dishes were finally served, Zhou Zeyu only had time to look down at his phone before he looked up again and saw Fang Xiaocan devouring the food like a hungry wolf, clearing the table of dishes in a whirlwind. Even the well-traveled Coach Xu was stunned.
"What's wrong? Did you get hungry during training?"
"I'm really hungry."
While they were talking, Coach Xu, who had already sat down, got up again to tie his apron and went into the kitchen to add more dishes. "Okay, eat more, I'll cook two more."
Zhou Zeyi was also stunned. "What happened? Is that guy surnamed Huang abusing you?"
"I'm under a lot of pressure," she replied succinctly, then picked up a full mouthful of food and stuffed it into her mouth, slurping as she said, "You too, you know it yourself, you're putting me under pressure, so eat more."
"Oh, I understand. Don't rush to speak, eat first."
Fang Xiaocan nodded, gave a thumbs-up to Coach Xu who was looking at him with concern, and then began another round of whirlwind attacks.
It can be said that Fang Xiaocan's favorite way to release stress is to rant. When she and Fang Xiaocan were roommates, they could rant about half the world's population in the middle of the night, so it seems that she never had this kind of binge eating.
However, once Zhou Zeyu went to have surgery and was away from the team for several months. When she returned, Fang Xiaocan, who had gained weight, greeted her with tears streaming down her face, saying that she couldn't do without her.
Sure enough, poor Fang Xiaocan can't find any like-minded trolls, so he can only turn his grief and anger into appetite and start a new round of feasting.
This is really hard to control. Although everyone knows that such binge eating is harmful to the body, and even more harmful to professional athletes, just like pica, if you don't eat, the pressure will only increase day by day, and it is impossible to control.
Zhou Zeyu touched her increasingly broad back with heartache, "Isn't there any other way? Now that I'm back, you can scold me again."
Fang Xiaocan didn't even lift her head from her bowl. "It's no use, Zhou Zeyu. I'm on leave for two days and I'll be going back soon. That damn cafeteria won't let me get any more rice now. I have to sneak around asking other people for it."
Hearing her say that, Coach Xu, who was busy in the kitchen, couldn't stand it anymore. He shook his head and came out, saying, "How can this be? Aren't you starving?"
“Yes, Lao Xu,” Fang Xiaocan said, her eyes brimming with tears, almost sobbing, “I feel terrible if I don’t eat.”
Hearing this, Zhou Zeyi couldn't help but sigh: "This isn't a solution. Have you seen a psychologist?"
"You've seen a psychologist, but do you think it helped?"
That's true. Zhou Zeyu had received so many treatments from Mr. Elberlint, but it didn't seem to be of much use. However, it still seemed a bit inappropriate to say that it was "useless." She thought for a moment and answered carefully: "But I was in Belgrade at that time. Maybe the psychologists in our country are much better than those abroad."
"Interesting. I'll wait and see. I'll go see a doctor after I gain another ten pounds."
Zhou Zeyu slapped her on the back: "Still dragging it out! Your stomach can't take it if you keep eating like this."
"Ouch!" Fang Xiaocan looked up and gave her a resentful look. "Okay, okay, I'll control myself, I'll control myself..."
While the two were arguing back and forth, Coach Xu had already taken off his apron and walked out of the kitchen, placing a plate of food on the table in each hand. "What are you two whispering about?"
They were surprised to hear a loud argument as a whisper. The two exchanged a silent glance, wondering if Coach Xu had been working too hard lately and that his hearing was failing.
Unlike Fang Xiaocan, who looked like a starving ghost, Zhou Zeyu had just finished a long journey and had no appetite at all when staring at the table full of dishes. He picked up a few bites of pickled vegetables and then started looking down at his phone.
She received a message from Zhang Yuan as soon as she got off the plane. This guy was quick to act, probably eager to expose all this tomorrow, but he had to hold back due to the speed of newspapers. He had already given her the contact information of the new editor-in-chief, saying that he wanted to discuss it in detail.
However, before Zhou Zeyu could send a friend request, her phone was snatched away. She looked up sharply and saw Coach Xu holding her phone and pressing something. He quickly handed it back to her.
"Don't worry about the rest, leave it to me."
Zhou Zeyu frowned: "No, Lao Xu, since I'm in charge of contacting the newspaper, I should also handle the follow-up contacts. I'm afraid there are some things you don't understand."
“No,” Coach Xu said without hesitation. “You should go and do something else. This is too risky. Leave it to me.”
In this matter, Coach Xu was as stubborn as an ox that couldn't be pulled back. Sometimes Zhou Zeyi didn't understand why he was so determined to distance himself from her. She clearly had the ability to help him, and she clearly couldn't stand idly by, but he still wouldn't allow her to get too involved.
"Don't try to bargain with me," he quickly added, seemingly noticing her reluctant expression. "I already regretted allowing you to go to London to contact Zhang Yuan. You'd better not get involved in this at all, understand?"
"not understand."
Anticipating her answer, Coach Xu smiled and put a piece of food on her plate. "Don't always look so gloomy, eat more."
Is your knee feeling any better?
“Me? Uh…” Zhou Zeyu didn’t expect that the one who would interrupt him in the end would be Fang Xiaocan, who was eating in silence. He was stunned for a moment, and subconsciously wanted to blurt it out, but he immediately changed his words and scratched his head hesitantly, “It’s alright.”
"Oh, it's not bad~" Fang Xiaocan said sarcastically, taking a big bite of meat. "I knew you didn't take this injury seriously at all. Don't get scolded by the doctor again during the follow-up check-up. I won't say a good word for you this time."
If she had said something else, Zhou Zeyu might have been able to refute her a few more times. Unfortunately, everything she said was true, and her weakness was immediately found. Zhou Zeyu could only helplessly suffer a crushing defeat and decided to be less flamboyant for the time being. After all, she could already feel Coach Xu's sinister gaze.
"Don't look at me like that, Lao Xu," she said, looking around, touching her nose, and scratching the back of her head. "I'm recovering well."
Coach Xu clearly didn't hear a word she said. In fact, Zhou Zeyu knew that she could never fool the two people present, especially Coach Xu, who had dealt with "liars" for many years and could tell whether she was telling the truth in the blink of an eye.
In the end, she was met with another stern rebuke: "Still trying to be tough! You'll be back in a wheelchair if you mess this up. You're not allowed to do anything during this period except rehabilitation, understand?"
Helpless, having suffered such severe injuries, Zhou Zeyu was at the mercy of others. Shrinking his head, he nodded with a wronged expression, "I understand."
On the other side, Fang Xiaocan saw her frustrated look and burst into laughter while clutching her stomach. Zhou Zeyu glared back through gritted teeth and slapped her back, silencing her laughter.
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