The morning glow paints half the sky.
The alarm clock at Pear Fragrance Villa rang precisely on time each morning.
Lu Yu nestled in Jiao Yuyin's arms, her eyes half-open in a daze. Before she could get up, Jiao Yuyin stretched out his long arm, brushed past her cheek, and reached over her to touch the alarm clock on the bedside table.
With a click, the alarm clock finally stopped.
Lu Yu tugged at the corner of his pajamas and whimpered twice, trying to break free from Jiao Yuyin's hold.
"Wasn't the only announcement for today's return to the team just a list? We shouldn't need morning training, right? Go back to sleep." Jiao Yuyin's voice rang out from above.
"No. I have my own training plan, and I can't neglect my physical fitness."
“You could say the bed made the first move; it grabbed you and wouldn’t let go,” Jiao Yuyin said with a smile, his eyes closed.
Lu Yu tilted her head and looked at the clear hickey on her shoulder, then rolled over and stood up. "Are you a dog? You've left a mark again."
Lu Yu was muttering to herself when Jiao Yuyin leaned over and took her hand, touching his lips with it. "Tell me, which of us is the dog?"
A scab remained on the wound at the corner of his lip.
Lu Yu touched it again, a little embarrassed, and asked, "Does it hurt?"
"Pfft..." Jiao Yuyin laughed out loud, "Little Yuyu, it seems like our roles have been reversed. You're not that fragile, it doesn't hurt, but—your canine teeth are so sharp."
“Uh…” Lu Yu scratched his head.
"So cute." Jiao Yuyin's words made Lu Yu's morning start with a blush again.
Lu Yu rolled over nimbly and got out of bed.
“I’ll go with you for your morning run. After dropping you off at the training base, I’ll head back to Tengyue Sports.” Jiao Yuyin also got up.
"Huh? Has something happened to Tengyue?" Lu Yu couldn't help but worry, thinking about what Jiao Yuyin had roughly told her about the current situation last night.
"Nothing much, I just have nowhere else to go," Jiao Yuyin said casually. "I'm practically all alone now, so I'll just go to Tengyue to make my presence felt."
Lu Yu said, "It's good that I don't have to leave early and come back late every day. But I thought you would go to Ruixin Group. You value Ruixin quite a bit."
"Yes, precisely because Ruixin is quite important, we can't go there too often right now. Just keep things as usual to avoid attracting Jiao Yuchen's attention," Jiao Yuyin explained.
Guided by the morning glow, the two jogged slowly along the path of Pear Blossom Villa, temporarily casting aside the repression of the past.
...
Qingbei Team Training Base.
The team members returned on time and stood in two rows.
Coach Wang stood at the front of the team and said a bunch of meaningless things.
Lu Yu rolled her eyes inwardly.
Coach Wang always makes simple things complicated and deliberately mystifies them. He always puts the Olympic selection list last, building up for so long, just to create that tense, suffocating moment at the end. How is this any different from a teacher standing on the podium reading out exam results in fits and starts?
"Three players from our Qingbei team have made the Olympic roster. Lu Yu is the starting point guard, and Sun Meng is the starting small forward." Coach Wang smiled with satisfaction. "And Chu Feiyu is the backup shooting guard. Report directly to the national training base at 8 a.m. next Monday. Bring your personal belongings and clothes for two months of closed training. The other players will have a break until August 1st. Don't fall behind in physical training during the break. Be disciplined and don't make the physical training coach scratch his head when you come back."
The team members burst into laughter.
Chu Feiyu, in the team, was so excited that she seemed not to hear what Coach Wang was saying afterward. She gripped Sun Meng's hand tightly, involuntarily tightening her grip.
"It hurts—" Sun Meng turned to look helplessly at Chu Feiyu, drawing out her words.
Lu Yu, standing in the row behind them, couldn't help but smile when she saw this scene.
"Coach, who else from other teams made the Olympic roster?" Shu Juan, standing in the team, asked curiously.
"Oh, the main players are Luo Yan, the center of Zhouqing team, Ji Yun, the power forward of Yu Nan team, Weng Pei, the shooting guard of Jiang team, plus Lu Yu and Sun Meng from our Qingbei team. That's the five-man starting lineup." After Coach Wang finished speaking, he added, "The national team will also release the selected list today. Don't go out and talk nonsense before it's released."
"No, no. Who are the twelve players on the roster, Coach? Don't just talk about the starters," Yang Liu pressed.
Looking at the Olympic roster, Coach Wang stopped keeping everyone in suspense and said, "Besides Chu Feiyu from our team, there's Yu Mengmeng, point guard from Zhouqing team; Zhu Ying, shooting guard from Zhouqing team; Zhang Fan, small forward from Zhouqing team; Ren Qiqi, center from Yunan team; Du Xianglan, small forward from Yunan team; and Liu Min, power forward from Xijiang team."
Yang Lingling, who had been listening quietly the whole time, secretly closed her eyes for a moment, suppressing her disappointment.
An opportunity that comes only once every four years...
It's still a matter of skill level. Qingbei team's league championship victory had little to do with her as a center. In the finals, they only won one out of five contested shots; she doesn't even seem to have the right to feel regret.
It would be a lie to say she wasn't disappointed by such a rare opportunity. She had still held onto a sliver of hope that national team head coach Zeng Ling might consider pairing her with Sun Meng in the paint and perhaps include her on the reserve roster. Alas, it was just wishful thinking. She was a veteran player for the Qingbei team, and failing to make the Olympic roster meant that she was destined to spend her life watching her teammates compete on the court from the television channel.
Coach Wang's shout of "Dismissed!" startled Yang Lingling and caused the team to scatter.
Chu Feiyu tugged at Lu Yu and Sun Meng, chattering away.
"Little Taro Sister, Mengmeng, let's go have a big meal to prepare for the upcoming Olympic training camp. I know some really good restaurants on Honggui Street."
Sun Meng put her hands in her pockets and said, "What you're saying is like saying you need to eat your fill to have the energy to lose weight. But I have no problem with relaxing a bit before training camp."
Chu Feiyu and Sun Meng looked at Lu Yu, waiting for his answer.
In just one week, the Jiao family was embroiled in a series of troubles. From Jiao Cheng's romantic escapades and Cen Li's scandal to the split between Jiao and Meng, and then to the sudden resignation of Jiao's daughter from all her positions and the release of Jiao's second son from prison to take over most of the family's businesses, the Jiao family was constantly in the headlines and trending topics, with a mix of true and false information. Even the most naive person would know that something serious had definitely happened to the Jiao family.
Perhaps at this time, Lu Yu may also have many situations where it is inconvenient to go out, or more likely, she is not in the mood.
Lu Yu stood on the training field, watching the backs of her teammates gradually disappear into the distance, and said, "Sister Juan, Sister Ling, wait a minute, is there anything else scheduled later?"
The players from the Qingbei team stopped one after another and looked at Lu Yu with confusion.
"Let's call up the other teammates and organize a friendly match to warm up our skills," Lu Yu said, looking at Yang Lingling with gentle eyes.
Yang Lingling returned Lu Yu's smile, glanced at Wang Jie, and said, "Wang Jie, wanna play ball?"
Yang Lingling's question kept the Qingbei team members on the field, eager to try out this friendly match for unknown reasons.
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