Figure Skating: Waltz on Ice

My thoughts wandered off.

Du Liangchen noticed that Mei Jing seemed lost in thought, remaining silent and not asking him any further questions.

The swaying of the carriage made Du Liangchen subconsciously look out the window. There was no way around it; for someone sensitive to smells, being in a confined space was just too uncomfortable.

Watching the scenery rush past, Du Liangchen felt his eyelids growing heavier and heavier. He turned to see what Mei Jing was doing and found him playing a game. So he took out his earphones, put them in, adjusted his seat, and prepared to take a nap, thinking: If only I could sleep for four hours straight, I could wake up right at my destination.

Mei Jing was bored and was playing games to pass the time. Noticing Du Liangchen's movement, she put down her phone, leaned closer to him, and whispered, "Tired?"

Du Liangchen opened his eyes upon hearing his voice, "Hmm!"

Mei Jing's ears began to heat up. Du Liangchen's soft voice made his heart soften, and he spoke even more gently, "Go to sleep if you're sleepy. I'm here with you, so you can rest peacefully."

Du Liangchen nodded and yawned: "Ahaha! It's so good to have you here. Last time I took the bus back by myself, I didn't dare to sleep too soundly."

Mei Jing felt awkward talking like that, so she adjusted her chair to be level with Du Liangchen's. "Why don't you dare to sleep too soundly? Are you afraid of being recognized and photographed?"

Seeing that he had also lay down, Du Liangchen leaned his head closer to him and said lazily, "That's partly true, but mainly I'm afraid someone might get off the train midway and mistakenly take my luggage."

“You know how important ice skates are to us. I’d rather lose them myself than lose them.”

Mei Jing smiled slightly and patted his arm. "I understand. You can rest assured with me here."

Du Liangchen stared straight at him, making Mei Jing blush with embarrassment. What he didn't notice was that Du Liangchen's eyes were lifeless at that moment.

In fact, Du Liangchen was inwardly despising himself at that moment. He had just doubted Mei Jing's intentions, wondering if he would lose all his ice skates in this complicated environment, just like Hao Shuxue.

They were friends and teammates, but they were also enemies.

There's only one gold medal, everyone wants it, but who can afford to gamble with people's hearts?

At this moment, Du Liangchen was torn apart, with two voices in his head, one despising the other, and neither able to convince the other.

"Xiao Chen, Xiao Chen? What's wrong? Why are you looking at me like that?" Mei Jing's voice woke Du Liangchen from his reverie.

Du Liangchen blinked, subconsciously avoiding Mei Jing's gaze, and stammered, "Ah? I'm fine, I just suddenly remembered that I forgot to bring my charger, and I need to buy a data cable before I get back to the team."

Mei Jing didn't notice Du Liangchen's discomfort. "I have you here, so it's okay if you don't buy anything. We're in the same dorm, so you can just use mine."

Du Liangchen felt even worse and cursed himself inwardly: Du Liangchen, you are so hypocritical. How could you doubt such a good brother to you? Where is your conscience?

"What if our phones run out of battery?"

Without even thinking, Mei Jing said, "It's okay, you can use it first, I'm not in a hurry."

Du Liangchen felt even more guilty and quickly changed the subject, "Do you know what program we're participating in this time?"

Mei Jing shook her head. "I asked Coach Jiang, but he didn't know either."

“I asked Director Du, and he said that at first, the TV station wanted us to appear on Happy Saturday with a production crew to play games and generate buzz for that crew’s new drama.”

Du Liangchen became more and more energetic as he spoke. Afraid that the other people in the car would hear, he leaned close to Du Liangchen's ear and whispered, "Later, when the team leaders found out, they felt that this went against their purpose of having the two of us participate in the program to promote the sport of figure skating, so they refused."

"But the TV station was interested in the buzz surrounding our participation in the Olympics and our top three finishes. The two sides were constantly at odds, which is why we didn't know anything, because nothing was finalized."