It's drizzling in Changsha today.
Yin Jiayi held an umbrella and escorted the person to the hotel entrance, where they waited for the car.
Why won't you let me take you to the airport?
Kim Nam-ji stood at the bottom of the sidewalk steps, wrapped his arms around her waist, and smiled brightly.
"There are so many people at the airport, aren't you afraid of being photographed?"
Yin Jiayi was wearing sunglasses and a baseball cap.
"So what? Dressed like this, they might not even recognize you."
Kim Nam-ji hugged her and acted coquettishly.
"But I don't want you to see me off. Even though we can still see each other during the team competition, the thought of being apart for a few days already makes me want to cry. If you see me off at the airport, I'll feel even more reluctant to leave, and I'm afraid I won't want to go back."
Yin Jiayi sighed and rubbed her head.
"Alright, alright, I can't do anything with you. Be careful on your journey, and call me when you land. Remember my new number?"
Kim Nam-ji nodded vigorously, then a sly smile appeared on his lips. He stood on tiptoe slightly, his eyes sparkling.
"That's it? Nothing else you want to tell me?"
Yin Jiayi looked around.
On the rainy streets in the early morning, only sanitation workers across the street were sweeping fallen leaves.
She lowered the umbrella, covering the two of them, wrapped her arms around her waist, lowered her head, and gave her a long, passionate French kiss.
Until Kim Nam-ji was almost unable to breathe.
The faint sound of a car could be heard in the distance.
Yin Jiayi then released her, gently wiping away the smudged lipstick from the corner of her lips with her thumb, and whispered, "Are you satisfied now?"
"You...you wait...see you on the field! Humph!" Kim Namji was furious and embarrassed. He glared at her, and just then the car arrived. He opened the car door, got in, and left without looking back.
Yin Jiayi chuckled, but still waved to her and watched her car disappear from sight before hailing a taxi to go to today's filming location.
Yesterday's filming schedule was delayed by a whole day, and we were supposed to rush to finish today. In addition, she wanted to film tomorrow's episode as well. The time we squeezed out was used for two reasons: first, to go back to Shanghai to prepare for the team competition; and second, as Kim Nam-ji said, we missed each other terribly after being apart for only a short while.
Therefore, she didn't eat or drink anything all day, and was busy rushing to meet the deadline. It was already past 2 a.m. when she finished filming. As soon as Yin Jiayi returned to the hotel, she didn't even have time to catch her breath before she started packing her things.
She booked a 5 a.m. flight back to Shanghai and now has to rush to the airport.
Yin Jiayi looked around to make sure she hadn't forgotten anything, then gently closed the door and dragged her luggage into the elevator.
After she checked out and left, the cleaning lady began cleaning, thoroughly tidying the place from the inside out. When she lifted the carpet to clean the dust underneath, she unexpectedly found a sparkly earring in the corner of the bed.
She initially intended to report it to the housekeeping department, but judging from the material of the earrings, they must be quite valuable, at least equivalent to her annual salary. In the end, she succumbed to greed and secretly put the earrings into her pocket.
Chapter 82 Knowing
"What? Are you kidding me?! Even if there are fewer people, you can't send Jian Changnian up to make up the numbers. He has no experience in major competitions, and he's not even a formal team member. This is the World Championships, not a joke!"
In the meeting room, the other members of the coaching team were very dissatisfied with Wan Jing's choice, and they slammed their fists on the table loudly.
"I also want Xie Shi'an to play in the competition, but there's nothing I can do about it! She fought her way up from the qualifiers, and in my opinion, she's much better than some of the lazy bums in the second team! We have to give her a chance to show her what she's got. If it doesn't work out, we can always find someone else later!"
With Wan Jing's words put in this position, even if others were unwilling, he was, after all, the national team head coach, and it was a foregone conclusion that Jian Changnian would replace Xie Shi'an in the team competition.
The boy stood at the door listening, his lips gradually tightening. He lowered his hand, which was about to knock, and turned to walk into the training room.
"Alright, that's enough for today. Meeting adjourned."
The crowd scattered like birds and beasts.
One of the coaches was walking and whispering to his companion.
"What substitutes? How valuable can the selection competition be? Newcomers who have never played in an international competition might not even know where they're going. I think this team competition is probably doomed."
"Hey, he's the head coach, of course he calls the shots. What are you afraid of? Anyway, if we lose, it won't be your or my fault."
After Wan Jing and the others had mostly left, they put down their teacups and went outside to find the corridor completely empty.
He exclaimed in surprise, "Hey, this child, wasn't I supposed to tell her to wait for me here? How come she's disappeared in the blink of an eye?"
***
Training days are always fulfilling and busy.
When Kim Nam-ji woke up, the sun had just risen in the east. After washing up, she was packing her golf bag when her phone rang. When she saw the caller ID, she couldn't help but smile.
"Hello?"
"Are you up yet?"
Kim Nam-ji held the phone between his shoulder and head and put the racket into his bag: "I got up a long time ago and was just getting ready to go to training."
"Open the window."
"What?" Kim Nam-ji was a little confused, but she still listened to her and went over to open the window. She was overjoyed.
"Yin—"
Yin Jiayi stood downstairs with her suitcase, raised her index finger to make a shushing gesture, and said with a hint of a smile in her voice.
"Come down when you're all ready. I brought you breakfast."
Kim Nam-ji closed the window, picked up his unpacked golf bag, said goodbye to his teammates, and dashed downstairs.
"I'm leaving now, take your time packing."
While his teammate was still applying a face mask in the bathroom, he poked his head out and said, "That's strange. He's usually the last one to leave, so why is he so enthusiastic about training today?"
"Yin Jiayi!" The girl rushed into her arms like a gust of wind.
"I miss you!"
Yin Jiayi took a few steps back, held the person firmly in her arms, a smile on her lips, and gently patted her head, speaking softly.
"Me too. Let's go to the convenience store over there. It's not good if your teammates see us here."
Yin Jiayi bought two more cups of coffee at the convenience store, and the two found a corner to sit down. Jin Nanzhi ate the breakfast she had bought.
"Hmm...didn't you say you wouldn't be back until tomorrow?"
"I was afraid someone would miss me, so I rushed to finish two days' worth of filming in one day."
Seeing the dark circles under her eyes and the suitcase she was pulling, Kim Nam-ji knew that she must have taken an early morning flight and hadn't even gone back to her accommodation before rushing over to see her.
She felt both heartache and gratitude, and the steamed bun in her hand suddenly lost its appeal.
"Yin Jiayi—"
The drawn-out sound was somewhat resentful.
Under the table, Yin Jiayi took her hand, intertwined their fingers, placed it on her lap, and held it tightly.
"Okay, okay, I'm not tired at all. You eat quickly, or it will get cold. You still have to go to training after you finish eating."
"So, you're not going to training today, are you?"
To put her mind at ease, Yin Jiayi had no choice but to lie.
"I'm going back to my base to get some sleep. We'll talk about training tomorrow."
Kim Nam-ji then smiled again.
"That's more like it."
As Yin Jiayi watched her eat, she couldn't help but poke her chubby cheeks, her heart and eyes filled with nothing but her.
"Oh my, how can someone be so cute even when they're eating? And the best part is, they can eat as much as they want and never gain weight."
Kim Nam-ji blushed and dodged her clutches.
"Get out of here! Your body fat percentage is so much lower than mine, and you still have the nerve to say that? Who is it that can eat whatever they want and not gain weight?"
“I’ve been controlling my diet…” Yin Jiayi said, turning her head to look at her, gently brushing the stray hairs from her cheek behind her ear, and said seriously.
"I have to play in a competition, so I won't be able to come see you as often."
"It's okay, we'll see each other on the field anyway."
A slight smile appeared on Yin Jiayi's lips, with a hint of guilt in her eyes.
"That's true, but I think it's still necessary to make things clear to you. If I pretend to be indifferent to you when we meet in the competition, it's definitely not what I really think. Don't overthink it, I'm afraid you'll be unhappy."
Kim Nam-ji rubbed his teeth until they itched.
"Ha, as if I'd go easy on you on the field. Let me tell you, if you lose, you're not allowed to get revenge anywhere else."
"That won't do. Winning or losing is another matter. It's my right to be close to my girlfriend. How can that be called revenge?"
"Yin Jiayi!" Jin Nanzhi was furious, loudly venting his dissatisfaction, but he was helpless against her.
After breakfast, the two of them had to part ways.
Yin Jiayi gave her a brief hug at the store entrance.
"I'm leaving."
"Okay, see you on the field."
Kim Nam-ji hugged her back with a hint of reluctance.
After the two parted ways at the convenience store entrance, Kim Nam-ji walked a short distance along the sidewalk and ran into his head coach.
He was wearing quick-drying clothes and jogging along the street when he called her over, giving her a puzzled look.
"Nan Zhi, why are you up so early today?"
Kim Nam-ji knew that it was a bit unusual for her to be outside the training base at this time, but she was holding a half-finished cup of coffee, which should be enough to cover it up.
"Good morning, Coach. I'm a bit tired of the food in the cafeteria, so I got up early to find something to eat."
The coach gave the paper cup in her hand a disdainful look.
"I've told you so many times, don't drink this kind of high-calorie beverage that also contains [illegible]."
"Relax, relax, I know, I know, I won't do it again."