Wang Chuqin

The young couple had been in a cold war for several days, and it was only then that the members of the National Table Tennis Team realized something was wrong. It didn't seem to be just a playful spat anymore, but no one dared to intervene lightly, so they all walked on eggshells whenever they passed by them.

In truth, Duan Nanzhou had initially seen no real issue, and she hadn't been avoiding the problems. For the first few days, she had video-called Wang Chuqin to explain things and coax him, but Wang Chuqin hadn't been very talkative. Unlike his usual chatty self, he would now respond expressionlessly, only speaking when asked, much like a robot. Even later, when Wang Chuqin thought he was making an effort to communicate, it merely evolved from "Mm," "Oh," and "Okay" to "Mm-hmm," "Oh-oh," and "Okay then."

To this, Duan Nanzhou could only think: *Heh.*

This one-sided effort left Duan Nanzhou exhausted. Compounded by a packed schedule from the coaching staff following the tournament—caught between a grueling training life and a boyfriend who was throwing a tantrum that wouldn't resolve—she was drained. Having already been one of the biggest sleepers on the team alongside her good friend Sun Yingsha, her daily sleep time dropped to just four or five hours, and she quickly lost even more weight.

Because she was truly too busy and lacked the energy, their daily video calls had practically ceased. Furthermore, since their mixed doubles partnership had been dissolved and they no longer trained together, and Wang Chuqin was too stubborn to seek her out, the two had barely seen each other for days. Later, when Wang Chuqin finally wanted to find her, she was so busy outside the team base that he couldn't even locate her.

The National Team, who had initially thought it was just a minor disagreement, began to worry. Was this a precursor to a breakup? However, they didn't know the full story and dared not intervene, so they decided to send scouts to probe the situation.

Lin Gaoyuan, the scout for Wang Chuqin’s side, went to ask first: "Datou, what’s going on with you and Nanzhou? Are you two having trouble?"

Wang Chuqin glanced at his good brother but didn't respond. In truth, he was regretting it. Originally, he had only intended to be cold for a few days to make Duan Nanzhou realize his importance, but he hadn't expected things to spiral out of control. Especially during their video calls, his refusal to speak had left her speechless; many times, the latter half of the call would consist of Duan Nanzhou just staring at him in silence, while he stubbornly held his ground.

Duan Nanzhou thought: *Fine, you want to play tough? Let’s see who caves first!*

Later, when Duan Nanzhou became too busy to call, Wang Chuqin couldn't help himself and started initiating calls, only to be met with a hurried, "I'm busy, let's talk later," before she hung up. And so, the situation inexplicably developed into this.

"Sigh..." A thousand words were condensed into Wang Chuqin’s heavy sigh, but he still replied, "It's nothing." After all, it was a private matter between him and Duan Nanzhou; he didn't want to affect others.

Lin Gaoyuan, who had initially thought it was a small matter, felt that things were much bigger than anticipated after hearing that sigh and the dismissive "it's nothing," as this wasn't his friend's usual demeanor. He hurried off to report his findings.

On Duan Nanzhou's side, the scout was her best friend, Sun Yingsha. Given that Duan Nanzhou was so busy she was practically invisible and had spent several days out of town, Sun Yingsha waited a long time that night for her to return to their dorm.

"Was the sound of me opening the door too loud? Did I wake you?" Seeing Sun Yingsha awake instead of asleep as usual, Duan Nanzhou's first thought was that she had been too noisy. *Should I apply for a separate room? I can't keep disturbing Shasha's sleep.*

"No, no," Sun Yingsha quickly denied. "Zhouzhou, what's going on between you and Datou? Why does it feel like you two haven't spoken lately?"

"Huh?" Exhausted after a long day, Duan Nanzhou’s mind was a bit foggy. "It's nothing, I've just been too busy."

She truly had been too busy to pay much attention, but seeing her friend's expression, she realized Sun Yingsha didn't believe her. However, she just wanted to sleep; she was the type to fall asleep the moment her head hit the pillow. Sun Yingsha wanted to ask more, but seeing how tired her friend was, she couldn't bring herself to wake her. Still, she was convinced there was definitely something wrong, and given how exhausted Zhouzhou was, it had to be Wang Datou’s fault!

Following the feedback from both scouts, the core team concluded that things had gone south. For the past three years, the two had been sweet as honey and never fought; was their first real argument going to be this fatal? Consequently, both the men’s and women’s teams began sending people to coax them, hoping for a reconciliation, as the atmosphere in the training hall was becoming unbearable.

However, the "coaxing squad" had some "traitors" doing the exact opposite.

"Zhouzhou, let me tell you, if Datou treats you badly or makes you too sad, let's just dump him. I’m telling you, love is unreliable, but your career is more important. World championship titles are the only things that will stay with us forever..." Sun Yingsha chirped away, serving as the classic "best friend encouraging a breakup."

Duan Nanzhou, who was busy enough to fly, had finally caught a moment of rest only to be cornered by her best friend. The brainwashing was so absurd it made her laugh. Seeing Sun Yingsha’s effort, she didn't want to kill the mood, so she listened intently and nodded along.

Meanwhile, the brothers' group had talked until their mouths were dry. They had surrounded Wang Chuqin on both sides, urging him to go find Duan Nanzhou. Finally, after Fan Zhendong and Lin Gaoyuan had exhausted their persuasive powers, Wang Chuqin finally moved.

Wang Chuqin thought: *Actually, I wanted to go without you guys saying anything, but you two had me pinned down from both sides! Was it me not wanting to go? Was I the one who made you talk until your throats were dry?* (Scream)

In reality, Wang Chuqin hadn't stopped trying to find her, but he truly couldn't. Not only could he not find her, but the entire team couldn't either; phone contact was limited to a few words because she was simply too busy.

Duan Nanzhou’s take: *Blame the coaching staff and those business commitments. Who knows why I'm this busy?*

Just as the trio found Duan Nanzhou, they overheard Sun Yingsha’s brainwashing lecture. Since the two girls had their backs to them, they didn't see Wang Chuqin and the others arrive. Hearing the conversation clearly, Fan Zhendong and Lin Gaoyuan exchanged terrified glances. *Wait, we’re working so hard here, why is Shasha pouring oil on the fire?* One look at Datou’s face told them it was over.

"Should we slip away first?" Lin Gaoyuan mouthed while pointing at the door.

"I think so," Fan Zhendong signaled back silently.

Just as they began to sneakily retreat, they heard something even more explosive.

"Zhouzhou, you aren't writing a breakup letter, are you?" Seeing Duan Nanzhou typing and pausing on her phone, Sun Yingsha asked with a start.

"Huh?" Duan Nanzhou looked up in surprise, mid-reply. *Breakup letter? Who’s breaking up?*

"I won't allow it!" Before Sun Yingsha could continue, Wang Chuqin roared from behind, unable to hold back his fury. "I won't allow a breakup!"

Wang Chuqin stormed forward, but the moment he saw Duan Nanzhou, he instantly lost his nerve. He could only insist, "I won't break up, don't even think about it!" His words were firm, but his tone was shaky.

Sun Yingsha, who had wanted to see how it played out, was quickly dragged away by the two older brothers. Did she really want to stay and face an angry Wang Datou? Especially after she had poured oil on the fire? She was being urgently "withdrawn" by the two.

Fan Zhendong and Lin Gaoyuan: *Little sister, if you say anything else, not even your brothers can save you.*

Sun Yingsha: *Tactical scratching of the head.*

Over there: "It's not a breakup letter, Shasha just said that on purpose because she saw you coming," Duan Nanzhou said. She knew her best friend too well; she had done it on purpose to "teach" Wang Chuqin a lesson, to provoke him so he wouldn't dare try a cold war or a fight again.

"Oh..." Realizing his mistake, Wang Chuqin’s voice dropped, but her next sentence made him explode again.

"It's just a suitor," Duan Nanzhou said with a playful smile, waving her phone.

Despite all his precautions, he hadn't expected a suitor to appear during a fight—and one who had her phone number and was chatting with her? Wang Chuqin felt like he could die of regret. Was he really about to be dumped?

"That... that's not allowed either." Since most of the issue stemmed from him, Wang Chuqin was on shaky ground. He didn't dare throw another tantrum; he just hoped things would be alright.

"Do you want to see?" To his surprise, Duan Nanzhou offered. The next second, the screen was in front of his eyes.

He saw the conversation: it started with normal work exchanges, then the other party began saying random things, which Duan Nanzhou ignored. It wasn't until the person started expressing admiration and affection—a confession—that Duan Nanzhou replied, telling him not to discuss non-work matters, or she would block him.

This "suitor" was from a business engagement—a staff member who turned out to be a minor sponsor. He had started with normal work communication but then crossed the line. Duan Nanzhou hadn't blocked him immediately only out of professional courtesy for the ongoing business deal. Ultimately, when the guy started confessing, she gave him a warning to stop bothering her and was just about to delete him.

Seeing the content of the chat, Wang Chuqin couldn't suppress the smile at the corners of his mouth. As expected, his girlfriend was still his!

"Willing to talk to me now?" Duan Nanzhou raised an eyebrow at her boyfriend, finding it amusing. It seemed that her being too busy to pay him attention had triggered a massive sense of crisis in him.

"I didn't stop talking to you..." Wang Chuqin replied guiltily, though he knew he hadn't really said much.

He was met with a big hug from Duan Nanzhou. Wang Chuqin hugged her back tightly, his smile impossible to hide now.

"Baby, I'm sorry, it's all my fault..." Wang Chuqin began to apologize. This cold war had truly scared him; he never wanted to go through it again. "Let's never mention breaking up again, okay? We must never, ever break up!" He felt sensitive and terrified whenever he heard the word "breakup"; he had to forbid such a possibility.

"If you ever act like this again and refuse to communicate, I'll dump you and go find a handsome guy," Duan Nanzhou teased, successfully seeing the shock and disbelief on his face.

Wang Chuqin looked at his girlfriend with the expression one might reserve for a "heartbreaker," as if to say, *How could you? How could you do something like this?*

However, through this incident, Wang Chuqin realized his girlfriend’s emotional stability compared to his own immaturity. He decided he wouldn't let his emotions get the better of him or speak recklessly in the future; he needed to learn from her.

Duan Nanzhou: *I don't believe it, but I respect it.*

Subsequent events proved her right: Wang Chuqin learned emotional stability, but only to an extent. Most of the time, the dynamic remained the easily overthinking, hair-trigger Wang Datou and his emotionally stable girlfriend. Duan—the emotional stabilizer—Nanzhou vs. Wang—the big jealous king—Chuqin. In stark contrast to other couples, the "B-king" (arrogant king) on the court was always like a pampered little husband when he met Duan Nanzhou off the court.

But for now, the young couple, recently reconciled, began to get clingy again, trying to make up for the time lost during the cold war.

"Tou-tou."

"Hmm?"

"Lower your head."

Thinking it was his girlfriend's usual routine, Wang Chuqin obediently lowered his head, sweetly preparing to welcome her kiss—but he had thought wrong.

Duan Nanzhou leaned into his ear and whispered something that made him soar with happiness: "I like you, I like you so, so, so much!"

Just like that, Wang Chuqin, who hadn't received a kiss, was handled perfectly, filled with an excitement so intense he felt like he wanted to announce it to the whole world.