Everyone was up bright and early the next morning, much to Zhihao's chagrin.
Getting up at 4 yesterday was a different thing, because she didn't want to be late to the camp, but having to get up at 5 today for no good reason?
Xing Zi leaned against Zhihao's doorway with her arms and legs crossed, amusedly watching as Zhihao slammed her face back down on her bed.
"The boys are already up and training, we might as well be up too and start making lunch," Xing Zi continued.
Zhihao pressed her face harder into her mattress. Of course they are. For a moment, she had forgotten that it wasn't a vacation for everyone else.
With a deep sigh, Zhihao picked herself off her bed, standing up. Her nose was starting to hurt anyway.
The tip of her nose must've been red or something that made it stand out, because Xing Zi giggled when she saw Zhihao's face.
"Nice nose," Xing Zi hid a wide grin behind fisted hand, attempting to stifle her laughs.
Zhihao sighed again. "Let's just go."
~~~
While Zhihao was having a hard time being up so early in the morning, the rest of Yu Qing were hard at working training their butts off.
Across from the court where Qiao Chen was annoying Baiyang with loud groans as they did sit ups together, Jiale was lightly leaning his weight on one foot.
He had just scratched up his knee by accident while he was training.
"What's next?" Jiale asked A-Mu, who was supervising him for the day, pointedly ignoring the drop of blood that was slowly trickling down his leg.
Distracted, A-Mu tore his gaze from Jiale's bloody knee. "Uh shouldn't you be getting that fixed first?" The kid nervously pointed a finger at Jiale's injury. "It looks serious."
"No worries, I'm fine!" Jiale painted a bright smile on his face. He hated waking up early just as much as the next person, but he had to if he was going to improve himself.
Unfortunately, Dachi, who just happened to pass by, overheard the conversation between Jiale and A-Mu.
Concerned, Dachi scanned Jiale for any signs of injury and widened his eyes when he spotted Jiale's bloody knee. He rushed over to Jiale's side.
Avoiding Dachi's worried face, Jiale turned his head to look at Qiao Chen, who was still grunting very loudly every time he did a sit up. It seemed that Qiao Chen had annoyed Baiyang so much that the guy finally left, judging by the way Qiao Chen was alone.
Jiale watched with exaggerated interest as A-Yan muttered something into Qiao Chen's ear, making Qiao Chen pause.
Actually, Jiale was kind of interested to know what A-Yan had said to Qiao Chen now. Somehow, his words miraculously managed to make Qiao Chen lower the volume of his grunts.
Huh. Should I go over there and ask? Or would it be weird to say "Oh I've been watching you and want to know what A-Yan said to you!" Jiale tilted his head, pondering.
"Jiale, you shouldn't be working so hard!" Dachi's voice suddenly cut off Jiale's train of thought.
Oops. Jiale had forgotten about Dachi and his bloody knee.
"Take out some of your workload if you can't handle it! Here, take a break and I'll go get you a first aid kit, I just need to find someone to wait with you here first!"
Dachi frantically whipped his head left and right, searching for someone nearby to keep Jiale company before he left.
A-Mu blinked. Clearly Dachi still hasn't noticed his presence yet, even though he was standing right next to Jiale.
Before Dachi could get the attention of Qiao Chen across the court and make a scene, Jiale rolled his eyes and pushed Dachi's hand off his shoulder.
Dachi turned to face Jiale, confused at the action.
"There's no need for anything, I'm fine." Still avoiding looking directly at Dachi, Jiale made sure to emphasize the last part of his sentence before stalking away.
He was going to prove to Dachi that he could handle his training perfectly fine. He wasn't the same Jiale he used to be, after all.
A-Mu and Dachi's eyes followed Jiale as he walked away. Once Jiale was out of sight, A-Mu turned around to look at Dachi, frowning when he saw the man's face.
"You should probably take a break too. You look really tired."
Dachi stiffened at the sudden voice before relaxing once he realized who it was. A-Mu wasn't wrong, though. Dachi could practically feel his dark eyebags weighing down in his face.
He had been training much more intensely and often since the Guo Zi match, barely giving himself enough time to rest. He had to, as it was his responsibility as vice-captain and half of the Golden Pair to not let his team, or Jiale, down.
Hopefully this way, Jiale would soon be able to rely on him in their future matches. Just be patient with me, Jiale.
Remembering that A-Mu was still by his side, Dachi forced a polite smile. "No, I'm fine, I'll uh go back to training now."
As Dachi left A-Mu's side, he furrowed his brows. Where was he all this time? If only he was here a few seconds earlier..
~~~
Zhuo Zhi quietly stood outside a tennis court's gate, observing as Siyang practiced hitting a tennis ball into a giant hoop with his right hand.
Or rather, Siyang was practicing missing the hoop each time.
Siyang sighed frustratedly through his nose before switching to his left hand.
Unsurprisingly, every single ball Siyang hit flew through the exact center of the hoop, now that he was using his dominant hand.
Zhuo Zhi lightly smiled before calmly walking up behind Siyang. "Coach separated you from the rest of us to train your right hand," he remarked. "Why?"
Siyang stared straight out in front of him. He didn't continue hitting the balls, but didn't turn around to look at Zhuo Zhi either. "Just in case."
"In case of what?" Zhuo Zhi prompted, leaning his head in as he waited for an answer.
Siyang briefly closed his eyes. Leave it to Zhuo Zhi to be difficult now of all times. "In case I have to use my right hand," he vaguely responded, lifting his tennis racket to show that he was done with the already short conversation.
Alarmed, Zhuo Zhi looked up at Siyang, apprehension flickering across his face. Before he could make a comment though, Siyang cut him off.
"I'm fine, don't worry about it. Just.. don't tell anyone else." Siyang finally made eye contact with Zhuo Zhi, his eyes quietly pleading Zhuo Zhi to keep it a secret.
Zhuo Zhi exhaled heavily through his nose, weighing his options before setting his lips into a thin line. As much as he disliked it, he nodded in agreement.
"Okay."
~~~
Hands clasped behind his head, Zhuo Zhi laid on his bed cot, smiling up at the ceiling above him as he recalled the previous events of the day.
Surprising absolutely no one, Yu Qing lost their matches against You Feng once again, meaning that they had to eat plain white rice again.
And by "they", Zhuo Zhi meant everyone but him. Thankfully, Zhihao had slipped some of her more flavorful cooking into Zhuo Zhi's tennis bag at some point during the day, with a handwritten smiley face on a post-it note.
Zhuo Zhi was eternally grateful to Zhihao, a true life saver.
Zhihao had even made Zhuo Zhi a small bowl of spicy ramen, one of his favorite meals. How she knew, he didn't know, but Zhihao had made it perfectly.
The noodles were the perfect texture, there was just the perfect amount of soup in the bowl, and the spice was cranked up to a considerably high level, making Zhuo Zhi's eyes water just thinking about it.
It truly was the perfect bowl of ramen.
Zhuo Zhi made sure to thank Zhihao profusely after he had snuck into his room to eat the meal. He would have to find another way to show his appreciation to Zhihao, though, because a simple "thanks" didn't feel sufficient enough, in his opinion.
Zhuo Zhi glanced to the bed beside him, where Siyang was already asleep. Either that or he was pretending to be, but Zhuo Zhi couldn't tell because Siyang had his back turned against Zhuo Zhi.
To Zhuo Zhi's right was Qiao Chen, who was staring at Xu Xing Zi on his phone screen. Seeing Qiao Chen do this made Zhuo Zhi wonder how often the guy just pulled up a picture of the girl to stare at.
Creep.
Zhuo Zhi totally didn't do that with his own photo album with anyone.
A soft grunt caught the attention of Zhuo Zhi and Qiao Chen.
Siyang didn't bother opening his eyes as he told the pair, "Sleep."
I guess he is awake then. Zhuo Zhi scoffed but closed his eyes, and Qiao Chen next to him clicked his phone off after one last dreamy sigh.
~~~
The next morning, the Yu Qing tennis team were allowed to sleep in until 7, for some reason that Qi Na didn't bother explaining until then.
As the team eventually settled into a single file line, Jiale shifted the backpack on his shoulder uncomfortably. "Jiàoliàn, why are you making us pack so many biscuits? Just looking at these make me want to vomit," Jiale complained, miming a gag. (coach)
Qi Na suppressed the urge to roll her eyes. "It's not like you're eating them now. They're for later when you're searching, or you'll have nothing to eat this afternoon."
Jiale tilted his head. "Searching? For what?"
Qi Na briefly nodded at Siyang before explaining that the team was doing a special type of training today, one that would involve a treasure hunt for "the secret to winning."
Jiale snorted in disbelief. "That doesn't even make sense, what a load of crap."
Qiao Chen nodded, voicing his agreement. "Yeah! Can we just go back to our normal training?"
Qi Na slapped both of the boys on the arm with her clipboard in annoyance. "You didn't even let me finish speaking!" She side eyed the boys before adding on, "The secret is real."
Zhuo Zhi, who was previously busy zoning out, suddenly perked up. Qi Na had finally piqued his interest.
"There's a specific tree that has rocks beside it," Qi Na continued. "Look for the biggest tree in the forest. Oh and no one is allowed to come back for dinner until you all find the tree. Good luck."
With that, Qi Na left the group with a satisfied smile on her face. At least this meant that her afternoon time would now be free.
The boys turned to look at each other. "We're looking for a tree.. in the forest?" Qiao Chen's question seemed to speak what everyone was thinking.
"You know something don't you," Zhuo Zhi directed his words at Siyang as he searched his bag, unbothered by the seemingly impossible task that Qi Na had set them on.
Siyang pushed his glasses up. "Let's split up to cover more ground."
Zhuo Zhi scoffed but didn't push on it, allowing Siyang to pair everyone into groups of two as he continued rifling through his bag.
Zhuo Zhi distractedly followed Lu Xia, who was assigned as his partner, when he finally found what he was searching for.
Pulling his phone out from his backpack, Zhuo Zhi triumphantly exclaimed, "A-ha!" He held out the phone in the air.
Seeing Zhuo Zhi's phone, Lu Xia frowned. "We're not allowed to use our phones," he stated the obvious.
Zhuo Zhi ignored the boy's comment, typing in his password to unlock the phone. It's not like Lu Xia would tell anyone, the boy couldn't care less.
As expected, Lu Xia just shrugged and carried on with his hike up the hill.
Zhuo Zhi immediately checked his messages and saw that Zhihao had sent him a few texts.
Stalker:
where are you guys?
i'm so confused, i'm supposed to be making food but only yu feng is here?
oh qi na just said that you're all on a treasure hunt
wait i wanna join wtf
oh qi na says you guys don't have your phones on you
well this sucks
Zhuo Zhi grinned.
Zhuo Zhi:
If Qi Na asks, I definitely don't have my phone on me either.
Zhuo Zhi's phone immediately pinged back with a response.
Stalker:
...
Zhuo Zhi:
Lol.
Stalker:
wow, what a rebel
how is your wifi working tho, aren't you in a forest
Zhuo Zhi:
We just started walking in the forest, the wifi will probably stop working soon.
So if I suddenly stop responding, that's why.
Stalker:
oh
do you have any food for the day?
qi na said you guys probably won't be coming back anytime soon
Zhuo Zhi:
Yeah, if you consider biscuits food.
She made us pack a lot of biscuits, but they're the dry, crumbly kind.
Stalker:
ew
remind me to make you good noodles later then
once you're back i mean
Zhuo Zhi:
Gladly.
Stalker:
lol is this your way of saying that my cooking is good
:)
Zhuo Zhi:
Anything is good in comparison to these biscuits.
Lěng mian?
Stalker:
LOL
sure
whatever you say
(cold noodles)
Zhuo Zhi mentally pumped his fist in the air.
Zhuo Zhi:
Thanks.
I'll be looking forward to dinner then.
He waited a few minutes for a response but didn't get one. Figuring that he was probably too far now for the wifi to connect, Zhuo Zhi frowned and pocketed his phone.
"What do you think the secret is?" Zhuo Zhi attempted to make small conversation with Lu Xia after realizing that he was still there. Oops. He didn't mean to purposely ignore the kid.
"Oh, are you done texting Zhihao already?" Lu Xia casually asked, whacking a stick away from his face.
He's already gotten many scratches this year, on his face specifically, just from being on the tennis team. He wasn't about to get another.
Zhuo Zhi raised a brow. The kid was acting like he knew so much. Two could play this game.
"How's Qi Ying doing?" Zhuo Zhi responded in a pleasant tone.
Lu Xia pulled his cap further over his eyes, choosing to change the subject in a tactful retreat. "You act like you're interested in finding the secret."
Zhuo Zhi grinned. Zhuo Zhi: 15, Lu Xia: 0. "And you act like you're not interested," he easily retorted, making Lu Xia frown.
Zhuo Zhi: 30, Lu Xia: 0.
Lu Xia changed strategies. "Why didn't you try your best against Ziping?"
Amused, Zhuo Zhi snickered. "What makes you think I wasn't trying my best?"
Would that be a point for him? Zhuo Zhi mentally shrugged, he'd take it. 40 to 0.
"You tried your best against Guan Yue," Lu Xia bluntly stated, pausing in his tracks after a moment of thought.
Zhuo Zhi swallowed, putting on a cheerful smile. Zhuo Zhi: 40, Lu Xia: 15?
"Come on, let's keep walking." Zhuo Zhi gestured to Lu Xia to continue moving, but the kid, stubborn as he was, refused.
"This really bothers Zhuo Yu." Lu Xia stated defiantly at Zhuo Zhi. He hit a nerve, and Lu Xia knew it.
Zhuo Zhi: 40, Lu Xia: 30.
Zhuo Zhi lightly scoffed, looking down for a second before making direct eye contact with Lu Xia. "Are you really close enough with him to talk about this?"
Lu Xia reluctantly dropped the subject and finally started walking again, making Zhuo Zhi quietly sigh in relief.
That was Zhuo Zhi: 45, Lu Xia: 30. Match set.
~~~
Jiale and Dachi were, unsurprisingly, paired together.
Siyang probably planned this out, Jiale thought, as he recalled Zhuo Zhi's words, "You know something, don't you?"
He kicked a rock in his path while Dachi trailed from behind.
Conflicted, Jiale wrestled with his thoughts before finally giving up and turned around. "You don't have to walk behind me, you know. You can walk next to me, that's what partners are supposed to be like. Equal."
Dachi flinched at the sudden break in silence but quickened his footsteps to catch up to Jiale.
Realizing that Jiale was actually voluntarily talking to him for once, Dachi hurried to continue the conversation, choosing the first topic that came to mind.
"Sorry for intensifying my training," Dachi apologized, before wincing. Of course the first topic he chose was the most sensitive one.
Dachi anxiously waited for Jiale's response, anticipating another argument to break out, but instead received a sad smile.
Jiale looked down at his feet. "Why do you always have to apologize first in our fights?"
Dachi blinked. Well that was unexpected.
"It's not you that I'm mad at, if that's what you're thinking," Jiale muttered. "I've been mad at myself, that you're right about me being lazy."
Jiale didn't let Dachi respond to this as he continued, "So I've been practicing lately, and that's why I haven't been talking much. I want to prove to you and myself that I can overcome my problems."
Jiale suddenly rushed to continue on, his voice rising with every sentence. Almost as if he was afraid of being stopped by Dachi, Jiale's words began to spill from him like a waterfall.
"I mean I know I'm lazy, I admit it, yes! I'm too fond of playing around and I'm always relying on you, and that I always forget that we're playing doubles not singles, and then you always have to make up for my problems. But I promise I won't be lazy from now on, or let you feel the pressure of being alone ever again. I'm going to be strong so that you can rely on me too, and become a true golden partner."
Jiale finally paused, taking a moment to take a deep breath. "That is, if you still want me as your partner," he finished lamely.
A broad grin began to spread across Dachi's face as Jiale's words sunk in.
Jiale nervously flitted his eyes at Dachi. "Why are you smiling like that, you're making me nervous!"
Dachi just shook his head. "I'm surprised because I thought that I was the one who wasn't good enough, since you helped me in not only in tennis but also in life."
He added on in a quieter voice, "I thought I was the one relying too much on you."
Jiale stared incredulously at his friend in shock. "What? Of course I would help you, you're my partner! I couldn't care less about anyone else."
Dachi nodded, too happy to say anything else.
Jiale put a hand on his hip, thrusting a first into the air. "From now on, we're going to rely on each other as new golden pairs," he declared, showing Dachi his dimples for the first time in weeks.
This sweet moment was ruined, however, when Jiale spotted a large movement in the bushes behind the pair.
Jumping to Dachi's side, Jiale hugged the man's arm from behind.
Dachi laughed. "What was that about being able to rely on each other again?"
Jiale batted Dachi's hand away, shushing him. "Listen! There's something out there," he hissed.
Dachi turned to face the bushes, now curious.
The pair stood in both fear and anticipation as the bushes continued to rustle, until out emerged..
"Xinglong? What are you doing here!" Jiale released Dachi's arm, running over to the man's side.
"And Qiao Chen!" Jiale grinned at Qiao Chen who was behind Xinglong.
Xinglong glanced at Qiao Chen before sheepishly smiling with his teeth. "I uh got lost trying to deliver some food and found Qiao Chen here."
"Ohh." Jiale nodded in understanding while Dachi frowned.
You were delivering food.. into the forest? Dachi didn't buy Xinglong's vague explanation at all, but Jiale seemed very ecstatic to see the man again so Dachi didn't bother voicing his skepticism.
"Well, we should all stick together then, so we don't get lost again," Dachi smiled, offering Xinglong a friendly wave. "Nice to see you again."
Xinglong nodded, glad that no one questioned his story like Qiao Chen did. He briefly glanced at Qiao Chen. Somehow the objectively least smartest person on the team (Xinglong didn't like to say dumb to describe anyone, even Qiao Chen) had found and poked through many holes through his story.
It was truly a nightmare for Xinglong, because he didn't want to admit that he missed the team yet or else they would try to goad him to rejoin it again.
Although.. would it truly be a bad thing if he did?
Xinglong shook away his thoughts and nodded.
"Alright let's go."
~~~
Although he would never admit it, Baiyang was beginning to feel pretty comfortable on A-Yan's back.
Because he had injured his accidentally injured his leg, A-Yan had offered to carry Baiyang, piggyback style, back to the building. And honestly, the ride uphill was pretty smooth for the most part.
Maybe it was because he was feeling just slightly woozy from his injury, or that he was probably a tad bit dehydrated, but Baiyang's eyes were beginning to feel heavy.
This didn't mean that Baiyang would just allow himself to just sleep though.
Of course not.
First, his ego would take a hit if A-Yan caught that he had fallen asleep, and second, Baiyang could not, emphasis on those two words, could not let A-Yan's data slip from his hands.
Because A-Yan was carrying Baiyang with both hands, he entrusted (threatened) Baiyang to keep his data safe, and losing the papers would mean that Baiyang would have to drink Yan-Juice. A lot of Yan-Juice.
Baiyang gripped the papers in his hand tighter, created deep wrinkles on the side where he was clutching them.
There was no way he was going to drink Yan-Juice. He had overheard A-Yan talking to the captain just the other day about how he had 'improved' the juice in both nutrition and effects.
Baiyang would just have to wait out the day, until he was safely back in his bed.
It was a good thing when Baiyang finally caught sigh of the rest of his teammates, going up a hill. Baiyang quickly pointed this out to A-Yan, who immediately headed toward their direction, calling out to them.
It didn't take long for A-Yan to catch up to the rest of the team, signaling that Baiyang's ride was finally over, to Baiyang's relief.
Although he was very grateful (and very surprised) for A-Yan's act of kindness, he didn't want to be the one responsible for the guy's data anymore.
Handing the set of papers back to A-Yan with a thankful head nod, Baiyang wasted no time in collapsing to the ground, resting his head and eyes.
A-Yan, who was, justifiably, heavily breathing at this point, shakily rose a hand to move his glasses slightly further up the bridge of his nose. "Why are you tired? You didn't just carry a 200 pound male around for half an hour."
Baiyang's eyes remained closed. "I'm injured."
Qi Na knelt on the ground with a knee propped up and placed a hand on Baiyang's shoulder.
"I have a first aid kit. I need you to move your leg so I can wrap it."
Baiyang opened an eye to confirm that the coach was indeed talking to him (When did she get here?), before sitting up with a grunt.
He really couldn't take a break at all, it seemed.
While Baiyang and Qi Na were getting Baiyang's knee fixed, with a mildly concerned Siyang supervising, the rest of the team was engaged in a conversation about the 'secret to winning' they were supposed to find.
"We've all split up and rejoined, and we still found nothing! There's no way it's real, right?" Jiale's brows lowered in frustration.
Dachi lightly clapped Jiale's shoulder with a smile, a gesture that no one, except Zhuo Zhi whose eyes were glued to his phone screen, missed.
"A-Yan, is it possible for you to run a data analysis or something?" Dachi, the ever level-headed and logical man, questioned.
A-Yan took a few moments to collect his breath before giving Dachi a firm nod. "I tried to do so earlier when Baiyang," he glanced at the man, "and I were deeper in the woods, but there wasn't an internet connection."
He noticed Zhuo Zhi on his phone. "Zhuo Zhi, is your phone able to connect to the wifi?"
Zhuo Zhi snapped his head up, blinking at the group of people staring at him. "Oh uh, yeah. It works."
"Zhuo Zhi, put your phone away before I take it," Siyang commanded without hesitation, keeping his eyes on Baiyang's knee.
Zhuo Zhi made a face but did so, after furiously tapping a message out to someone.
A-Yan pushed the front side of his glasses with his right hand before taking a look at his laptop. He ran his analysis a second time for good measure, before coming to a very fortunate conclusion.
"According to my calculations, it seems that the biggest tree in the forest," he paused for dramatic effect, "is actually right here." He pointed a finger at a large tree nearby.
A hush fell as A-Yan's words caught the attention of everyone. Even Siyang finally lifted his eyes from Baiyang's knees to look at the tree A-Yan was pointing at.
A few moments passed as the team processed this, before Jiale spoke up. "That is a really big tree," he mumbled to Dachi, who nodded in agreement.
Across from them, Zhuo Zhi watched the two whispering, confusion written all over his face.
Since when were they friends again?
Zhuo Zhi looked around at his teammates, who were unsurprised by this, although that was because they had already gotten over the shock factor just a few minutes ago.
Wait what did I miss?
Qiao Chen cheered, filling in the silence. "Thank god Xinglong gathered all of us so fast, or we wouldn't have found the tree!"
He clapped his hands happily, making Xinglong avert his eyes at the sudden attention. Jiale slapped his back good-naturedly, joining in on the celebration.
"Thanks Xinglong!" He flashed a bright grin at the man, who awkwardly nodded back.
Sensing that Xinglong probably needed a change in topic, Siyang cleared his throat, patiently waiting until all eyes were on him.
He gave Xinglong a small smile before announcing, "Well, start digging. There are shovels over there." Siyang vaguely gestured in the direction of a few bags piled on the floor. "Get to work."
The team groaned, already exhausted from their long hike earlier, but didn't dare oppose Siyang. Although Jiale did mutter a few things under his breath to Dachi.
Baiyang tried to get up as well, only to be gently pushed down by Qi Na and glared by Siyang. Guess I'm not joining them. I'm not complaining.
The rest of the team began setting territories, claiming their own spots to dig around the tree.
They were digging for about 15 minutes straight, each already having dug a massive hole, when Jiale's legs gave out.
He plopped onto the ground and wiped the sweat off his brow, looking up at Dachi. "Do you guys think that the secret is the pit?"
He looked around at the holes scattered everywhere across the floor. "I mean think about it, we've been digging for so long now and we still haven't found anything yet!"
Zhuo Zhi threw a dirt clump at Jiale in response with an unapologetic grin. "Oops, sorry. I didn't mean to."
Jiale jumped up to his feet with a yelp, suddenly regaining the energy to frantically brushing the dirt out of his hair.
Once he was sure that his hair was perfectly clean, or as clean as it could be after being outdoors with bugs for several hours, Jiale scooped up some dirt from his own dirt hole and launched it at Zhuo Zhi's back.
His joy at having hit his target slightly faded when Zhuo Zhi slowly turned around, a sickly sweet smile on his face. "Oh?"
Jiale didn't hesitate to grab the nearest person, who happened to be Lu Xia, and shoved him toward Zhuo Zhi.
"It was Lu Xia!" Jiale exclaimed, in attempt to escape Zhuo Zhi's wrath.
The said kid stumbled forward, putting in great effort to not fall on his face, before turning around to look at Jiale in betrayal.
Zhuo Zhi strided forward, patting Lu Xia's shoulder as he walked past, before flinging a giant ball of dirt in Jiale's direction.
It was a shame that he just barely grazed Jiale's face, because he had been balling up the dirt, making it dense and compact, for quite some time now.
Jiale hiccuped.
So that's the way it's gonna be, huh?
In retaliation, Jiale scooped and threw dirt at Zhuo Zhi as quickly as possible without pause, alternating between hands. Like a machine gun, Jiale didn't even bother going for accuracy, instead focusing on speed.
He was honestly probably being more successful than the rest of the team at digging, using this method.
Jiale continued to dig a few more inches down his hole like this when his hand suddenly hit a hard object, making a loud thunk.
Jiale winced in pain, nursing his hand, but his curiosity got the better of him so he began brushing the dirt off the surface of the object.
When he realized that it was a chest, Jiale called out to the rest of his teammates, "Wait guys I think I found it!"
His teammates dropped their shovels (and in Zhuo Zhi's case, his considerably large bucket of dirt), and began helping Jiale dig out the chest with their own hands.
Pulling it out from the ground, A-Yan inspected the chest in his hands. "There's no way this is it. The chest is supposed to have been in the ground for decades, it would be decomposed to at least some extent by now, due to termites, ants, beetles especially." He lifted the box. "This is virtually undamaged."
The boys ignored A-Yan's logic, instead entertaining the possibility of actually having found the treasure.
"But it's definitely old, like look at how old that thing looks!" Qiao Chen countered, waving his hand at the chest. "No one uses such ugly boxes these days."
Coach Qi Na caught sight of the box and slowly walked over. "I didn't think we'd actually find a chest today. Could it be..?" She trailed off.
She had originally organized this event as a way for the team to bond and reconnect with each other, mainly Dachi and Jiale. There was no way that they had truly found this one chest in particular, especially in such a large forest.
Right?
The boys turned their gaze back on the chest, absorbed in their own thoughts and ideas. A few moments later, Jiale, who had been fidgeting around for the past few minutes, broke the silence.
"Well open it!" He eagerly urged A-Yan.
Xinglong cut in. "Actually, I have something I want to talk to you guys about, if that's alright."
Jiale distractedly waved Xinglong off. "Not now, you're unnecessarily prolonging the suspense!"
Siyang put his hand on Jiale's shoulder, instantly quieting the man, and gave Xinglong an encouraging nod. "Go on."
Xinglong hesitated. "Uh, never mind. It can wait until after."
Jiale turned around. "No wait now I want to hear it. What is it?"
Xinglong mentally slapped his forehead. "Never mind, you can open it now," he told A-Yan.
A-Yan absentmindedly nodded and ran a finger along the chest, still skeptical of it.
All eyes were on him as he slowly opened it, revealing a set of souvenirs, some accompanied with small, handwritten notes.
There was an old game toy, a game figurine, playing cards, a watch, really just an odd collection of items.
"What, it's not what you expected?" Qi Na grinned. "Go on, take one out so you can see it better."
A-Yan adjusted his glasses before carefully picking up the closest item to him, and held the chest out to the others so they could take one as well.
Siyang admired his own item, a Polaroid picture of the old tennis team, in awe. It was crystal clear now the chest was definitely the secret treasure from Yu Qing's tennis team so long ago.
He couldn't believe that it actually existed, nor that they had actually found it.
Holding his souvenir, which was a first generation KFC certificate as he had excitedly pointed out, Qiao Chen slowly read out loud the note scrawled on it. "'If we win, I'll treat you guys to dinner, and if we lose, I'll treat myself as self punishment.'"
He grinned. What a wise and good man.
Qiao Chen craned his neck to look at the item in Baiyang's hand, which was just a simple piece of scrap paper.
Baiyang frowned as he spoke out loud. "'Change it for iron sand next time?'" He asked, reading off the poorly written note. "That makes no sense."
Qiao Chen sneered. "It's stupid, just like you."
A fight between the two then ensued, so the rest of the team carried on with their discoveries without the pair.
"'Nothing to say, I won't lose.'" Lu Xia shrugged at his note. "Neither will I."
Zhuo Zhi suppressed a smirk at this. Typical Lu Xia. He didn't bother reading out loud his own note that accompanied a song player, which said, 'I'll write us a song if we win.'
That's cute, Zhuo Zhi thought to himself. I wonder if there really is a song out there, if Yu Qing did win.
Coach Qi Na spoke up after the team took a few moments to observe their souvenirs, each turning the items around in their hands.
"I was just a kid when I heard that Yu Qing's tennis team had buried a treasure chest somewhere in this forest. Despite people not believing in the tennis club, due to their long streak of losses, the team this year was really enthusiastic about winning. So, they picked out items to leave here and agreed to get them back after winning National championships. That is what you're seeing right now; the team's most treasured and beloved possessions."
"...Well did they win? The items are still here," Siyang pointed out, still a bit befuddled. He was asking the question that everyone was wondering.
(A/N: lol befuddled is such a silly word)
Qi Na nodded, lightly smiling. "They did win, but they decided to keep their stuff here, and so this became a secret for a future Yu Qing's team to discover."
"Us," Siyang clarified, staring at the Polaroid picture in his hands. He flipped it to the back side and notified that there was a message written on it. "'National league, here comes your champions.'"
"We really found the legendary myth.. It's amazing," Zhuo Zhi remarked in surprise. Consider him impressed.
Siyang paused, deep in thought, before looking at his team members.
"The old Yu Qing overcame their difficulties because they had the determination to," he stated. That much was clear. "But do we have that determination?"
His teammates around him erupted in a chorus of yeses, making the corners of his mouth lift up just slightly.
As the cheers slowly died down, Qiao Chen asked, "Should we put in our own souvenirs too?"
Baiyang rolled his eyes. "We didn't bring anything with us," he stated the obvious. "Idiot."
Qiao Chen scoffed. "Just put something in the box, anything! I'm sure you can find something!"
With that, he searched for his own item to use, prompting everyone else to do so as well.
Eventually, the team gathered around the box again, and Lu Xia was the first to put his item in.
He took a few large gulps of his grape Fanta before dropping the empty can into the corner of the box.
A-Yan had to physically force himself to stay quiet, keeping his thoughts about ants and mold to himself.
Dachi and Jiale were up next, and carefully placed an image of the two into the box. "Golden partners never lose!" The pair chimed together, grinning.
Apparently the team was going in a circle, so Xinglong was next. He thumbed the gold medal certificate for his goose restaurant in his hands for a few seconds, before grabbing a marker. He flipped the certificate onto its back, nearly writing the words, "Valid forever," before placing it into the box as well.
Siyang clapped Xinglong's back.
Lu Xia took the marker from Xinglong's hands and picked the paper back up, scrawling in terrible handwriting, "Burning forever," before putting it back.
This made Xinglong smile.
It seemed the A-Yan was next, seeing how all eyes turned on him. He blinked before putting in a note that said, "The chance to winning is 100%."
After all, what better way to completely disregard his morals and statistics than to scribble a short and sweet, sentimental message?
Baiyang, who held a bandana in his hands, stood in place for a few moments, thinking, before putting it back into his pocket. Instead he pulled out a blue bandana and shoved it into the box.
Qiao Chen raised a brow. "I'm pretty sure I've never seen you wear this color," he commented.
"That is none of your business," Baiyang retorted, stalking back to his place in the circle.
Brushing off Baiyang's response, Qiao Chen sandwiched a note between two burger buns and placed it into the nearly fill box, giving the top bun a small pat.
A-Yan's eye twitched.
"That's going to go moldy by this evening," Baiyang stated, saying what A-Yan wanted to say.
"That's none of your business," Qiao Chen threw Baiyang's previous words back at him. "Burgers are very important to me."
A-Yan nearly spasmed.
Zhuo Zhi chuckled but moved up next. He decided to go with the song theme from the old souvenir, and put a pair of earbuds into the box.
As he stepped back into his place in the circle, he stared at the earbuds. They had been a gift from Xiǎo Yu many years back.. maybe he could ask for a new one? (small)
Although that would probably ruin the whole point of this thing. He frowned.
Wait did I even clean those earbuds? His frown deepened.
Siyang gave Zhuo Zhi a soft, understanding smile, before stepping forward to put into the box an armband, along with a message tucked in that said, "Do your best inside. Keep moving."
Siyang was just about to close the box, sealing it for who knows how long, when Qiao Chen stopped him with a set of hurried cries.
"Wait wait wait! Aren't we forgetting someone?" Qiao Chen held his arms out on top of Siyang's, keeping the man's hands in place.
Siyang surveyed the people around him before coming to the conclusion: "No."
Qiao Chen shook his head. "Shouldn't we put something in for Huang Jing?"
Baiyang snorted. "How are you supposed to bury something for someone who isn't here?"
Qiao Chen's arms slacked a bit as he thought about it. An idea suddenly hit him, and he put the tips of his pointer fingers together.
"Chop it!" He excitedly told Siyang, who just stared at him through his spectacles.
It was clear that Siyang wasn't going to do as told when he didn't budge an inch, so Baiyang exasperatedly chopped Qiao Chen's fingers for him.
Qiao Chen immediately made a heart out of his fingers, beaming at Baiyang. "Huang Jing's heart!" He explained as he moved the heart around in Baiyang's face.
Baiyang just sighed. He was too tired for this. "I suggest we bury him," he said, referring to Qiao Chen.
Qiao Chen froze, his eyes widening as he saw everyone around him nod, including Siyang.
Before he could run far, far away, however, Siyang snatched Qiao Chen back and dragged him toward the giant pit in the ground, with the help of the rest of the team.
Although Qiao Chen put in a good fight, he was no match for 8 teenage boys.
Roughly pushed by someone into the hole, Qiao Chen mourned himself.
"All I wanted to do was spread some love and joy into people's hearts and include Huang Jing," he pouted.
Back at the resort building, Huang Jing sneezed.
"Why so I get the feeling that someone is talking about me?" He wondered.
~~~
A/N: y'all I'm getting my arse kicked so hard by stats and college applications.. and I'm pretty sure I failed my stats test cause I got like a 220-something for my standard deviation on one of the questions and I also didn't have enough time to answer a few others..
Lol I was gonna write and update yesterday but I just fell asleep and didn't wake up 9 hours later (I've been getting 3-4 a day for the two few weeks lmao)
But the bright side, I'm now gonna play in a festival with an orchestra I think, and possibly gonna join a cool chamber music program. Even tho I should probs be focusing on college stuff first lmao. Idk apparently you're supposed to audition to join for both, but my teacher invited me and a friend to join since both are in need of violas, so ig we'll see. And then I'm apparently going to be tutoring beginner violists too, so that'll be fun.
Also the chamber project w the tango trentino piece is going well so far, hooray
Anyway back to the (really really long) chap which took me waaaay too long to write, I was originally gonna make two chapters: one that was filler with more dachi/jiale interactions and cooking stuff, and the other with the 'secret to winning' and all that. Buuuut I ended up just combining the two instead into one giant chapter and cut out some parts of each, since this whole domestic dispute era is taking so long lmao.
This is like. 2-3 chapters at once lol. At least I finally hit the 7k word count tho lmao, that's a new first for me
So like. Now that we're finally over that hump with Jiale and Dachi, so I can add some actual original chapters soon, yay
Oh yeah also I def didn't proof read this (not that I proofread anything really anymore) so sry for any mistakes lmao.
But outta curiosity, which do you guys prefer: me updating not as often but coming out with longer chapters, or me updating somewhat more often but with shorter chapters?
- Apple <3