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DPTBG Chapter 38

The strong wind rustled the trees planted along the road, blurring even the sound of Ding Lei’s continuous nonsense.

Zuo Tao met Song Shihan’s gaze in a daze.

For a moment, he couldn’t help but wonder if he had heard wrong. It wasn’t until he saw Song Shihan’s shirt blowing in the wind did he come back to his senses.

And he felt his ears warming.

He wanted to speak, but he sneezed as soon as he opened his mouth after breathing in cold air.

“No, nothing like that…” Zuo Tao rubbed his face with his hands, thinking that he has never been as embarrassed as now his entire life. His voice was as soft as a mosquito buzzing: “I can step on water…”

“En,” Song Shihan hummed, finally stopping teasing him. “Let’s go?”

The livestream was still on, and it wouldn’t take long for fans to figure out where they were with the background, so it really wasn’t suitable for them to stay any longer.

Jiang Ming took Wang Qiu’s phone, and finally addressed the fans: “Alright, we’ve found PINK. We will now bring him back to the base to change clothes. Sorry for worrying everyone.”

Zuo Tao walked over to him and greeted the fans along with Jiang Ming.

Today was a complete mess1這日子算是過到狗肚子裡面去了, lit. “this day was like a dog’s stomach”, meaning everything has gone awry.

Thinking about how cool and handsome he was before all of this, he even dared to take the college entrance exams with his hair dyed pink. And now, he had to bow his head to a group of internet mothers.

Why, why, why…

Why was it that others’ fans compliment them with all kinds of flattery, telling them sweet things, supporting them unconditionally in everything they do?

While his fans —

【It’s good that you found the child. This mother is relieved. Please go home quickly.】

【Thank you, Coach Jiang, for helping us find our son.】

【Remember to wear the right clothes for the right weather, okay?】

【This child really worries me.】

【Captain Song, please be careful with how you educate, don’t make PINK cry again.】

Zuo Tao: …

This was going to make him cry.

He never would have expected that what he wore on a daily basis would be restricted, and that he couldn’t complain about it.

For the first time, Zuo Tao felt that being a good child was tiring. He couldn’t even dare to let himself go while playing with his friends today.

Gosh, is this the price to pay to get close to the male god?

Si Zheng: “I think Taozi’s outfit looks pretty good. Boys can get popular if they look cool and handsome. It’s just that now’s not the time to wear something like this; the temperature is only about 10 degrees2~50°F today, and he’d just recovered from a cold.”

Wang Qiu laughed as he scrolled through Weibo: “But if you look online, how many are praising him for being handsome? All comments are either ‘this son is disobedient’ or ‘legs’.” The smile on his face never abated. “Taozi, your fans are quite something, huh.”

Zuo Tao lowered his eyes and glanced at his legs. He still felt that the comments were exaggerated. He was just a little pale at best, and there was nothing else to look at. In comparison, he thought that Song Shihan’s legs were more beautiful. Sometimes when he got up early and passed by the gym, he would catch a glimpse of those smooth, strong muscles with a body that exuded a sense of strength.

As his thoughts ran, his eyes involuntarily moved to Song Shihan’s legs.

Noticing his gaze, Song Shihan opened the driver’s side door and glanced at him. “What are you looking at?”

Zuo Tao looked away quickly, getting into the passenger’s side. “Nothing.”

Jiang Ming drove Wang Qiu and the rest of the team back in his car, while Song Shihan drove his own with Zuo Tao to drop Ding Lei off at home. He was still talking when he got out of the car: “Captain Song, then I will leave Zuo Tao to you. I think you are a steady person, and I can tell from a glance that you are the kind of man who is very caring. If Zuo Tao shows a temper, please bear with it.”

“Yeah,” Song Shihan answered politely, “don’t worry.”

Ding Lei, still smiling, continued: “Then I am relieved. After all, you are the captain, you won’t bother with him too much, right?”

“You should go now,” Zuo Tao interrupted, feeling that if he listened for one more second, his true colors would be exposed instead. He looked at DIng Lei out the window, smile betraying his murderous intent: “I think they’re already urging you in the chat.”

“All right, then,” Ding Lei said, finally understanding Zuo Tao’s hint. He looked reluctant as he waved them goodbye.

Zuo Tao had no reluctance at all as he rolled the window closed. The next second, his phone vibrated.

Ding Lei: Why are you in such a hurry? I was gonna gaslight3The terms used in the raw was “PUA”, or “pick-up artist”. Basically it’s a social strategy (?) of using your words and action to get emotionally closer to another person regardless of what they think/prefer. Decided on the term “gaslighting” since it’s close enough, though not completely the same your captain further. It’ll be harder to get another opportunity like this. I even searched Baidu4China’s version of Google for how to gaslight straight men 💅】

Violent Peach: Thank you, but that would not be necessary.】

Ding Lei: Though, I did notice a few things today.】

Ding Lei: You did explain that you cried because you were excited to be onstage for your first competition, but it was because of FIRE, right?】

Ding Lei: I was watching you just now. You seem to be quite afraid of Fire? You looked like a young wife from olden times.】

Zuo Tao’s eyebrows twitched, and he quickly replied:

Violent Peach: Are you joking? Me, scared? When have you ever seen me scared?】

His personality was already distorted online. No matter what, his image to his classmates must remain stable. He was about to say something else when Song Shihan’s voice stopped him.

“Zuo Tao.”

He subconsciously locked his phone screen and glanced at Song Shihan. “Yes, Captain?”

Song Shihan had his eyes on the road, a faint smile on his lips: “Did you tell your classmates I bullied you?”

“No!” Zuo Tao answered, heart skipping a beat in surprise. “Why would you say that?”

Song Shihan hummed in agreement, casually saying, “En, I must have misunderstood.” He laughed. “Your classmate was saying so much and I thought you’d shared some opinions about me to them.”

“That’s not true!” Zuo Tao said, hurriedly explaining: “my friend just speaks without thinking, I…”

Another message interrupted him. It was from Ding Lei. 

Ding Lei: So when are you helping me rank up?】

Zuo Tao silently gritted his teeth.

Violent Peach: Pick a day, and I’ll send you straight to heaven.】

*

It was almost ten o’clock when they finally arrived at the base. After changing his clothes, Zuo Tao started a livestream of his own at Jiang Ming’s request, but his mind was still stuck on what Song Shihan had said in the car.

There shouldn’t be a major misunderstanding, right?

There should be nothing wrong, since everything that happened today was one cosmic joke.

Despite that, though, he still felt exhausted from all the events, both physically and mentally, as if his soul has been hollowed out. He sat on the sofa and couldn’t bring himself to stand up again.

If he had the chance to do today over, he would never go to that barbershop.

On Weibo, the tag #PINK_yourmomtoldyoutogohomeandwearlongjohns had risen even higher in rank.

He held his phone and found countless familiar usernames in the post list — Wang Qiu, Si Zheng, STAR from GGF, WIZARD from FG, even Wu Shuibo was there.

The husband-and-wife duo Lin Taisen and Su Yueyao were still the most amazing. The former directly reposted the original post with a 🐶, while the latter commented with a long string of laughter, followed by “Everyone who understands, understands”.

When an avalanche occurs, no snowflake remains innocent5An expression that means any event is caused by multiple factors, and none of them can claim to have nothing to do with the effect..

He took note of all these people’s names and added them into his future assassination list.

“PINK?” Jiang Ming called as he opened the door of the training room. He didn’t come in, instead standing outside the door, waving at Zuo Tao.

Zuo Tao stood up and walked towards him. “What is it, Coach Jiang?”

Jiang Ming led him over to his office, saying, “Come with me.”

Turning on the lights in the office, Jiang Ming motioned for Zuo Tao to take a seat, before taking out a contract from the drawer and handing it over.

Zuo Tao took it with some confusion. “What is this?”

“The same contract as before,” Jiang Ming explained, going straight to the point: “Isn’t it that you had no set compensation in the previous contract? This one makes a correction to that.”

Zuo Tao was surprised. “This…”

“Take a look, and if there’s no problem, sign it,” Jiang Ming said, opening his thermos to take a sip of hot tea. He smiled. “This was FIRE’s idea.”

“Huh?” Zuo Tao was even more stunned. “The captain’s idea?”

Soon he remembered the misunderstanding that occurred when he was talking to Zuo Zhiyong on the balcony.

Jiang Ming: “En. If FIRE hadn’t mentioned it, I wouldn’t even have thought of it.” He thought that Zuo Tao might be too embarrassed to sign, so he continued, “It’s alright, don’t feel embarrassed, you deserve this. It’s not a lot, but it’s the standard price for a first-string substitute.” After a pause, he added: “FIRE is someone who may seem cold on the surface but is actually warm-hearted. His words sometimes come off harsh, but his intentions aren’t bad. I believe you also understand this. If he says anything unpleasant again in the future, don’t get angry and don’t take it to heart.”

Zuo Tao hurriedly denied it: “I wasn’t angry.” His fingers tightened slightly around the contract in his hand, feeling so happy it was difficult to contain himself.

When he walked out of the office with the contract, he was still smiling. Hesitating for a moment, he turned to go upstairs to Song Shihan’s room when he met with the base’s aunt. Seeing her carrying a large bag up the stairs, he stopped and called, “Auntie, do you need help?”

“Xiao Tao,” Aunt Huang greeted, looking up at Zuo Tao. She was indeed in a bit of a hurry; she was embarrassed as she asked, “if it’s not too much trouble, can you help me hand these to Xiao Song? I promised to give them to him, but when I went upstairs earlier it looked like none of you were here,” she explained.

Zuo Tao reached out to take the bag she was handing and was confused when he saw it was a large bag of sweets. “Eh? For our captain?” He clearly remembered that Song Shihan wasn’t a fan of snacking.

“Yes, Xiao Song, he said he wanted to give it to a child.” As usual for uncles and aunts of her age, she also had the talent of recognizing everything for romance. “He’d never mentioned being related to children before, so I don’t know if it’s really for his girlfriend.” Aunt Huang smiled meaningfully. “Actually, he asked for a bag of marshmallows, but since I thought he must be giving it as a gift, I bought more out of my own initiative to make him look better.”

Zuo Tao’s heart skipped a beat.

A girlfriend?

When did Song Shihan get a girlfriend?

Although rationally he knew it would be normal for Song Shihan to have a girlfriend, Zuo Tao still felt uncomfortable for some reason.

Even the joy brought about by the new contract was immediately extinguished.

A few minutes later, Zuo Tao stood in front of Song Shihan’s bedroom door. He looked at the snacks in his hands before raising one to knock.

Footsteps sounded from inside, and then the door opened.

Song Shihan’s hair was still wet, probably just out of the shower. Seeing Zuo Tao still in his team uniform, he asked, “Just finished the livestream?”

Zuo Tao nodded. “Yeah, and then Coach Jiang called me into his office.” He pursed his lips. “Captain, thank you for the contract.”

“That’s my obligation,” Song Shihan answered. He moved to the side to let Zuo Tao into the room when he stopped to look closer at Zuo Tao’s face. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing,” Zuo Tao answered, trying and failing to act normal. He soon brought up the snacks, handing them to Song Shihan. “By the way, auntie asked me to give these to you.”

Song Shihan frowned, seeing what was in his hands. “Why are there so many?”

“I don’t know either,” Zuo Tao said, lowering his eyes and still thinking of Auntie Huang’s words. Even after a long time of struggle, he still couldn’t help himself; he simply closed his eyes and asked, “Captain, do you have a girlfriend?” After speaking, he flicked his fingers nervously.

“Girlfriend?” Song Shihan repeated, tone strange.

“Or…” Zuo Tao’s brain short circuited for a moment, before he remembered the strange scene between Song Shihan and Xiao Cheng. He forced a laugh and asked again, “do you have a boyfriend?”

The air was silent. Song Shihan leaned against the doorframe and laughed rather angrily. “Zuo Tao.”

Zuo Tao looked up at Song Shihan.

He showed no signs of reaching out to take the snacks from Zuo Tao’s hands, folding his arms against his chest instead. The warm light illuminated the curve of his lips, which seemed to arc into a smile. “You seem very concerned about my love life.”

Zuo Tao’s mouth moved, feeling like something was wrong. “I…”

Before he could finish, Song Shihan interrupted him. “They’re for you. You treasured the marshmallow last time, I wasn’t expecting auntie to buy so many.”

What is going on…

Zuo Tao stood there, dazed, until the motion-activated lights in the hallway automatically turned off. It finally snapped him out of it and he found his voice, asking, “For me?”

“En, who else?” Song Shihan asked, frowning slightly and saying softly, “boyfriend.”


From the TL: Thanks for reading! Please support the author when/if you can. You can buy the raws here

  • 1
    這日子算是過到狗肚子裡面去了, lit. “this day was like a dog’s stomach”, meaning everything has gone awry.
  • 2
    ~50°F
  • 3
    The terms used in the raw was “PUA”, or “pick-up artist”. Basically it’s a social strategy (?) of using your words and action to get emotionally closer to another person regardless of what they think/prefer. Decided on the term “gaslighting” since it’s close enough, though not completely the same
  • 4
    China’s version of Google
  • 5
    An expression that means any event is caused by multiple factors, and none of them can claim to have nothing to do with the effect.

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