Same Place Not Same Bed

The next weekend, the coach finally lifted the ban so that Mai Wei Zhe could finally go home.
He took two boxes of chocolate , and two light bulbs with him. The chocolates were sent by the sponsor after the ad shooting had completed; the light bulbs were his team members Anrun and Xiaoyu.

" They wanted to come back with me", Mai Wei Zhe shot them an unhappy look as he pointed out the two lightbulbs who were helping carry the chocolates.
" We miss grandfather ! Then there’s Xuan Xuan sister, we haven’t seen her for a long time !" Obviously the last time was when the ad shooting was happening, but Anrun made a genuinely grieving face.
He looked innocent and above board, but he could look super convincing when he wanted to.
" Are you done ? Do you want to get close to my girl ?"
" Xuan Xuan sister isn’t just yours, she belongs to all of us . "

Li Yongxuan just laughed as she saw them bickering.
When she saw them, she really felt they were like her younger brothers, chatting to them always made her happy.
Speaking of which, even Mai Wei Zhe was younger , but somehow he didn’t feel like a younger brother to her, he was too sophisticated and determined.
Since the last time in the lounge when things got slightly out of hand, they acted like nothing had changed between them, but at the same time , she felt as if there was a major shift.
He had gone back to training, and had called regularly to chat. However, the words they spoke aloud were much less, and sometimes they would both be holding the phone silently. Even the silence was sweet.

" Xuan Xuan sister seems to have become even more beautiful ". Anrun helped put the chocolate boxes in the kitchen. He happily ran circles around her, like a puppy, and made this announcement after looking at her closely.
No, the glow from the happiness she felt within could not be hidden from people.
" Is it ?" Li Yongxuan Xuan touched her face guiltily . " Maybe it’s just that I’m a bit fatter. Everyday after eating grandfathers cooking…"
" Oh that’s so good !" He wailed, " Even I want to live here ."
" You can’t, I don’t want to live with you in the same house", Mai Wei Zhe came in the kitchen and coldly smashed the dreams of young Anrun, " Old Mai is in the back yard, go and see if he needs some help."
In addition to the backyard,, there was also the lawn. Outside, in the courtyard, there was a small vegetable garden. Weeding, watering, sweeping away dead leaves .. all of this required manual labour, and grandfather was happy to catch these two devils for the work.
" Yeah, I’m going to use the weeding machine."
" I want the watering device !"
Living in the dormitory, these kids did not get to see nature year round; they rushed outside immediately.

Li Yongxuan went into the kitchen. She wanted to make them a drink. Suddenly, Mai Wei Zhe threw a small packet of chocolate towards her.
She caught it immediately, but was unable to stop herself from blushing or suppressing a shy smile,
Mai Wei Zhe felt good, after all, why had he carried these boxes back home ?
She picked a few pieces of chocolate and put it in her mouth. The sweet taste of chocolate spread in her mouth , and suddenly, she felt like she had tasted happiness.
Her aunt had not been very well off when she was raising her.
As a child, she did not have any spare cash to buy her chocolates. Only in special occasions, like the new year or her birthday, her aunt would make an exception and buy some chocolates for her. So now.. chocolates had a special significance, a special magic…
" Yummy ?" The magic attracted someone to come closer to her.
His big warm palm held her hot cheeks as he whispered.
She nodded, her smiling eyes looking at him silently.
His eyes were focussed on her. His amber eyes had turned a deeper colour, the colour of fine chocolate…
" Then, can I taste it ?"
She blinked, hesitated for a moment, and then nodded.
He wasn’t allowed to eat chocolate.So he had invented an alternate method.
They kissed at the corner of the kitchen.
He tasted her gently, their tongues entangled, lingering for a long time. By the time he let go, they were both breathing erratically
His young and strong body with well defined muscles honed with years of training was like a brick wall. When she came in touch with this wall, she felt hot, as if her body would melt.
After the deep kiss, his thumb gently stroked her slightly reddened lips. He gave a long sigh of relief.

Mai Wei Zhe was never a man to sigh. He had not met too many things in life that could make him sigh. But he couldn’t help it since he met her.
" What’s the matter ?" Li Yongxuan asked softly.
"Nothing. I just feel that staying with you is pure torture." He sighed again.
"Then.. I can move out.."
Mai Wei Zhe sneered, " Don’t say that. Your exaggerated praises of Old Mai make him so happy , he will probably ask me to scram first. How can I let you move !"
She interjected shyly, " No way, he really does cook delicious meals."
" That’s enough. He’s not here, you don’t have to be so sweet."
But , if Old Mai was not here, he could enjoy her sweetness. He took the opportunity to kiss her again a few more times before he let her go to prepare drinks.

When the three finally came back from the backyard, Old Mai immediately frowned, " Why do I smell chocolate ?"
His ability to sniff was really like a dog's.
" She was eating chocolate", Mai Wei Zhe immediately betrayed her and pointed towards her, complaining.
" I can smell it on you as well, were you not having some as well ?" Grandpa's face was thunderous. " Mai Wei Zhe, how many times have I told you to resist temptation while training ? If you can’t even control your desires, then how will you succeed ?"
( Miumiu : ha ha . I am sure grandpa doesn’t even know the 'desire' which is actually leading our famous athlete astray :))
If never slipping even once from the top three world rankings was not considered success, then it was debatable what would actually constitute success.Mai Wei Zhe did not deny it. After all, he did taste the chocolate, even if he didn’t actually eat it.
It was Li Yongxuan who managed to ease the tension. She served ice tea to Old Mai.
Originally, he intended to teach his grandson a lesson he would never forget, but after seeing the iced tea, his anger cooled down. He took the tea and silently left.
" He is really eccentric", Mai Wei Zhe whispered behind his back, but his eyes were smiling.

It was a lazy weekend afternoon. The three players, in accordance with their training schedule, went out for a run to the small park nearby. Then they squatted back and forth forty times. Li Yongxuan and the old man were busy preparing dinner for everybody.
Li Yongxuan always found cooking particularly troublesome. Cutting the vegetables, cooking, and then cleaning up – all these seemed a wasteful use of time. Moreover, eating alone was one of those things that made her feel lonely. So eating out solved all her problems.
But now everything was different.
She meticulously prepared all the ingredients and followed the process like she was attending a class. Gradually she would learn the tips and tricks.
Most importantly, she was no longer cooking only for herself.
She spent so much time to prepare the meal as she looked forward to sharing them with her near and dear ones, and have them praise her cooking skills. That was a priceless experience.

The three players soon finished their physical training regime. While urging them to wash their hands, she laid the table with fresh and healthy food causing everyone’s mouths to water.
Dinner was very lively; , they laughed, they analysed strategies and talked about little incidents during training.
A few months back, she could have never thought that one day she would be unemployed. But more importantly, she could have never imagined that things would turn this way, that she would have her first taste of warmth and care in these circumstances.
" I still think that we should pick up more challenging endorsements", Li Yongxuan piped in when she heard them talking about advertising.
" No way, the sponsor will not allow us to choose", Xiaoyu muttered.
" Why can’t we choose ?" Mai Wei Zhe unhappily asked, " If women’s underwear, condoms or high heel ads come to us, are we supposed to take it ?Nonsense !"
" If the commercials are good, they may work out because of the novelty factor" ,Li Yongxuan thought seriously. Her mind was already analysing various scenarios, thinking of the different products endorsed by sports stars.
" Actually, your proposal is quite creative .. did you speak to the agent ?"
All three big boys stared at her, as if she was an alien.
" Creative ? You called Brother Mai creative ?"
" Are you crazy? Asking me to shoot an ad for women’s underwear ? I’d rather shoot myself!"
" We have no agents", Anrun innocently said, " the official agent is there, but she is a fancy sports agent for speed skating, we don’t matter to her. Oh, we can make money by making movies of games which are sold out."
To make a movie, good idea…
" I don’t like the way you are looking at me", Mai Wei Zhe squinted his eyes and looked at her, " What are you thinking of ? You want to sell us ? We maybe short of money but we are not that desperate !"
" I was just thinking.. maybe I can help."
" No need", Mai Wei Zhe refused her outright, leaving no room for negotiations, " I don’t want you to get involved. "
In this heated conversation, grandfather heard the phone ring and quietly got up to pick up the handset.
" Yes, this is the Mai residence,who are you looking for ?"
Everyone was still arguing about which product to endorse. Mai Wei Zhe was stubbornly refusing to listen to what Li Yongxuan was recommending , when Old Mai came back and calmly said, "Yongxuan, there’s a call for you."
Looking for her ?
Li Yongxuan also frowned. That was really strange !
She took the phone and said hello.
At first there was only silence.
" Hello?" She tried again , confused, " This is Li Yongxuan, who is this ?"
" You’re really living with him?" A male voice asked, a hint of incredulity in his voice.
Then he hung up.
Li Yongxuan held the handset in a daze, the dial tone monotonously beeping in her ear.
The lively conversation at the dining table abruptly stopped when the boys saw her. All their attention was focussed on her as she stood quietly like a statue.
" Xuan Xuan sister, what happened ? Was it a prank call ?"Anrun asked worriedly.
Mai Wei Zhe grabbed the phone from her hand. He immediately pressed a few keys to check the number, but the number did not show in the display.
His eyes turned sharp, and he turned back to look at his grandfather.
His grandfather just shook his head, indicating he had no idea who had called.

In fa t, Li Yongxuan herself was not a hundred percent sure , but she had a good guess. This voice was familiar, and with just a few words she had recognised it. After all, at one point of her life, this man was the sole recipient of her emotions. But…why would the director call her ? How would he know that she lived here ?
Her heart was in an unprecedented chaos. She was so lost in her own thoughts that she wasn’t even aware of Mai Wei Zhe's hands holding hers quietly under the table.
The only thought in her head was, " What was the director planning to do now?"

The next weekend, the coach finally lifted the ban so that Mai Wei Zhe could finally go home. He took two boxes of chocolate , and two light bulbs with him. The chocolates were sent by the sponsor after the ad shooting had completed; the light bulbs were his team members Anrun and Xiaoyu.

" They wanted to come back with me", Mai Wei Zhe shot them an unhappy look as he pointed out the two lightbulbs who were helping carry the chocolates.

" We miss grandfather ! Then there’s Xuan Xuan sister, we haven’t seen her for a long time !" Obviously the last time was when the ad shooting was happening, but Anrun made a genuinely grieving face.

He looked innocent and above board, but he could look super convincing when he wanted to.

" Are you done ? Do you want to get close to my girl ?"

" Xuan Xuan sister isn’t just yours, she belongs to all of us . "

Li Yongxuan just laughed as she saw them bickering.

When she saw them, she really felt they were like her younger brothers, chatting to them always made her happy.

Speaking of which, even Mai Wei Zhe was younger , but somehow he didn’t feel like a younger brother to her, he was too sophisticated and determined.

Since the last time in the lounge when things got slightly out of hand, they acted like nothing had changed between them, but at the same time , she felt as if there was a major shift.

He had gone back to training, and had called regularly to chat. However, the words they spoke aloud were much less, and sometimes they would both be holding the phone silently. Even the silence was sweet.

" Xuan Xuan sister seems to have become even more beautiful ". Anrun helped put the chocolate boxes in the kitchen. He happily ran circles around her, like a puppy, and made this announcement after looking at her closely.

No, the glow from the happiness she felt within could not be hidden from people.

" Is it ?" Li Yongxuan Xuan touched her face guiltily . " Maybe it’s just that I’m a bit fatter. Everyday after eating grandfathers cooking…"

" Oh that’s so good !" He wailed, " Even I want to live here ."

" You can’t, I don’t want to live with you in the same house", Mai Wei Zhe came in the kitchen and coldly smashed the dreams of young Anrun, " Old Mai is in the back yard, go and see if he needs some help."

In addition to the backyard,, there was also the lawn. Outside, in the courtyard, there was a small vegetable garden. Weeding, watering, sweeping away dead leaves .. all of this required manual labour, and grandfather was happy to catch these two devils for the work.

" Yeah, I’m going to use the weeding machine."

" I want the watering device !"

Living in the dormitory, these kids did not get to see nature year round; they rushed outside immediately.

Li Yongxuan went into the kitchen. She wanted to make them a drink. Suddenly, Mai Wei Zhe threw a small packet of chocolate towards her.

She caught it immediately, but was unable to stop herself from blushing or suppressing a shy smile,

Mai Wei Zhe felt good, after all, why had he carried these boxes back home ?

She picked a few pieces of chocolate and put it in her mouth. The sweet taste of chocolate spread in her mouth , and suddenly, she felt like she had tasted happiness.

Her aunt had not been very well off when she was raising her.

As a child, she did not have any spare cash to buy her chocolates. Only in special occasions, like the new year or her birthday, her aunt would make an exception and buy some chocolates for her. So now.. chocolates had a special significance, a special magic…

" Yummy ?" The magic attracted someone to come closer to her.

His big warm palm held her hot cheeks as he whispered.

She nodded, her smiling eyes looking at him silently.

His eyes were focussed on her. His amber eyes had turned a deeper colour, the colour of fine chocolate…

" Then, can I taste it ?"

She blinked, hesitated for a moment, and then nodded.

He wasn’t allowed to eat chocolate.So he had invented an alternate method.

They kissed at the corner of the kitchen.

He tasted her gently, their tongues entangled, lingering for a long time. By the time he let go, they were both breathing erratically

His young and strong body with well defined muscles honed with years of training was like a brick wall. When she came in touch with this wall, she felt hot, as if her body would melt.

After the deep kiss, his thumb gently stroked her slightly reddened lips. He gave a long sigh of relief.

Mai Wei Zhe was never a man to sigh. He had not met too many things in life that could make him sigh. But he couldn’t help it since he met her.

" What’s the matter ?" Li Yongxuan asked softly.

"Nothing. I just feel that staying with you is pure torture." He sighed again.

"Then.. I can move out.."

Mai Wei Zhe sneered, " Don’t say that. Your exaggerated praises of Old Mai make him so happy , he will probably ask me to scram first. How can I let you move !"

She interjected shyly, " No way, he really does cook delicious meals."

" That’s enough. He’s not here, you don’t have to be so sweet."

But , if Old Mai was not here, he could enjoy her sweetness. He took the opportunity to kiss her again a few more times before he let her go to prepare drinks.

When the three finally came back from the backyard, Old Mai immediately frowned, " Why do I smell chocolate ?"

His ability to sniff was really like a dog's.

" She was eating chocolate", Mai Wei Zhe immediately betrayed her and pointed towards her, complaining.

" I can smell it on you as well, were you not having some as well ?" Grandpa's face was thunderous. " Mai Wei Zhe, how many times have I told you to resist temptation while training ? If you can’t even control your desires, then how will you succeed ?"

( Miumiu : ha ha . I am sure grandpa doesn’t even know the 'desire' which is actually leading our famous athlete astray :))

If never slipping even once from the top three world rankings was not considered success, then it was debatable what would actually constitute success.Mai Wei Zhe did not deny it. After all, he did taste the chocolate, even if he didn’t actually eat it.

It was Li Yongxuan who managed to ease the tension. She served ice tea to Old Mai.

Originally, he intended to teach his grandson a lesson he would never forget, but after seeing the iced tea, his anger cooled down. He took the tea and silently left.

" He is really eccentric", Mai Wei Zhe whispered behind his back, but his eyes were smiling.

It was a lazy weekend afternoon. The three players, in accordance with their training schedule, went out for a run to the small park nearby. Then they squatted back and forth forty times. Li Yongxuan and the old man were busy preparing dinner for everybody.

Li Yongxuan always found cooking particularly troublesome. Cutting the vegetables, cooking, and then cleaning up – all these seemed a wasteful use of time. Moreover, eating alone was one of those things that made her feel lonely. So eating out solved all her problems.

But now everything was different.

She meticulously prepared all the ingredients and followed the process like she was attending a class. Gradually she would learn the tips and tricks.

Most importantly, she was no longer cooking only for herself.

She spent so much time to prepare the meal as she looked forward to sharing them with her near and dear ones, and have them praise her cooking skills. That was a priceless experience.

The three players soon finished their physical training regime. While urging them to wash their hands, she laid the table with fresh and healthy food causing everyone’s mouths to water.

Dinner was very lively; , they laughed, they analysed strategies and talked about little incidents during training.

A few months back, she could have never thought that one day she would be unemployed. But more importantly, she could have never imagined that things would turn this way, that she would have her first taste of warmth and care in these circumstances.

" I still think that we should pick up more challenging endorsements", Li Yongxuan piped in when she heard them talking about advertising.

" No way, the sponsor will not allow us to choose", Xiaoyu muttered.

" Why can’t we choose ?" Mai Wei Zhe unhappily asked, " If women’s underwear, condoms or high heel ads come to us, are we supposed to take it ?Nonsense !"

" If the commercials are good, they may work out because of the novelty factor" ,Li Yongxuan thought seriously. Her mind was already analysing various scenarios, thinking of the different products endorsed by sports stars.

" Actually, your proposal is quite creative .. did you speak to the agent ?"

All three big boys stared at her, as if she was an alien.

" Creative ? You called Brother Mai creative ?"

" Are you crazy? Asking me to shoot an ad for women’s underwear ? I’d rather shoot myself!"

" We have no agents", Anrun innocently said, " the official agent is there, but she is a fancy sports agent for speed skating, we don’t matter to her. Oh, we can make money by making movies of games which are sold out."

To make a movie, good idea…

" I don’t like the way you are looking at me", Mai Wei Zhe squinted his eyes and looked at her, " What are you thinking of ? You want to sell us ? We maybe short of money but we are not that desperate !"

" I was just thinking.. maybe I can help."

" No need", Mai Wei Zhe refused her outright, leaving no room for negotiations, " I don’t want you to get involved. "

In this heated conversation, grandfather heard the phone ring and quietly got up to pick up the handset.

" Yes, this is the Mai residence,who are you looking for ?"

Everyone was still arguing about which product to endorse. Mai Wei Zhe was stubbornly refusing to listen to what Li Yongxuan was recommending , when Old Mai came back and calmly said, "Yongxuan, there’s a call for you."

Looking for her ?

Li Yongxuan also frowned. That was really strange !

She took the phone and said hello.

At first there was only silence.

" Hello?" She tried again , confused, " This is Li Yongxuan, who is this ?"

" You’re really living with him?" A male voice asked, a hint of incredulity in his voice.

Then he hung up.

Li Yongxuan held the handset in a daze, the dial tone monotonously beeping in her ear.

The lively conversation at the dining table abruptly stopped when the boys saw her. All their attention was focussed on her as she stood quietly like a statue.

" Xuan Xuan sister, what happened ? Was it a prank call ?"Anrun asked worriedly.

Mai Wei Zhe grabbed the phone from her hand. He immediately pressed a few keys to check the number, but the number did not show in the display.

His eyes turned sharp, and he turned back to look at his grandfather.

His grandfather just shook his head, indicating he had no idea who had called.

In fa t, Li Yongxuan herself was not a hundred percent sure , but she had a good guess. This voice was familiar, and with just a few words she had recognised it. After all, at one point of her life, this man was the sole recipient of her emotions. But…why would the director call her ? How would he know that she lived here ?

Her heart was in an unprecedented chaos. She was so lost in her own thoughts that she wasn’t even aware of Mai Wei Zhe's hands holding hers quietly under the table.

The only thought in her head was, " What was the director planning to do now?"