【131】 And You Are My Once-in-a-Thousand-Years Love
In the spectator stands, the Zhong Guo fans had already stood up and started applauding.
Although many of the Han Guo fans beside them looked ashen-faced, there were still a few who genuinely applauded the Zhong Guo Team players.
The fans of the five players shouted their names, cheering about how badass Zhong Guo was.
When the national anthem played, Wen Ran couldn’t help but let his eyes grow red.
More than a year ago, he hadn’t even dared to fantasize that such a day would come, where he would stand on such a massive stage.
He thought he might still be doing some boring job to make ends meet, thinking every day about how to earn a bit more money. He might have been taken back to that small town by Zhao Biao, or maybe…
Wen Ran didn’t continue thinking about it, because he had met Jiang Yan. Jiang Yan pulled him out of that quagmire, carefully protected his dream, and accompanied him step by step to reach where he was today.
The award presenters gave everyone a championship ring. The Golden Twin Dragons Trophy was handed to Jiang Yan. The five players lifted the trophy together as the fluttering golden rain fell once more. It reminded Wen Ran of his Wind autograph card, except this time, the word written behind them was ‘Zhong Guo’.
After the formalities were over, when they went backstage, Xu Jiajia could no longer suppress his excitement. He rubbed his hands together and found Niu Zhuxi. “Niu Zhuxi, did you see that? We won!”
“Both of my eyes saw it,” Niu Zhuxi was smiling from ear to ear, giving Xu Jiajia’s shoulder a slap. “Good job!”
“And Ling Han, that last game was amazing. Whenever you have free time, can you teach me how to play Yu Xiao?”
Niu Zhuxi rubbed his chin. “I think the Mid lane might be restricting me. I’m more suited for the Clash lane.”
Ling Han: “?”
Xu Jiajia immediately said, “Let it go, Niu Zhuxi. Ling Han doesn’t deserve such punishment.”
Niu Zhuxi: “……”
“Have you been learning bad habits from that brat Dawn?” As he spoke, he reached over to pull Xu Jiajia’s ear. “I’m humbly seeking knowledge from a world champion. Is that wrong?”
“No, no, no, what I meant was, since you’re so smart, you should learn something more difficult.” Xu Jiajia said, “I can teach you how to play Xing Lie. One cannon blast per squishy.”
“That’s more like it.” Niu Zhuxi released Xu Jiajia and looked around. “Why is it just you two? Where’s Wind and the others?”
“They said they went to the restroom.”
“Those three, really.” Niu Zhuxi didn’t say much else, happily going to chat with Feng Wei.
But in reality, Jiang Yan hadn’t headed to the restroom at all. After getting off the stage, Jiang Yan grabbed Wen Ran’s hand and pulled him deep into the backstage area.
Now that the championship was in their hands, the hormones suppressed for so many days erupted instantly. Jiang Yan gripped Wen Ran’s waist, pressed him against the wall, and kissed him deeply.
It was forceful and allowed no refusal, making Wen Ran only able to let out muffled sounds.
Yet, he proactively wrapped his arms around Jiang Yan’s neck, offering himself up.
“Wind, did you go the wrong way? Where is the re…”
The moment Qiao Yu walked in, he saw Jiang Yan and Wen Ran hugging and kissing each other.
Qiao Yu rubbed his eyes.
Qiao Yu felt like he had gone blind.
He had been holding his bladder while on the podium, maintaining a fake smile throughout the entire process, just waiting for it to be over so he could rescue his pitiful bladder. It was his first time at this stadium, and he had a language barrier with the Koreans. When he asked Ling Han and Xu Jiajia, they said the captain was going, so Qiao Yu hurriedly followed.
Because he was afraid he couldn’t hold it, Qiao Yu walked a few steps slower than the two of them, following them from behind. But he never expected that this dog couple wasn’t here for the restroom at all, but rather found a stairwell cubicle to make out!
Qiao Yu’s sudden appearance startled Wen Ran. He opened his eyes in terror, instinctively pushed Jiang Yan away, and his face instantly flushed down to his neck.
Jiang Yan clicked his tongue in extreme dissatisfaction but had no intention of letting Wen Ran go. Looking at Qiao Yu with a hostile gaze, he said, “Qiao the Second, what’s your problem? Do you like watching other people date that much?”
“Who the hell was looking at you!” Qiao Yu found it impossible to reason with him right now. He had never even dated before, and suddenly seeing this blood-pumping scene… he hadn’t even blamed them for ruining public morals and polluting his eyes yet! And Jiang Yan was actually turning around and blaming him!
“If I hadn’t thought you knew where the restroom was, I wouldn’t have followed you over even if you beat me to death!”
If this kept up, he was really going to pee his pants!
“Turn left down that hallway by the lounge,” Jiang Yan said impatiently. “Lightbulb, can you leave now?”
If he wasn’t in such a hurry right now, Qiao Yu felt he absolutely had to curse this camper out. So bros mean nothing once you start dating?
Just look at the way he’s acting!
Qiao Yu clutched his stomach and hurried away. Wen Ran was already blushing beyond belief and was trying to wriggle out of Jiang Yan’s embrace.
But his shoulders were held down by the other person.
“Where are you going?”
Jiang Yan’s tone carried an unquestionable dominance as he bit down on his lips again. “Haven’t kissed enough yet. Let’s continue.”
By the time the two finally returned, Wen Ran’s lips were red, and there was a hickey planted on his neck.
The low collar of the team uniform couldn’t hide the ambiguous mark at all. Watching him, Xu Jiajia winked and coughed repeatedly. Ling Han raised his eyebrows slightly at Wind, and Jiang Yan silently understood.
Only Qiao Yu stared resentfully at the two of them. In broad daylight, under the bright sky, they had no sense of restraint!
Damn couple, the sour stench of love!
Niu Zhuxi was overwhelmingly happy today. He excitedly announced on the bus, “I’ve booked a place for tonight. Let’s all go celebrate!”
“That’s great!” Xu Jiajia was very supportive. “Then I definitely have to try authentic Korean cuisine.”
Jiang Yan, however, declined. “You guys go ahead. I’m feeling a bit unwell, so I won’t go.”
Hearing this, Niu Zhuxi immediately became anxious. “What’s wrong, what’s wrong, Wind? Where do you feel unwell? Do you need to see a doctor?”
“My head hurts a bit.” Jiang Yan said, “Maybe I stayed up too late these past two days.”
“It’s nothing serious. I’ll be fine after going back and getting some sleep.”
His words immediately made everyone present feel a pang of heartache. Everyone had seen Jiang Yan’s dedication and hard work. He should be the biggest hero of the celebration banquet, but now he couldn’t even attend.
Niu Zhuxi’s heart ached terribly. “Then how about we don’t go either? We can gather again when Wind is fully rested.”
“You guys go. Don’t worry about me. Today is such a happy day, the celebration banquet should go on as planned. When we get back to the country, it’s not like we can’t gather again,” Jiang Yan said. “Don’t give me psychological pressure!”
“Alright then,” Niu Zhuxi said. “Make sure you rest well when you get back. If there’s anything you want to eat, send it in the group chat, and we’ll bring it back for you.”
Jiang Yan curled his lips. “Mhm.”
He leaned back in his seat and closed his eyes.
“If Wind isn’t going, I’m not going either.” Wen Ran also felt very bad for Jiang Yan right now. For the championship, he had almost worked his body to exhaustion. He reached out and grabbed Jiang Yan’s hand resting on the seat. “I’ll accompany him back.”
Since the two were lovers, no one objected to Wen Ran’s decision. As the bus drove forward, Jiang Yan’s head tilted and rested on Wen Ran’s shoulder.
Wen Ran pursed his lips. How could he be this exhausted?
He even fell asleep on the bus.
When the bus stopped at the hotel, Wen Ran finally brought himself to wake Jiang Yan up. “Go back and sleep.”
Jiang Yan groggily called out “Ran Ran”, looking incredibly cute and adorable.
However, after Niu Zhuxi and the others’ bus drove away, just as Wen Ran planned to hold Jiang Yan’s hand and take him back inside, the other person suddenly stood rooted to the spot.
His sleepy, dozing appearance completely vanished. His eyes held a smile. “Ran Ran, I’m taking you to a good place.”
Wen Ran: “?”
“Don’t you have a headache?” Wen Ran was confused. “What good place? We’re already at the door, let’s go back and rest.”
“Idiot, I lied to them.” Jiang Yan came over, playfully hooked his finger, and tapped Wen Ran’s nose. “If I didn’t do this, how could I ditch the gathering to spend some alone time with you?”
Wen Ran: “???”
Then why did you act so well in the bus just now?! You even fooled me!
You camper!
It wasn’t until they arrived that Wen Ran realized the place Jiang Yan brought him to was an art gallery called Xing Hai Chu Peng (Star Sea Touch).
Wen Ran had never been to a place like an art gallery before. In the past, it was because he had no money; later, it was because he didn’t understand these things and had no interest.
But coming here with Jiang Yan today, Wen Ran discovered upon walking in that ‘Xing Hai Chu Peng’ truly deserved to be described as “art”.
There were many themes. Jiang Yan chose “Xing Hai Xiang Feng” (Meeting in the Star Sea).
What entered their vision was pitch black, but as they stepped in, stars gradually lit up in the places they walked, like crushed diamonds inadvertently scattered by gods, adorning the vast earth.
He couldn’t see Jiang Yan’s face clearly; he could only hold his hand and watch as their footprints paralleled each other, knowing they would continue to accompany each other for a long, long time.
And when Wen Ran finally touched the wall, trailing his fingers across it, beautiful star trails began to ripple out from his fingertips, gradually connecting into the shapes of constellations.
As more touches triggered effects, nebulas even appeared on the surrounding walls, encompassing a vast and beautiful universe.
The last thing to appear was a shooting star with a long tail, streaking continuously toward the sky.
As the shooting star disappeared, the ceiling of the room began to be covered by blue, shimmering water, like a marvelously inverted deep sea.
The scope of the deep sea expanded, and the stars under their feet rose one by one, intertwining and merging in the air. It was both shocking and breathtaking. So this was what it meant to ‘meet in the star sea’.
The light and shadow in the space had inverted. Stepping on the deep blue ocean below, with the vast starry sky above, Jiang Yan asked, “Ran Ran, do you know why I chose this theme?”
“Why?”
“The ocean cannot reflect the shadows of all the stars. Only a star that accidentally falls into the sea can embrace the ocean. They require a one-in-ten-million probability to fall in love.”
Jiang Yan crouched halfway down, resting on one knee, and devoutly kissed Wen Ran’s fingers:
“And you, are my once-in-a-thousand-years love.”
📖 Advance Access: Complete Novel
- Option 1: Note your email on PayPal/Ko-fi.
- Option 2: Email proof to beezzzreads@gmail.com.
- Option 3: Comment below.
Recommended Reads
