EOD Chapter22

1 minute 47.22 seconds.

A burst of cheers erupted from the spectator stands. Zhou Zefeng already knew while still in the water that his time was highly impressive. He broke through the surface, and his teammates clapped him on the shoulder across the lane lines to congratulate him. Zhou Zefeng hooked the corner of his mouth, carrying a bit of that “hiding one’s merits and remaining low-key” swagger.

Coach Wu squatted in front of him with a hint of satisfaction finally surfacing on his usually stern face. “Not bad.”

Zhou Zefeng smiled back. Ever since his previous coach was transferred away, he had always struggled to click with the new coach. Now, however, he had to thank the coach for pulling him back from his improper training state.

Over the past half month, Coach Wu had spent so much time accompanying him in the training pool, likely unable to bear seeing a promising prospect crushed by a single withdrawal from a competition. Now, there was finally a good result.

This was merely a minor internal team race, but it marked the beginning of Zhou Zefeng reclaiming his glory.

Internal team competitions didn’t come with trophies or anything of the sort, so Coach Wu and Manager Chen paid out of their own pockets to treat everyone to a hot pot. For athletes who usually had to control their body fat, this was already an immense surprise.

It was late autumn now, the perfect season for hot pot. It had been half a month since the last time he ate hot pot, and Zhou Zefeng suddenly missed that flavor a little.

During these two weeks, Zhou Zefeng had broken free from his insomnia, though not by relying on medication. His life continued in an orderly fashion, just as uninspired and mundane as any day before as if no accident had ever occurred in his life.

Beneath the calm, waveless surface of the lake, only Zhou Zefeng knew in his own heart that an unprecedented, devastating torrential downpour had once raged. Yet after the rain cleared and the skies turned bright, everything became so placid it was as if nothing had ever happened, leaving behind only a single osmanthus flower, an ordinary shirt, and a bittersweet memory.

The relief of Zhou Zefeng’s insomnia was all thanks to Lu Zhao’s aromatherapy and playlist. While they allowed him to drift into a carefree dreamland, they also passively caused him to think of Lu Zhao every single night. Was it painful? Not really. Their connection was as thin as a cicada’s wing. If he had to describe the emotion, it was probably nothing more than a sense of melancholy loss.

This change was akin to a dry beach baked warm by the sun, which, after being struck by a wave during high tide, became damp and muddy. As the tide withdrew and the sun climbed higher, the beach remained forever marked; no amount of heat could dry out its scars again.

Coach Wu was always a man of his word. Having said he would pay out of pocket, he actually kept his word, even taking them to a well-known local beef hot pot restaurant. Fresh, tender slices of richly marbled beef were dropped into the bubbling broth, briefly blanched into a tempting, appetizing pink. Zhou Zefeng snapped a photo before stuffing it into his mouth, drawing a tease from Manager Chen, “Yo, Zefeng, taking a picture to show your girlfriend?”

Zhou Zefeng’s face turned a bit red, though whether it was from the steam of the hot pot or something else was unclear. He shook his head and said, “Just keeping it as a memento.”

The teammate beside him laughed out loud. “Why keep a memento? Hahaha, you make it sound like we won’t have the chance to come back and eat here again in the future!”

“Exactly, exactly! Coach Wu will definitely treat us often in the future…” The teammate who was speaking was suddenly muzzled by the manager next to them. Manager Chen was a young woman only a few years older than them. Beneath her glamorous and striking appearance lay an uninhibited soul, she was the legendary type where “it’s a pity such a beautiful woman has a mouth.” She barked fiercely, “You little rascals act like you haven’t eaten in eight hundred years! If you keep eating like this, we’ll be staying behind to wash dishes today!”

Coach Wu was also thoroughly amused beside them, and Zhou Zefeng quickly blended into this harmonious and joyful atmosphere, feasting and joking around with everyone. When the group walked out en masse after eating, a teammate suddenly pointed at an open-air restaurant across the street and sighed to Zhou Zefeng, “When will we get to have a meal over there? My girlfriend was looking at guides on Xiaolushu; that river view is absolutely stunning.”

Zhou Zefeng followed his finger and looked up, only to see a figure he hadn’t laid eyes on for half a month.

Dressed in a sharp suit, Lu Zhao held a knife and fork, while across from him sat a man who appeared to be about Zhou Zefeng’s age; handsome, with a refined hairstyle and attire that made it clear he was no ordinary person. Zhou Zefeng could only curse his perfect 5.0 vision, because he even spotted two candles placed on the dining table.

Over the past two weeks, Zhou Zefeng hadn’t gone back to the hospital to disturb Lu Zhao, nor had he seen him at the gym or the swimming pool. The two of them were like rays with different destinations, parting ways after a brief intersection. He never expected they would meet under such blind-siding circumstances.

“What are you looking at, Xiao Zhou?” The group was waiting for the shuttle bus at the entrance of the restaurant. Seeing Zhou Zefeng staring blankly with his head tilted back, Manager Chen walked over and gave his head a carefree slap.

This exact scene happened to be caught by Lu Zhao, who was just looking down. His expression registered a flash of surprise before returning to normal. After meeting Zhou Zefeng’s gaze, he gave a slight nod. He made no effort to pretend he hadn’t seen him, instead neatly drawing a proper, restrained line under their once ambiguous and tangled relationship.

Was this the propriety of a mature man? Zhou Zefeng hadn’t learned any of this yet. He ran on pure impulse and reckless abandon. If everyone else hadn’t been around and his rationality hadn’t still been intact, he might have even rushed up there to demand whether Lu Zhao’s conscience pricked him at all.

Was this the very man who had claimed with absolute certainty, “I can’t manage not to have sex with you”?

Zhou Zefeng snapped his head away fiercely. Seeing that his mood seemed off, Manager Chen quickly leaned closer to ask what was wrong and if he was feeling unwell.

From Lu Zhao’s angle, their heads were very close together, looking almost like the prelude to a kiss.

Zhou Zefeng shook his head. Just then, the shuttle bus arrived, and he boarded it. His seat happened to face the open-air restaurant. Feeling Lu Zhao’s gaze on him, Zhou Zefeng reached up, pulled the window curtain shut, and put on his earphones.

The song playing in his earphones was Sweet John’s “Window Seat.”

Zhou Zefeng’s heart felt drenched.

After a torrential downpour, he had permanently moved into the damp monsoon season.

He knew that a wave would never visit only a single beach.

/

“Ge?”

Yi Yang waved his hand in front of Lu Zhao’s face before finally snapping him back to reality. Following Lu Zhao’s gaze, he only saw a dusty grey shuttle bus, into which a succession of strongly built young men were orderly boarding.

Yi Yang smiled knowingly. “Which one caught your eye?”

Withdrawing his gaze from the blue window curtain, Lu Zhao said nonchalantly, “What if one did?”

“If one did, then boldly go up and ask for his WeChat! Tonight, you…” Yi Yang was about to joke around when Lu Zhao glared him back into silence. He cleared his throat and asked seriously, “What, is there someone you know?”

“En.” Lu Zhao picked up his red wine and took a sip, his fingers aimlessly scrolling across his phone screen. Seeing that his unread messages count was at zero, and recalling the scene from just moments ago, he locked his phone screen and said indifferently:

“We just know each other, that’s all.”