Falling Dreams, Rising Hopes: Saving Mr. Boyfriend

Finally, the day of tournament arrived. Mei Qingyang woke up nice and early and went to her balcony to get some fresh air. Her room happened to be adjacent to Yu Tian's room (author's note: it was no coincidence you foolish girl) and he was just standing there, doing some stretches.

Qingyang had no idea that her room shared a wall with Yu Tian's, so she did not pay much attention to the guy who had retreated in a corner when he had heard her balcony door being opened. She inhaled the fresh air in, filling her lungs to the maximum capacity. She was feeling herself in quite good condition today. She was sure to win her matches.

Yu Tian was just mesmerized by her smile and her flowing hair in the morning breeze. She had a coffee mug in her hand and she tucked her hair behind her ear. Yu Tian loved this habit of hers. Whenever she was in a good mood or doing some deep thinking, that's when she used to do this action.

Ah! When could he make her his? Sometimes he could not just believe himself. He had always thought that since he belonged to such a prestigious family, he was different. His emotions, his responsibilities, his soul, his family, his relationsh.i.p.s, everything was supposed to be different. But now, he was just a normal man, an ordinary man in love. With a very extraordinary woman.

If he looked at it rationally, this girl came from a very normal family. They did not have as many means as he had available to him. Even then, this girl was obtaining quite some feats. And he was proud to call her friend and to have fallen in love with her. In his some twenty odd years, he had never ever felt like this towards another human being.

Su Lang tapped the shoulder of an infatuated Yu Tian from behind.

"Bro, give it a rest already. I know you are madly in love with her but this is too much okay?" Ah! What fun in teasing this newbie guy.

"And how's your life going with you assistant?" Yu Tian knew how to strike back.

"You! You are learning wrong stuff from your girlfriend!" Su Lang was flabbergasted. This guy, who was always serious, was teasing him back! But given that everyone was this relaxed, they all were sure of their victory.

All three were heading for the gyms where the matches were to take place when they bumped into Yu Rong. She gave a hateful glance to Mei Qingyang, then addressed the boys, "I know you both will do me proud."

Their mood turned pretty sour seeing the face of the witch first thing in the morning. The two boys did not even acknowledge her presence and went ahead straight.

When Mei Qingyang passed through her, Yu Rong whispered into her ear, "Are you enjoying your co-mingling with the boys? Trust me, it won't be for long," and then she grinned. Mei Qingyang shook her head.

"Empty threats," she said and walked away as well.

Mei Qingyang had been analyzing past events for quite some time now. And the conclusion she had reached was that Yu Rong herself did not seem to be very bright. However, Yu Rong was perhaps just testing the waters, that's why her schemes looked childish or not so effective. It was also the reason Mei Qingyang had been winning or drawing their match offs. But she could not take risk to underestimate her opponent.

On the surface it looked like Wang Hai was actually pulling the strings from behind. But she had done thorough background check on him and nothing jumped out. So then, was Yu Rong just pretending to be dumb? Or was she making her take out all her cards while Yu Rong herself was hiding her innate intelligence?

All three people, having different distracting thoughts in their mind, arrived at the gym. The gym was huge and Qingyang had seen it the day before, just to get the feel. However, today the gym was jam packed with the audience. Supporters from different school were chanting their teammates name. Their team had also arrived. Vice captain Xu was not as lucky as her. He did not get treatment from Fan Ruyi, so he was not able to heal in time, thus withdrawing from the competition.

Vice Captain Xuan was still locked in the private dungeon of Su Lang where he was being thoroughly tortured to give out information. Everyone knew it was Yu Rong but they needed to know what she was offering him, so that they could counter her in the future.

"Captain!", everyone hollered.

The first matches were of Su Lang, team members of vice captain Xu and Mei Qingyang. Yu Tian's matches were later in the day.

"Don't be nervous. Everyone is far below your level in this tournament. You anyway, just need to defeat four people," Yu Tian explained to Mei Qingyang. Since everyone was so lax, no one had discussed the matches or their format with her. She had looked up some information on internet last night but that was about it. Now Yu Tian said it like that, her heart instantly went at ease.

"If you say so," she shrugged. Everyone took the seats near the mats. Yu Tian went to cheer for Mei Qingyang while others went to Captain Su and other team members. Su Lang w.h.i.n.ed the whole time that his best friend did not support him and had an eye only for his girlfriend. Yu Tian heard about it later and rolled his eyes.

Their first matches were quite easy. Both Su Lang and Mei Qingyang won them easily. However, they were just courtesy matches and did not count towards the competition. Their next matches were scheduled for the next day. In the afternoon, Yu Tian also won his match easily. Both Su Lang and Yu Tian had registered for at least two different categories, and their matches next day were going to be hectic.

Mei Qingyang, on the other hand, was relatively free. She watched the courtesy matches of her to be opponents. And also cheered for her friends. She spotted Yu Rong and Lady Chen quite a few times throughout the day.

In the evening, they all met at the dinner table, this time the whole team together. After a hard-working tiring day such as today, every one ate to their hearts content. The food was made by best chefs in the nation and Yu Tian had made sure that there were suitable things for Mei Qingyang to eat.

"Mei Qingyang, how was your first experience today?" One of the vice-captains tried to strike up a conversation. Suddenly, everyone on the table was staring at her. Yu Tian noted in his mind that he needed to give some good talking to this guy.

"It was fun. First day being for courtesy matches, there was not much pressure. Real deal is tomorrow," Mei Qingyang replied.

"Nice! From your previous display of power, we all are confident that you will get us gold medal for sure!," another person chimed in.

"That I cannot guarantee. My ways are just simply barbaric. They are too crude for this competition world." What she meant to say was that she knew the arts only for self defense. A lot of competition rules for martial arts matches made them just for show. And if someone, just like these guys, was training for just competitions, then they might or might not be able to get by in a real life dangerous situation.

She was not taking a jab on anyone though. She had no such intention. Everyone looked weirdly at her and then went back to eating without anyone furthering the conversation.

"I do wish Feng Yue was here, and vice captain Xu too," Su Lang mumbled under his breath. The people who heard him suddenly started feeling downcast. This year, their team was almost reduced to half in terms of strength and they were not happy about it. It did not matter much with respect to number of medals they were going to win. The other two captains were working hard enough, registering for more than two categories each. Their matches were going to be back to back the next day.

Everyone started feeling sorry towards their captains. They were doing so much for their team while these people had suspected them when they had brought this powerful girl with them at first. Now they knew.

"Sentences like these don't look good out of your mouth," a familiar voice appeared from behind Su Lang. No way! Feng… Feng Yue? Had he not disappeared? They had tried so hard to find his whereabouts but in vain. Everyone stood up from their chair, unable to contain a mix of emotions.