Falling Dreams, Rising Hopes: Saving Mr. Boyfriend

"I hope you are ready," Mei Qingyang's last opponent by name Ms. Hu stepped on the mat. The audience cheered for her but there was greater cheer for Mei Qingyang. She had really become popular in one day.

"I hope you are not going to use petty tricks?" Mei Qingyang bit back. She could see in this girl's eyes, she was going to create mischief.

"I don't think I would need to. You might be a great fighter, that does not translate in being a good competitor when it comes to matches like these. I watched your match yesterday, you are definitely losing today," Ms. Hu slightly yawned, showing how easy it was going to be her.

Mei Qingyang did not get angry because this Ms. Hu was telling the truth. That was her biggest weakness. She had probably best techniques here, but how to earn points in the match? She did go over certain rules yesterday with Yu Tian once again but her brain and body both were so tired that they all went 'whoosh' over her head.

Right now, it felt like the days when she failed to finish her homework and now, she was going to fail on her test. But she did not show her anxiety at all. She just smiled and nodded, acknowledging her challenger's comment.

"Good that you know," Ms. Hu harrumphed. The girl in front of her did not get riled up at all. That's what she had heard from the rumors too. But what use was that when she would not be able to show her talent in the match. She needed to strategize around penalties now. She would make this Mei Qingyang make mistakes. And get her negative points.

The referee came after making all the checks and called them up. The girls shook hands with the referee and each other and the match started with thunderous claps from the spectators. In a similar fashion, for first few seconds, they took a feel of the distance from each other. This time, Mei Qingyang was acting more on defense.

Ms. Hu took it as Mei Qingyang afraid of her. There was definitely slight apprehension in her regarding her weakness but it was not enough to overwhelm her.

Ms. Hu attacked first. She tried to grip Mei Qingyang into one of the holds and make her submit but Mei Qingyang successfully evaded her attempts. The girls rolled on the floor, trying to gain advantage over each other.

At about two minute mark, Mei Qingyang finally reversed Ms. Hu from top to bottom position, freeing herself from her lock. Ms. Hu was now unable to defend herself or break out of Mei Qingyang's grip, thus, Qingyang earning a few points.

Ms. Hu had thought it would be easy to take down the girl just because she did not know the rules. Unfortunately, she had no idea about this girl's strength. Her grabs were so powerful that it felt like her bones would be crushed.

Now she finally realized how this girl managed to defeat Wei Qiqi. It was not just luck, it was pure hard work. But it still did not mean that she could not win. If worse came to worst, she always had her tricks.

In a struggle to get out, Ms. Hu pulled Mei Qingyang's belt revealing a completely black innerwear complete with half sleeves. Ms. Hu took a big gamble at this time, it was at referee's discretion if they would ask her to tie her belt or not. And then again, if this girl knew about tie your belt within 20-second rule or not.

Mei Qingyang might have been new to the competition, but she was with best people, competing here for ages. How would they not tell her such a trivial thing. Sure, it could be one of the most overlooked things but that was why she had to pay attention to such rules.

The referee ultimately did ask her to tie her belt but she smoothly did it in twenty seconds, much to chagrin of Ms. Hu who was depending on her inability to do so for a few penalty points. After that, the struggle started again.

The girls had reached the corner of the mat, while entangled with each other still. One more step and they would have fallen down the stage. The referee asked them to stop midway. Mei Qingyang thought she had committed some mistake and almost left her position of advantage. The referee gave her a look. What was this fool doing?

He just dragged both the girls with their gi to the center of the mat and asked them to continue from their original position. This, unfortunately, broke the rhythm of Mei Qingyang for she had seen it just once in a video. This was her first experience like this and it took her some time to come into focus. Ms. Hu took advantage of that and stole a few points from Mei Qingyang in the meantime.

"Mei Qingyang, you can do it!" When Mei Qingyang was almost in despair, making futile efforts to gain an advantage, she heard voices from behind. Were these not her teammates? She did not have the luxury to look towards them but she could clearly make out the distinct voices. It seemed that those guys had run here to support her. Half of them were out of breath.

Damn! What was this embarrassing display of hers? She defeated all high and mighty people previously and now, she was unable to deal with this girl, who did not have many plus points when it came to her height or strength. All she did was, playing by was her experience.

Mei Qingyang gritted her teeth and in one last minute, flipped Ms. Hu around to sit on Ms. Hu's torso. She could not get complete advantage, but her one knee and one foot were on the ground. She completed a move called 'mount', gaining a whopping four points in an instant. The bell rang and the ten minutes got over just then.

Mei Qingyang was so exhausted that she had no idea what was happening all around her. She could not hear anything except her heavy breath. All she needed was water for now. It did not matter if she had won or lost, this was more intense than yesterday's battle.

She regretted not practicing enough. If only she had been inducted earlier, if only she had not got so injured, if only she had watched more videos. The referee stood her up by her wrist and announced the winner. Mei Qingyang finally came back and realized she had lost the match by mere one point.

Ms. Hu gave an arrogant smug look to Mei Qingyang. She did not know when her sweat started mixing with her tears. She only wished that no one was aware of her state. When she was walking towards her team, she saw Yu Tian and Wei Qiqi standing there, looking concerned for her.

Yu Tian helped her down and the whole team and Wei Qiqi walked away hurriedly. Mei Qingyang had her head hung low all the while.

As soon as they reached a somewhat secluded area, Yu Tian took Mei Qingyang into a hug. He knew she was disappointed and he knew her tears were flowing. He had been in such a predicament before too. But he also knew that his kitten would not want anyone else to see her like this. He had hoped others had not seen her.

Mei Qingyang finally snapped back to reality and took in Yu Tian's odor. He had just fought a match too, both of them were smelling like salt. She was worried he would find her sticky and disgusting, for he had his haphephobia too. But he was the one who took in first, so she would take advantage of this hunk.

"I am sorry senior Yu, I did not win," Mei Qingyang spoke without lifting her head.

"You did more than enough. This was perhaps the best result," he stood still without any movement. The team was surrounding the two, so no one from outside could see them. But their eyes popped out when they saw the display of affection from their unsympathetic cold-blooded captain once again.

He had a tender look on his face, only for this girl. His eyes were full of guild and heart ache, only towards this girl. If it were in their hands, they would have clicked pictures of this handsome guy with finally some emotions on his face.

"Qiqi, where is Qiqi? I need to apologize to her!" Mei Qingyang suddenly became aware of her situation. What if Yu Rong was around? She frantically separated from Yu Tian and looked around.

"I am right here and you don't need to say anything. As I said earlier, I don't care," she grabbed Mei Qingyang's right hand and wiped her almost gone tears from her face.

"Silly girl, look at you. That was an amazing match! I finished mine sooner because I wanted to see yours! That last move was sick!" Wei Qiqi started blabbering once again. She was so happy for her friend.

"Let's go take some rest. We will have medals ceremony after afternoon matches, we still have a few people competing," Yu Tian went back to his cold demeanor and instructed everyone. Everyone nodded and dispersed.

"Qiqi, can you come with me to my room for some time? You can grab your stuff and inform your teammates as well. This is my room number," Mei Qingyang asked Wei Qiqi.

"Sure, I will be right there. You guys go ahead, I will be back." A smile blossomed on Wei Qiqi's face. After today, she did not know when she would get to meet her. So why not spend some more time hanging out with her first real friend now?