The Little White Ball and the Microphone [Table Tennis]

[Complete]

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*Please add my next novel, My Client Says He's My Boyfriend, to your favorites. Blurb below.

[Blurb]

National table tennis team athlete x reporter

Childhood sweethearts / Reunion after years apart / Marriage before love

Lin Ji uses a right-handed shakehand grip, combining loop drives with quick attacks.

This time, he won the ITTF Men's Singles World Cup, bringing him one step closer to a Grand Slam.

Every media outlet wanted to interview him in the mixed zone, and Ji Xining was no exception. She held her microphone high and struggled to squeeze through the crowd.

Suddenly, her hand was empty. Lin Ji had taken her microphone.

Then she heard him ask, "Is there anything you want to ask me?"

Her voice trembled slightly. "How is your wrist injury?"

As soon as she said it, "Lin Ji's injury" shot to the top of the trending topics, becoming the subject of widespread discussion.

The next day, Ji Xining nervously clutched her seat belt and said to the person in the driver's seat, "I'm sorry yesterday's interview caused you trouble."

He replied coolly, "You care about me."

*

They hadn't seen each other in ten years. On the first day of their reunion, they added each other on WeChat. On the second, they decided to get married. On the third, they moved into their marital home. On the fourth, they registered their marriage.

After washing up, Ji Xining saw Lin Ji sitting on the bed and gave an awkward smile. "May I ask where I'm sleeping tonight?"

Lin Ji glanced at the empty half of the bed and smiled faintly. "What do you think?"

*

The Sohana Olympics.

This is a competition where the victor gets to hear their national anthem. They have to do justice to the sweat they shed and the pain they endured, to their coaches' earnest guidance and their country's support, to the flag on their chests, and to the cheers from the stands.

Our country's table tennis team has had a difficult road. Through their own hard work and skill, they earned their achievements one point at a time.

Lin Ji stood on the highest podium as cheers and camera shutters rose and fell throughout the venue.

His gaze crossed the sea of people and finally settled on the girl giving him a big thumbs-up.

The scene before him gradually blended with the images of a boy and girl on the court ten years earlier.

I want to share all my honors and happiness with you.

*Looks like a reunion after years apart, but he's been deliberately approaching her all along

*An atypical marriage-before-love story: they marry while hiding their feelings

*Mutual salvation. You woke me from my childhood nightmares; I'll pull you up from the lowest point in your life

1. A sweet 1v1 romance

2. Mostly everyday life and workplace scenes, with competitions as a secondary focus

3. The professional information comes from online sources. Corrections are welcome if anything is wrong.

4. The plot and characters are fictional, so please don't read yourself into them. Major competitions have been adjusted as needed for the story, including event dates and formats, and some details are original. Everything serves the characters and plot.

(Leaving this note on June 4, 2024.)

My next novel, My Client Says He's My Boyfriend, is opening soon. Please add it to your favorites:

*A daydreaming, slow-to-catch-on sweetheart x a strict boss in public, flirtatious and shameless in private

*Workplace setting / Powerful man breaks down while pursuing his wife / Healing

-1-

When life wasn't going well, Shang Kerou liked to imagine nice things to cheer herself up.

Like living in a spacious apartment, or raising a cute little dog.

And, for example...

Having a handsome boyfriend.

He had deep-set eyes and a graceful figure, with eight-pack abs (she'd felt them through his shirt). He treated her with tenderness and consideration. He was a wonderful person.

She liked to daydream, but that was fine. She knew the difference between fantasy and reality.

After graduating from college, she joined an advertising agency. She worked diligently as a cog in the machine, trying to earn money and live life to the fullest.

One day, she went with her supervisor to a meeting at a client's company.

Holding three drinks with a cheerful smile, she pushed open the conference room door.

And there he was: the boyfriend she'd imagined, sitting inside.

"Mr. Gu."

Her supervisor nudged her as she stood frozen in place. "Say hello."

Shang Kerou's brain couldn't keep up. She parroted him: "G-Good morning, Mr. Gu."

In a fluster, she took out the drinks. The two iced Americanos were for the project manager and her supervisor. That left this one...

She squeezed her eyes shut, steeled herself, and handed the man the carefully chosen drink she'd been reluctant to part with: a chocolate Frappuccino with three pumps of sugar and extra whipped cream.

-2-

Six months ago, Gu Qingshu had started dating.

The girl was optimistic and upbeat, like a little sun that lit up his world. He liked her, was infatuated with her soft, tender lips, and fell completely under her spell.

But before long, she stopped answering his calls and messages, disappearing from his world without a trace.

Until now, when she handed him a Frappuccino sweet enough to make his teeth ache.

-3-

Because of something Gu Qingshu said, Shang Kerou was forced to work on-site at the client's company.

Since ancient times, clients and agencies had looked down on each other, calling each other idiots behind their backs.

Now Shang Kerou was alone in the tiger's den, like a hostage.

She prepared for the worst, but to her surprise, everything here was great.

Except for the boss. He was strange.

Sometimes he was obnoxious.

"I'll give you the brief today. I want the proposal tomorrow."

Sometimes he acted like a person.

"Thanks for working late tonight. Let me buy you a late-night snack."

She assumed work pressure had given him a split personality and didn't think much of it.

Until that night, in the cramped entryway, Gu Qingshu's eyes turned slightly red and watery as he practically growled:

"Why are you pretending you don't know me?"

"What do you take me for?"

"I'm your boyfriend!"

Shang Kerou hesitated for a moment, then resolutely reached out and felt his forehead.

"Has working overtime made you stupid?"

Theme: There's no such thing as a sure thing in table tennis