My Soulmate is A Libero
At 9 o’clock in the evening, Li Ling was chatting with Miss Police Flower on the balcony. “And then, that Mattia fainted, hahaha…”
After the jokes about Sebastian the Polish mythical creature’s sea snake biting his buttocks and Louis’s tactical board, Mattia’s fainting joke also spread widely. Some well-meaning fans directly ranked him alongside the four great comedians of the volleyball world.
Mattia was the only one among the four comedians who didn’t have a representative joke, not because he had fewer jokes, but because he had too many. There were too many to choose from, making it difficult to pick out a definitive masterpiece. Nevertheless, he was the one who performed the most skits on the volleyball court, so everyone affectionately called him the “Volleyball Skit King.”
Although he wasn’t on the same level as the “Volleyball Savior” Misha Qin, both the twin stars had become kings of the volleyball world.
At this moment, Tianwang Dun was standing beside his beloved Coach Niu, watching the four top teams.
China and Italy had both made it through, but the previously considered strong Brazilian team had fallen in the quarter-finals, blocked by China and Italy from reaching the award podium.
In the other group, as expected, Russia had one slot, and surprisingly, France had claimed the other.
Seeing this result, many people were surprised. “Isn’t the USA team supposed to be in the top four?”
The quarter-finals were divided into two groups, unlike the hellish Group A with China, Poland, Brazil, and Italy, Group B was a bit easier, consisting of Russia, the USA, France, and Canada, with Canada being the weakest, making it easy for everyone to pick on them.
In Newton’s expectations, Group B’s qualifiers should have been Russia and the USA. What was going on now?
Qin Chunxiao suddenly recalled something and exclaimed, “Oh, I remember. When the USA team played against China, their captain, Caddy, seemed to have expended a lot of energy, and he didn’t even play the next day. It’s predicted that they won’t be able to continue without breaks. The USA team’s libero even went into quarantine after their match against China.”
The USA team, whose blood had been drawn by China, faced Russia in the next round. Shouldn’t Russia have said something like, “Thanks for the luxury yacht, old buddy 666” to China?
The misfortune of the USA team didn’t end there, as after their match against Russia, they had to face the European powerhouse, France, the very next day.
There was a moment of silence, and Tong Shulan approached and sighed, “Luck is also a part of strength, you know.”
The USA team was having an unlucky year.
Others chimed in, saying, “That’s right, that’s right.” Although they also had their share of bad luck, facing strong teams one after another, it didn’t stop them from poking fun at someone else’s bad luck.
“Tomorrow, Italy will be playing against Russia, and this Russian team is really lucky this tournament,” Chang Xiaole murmured. The Brazilian team, widely recognized as their biggest rival, had been eliminated by the Chinese team, and they had faced opponents who were knocked out by China. Why couldn’t the Chinese team encounter such good fortune?
At this moment, Gao Depi suddenly said, “We need some luck too. If it weren’t for that, we wouldn’t have run into Zhao Laogui back then. Let it go, and let’s get some rest.”
Everyone returned to their rooms, and when Qin Chunxiao was halfway there, Gao Depi stopped him and patted his shoulder. “Ding Rong, Mingming, Shulan, and Duojin are all going to have surgeries after the tournament. Are you going to have one too?”
Qin Chunxiao replied, “Not yet.”
The word “yet” was crucial. Gao Depi realized that this junior from the same province might not have it easy either. He ruffled Qin Chunxiao’s hair and said, “I need to thank you.”
Qin Chunxiao asked, “Thank me for what?”
“Until I boarded the plane to Tokyo, I felt like participating in the Olympics was an unreal dream. Later, I had a dream in which Zhao Laogui was still around. He was jealous of talent, formed factions, and many outstanding players, including you, were left out of the national team. In the end, we suffered a humiliating defeat while competing for spots.”
As Gao Depi mentioned this dream, his voice grew somewhat somber. Then he took a deep breath and brightened up again. “Volleyball is a team sport, so I really want to thank you all. Thank you for bringing me here.”
Qin Chunxiao was a bit surprised. Pi-ge’s description of that dream sounded strangely familiar. But he still replied, “I only did what I should. If we follow your logic, I should also thank you.”
Indeed, teammates didn’t need to thank each other like this. Gao Depi walked away with a light step.
When he returned to his room, he woke up Er Leng and asked, “Hey, have you had any interesting dreams recently?”
Er Leng replied groggily, “Uh, I dreamt that after retiring, I opened a psychological clinic, and Mina was my first patient. Don’t tell her about it.”
Tree Mina was the full name of the police flower Er Leng knew. While it was normal to dream about someone you liked, having that person become your patient in the dream was something best left unknown to Tree Mina.
Qin Chunxiao put his heart back in his belly. “Don’t worry, I won’t say anything. You go back to sleep.”
Er Leng turned over, and within seconds, his breathing became even. Qin Chunxiao also lay down to sleep, but he was awakened less than an hour later by a call from Qiao Mingming.
“Xiao Zai, did you have a nightmare?” Qiao Mingming asked.
Qin Chunxiao, who had been awakened while playing beach volleyball with Lu Xuandong, was very confused by the call. “Huh?”
Qiao Mingming said, “Never mind, go back to sleep.”
Qin Chunxiao settled back down, but before he could close his eyes, he heard Li Ling mumbling in her sleep.
“Xiao Zai, I’ve got a parachute for you. You and Little Chicken go first, I’ll be fine, I’ll jump later!”
Qin Chunxiao was stunned for a moment, then he shook Er Leng awake. Er Leng woke up with a start, looking quite scared. When he saw Qin Chunxiao’s face, he calmed down and breathed a sigh of relief.
“Xiao Zai, I had a nightmare. It scared me.”
“I know,” Qin Chunxiao said, unable to fall back asleep. He told Er Leng to get up, and they both headed somewhere.
Er Leng was puzzled, but he obediently followed along. As they walked, they realized they were heading to the captain’s room.
Before they even reached the room, they saw that Qiao Mingming’s bedroom door was open. Qiao Mingming, Ding Rong, Gao Depi, Tong Shulan, the four main attackers, were all there, along with Mao Xunfeng, You Ziyu, Xiong Wu, Liuyuelou, Aizimaiti, and Fubiyang.
With Qin Chunxiao and Li Ling, all 12 members of the AF251 flight were present.
Seeing them gathered like this, Qin Chunxiao asked, “Why is nobody sleeping?”
“Then why aren’t you sleeping?” Ding Rong replied, moving over and gesturing for the twin stars to sit beside him.
Everyone settled down, but the room, already small, became even more cramped with all these two-meter-tall men.
After a while, Qin Chunxiao said, “Er Leng had a nightmare too. He dreamt that we were on a plane, and he was sleep-talking, telling me and Little Chicken to parachute and escape. It was silly, where would we get parachutes on a commercial flight?”
Li Ling looked embarrassed. “I didn’t know.”
Fubiyang showed gratitude. “Well done, Er Leng. You even thought of me in your dream. After this Olympic tournament, I’ll personally cook you some coconut chicken. It’s a championship-level delicacy.”
You Ziyu laughed and said, “Then I’ll treat you all to hot dry noodles.”
The room fell silent again.
Gao Depi said, “I dreamt that Zhao Laogui didn’t retire until 2022. By then, many of us were already done for, and when Lao Niu took over, he couldn’t even assemble a decent team.”
Qiao Mingming added, “I dreamt that I had three major knee surgeries, just like Shulan, and I could only jump with the help of isolation.”
Tong Shulan sighed, “I dreamt that I watched in despair as Zhao Laogui led the national team, and I became so despondent that I didn’t want to go to the court. It was Yuling who came to encourage me in her wheelchair, and then I cried on her thigh. Wait, that doesn’t sound like a nightmare. It was the first time I dreamt of her after she passed away.”
Ding Rong said, “I dreamt that a doctor told me that if I jumped again, I would need a metal knee.”
Almost everyone had dreams that left them feeling sad, as if there was a world where everyone had been worn down and everyone’s dreams were quite chaotic, with the common elements being illogical and unreal, such as Er Leng’s dream of parachuting for escape, which clearly didn’t make sense in reality (commercial planes don’t carry passenger parachutes).
The only commonality among these nightmares was that everyone was in a tough situation, so tough that they could barely continue playing volleyball.
Qin Chunxiao rested his chin on his hands. “Did the versions of yourselves in the dreams keep going, enduring until Lao Niu took over and reformed the national team?”
Everyone unanimously replied, “Yes!”
Though the dream scenarios were vague and fragmented, and they contained illogical and unreal elements, men like them would persevere as long as their bodies allowed it, even in the face of adversity.
Then they all burst into laughter.
Xiong Wu sat with his legs crossed in a well-behaved manner, wearing a cheerful smile. “Although having collective nightmares before a big competition doesn’t seem like a good thing, I think our chances of winning the championship are not low.”
Liu Yuelou asked, “How not low?”
Xiong Wu replied, “Maybe fifty percent?”
For them, a fifty percent chance was already high. When they played against the Brazilian team earlier, some people believed their chances of winning were only thirty percent, and yet they still emerged victorious.
Qin Chunxiao stood up, hands on hips. “Comrades, I want to win the championship.”
Qiao Mingming stood up as well. “Then we’ll win the championship!”
They looked at each other, inexplicably reminded of their initial days when Lao Niu picked them for the World Youth Championship. They were a group of rowdy, inexperienced young men, but now they had come this far, stumbling and struggling.
The next day was the semifinals of the volleyball competition. On the women’s side, China played against Brazil, while Serbia faced Russia. On the men’s side, China played against France, and Russia played against Italy. The winning teams would advance to the finals.
Qin Chunxiao sipped on his Western Region Spring yogurt and walked into the arena with the team.
During the bidding process last year, Western Region Spring had become their sponsor, thanks to their outstanding performance and a generous offer. Since then, all eyes in China’s volleyball community had been on them. The women’s team had also made it to the semifinals, but their situation wasn’t great. After all, their prime opportunity for a championship was at the Rio Olympics, and now, four years later, many of their veteran players were plagued with injuries. They hadn’t retired simply because they wanted to represent the national team one more time before the new generation of players was ready.
To put it plainly, the women’s volleyball team was going through a bit of a rough patch. The only consolation was that they had an SSR player in the libero, setter, and opposite hitter positions. For example, Gao Hanyue, who had been getting close to Min Yaoyang recently, was one of them. Their skill levels had also improved significantly, and they had been burning their stamina bars alongside the veteran players, dragging the team into the semifinals.
Before the game started, Coach Niu spoke to the men’s volleyball team, “Don’t think that just because we defeated the Brazilian team, the American team, the Polish team, and the Italian team, we can let our guard down. Let me tell you, the women’s volleyball team next door has the world’s number one opposite hitter, and their situation is much better than ours. When they faced the Brazilian women’s volleyball team today, they were also very nervous. We don’t have the luxurious lineup that the women’s team has, so stay focused.”
It’s not time to relax yet, as Coach Niu is afraid that the recent victories might make these young players too proud.
Qiao Mingming extended his hand, saying, “I understand. Come on, comrades, let’s do this.”
The team members all placed their hands on Captain Mingming’s hand and shouted together, “Let’s do it!”
At this moment, the French team led by Sidney also entered the arena. Sidney, known for his sharp observation and the highest defense stats among the Five Great Beasts, looked serious. In his view, facing the Chinese team, which had recently defeated favorites like the Brazilian team, the Italian team, and the Polish team, was as challenging as his grandmother attempting to dunk against Kobe Bryant and Michael Jordan.
The coach of the French team said to the players, “As long as we win this match, the French team will make it to the podium. Sidney, I know you’re under pressure, but you must give it your all today.”
Sidney was the youngest among the Five Great Beasts, even younger than Qin Chunxiao by one year!
He took a deep breath and said, “I understand.”
Youth & Bittersweet Aftertaste
Link Ke Bacaan
Serina merupakan siswi SMA penyendiri dan memiliki kompleksitas karena demam panggung. Karena trauma masa lalu, Serina yang suka menari terlalu takut tampil di depan umum. Walau begitu, ia memiliki identitas lain yang tidak diketahui oleh siapa pun. Dia merupakan pemilik akun di balik sosok misterius ‘kelinci_putih’, tiktoker yang kontennya berisi video-video dance cover dengan satu juta follower. Menjadi tiktoker membuat Serina lupa dengan sosok pecundangnya di dunia nyata. Namun, demi menggaet hati cowok paling populer di sekolah, Serina memutuskan masuk ekskul dance untuk mengatasi demam panggungnya dan membangun kepercayaan diri.
Tojoillust 