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My Soulmate is a Libero - Chapter 186

Published at 14th of September 2023 07:24:42 AM


Chapter 186

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Chapter 186 Practice

My Soulmate is A Libero

[I found that some teams, when they get tough, can bring down the world’s number one, Brazil. If it weren’t for several key players being injured this time, we could have competed for the top two spots, couldn’t we?]

[It’s hard to say. The Brazilian team also has several injuries this time, not at their peak either.]

[The Olympics are next year. They should be fine, right?]

After the match between the Chinese team and the Brazilian team, there was a lot of speculation about the players’ conditions. Qin Chunxiao’s condition was indeed poor because his left wrist was swollen and, as Fu Biyang put it, “it’s like a pig’s elbow.”

Qin Chunxiao held his wrist and sighed, “What am I going to do about this?”

What to do? Nothing!

Newton directly prohibited Qin Chunxiao, Qiao Mingming, and Ding Rong from participating in the upcoming World Cup matches. With only one game left, playing hard wouldn’t make much of a difference. They might as well preserve some energy for next year’s Tokyo Olympics.

So, for the first time in their careers, the three pillars of the Chinese men’s volleyball team, the captain, vice-captain, and ace, enjoyed the treatment of sitting on the bench while their teammates played on the court.

Ding Rong said, “Hey, it’s like we’re retiring early, isn’t it?”

Qiao Mingming, wearing shoulder and waist supports, watched the game with sweat on his forehead. “Oh, Yangyang was too slow in this play. He missed the chance to spike!”

As for Qin Chunxiao, he was still shaking his wrist. His wrist not only hurt and was swollen but also felt sore. Even after applying a plaster and receiving therapy, he still felt uncomfortable. Yesterday, he played with this sore wrist all over the court, reducing Brazil’s offensive efficiency by thirty percent. It was truly a performance that raised his market value.

But unfortunately, except for the Hamster Club, most clubs in the world were cautious about accepting injured players. For example, this time, Yashenka requested that Qin Chunxiao rest and recover until at least December before going to St. Petersburg to play matches, if Qin Chunxiao didn’t want to retire too soon due to injury.

“Injuries are no joke. But if you keep playing without proper recovery, one day it will end your career,” said the top player in the volleyball world, giving them a stern warning.

Beside the team’s physiotherapist, Lu Yunchen carried a medicine box. When the physiotherapist left, he followed, making everyone in the Chinese team feel that the Lu brothers were quite focused on their romantic relationship.

Qin Chunxiao defended Lu Xuandong, “Dongzai doesn’t have that much of a love-brained. He won’t let his love life interfere with his work.”

Everyone else said, “Well, maybe he’s not as severe as his younger brother, but he still has a touch of love-brain, doesn’t he?”

Fortunately, fate was kind. The soulmates arranged for these two brothers were exceptionally good people. Otherwise, their father, Mr. Lu, would be really upset.

Surprisingly, even though several key players were injured, the Chinese team still won the final day of the World Cup matches and ranked at the top of the points table. This was a result significant enough to secure funding for the men’s volleyball team, and it made everyone from top to bottom breathe a sigh of relief.

Meanwhile, the peak showdown between the Russian and Brazilian teams had officially begun.

After reaping the rewards of China’s hard-fought victory yesterday, the Russian team clearly had the upper hand in terms of physical fitness today. In a certain sense, the Russian team’s high-point spikes were the antidote to Brazil’s flashy plays. Dominique wanted to block them, but his jumps were always a bit awkward.

Qin Chunxiao watched for a while and commented, “Dominique’s footwork looks like he got hit by something.”

Li Ling leaned over, “Let me see. It’s true, what’s wrong with this guy? Could he also be injured?”

The coach of the Brazilian team, Mars, fell silent. He felt embarrassed to say that Dominique injured himself by playing games and dropping his phone on his foot. In any case, Dominique’s phone would remain confiscated until the end of the World Cup!

Unfortunately, Coach Mars was a bit late in confiscating the phone. Roman, the guy with the title of the world’s number one beast, was in his prime. He leaped into the air, swung his hand, and spiked the ball to the ground like a cannonball, leaving the Brazilian team dizzy.

What was even more infuriating was that Roman’s teammates, Anton, Ruslan, and Soso, were also performing exceptionally well. Their bench was just as strong as the Brazilian team’s starting lineup, and for a while, there were no loopholes for the Brazilian team to exploit.

Qin Chunxiao stood there and started explaining the technical characteristics of the Russian team, “Don’t be fooled by the Russians’ aggressive style of play; several of their players have very delicate ball control. Don’t underestimate them.”

Li Ling agreed, “You’re right. Ruslan has a delicate touch. Originally, his serves were terrible, but Xiaozi trained him intensively for half a month under Nikolai’s guidance, and he’s improved a lot.”

Ding Rong playfully grabbed Little Qin’s neck and said, “You, Xiaozai, you’re too cunning!”

Qin Chunxiao rolled his eyes and replied, “It goes both ways, you know. Yashenka came to help us, the injured bunch, yesterday. One-sided friendships don’t last long. Coach Newton also implicitly approved of me helping the Russian team in non-critical areas!”

After some playful banter, the Brazilian team rallied again under the guidance of Mars but unfortunately couldn’t adjust their rhythm quickly enough and were eventually defeated by the Russian team.

The results of this World Cup were now in: the Russian team secured the first place with their hard work and China’s support, Brazil took second place, Poland third, and China ended up in fourth place once again.

How many times had they finished fourth?

Newton muttered but wasn’t dissatisfied. However, during the awards ceremony, the organizers surprisingly gave a personal honor to the Chinese team—Qin Chunxiao was named the Best Libero of this World Cup.

Many people just realized that Qin Chunxiao had hardly taken on an attacking role in this World Cup and had been quietly receiving serves on the defensive end. His defensive stats gradually climbed to the top of the World Cup, both in terms of the number of attackers faced and statistical performance. The Best Libero couldn’t have been anyone but Little Qin.

As the only individual award recipient from a team that didn’t make it to the podium, Qin Chunxiao walked up to the FIVB officials, received his certificate of honor, and posed for a photo with Roman, Dominique, and a few other award-winning teammates.

The kid naturally looked good, and with his big, bright blue eyes, standing among the tall and rugged men, Qin Chunxiao appeared exceptionally delicate.

Roman had interacted with Qin Chunxiao quite a bit in the Russian Super League, so they were familiar with each other. Now, they naturally extended their hands for a friendly gesture. However, their hands met in mid-air, creating a somewhat tense atmosphere between the two giants, both standing over two meters tall.

The photographer felt a bit awkward. The president of the FIVB had repeatedly instructed him to capture the athletes as a harmonious and close-knit family. What to do now?

At this crucial moment, the Best Setter, Caique, came to the rescue. He smiled and said, “Could you make the appropriate photo expressions a bit faster? I need to use the restroom. If you delay me and I embarrass myself due to an urgent bathroom situation, you won’t see the sun tomorrow!”

Qin Chunxiao kindly asked him, “Do you have a stomachache?”

Caique replied, “Don’t mention it. Dominique kept me up all night with his noise, and this morning I only had a few bites of breakfast. Who knew there were ingredients that my stomach is allergic to.”

Unfortunately, there were few medications available for athletes to use, so he was suffering. 

Qin Chunxiao offered, “Our team has stomach medication that athletes can use.”

Xiao Qin was quite grateful to Caique for feeding him with his serves in the previous life.

Caique immediately responded, “Thanks, if you ever come to Brazil, I’ll drive you guys around!”

Forget it, Caique only knows how to ride a motorcycle, and his driving style was wild. Qin Chunxiao thought he wouldn’t want to ride in Caique’s car until he’s at least 98 years old.

Thanks to Caique’s assistance, Qin Chunxiao remembered another sad matter at the Men’s World Cup. Although he was already 18 years old, and he even had the experience of getting a driver’s license from his previous life, he still hadn’t obtained his driver’s license in this life. He was still stuck at the third part of the test.

“I’ll have to retake the test for the third time when I get back.” After boarding the plane, Lu Xuandong swapped seats with someone near the Chinese team and overheard Qin Chunxiao complaining about how difficult the driver’s test was.

Lu Xuandong, who had passed his driver’s license test in one go, didn’t dare to mention how smoothly it had gone for him. He clenched his fists and encouraged, “You can do it!”

Qin Chunxiao sighed, “Both Er Leng and you have driver’s licenses, but I still don’t.”

His tone didn’t sound like a complaint. Instead, it was more like he was venting. Lu Xuandong realized that Qin Chunxiao had just missed out on the top two places in the World Cup, had his own injury to deal with, and couldn’t openly express his frustration about these matters. So, he needed some outlet for his emotions.

Lu Xuandong looked left and right, then hugged Qin Chunxiao, who responded by burying his head in Lu Xuandong’s neck, letting out a muffled sigh. It was a very uncharacteristic action for the tough Little Qin.

Holding him, Lu Xuandong felt his heart swell. “I’ll always be by your side. When you’re taking your driver’s test, I’ll go with you, okay?”

Qin Chunxiao said, “Alright.”

Qin Chunxiao didn’t have much else to do at the moment. After returning to China, he went through the motions with Newton and the team leaders and was then allowed to go home and recover. Lu Xuandong immediately seized the opportunity to find a driving school instructor, borrow a car, and accompany Qin Chunxiao as he practiced the maneuvers required for the third part of the driver’s license test. He even personally drove him to the test center. Qin’s dad and mom were insistent on not getting involved.

Before October arrived, Qin Chunxiao successfully obtained his driver’s license. Although all advice, from the driving instructor to Lu Xuandong, was for Qin to avoid driving as much as possible in the future…

Lu Xuandong initially considered giving Qin Chunxiao a car, but after spending a few days with him during driving practice, he quietly abandoned that idea. In Lu’s mind, Xiaozai was destined to challenge the limits of human longevity, and he couldn’t allow him to perish in a car accident.

Next on the agenda for Qin Chunxiao was attending university. Despite being a member of the national team, he couldn’t escape his academic responsibilities. Lu Xuandong had already rented a house near Zhonghai University and furnished it with a pile of luxurious furniture and an expensive mattress that Qin Chunxiao was accustomed to. It would serve as Qin Chunxiao’s residence while he pursued his studies.

It wasn’t that Lu Xuandong doubted Qin Chunxiao’s ability to get along with roommates. He was primarily concerned about the inconveniences that could arise from dormitory life, such as water and power cuts.

“When I was studying at the London School of Economics,” Lu Xuandong explained while making bone broth for Qin Chunxiao to help him recover, “I also rented a place off-campus. The facilities were much better, and besides, you exercise every day, right? Sweating it out but not being able to shower afterward, that would be quite uncomfortable, wouldn’t it?”

Qin Chunxiao found it a bit warm and decided to take a shower. 

“Are you sure you want to carry that pot of soup?” he asked.

Indeed, Qin Chunxiao was very young and healthy. Coupled with his proper diet and exercise regimen, his physique was full and vibrant with vitality. However, his constant bruises from the sports field couldn’t hide his enchanting appeal.

Lu Xuandong’s upbringing hadn’t allowed him to cultivate overly picky aesthetics. For him, as long as a person was healthy, their exuberant vitality and liveliness were the most appealing qualities. Qin Chunxiao perfectly fit his ideal.

He stood quietly in place, blinked his eyes, and then the bathroom door slammed open. Qin Chunxiao’s head emerged, and moist white steam escaped through the crack.

Qin Chunxiao’s expression was subtle as he asked, “Are you sure you want to bring that pot of soup?”

“Uh, what’s next?” Lu Xuandong looked entirely innocent in response.

He admitted that he was feeling a bit mischievous, but whenever he recalled the moment when Qin Chunxiao had pulled him in for a kiss during their confession, a mix of embarrassment and gratitude, he allowed his mischievous side to prevail over any inner turmoil.

Qin Chunxiao angrily closed the bathroom door with a loud bang. Lu Xuandong couldn’t resist bursting into laughter, but then the door was immediately thrown open again, and the blue-eyed snow leopard roared as it pounced.

Qin Chunxiao attempted to use the Brazilian jiu-jitsu he had learned in his previous life to take down this rather unconventional character. However, when he raised his leg to trip him, it didn’t work! 

Lu Xuandong, struggling to keep his balance, explained, “I’ve been practicing mixed martial arts, too…”

Qin Chunxiao said skeptically, “Is that so?”

He just couldn’t believe it! Today, he had to challenge Lu Xuandong to a fight.

So, they clashed in the room, making quite a racket. Lu Xuandong had the advantage in terms of size, and since Qin Chunxiao couldn’t really go all out on him, he managed to hold his own for a time. If the members of the Hamster Club saw this fighting spirit, they might start giving Lu Xuandong a second glance next time he walked on Russian turf.

The neighbor next door heard the commotion and expressed confusion, “Huh? Do we have a passionate and lively couple living next door?”

The neighbor certainly hadn’t expected that there really was a couple living next door, but the direction of their passion was a bit off.





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