Chapter Fifty-Nine: The Pink Princess Room
Geng Haoshi imagined himself driving a Lamborghini, stacks upon stacks of crisp bills piled high on the back seat—his reward for winning the championship, tens of millions in prize money. Beside him sat a graceful woman in splendid attire: it was Yang Mimi...
Lost in these thoughts, Geng Haoshi began to smile foolishly.
At that moment, Li Shishi stood behind Geng Haoshi, massaging his shoulders. Noticing his smile, she asked curiously, “Senior, what are you smiling about?”
Hearing her voice, Geng Haoshi snapped out of his reverie. He glanced around. “Where’s Mimi?”
“Mimi had something to take care of and went home early,” Li Shishi replied sweetly.
“Oh.”
Geng Haoshi mused: If only I could become a national team player and a superstar club athlete, winning all those bonuses! Then, facing the goddess Mimi, I could confess with confidence.
He took a deep breath and suddenly stood up. “Quick, quick, quick! Training, training, training!”
Seeing Geng Haoshi throw himself into practice, the other players, still burping from their lunch, hurriedly followed. The allure of money had left a deep imprint on their hearts—each of them longed to be spotted by a national team scout and rise to fame and fortune overnight.
The players, as if injected with energy, trained tirelessly until nightfall.
Seeing that no one seemed ready to stop, Yu Manman smiled and asked, “What, none of you are planning to eat dinner?”
“Coach, skipping a meal or two is no big deal. Tonight, we’ve decided to spend the night with our beloved basketball!” Geng Haoshi hugged his basketball with one arm, caressing it lovingly.
Yu Manman shook her head. “I don’t care if you eat or sleep, as long as you’re up at six for training.”
With that, she turned and left.
In truth, Geng Haoshi and the others had eaten so much at noon that they were still digesting.
“Senior, the kitchen and dining hall have just been renovated!” Li Shishi emerged from a room in the gym. “If you don’t want to eat out, I can go buy some ingredients and cook a delicious meal for you all!”
“That’s very kind of you, Shishi!” Before Geng Haoshi could answer, Zhu Di chimed in eagerly.
Watching Li Shishi leave the gym in high spirits, Zhu Di slung an arm around Geng Haoshi’s shoulder. “Little Second, you must have saved the universe in your past life—how else would such a cute, capable girl be so devoted to you?”
Zhu Di looked at Geng Haoshi, then pointed at Zhou Xiaoshan. “Even someone like Lin Ling—such a fierce woman—was claimed by someone. Aren’t you going to claim your adorable little admirer?”
“Get lost!... I already have Mimi!” Geng Haoshi could only declare so boldly when Yang Mimi wasn’t around.
Sun Peng had also checked out the kitchen and dining hall, remarking, “They really worked fast—finished everything in just one morning!”
“Isn’t there also a dorm just for the basketball team?”
The players put down their basketballs and began touring the newly renovated rooms.
“Is this going to be our dorm from now on?!”
Inside, each dorm room had two bunk beds, two sets of wooden desks and wardrobes, an air conditioner, a washing machine, and the overall space was even bigger than the school’s six-person dorms.
“It’s so luxurious!... But I love it!” Geng Haoshi flopped onto a bed already made with soft bedding. “So comfortable!”
“Then I’ll take the upper bunk above Little Second!” Zhu Di patted the top bunk, claiming it as his own.
“First come, first served, brothers!” The other players also hurried to choose their beds.
After a while, someone exclaimed, “Come look! There are two pink rooms over here!”
At the call, everyone gathered in the pink rooms—pink walls, pink floors, two large pink beds, pink dressing tables, pink bookshelves, pink ceilings, even pink chandeliers!
Zhu Di mused, “With two rooms like this, each with two big beds... That means not just the coach, but even our basketball club manager has a place to sleep!”
Zhang Zhaolong exclaimed, “Ha! Four beauties will be living next door to us!”
“Why are you so excited?” Zhu Di immediately poured cold water on the idea. “Lin Ling belongs to Xiaoshan, the coach is the devil, Yang Mimi and Li Shishi are...” He didn’t finish, but glared at Geng Haoshi.
“Isn’t it strange, though?” Geng Haoshi quickly changed the subject. “Given the coach’s personality, how could she agree to such a pink dorm?”
With Geng Haoshi’s comment, the players all found it odd.
Actually, the girls had settled their dorm décor the night before. Since each had her own ideas and Yu Manman wasn’t as strict with the girls as she was with the players, they decided by drawing lots. In the end, Li Shishi drew the unique slip, so their dorm was designed as a pink princess room according to her vision.
“Hey, look—the two rooms are connected!”
Beside the pink bookshelf there was a small door in the wall, allowing passage from one princess room to the other.
“If only our rooms were connected to theirs,” Zhang Zhaolong said, smiling dreamily.
“Why don’t you ever learn?” Zhu Di continued to rain on their parade. “They won’t be interested in you—best not to waste your thoughts.” As he spoke, he glared again at Geng Haoshi.
Zhang Zhaolong pouted. “Can’t we at least look?”
“Yeah, looking is good enough,” Wang Meng agreed.
“You guys are hopeless,” Zhu Di muttered, glancing sideways at Zhang Zhaolong and Wang Meng. “Better focus on getting noticed by the national team scouts.”
His words met with unanimous nods. Being chosen by the national team had become their greatest yearning. If they made it, would they still worry about finding admirers?
Soon, Li Shishi returned, carrying two large bags.
Seeing Geng Haoshi and the others in her room, she asked, “Senior, isn’t our room beautiful? I designed it myself, you know.”
Geng Haoshi thought, No wonder it’s so pink.
“Senior, I’ll go start cooking now,” Li Shishi said, blowing Geng Haoshi a kiss before heading to the kitchen with her bags.
About thirty minutes later, her voice echoed from the kitchen: “Senior, the meal is ready—come eat!”
Drawn by the delicious aroma, the players made their way to the kitchen and dining hall...