Chapter 192: Whispers and Tracks

Hilton Hotel.

Huang Qianqian finished her shower and stepped out to find Wu Feifei messing with a compact Fujifilm camera.

Wu Feifei kept at it but casually said:

“So, who do you really like—Bing Ge or Xu Chen?”

Huang Qianqian was drying her hair when Wu Feifei’s words hit her, leaving her frozen for a moment.

She snapped out of it and laughed, saying:

“What are you talking about?!”

Wu Feifei went on fiddling with the camera while adding:

“I’m not blind, you know. At dinner, you kept sneaking glances at Xu Chen.”

…

Huang Qianqian chuckled and kept drying her hair as she replied:

“No, I wasn’t!”

Wu Feifei: “Oh, sure, if you say so.”

Huang Qianqian fell silent and focused on drying her hair.

She sat on the bed, looking a bit deflated: “I don’t even know…”

Wu Feifei finally set the camera down and turned to Huang Qianqian:

“Come on, spill it. What’s got our Huang heiress in a twist over romance?”

Huang Qianqian sighed and began:

“I’ve always had a huge crush on Bing Ge—real deal, too. I even wrote him a bunch of love letters.”

“Then when rumors about Xu Chen and Bing Ge started, I started noticing that guy in our class.”

“I paid a little more attention, and turns out, he’s pretty great.”

Wu Feifei: “Pretty great?”

Huang Qianqian: “Yeah, pretty great.”

“He’s got a solid personality, super talented, and always pushing forward.”

“He acts all carefree and fun, but he’s different from other guys—way more mature.”

“Next to him, the other boys seem childish, like kids playing around.”

“Plus, his family’s set up nicely in Tiancheng—solid background.”

“And the biggest thing? He’s got this mysterious vibe that makes you want to keep looking, to figure him out.”

“I’ve talked about it with a few other girls in class, and they feel the same.”

“Anyway, he’s just not like the rest.”

Wu Feifei smiled: “And he’s handsome, too.”

Huang Qianqian showed a hint of annoyance:

“Hey, cut it out! I don’t like him…”

Wu Feifei nodded: “Sure, just a crush.”

Huang Qianqian: “Don’t go spreading that! I’m still Bing Ge’s biggest fan—I can’t stand seeing other girls go after him!”

Wu Feifei burst out laughing:

“You’re something else!”

She paused, then grinned mischievously:

“What if I went after Bing Ge?”

Huang Qianqian widened her eyes:

“Wu Feifei, don’t you dare—Bing Ge would lose it!”

Wu Feifei laughed heartily:

“Just kidding!”

She leaned on the table, propping her chin with one hand:

“But it’s true, guys like that are rare.”

Huang Qianqian stood up, firm and serious:

“Wu Feifei, I’m warning you again—don’t get any ideas!”

Wu Feifei: “Relax, I was joking!”

Huang Qianqian remembered something and asked:

“Why is Fang Jun working at Xu Chen’s dad’s company? Her family’s got major connections.”

“I mean, their setup’s okay, but it’s just a small company in Tiancheng, right?”

Wu Feifei went back to the camera and said:

“Fang Jun’s got real vision.”

Huang Qianqian: “How so?”

Wu Feifei: “My dad says Xu Chen’s family company has a real shot at succeeding.”

Huang Qianqian: “Your dad thinks that?”

Wu Feifei: “And not just succeeding—it could get huge.”

“My dad says it could be really big!”

Huang Qianqian: “But Xu Chen always talks about how he and his dad came from the countryside.”

Wu Feifei smiled and added casually:

“So, my dad casually mentioned that Xu Chen’s about my age, talented, and all that.”

Huang Qianqian looked alert again, but Wu Feifei cut in:

“Okay, okay, I know—I’ll behave, or Bing Ge will have my head!”

……

……

The next day, Bing Ge’s competition day.

Xu Chen headed downstairs around 9 a.m. and ran into Fang Jun in the hotel restaurant.

Wu Feifei and Huang Qianqian were at another hotel and in a different section of the stands, so they didn’t plan to meet up.

Fang Jun glanced at her phone and said:

“Yue Jie and Li Rui are almost at the station, getting ready to get off the train.” ……

As they ate, Director Feng Siliang walked over with a smile: “You two are up early!”

He was staying at the same hotel and had arrived two days before Xu Chen and Fang Jun.

With Director Feng Siliang were reporters and camera crew from the City TV Station, needing to film some National Games material in advance.

A couple of days ago, they had coordinated through the City Sports Bureau to shoot some of Xie Bingran’s training footage.

By now, the reporters and camera crew had already headed to the stadium to set up.

Over breakfast, Director Feng Siliang updated Xu Chen on the preparations from the City TV Station and other media.

Xu Chen had handled all the communications and arrangements beforehand, so nothing major would go wrong.

……

After breakfast, the three walked to Tianhe Stadium.

Along the way, they passed plenty of people heading to the Sports Center—clearly there for the games.

Today was packed with track events, especially the sprints, which were thrilling and drew a big crowd.

As soon as they reached the stadium’s outer area, huge National Games posters were everywhere.

The plaza in front of the stadium was buzzing with people.

Fans taking photos, patrolling security and police, reporters doing interviews, and university volunteers in orange vests…

While lining up for security at the entrance, a clear voice called out:

“Xu Chen!”

Turning around, it was Wu Feifei and Huang Qianqian.

Director Feng Siliang turned and saw Wu Feifei, looking surprised for a second, then smiled awkwardly:

“Feifei, you’re here too…”

Wu Feifei was the daughter of a high-ranking official, so Director Feng Siliang knew her well.

Wu Feifei looked at Director Feng Siliang, paused as if trying to remember, then recalled he was from the city but couldn’t place his name.

Xu Chen glanced at Wu Feifei and quickly caught on to her awkward spot, saying deliberately:

“I forgot to mention, Director Feng from the City Publicity Department just arrived.”

Wu Feifei smiled and said: “Hello, Director Feng. What a coincidence.”

Director Feng Siliang beamed, clearly eager around the daughter of a big leader.

He asked if she needed a ride, where she was staying, or any help with arrangements…

Wu Feifei: “Don’t worry, Director Feng, my dad has it all sorted!”

Director Feng Siliang: “Great, that’s good! If you need anything while I’m here, just let me know!”

Wu Feifei: “Thanks, Director Feng.”

Xu Chen cut in: “Let’s go, time to get through security.”

……

The group headed to the entrance together.

Director Feng Siliang trailed behind, watching Xu Chen and Wu Feifei, a new curiosity stirring in his mind…

Fang Jun was there for work, but Wu Feifei was clearly just here for the event.

In Director Feng Siliang’s guess, Wu Feifei had probably coordinated with Xu Chen to come along, sparking some questions about their relationship…

To Director Feng Siliang, both Wu Feifei and Fang Jun were young but from influential backgrounds he needed to impress.

Especially Wu Feifei, with her family’s real power.

And both seemed close to Xu Chen…

Director Feng Siliang couldn’t help but think he’d need to pay more attention to ‘Teacher Xiao Xu’ going forward.

……

After passing security, Teacher Chen Ming stepped out with a smile.

He handed two tickets to Xu Chen and Fang Jun.

Huang Qianqian, not expecting to see a teacher from their school, quickly greeted:

“Hello, Teacher Chen Ming!”

Chen Ming didn’t know Huang Qianqian, so Xu Chen introduced her:

“This is my classmate Huang Qianqian. She’s here to watch Bing Ge’s competition and we just bumped into her.”

Chen Ming nodded and smiled.

Xu Chen remembered something and turned to Director Feng Siliang:

“This is Director Feng from the City Publicity Department, and this is our First High School’s Teacher Chen Ming, who used to coach Xie Bingran.”

Director Feng and Chen Ming shook hands, getting acquainted.

Xu Chen continued:

“Director Feng, we could arrange for the City TV Station reporters to interview Teacher Chen Ming…”

“Talk about Xie Bingran’s training at First High School and her current preparations.”

Director Feng Siliang smiled: “Perfect! We need more interview material.”

“Teacher Chen Ming, I’ll add your contact info. Later, I’ll bring the reporters and camera crew over!”

Chen Ming: “Sure, Director Feng. There’s also Tian Fangfang from First High School, who was Xie Bingran’s close coach. I’ll get her to join us!”

As he spoke, Chen Ming glanced at Xu Chen with a grateful look.

After all, Chen Ming and Tian Fangfang were here with some promotional tasks for First High School.

Getting on TV to hype the school would mean they’d nailed the principal’s assignment…

The group lined up to enter.

Fang Jun looked back and saw Wu Feifei and Huang Qianqian following:

“Aren’t your seats in section 7? You should enter from the other side.”

Wu Feifei smiled: “We want to stick with you guys…”

“Heard you have a crowd—we can all cheer for Bing Ge together!”

Huang Qianqian: “Yeah! We’ll just stand; we don’t need seats!”

Director Feng Siliang quickly said: “Take my seat. I’ll find another one for you later!”

Xu Chen: “Seats aren’t a problem. Bing Ge’s friends haven’t shown up yet, so we can squeeze in for now.”

“Once they arrive, we can make room for a couple more!”

Wu Feifei: “Awesome!”

……

……

Stepping through the narrow passageway, the view opened up wide.

The vast stadium stretched out, filled with the buzz from the surrounding stands.

Athletes warmed up on the track, while photographers with their gear moved along the barriers.

The LED screen rolled highlights from earlier events.

In an instant, the stadium’s energy fired everyone up.

……

Section 12 of the stands offered great views, right at the finish line.

Their spot was in an open area.

The surrounding seats were already filling up. Clearly, the National Games drew more attention than the last National Youth Championships.

In fact, CCTV 5 was broadcasting the National Games live, with nonstop specials.

They’d spotted CCTV interview vans and reporters outside earlier.

As the biggest domestic multi-sport event after the Asian Games, it was hugely popular.

Xu Chen stood at the edge of the stands, scanning the wide field.

Teacher Chen Ming walked over and said with a smile: “Still early—Bing Ge hasn’t entered yet.”

His phone buzzed, and after checking it, he told Xu Chen:

“Come on, I’ll introduce you to Bing Ge’s team leader coach at the national level.”

Xu Chen: “The team leader coach?”

Chen Ming explained: “Bing Ge has two main coaches on the national team—one’s the head coach, Sun Mouping, and the other’s the team leader coach, Cheng Hong.”

“The team leader handles daily management for the athletics team, everything outside core training—it’s a key role.”

“Bing Ge’s competing for the provincial team this time, but Coach Cheng has several athletes in the National Games and came along.”

Xu Chen nodded and followed Chen Ming toward the passageway.

They went down the steps to the ground-level waiting area.

Long barriers separated the audience from the athletes, with security guards posted everywhere.

Xu Chen followed Chen Ming to a section of the barrier.

Soon, two people approached from inside—one was Teacher Tian Fangfang.

Xu Chen looked up and saw a young woman following her.

She looked about Fang Jun’s age, maybe twenty-six or twenty-seven.

Dressed in a red-and-white tracksuit, with her long hair in a neat ponytail and bangs framing her forehead.

They walked up quickly and stopped behind the barrier.

Tian Fangfang smiled and said:

“Let me introduce you—this is Cheng Hong, Xie Bingran’s team leader coach on the national team!”

“And this is Xu Chen.”

Xu Chen politely bowed slightly and said:

“Hello, Coach Cheng, I’m Xu Chen!”

Cheng Hong smiled, eyeing Xu Chen up and down, and reached out to shake his hand over the barrier.

“So, this is what Xu Chen looks like…” Cheng Hong said with a curious tone.

“Ah?” Xu Chen was a bit confused.

Cheng Hong: “That brown leather bag Xie Bingran carries everywhere—is that from you?”

Xu Chen: “Yeah, I got it for her.”

Cheng Hong: “No wonder—she sleeps with it every night!”

Xu Chen: “…”

Chen Ming and Tian Fangfang exchanged glances, barely holding back laughs.

Cheng Hong chuckled and added:

“Bing Ge’s in prep mode—she’ll only come out after her run.”

“I just wanted to swing by and say hi, get to know you…”

Xu Chen smiled and said:

“In a couple of days, we’re throwing a celebration and graduation banquet for Bing Ge in Tiancheng. Would you have time to join, Coach Cheng? I actually have a few things I’d like to discuss with you.”

Cheng Hong: “What do you want to ask me about?”