Chapter 28: 027

027 "Look at what you're saying — am I not even as good as a donkey?"

The next day, a brand-new car was driven home.

Fang Qingye driving to work didn't draw any comments. Nanxin County is in central Jiangsu; although it can't compare to the wealthy southern Jiangsu region, it's still better than other places, so a young person buying a new car after starting work isn't anything unusual.

But after driving for two days, Fang Qingye no longer wanted to drive to work. The main reason was that the workplace had too few parking spots — if he went late he'd have to find a spot on the street outside, which was really troublesome. It was more convenient to ride his little scooter.

That afternoon after work, just as he rode his little scooter out of the workplace gate, his phone buzzed in his pocket. He took it out and saw it was Liu Dong calling, so he picked up.

"Ye Zi, you free tonight? Wanna play badminton?"

Fang Qingye was a bit surprised hearing this: "I'm free tonight — no overtime?"

Ever since Liu Dong had been seconded to the County Committee's Propaganda Department, he rarely came out to hang out with them — every day it was either going down to the countryside or working overtime.

"How could I work overtime every day? Even a production team's donkey has to rest a few days, right?" Liu Dong replied over the phone.

Hearing Liu Dong's words, Fang Qingye teased: "I heard my dad say that a production team's donkey is also very precious. Although a donkey can work hard, it can't be overworked — generally only allowed to work 6 to 8 hours, and it has to be well managed and well fed..."

"Look at what you're saying — am I not even as good as a donkey?"

Fang Qingye burst out laughing: "Just kidding. I've got nothing going on tonight, but why'd you suddenly think of playing badminton? You're no match for me."

"So I'm learning from you, then. Seven-thirty tonight, the badminton hall at the county stadium."

"OK!"

Actually, Fang Qingye would have preferred to go to the Yikangyuan Sports & Leisure Center, four kilometers southeast of the county town, next to Longyou Lake. It had lots of entertainment options — fishing, tennis, badminton, a tourism hall, tea arts and chess cards, and so on — plus lodging and dining. The conditions were much better than the sports center, though of course the price was a bit higher: 35 yuan per hour for the court, while the stadium was 15.

But since Liu Dong had suggested the stadium, Fang Qingye didn't say anything.

After dinner that evening, Fang Qingye rested for a while. When he saw the time was about right, he slung his badminton bag over his shoulder — inside were his racket, sports clothes, and sneakers — went downstairs, hopped on his little scooter, and headed straight for the stadium.

The county stadium was on the east side of the county town, near Nanxin No. 2 Middle School, with a standard 400-meter track and various sports venues alongside it.

Fang Qingye parked his little scooter outside the stadium, walked in with his bag, and entered the badminton hall. There were quite a few people playing inside — of the six courts, most were full with only one left. He spotted Liu Dong waving at him.

Liu Dong was of medium height, just under 1.75 meters, and wore a pair of glasses that gave him a refined, gentle look — even now in his sports clothes he still looked that way.

Only his skin was a bit pale, almost like a girl's.

He himself was a bit darker, but he didn't care.

Fang Qingye first went to the locker room and changed into a red-and-yellow sports shirt and shorts, along with a pair of Yonex sneakers — his racket was also Yonex. This set of gear had been bought back in his senior year of college and he'd brought it home after graduation.

Carrying his bag to the side of the court, he warmed up his hands and feet, and the two of them got on the court and started playing.

Badminton was the sport Fang Qingye was best at, thanks to his mother — Zhang Meili.

Zhang Meili had loved playing badminton when she was young. It was said that back in the day she'd represented the county at the city's amateur badminton competition and even won an award.

Fang Qingye had learned to play badminton from his mom as a child. After starting middle school, he'd even specifically found a coach at the sports school to train with for a period, in order to compete in the city-level middle school student athletics meet — and won a silver medal.

Once he got to high school, his studies got intense and he let it slide a bit. In college, he picked the hobby back up and joined the school's badminton club. Although he couldn't compare to professional athletes, his level was considered fairly high among amateurs.

Looking at Liu Dong by contrast, it was obvious he hadn't received any professional training — his grip technique, ready stance, court positioning, and serve all had problems, not to mention his messy footwork and faulty strokes.

But they were just friends having fun together, so of course Fang Qingye didn't need to show off his skills with some big smash or anything — sometimes he'd just feed easy shots to his opponent, so the guy wouldn't have to keep picking up the shuttle.

But Liu Dong seemed a bit unhappy about it.

"Hey, Ye Zi, how come your skills have gotten worse? Put some power into it!"

Holy crap....

Without another word, Fang Qingye seized the chance and strung together several beautiful jumping smashes, sending Liu Dong running all over the place, utterly wretched.

Couldn't return them — simply couldn't return them.

Liu Dong didn't get annoyed either. He wiped the sweat from his forehead and said with a smile: "Awesome! Ye Zi, can you teach me?"

"Teach you? Your level is too weak — look, you can't even serve properly, and you want me to teach you big smashes?!" Fang Qingye stated honestly.

"Then I'll start from the most basic serve!"

Fang Qingye was a bit surprised hearing this: "What's this about? I remember in middle school I asked you to learn and you wouldn't — now you want to?"

"Yeah, I really do. After we're done I'll treat you to barbecue."

"Alright then, since you want to learn, we'll start from the very basics. Come here." Fang Qingye said.

When Liu Dong walked over and the two stood side by side, Fang Qingye looked at his grip and said:

"Your grip is wrong. It should be like this: 'Forehand grip — hold the racket with your left hand so the racket face is perpendicular to the ground. Open your right hand, with the web between thumb and index finger facing the inside of the racket frame, and the hypothenar muscle of your palm resting against the end of the racket handle...'"

Fang Qingye taught very patiently, Liu Dong listened very attentively, and then began practicing as instructed. The two-hour exercise time passed just like that — apart from the first ten-odd minutes of actual play, the rest was spent teaching Liu Dong the most basic movements.

Grip, serve, footwork movement.....

After they finished, the two went to the shower room and washed up, then changed into clean clothes, packed up their things, and left the badminton hall. They went to a nearby Pangwa Barbecue shop, ordered some meat skewers, and chatted over beer.

"Ye Zi, you free tomorrow night? Teach me some more." Liu Dong said.

Fang Qingye had just picked up his beer mug, but hearing this he set it down and looked at the other man: "Something's off."

"What's off?"

"How come you've suddenly gotten hooked on badminton? Not working overtime either?"

"Look at what you're saying — you're making me sound like some overtime machine... Look, I can't do any sport at all, I've got to learn one, right?" Liu Dong replied after taking a sip of beer.

"No way — your table tennis isn't pretty good?" Fang Qingye countered.

"Table tennis is outdated."

"Nonsense — table tennis is the national sport, how could it be outdated? There must be some other reason!" Fang Qingye said, his face full of disbelief, then suddenly thought of something: "Did you get a girlfriend? She likes playing badminton?!"

Liu Dong let out a couple of chuckles but didn't answer.

Fang Qingye wouldn't let it go and pressed him.

"Just as I thought! What's the girl's name? Which unit is she from? We're bros — you don't have to hide it from me, right? Spill it!"

He didn't expect Liu Dong to say: "Then I'll tell you the truth — I didn't find any girlfriend. It's our unit's Director Wang who likes playing badminton."