Always In Your Smile

Chapter-8:Revelation

In the bedroom, Ming crossed to sit beside the small girl curled up on the bed. Resting his hand on her head, he softly spoke her name. "Yao-Yao."

She didn't move for a moment, frozen still in her panicked state.

Realising this, he reached out and started to softly stroke her hair in an even pattern, "Just listen to my voice, Yao-Yao," He kept his voice steady and even, "You're in your hotel room in Shanghai, you came to watch ZGDX play the Spring Final. I strongly suspect you want to shout at me for not telling you about retiring."

"Gē!" It took a few minutes, but he was finally rewarded with a small sound - a single syllable but one that was clearly definable.

"Alright, mei-mei..." He rested his hand underneath hers, "Count to five, take a deep breath and tap each one on my hand."

Slowly but surely, the taps came until she opened her eyes completely to look up him and murmured: "You are so in trouble!"

He merely smiled and helped her up to a sitting position, leaning against him. "Do you want to rest or meet your new team-mates who are all currently with Chen Jin-Yang out in your sitting room?"

"Ming-ge!" It was however broken by a yawn as her eyes started to close, tired out from the attack. "I slapped him, Ming! I actually slapped hiiiiim." Yawn.

His deep concern only in his eyes, he gently laid her back down on the bed and ran a hand over her head. "Rest, little cousin. I'll be outside with everyone when you're ready."

Waiting until he was sure that she was genuinely sleeping, Ming left the room to re-join his team and the young lady he had only ever really spoken to over the phone before now (except for the time in the hospital). She was clearly waiting for him as she moved straight to him. "Is Tong Yao alright?"

"She'll be fine but there's a reason she normally brings Da Bing everywhere with her these days."

Ming replied. "Are you staying with her?"

"I wish I could, but my grandmother is waiting for me."

Jin-Yang picked up her bag. "Tell her to call me."

Ming nodded, waited for her to leave the room then turn to Lu Si Cheng, "Come with me, I need to know what you overheard Cheng-ge because she just said that she slapped someone... I need to know why?"

The two men moved across the room and stepped out onto the attached balcony, leaving their team members behind to look at each other.

"Something tells me things are never going to be the same." K murmured finally as he settled back into the chair that he had claimed.

"Truth!" Xiao Pang replied.

Outside on the balcony, Ming turned Lu Si Cheng and simply said, "Why?"

"He implied that if she had told him she was joining us, he would have cheated and let us win."

"That would be enough..." Ming broke off. "Something else?"

"I get the feeling that was their second talk of the day." Cheng-ge frowned slightly.

"There's another reason why your cousin..." He looked at Ming closely for a moment before continuing, "And she is your cousin, isn't she! ...Why both of you are this angry with Sunflower, isn't there?"

"If all secrets are going to be revealed, Yao-Yao needs to be a part of this conversation." Ming responded.

An hour later, the door of the bedroom opened, and Tong Yao emerged, looking slightly refreshed. Her eyes widened as she looked at the six young men sitting around her hotel sitting room. "And I thought he was joking."

Ming smiled as he rose and moved towards her...

Only to find himself being stopped by a small, slender hand being held up. "Stop right there Yu Ming! I'm not talking to you!"

"Yao-Yao!" The highly but similar notes in both voices had the others smiling. "Mei-mei...!"

"Oh no, you're not getting out of it this time, Ge-ge!"

She pushed a finger into his chest, "Just why did I have to find out from your team manager that you were thinking of retiring! After everything we talked about when the decision to retire was forced on me, through no fault or choosing of my own!"

He folded his arms and glared back down at her. "Oh, and you have been so forthcoming with what you were doing!"

"I had a reason for doing it this way!" She shot back.

"I know I said this was going to be interesting, but I was not expecting this." Lu Si Cheng murmured loud enough for Lao K to hear.

He then cleared his throat loudly and then found himself the focus of two very similar pairs of dark eyes. He raised an eyebrow back at them, silently warning them to back down, "I've worked out how you two are related, time to come clean to everyone else, I think?"

"Yes, explain this if you will." Xiao Rui jumped in and then found himself the focus of the joint gaze.

Looking back at each other for a moment, Tong Yao actually moved her nose much like a rabbit which had Ming shaking his head slightly back at her. He then moved to Tong Yao's side and wrapped his arm around her shoulders (she was actually still shaking slightly from her earlier panic attack) before moving them to smaller settee. Taking the draped blanket laying there, he wrapped it around her and then sat down beside her.

"Who are you?" It was Lao Mao, unable to hold back his confusion anymore. "Xiao Rui called you Tong Yao, but Pang said your name was Yu Te Yi??"

Tong Yao nodded her head. "I'm both of them if the truth be told, the former more than the latter these days although I'll always be her in some ways."

"Huh!"

"I thought so!" It was K who leaned forward. "It's not Te Yi is it! It's literally Y.T.Y T for Tong, Y for Yao. Yu Tong Yao. You're the cousin he mentioned earlier!"

Tong Yao's eyes flooded with a warm but still sad smile. "Yes, I'm the determined cousin he mentioned earlier." She tilted her head sideways to look at him.

"The cousin that's still mad at him for letting her find out this way."

"For which I am truly sorry." Ming replied. "I should have let you know that this was coming."

She looked at him for a moment and then nodded. "Okay."

The simplicity of the apology and its acceptance left the room in stunned silence.