Picture Us | Zhuo Zhi

twenty-one

t e a m  c e l e b r a t i o n

At He Xinglong's dad's restaurant, Nam sits between her twin and Zhuo. Across the table from Nam, Ying is sitting next to Jiale.

"Lu Xia," Qiao Chen says, "you are the biggest hero today."

"Chi, Jiale, and Baiyang also won, right?" Xia asks.

"You... you choose to be humble now?" Nam whispers to her twin.

"Okay boy," Qiao responds, "I am so grateful that you said that and that you think that way."

"It's just a victory," Xia says.

"Right. It is teamwork," Dayong says. "We are all heroes."

"Here's a little secret," Jiale says, who's sitting next to Ying, across the table from Nam.

"Ying," Zhuo asks, "who did you cheer for today?"

"I... didn't," she answers.

"We don't need to point it out. We all saw who you were cheering for today," Jiale teases.

"Mhm," Qiao Chen agrees.

"And you," Jiale continues, looking straight across to Nam, "seem to be very close with someone, too."

"Jiale," Dachi says, "don't talk anymore."

"Then you talk more," he responds, looking between the two girls.

"Stop it," Siyang commands, from the head of the table. "You all did a good job today. Let's do our best and achieve the final victory. Yu Qing!" he cheers.

Everyone raises their glasses of juice, cheering to Siyang's speech.

Xinglong then comes out with more food. "Lu Xia," he asks, "what else would you like? My father cooks for our celebrations. Help yourselves."

"Yes," Mr. He says, "players can't win on an empty stomach. Help yourselves. There's more. Xinglong, take care of them."

"Okay dad," he answers, but then excuses himself to go back to the kitchen.

Nam, being the observant type, seems to be the only one that doesn't miss Mr. He's sign of back pain. I hope he's alright, she thinks.

"Okay," Siyang says. "You're all hungry, right? Let's eat." To that, everyone starts digging in.

Nam sighs as she seems to be the only one who notices that her twin has started to doze off. I need to prepare a separate plate for him, Nam thinks, or he's not going to eat at all tonight... and then I'd have to scold him for two things!

-

"Zhuo Zhi, what sauce is this?" Jiale asks as he takes a bite.

"Is it good?" Zhuo asks with a smirk. "It's my newly made spicy sauce.

Nam perks up at the mention of spice. Meanwhile, Jiale doesn't handle the spice well, and he begs Xinglong for water.

Yan seems to like the idea of a new tortuous recipe and asks Zhuo for it, but Jiale is quick to go against that.

"Zhi," Nam quietly asks, "can... can I try some?"

"Nam, no!" Jiale protest. "It's too spicy!"

She handles the spice with ease, shocking the table. Ying shushes everyone due to her finally noticing a sleeping Xia.

"Oh, don't worry," Nam says, "Xia... he'll sleep through most things."

Qiao Chen then pulls out a marker to draw on Xia's eyepatch.

"He Xinglong," Nam asks, "can I... take some food to go... for Xia to eat later?"

"Of course," he answers.

-

Outside the restaurant, Nam stands next to Zhuo Zhi.

"Okay, everyone. Go home and have some rest. We have practice tomorrow. Bye," Siyang says as he departs from the team. Everyone says their goodbyes as they leave.

"Zhi," Nam says before he leaves.

"Yes?"

"You, um... you had quite an, uh... impressive stunt."

"The Swallows Return?"

"Yes! I've never seen anything like it before."

"Thanks. Yu Qing has strong players."

"That they do."

"Goodnight, Nam."

"Night, Zhi... I really enjoyed seeing you play," she says as she blushes. Thankfully, the night sky covers that up.

Zhuo softly chuckles as he bids his final farewell for the night.

Nam looks over to where her twin and Ying are. She sees Xia waiting with her, even though their house is close. I'll give them some alone time, Nam decides.