My Mr. Mermaid

Untitled Part 25

Chapter 25 by ryuxenji

The news agency attached a lot of importance to the tournament this time — other than Yun Duo and Lin Zi, Teacher Sun and another experienced senior reporter, Qian Xu-Dong, were also sent along to cover the event. Lin Zi was pretty much useless and could be ignored — initially, the reporters to be sent out did not include him, because the value of his contributions would not even compare to the price of the two plane tickets to send him there and back. However, Lin Zi had a wilful spirit backed by a fat wallet — that bit of money was not at all a concern for him, so he had funded his own trip here.

Qian Xu-Dong was held in high esteem by Director Liu. Although he was a little overconfident, he was indeed talented. This time, he had come to the Champions Tournament not only to interview those well-known athletes. He had another mission: If Tang Yi-Bai performed well, he was to try to arrange an exclusive interview with Tang Yi-Bai and his coach Wu Yong.

At 7 o'clock sharp that evening, the finals for the men's 100-metre began. Yun Duo was hanging out near the audience seats right behind the starting blocks of the pool. This position was advantageous because she would be able to capture a frontal shot of the swimmers during their acceleration in the later half of the race, as well as capture their expressions at the very moment when they touched the wall. However, the downside was that the view was not as good as from the side of the pool for observing the overall progress of the race.

In fact, Yun Duo really wanted to watch the race from the side, but the better position naturally had to be reserved for the superiors ... and so Qian Xu-Dong and Teacher Sun were both there. Only Lin Zi was accompanying her here at the back.

For this Champions Tournament, the reporters had been allowed a wide range of movement, but they could not go near the pool. Even for the post-race interviews after the swimmers have come out of the water, the reporters could only remain outside the raised fence and ask their questions through the fence, like deer being fed by tourists at a zoo.

Amidst the chatter of the crown, the athletes entered the arena. Tang Yi-Bai was fourth in line. He entered with long strides, pulling down the zipper of his sports jacket as he walked. Just these simple movements were enough to draw the excited screams of a small group of girls from somewhere in the audience.

Yun Duo was very close to the girls; she felt as if she had been blasted by a sonic weapon. She rubbed her ears and thought, Tang Yi-Bai really has fans now!

Although still very few ...

After Tang Yi-Bai had taken everything off except a pair of swimming trunks, he stood beside a starting block. Hs height did not stand out among the swimmers, but he easily drew the most attention. This was because his body proportions were very nice ... erm, well, that's not really true. At least, Tang Yi-Bai did not think that he was very well-proportioned — his legs were too long. But it was precisely these slightly longer legs of his which skewed his proportions closer to the golden ratio which aligned best with the aesthetic values of the average person.

He stood up on the starting block.

This was the first time Yun Duo had seen him compete from this angle. She could only see his back.

His shoulders were broad and even, the slight swell of his solid deltoid muscles clearly visible, brimming with power. Over his broad back, smooth and well-balanced muscles covered his scapulae. There was a slight indent along the column of his spine, like a small mountain valley. The valley trailed downwards through the slender yet tough back muscles, forming an undulating line, tapering into a narrow waist which extended into black swimming trunks.

The flowing lines of his two long straight legs were like mercury pouring down rolling hills — beautiful compact muscles with explosive power contained beneath those fluid lines.