Chapter 21 Section 1

The drive was strong and fifteen balls rolled in all directions.One of the bones rolled into the corner pocket.Zhe Lang couldn't confirm what number the ball was, and the face of the male player in the match suddenly sank, and Zhe Lang could see it in his eyes. After observing the position of the ball for a while, Masako Tanakura bent down her slightly fat waist and set up the cue stick.Zherang knew which ball she was aiming at, but not quite how she was aiming. Tian Cang Masako pushed the pool cue lightly, and the hit cue ball hit the No. 1 ball, and then the No. 1 ball drew a curve on the pool table and rolled into Zhe Lang's unexpected ball pocket.The perfect skill made people want to applaud, but Masako Tanakura took it for granted that he scored, and began to think about how to hit the next ball.

Zhelang heard that a knockout match was going to be held, so he came to Omiya's pool court.There were forty-two contestants, half of whom were amateurs. Although it is a knockout match, it is actually more like a friendly match, and the winner's bonus is pitifully small.If it is in Europe, it is not uncommon for competitions with a total bonus of tens of millions of yuan, and there will even be players who have won more than 100 million yuan in bonuses a year, but in Japan, even professional players, it is impossible to survive only by knockout matches possible.After all, the championship bonus is at most two million yuan, and that kind of competition is only held a few times a year.Judging from the current situation, you must win all the games, or play close to a perfect victory, in order to barely earn the income equivalent to an office worker.Moreover, the bonus itself still comes from the entry fees of the contestants.

Before coming here, Zhe Lang and the editor decided to focus on female players.The contestants in this competition are not divided into men and women, and he wants to see how strong the female players can be. Masako Takura won that match, but she lost her next three matches, preventing her from advancing to the next round.Even so, she joined the men in the top eight.As far as past records are concerned, this can be said to be a battle for female players to show their prowess. "Oh, I could have won, but it's a pity that today's situation is not good." Tian Cang Masako said while packing up sports equipment in the corner of the venue.Her tone seemed indifferent, but Zhe Lang felt that she was unwilling from the bottom of her heart.

"The opponent is a male player, will there be any problem that he can't use it?" Zhe Lang asked tentatively. "I don't know. Is it because the other party can't use it? It would be embarrassing if someone said 'lost by a woman'." She sat on the iron chair and laughed.She is a different person than she was in the game, and now she is like an ordinary middle-aged woman.According to her autobiography, Masako Takura was a fifth-year student of the Japan Professional Pool Association.Although I don't know when she was born, Zhe Lang thinks she should be over fifty years old.

"Then, Ms. Tian Cang thinks it's more convenient to compete with male players?" "It should be said that the desire to win is particularly strong. How can I lose to a man?! I play pool just to win against a man." "yes?" "I used to work in a bank, and I suffered a lot just because I was a woman. When we were young, even if we yelled 'sexual harassment' or 'discriminatory treatment between men and women, no one would take care of you. It is obvious at work. Stupid men who are incompetent than me are getting ahead one after another. Not only that, but in the end even the little boys I brought up when they entered the company were promoted faster than me. I finally couldn't help but complain to my superiors, but the superiors actually said:' Damn it! No matter what, if a man is willing to work hard, he will win over a woman!’ That’s when I refused to admit defeat and devoted myself to pool. I thought to myself, no matter what, I must beat a man. Alas, there were very few women in those days Passionate about pool. The pool craze because of the Tom Cruise movie came a long time after that.”

Tian Cang Masako raised her stubby legs and began to smoke. "Is the result happy? You can compete with men openly like this." She replied, "It's okay." Then she tilted her head. "I never felt that men and women were on an equal footing." "How do you say that?" "To put it simply, the reason why you want to report on the unpopular pool game is because you are sure that women will win. Right? In this way, it will be newsworthy." Zhe Lang couldn't deny it, he and the female editor looked at each other. "When a player is considered newsworthy for winning, it means she's not good enough. How can we not be resentful. It's like that."

"However, I think that if Ms. Tian Cang wins the championship, she will be able to prove the strength of a woman." The female editor said.She is probably only about half the age of Masako Takura. "I think the only thing that can be proved at the time is that a woman wins can cause a little commotion. It will take a long time to prove that women are as capable as men. It is not surprising that women win men, and it is not enough for men to lose women." Shame on you, you'll have to wait a little longer. Even in a pool as small as pool." "Men have to change."

Hearing what the female editor said, a senior female pool player turned her head. "The same goes for women. You can't be affected just because your opponent is a man. In this regard, I still need to improve." After speaking, she sighed. “When you bring up the issue of men and women, things get complicated. I want to get rid of this annoying issue quickly. Of course, this only stops at the pool part.” She ends with a laugh. After leaving the billiards field, Zhe Lang and the female editor went to the coffee shop to discuss for about an hour, and then left separately.Reports featured female ball players struggling to go head-to-head with male pool players.If Masako Takura saw it, she would probably have a problem with this kind of report.

When he got back near his home, Zhe Lang ordered the fried oyster set and beer from his usual set meal.In the past few months, I haven't eaten dishes made by Risako himself.He thought to himself, maybe he won't be able to eat it in the future. He was thinking, what will happen to himself and Risako next?Has it continued to live like this?He tried to think about ten years from now.If it goes well, maybe I can establish my social status as a reporter, and maybe I will extend my tentacles to novels.And Risako should continue to be a photographer, after all, her professional field is only photography.

However, Zhe Lang could not clearly imagine the picture of two people living together.He could imagine two people living under the same roof, but it seemed unreal, like a model house with only two dolls. Zhe Lang returned home after dinner.The hallway was dark, the light streaming from the living room, and no conversation could be heard. He peeked inside before opening the door.At first glance it may appear that there is no one there, but it is not.Mei Yue prostrated herself on the ground, and after a closer look, it turned out that she was doing push-ups.Her elbows were bent so sharply that her chest almost touched the ground.She stretched her arms slowly as if confirming the tense muscles.Because she was wearing a T-shirt, the blue veins on her upper arm were clearly visible.

After she repeated it two or three times, Zhe Lang opened the door.Mizuki seemed to have already noticed that he was back, and without any surprise, she continued to do push-ups at the same speed.Zhe Lang heard a slight gasp. Zhe Lang took off his coat, went to the kitchen to drink a glass of water, then sat on the sofa in the living room and stared at Mei Yue's movements.Since he started to see it now, Mizuki has done a dozen times.Soon, her rhythm began to become disordered, a painful expression appeared on her face, and she finally collapsed on the ground due to exhaustion. "How many times did you do it?" Zhe Lang asked. "Thirty-six strokes, fifty strokes when the condition is good." Mizuki lay on her back on the ground, adjusting her breathing.Her chest rose and fell heavily.Zhe Lang looked away from her chest. "Thirty-six reps is good. Like me, twenty is a miracle." "We're not the same weight." Mizuki straightened her body, bent her knees slightly, and began to do sit-ups.Because no one helped her hold her feet down, it didn't go well. "Let me hold your foot down for you." "Well, that would be the best." Zhe Lang took off his coat, squatted at her feet, and pressed her knees in jeans. Mizuki moved her hands around the back of her head and resumed her movement.Every time she stood up, her face would be close to Zhe Lang's eyes.And when her body is bent sharply, her breasts can be glimpsed slightly from the open collar of the T-shirt. Amazingly, his speed didn't change at all at fifty beats.After fifty blows, she began to show a bit overwhelmed expression.She frowned, pursed her lips into a line, and tried desperately to straighten herself up.Seeing her expression, Zhe Lang's heartbeat accelerated inexplicably. As a result, she couldn't get up when she hit sixty-three. "It can't be done, my physical strength has really deteriorated." After touching her abdominal muscles, Mizuki confirmed the thickness of her upper arms. "Even the arms have become so thin." "I don't think anything has changed." "You don't need to comfort me, my body knows best." She scratched her head with both hands. "My body will slowly turn back into a woman like this." Zhe Lang lowered his head and let out a breath.He knew why Mizuki started doing push-ups and sit-ups.She desperately wanted to hold on to what was being lost day by day. "The QB should do it too." "I'm free." "Why? If you don't exercise a little, your body will rust." "Hurry up." Meiyue pushed Zhe Lang's body.As soon as Zhe Lang lay down on his back, Mei Yue straddled his lap. As a last resort, he had to start doing sit-ups.His body was indeed rusted.After doing about 20 times in a row, the abdomen gradually becomes unable to apply force. "What's wrong? Come on!" "I can't do it anymore, please forgive me." "What frustrating words are you talking about? It's just a few moves." Mei Yue moved her body forward, covering Zhe Lang's upper body.The touch of her skin spread to Zhe Lang through the jeans. Mizuki's expression changed when he found himself erect.Because Zhe Lang's lower body was right between her legs.She looked puzzled and couldn't speak.Zhe Lang didn't know what to say, staring at the ceiling. She backed away from Zhe Lang, and put the trench coat she had taken off on the T-shirt.Zhe Lang also stood up slowly, reaching for his coat. "Hmm... where's Risako?" "She went out after getting a call that there was a problem with a photo that was supposed to be in a magazine." "That's it." Zhe Lang thought to himself, fortunately, Risako didn't see this weird scene. As soon as he entered the studio, he noticed that the light on the answering machine was blinking.After Zhe Lang changed into home clothes, he pressed the switch.There were three missed calls, two were from the publishing house, and the other was from Zhong Yuan, a doctor of the Taiming Industrial Track and Field Team.The content of the recording is: I'm going to see the first high school track and field team tomorrow, can't I think of going together?If you want to go together, I hope you will call back by noon tomorrow. Zhe Lang thought, what should I do?At present, there is no urgent matter in hand, so it's not that he can't go to No. 1 High School, but all he thinks about is Mizuki. There was a knock on the door.Zhe Lang responded, "Please come in." Mizuki opened the door and poked her head in shyly.The big eyeballs rolled around and glanced at the room. Zhe Lang asked, "What's the matter?" "Sorry. I have nothing to do, just want to see the QB's studio." "Oh," Zhe Lang nodded. "Just watch." "It's so narrow." "Because this was originally a storage room." "Risako said she didn't remember giving this room to you." "Did she say that?" Zhe Lang frowned. "She was right." Mizuki's eyes stopped at a point by the wall, where there was a photo taken by Risako for Mizuki in a clip.Risako took all the rest of the photos, and only this one fell to the ground, so Zhe Lang clamped it down. Zhe Lang was wondering what excuse Mei Yue should use when she asked about the photo, but she didn't say a word and looked away from the photo. "I don't know what it feels like at that time," she murmured. "When?" "That one just now." Mei Yue pointed at Zhe Lang's lower body. "There's that feeling when you stand up." "Oh." Zhe Lang raised Erlang's legs. "Of course you don't understand." "What kind of feeling is that?" "It's hard to describe it verbally." Zhe Lang crossed his arms. "Didn't you just do push-ups just now? It probably feels like your upper arms are tense after you finish." "Hmm. Rather than tightness, it should be like swelling, right?" Mizuki massaged her right upper arm with her left hand. "It's kind of like that." "Like this?" She flexed her elbow, squeezing a mass of muscle in her upper arm. "It's kind of like that. I think it's the same in terms of blood concentration." "Just blood for me to concentrate there. Then, tight?" "That's right." Mizuki showed a thinking expression, then giggled and shook her head after a while. "No. No matter how much I imagine, without that kind of thing, it's useless to think about it." "Probably." Zhe Lang also smiled. Mizuki sighed, and reached out to pick up the photo in the folder. "I often think, if only I had a penis." "You really thought about it." "When do you think I'm going to want a dick?" "I don't know." Zhe Lang said with his head tilted. "I want it the most when I go to the public toilet." Mizuki said. "right……" "I'm not kidding, it's true. You can't pee standing up if you don't have a dick, right? So every time I go to the men's room, even if it's just to pee, I have to go to the private room. It's very inconvenient. ...I really want to rush to the toilet like a normal man, do a quick fix, and then just wash my hands and come out." "Do you want an operation?" "Of course there is. If Japan also recognizes transgender people, I will think about it more realistically. However, it is true that I am fluctuating." "Are you still hesitating?" "Or it should be said that I don't know myself yet. I don't know what I want to become, how I want to live..." At this point, Mei Yue smiled wryly: "It's so stupid." "There are people in this world who suffer because they don't have the body of a man or a woman." Meiyue didn't understand the meaning of her words, she tilted her head with a puzzled expression.He told her about Mo Yongmumei.Her eyes flickered after listening. "QB, I have something to ask you," she said, "I hope you let me meet her." At two o'clock in the morning, Risako came back.Because of the editor's mistake, she was in a lot of trouble, and she was in an extremely bad mood.Zhe Lang told her that he would take Mei Yue to No. 1 High School for an interview, which would make her furious. "Why did you ask her to take such a dramatic action at such an important moment?" "I'll be very careful." "I ask you, what does 'ten' mean? Why do you say 'ten'?" "Didn't Risako also want Hiura to be your assistant?" "The frequency of being seen by others is not the same?" "Wait a minute, I was the one who wanted to meet that intersex player." Hearing what Mizuki said, Risako showed an expression of being touched by someone. "The police may have drawn a portrait of the 'cat's eye' bartender, and every police officer may have one." "We'll be careful." Risako let out a breath.She looked around, perhaps looking for a cigarette. "You two are really venting out of the same nostril today." "What are you talking about?" Zhe Lang glared at her. "If you want to go no matter what, can I make a condition?" "I know. You're going to ask me to dress up as a woman, right?" Mizuki replied. "I want you to wear a skirt. Other than that," Risako pointed at Mizuki's face. "I also want you to make up. Put on foundation, put on lipstick, and trim your eyebrows. Is that okay?" Mizuki showed a puzzled expression for a moment, and then nodded. "Just listen to you." Perhaps because she didn't expect her to readily agree, Risako showed a hurt expression, stood up suddenly and said: "Then, as you like," and left the living room. Zhe Lang and Mei Yue looked at each other. "She's probably mad at you for not wearing women's clothing even after persuading her in every possible way, but now she readily agrees to accompany me in the interview." "Probably." Mizuki smiled faintly. "QB, will you listen to my request?" "tell me the story." "Can you sleep in this room tonight? I have something to talk to Risako." "Oh..., good." After Meiyue went out, Zhe Lang drank a can of beer, and then walked into the Japanese room where Meiyue slept for a while.The quilt has already been laid, and the T-shirt she usually wears as pajamas is casually thrown aside.He got under the covers in only his underwear. There was a smell on the quilt that he had never smelled before.He remembered the sit-ups just now, and when Mizuki's face approached, the same smell emanated from it. -------------------------------- Note: