:)

By the Cheng Che silenced his phone, it was too late.

Less than twenty minutes after the awards ceremony ended, the news reached China, and his phone vibrated for a full three minutes without stopping.

Su Jianqiu sent eleven messages in a row, the last one being a voice message. He knew she was screaming even before he opened it.

He leaned back in his chair in the Wimbledon players' lounge and swiped through a few screens.

Su Jianqiu posted a Weibo with a picture of Cheng Che a TV screen, while her own feet were propped up on the coffee table, next to a plate of half-eaten watermelon.

The caption is very Su Jianqiu: "My brother!!! Wimbledon Champion!!! Anyone who says I'm trying to ride his coattails, I'll throw this picture in their face."

Ning Qing posted more than ten minutes later, with only one sentence and an official picture:

"Well done. You can sing a couple more songs next time you're a guest performer."

[Sister Ning Qing, why does your tone sound like you're "proud of it"?]

The words "Well played" coming from her mouth carry more weight than a ten-thousand-word essay from someone else.

[Wait, a guest performer? The one from " I Am the King of Singers "? Are they really going to collaborate?]

Was she hinting at something, or am I overthinking it?

[You didn't overthink it, but I could tell.]

Yan Ruanning was the last to post. Instead of writing anything, she posted a magazine photo of herself sitting cross-legged on the ground in her school uniform, along with a smiley face emoticon.

The comment section exploded with both CP (couple) fans and solo fans.

[Just a smiley face??? Yan Ruanning, what do you mean???]

[She posted a magazine photo of Cheng Che, along with a smiley face. Isn't that obvious?]

[I think she was trying to avoid suspicion, but couldn't help wanting to post something, so she only posted an emoji.]

[This smiley face is more ambiguous than any words, I don't care, I'm totally shipping them!]

[Can you CP fans please stop thinking about things in that way? It's just a smiley face.]

[But that smiley face was posted when Cheng Che won the championship.]

Teacher He posted a video saying that he would cook something delicious for him next time he comes to the Mushroom House.

CCTV News posted a message with the caption "When the youth are strong, the nation is strong," and the comment section garnered over 100,000 views in ten minutes.

Cheng Che scrolled through the messages one by one, a smile playing on his lips, and then clicked on the pinned chat.

Pei Jingshu posted a screenshot of her chat history with Cheng Che.

After winning the title, he sent her a picture of the Wimbledon trophy with the caption. "This is heavier than the French Open one."

She replied with a kiss emoji.

Cheng Che looked at the screenshot, smiled, and locked the screen.

In Daegu, things were quite lively at the Pei family's place.

Pei Enshu jumped up from the sofa, raised both hands above her head, and shouted, "Brother-in-law is the Champion!!!"

Then she turned to look at Pei's mother, her eyes shining. "Mom! My brother-in-law has achieved three Grand Slams! Three! And he looks especially handsome today!"

Aunt Pei chuckled and patted her on the shoulder, "Keep your voice down."

Mr. Pei sat at the other end of the sofa, an awards ceremony replay playing on TV. He held a teacup in his hand, his expression calm, but his eyes never left the screen.

Pei Enshu glanced at her father, shrank back, and kept talking:

"Dad, don't you think he's amazing? He's the Wimbledon Champion, there's only one person in the whole world who can win that."

Pei's father paused for a moment, then snorted, his tone still firm, but with an inexplicable softening. "Truly a genius. Amazing."

Pei's mother picked up her phone and sent Pei Jingshu a message: "Your dad praised your boyfriend."

After thinking for a moment, he added, "Although he's still putting on a tough act."

Pei Jingshu replied quickly, with only one screenshot.

It was the picture of the trophy that Cheng Che sent her.

Pei's mother looked at the screenshot, smiled, and put her phone away.

On Cheng Che's side, Qin Lie pushed open the door and came in, holding two plane tickets in his hand:

"BA039, a red-eye flight, will land in Shenzhen City at 6:20 AM. President Fang's recording studio is ready; all the equipment has been replaced, and the mixing console, ordered from Germany, just arrived yesterday."

"Leave tonight?" Cheng Che stood up and stretched his shoulders.

After going through the whole process of the awards ceremony, urine test, and press conference, he was actually getting a little bored.

"Let's leave tonight." Qin Lie smiled and handed him the plane ticket. "Last time in Melbourne, we were stuck for over an hour. Even with the VIP lane at the French Open, there were still people waiting. This time, we'll be all in, we'll slip away as soon as we land, no one can stop us."

Cheng Che took the plane ticket, stuffed his phone into his pocket, and picked up his gym bag from the chair. "Let's go."

The Wimbledon organizing committee arranged for a shuttle bus to take them from the stadium to Heathrow Airport.

When Cheng Che, wearing a hat and mask and pushing his suitcase, entered the terminal, there was no queue yet at the BA039 boarding gate.

He closed his eyes and slept for a while on the plane.

I woke up half an hour before landing, and the lights of Shenzhen City were already visible through the porthole.

6:20 AM, Shenzhen City Bao'an Airport.

The VIP passage was coldly lit. Cheng Che took off his mask and took a deep breath of the humid air from China.

Qin Lie met with the people picking him up at the airport. Cheng Che took out his phone and glanced at it. The trending topic was # Cheng Che #, and Wimbledon he clicked on it, it was full of pictures posted by netizens.

A post about a chance encounter at Heathrow was pushed to the top of the list. It showed a photo of him pushing his suitcase toward the boarding gate, captioned "Taller and thinner in person than on TV."

The comments below included: "Wait, is he on BA039?", "I checked the same flight.", "How come you guys are so good at bumping into each other?"

Cheng Che smiled and locked the screen.

A minivan was waiting in the underground parking garage. Once inside, Qin Lie turned to look at him. "Going straight to Tengda? President Fang said the president of Tengda is also there."

"Go ahead." Cheng Che leaned back in the back seat and closed his eyes for a moment.

Tengda Binhai Building, elevator entrance.

President Fang was already waiting, dressed in a dark blue suit, looking more formal than when we met at the signing ceremony, and his smile was more genuine.

" Teacher Cheng." She greeted her, shaking her hand more firmly than last time. " Wimbledon Champion, congratulations!"

"Thank you, President Fang." Cheng Che shook her hand.

President Fang led him toward the elevator, saying as they walked:

"Our CEO knew you were coming to record the theme song, so he had the recording studio completely remodeled yesterday. All the equipment is brand new; the mixing console was ordered from Germany and just arrived yesterday."

The elevator arrived at the floor, the doors opened, and the president of Tengda Video was already waiting in the hallway.

A man in his fifties, with neatly combed hair and a warm smile, quickly walked up and shook Cheng Che's hand.

" Teacher Cheng, welcome, welcome! Your Wimbledon victory was watched by the whole country; you've brought glory to our nation. We at Tengda are only able to get you to sing the theme song because of you."

Cheng Che felt a little embarrassed by the praise, "President, you're too kind. It's Director Zhou and President Fang who think so highly of me."

"It's not just politeness," the CEO waved his hand, "You are a prodigy, worthy of our utmost care."

He was about to continue when Cheng Che quickly interrupted him:

"President, how about we go record the song first? I'm afraid we won't have enough time."

The CEO paused for a moment, then smiled, "Alright, alright, let's record the song first. President Fang, please take Teacher Cheng over. I've arranged a dinner tonight to welcome Teacher Cheng back."

"Sorry, I don't have time tonight. I have to go back to Capital City tomorrow, and I also have final exams."

Cheng Che said somewhat apologetically.

The CEO opened his mouth, glanced at him, and suddenly smiled, a smile tinged with a hint of dazedness.

"Final exams. I almost forgot you're still a freshman. Okay, I won't bother you any longer, let's get together again next time."

President Fang led Cheng Che towards the recording studio, which was on the second floor downstairs.

When the door opened, there were already five or six people standing inside: a recording engineer, an assistant, a producer, and two backup singers.

Everyone turned to look at him as he entered.

The sound engineer, a man in his forties wearing monitoring headphones, nodded at him.

" Teacher Cheng, I'm the sound engineer for this recording, my surname is Liu. Has the lyrics President Fang?"

"It's out. I saw it on the plane." Cheng Che walked to the microphone, put on the headphones, and tested the sound. " Teacher Liu, may we begin?"

Sound Engineer Liu nodded and pressed a few keys on the mixing console. "Let's do one take first, get a feel for it."