AaSoL 06
Chapter 6: The World Beneath the Snow (2)
Yin Guo realized he was playing 9-ball, the same game she was competing in.
“He’s an amateur,” Su Wei whispered to Yin Guo, pointing to Lin Yiyang’s back. “Barry said he’s challenging a regional champion here.”
Yin Guo nodded lightly, understanding that he was an amateur.
Barry had mentioned, and Su Wei repeated: “And this regional champion has won three times in this billiard hall. This place is his lucky ground. Barry also said that $3,000 is a bit too little.”
Yin Guo wasn’t familiar with the gambling amounts here, so she didn’t comment.
$3,000 was indeed no small sum.
Lin Yiyang was holding the orange ball and was about to pass the yellow ball to his opponent.
Yin Guo knew they were about to fight for the break.
He and the regional champion walked to one side of the table and placed their balls on the breaking line.
The room fell silent.
Yin Guo and Su Wei also stopped talking. Both of them knew that in 9-ball, the break was crucial. Whoever got the break had a much higher chance of winning, so the players would compete for the break at the start.
The rule was simple. Both players would strike from the breaking line. Their balls would hit the far edge of the table and rebound back. Whoever’s ball stopped closest to them would win.
In the silence, there were two soft thuds.
The two balls almost rolled out at the same time, tracing a straight line across the blue table before striking the opposite rail and bouncing back at the same speed.
The two balls gradually slowed down, more and more slowly.
Yin Guo watched them, and she already knew the result—
Slowly, slowly, Lin Yiyang’s orange ball passed the yellow ball. It rolled in front of him, stopping just by the edge of the table, a perfect, precise distance from the rail—no closer, no farther.
The yellow ball also came to a stop with a round of applause, just 1 cm behind.
In the face of the 1 cm gap, Lin Yiyang won.
“Who’s going to be the referee?” Lin Yiyang picked up the cue ball and placed it on the breaking line.
“I’ll do it,” Barry volunteered.
He had come to see the regional champion, but after watching Lin Yiyang’s impressive break, he was even more excited.
He came to referee, but he also wanted to make sure that Lin Yiyang’s earlier shot wasn’t just a lucky one.
A low, long overhead light hung above the table, casting soft white light on the blue surface. The light was so low it only illuminated from the waist down. Barry quickly set up the balls and arranged them into a neat diamond shape.
He switched to a green chalk and applied it to the tip of his cue.
Leaning over the table, he fixed his eyes on the white ball and aimed.
With one stroke, the ball was struck.
As the ball dropped into the pocket, Barry had already moved to the right side of the table, following up with the next shot. Another ball dropped into the pocket. Yin Guo had just seen the ball go in when he moved to the next spot and shot again.
Was he playing a fast game?
In major tournaments, very few players would play quickly because these matches were about professional careers and world rankings. They needed to be steady. However, in a billiard hall, you might encounter players who favored fast games.
Some players liked speed and showmanship, but they had to be precise with their position and accuracy.
The faster you play, the more precise you must be.
In 9-ball, unlike in 8-ball, players always had to hit the lowest-numbered ball on the table.
1-ball, 2-ball, 3-ball…
When there were only 7, 8, and 9 left on the table, he hit the 7-ball with the cue ball, sending it straight into the 9-ball. Both balls dropped into the pockets one after another.
The applause erupted at the end of the game.
In a 9-ball match, whoever sinks the 9-ball last is the winner.
He won. A clean sweep.
Yin Guo focused on Lin Yiyang’s back, watching as he applied chalk to his cue tip again.
If he wasn’t playing a fast game, every shot in a formal match would be very important. The chalk was used to steady the mind and prepare for the next shot.
But tonight, this felt more like a performance.
“Still time, everyone,” Barry, excited, said in English. “We can raise the stakes. There will be 15 rounds. Don’t miss out!”
Everyone laughed and started raising the stakes, pulling out money.
Lin Yiyang’s first round had already conquered all the strangers present, including the regional champion. Perhaps before tonight, he had been the reigning champion of this hall and region, but tonight was going to be a tough match.
…
“He really plays like a professional,” Su Wei murmured.
By the end, he was playing faster and faster.
The cue went into position, and balls kept sinking. No mistakes, zero errors.
You didn’t see him pause, aim, or take his time. He just kept sinking balls and moving to the next spot. This was Yin Guo’s first time seeing someone play such a fast-paced game up close. It was so thrilling and visually satisfying; words couldn’t describe it.
In the 10th round, the 9-ball was hit and sank straight into the bottom pocket under everyone’s watch.
Lin Yiyang stood up straight.
He hadn’t finished all 15 rounds, but he had already won tonight’s bet. A perfect end.
The regional champion, who had been sitting on the pool chair and watching the final round, stood up and extended his right hand to Lin Yiyang, smiling widely. It was the feeling of meeting a worthy opponent. He lost without any complaints.
“It’s an honor,” Lin Yiyang said, holding his cue stick with one hand, and shook his opponent’s hand.
His opponent gave him a hearty pat on the arm. “Young man, tell me, will you be at the US Open this year? You must be registered, right?”
Lin Yiyang smiled and shook his head, then placed his cue stick back in its stand.
Unlike these professional players, even though he was here for a high-stakes game, he hadn’t brought his own cue stick, just using the public one provided by the billiard hall.
The owner of the hall, smiling, handed him a towel and a cup of hot water, which Lin Yiyang had requested just before the final round. He was thirsty.
Lin Yiyang took a sip, almost emptying the cup. He looked around at a few Americans nearby, all of them drinking water too, clearly exhausted and dehydrated. After drinking almost half a cup, he raised his head, as if noticing Yin Guo for the first time, and smiled at her. “Hi.”
She had planned to wait for him to finish his drink and greet him, but he beat her to it, leaving her a bit caught off guard.
“Hi,” she waved her right hand.
Her throat was a little hoarse from all the cheering, so she cleared it.
“Do you know each other?” Su Wei asked in surprise.
“Are you friends?” The regional champion, who had lost, asked Lin Yiyang.
“We just met recently,” Lin Yiyang placed the cup on the pool chair and looked at her seriously. He spoke to the curious crowd, “I’d really like her to consider me a friend.”
…
“Of course,” Yin Guo replied with a serious tone, almost like admitting to a mistake. “We’ve always been friends.”
Lin Yiyang laughed at her sincerity, switching back to Chinese. “I was joking. Don’t take it seriously.”
Yin Guo sighed in relief and replied in Chinese, “I thought I had mistaken you for someone else.”
Lin Yiyang smiled and didn’t say anything more.
However, he seemed to be in a good mood. He quickly took out a crumpled note from his pants pocket and handed it to the regional champion. “This is a friend’s account. You can transfer the money you owe here.”
The regional champion gladly took it and laughed, saying he would save up for another round with Lin Yiyang.
“There probably won’t be a next time,” Lin Yiyang said.
The opponent didn’t take him seriously and patted his shoulder. “You’re always welcome here.”
The crowd quickly dispersed and returned to their own tables, energized by Lin Yiyang’s spectacular game. Soon, everyone was immersed in their own heated battles.
Only their area remained quiet.
Yin Guo introduced Su Wei to Lin Yiyang. “Su Wei, she came with me.”
Lin Yiyang nodded.
He handed a bill to the waiter, whispered something, and soon the waiter brought two drinks over. Lin Yiyang took them and handed them to Yin Guo and Su Wei.
After Su Wei thanked him, Barry pulled her away to start a game, turning around to thank them again.
Yin Guo was left alone.
She sat on a pool chair beside Lin Yiyang’s table, biting the straw, and watched a nearby game.
Suddenly, she realized no one was around Lin Yiyang. She glanced back at him and smiled.
Lin Yiyang was leaning against the table, playing with the cue ball.
It was quiet.
This was the first time they had been alone together, without Meng Xiaotian.
He placed the cue ball on the breaking line. “How come you came all the way out here?”
He knew where Yin Guo’s hotel was, so he also knew it was far from this billiard hall.
“Barry, who was talking to you earlier, brought me here. I heard there were a lot of competitors tonight, so I came to check it out,” Yin Guo thought for a moment and explained. “I’m registered for the US Open.”
Lin Yiyang nodded. He actually knew.
From the first day at the bar, when he saw the three suitcases with a cue case on top, Lin Yiyang knew the siblings were here for the open tournament. Carrying a custom cue through the snowstorm and hiding in a bar—there could be no other reason.
Back then, though, he thought the cue was her cousin’s.
Yin Guo looked at him, who didn’t say anything, and continued biting the straw.
She had a lot of questions in her mind but wasn’t familiar enough with him to casually chat like friends, so she kept quiet.
Lin Yiyang started picking up the balls he had just potted, placing them back on the table in a diamond shape. She thought he was going to start a new game, but he was just tidying up the table.
Once everything was in place, he picked up his coat. “Is your friend staying at the same hotel as you?”
He nodded toward Su Wei.
Su Wei was bent over, aiming at her shot at a table by the door.
“We’re not at the same hotel, but it’s not far,” Yin Guo replied, thinking about the return trip. “But she’s staying in Flushing tonight, at her boyfriend’s place, so I’ll probably go back on my own.”
Lin Yiyang had already put on his coat and zipped it up. “I’ll give you a ride back.”
“Are you sure?” Yin Guo asked.
It didn’t seem likely. The driver had clearly said he’d drop them off at the hotel, and going to Flushing would be a detour.
“I’m a guy. It doesn’t matter how late I go back,” Lin Yiyang glanced at the clock on the wall. “But you’re different.”
It was indeed getting late. Her friend had seriously warned her not to go out alone in New York unless she was staying in Manhattan. Since Yin Guo was training until dark, she had been told to have Meng Xiaotian pick her up every day.
But it was so far from the hotel. Would it be safe to let him go out of his way to drive her?
It didn’t seem very wise to keep accepting his favors.
Yin Guo was still torn.
“You’re worried I’ll sell you out?” Lin Yiyang joked.
“No, it’s not that,” Yin Guo shook her head. “I just don’t want to keep troubling you.”
“It’s nothing,” he said. “I’m a guy. There’s no reason to refuse when it comes to taking a girl home.”
Lin Yiyang didn’t give her much time to think, pointing to her clothes and bag by the pool chair. He meant for her to put them on, while he grabbed the cue case, slinging it over his shoulder and walking to the front desk to settle the bill.
The usual rule: whoever wins the game pays for the table rental.
Yin Guo didn’t have time to think much, so she returned her cup to the bar, greeted Su Wei, put on her coat, grabbed her bag, and followed Lin Yiyang as he pushed open the door and stepped into the snowstorm.
In less than fifteen minutes, it had already started snowing heavily.
“I’ll get a car, wait a second,” Yin Guo pulled out her phone from her coat pocket.
“You’ve been here this long, still taking a taxi? Why not take the subway?” Lin Yiyang asked.
“I took the wrong subway a few times last year, and since then, I haven’t dared to take it casually.” Yin Guo sighed.
She was frustrated too. The subway was right outside her hotel, so she really didn’t need to take taxis all the time. But every time she thought about the subway, she had a psychological block.
The subway system here had been around for over a hundred years, with many old cars. She wasn’t afraid of dirt, but she was afraid of the lack of electronic displays. Without announcements in her native language, she had to listen carefully to every station name.
The worst part was when the loudspeakers didn’t work.
Once there was no sound, she felt like a fool.
She had once taken two subway rides in a row without any electronic displays or announcements, and both times the train had malfunctioned. Four stops without stopping, making her feel like she had been kidnapped by a black market vehicle…
In the thick snowfall, Lin Yiyang laughed.
He pressed the phone back into Yin Guo’s hand and pointed to her hat. “Put it on. We’ll walk three blocks, and it’ll take at least fifteen minutes to get to the subway entrance. Just follow me, you won’t get lost.”
With that, he slung the cue case over his shoulder, walked into the snowstorm.
Yin Guo put on her hat, and followed behind him. It was so cold that she didn’t even dare to take her hands out of her pockets.
Her boots left fresh prints in the new snow as she followed his footsteps. Lin Yiyang was used to walking at a fast pace. He had never slowed down for anyone before. Tonight, however, he was showing a bit of grace and slowed down.
He slowed down, and Yin Guo finally let out a breath.
She exhaled in the cold air, walking silently with him for five minutes. This silence felt wrong, so she decided to say something.
“Do you like gambling on billiards?” She started the conversation.
“It’s okay.”
“Are all the bets this high? Or is it just the culture here?” Yin Guo had been startled by the amount earlier and hadn’t expected it to be so high.
Lin Yiyang shook his head. “A friend of mine bet on a game and put down a huge stake. He was too scared to come, and kept asking me for help. He begged me for half a month.”
Lin Yiyang stopped walking. After a while, they had reached the intersection.
There was a red light ahead, and they had to wait for the green light.
He looked down at Yin Guo. “Why haven’t you asked anything else?”
“I was thinking… you must be good friends, right?”
He had come all the way from Washington to Flushing in New York. It must have been for a very important friend.
Lin Yiyang shook his head. “Not really.”
“I just wanted to treat someone to a meal, but I didn’t have enough money,” he said, noticing the green light, pressing his hand on her back and guiding her onto the crosswalk. “It’s a bit of a trade-off.”
So that’s it, Yin Guo thought while crossing the street. He really did love treating people to meals.
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