"Because I'm sick, we can't have a get-together today even though we won the game. We've been playing for so long, how could we not be hungry? You should eat something. I haven't touched this half, here you go."
She would have been fine if she hadn't brought it up, but the moment she did, Xie Shi'an reacted as if she'd swallowed a gunpowder, especially since she was already in a bad mood.
"Do you think you're so great? What kind of savior are you, making such a mess of things? I could have won the game even without you today."
The more they talk, the more absurd it becomes.
Qiao Yuchu grabbed the person and pulled them back.
"Shi'an! Chang Nian is already like this, so you should say less."
Jian Changnian lowered her head and slowly withdrew her hand.
"sorry."
"It's alright, Chang Nian. You go ahead and eat. Shi An and I ate on the way here. Come out with me for a moment."
As Qiao Yuchu spoke, she pulled the person out of the room.
Yan Xinyuan watched their retreating figures, lost in thought.
"We're just arguing, is it necessary for you to take it out on someone else?!"
Xie Shi'an stood with his hands in his pockets, his expression somewhat arrogant.
"That's just how I am. You've known me for a long time."
"You—" Qiao Yuchu was furious. Thinking about all the hardships she had endured to compete with her, she subconsciously raised her hand and slapped her.
The boy slightly curved the corners of his lips, a sarcastic smile on his face. He neither dodged nor avoided the blow, his eyes red as he waited for the palm strike to land.
Qiao Yuchu's hand ultimately only lightly touched her face.
She turned away dejectedly, all the energy she had mustered up today completely gone, and she felt utterly exhausted, inside and out.
"Go back by yourself, I don't want to deal with you anymore."
Xie Shi'an bet that she would soften her heart and not be able to bear hitting him, but even though he won the bet, the boy was not as happy as he had imagined.
There was even a hint of panic.
The shadow of being abandoned by my parents in my childhood has once again struck me.
The boy was completely overwhelmed and grabbed her wrist.
"Yu Chu, Yu Chu, I shouldn't have lost my temper with you..."
Qiao Yuchu pushed open the door and entered, then locked the ward door behind her.
The two people inside the room looked at her, bewildered.
“Shi’an…” Jian Changnian said worriedly.
Qiao Yuchu forced a smile.
"It's nothing. We had a little disagreement. Let her have some peace and quiet."
The corridor gradually fell silent.
Yan Xinyuan stood up.
"After all, this isn't Jiangcheng, and we're unfamiliar with the place. You stay here with Chang Nian, I'll go find her."
Qiao Yuchu nodded dejectedly.
"Okay, thank you, Coach Yan."
Chapter 58 Snowfall
After the match was over and there was no need for further training, Xie Shi'an suddenly felt lost and uncertain about where to go after leaving Qiao Yuchu.
The boy sat by the flower bed downstairs for a long time, his down jacket covered in snowflakes, until an umbrella was opened above his head.
She looked up with a hint of joy in her eyes.
"Yu... Coach Yan."
Yan Xinyuan sighed and pulled the person up.
"Come on, kid, I'll take you back to your apartment."
Xie Shi'an reluctantly followed him for a few steps.
"I'm here..."
When the boy was held in the man's broad hand, he felt a long-lost warmth from an elder, and he could no longer say anything.
Looking at his hunched back and somewhat unsteady steps, for some reason, Xie Shi'an thought of his grandfather for a moment.
The boy took the umbrella from the old man's hand.
Watching the figures of the old man and the young girl gradually disappear into the snow, Qiao Yuchu upstairs finally closed the window with peace of mind.
Jian Changnian looked at her, a hint of confusion in her eyes.
"If you care, why don't you go downstairs?"
Qiao Yuchu sat back down on the edge of the bed, staring at her wrist, her voice extremely soft.
“Shi’an has grown up, and I can’t stay with her forever.”
The distance from the hospital to the apartment wasn't far, and seeing that she didn't seem to want to take a car, Yan Xinyuan accompanied her on the walk.
The two walked and talked.
"Shi'an, look how heavy the snow is tonight. Maybe it will be a sunny day tomorrow morning."
He made a pointed remark, and the young man lowered his eyes.
"Everything is like this: there is gain and there is loss; there is gathering and there is separation. No one can escape this natural law."
"Although I don't know what exactly happened between you and Yu Chu, learning to let things take their course is one of the essential lessons in life."
Only when he said this did the boy raise his eyes slightly.
“From childhood to adulthood, no matter how badly I behaved, she never hit me.”
Even though she had won the bet, the moment that slap gently landed on her face, her heart still ached.
Especially since their argument revolved around another man.
Yan Xinyuan looked at her with kind eyes, and the old man's open-mindedness and tranquility were also affecting her.
“If you were just a stranger, I think she wouldn’t be angry no matter what you became. But you are Xie Shi’an, someone she watched grow up. I think sometimes she might think similarly to me, feeling a bit disappointed in you.”
The boy lowered his head, looking at the road beneath his feet, and left a series of footprints in the snow.
"is that so?"
"The night you won the singles final, she came to me and begged me not to remove her from the roster. Shi'an, she also wants to play many, many matches with you."
Xie Shi stopped in his tracks; they had arrived at the apartment building.
The old man took the umbrella and stood under the streetlight.
He always possesses a calming and convincing power, both in training and in life.
Xie Shi'an had met many pedantic teachers, but she didn't dislike his preaching because she knew that Yan Xinyuan genuinely cared for each of them.
"Yu Chu really put in a lot of effort to return to the competition, and Chang Nian also persevered and won the game despite having a fever."
“We are a group, and they will be very saddened by what you said at the end.”
The boy's straight spine finally began to loosen slightly.
"I...I will apologize to Chang Nian."
Yan Xinyuan smiled, his understanding was crystal clear.
"Actually, I noticed it too. Besides arguing with Yu Chu, do you feel a little disappointed that Chang Nian learned the moves you've practiced for years in just a few nights?"
The boy raised his head, as if to argue something, then slumped down again in despair.
"I... although I won the game, I don't feel very happy. Yin Jiayi, Jiang Yunli, Jin Nanzhi, and even Chang Nian are all very strong. I haven't opened up a big gap between myself and them yet."
"There are no undefeated generals in competitive sports," Yan Xinyuan said, patting her on the shoulder as he escorted her to the top of the steps.
“Your generation is the backbone of our national badminton team, and you and Chang Nian—” The old man looked at her with loving eyes and smiled.
"I have a feeling that they will be the twin stars of the future world badminton."
The feeling of being expected of and encouraged brought a touch of warmth back to Xie Shi'an's empty heart.
The boy finally smiled.
Yan Xinyuan patted her on the shoulder.
"Go on, go back and get a good night's sleep. Once Chang Nian is better, I'll take you all around Beijing."
Xie Shi'an walked up the stairs, then turned back and said something.
"Coach Yan, I will definitely not let you down."
***
Jian Changnian noticed that Qiao Yuchu was staring at her wrist. To cover up the scars left by the surgery, she wore a wrist brace, which she never took off, even during the competition.
She sat on the bed, tenderly took her hand in her arms, and gently blew on it.
"Sister Yu Chu, does it still hurt? You came to compete right after your surgery. I wish I hadn't gotten sick."
Qiao Yuchu looked at her like a younger sister, but of course, she was much less troublesome than Xie Shi'an, so she reached out and patted her head.
"It doesn't hurt anymore. You don't want to be sick either. We're all working towards the same goal, so don't take what Shi'an just said to heart. She's just being stubborn with me."
Jian Changnian nodded, seemingly understanding but not quite.
"Sister Yu Chu just said that Shi An has grown up and doesn't need you anymore, but no matter how old you are, you still need your family."
She counted on her fingers.
“I have my maternal grandmother, Sister Yu Chu has her parents, Coach Yan has us, but Shi An has nothing.”
Qiao Yuchu shuddered, biting her lower lip slightly. The disappointed look in Xie Shi'an's eyes before he left resurfaced in her mind.