Officer Chen, who had worked a long night shift, was somewhat impatient: "You must be Jian Changnian's parent, right? How do you discipline your child? Getting into a fight in a place like that in the middle of the night."
Yan Xinyuan took out a cigarette from his pocket and handed it to her with a smile, saying, "I'm her teacher. Her parents both work in other cities, and she only has a grandfather who has difficulty walking. Officer, the child is just a child and doesn't know any better. Please make an exception and let her come with me."
Officer Chen held the cigarette pack in his hand, looked at it, and when he saw that it was a Zhonghua brand, a smile appeared on his face.
"Oh, is that so? This child is really unlucky. Come on, come on, everyone come out here and sign your names."
The young master Qin and the others who had been detained in another interrogation room were also released. Jian Changnian immediately saw Yan Xinyuan standing there. He was still wearing his home pajamas and slippers, and it was obvious that he had received a phone call and rushed over.
She felt she had troubled him, but also felt unexpectedly touched, and even a little wronged, like a child who had been bullied seeing their parents. This feeling was especially strong when Yan Xinyuan patted her head, so much so that the tears she had just stopped welled up again.
Jian Changnian stammered, "Coach Yan, I'm sorry to have troubled you."
"As long as you're alright, go sign the papers. After you sign, I'll take you to the hospital to get checked out."
After the group signed the papers and completed the formalities, Officer Chen called them back before they left and stuffed a few red bills into Yan Xinyuan's hand.
"Here, this is the settlement money. Originally, it was only two hundred, but the other party heard that her family was not well-off, so they gave her a little more."
Officer Chen smiled kindly and bent down to pat her head.
"Listen to your uncle, go back and study hard. That kind of place is not for minors."
Jian Changnian subconsciously took a step back, and Officer Chen's hand awkwardly fell into mid-air.
Yan Xinyuan clutched the money, grabbed her hand, and turned to leave.
"Let's go."
After being dragged out of the police station in a daze, Jian Changnian remembered something and whispered.
"video……"
"What video?"
"They filmed me being beaten."
Who took the photo?
Jian Changnian looked up and saw that Yuanyuan and the others had just come out.
"That tall girl in the red dress."
Yan Xinyuan walked over and patted her on the shoulder: "Give me your phone."
She could be incredibly arrogant when facing Jian Changnian and Yuanyuan, but she wasn't so tough around an adult.
"The police have already seen it, and deleted it all. You can see for yourself."
Yan Xinyuan took a look and saw that it had indeed been completely deleted, so he handed the phone back.
"Delete them all. Let's go to the hospital."
Yan Xinyuan pushed the bicycle over and let her sit on it first, then he jumped on himself.
Jian Changnian remained silent the entire way, seemingly lost in thought. Yan Xinyuan glanced back at her a few times, somewhat worried about her, and deliberately tried to start a conversation.
"Luckily, I just made up a lie, saying you're my student and your parents live in another city..."
Jian Changnian gave a wry smile and finally spoke.
"I have never met my parents."
"And your parents..."
“My mother left when I was very young. My father left me with my maternal grandmother and said he was going out to work. He never came back.”
Yan Xinyuan sighed inwardly. He was a pitiful child.
"And what about your home..."
"Only my grandma is left. She farms during the day and does needlework at night to support my schooling. She always thought I was a good student with excellent grades. If she knew I was working part-time at a karaoke bar and even got into a fight, she would be very disappointed. I don't want to hurt her. I don't know who to talk to. They insist that my parents come, so I can only..."
As she finished speaking, Jian Changnian choked up again.
When they arrived at the hospital, Yan Xinyuan stopped his bicycle, turned around to look at her, and said, word by word.
“Child, you did not let anyone down. You are strong and brave. You smashed a beer bottle over the head of a man who tried to bully you. If Grandma knew what happened today, I think she wouldn’t be sad or upset. She would only feel sorry for you, give you a big hug, and pray that you will never encounter such a thing again.”
Jian Changnian was stunned. Her nose tingled, and tears welled up unexpectedly, blurring her vision.
Yan Xinyuan patted her on the shoulder.
"Get down, we've arrived at the hospital."
Jian Changnian jumped off the bicycle in a daze, and then followed the people into the hospital in a daze.
Her mind was a complete blank, yet a fire seemed to be burning brighter and brighter within her. She didn't want to go back to that cold, impersonal school, didn't want to listen to the courses she had no interest in. She didn't want to be bullied anymore, didn't want to face those ugly faces, didn't want to be beaten, didn't want to be scolded, didn't want to be mocked, didn't want to be so poor and miserable anymore!
She wanted to live a good life for herself and for her grandmother!
If there were a way for her to start a new life.
As Coach Yan said, the road to dreams is always full of thorns, even if it is a path fraught with danger.
At this moment, she had only one thought.
The fire finally broke free from its cage.
Jian Changnian tugged at Yan Xinyuan's sleeve.
"Coach Yan, I would like to participate in the training camp."
***
"Really?! That's great!!" Zhou Mu was even more excited than her when she heard the news, jumping three feet high.
"Alright, alright, keep your voice down, there are so many people here." The customers in the milk tea shop all cast dissatisfied glances at them. Jian Changnian lowered her voice and kicked her under the table.
Zhou Mu stuck out his tongue and then calmed down.
"I'm just happy for you. You're going to the training camp, and so is Senior Cheng. I can just come visit you, that's all..."
Seeing her increasingly infatuated smile, Jian Changnian rolled her eyes: "All you care about is your Senior Cheng. Don't you even look at what your good friend me has been beaten up like this?"
Zhou Mu examined her face closely; it was bruised and swollen, and she did look quite pitiful. He reached out and touched her head, speaking in a tone that sounded like he was coaxing a child.
"Okay, okay, sweetie, it doesn't hurt anymore, snoring..."
He was only halfway through his sentence when he felt a surge of anger.
“You should have called me on Friday. I would have been the first to rush over to protect you. Even if we couldn’t win, we could have run away together, and things wouldn’t have come to this…”
Jian Changnian was disgusted by the first half of her sentence, so she brushed her hand away and smiled.
"You? You're lucky if you don't drag me down."
Zhou Mu was well aware of her own limitations, but she still felt indignant on behalf of Jian Changnian.
"So those people who hit you, you just let them go?"
Jian Changnian lowered her eyes and gave a soft "hmm".
Seeing her expression, Zhou Mu knew he had touched on someone's sore spot. He gently kneaded her arm like dough and comforted her.
"Alright, alright, I won't mention it anymore. Let me tell you, evil people will be punished by evil people, and good and evil will eventually be rewarded. Those people won't have a good ending! I hope they don't have seasoning packets when they eat instant noodles, don't have toilet paper when they go to the toilet, and step in dog poop every time they go out..."
Jian Changnian couldn't help but burst out laughing.
"Hey, hey, hey, I'm drinking milk tea right now, what are you talking about, dog poop and all that dog poop?"
"Isn't that cursing them? You should never be so reckless in the future. There are so many of them, if you can't beat them, just run away."
The smile on Jian Changnian's lips gradually faded.
“They went too far, and I couldn’t hold back, so I struck first. I can’t stay at school anymore; a change of environment is good.”
"What about the money for your training camp?"
"I gave Coach Yan an IOU."
That night, Yan Xinyuan wanted to pay for her training camp and medical expenses in advance, but Jian Changnian insisted on refusing. She borrowed paper and pen from the doctor, squatted on a chair in the hospital corridor, wrote down an IOU stroke by stroke, and then handed it to him with both hands.
"Coach Yan, I will definitely repay you in the future."
Yan Xinyuan looked at the neat handwriting, then at her youthful yet determined face, folded the IOU, and put it in his pocket.
"Okay, then I'll keep it for now."
And just like that, Jian Changnian's participation in the training camp was settled.
"What about Grandma's side?" Zhou Mu asked after listening.
"I'll keep it from her for now. If I'm successfully selected for the Binhai Provincial Team in three months, then I'll tell her the good news."
If that doesn't work out, I can go back to school, but that's the worst-case scenario.
Jian Changnian silently cheered herself on. She knew she could do it. No matter how tough or tiring the training was, or how slim the chances of staying were, she was determined to fight for her dream and her future!
Zhou Mu touched her milk tea cup, smiled with his eyebrows curving upwards, and said, mimicking a line from a martial arts drama.
"I also think you can definitely do it! Keep going, for your dream, let's drink tea instead of wine, bottoms up!"
As soon as Zhou Mu finished speaking, he choked on the tapioca pearls in his milk tea and coughed repeatedly.
Jian Changnian couldn't help but burst into laughter.
There's a small corner in this bubble tea shop with a wishing wall covered in sticky notes. Every time Zhou Mu comes, she writes silly things like "I hope to get into the top ten in my class next time" or "I hope to meet Senior Cheng." This time was no exception.
She picked up a pen and scribbled on the paper, reciting as she wrote: "Hope, hope, constant, mindfulness, gathering, training, smooth, benefit, pass through."
Startled, Jian Changnian hurriedly tried to snatch the pen from her.
"Don't try to jinx me. When have your wishes ever come true?"
Zhou Mu chuckled and stuck the sticky note he had written on the wall, then patted her shoulder earnestly.
"Comrade Jian Changnian, that's where you're wrong. You have to believe in our revolutionary friendship. Just because we didn't succeed before doesn't mean we won't succeed in the future. Haven't you heard the saying 'after the worst comes the best'?"
"What do you mean by 'after the worst comes the best'? I knew you'd never even won a 50-cent 'buy one more pack of instant noodles' prize in your entire life."
"Hey, hey, you should write too, write, sincerity is key." Zhou Mu nudged her side with his elbow.
Jian Changnian looked at the wall covered with colorful wishes, then at the one Zhou Mu had just posted. A smile appeared on her lips. She picked up her pen and wrote, stroke by stroke:
May your wishes come true, and may the future be bright.
I hope that both Zhou Mu and I will achieve our goals and have a bright future.