"Hey, don't move. I met her when she was only six years old. Her grandfather, who had taken care of her since she was little, passed away, and her parents didn't really care about her. It was pitiful for a six-year-old child to wander the streets all day long."
Just by imagining it for a moment, Jian Changnian felt suffocated, and a dull ache began to throb in a certain part of her chest.
"And then what happened?"
"Later, it was Coach Fang, a friend of her grandfather and the former head coach of our Binhai Provincial Team, who paid her tuition so that she could go back to school. Coach Fang was busy and couldn't take care of her all the time. Besides, he also had his own family to support."
“Shi’an was a child who was neither loved by her father nor her mother. She was often bullied by older students. My family and her family were neighbors, and I often bumped into her on my way to and from school.”
When recalling the past, Qiao Yuchu also felt a little emotional.
“Back then, Shi’an was very wary. I followed behind her to protect her, but she picked up stones from the ground and threw them at me.”
Jian Changnian's feelings were a bit complicated. For an innocent child to be so afraid that her first reaction to someone appearing behind her was to protect herself, she must have had a very difficult life.
"And then what happened? How did you two become friends?"
Qiao Yuchu smiled and gently trimmed the stray hairs behind her ears with scissors.
"Because of a lollipop."
At that time, Xie Shi'an had nowhere to go after school, and no one at home cooked for her. She was very hungry but had no money, so she could only lean on the window of the bakery, looking at all kinds of cakes inside, smelling the sweet and creamy aroma, and swallowing her saliva frantically.
An older student passed by and tried to lure her with candy.
"Kneel down and call me brother, and I'll give you some to eat."
Even though she was young and didn't understand, Xie Shi'an knew that it was wrong to kneel down to someone casually. However, she really wanted to eat candy, and this person had bullied her many times, so she decided to go all out and try to snatch it. But the difference in strength was too great, and she was pushed off the sidewalk and fell on the road.
A motorcycle drove by.
"Hey, watch out!"
At the critical moment, Xie Shi'an was lifted up by the back of his neck, narrowly escaping death from under the wheels of a car.
She steadied herself and turned around. A girl in a pale yellow goose-feather dress stood in front of her, looking aggressive.
"There's a limit to bullying! Don't you know that pushing someone into the road could cause a car accident?! Get out of here, or I'll tell your teacher!"
After chasing away the group of thugs, Qiao Yuchu turned around and patted her head: "Do you want to eat cake? But I didn't bring any money today. Here, take this lollipop. Eat it, and it will make the pain go away."
Whenever Xie Shi'an recalled that scene, he felt that what Qiao Yuchu gave him was not just a piece of candy, but also an entire bright spring.
As Jian Changnian listened, she silently grumbled to herself:
So she likes sweets.
Chapter 36 National Champion
"Alright, see? How is it?" The story was over, and her hair was cut. Qiao Yuchu untied the towel wrapped around her neck.
Jian Changnian looked at herself in the mirror from left to right.
"Wow, Sister Yu Chu, your haircut is amazing! You're good enough to be a hairdresser!!"
Qiao Yuchu was also very satisfied with her work. She scratched her hair again, feeling that there was something she could improve.
"Oh, right, wait for me, I'm going back to my dorm to get a curling iron, getting it permed might make it look even better."
No sooner had she finished speaking than she slipped out of the dormitory, and Jian Changnian couldn't stop her in time.
A short while later, the person returned with a curling iron and a hair dryer.
Jian Changnian's face was somewhat distorted by the hot wind.
"Really, there's no problem?"
Qiao Yuchu also shouted loudly, "Just you wait and see!"
Jian Changnian's originally unremarkable head was transformed by her styling. Her hair was cut to just below her shoulders, shorter in the front and longer in the back, and slightly curled with a curling iron. Her bangs were also made thin and beautiful. She was then blown with a hairdryer, letting them fall naturally on her forehead. She looked clean and neat, full of youthful vigor.
Qiao Yuchu looked the person up and down. Sure enough, clothes make the man. Her gaze then fell on the woman's face.
"Your lips are very thin, which is perfect for wearing lipstick."
Jian Changnian shuddered, no longer daring to let her cause any more trouble.
"No, no, no, this is fine, I think it's good enough."
Last time she wore a miniskirt all day at Cao Rui's place, she was so uncomfortable that she didn't even know how to walk properly.
Seeing her like this, Qiao Yuchu burst out laughing.
"Alright, alright, I'll let you off the hook today."
***
When Qiao Yuchu returned to her dormitory, Xie Shian was doing a plank exercise. There was a yoga mat on the floor and a mobile phone in front of him, playing a badminton match video.
Hearing the door open, she looked up.
"Where have you been? Why did it take you so long to come back?"
Qiao Yuchu smiled mysteriously.
You'll find out tomorrow.
Seeing the hairdryer and curling iron in her hand, Xie Shi'an knew she had gone to work as a stylist again, and the corners of her lips curved slightly.
"Come on, you've ruined my hair countless times before."
"Ouch, the older you get, the more venomous your mouth becomes." Qiao Yuchu pretended to stomp on her butt.
Seeing that things were not going well, Xie Shi'an rolled to the side and dodged perfectly, but accidentally knocked the phone off the stand.
Qiao Yuchu picked it up and saw that it was a video of a singles match.
Are you going to register for two more programs this year?
This year's national competition has a long and compact schedule. The first week will be the team qualifying rounds to determine the teams that will advance from the group stage. The second week will be the individual competitions, which will be held in a single-elimination format. Only the top 16 players in each event will be able to meet in the finals in Beijing.
If Xie Shi'an signs up for both doubles and singles competitions at the same time, it means that she will have almost no rest time during the two-week competition period, which will be a great test of her physical fitness, technique and mental strength.
Xie Shi'an leaped up from the ground.
"Yes, Coach Yan has already submitted the registration form to the event organizing committee."
When it comes to badminton, the boy's eyes are full of passion.
"The Zhejiang team has a national team player, and I want to challenge her."
For some reason, seeing her like this, Qiao Yuchu felt a mix of emotions: a touch of sadness, a hint of envy, and a faint sense of loss.
She knew that Xie Shi'an would leave her sooner or later. A small space cannot confine an eagle that is about to spread its wings. All these years, she had only relied on her passion and clumsy efforts to keep going. In terms of talent, she was neither as good as Xie Shi'an nor as good as Jian Changnian.
Even so, she was happy to see Xie Shi'an continue to improve and eventually reach the peak that she could never reach.
"We've already beaten Qin Yang, so there shouldn't be any problems."
"What is Qin Yang? He's a national champion, a world champion."
Qiao Yuchu picked up a towel and threw it at her.
"Okay, okay, national team player, go take a shower, you stink! After you shower, come out to eat with me, I'm starving."
***
After Qiao Yuchu left, Jian Changnian took a short nap in her dormitory. She had been sleeping on a chair for the past few days and hadn't slept on such a comfortable bed in a long time. So when she opened her eyes, the sun had already set and the alarm clock on the table pointed to 5:30. She quickly got up, packed her things, and prepared to catch the bus.
When I opened my schoolbag, the lotus lantern was still inside.
Jian Changnian suddenly slapped her forehead. Oh, right, I almost forgot about that. I need to hurry up and deliver the things to them.
She carried her schoolbag out the door, but then suddenly stopped. "Hey, maybe I should give it to her after the competition. Judging by the time, the national competition will end around the Lunar New Year."
If he could win the championship, that would be a double celebration; if he couldn't win, having this lotus lantern would at least prevent Xie Shi'an from being too disappointed.
For some reason, after listening to Qiao Yuchu's story in the afternoon, she felt a pang of sadness when she thought of Xie Shi'an. She unconsciously wanted to make her happier, even happier.
Jian Changnian looked down at the lotus lantern in her schoolbag, then went back and put it in the locked locker. She put the key in her pocket before turning and leaving.
***
When she returned to the hospital, she passed by the director's office and saw that the door was ajar. She knocked gently, but no one answered.
When Jian Changnian pushed open the door, the room was empty. The white coat that used to hang on the wall was gone. The director probably went to see a patient.
She thought for a moment, then took the internal ticket out of her bag and placed it under the pen holder on her desk. She then tore a page from her notebook, borrowed the director's pen, scribbled a line of text, and placed it under the pen holder as well.
After doing all this, Jian Changnian closed the office door for him and skipped and hopped towards the ward.
The director, returning from the outpatient clinic, found an extra piece of paper on his desk. He picked it up and saw a line of neat handwriting.
"Dear Director Luo, I am Jian Changnian, the family member of Fang Huaiying in bed 15. A drop of kindness deserves a spring of gratitude, let alone a life-saving grace. However, I am truly short of funds and have nothing of value to offer. All I can think of is a ticket to the National Badminton Championships. I know you are busy, so the ticket is valid for all events. Please remember to relax appropriately during your free time. Wishing you good health and a happy family!"
— Respectfully submitted by Jian Changnian
The director took off his reading glasses, looked at the ticket, and smiled sincerely. This made him much more gratified than any banner.
***
When Jian Changnian returned to the ward, her grandmother was also awake. When she saw her come in, although she couldn't sit up, her grandmother's face still showed a happy smile. At the same time, she was also a little surprised to see her new hairstyle.
"Grandma, how are you feeling today?" Jian Changnian walked to her bedside and gently took her hand.
The old man still had a feeding tube inserted in his nose and couldn't speak. He just nodded slightly to indicate that he was alright, his gaze remaining fixed on her.
Jian Changnian, wearing her new team uniform, circled around the hospital bed, deliberately showing her the four characters "Binhai Provincial Team" on the back.
"How is it, Grandma? Does it look good?"
The old man's eyes shone with satisfaction, and he nodded gently.
After admiring herself, Jian Changnian moved a stool and sat down in front of the hospital bed, holding her hand and chatting away.
"I'm going to the competition tomorrow. It's my first time playing, and I don't know if I'll be nervous or if I can perform well."
Grandma's fingers twitched.
Jian Changnian opened her palm, and her grandmother had written two words crookedly in it:
come on.
Holding the encouragement, Jian Changnian smiled sincerely and gently leaned against her grandmother, acting coquettishly.