"Speaking of Yin Jiayi, why did she suddenly retire?"
"Who knows? But anyway, if Yin Jiayi hadn't retired, Nan Zhi wouldn't have made it to the semifinals so easily."
...
Kim Nam-ji slammed the ball against the wall with such force that his racket flew out of his hand, slammed against the wall with a thud, and fell to the ground.
She stood in the empty training room, her eyes slightly red.
***
Coach Liang, who had just hung up the phone, stood outside the ICU and mouthed to Yan Xinyuan, who was lying inside, through the transparent glass.
Yan Xinyuan turned around, his eyes seemingly blank, and white mist appeared on his oxygen mask. Coach Liang thought for a moment, opened his phone, edited a text message, enlarged the font, and stuck it on the glass.
"Chang Nian said that Shi An has made it to the semifinals, and his opponent in the finals will be Kim Nam-ji without any surprises. There shouldn't be any problem."
A relieved smile finally appeared on Yan Xinyuan's face.
Coach Liang took the phone back, typed, and then posted it in the same way: "You should keep it up too."
Yan Xinyuan saw it, nodded slightly, and wearing an oxygen mask with several IV tubes connected to the back of his hand, tremblingly raised his left hand and gave him a thumbs up.
Coach Liang smiled and returned the smile.
***
It had been more than three months since she last faced Anton at the World Championships. When Anton saw her again, he was much friendlier than before and took the initiative to come over and shake her hand.
"To be honest, I've been studying you all this time, all for the sake of beating you at the Olympics today."
She was mumbling something in a foreign language that Xie Shi'an couldn't understand. She guessed that she was just making threats. However, although she couldn't understand, she did remember that at the World Championships, she had used her senior status to incite the audience to jeer and call her "the sick man of East Asia".
Xie Shi'an gave a slight twitch of his lips, too lazy to even extend his hand.
"Stop talking nonsense and let's start fighting."
Things are different now than they used to be.
Although it was an away game, many of her fans traveled a long distance to London to support her.
The stands were a sea of red, reminiscent of China.
"Xie Shi'an, keep it up!!!"
"Team China, invincible!!!"
Amidst thunderous cheers, Xie Shi'an, racket in hand, strode confidently onto the court.
Here, she is the queen.
As expected, Anton lost to her 1-2. She played very tenaciously in the third game, dragging it out for quite a long time, which troubled Xie Shi'an at one point, but fortunately she still won.
When the scoreboard lit up, the entire stadium erupted, with the audience chanting her name wildly. Xie Shi'an raised her arm to signal them to be quiet, then lifted the net and went over to help Anton, who had fallen to the ground, up.
Anton seemed surprised that she would come and pull him up. A hint of gratitude welled up in his eyes as he took her hand and stood up.
Thank you. You won.
Xie Shi'an understood this and a smile appeared on his lips.
"And you were awesome. Thanks."
Shortly after she returned to the rest area, the results were announced on the other side of the competition field: Kim Nam-ji defeated Indian player Katya 2-0. The commentator's voice was passionate and resounded throughout the stadium.
"Let's congratulate Xie Shi'an and Jin Nanzhi on their victories today and their successful advancement to the finals. In the last World Championships, Jin Nanzhi narrowly lost to Xie Shi'an 1-2. Will Jin Nanzhi snatch victory from the jaws of defeat and avenge her World Championship loss, or will Xie Shi'an continue her steady and skillful performance to win her first Olympic gold medal? The outcome will be revealed tomorrow, so let's wait and see!"
The commentator's voice fell like a heavy hammer.
The two people gazed at each other across the badminton net.
There was a battle burning in each other's eyes.
***
On the day of the final, Yan Xinyuan seemed to be in much better spirits. He ate some liquid food in the morning, and in the afternoon, he unusually told the caregiver that he wanted to wash his hair and change his clothes. He had been living here for more than half a month, and this was the first time the caregiver had seen him so happy, so she asked curiously.
"Is there some happy occasion today? Or are your family members coming to visit you?"
"No, it's not me... my apprentice... in the competition... champion... no problem... I can't let her see me looking so disheveled when I get back, she'll laugh at me."
He lay on the bed with his head facing outwards, letting the caregiver wash his hair while they chatted idly.
"Is that the guy who plays badminton... Xie Shi'an?"
"You knew about this too?"
The caregiver smiled and said, "My son loves her. Every day after school, after finishing his homework, he either goes to play ball or watches TV to watch her games. She's one of the few people who can make it to the Olympics."
There were no cell phones or televisions in the ICU, and visiting hours were limited. All of Yan Xinyuan's information about the outside world came from Coach Liang's snippets. When he heard about Xie Shi'an from someone else, his eyes welled up with tears again, and a relieved smile appeared on his face.
"Yes, this child... is truly outstanding."
After the caregiver finished washing his hair, just as she was about to change him into a new hospital gown, Yan Xinyuan turned his head and looked at the brand-new national team coach uniform that Coach Liang had brought yesterday, which was placed by the bedside. It was a sportswear style jacket with a lapel collar, gold dragons embroidered on the cuffs, and a five-star red flag embroidered on the chest.
This is something you wear to important occasions, such as award ceremonies for athletes who have won major international competitions.
He touched the soft fabric with his hand, tears welling up in his eyes.
"Wear this."
After getting dressed, he shakily picked up the team badge of the Binhai Provincial Team and finally managed to pin it to his chest.
Yan Xinyuan smiled and said, "Hey, that's right."
When Coach Liang came to visit him, he was overwhelmed with emotion upon seeing him in this state, and his eyes instantly welled up with tears.
"Old Yan, what are you doing?"
Yan Xinyuan leaned against the bed and slowly handed him the letter he had written. He hadn't sat up to write in a long time, and even this short time made him feel a little tired.
"I can't go to the scene, so let's just consider this a celebration for Shi An. Also, could you please pass this letter on to them for me?"
Coach Liang's hands were trembling as he held the envelope.
"They'll be back soon. If you have anything to say, tell them in person."
Yan Xinyuan seemed not to have heard what he said, smiled, and looked up into the void.
"Has the match... started yet?"
"No, the game doesn't start until 9:30 PM Beijing time."
"Oh, it's still early. I'm a little tired and want to take a nap first."
Coach Liang gently covered him with the blanket.
"Go to sleep, I'll be right outside. I'll tell you as soon as the results are out."
***
Xie Shi'an had a long dream that night. In the dream, she seemed to have returned to her childhood, carrying a schoolbag and running around in the pure white corridor of the hospital.
A row of adult feet were walking back and forth in front of me.
They opened their mouths and simply said, "Your grandfather passed away. He was found at home this morning. He had a heart attack. Please accept our condolences."
"No! Impossible! You're lying!"
Little Xie Shi'an covered his ears, shouted at the top of his lungs, pushed through the crowd, rushed into the ward, and lifted the white sheet covering the bed to take a look.
Coach Yan!
She jumped out of bed, still shaken.
"What's wrong? What's wrong?!" Jian Changnian was startled by her sudden shout and sat up abruptly, crawling over to shake her shoulders.
"Shi'an, Shi'an, did you have a nightmare?"
It was bright outside, and the faint chirping of birds could be heard from outside the window.
Xie Shi'an came to his senses, propped his forehead with his hand, looked up at her, his eyes slightly red, and smiled bitterly.
"Yes, I dreamt that Coach Yan... was sick."
Jian Changnian breathed a sigh of relief.
"It's alright, it's alright. Dreams are always the opposite of reality. Coach Yan is probably coaching right now, waiting for us to go back and invite him for a celebratory drink."
Xie Shi'an smiled as well.
What time is it?
"It's 9:30 in the morning, do you want to sleep a little longer?"
Xie Shi'an shook his head and got out of bed.
"I'm going to take a shower and go to the stadium early to prepare for the match. After the match, I'll go straight home."
For some reason, she had a vague sense of unease and began to feel an overwhelming urge to return home.
Chapter 103 Regret
Before the start of the competition, as if to put his mind at ease, Xie Shi'an unusually took the initiative to call Yan Xinyuan. The phone rang for a long time, but no one answered.
She frowned, and just as she was about to hang up, the call was answered. Xie Shi'an's eyebrows lit up with joy: "Coach Yan..."
Coach Liang sounded very tired on the other end of the phone.
“It’s me, Shi’an.”
Xie Shi'an was stunned for a moment. She didn't know when it started, but nine times out of ten when they called, Coach Liang would answer the phone for them.
"Coach Liang, where's Coach Yan? Isn't he here?"
"Yes, they're training."
"It's already past 9 PM Beijing time, and they're still training?"
Even night training doesn't go this late.
Coach Liang seemed to only come to his senses at this moment, and hurriedly tried to cover up his lie.
"We played a friendly match against the city team today, so it's a little late. It's not over yet."