This thought had been on my mind almost every day during this period, but it was particularly strong and longer and more unbearable on this particular night.
Two years. As long as she can get through these two years, leave this place, and find a job, everything will be fine. Once she earns money, no one will be able to bully her anymore, and her grandmother won't have to work so hard anymore.
With this thought in mind, Jian Changnian secretly encouraged herself and slowly closed her eyes in an awkward posture.
She just didn't expect that the opportunity to leave would come so soon, in less than two years.
It was a Tuesday afternoon.
She was in class when someone suddenly knocked on the door and came in.
"Student Jian Changnian, which one of you is Student Jian Changnian?"
The teacher who was giving the lesson was also stunned. The head of the grade had come to call her personally, so it must be something important. She quickly waved to her.
"Jian, Jian, I'm calling you, get up quickly."
Jian Changnian stood up, not understanding what was going on.
The head of the grade gave her a once-over.
"Come out, I need to talk to you about something."
Jian Changnian touched his nose and thought to himself.
"What could possibly be wrong? She's already paid her tuition for this semester."
When she left the classroom, she found another man standing in the corridor. He was probably in his fifties, wearing a gray tracksuit, and was balding. Although his temples were all white, he looked very energetic.
Jian Changnian was taken aback, but the man's eyes lit up when he saw her, and he strode over.
"Um, you must be Jian Changnian? My name is Yan Xinyuan. I saw you playing badminton at the Jiangbei No. 2 Middle School gymnasium the other day..."
When the incident at the gymnasium was mentioned, Jian Changnian unconsciously took a step back, becoming alert and interrupting him.
"I don't know you. What do you want from me?"
Neither denying nor admitting it, the child probably felt awkward speaking in front of his teacher, since impersonating someone else is not a respectable thing.
Yan Xinyuan understood and looked at the grade director.
"Director, I'd like to speak with this child alone for a couple of minutes. After all, this matter depends on her opinion."
"Alright, alright, this is great news, Jane, you must seize this opportunity."
The grade head teacher finished speaking with a smile and left, leaving Jian Changnian standing there completely bewildered.
Just then, the bell rang, and people rushed out of the classroom, making the corridor noisy and crowded.
Yan Xinyuan looked downstairs and saw only a few boys playing ball on the playground.
"Don't be afraid, it's a good thing. Let's go over there and talk."
The nursing class had also ended, and across most of the corridor, Yuanyuan spotted Jian Changnian at a glance.
She frowned: "Isn't the person next to her a teacher from our school?"
"No." His companion also looked carefully and shook his head.
"I heard that the head of the grade brought him here to see Jian Changnian."
Yuan Yuan immediately became interested, and a smug smile appeared on her lips.
"Go ask the auto repair shop and see what's going on."
Chapter 7 Destruction
Jian Changnian reluctantly followed the people to the edge of the playground.
"What's wrong? Tell me quickly, I have to go back to class."
Yan Xinyuan was still all smiles: "Don't worry, I won't tell anyone that you replaced someone else in the competition that day. I watched the whole match, and I think you have a lot of potential; you're a good prospect for badminton..."
Jian Changnian looked at him with a strange expression, as if someone suddenly came up to you on the street and tried to sell you a martial arts manual, claiming that you were a peerless martial arts prodigy.
She may not talk much, but she's not stupid.
Yan Xinyuan noticed it too, scratched his head, and smiled awkwardly.
"Oh right, I haven't introduced myself yet. As I just said, my name is Yan Xinyuan, and I'm the former head coach of the national badminton team. I've just been transferred to the Binhai provincial team. I'd like to recommend you for this year's provincial team training camp. If you do well after the training camp, you can stay on."
Jian Changnian looked him over, and almost blurted out a questioning "you".
"What, doesn't it look like it?"
Jian Changnian nodded, then shook her head.
"Like those who hand out flyers on the street to promote their products."
Yan Xinyuan laughed heartily.
No one had ever said that about him when he was on the national team.
"Don't disbelieve me. If I weren't the coach, how could I have found you through your friend? Besides, if I were a fraud, your school leaders wouldn't have let me in."
Jian Changnian looked at him with a mixture of belief and doubt.
"You...you're really the national team's head coach?"
"Hey, the former one, he's the head coach of the Binhai Provincial Team now."
Seeing that she was still somewhat doubtful, Yan Xinyuan simply told her everything about how he found her.
“An old friend of mine is a physical education teacher at Jiangbei No. 2 Middle School. I found your friend, Zhou Mu, from Chengnan No. 1 Middle School, after asking around a bit. I went to see her yesterday, and she was the one who told me your name and school.”
“Your friend said you really enjoy playing badminton. Although it’s a bit unfair of her to tell me your name and school, she still hopes you can seize this opportunity. I also think you have a good potential for badminton, so I wanted to give it a try.”
Although Yan Xinyuan had a smile on his face, his words were very sincere, and it was hard for Jian Changnian not to be moved.
The mere mention of "badminton" was enough to entice her.
What's more, the person standing in front of him is the former national team head coach.
The national team, that's the national team!
Jian Changnian recalled the competitions she had watched; it was the first time she had ever been so close to her dream.
He was still just a teenager, and his thoughts were written all over his face.
“You…you’re really on the national team? Then have you met…” Jian Changnian rattled off a long list of her favorite athletes.
“How come I’ve never seen him before? He’s one of the guys I trained…” Yan Xinyuan talked non-stop when talking about the old team members, and he had a great time chatting with her.
Jian Changnian was also amused, her eyebrows curving upwards.
After listening to her talk for so long, Yan Xinyuan could tell that she genuinely loved badminton; otherwise, she wouldn't have watched their matches repeatedly and even knew the strengths and weaknesses of each athlete by heart.
Yan Xinyuan had a gut feeling that he hadn't made a mistake in choosing the right person.
“I can tell you really enjoy playing badminton. You probably learned your skills by watching TV and imitating how others play. If that’s the case, you should really consider joining the training camp and receiving professional, systematic training.”
When the opportunity presented itself, after the initial excitement wore off, Jian Changnian began to doubt herself. Although she had not received professional training, she knew that most of the athletes on the national team had been trained since childhood.
She is already fifteen years old.
"Can...can I really do it?"
Leaving school and embarking on an unknown career path is indeed a decision that requires careful consideration.
Throughout his career, he has mentored many promising young players, as well as quite a few who gave up halfway through.
Yan Xinyuan thought about it and decided that he should tell her all the possible things that might happen in the future so that she could make the choice herself.
"Well, not every promising talent can become a professional athlete. Being an athlete is very tough. Most athletes are trained from a young age, giving up their studies, leaving their families and friends, going to unfamiliar places, isolating themselves, and training hard day after day. In order to maintain good physical fitness and condition, they cannot eat many foods that ordinary people can eat and enjoy simple pleasures."
"They can't just date like ordinary people; competitive sports require them to be completely focused. Especially for female athletes, quite a few have been forced to leave the competition due to the decline in physical function caused by childbirth."
"But that's not the hardest part, because you'll find that after you've invested so much time, energy, money, sacrificed your health, given up your studies and family, what you get in return is completely disproportionate to what you've given, and you might even get nothing at all. And the number of professional players who can actually stand on the highest stage is only one in ten thousand."
Yan Xinyuan revealed the cruel and bloody truth, pouring a bucket of cold water on the boy's budding dreams.
Jian Changnian hesitated, gritted her teeth, and remained silent for a long time.
Since we've come this far, let's say a little more.
Yan Xinyuan continued, "Participating in the training camp is just the first step on your path to becoming a professional athlete. As I just said, most athletes are trained from a young age. Without a foundation, it's very difficult, which means you have to put in ten, a hundred, or a thousand times more effort than others to have any chance of catching up with them."
"There are probably more than 100 people participating in this training camp across the province, but we will only keep four of them."
Jian Changnian's heart skipped a beat; such a high elimination rate could be described as extremely harsh.
"I don't understand, if it's really as difficult as you say, why..."
Yan Xinyuan knew what she wanted to ask, so he took out a letter of introduction from his jacket pocket and handed it to her.
"Because the journey to dreams is always full of thorns, but the end of the road is always full of flowers. If you don't succeed, you may feel regret, but if you have tried, you will not regret it."
Jian Changnian looked at the thin brown envelope in front of her, her outstretched hand stopped in mid-air, and then she withdrew it.
A hint of disappointment flashed across Yan Xinyuan's eyes.
Just as he was about to put the envelope back, Jian Changnian gritted his teeth, wiped his slightly sweaty hands along the seam of his trousers, and presented the letter of introduction with both hands, as if holding a precious treasure.
A relieved smile appeared on Yan Xinyuan's lips.
"My phone number is in the envelope. Call me before next Friday if you decide to go."
The school bell rang.
Yan Xinyuan was about to leave when he was called back by someone.
"Um, Coach Yan...does the training camp...require funding?"
What's the problem?
Yan Xinyuan couldn't help but chuckle: "No registration fee is required, only food and accommodation fees."
Jian Changnian clenched the envelope in her hand: "Approximately how much money do you need?"
"If it's three months, it's 1,500 yuan. What's wrong? Are you having trouble? If you're having trouble..."
Yan Xinyuan turned around and looked at her, just about to speak.
Jian Changnian shook her head: "No... I'll go back and discuss it with my family. I'll definitely give you an answer before next Friday."