The crowd cheered.
Qiao Yuchu took her racket and left the court. Xie Shi'an walked over and handed her a bottle of water, asking softly, "Are you tired?"
Qiao Yuchu shook her head, unscrewed the bottle cap, and took a sip.
"Fortunately, Coach Yan told us to conserve our energy."
The decisive game has begun, and the audience is excited, cheering for both teams so loudly it almost lifts the roof off.
Only Xie Shian watched her quietly, a hint of worry in his eyes.
Qiao Yuchu leaned closer to her, put her arm around her shoulder, and although she spoke in a joking tone, her voice was unusually serious.
"Don't worry, no matter what it takes, I will win this game. Even if I have to kneel on the ground, I will still tackle the ball. After all, we made a promise, didn't we? To win a championship together."
Xie Shi'an nodded and reached out to cover her thumb.
"Pinky promise, I believe you."
Chapter 44 National Competition (8)
At the start of the third game, even Zhou Mu, who was usually unruly and lazy, sat up straight and stared intently at the situation on the court.
She has a bad habit of pinching her thighs when she gets nervous during exams. She pinched the flesh on her thigh just now, but to her surprise, she didn't feel anything. Zhou Mu pinched it harder, and Cheng Zhen, who was sitting next to her, jumped up with a scream, spilling her drink.
He looked like he was in excruciating pain: "Why did you pinch me?"
Zhou Mu then realized he had pinched the wrong person and quickly apologized, but for some reason, he also found it a little funny.
"I'm so sorry, I... I didn't mean to, I was just too nervous watching the game... that's why..."
Cheng Zhen said with a blank face, "You should have told me earlier next time, and I would have changed seats."
Zhou Mu saw that his drink had spilled, so she handed him hers, her smile bright and radiant under the fluorescent light.
"I'm sorry, I'll be more careful next time. Here, you can have mine, don't be angry."
Cheng Zhen was taken aback, then slowly took it, took a sip through the straw, and thought to herself: It's...it's quite delicious.
Fine, I'll forgive her for the sake of the drink.
As the boy was thinking this, before he could even come to his senses, he was slapped on the arm again.
He hadn't even swallowed a sip of his drink when he choked and spat it all out.
"Cheng Zhen, look!!! We've got match point!! Yu Chu is amazing!!"
Zhou Mu was still frantically shaking his arm. When he turned around, he saw that the man's face was ashen and he was coughing incessantly.
"Huh? What's wrong with you?"
The person was completely unaware of their mistake and looked utterly bewildered.
Cheng Zhen waved her hand, finally able to speak again after recovering.
"No... I'm going to the restroom."
If he stayed here any longer, he was afraid that Zhou Mu's invisible claws would strike and he would die instantly.
"Okay, then hurry back, the second half is about to start."
After quickly cleaning my clothes in the restroom, I returned to the stands to find the match in full swing.
Yan Xinyuan stood on the sidelines, his brows furrowed, his eyes fixed on the situation on the field.
"It's the last ball, the score is very close, it's now 19-20."
"Will the Binhai team take the final victory, or will the Zhejiang team tie the score, making the game even more suspenseful?"
"Look at Yang Li's last serve! Beautiful serve, directly attacking Chen Siyu's backcourt and covering her head."
"Qiao Yuchu follows up with the shot and continues the attack."
"Zhao Wenjing's defensive speed is very fast. With that flat pass angle, I feel that Yang Li's right half of the field is a bit dangerous."
"Here it comes! That was a feint! Yang Li is in danger! Qiao Yuchu is on the left, it's too late for this ball!"
The narrator had barely finished speaking.
Xie Shi'an suddenly stood up from his chair.
Jian Changnian's eyes widened as well.
Qiao Yuchu, like a bolt of lightning, charged headlong into the ball from the left half of the field.
Such explosive power is a real test of a person's overall physical abilities. She gritted her teeth, beads of sweat appeared on her forehead, and jumped up suddenly when she was still some distance from where the ball was going to land. She even hung in the air for a second.
In that fleeting instant, she stretched out her long arm to its limit, and the front half of her racket just barely caught the shuttlecock.
Qiao Yuchu mustered her last bit of strength, let out a roar, and smashed the ball towards the person.
No one expected that someone who has always played a steady game would be so fast and so reckless.
The moment she saw the ball glide across the net and land, a smile appeared on Qiao Yuchu's face, before she fell heavily to the ground.
A sharp pain shot through her wrist, and she curled up in agony.
Yang Li rushed over, calling out loudly, "Sister Yu Chu, Sister Yu Chu, are you alright?! Where's the team doctor?! Team doctor!"
The team doctor arrived with his medical kit, and all the members of the Binhai Provincial Team surrounded him.
The team doctor gently lifted Qiao Yuchu's right hand, which was hanging by her side. It was just a slight movement, but it made her sweat profusely and groan in pain.
"Did you brace yourself with your hands when you landed?"
Qiao Yuchu nodded, her eyes slightly red.
"There wasn't time to release the force, so I braced myself with my hands."
Falling at such high speed and then trying to brace yourself with your hands would most likely result in a bone injury.
The team doctor looked serious, but with so many people around, he simply said, "Can you walk? Come with me to the infirmary for treatment."
Qiao Yuchu nodded, and Yan Xinyuan quickly helped her up, instructing, "Quickly, Chang Nian, Zhang Chun, you two go with her. Come back and tell me what's going on later."
"good."
Jian Changnian nodded, and he and Zhang Chun supported her on either side.
Xie Shi'an held onto her other arm tightly, his brows furrowed, his lips pressed together, and he remained silent.
Qiao Yuchu turned around and smiled.
"It's okay, Shi'an. Look, I did it. I said I could win, and I did. Don't worry, I'm going to put on an ice pack and I'll be back in a bit. I hope to hear good news about your next match when I get back."
Xie Shi'an reluctantly let go and watched them walk away.
While they were busy checking on Qiao Yuchu's injury, the Zhejiang team requested the referee to review the replay, because they felt that Qiao Yuchu's shot had hit the net.
Yang Li retorted, "What do you mean it hit the net? I saw it clearly from the side. The ball went out of bounds. It's just that you guys weren't good enough and couldn't catch it!"
"What do you mean by being less skilled? If you hadn't thrown the second round, we would have lost. You're just trying to be clever. Come on, let's have a fair and square match!"
Upon hearing this, Xie Shi'an threw down the towel in his hand, stood up abruptly, and strode over. Yan Xinyuan quickly stepped between the two teams.
“Shi’an, let them watch the replay if they want! I trust Yu Chu.”
The referee, seeing the commotion, came over, whistle in his mouth, looking at them with a serious expression.
Yan Xinyuan said in a low voice, "It's the last match. Have you forgotten what Yu Chu just said? Don't let her down at this time."
Xie Shi'an's tense body finally relaxed.
Yang Li also shouted, "I believe in Sister Yu Chu too!"
"And me, we all believe in Sister Yu Chu."
"She won't foul."
The others also gathered around and echoed their sentiments.
Seeing that both sides agreed to review the replay, the referee removed his whistle and nodded: "Head coach, come with me to the podium. The rest of you, please wait a moment."
The high-speed action camera captured clear footage, and after slowing down the playback, it was found that the ball did not actually touch the net when it passed over it; it flew across the air at a distance of only a few centimeters.
Yan Xinyuan breathed a sigh of relief and left with a cold laugh.
"Instead of worrying about whether others have committed fouls, you should focus on improving your own skills. You're supposed to be on the national team."
The Zhejiang team's head coach was a little embarrassed and patted his players twice with his racket.
"Didn't we say they fouled? Aren't you ashamed? Get off the field!"
Yan Xinyuan returned to his team, opened his mouth as if to say something, while Xie Shi'an wrapped his racket with grip tape.
"Coach Yan, there's no need to arrange any tactics. I won't hold back my strength, nor will I deliberately save my energy to lose the first game. I will go all out and make them admit defeat."
As she spoke, she glanced at Yin Jiayi across from her. When their eyes met, invisible sparks flew, and their fighting spirit surged.
Yan Xinyuan nodded, placed his hand on her shoulder, and said firmly, "Okay, go ahead and fight. Win or lose, you will always be our pride."
Xie Shi'an smiled slightly, nodded gently, and took his racket onto the court.
After a short break, the commentator continued.
"Wow, this is an incredible match. After losing the first two games, the Binhai team actually tied the score. The next singles match will be between Yin Jiayi and Xie Shian. I believe everyone is already familiar with Yin Jiayi's name. World Championships, Thomas & Uber Cup, Asian Championships, All England Open... she has too many championship titles."
"In the previous national competition, Xie Shi'an and his partner Qiao Yuchu defeated veterans Sun Xue and Jiang Wen, unexpectedly winning the silver medal. Their strength should not be underestimated."
"Let's see if Xie Shi'an can shoulder the heavy responsibility of coming back from a 0-2 deficit to win 3-2 and lead the Binhai Provincial Team into the finals. Now, the match officially begins. Let's wait and see!"
***
While the match was in full swing, in the infirmary, Qiao Yuchu used the excuse that she had left her coat in the rest area to send Zhang Chun away.
Jian Changnian was still standing there, following her closely, looking quite worried.
"Doctor, what happened to Yu Chu's hand? Will she be able to play in the upcoming matches?"
The team doctor glanced at Qiao Yuchu sitting on the hospital bed, gently shook her head, and gestured to him with her eyes not to speak yet.
The team doctor sighed inwardly and said, "It's nothing, just a sprain. Go and bring in the ice pack."
"Okay." Hearing this, Jian Changnian felt a little relieved and happily ran to the outer room to find an ice pack.