"Do you even understand human language?! I have legs, I'll go back. Can't you just leave me alone for a while?!"
Jian Changnian was furious and took a few quick steps, but Xie Shi'an caught up with her. She turned around and gave her a thorough dressing-down.
Her voice was neither too loud nor too soft, and some pedestrians stopped to watch.
What are you doing?
"The young couple must have had a fight. Let's go, why bother with all that?"
Xie Shi'an reluctantly took off her headphones, and even in the dim light of the forest path, the tear tracks in the corners of her eyes were still visible.
The boy was not one to apologize in a humble manner, but his heart softened, and his tone unusually pleaded.
"Come back with me, Coach Yan is also very worried about you."
Jian Changnian had taken some of what those passersby had said to heart. She turned her head away awkwardly and said indignantly.
"If you tell me to go back with you, I'll just go back. That would be too embarrassing for me!"
A hint of helplessness surfaced in Xie Shi'an's eyes.
"So what else do you want?"
"I'm hungry, I want to eat!"
"tasty."
"But I didn't bring any money."
"?"
A big question mark popped up on Xie Shi'an's little head.
Even so, the two of them found a Western restaurant nearby and sat down. Jian Changnian looked at the brightly lit bars with longing, wanting to go in and see the world, and also to extort a lot of money from Xie Shi'an.
The boy dragged the person away with a cold face.
"No money! Besides, the match is about to start, and you're still drinking? Do you think the red card punishment isn't severe enough?!"
Jian Changnian struggled in vain.
"You can drink by yourself, but not others. Now I see, so this magistrate's surname is Xie!"
Xie Shi'an closed the menu and handed it to the waiter.
"Two servings of pasta and two glasses of soda."
Do you want your soda water with ice?
"add."
The pasta was served quickly, and Xie Shi'an started eating without a second thought.
"If you don't want to eat it, then give it to me later. I'm not full yet."
Seeing how much she enjoyed her food, Jian Changnian wasn't about to be outdone, but unfortunately, she wasn't used to using a fork and couldn't pick up many pieces, so she said resentfully.
I suspect you're retaliating against me.
A hint of a smile finally appeared in Xie Shi'an's eyes as he beckoned to the waiter.
"A pair of chopsticks."
The waiter nodded and went to get it.
"Everyone else in the Western restaurant uses forks, but I use chopsticks. Aren't you ashamed enough?" Jian Changnian said indignantly, her face slightly flushed.
Xie Shi'an glanced to the side and saw that the huge terrace was occupied by only their table.
"Who cares? Just be comfortable with yourself."
Jian Changnian looked into the distance and saw the Shichahai Lake brightly lit. A gentle breeze blew across the lake, making it very cool.
Downstairs on the tree-lined path, willow branches swayed, and occasionally two or three pedestrians rode by on bicycles.
It was a quiet and gentle night.
The winds of Shichahai also dispelled the grievances and dissatisfaction in her heart.
"you……"
"you……"
Just as Jian Changnian was about to speak, the two of them spoke at the same time.
Xie Shi'an was taken aback and took back what he had said.
"You go first."
Jian Changnian stirred the noodles in the plate with her chopsticks without looking up.
"Sister Yu Chu, she's... a very special person to you, right?"
Xie Shi'an was startled and was wondering how to answer when Jian Changnian gave a wry smile and looked up at her.
“I can tell even if you don’t say it. After all, I’m not stupid. You always put her first and take care of her feelings, even during the New Year. If Sister Yu Chu had stayed with the team, you definitely wouldn’t have gone to my house, right?”
“Zhou Mu and I have been friends since we were little, but when I was standing by the water just now, a ridiculous thought popped into my head: if you and Zhou Mu fell into the water together, who would I save first? I couldn’t make a choice for a moment.”
"But Shi'an, you would definitely choose to save Yu Chu first without hesitation, right?"
Jian Changnian curled her lips into a self-deprecating smile, then her eyes slowly reddened.
Xie Shi'an looked at her and fell into a long silence.
Silence means consent.
Jian Changnian sniffed, put down her chopsticks in disappointment, and stood up.
"We're full, let's go back."
Xie Shi'an also stood up and, unusually, called her name.
"Remember this often."
Jian Changnian turned around and saw a hint of sadness on the boy's face for the first time. She hadn't seen this expression even when the boy ran out of his mother's house crying with his luggage on New Year's Eve.
Although she didn't cry, at that moment, before Xie Shi'an could even speak, Jian Changnian's nose already felt sore.
“I rely on her a lot. She has been the only one who has been good to me since I was a child. So she is a very special person to me, so special that I am willing to do anything for her.”
For Xie Shi'an, this was the first time he had ever laid bare his heart's blood to show to others.
She stood there, as open and honest as a gentle breeze and the bright moon, but there was a deep, unyielding sorrow in her eyes.
"One day, you'll understand how this feels, but—"
The boy's tone shifted, and his gaze toward her gradually hardened.
“You are also very special, so special that I have never said these things to anyone else. I will not let the situation you just described happen, because you are all people I want to protect.”
Although she didn't say "I'm sorry" once, her words had already made her attitude clear. Jian Changnian's pent-up frustration vanished, and she looked at her with a bright smile.
At that time, she did not know that this emotion was called jealousy.
"Then let's still be friends, okay?"
"Of course, I haven't congratulated you on getting this precious substitute spot yet."
A hint of a smile appeared in Xie Shi'an's eyes.
Speaking of this, Jian Changnian thought of Qiao Yuchu again; she must have been very disappointed as well.
"I wonder if Sister Yuchu has eaten yet? Let's pack some food to take back for her."
Xie Shi'an nodded and then called over a waiter.
"good."
The two people carried their packed lunch boxes out of the Western restaurant and walked along the tree-lined path to the bus stop.
The young man, who had just secured a substitute spot and reconciled with his best friend, was full of pride and looked forward to the future, dancing with joy all the way.
"After the World Championships, let's go to the national team's recruitment assessment together. Yu Chu will go too, so the three of us can stay together forever and compete all over the world."
"Don't forget, I've offended all the leaders of the national team. Who knows, they might get annoyed just seeing our Binhai provincial team."
"Ugh, you really are something. Couldn't you have been a little more tactful when you refused?"
The two walked side by side. A gust of wind blew by, and willow catkins flew everywhere. The streetlights cast their shadows long and thin.
***
When Xie Shi'an returned to the apartment, it was already past ten o'clock at night. She pushed open the door and saw that no one was inside. She wondered where Qiao Yuchu had gone so late and why she hadn't returned yet.
She thought for a moment, put the lunchbox on the table, took out her phone and made a call, but no one answered.
Xie Shi'an hung up the phone and sent her a text message.
Where is it?
About five minutes later, her phone rang again. She picked it up and saw that it was a reply from Qiao Yuchu.
"I'm going out to buy some food, I'll be right back."
"I brought you pasta and pizza."
After sending the text message, Xie Shi'an waited a long time without receiving a reply, guessing that the person was on their way back. He put down his phone and went to take a shower.
A sports car was parked downstairs in front of the dormitory building.
Jin Shunqi turned off the car, took a small bottle of medicine from the glove compartment, and handed it to her.
"If your wrist still hurts, you can take a painkiller. I also take this medicine occasionally when I have migraines, and it works very well."
Qiao Yuchu looked at the medicine bottle in his hand but didn't take it.
Jin Shunqi smiled.
"You're not worried that I'll give you performance-enhancing drugs or anything, are you? Don't worry, this drug has a negligible impact on doping test results. Besides, you've already finished your recent matches, haven't you?"
“I was really worried about you. During the surgery, you didn’t want us to use anesthesia to stitch you up. In order to recover quickly and get back into the competition, you didn’t dare to take hormone-based anti-inflammatory and analgesic drugs, which would inevitably aggravate the postoperative sequelae. Others may not know how much you have paid to get to where you are today, but as your attending physician, I know it all too well.”
"As a friend, I don't want to see you suffer like this anymore. Please live for yourself once in a while."
Qiao Yuchu looked at his face, then shifted her gaze to the medicine bottle in his hand. Little by little, with trembling lips, she slowly reached out her hand.
***