"You...you...you stop right there!"
Yan Xinyuan paused in his steps.
"Old Liang, my mind is made up, so you..."
Before he could finish speaking, Coach Liang glared at him angrily and threw his jacket at him.
"Here, wear something warm, don't let people know you're still sick. I'm also Shian's coach, we'll go together."
***
After losing two games in a row, there was a lot of criticism from the team. When they returned to the apartment, Xie Shi'an got out of the car slowly and walked behind.
Whether intentionally or unintentionally, the people in front of her spoke at a moderate volume, just loud enough for her to hear.
"That's it? Number one in the country? Today's match was so bad it was almost unbearable. If I were a spectator, I would have gotten a refund long ago."
"Who can count on her? We still have to rely on our captain."
"Exactly, exactly. If you ask me, those who come from the provincial team are only fit to play in national competitions. If you really look at them in international competitions, they're just weaklings."
"Don't forget, their coach was kicked out of our national team. If he were really that good, we would have worshipped him long ago."
As the old saying goes, "A cowardly soldier is a cowardly individual, but a cowardly general leads to a cowardly army."
...
"That's going too far!"
As Jian Changnian gritted her teeth, about to lose control and rush up to argue with the person, a figure beat her to it.
Xie Shi'an lifted the collar of the person who spoke, stared into her eyes, and said, word by word.
Say it again.
This person was originally a formal member of the national team, but because of Xie Shi'an's outstanding performance in the national competition and selection trials, she took the spot that should have belonged to her, and she had long harbored resentment towards Xie Shi'an.
"Fine, I'll say it. I'm telling you, your Binhai Provincial Team is full of cowards..."
Before she could finish speaking, Xie Shi'an threw a punch at her face.
Seeing that she had raised her hand and was serious, Jian Changnian pounced on her, hugged her tightly, and pushed her backward with all her might.
"Shi'an, Shi'an, calm down, stop hitting!"
Although she intervened quickly, the fist still landed on the girl's face. Seeing Xie Shi'an make a move, the others also gathered around. Their real purpose was not to break up the fight, but to take advantage of the situation and show their displeasure with Xie Shi'an.
Jian Changnian was squeezed between the two people and took a lot of punches and kicks from behind, wincing in pain.
Her hands were still gripping Xie Shi'an's clothes tightly.
"What are you all doing! Let go right now!"
Yin Jiayi, who had already gone far away, turned back when she heard the commotion. With an angry shout, both sides stopped fighting.
Xie Shi'an shoved the person aside, picked up the golf bag that had fallen to the ground, and turned to leave.
Yin Jiayi called out to her.
"Xie Shi'an, where are you going? Fighting is absolutely forbidden in the team. This matter must be dealt with seriously!"
Xie Shi'an slung his golf bag over his shoulder, put one hand in his pocket, and turned around to give them a cold look.
"Do whatever you want with me, but if I hear another word that insults Coach Yan, I'll beat him up every time, even if the president of the Badminton Association comes."
The girl who was hit was so angry that tears welled up in her eyes.
"Captain, what kind of talk is this! We lost the game, and you still think you're right!"
Yin Jiayi glanced at her departing figure, then turned back and said.
"Shut up, everyone! Do you really think I don't know who started this?!"
"Thank you, Captain Yin, for getting us out of this predicament. I'll be going now."
Jian Changnian nodded slightly to the person, then turned around and caught up with Xie Shi'an, talking as they walked.
"Shi'an, Shi'an, are you alright? Although I'm also angry that they talked about Coach Yan like that, you can't hit people. What if you hurt yourself? Besides, Coach Yan also said that we should get along well with them and not provoke them..."
Before she could finish speaking, Xie Shi'an turned and glanced at her.
"Aren't you annoying? You're like Tang Sanzang chanting scriptures. Stop following me."
Her tone was a little impatient, and her eyes were cold.
Jian Changnian stopped in her tracks, stunned, watching her departing figure, and did not follow.
***
Xie Shi'an pushed open the convenience store door, took the spicy chicken noodles she often ate from the shelf, and took a can of soda from the freezer, and put them at the cashier to pay.
After paying the bill, she sat down on a high stool with her instant noodles and soda, and put on her headphones.
Xie Shi'an ate noodles while scrolling through his phone, opening his chat window with Qiao Yuchu. Time seemed to have stopped a few days ago.
Her profile picture has always been black.
She thought for a moment, typed a message, and wanted to ask her how she was doing these past few days. Then she deleted it.
Through the shop window, Kim Nam-ji and his teammates walked along the street.
She spotted him immediately. The boy was wearing a baseball cap, had earphones in his ears, and was stirring his instant noodles with a fork.
Kim Nam-ji thought for a moment and then told them to go back first.
"You guys go back first, I'm going to buy something."
As she spoke, she plunged into the convenience store on the street.
A mechanical voice announced "Welcome" at the door. Xie Shi'an felt a gust of wind pass by her, and then someone patted her on the shoulder.
"Hey, you've sneaked out to eat this junk food again before the game."
Xie Shi'an glanced back at her, ignored her, put his phone in his pocket, and continued eating the noodles in his bowl.
Kim Nam-ji yanked her headphones off.
"I'm talking to you, what's wrong with you?"
The world is bustling again.
Xie Shi'an snatched the earphone cord back from her hand, his face expressionless, but his whole body exuded a cold and hard aura.
"Leave me alone, get lost."
"Oh~ looks like you're in a bad mood," Kim Nam-ji said meaningfully, and walked away from her.
Xie Shi'an thought she was sensible and had finally left, but before she could even have a moment of peace, she came back with instant noodles and grilled sausage.
"Here, how can you eat instant noodles without sausage?"
Xie Shi'an was stunned when he saw her bright eyes and the sizzling sausage in her hand.
Kim Nam-ji thought she was worried that there was pork in the sausage, so he pushed it towards her again.
"Oh, don't worry! You think you can get pork and lean meat with ractopamine for a two-yuan sausage? Dream on!"
Xie Shi'an slightly curved the corners of his lips, and finally slowly reached out and took a sausage from her hand.
Kim Nam-ji sat down next to her.
The two of them slurped up instant noodles together.
Kim Nam-ji never expected that he would be so spicy from the spicy chicken noodles. He stuck out his tongue and fanned himself while chugging down soda.
"Hiss... It's been a long time since I've had junk food."
Xie Shi'an, however, remained calm.
Don't you think only junk food has flavor?
"That's true. The cafeteria's nutritious meals are so bad that people are practically as thin as cabbage. Since you love eating junk food so much, I think you should retire as soon as possible. Then you can eat it every day without having to watch what you eat. Wouldn't that be great!"
Xie Shi'an stirred the instant noodles with a fork and said calmly.
"I see you love to play so much, you should retire as soon as possible. You can go home and inherit the family fortune, which is more profitable than being an athlete."
“Hey—” Kim Nam-ji was unhappy.
Why do you always bring up things that are hard to say?
"Who said that first?" Xie Shi'an asked slowly and deliberately.
The two exchanged a glance, and it was clear from their eyes that neither of them was truly angry. In fact, Xie Shi'an's coldness had dissipated slightly, and she was a little more talkative than when she had first come in.
Although they were not in the same competition area, Kim Nam-ji was not blind and of course knew about her two consecutive losses in the competition.
In competitive sports, there are clear class distinctions, and everything depends on ability. If you don't play well, you will be looked down upon.
"Hey, to be honest, why don't you come to our Korean team? I guarantee the treatment will be a thousand times better than what you're getting now, and with me around, no one will dare to bully you."
She nudged Xie Shi'an's arm and patted her chest to assure him.
Xie Shi'an looked at her with an expression that seemed to say, "You seem to have that serious illness," and mimicked her tone and sentence structure.
"To be honest, I suggest you get your brain checked first."
Kim Nam-ji was furious; he was just short of slamming his fist on the table, jumping up, and scratching her pretty face.
"You're like a dog biting Lü Dongbin, you don't appreciate kindness, no wonder you're being ostracized!"
Xie Shi'an didn't seem to care and took another slurp of instant noodles.
"Anyway, I've never been popular growing up, so I'm used to it. Sometimes, having too many people around me can actually make me uncomfortable."
Hearing her say that, Kim Nam-ji also remembered when she first came to China, she was bullied by her seniors because she was young. At that time, she was fortunate to have Yoon Ga-yi, who gradually pulled her out of the mire.
"That's true, but people still need friends. There's Jian Changnian, who was with you last time, and Qiao... what was Qiao again?"
"Qiao Yuchu," Xie Shi'an said softly, lowering his eyes.
"Oh, Qiao Yuchu, didn't they come with you?"
“Bean sprouts took her place, Yu Chu… went home.”
Kim Nam-ji looked innocent and radiant as he slurped up his instant noodles.
"Then why don't you invite Jian Changnian out to eat with you? Having someone to talk to can help relieve boredom."