It's already 10:30.
She finally couldn't hold back any longer, picked up her phone, and called Kim Nam-ji.
"Sorry, the number you dialed is temporarily unavailable."
A cold, mechanical voice beeped.
Yin Jiayi sighed and sat on the sofa. She wanted to make another call, but then she thought that she was with her uncle and it would probably be inconvenient for him to answer the phone.
It's okay, let's wait a little longer. Since she promised, she will definitely come.
Thinking this, Yin Jiayi stood up confidently again, took a picture of the food, and sent it to her.
"The food is ready. There's fish, shrimp, seafood, and your favorite king crab. I also baked egg tarts and prepared some red wine. When are you coming back?"
Jin Shunqi took the person back to his home. Qiao Yuchu opened the door for them and saw that Jin Nanzhi was unconscious with her eyes closed and could not even stand steadily, so she quickly helped her up.
"What's wrong? What's going on?"
"Nan Zhi is drunk, and I'm worried about leaving her out alone. Let her sleep in the guest room tonight."
"Okay, lie down on the sofa for a while, I'll go tidy up."
The two of them worked together to help the person lie down on the sofa.
Qiao Yu went into the guest room to make the bed for her. Jin Shunqi looked at the message that popped up on Jin Nanzhi's phone in his hand, lit a cigarette, turned off the phone, and then sent a text message to someone using his own phone:
"I have brought the person back."
***
Yin Jiayi prepared the meal and tidied the house. She stood and sat in the living room for a long time, but her daughter still didn't come back.
Time passed by, second by second.
With the air conditioner on, she felt a bit cold, so she wrapped herself in a blanket on the sofa and snuggled up for a while before falling asleep. When she woke up, she picked up her phone and saw that it was already 11:59.
Jin Nanzhi didn't reply to her messages or call her. Yin Jiayi couldn't hide her disappointment and called him again.
"Sorry, the number you dialed is currently switched off."
She panicked immediately, and a bad feeling welled up in her heart. Had something happened to her?
Or is it simply that... they don't want to come anymore?
Thinking of this, Yin Jiayi's eyes immediately reddened. She grabbed her car keys and was about to rush out to find her and get some answers.
Just then, the doorbell rang along with the midnight chimes.
Yin Jiayi looked towards the door, a glimmer of hope returning to her eyes. A smile finally appeared on her lips as she rushed over to open the door.
She hadn't forgotten that since Nan Zhi had promised her, he would definitely come, after all, they loved each other so deeply.
"Nan—" Yin Jiayi opened the door a crack, but her smile froze on her face.
"Nan Zhi won't be coming."
Yin Jiayi recognized him; he was the head coach of the South Korean team. The fact that he could come here so late at night meant that her affair with Kim Nam-ji had been exposed.
"Where is she?" Yin Jiayi's eyes also turned cold.
Park Min-heon glanced around.
"If you're going to talk here, why don't you invite me in for a seat?"
Yin Jiayi stared at him for a long time before finally letting go of the door frame and letting him in.
Park Min-heon sat down on the sofa and looked around the room.
"Buying a house like this in Beijing must be very expensive."
Yin Jiayi politely poured him a glass of water and placed the glass heavily in front of him.
What exactly are you trying to say?
"You should retire."
Park Min-heon didn't waste any words with her and went straight to the point.
Yin Jiayi twitched the corner of her lips, feeling a sense of absurdity.
"Just because of this? I'm dating Nam Ji?"
No, there are also these.
Park Min-heon took a stack of photos out of his briefcase and threw them in front of her.
Yin Jiayi's pupils contracted instantly as she looked at the photos in disbelief, her hands trembling slightly as she picked them up.
As you flip through the photos, you see pictures of them strolling hand-in-hand through the supermarket, eating together, and kissing in the parking lot.
These angles clearly weren't taken from normal camera positions. She usually lives at the national team training center, where security is very tight. She's always very careful when she goes out, so she doesn't give anyone the opportunity to take photos of her secretly. Only Nan Zhi, on Nan Zhi's side, is so innocent that she never puts up defenses against the people around her.
She couldn't bear to look at it anymore, so she slammed the photo on the table and gritted her teeth.
"You're her teacher?! Why are you doing this?!"
"Precisely because I am her teacher, I cannot stand by and watch her ruin her future for something like this. She is only eighteen years old, in the prime of her life!"
Yin Jiayi painfully supported her forehead with her hand. For the first time, this person who was invincible on the field was humbly pleading with her opponent.
"Coach Park, I...I know...I won't hold her back...I truly love Nam Ji..."
"If it weren't for your sincerity towards her, I wouldn't have come here today at all. If these photos had fallen into the hands of entertainment reporters, do you think you would still be sitting here today?"
"Namji...can he still play?"
When people are driven to the brink, they will unleash new courage. Yin Jiayi looked up at him, her eyes red, and said coldly.
"Do you think you can force me to retire with a few ambiguous photos? I can easily say that it's just a trick of perspective, a splicing, or that you're framing me. At worst, you'll just get a few years of suspension. I will not give up badminton, nor will I give up on her."
Park Min-heon believed that when she said those words, she was prepared to fight to the death, but could she really bear to do it?
He chuckled, took out his phone, and played an audio clip for her: "Then listen to this one too."
Yin Jiayi looked up at him, stunned. Her eyes went from blank to incredulous, and finally to unusual anger.
“Nam Ji, this is…”
"Sister, don't you like it?"
"Yin...Yin Jiayi...let's eat first...okay?"
"Call me 'sister'."
"Huh, what is this?"
"It's something to wear. Shall we... try it on?"
Upon hearing this, Yin Jiayi couldn't listen anymore. She stood up abruptly and slapped his phone off the table, knocking it to the ground.
The glass on the table rolled off the table.
Broken porcelain was everywhere.
The sound stopped abruptly.
Her eyes were so red they looked like they were dripping blood, and she was breathing heavily.
"Enough!!! Get out!!!"
Park Min-heon didn't rush to pick up the phone, but instead watched as a mocking smile appeared on her lips.
"I didn't expect Captain Yin to be having such a good time."
"What... exactly do you want?" Yin Jiayi gritted her teeth, wishing she could pounce on him and tear off his hypocritical mask.
Park Min-heon shrugged.
"I said, as long as you retire, I'll pretend none of this ever happened."
Yin Jiayi gave a dismissive twitch of her lips, seemingly indifferent, but the tears welling up in her eyes betrayed her.
"If I disagree, are you going to use this evidence to expose me?"
"You can disregard being disgraced and losing face; you're already number one in the world. Even after retirement, you can live a good life. But what about Nan Zhi? She's only eighteen! And she's already burdened with these scandals! Her career has only just begun!"
"What will Chinese netizens think of her? What will the South Korean public think of her? She will never be able to hold her head high in her family again!"
"She fought against her family by going on a hunger strike for you, which earned her the opportunity to travel across the ocean to China to study and play sports. I have never seen her so devoted to one person. If you have even a little bit of conscience and responsibility, you should retire and break up with her. It would be better for both of you."
Park Min-heon was smart; he didn't threaten her with anyone—not Man Kyung, not her parents, not even the national team.
He knew her true weakness: Kim Nam-ji.
Utterly despondent.
Yin Jiayi felt as if all her strength had been drained, and she was just a walking corpse standing there.
However, she still held onto a last glimmer of hope.
Kim Nam-ji is just as important to her as badminton; she can't afford to lose both at once.
“I…I can retire…but…I can’t…I can’t lose Nam Ji…I promised her…I’ll love her for the rest of my life…”
Park Min-heon looked at her with a hint of pity in his eyes.
"Your lifetime is seven years apart from hers. How can you guarantee she'll always love you? Nam Ji has already returned to Korea. She's not coming tonight. Don't you understand what that means?"
"You're just a passerby in her long life. If you're together, you won't receive blessings from relatives and friends, you won't get married, and you won't even have children. What gives you the right to deprive her of these rights and happiness that belong to ordinary people?"
"Yin Jiayi, don't be so selfish. Think more about her."
Tears welled up in Yin Jiayi's eyes without warning.
Park Min-heon seemed to have guessed what she was going to say.
"You don't have to retire, but do you think that after knowing about your relationship, the Badminton World Federation, the audience, the fans, and even your team and head coach will believe that every match you play is a genuine contest without any fluff?"
"Unless you are never drawn into the same group again, this kind of doubt will stay with you for life."
“I watched Nan Zhi grow up since she was a child. She played very hard and diligently, which is why she is who she is today.”
"If you love her, let her go and let her fly higher."
Before leaving, Park Min-heon didn't take the photos on the table. In front of Yoon Ga-yi, he deleted the audio from his phone and left her with something else: the expensive earring that Kim Nam-ji had lost.
“These earrings are not only a limited edition worldwide, but also a gift her father customized for her eighteenth birthday. They have Nam Ji’s Korean logo on them, so I knew about them as soon as they appeared on the auction market. Keep them as a memento.”