Yan Xinyuan came to his senses; the most urgent task was to save lives first.
"Okay, I'll go."
Qiao Yuchu volunteered: "I'll go. Coach Yan, you stay here and keep an eye on her, in case there's anything that needs to be signed."
She called Xie Shi'an as she ran to the payment counter.
"Hello?"
"The doctor said it was drug poisoning! Chang Nian hasn't taken any other medications besides the ones given by the team doctor!"
Qiao Yuchu's tone was urgent and fast.
Xie Shi'an looked at Sun Qian, who was talking on the phone not far away, and said in a cold voice, "I roughly know what's going on. I'll hang up now."
"Hello? Hello?" Qiao Yuchu asked several times in a row, but the call had already been hung up, and no one answered when she called back.
What exactly does Shi An know? He's always keeping us in suspense; she's getting so impatient!
After hanging up the phone, Xie Shi'an put his phone on silent mode, turned on the camera, and quietly hid behind the bushes.
After Jian Changnian and the others left, the assessment continued. Sun Qian, who had already secured a spot in the team, did not go out to celebrate like the others. Instead, she quietly took Jian Changnian's water cup from the rest area and went alone to the back of the dormitory building, a place overgrown with weeds and rarely visited by people.
"Didn't you say the medicine was fine?! How could you faint?!"
"What? Fainted? That's impossible." The man's voice on the phone was still chuckling.
Sun Qian was so anxious she was almost crying: "He not only fainted but also vomited, vomiting everywhere. I can't wake him up no matter what I do, what should I do? Will he die...?"
Upon realizing the problem was serious, the man immediately changed his tune, chuckled, and hung up the phone.
"What? I already told you, this is a prescription drug, it's fine. My signal isn't very good, I'm hanging up."
"Hello, hello, hello?" Sun Qian called out several times, but only a cold dial tone answered her.
When she frantically dialed the number again, it was already "Sorry, the number you dialed is not in service".
Sun Qian was about to smash her phone in a fit of rage when she suddenly noticed Jian Changnian's water bottle in her hand and had a sudden inspiration.
"Yes, as long as we pour out the water in the cup, even if the police come, they won't be able to find anything. We also need to go back and deal with the remaining medicine in the dormitory."
With that thought in mind, she was about to unscrew the lid to pour water.
Xie Shi'an emerged from the bushes, holding his phone.
"Don't move! Are you in such a hurry to destroy the evidence?"
Sun Qian turned around like a startled bird, her eyes filled with fear and a hint of desperate ruthlessness. When she saw it was Xie Shi'an, she immediately put on a soft and weak expression.
"What are you talking about? What evidence do you have?"
Xie Shi'an was holding up his phone, still recording, with the little red dot on the screen flashing.
You know perfectly well what I'm saying.
Seeing that her scheme had been exposed and that Xie Shi'an was all alone, Sun Qian decided to go all the way and try to snatch her phone.
Xie Shi'an dodged backward, preventing her from succeeding. In the struggle, Sun Qian's water glass fell to the ground.
She snapped out of her daze and hurriedly unscrewed the bottle cap, spilling the water from the glass everywhere. As long as she destroyed the evidence, no one would know that she was the one who did it.
Seeing her almost frantic behavior, Xie Shi'an did not stop her, but looked at her quietly with pity in his eyes.
Sun Qian finally came to her senses, looking at the water glass in her hand and then at Xie Shi'an, who remained unmoved.
"This isn't Jian Changnian's?"
Xie Shi'an didn't hide it from her.
"A while ago, Qiao Yuchu bought three identical thermos cups, only the cup sleeves were different colors. She gave one to Jian Changnian, kept one for herself, and guess who has the last one now?"
Sun Qian stared in disbelief at the water glass in her hand, then screamed, "You changed the color of the cup sleeve?!"
Xie Shi'an nodded: "That's right. I've already had Coach Liang take Jian Changnian's water cup to the hospital. Although she spilled some this afternoon, they should be able to find out what was in it soon."
Her composure was the final straw that broke Sun Qian's psychological defenses.
"Are you going to confess on your own, or should I call the police right now?"
After recording her words verbatim, Xie Shi'an pressed the save button and also sent a copy to Yan Xinyuan.
As she put away her phone and turned to leave, someone called her back.
"Why, why are you all helping Jian Changnian? You are, Qiao Yuchu is, Cheng Zhen is, even Coach Yan is so good to her. I work so hard, but he never even glances at me!"
Xie Shi'an turned around and said calmly.
“If Coach Yan hadn’t given you this opportunity, do you think you could really be standing here? People blinded by jealousy can’t see other people’s strengths or the kindness they’ve shown her.”
After she left, Sun Qian stood there, crying and laughing at the same time, her mournful voice carrying far.
Xie Shi'an looked up at the sky and suddenly felt a chill between her brows. She reached out and caught a snowflake.
The first snow of this winter has already fallen.
***
After a long wait, the door to the emergency room finally opened, and Qiao Yuchu was the first to go to greet them.
"Doctor, how is she?"
The doctor took off his mask and said, "Fortunately, he was brought in in time, the dosage was small, and he vomited once. He is out of danger now. The patient is still very young, and there shouldn't be any major problems later."
Yan Xinyuan had been watching the video Xie Shi'an sent on his phone, his hands trembling slightly. He only snapped out of his daze when he heard a noise and got up.
"Thank you for your help, doctor."
"Let's take him back to his ward first."
He and Qiao Yuchu and her group pushed the wheelchair to the ward. After settling the person in, seeing that Jian Changnian was still asleep, he quietly told Qiao Yuchu to stay with her, and then tiptoed to close the door.
Coach Liang was already waiting for him in the corridor.
Yan Xinyuan: "Did you take the water cup for testing?"
"It's been sent to the hospital's laboratory; we're just waiting for the results," Coach Liang said, noticing his furrowed brow.
"How do you plan to handle this?"
Yan Xinyuan was furious that someone would resort to such a despicable method as drugging someone. Since smoking wasn't allowed in the hospital, he could only angrily say, "What else can we do? Fire him immediately and call the police!"
“I agree to fire Sun Qian, but as for calling the police…” Coach Liang hesitated for a moment: “You and I both know her family situation.”
Yan Xinyuan glanced at the sleeping Jian Changnian through the glass.
"Then let's wait for her to wake up and decide what to do."
***
When Sun Qian arrived at the hospital, Jian Changnian had just woken up and was sitting up against the headboard with an IV drip in the back of her hand, an oxygen tube in her nose, and a pale face.
After watching the video Xie Shi'an sent her, her eyes reddened, and she gripped the bed sheet tightly with the hand that wasn't receiving the IV drip. But when she saw Sun Qian, she calmed down.
Jian Changnian turned her head to look at Qiao Yuchu.
"Sister Yu Chu, I'd like to talk to her alone."
Qiao Yuchu was still a little worried: "But..."
Jian Changnian smiled weakly: "It's okay, you're all outside anyway."
Qiao Yuchu tucked the blanket around her and got up: "Okay then, just call me if you need anything."
After everyone left, only the two of them remained in the ward.
Jian Changnian gestured with her lips: "There's a stool over there, sit down."
Sun Qian stood still: "Did you call me to the hospital just to pretend to be kind and humiliate me?"
Jian Changnian shook her head: "I just want to hear you tell me in person why you did this?"
Her gaze was calm and quiet. Being looked at like that, Sun Qian felt a little embarrassed and angry, and blurted out.
"No reason why! I just can't stand your pushover attitude! You're so fake to everyone, why should everyone revolve around you? In terms of looks and physique, what do you have that I don't? Haven't I worked hard enough? For the past three months, I've gone to bed at the same time you go to sleep, and gotten up at the same time you get up! But Coach Yan and the others have never even given me a second glance! How could I possibly lose to a piece of trash like you!"
The more agitated she became, the calmer Jian Changnian looked at her with a hint of pity in his eyes.
Enraged by that look, Sun Qian spoke without thinking, and then laughed to herself as she finished speaking.
"Why do you look down on me?! We're all the same kind of people. Stop putting on airs. You hate me, huh? If you've got the guts, come and hit me. If Xie Shi'an hadn't found out, you would have been eliminated long ago. I'm the winner, Jian Changnian."
Jian Changnian shook her head; she simply said...
“I don’t hate you. I don’t know why, but before you came, I wanted to jump out of bed and beat you up to vent my anger. But now that I see you like this, I’m not so angry anymore.”
As she said this, she smiled softly again, her eyes glistening with tears.
"Believe it or not, when you gave me chocolate in the infirmary that day, I genuinely wanted to be your friend."
Sun Qian was stunned: "You..."
"After learning about your family situation from Coach Yan, I only felt sympathy for you, not dislike. You're right, we're all the same, carrying too many expectations as we move forward, we can only win, we can't turn back. But the time I played against you, I didn't mean to let you lose."
"I consider you a friend and a rival, which is why I want to have a fair fight with you."
Sun Qian's expression was unreadable. She wanted to say something more, but when she moved her lips, she felt a lump in her throat.
Jian Changnian smiled softly again, her smile gentle yet tinged with sadness.
"Last time at the stadium, you asked me to throw the game, and I forgave you. This time, I don't want to forgive you again."
She had barely finished speaking when the police arrived, pushed the door open, and showed their badges.
"Police, you are suspected of manufacturing and selling counterfeit drugs, as well as intentional assault. Please come with us."
Before Sun Qian was taken away, she turned back in disbelief and stared intently at her.
Jian Changnian sat on the bed, lowered her head, buried her face in her hands, and her shoulders shrugged.
Qiao Yuchu came in and walked to the bedside. She pulled her into her arms and gently comforted her, "It's alright, it's all over now."
Chapter 27 Severing Ties
When Zhou Mu found out about this, he rushed over as soon as school was over. He barged in and pounced on her, scaring Jian Changnian half to death, who was drinking porridge at the time.