"You agreed to their terms?!"
Xie Shi'an glanced at her through the gap in the shelf.
"That's the national team, and there are astronomical salaries and commercial endorsement offers waiting for me. You would agree too, right?"
Upon hearing the words "salary" and "business," Jian Changnian's eyes lit up, and she nodded blankly.
That's true.
But a moment later, she wished she could bite her tongue off.
"Pah, pah, pah! What do you mean, Xie Shi'an? You didn't actually agree, did you?!"
After paying, Xie Shi'an picked up the plastic bag and walked out.
"Didn't you say so yourself? What reason do I have not to agree?"
Jian Changnian chased after her retreating figure, shouting.
"Xie Shi'an, I really misjudged you! Coach Yan likes you so much! He stayed up all night with you when you were playing, and he sewed your clothes by hand when they were torn. He put more effort into you than I have!"
"And what about me and Sister Yu Chu? We've come a long way together, it hasn't been easy, and we just won the team championship. Are you going to abandon us, abandon the Binhai Provincial Team family, for money?!"
The boy, his eyes red, roared in one breath, shaking the snow off the pine branches, and even the air was silent for a second or two.
Passersby looked at her in surprise.
Xie Shi'an turned around, a mocking smile on his lips.
Jian Changnian sniffled and stammered as she spoke.
"What...what are you looking at...have you never seen someone cry before..."
The boy looked at her with increasing amusement, a hint of helplessness in his eyes.
"Why do you believe everything I say?"
"Huh?" Jian Changnian's brain froze for a moment.
A moment later, she finally realized what was happening, grabbed a handful of snow from the ground beside her, rolled it into a ball, and threw it hard at the snowman.
"Oh, you! You're teasing me again! Xie Shi'an, stop right there! Don't run! Take this punch!!!"
The cold snowflakes landed on Xie Shi'an's neck, making him shiver. Not to be outdone, he picked up a snowball from the ground and threw it back.
The two laughed and joked around, playing for a long time in the open space in front of the apartment, until they were exhausted and lay down in the snow.
Snowflakes fell again from the pine branches.
Xie Shi'an looked up and could see the lights of the apartment building. Tonight, the Beijing night sky was even studded with stars.
Jian Changnian rested her hands on her head.
"Shi'an, look, there are stars tonight!"
Xie Shi'an gave a faint "hmm".
Jian Changnian turned her head to look at her, her eyes shining like stars.
"It's so good to be like this now, with you, Coach Yan, Sister Yu Chu, and my brothers and sisters from the Binhai Provincial Team. I really hope that we can all stay together forever."
"Who can stay together forever without ever separating?" Xie Shi'an scoffed.
Jian Changnian stretched out her hand and pointed to the stars in the night sky.
"Yes, I learned it in my textbook. A star only evolves once every billions of years. Look, that one is you, that one is me, that one is Coach Yan, and that one is Sister Yu Chu. We should be like stars, always together, and never separated."
Xie Shi'an looked up and, imitating her, stretched out his hand and used his fingers to frame the stars together. As he squinted, a shooting star streaked across the sky.
The future is as within reach as the starry sky.
The boy finally smiled brightly.
Chapter 60 New Year.
Xie Shi'an ultimately did not join the national team.
The day after the group returned to Jiangcheng was Lunar New Year's Eve.
It was a rare treat that Xie Shi'an didn't have to get up early for training, so he slept until noon. When he opened the curtains, he saw his mother's car parked downstairs.
The woman was standing outside the car, holding a phone. When she saw her leaning out, she smiled and waved at her.
"Shi'an, go home for the New Year."
Qiao Yuchu glanced down and patted her shoulder.
"Go ahead, it's been many years since you've been home."
As Xie Shi'an dragged his suitcase out.
The plane flying from Haikou to Jiangcheng also landed.
Cheng Zhen spotted her father in the crowd at a glance and skipped over to him.
"Dad, I'm home!"
Mr. Cheng patted him hard on the shoulder and laughed.
"Great, you've grown taller and stronger. Come on, let's go home. Your mother got up early this morning and prepared a big table of dishes, all of which are your favorites."
The two walked to the parking lot. Cheng Zhen opened the trunk and put the luggage in. Only after getting into the car did she realize that something was wrong.
"Dad, you changed your car?"
Mr. Cheng smiled, his expression unchanged, and continued steering.
"Sigh, although the Audi was good, driving it to the company was a bit too high-profile. It would have a bad influence on the employees. Anyway, I can drive a Volkswagen too. It's just a means of transportation."
Cheng Zhen didn't think much of it.
"Dad, can I borrow your car? I want to go play with Shi'an and the others tonight."
Mr. Cheng readily agreed.
"Okay, but only one rule: don't drink and drive, understand?"
Cheng Zhen nodded repeatedly.
"Okay, okay, you're so long-winded."
Cheng Zhen rarely comes home, and his training has yielded results. Cheng's father is pleased and says with joy.
"By the way, son, do you have any money left if you want to go out and have fun?"
"Wow! Dad, you're such a brilliant strategist! How did you know I was out of money?"
Mr. Cheng smiled and continued driving.
“I’m your dad, I know your extravagant spending habits. The wallet is down there, take as much as you need.”
Before he set off, he made a special trip to the bank to withdraw some cash, and his wallet was bulging.
Cheng Zhen picked it up and muttered to herself.
"Dad, you used to just give me your bank card directly."
"Take it or leave it. If you don't want it, give it back to me. You're using that bank card, and your mom won't find out, will she? This is all my secret stash of money!"
Cheng Zhen was afraid he would change his mind, so she quickly took out a stack of bills from her wallet and put them in her pocket.
"Yes, yes, yes, you're the best to me."
***
Since her mother remarried, Xie Shi'an has rarely set foot here, and the few times she has been here, they have all left her with deep trauma.
She hesitated for a moment at the elevator door.
Her mother pulled her inside.
"What are you standing there for? Hurry up and go up."
Her hand was still in the crook of her arm. Xie Shi'an didn't know when it started, but she had begun to feel uncomfortable with her mother's touch.
She froze until she heard a ding-dong, the elevator doors opened, and her mother let go of her and went inside to knock on the door.
Xie Shi'an breathed a sigh of relief and quickly followed.
"Youyou, open the door quickly, Mommy's home."
The little girl came running in her slippers, opened the door, and jumped into her mother's arms, looking at her with a mixture of unfamiliarity and curiosity.
Mother Xie hugged her and said with a smile.
"Youyou, call me 'older sister'."
The little girl let go of her mother, stood timidly with a guarded look on her face, and didn't greet her, just stared at her.
Youyou's dad came over and pulled her away.
"Come on, Youyou, let's watch TV together with Daddy."
Xie Shi'an stood there like a ghost; it was her mother who brought her luggage in.
"Go sit on the sofa for a while, dinner will be ready soon."
While her mother was preparing to cook, Youyou ran into the kitchen again and mischievously rummaged through the plastic bags she had placed on the counter.
"Mom, I want to eat snacks."
"Good girl, Youyou. Mommy bought a lot of food today, including fish, shrimp, and Youyou's favorite big chicken leg. No more snacks, let's eat dinner later, okay?"
"No, Mom, I want snacks!" the girl pleaded. The woman had no choice but to take two bottles of yogurt from the refrigerator for her.
"Go get a bottle for my sister."
Youyou ran out with her yogurt and sat down next to her dad.
"Dad, open it for me."
The man stuck the straws from both yogurt bottles inside.
"You can drink it yourself, no need to give it to anyone else."