"It's precisely because I know your mother's temper that I insist on getting a divorce at this crucial moment. Once we're out, she'll try every possible way to stop me from divorcing her. You have no idea how crazy she was when she grabbed the steering wheel from me; she practically wanted to take me down with her!"
As Mr. Qiao spoke, he also got angry.
Qiao Yu was completely bewildered. She jumped up and started yelling at him.
“When something goes wrong, you all blame each other. If it weren’t for your mess, would she be so hysterical?! You’ve been together for over twenty years, almost thirty, and she’s devoted herself to me and our family. In the end, her husband is living with another woman and has a child with her. Anyone would go crazy in that situation!”
"I'm telling you, I wasn't there. If I had been, I would have been even more ruthless than my mother!"
Seeing her get angry, Qiao Zishan's expression softened. He covered his face with his hands, let out a long sigh, but still murmured something.
“I know I’m sorry to you, but I’m determined to get a divorce. Dad has suffered for most of his life. When I took the college entrance exam, I listened to your grandparents and chose architecture, but I actually prefer mechanical engineering.”
“During college, I was forced to marry your mother. In the more than 20 years of marriage, I lived like a walking corpse. Only when I saw you did Dad feel a little happy.”
“Yu Chu, Dad is almost fifty years old this year. Looking back, I haven’t had many opportunities to make my own choices in my life. Let me take control of my life for the rest of my days.”
Qiao Yuchu's lips trembled as she looked at the new gray hairs at his temples and his listless appearance, and tears welled up in her eyes again.
The phone rang; it was Jin Shunqi.
"Hello, the victim's family has agreed to meet to discuss compensation in detail."
Qiao Yuchu sniffed, wiped away her tears with the back of her hand, and walked out.
"Okay, I understand, I'll be right out."
***
After the two finished playing ball, they went back to their dormitory together. When they got on the elevator, Xie Shi'an suddenly bent over and clutched his stomach.
"What's wrong with you?!" Jian Changnian turned around and saw her bending over, so she helped her up.
Xie Shi'an gritted his teeth and forced a smile.
"Maybe it's because I ate too much spicy food, and I have a bit of an upset stomach."
When the elevator reached the floor, Jian Changnian helped her walk while taking out her room card from her pocket to open the door.
"Your stomach seems to have been upset for two days now, shouldn't you go see the team doctor?"
"Never mind, it's getting late, and I have a match tomorrow."
“But…” Jian Changnian was still a little worried, feeling uneasy and having a bad feeling.
The door opened, and Xie Shi'an went into the bathroom first.
"I'm going to take a shower first."
This time, Jian Changnian didn't try to take it from her. Instead, she picked up the teapot and prepared to boil water so that she could drink it after it cooled down.
***
It was a peaceful night. Jian Changnian was already asleep, but Xie Shi'an was tossing and turning, and his stomach was aching slightly.
She turned the lamp to its dimmest setting, picked up the water glass from the bedside table, took a sip, and found the temperature just right; it made her feel much better.
She put the water glass back and her gaze fell on the phone charging beside her. She had been busy with the competition these past few days and had left the phone in her apartment. The screen was covered in dust, so she grabbed a tissue and wiped it clean.
Upon opening the app, aside from some encouraging messages from fans on her personal social media platform, her contacts were all quiet, with no calls or texts.
She opened her chat window with Qiao Yuchu; it had been almost a week since they last spoke.
She has been offline the whole time, and there are no updates on her homepage.
Xie Shi'an thought for a moment and decided to type it out.
"How are you?"
"Aside from the very light diet here, I'm doing well. The competition... the competition had some ups and downs, and my mentality wasn't very stable, but I'm slowly adjusting. I also won today's match against Anton."
"This seems to be the first time you've missed my match, but... don't worry, I'll still do my best, because... winning the championship is our shared dream."
"Also... when we get back, there's something I... want to tell you."
She carefully considered her words, typing and deleting repeatedly, before finally deleting the last sentence and pressing send.
After sending the message, she seemed to breathe a sigh of relief.
Xie Shi'an lay on her side on the bed, staring at her phone, half-asleep, hoping the screen would light up. However, she didn't receive a reply from Qiao Yuchu even after the World Championships ended.
By the time she realized something might have happened to the Qiao family, it was already too late.
Since then, she has come to a profound understanding of what it means to be too late and the impermanence of life.
Chapter 75 Sincerity
The schedule for the fourth day was very full. We won our first match in the morning, and the quarterfinals were in the afternoon.
With the two wins from yesterday, Xie Shi'an now has three points, tied for fourth place with a German player. However, because she defeated Anton, she has an advantage in head-to-head results and thus advanced to the quarterfinals by a narrow margin.
During lunch, Xie Shi'an barely touched her chopsticks, and Jian Changnian, watching her, also slowed down her eating.
Why aren't you eating?
Xie Shi'an shook his head.
"I don't have much of an appetite."
Jian Changnian looked at her with some concern.
"Is she feeling unwell again? No, no, I need to see the team doctor."
She was about to get up when Xie Shi'an pulled her back.
"There's less than an hour left before the match starts. If we call the team doctor at this time, will the afternoon's match still go on?"
“But you’ve been feeling unwell for days!” Jian Changnian retorted, looking anxious, and was about to leave.
Xie Shi'an grabbed her arm and pulled her down tightly.
"I'm fine. Sit down and eat, okay?"
When she met her stubborn gaze, Jian Changnian pursed her lips. Unable to win against her, she obediently sat down.
She looked at the plate of rice in front of Xie Shi'an, picked it up and scooped some into her own bowl, then picked out the vegetables she had prepared for her.
"If you can't eat, eat less rice and more vegetables. Also, luckily I just made a tomato and egg soup, so here you go too."
Xie Shi'an was taken aback for a moment, but did not refuse her kindness. He picked up his chopsticks and began to eat silently.
***
The three matches started simultaneously in different venues and ended one after another.
As the referee's whistle blew, the entire audience erupted in cheers.
The commentator spoke with great passion.
"Even Confucius feared the younger generation, so a man should not underestimate the young! [1] As the youngest competitor in this World Championships, Kim Nam-ji has steadily progressed step by step, contributing one wonderful match after another. Let us congratulate her on sweeping her opponent with a score of 2:0 and successfully advancing to the semifinals of the upper half of the draw!"
"As the player with the highest winning percentage against foreign opponents in the national team, she has fought across thousands of miles and once blocked a million soldiers with her sword! [2] She is the captain of our national team and the undisputed backbone of the national badminton team. Let's congratulate Yin Jiayi on successfully advancing to the semifinals! She will face Kim Namji of the South Korean team in the match tomorrow morning to compete for the only qualifying spot in the upper half of the draw. Let's wait and see!"
"Speaking of Xie Shi'an, I can't help but think of what Senior Jiang said about her during yesterday's match—'The queen has returned!'"
"From being ranked at the bottom of the lower half of the draw, she fought her way through four opponents to reach the semifinals. This is probably the first time in the World Championships in the last ten years! Let's look forward to seeing if she can achieve the feat of defeating five opponents in the semifinals to reach the finals!"
After the competition, Wan Jing said he would treat everyone to a meal to reward them for their hard work over the past few days. Anyone with eyes could see that this dinner was for two people, but one of the main characters pretended not to know and did not accept the invitation.
Xie Shi'an packed his golf bag and said calmly.
"I'm not going. I want to go back and practice some more."
One of the team members who had previously mocked her put his arm around her shoulder affectionately and said warmly.
"Hey Shi'an, Coach Wan is treating us. Even if you don't give us face, you have to give him face. Besides, we're all on the same team. There's nothing wrong with having some team building activities to improve our relationships."
Xie Shi'an pushed the person away, picked up his golf bag, and turned to leave.
"Not interested, I'm leaving now."
The atmosphere froze.
Jian Changnian looked at them, then at Xie Shi'an, and finally bowed slightly to Wan Jing before running away with her.
"Coach Wan, we'll head back now. You guys eat and drink well, and have fun!"
After everyone left, Wan Jing and his group also exited the venue.
He and Yin Jiayi lagged behind, talking as they walked.
"This Xie Shi'an is technically skilled, but I never expected him to be such an antisocial person."
Yin Jiayi smiled slightly.
"I think she's quite remarkable. As an athlete, unlike other professions, there aren't many interpersonal relationships. It's simple, clean, and pure. As long as you want to win, that's all that matters. After all, in competitive sports, being bad is the biggest original sin."
Wan Jing also laughed.
"You seem to admire her quite a bit."
"In her eyes, I can see her desire for victory and her most sincere love for badminton. She loves this sport from the bottom of her heart. What top player doesn't have a personality?"
"Does this remind you of yourself when you first debuted?"
If Xie Shi'an is Yan Xinyuan's beloved disciple, then Wan Jing has been with Yin Jiayi for even longer. He has been her head coach since she first joined the national team, watching her grow from a naive young girl to an adult, and now she shoulders the responsibility of the entire national team.
He was somewhat moved.
Yin Jiayi smiled, her gaze becoming distant.
"I may have changed a lot, but the only thing that remains unchanged is this heartfelt love for badminton."
Wan Jing stopped in his tracks, patted his beloved disciple on the shoulder, and said earnestly.
“Simple and pure people are rare, but those who can stay true to their original aspirations after the passage of time are even more precious. That’s why you were chosen as captain. We are surrounded by strong opponents in this World Championships, and it won’t be easy to win the championship. You and Shi’an, one of you has to make it.”
Yin Jiayi nodded, but the image of Kim Nam-ji involuntarily surfaced in her mind, and she gave a bitter smile to herself.
I have a feeling she came prepared this time; tomorrow might be another fierce battle.
***
On the night before the final, Kim Nam-ji tossed and turned, unable to fall asleep. As usual, if she was nervous before a match, she would usually go out with friends to have fun and release her excess energy, temporarily putting the match behind her. But now, she suddenly sat up, got out of bed, put on her sportswear, grabbed her golf bag, tiptoed past her teammates' beds, and went out in the dark.