Until the referee's voice rang out.
"22:20, China, Xie Shi'an wins."
Everyone suddenly realized what was happening.
The spectators in the stands hugged each other and cheered.
The entire venue erupted in cheers.
"Xie Shi'an—"
"Invincible!"
"Team China—"
Victory is certain!
The five-star red flag fluttered in the sky above the venue.
A sea of red.
Zhou Mu and her friends high-fived in celebration.
Grandma also wiped her eyes.
"This child is truly remarkable."
As Xie's mother chopped vegetables, she watched her daughter win the championship, and a genuine smile appeared on her face. Overjoyed, she burst into tears.
The Chinese team members rushed forward and embraced their heroes, basking in the flowers and applause, and weeping bitterly.
The commentator, recovering from the shock of the match, said, "Last year, when I read the famous Japanese author Kotaro Inosaka's work 'Golden Slumber,' there was a sentence that impressed me deeply."
He said, "Do you know what humanity's greatest weapon is?" [1]
“It was a determination to go all out.” [2]
"Today, Xie Shi'an went all out and fought with everything she had. Her belief in winning made her invincible and unstoppable!"
"Know that a young man's ambition soars to the clouds, and he once vowed to be the best in the world!" [3]
"Let's congratulate Xie Shi'an on winning her first World Championship title. I think this battle will be unforgettable for her. Young man, just keep moving forward and don't look back. All the thorns along the way are gifts from fate."
Chapter 80 Moth
After the match, the South Korean team's head coach wanted to appeal to the referee about the final goal, but Kim Nam-ji pulled him back.
"Coach, don't go."
"Nan Zhi, you can't be so willful. This is your best chance to win the championship. If you miss this opportunity, you'll have to wait another two years!"
Kim Nam-ji looked at him, her face rarely showing such a serious expression.
"That's enough. I accept my defeat fair and square. Next time, I will win honorably instead of taking advantage of someone's misfortune."
Before the coach could say anything more, Kim Nam-ji had already picked up his backpack and walked straight off the field.
"If you want to appeal, go ahead. I'm not going to fight another match. I'm tired, I'm going back to rest."
On the Chinese team's side, Xie Shi'an was also carried onto a stretcher after receiving his award. When he was being taken out of the stadium, Yan Xinyuan also ran out. Xie Shi'an lay on the gurney and gestured for them to stop for a moment.
"Shi'an!" Yan Xinyuan pushed through the crowd and rushed over.
Xie Shi'an slightly curved the corners of her lips and tremblingly handed him the trophy she was holding.
"Coach Yan...I...did not...let you down..."
Holding the trophy, Yan Xinyuan felt as if it weighed a ton. Even though he was a man who rarely shed tears, his eyes reddened slightly at this moment.
The doctor urged, "Hurry up, get her straight to the operating room."
Xie Shi'an was lifted into the ambulance, and Jian Changnian jumped in after him. The doors were locked, and the ambulance sped towards the hospital.
When they were one traffic light away from the hospital, Jian Changnian called her name but couldn't wake her up no matter how hard he tried.
"Shi'an! Shi'an! Don't sleep... say something to me!" She knelt beside the stretcher, shaking her shoulders, tears streaming down her face.
"Come on, move aside."
The accompanying doctor came over and examined her pupils. The readings on the monitor next to her were also dropping rapidly. He immediately became anxious.
"Damn it, drive faster! Notify the hospital to open the emergency green channel immediately, we're on our way! Is the operating room ready?!"
The driver ignored the red light ahead and sped across. The nurse put down the walkie-talkie in the car and turned around to say something.
"The operating room is ready!"
As soon as the vehicle arrived at the hospital entrance, medical staff rushed out and moved her from the stretcher to a wheelchair.
Jian Changnian ran after the doctor, feeling terrified and frightened. She tugged at the doctor's sleeve and kept asking him questions.
"Doctor...Doctor...Is it serious?"
The doctor turned around and glared at her.
"This is a huge problem! What could have been solved with a laparoscopy was delayed until the perforation occurred. The patient's life is in danger at any moment, and open surgery is necessary!"
She stood there, stunned, feeling as if she had fallen into an ice cellar, watching helplessly as Xie Shi'an was taken into the operating room, his body covered in tubes once again.
The operating room lights came on.
Yan Xinyuan also rushed to the hospital.
Wan Jing sat in the chair with a worried expression. When he saw him coming over, before he could even open his mouth, someone grabbed his collar and pulled him up.
"Is this how you run a head coach?! You don't even know your own players have appendicitis, what kind of coach are you?!"
“Senior brother! I know, I tried to persuade her, but it was Shi'an's own fault…”
"Whatever she says goes! What are you, the head coach, good for?! If you don't let her participate, do you think she'll dare?!"
At this point, Wan Jing's temper flared up.
"Don't you know what kind of temper your own apprentice has?! If I could persuade him, I would have done so long ago!"
"I think you're just obsessed with winning a gold medal! What, now that Yin Jiayi has lost her chance to win gold, you've set your sights on Shi An? After all these years, don't you know me?!"
His words became increasingly absurd.
Wan Jing shoved the man aside and roared.
“You are Xie Shi’an’s head coach, and I am the head coach of the entire national team. You are thinking about her alone, while I am responsible for the whole team! When we put on the national team uniform and stand on the world stage, this honor no longer belongs to any individual. I don’t need to teach you this again!”
Yan Xinyuan was about to say something when a patient's family member came out of the ward and called out.
"Keep your voice down. This is a hospital. If you want to make noise, go somewhere else."
The two of them then gave up.
Wan Jing loosened his collar and dejectedly lowered his hands.
"Do you think I'm not upset? Jiayi didn't win the championship, and Shi'an insisted on playing the game despite being sick. Watching them like this made my heart ache. I wish I could go up there and play for them!"
"Which head coach doesn't want their players to come back safe and sound, healthy and sound, to win a championship? But that's just how it is, there's nothing we can do about it..."
Wan Jing was also somewhat moved at this point, and his eyes reddened slightly.
Yan Xinyuan gave him a cold look, then turned and left.
"Don't give me that crocodile tears. If anything happens to Shi'an, I'll never forgive you."
When my grandmother was in a car accident and underwent surgery, she sat in the hospital corridor all night, just like she is now.
All I could see was an overwhelming expanse of white.
Doctors and nurses in white coats come and go in a hurry.
Snow-white walls.
Incandescent lamp.
The marble tiles reflected a cold light.
There was not a trace of life in it.
Sitting here, even breathing feels cold.
Jian Changnian picked at her hands, which began to tremble involuntarily, until a coat was draped over her shoulders. She turned her head and saw Yan Xinyuan.
She opened her mouth, only managing to utter three words.
"Coach Yan..."
Tears welled up without warning.
The strength she had been putting on in front of Xie Shi'an finally crumbled completely at this moment.
The boy threw himself into the elder's arms, sobbing uncontrollably.
“Coach Yan…I…I’m worried about Shi’an…I…I should…I should have tried to stop her…I’m sorry…I…I didn’t take good care of her…”
Yan Xinyuan patted her back gently again and again, repeating the gesture, comforting her as well as comforting himself.
"It's alright...it's alright...Shi'an is blessed...it will...it will definitely get better..."
The person was taken to the hospital in the afternoon, and after a long wait of four or five hours, the operating room lights finally went out.
The three of them immediately went to meet them.
"Doctor, how is the person?"
The doctor took off his mask, looking somewhat relieved.
"The appendix has been removed, and the necrotic and adhered parts have been cleaned up. The next step is a series of anti-infection treatments. However, the patient is still young, and long-term exercise is good for his health, so there shouldn't be any major problems."
"Thank God, everything's alright." Wan Jing prayed, then ran with the doctor to pay the bill.
Yan Xinyuan and Jian Changnian pushed the wheelchair back to the ward.
Looking at Xie Shi'an's peaceful sleeping face lying on the hospital bed, she finally managed to smile through her tears.
Much later, even though she and Xie Shi'an were no longer teammates, a TV station invited her to appear on a variety show, and the guests asked her...
What's the place you hate the most?