Before she could finish speaking, Jian Changnian skipped up to her, forcing her to stop in her tracks.
The boy's eyes shone like stars.
She didn't know when it started, but she had grown taller than her.
"Shi'an, do you not like me hanging out with Lü Xiaoting and the others?"
Feeling awkwardly pursed her lips as others stared at her, Xie Shi'an blushed slightly, her secret thoughts exposed.
"I……"
Before she could speak, Jian Changnian laughed brightly and looked at her earnestly.
“If you don’t like it, I won’t play with them. I won’t do anything that would make Xie Shi’an unhappy.”
These words made her sound petty, but a sweet feeling slowly melted in her heart.
She was always very honest, so Xie Shi'an tried to follow her example and open up his mind, even though he was still a little uncomfortable.
"Actually, it's not that I don't like her. Lü Xiaoting is a very nice person. It's just... I just want you to stay away from Gao Jian."
Jian Changnian blinked.
"What does this have to do with Gao Jian?"
"Anyway, just stay away from him."
Xie Shi'an was unwilling to say anything more. She lowered her eyes and walked around her, but someone grabbed her wrist.
Jian Changnian simply assumed that she was averse to men and didn't think much of it.
"Okay~ I'll delete it when I get back, alright?"
"That's not necessarily true..."
"It's okay, I'm not familiar with him anyway."
As soon as Jian Changnian finished speaking, he caught a glimpse of the traffic light turning green out of the corner of his eye, grabbed her hand, and dashed across the zebra crossing.
"Let's not talk about these unhappy things. You ordered a car today, which is worth celebrating. Let me treat you to hot pot!"
Midsummer light-year, late July evening.
The wind swept through the long street, shaking the leaves. The boy's hair and clothes fluttered in the wind. Xie Shi'an was taken aback, and slowly took her hand back, a faint smile appearing on his lips.
"Okay, let's eat at that Chongqing hot pot restaurant we had last time."
Okay~
After that, they were all busy preparing for the Thomas & Uber Cup to be held in New Delhi, India at the end of the year. Gao Jian would occasionally go to see Jian Changnian, but she would always say that she was too busy. After a while, she stopped coming and would only ask Lü Xiaoting to bring her some food sometimes.
Jian Changnian didn't accept any of the money either. Since he couldn't refuse, he shared it with his teammates so everyone could eat it.
Xie Shi'an always threw them into the trash can.
"Don't you know you can't eat random things before a match? Who knows if they're poisonous or not?"
Time flew by and the day of the competition arrived.
After a week of hard work, the Chinese women's badminton team defeated Indonesia, a traditional Asian powerhouse, to win the Uber Cup. The South Korean team, on the other hand, has been in a slump since the Asian Games, and this time they didn't even make it to the finals, only achieving their worst result ever, fourth place.
The men's team also did well, winning the runner-up title in the Thomas Cup. Wan Jingyi was so happy that he planned to have a meal together with the two teams as a reward for everyone's hard work over the past few days.
Even though Xie Shi'an doesn't really like these noisy, crowded occasions, as the face of the women's team, she still has to put on a show of respect.
Fortunately, she had Jian Changnian by her side, who was responsible for getting along with everyone, and she only needed to chime in from time to time.
"Hey, let me tell you, you didn't see it! The smash that Sister An used to win the last game was so powerful, it made the Indonesian player's face turn white. When I lifted the covers tonight, all I saw was Sister An!"
Lu Xiaoting's vivid description amused everyone at the table. Gao Jian, because he was familiar with her, was also pulled over to sit at the table, watching Jian Changnian talk to everyone while occasionally putting food into Xie Shi'an's bowl.
"I don't eat that, it's not spicy enough."
"What's wrong with you eating some vegetables? It'll help you get vitamins!"
As Jian Changnian spoke, she peeled another shrimp for her, dipped it in the sauce, and placed it on the plate in front of her.
Gao Jian suddenly said.
"Sister An is the pinnacle of the women's team's technique. If I have the chance, I'd like to witness her skills firsthand."
Xie Shi'an looked up at him after hearing this.
"You flatter me. You've been in the team longer than me, so please don't keep calling me 'Sister An,' it sounds strange."
"Isn't this Xiaoting? Is that what Chang Nian and the others call her...?"
"They are them, and you are you."
The implication is: Don't try to get close to me.
Gao Jian clenched the cup in his hand without making a sound, then relaxed it after a moment, a warm smile spreading across his face.
"Okay, then I'll use this cup to apologize to you."
Xie Shi'an didn't touch it with him, but picked it up and drank it on his own. Everyone at the table looked at each other, feeling that the atmosphere was a bit strange. It was Lü Xiaoting who jumped in to smooth things over.
"Hey, senior, don't just talk about our women's team's matches, tell us about yours too."
"We didn't win the championship, so what's there to say?"
"Hey, that German player, the one you played against, he's got thick eyebrows and big eyes, he's pretty handsome, did you get his autograph for me?"
...
Xie Shi'an was already exhausted after the match and had little appetite. With Gao Jian there, she felt even more bored and only ate a few bites before saying she was tired and needed to go back to rest.
She left, and Jian Changnian didn't stay long either, going back home as well.
After the dinner party ended, it was already late at night. Gao Jian escorted Lü Xiaoting back to her apartment. When they reached the bottom of the stairs, she suddenly stopped, turned around, and said something.
"Senior brother, do you have feelings for Chang Nian?"
Gao Jian was startled, but he didn't intend to hide it from her.
"How did you figure that out?"
“We played basketball together in high school. Don’t I know you? You asked me to deliver love letters to the girls you liked back in high school.”
Gao Jian slightly curved his lips and said seriously.
"Could you help me one more time?"
Lu Xiaoting's expression was somewhat hesitant, as if she wanted to say something but couldn't.
"If you keep mentioning it, then let's just forget about it."
"What do you mean? Does she have someone she likes?"
"I haven't heard her mention that, but as you've seen, she's not interested in you at all. She's a very easygoing person, and her mind isn't on you at all."
Gao Jian gave a wry smile.
"As long as I don't have anyone I like, junior sister, please help me one more time, just one more time. I want to ask her out during New Year's Eve to formally tell her. I'll accept whatever happens, whether it works out or not."
Although the competition was over, the period before the Lunar New Year was still Xie Shi'an's busiest time. All the major sponsors wanted to rush to launch new products for the Spring Festival, and her schedule happened to be free again. She spent her days traveling to various studios in Beijing to shoot commercials and occasionally shoot some magazine covers.
On the monitor, she had exquisite makeup and was not the kind of face that everyone had. She had a very distinctive beauty and a cool and aloof demeanor. What was even more remarkable was that, because of her athletic training, she had a well-proportioned figure, full of vitality, and a strong presence on camera.
The director was full of praise after each advertisement was filmed.
"It's a real shame that Teacher Xie isn't making movies given his talent."
Xie Shi'an just smiled and said, "You flatter me. I am a professional athlete, and playing ball is my job."
"That's all for today, thank you for your hard work, Teacher Xie. How about we grab a bite to eat together later, and then we'll take you home?"
Xie Shi'an checked his watch. It was New Year's Eve, and he had made plans to see a movie with Jian Changnian that evening.
"No, I have something to do. I drove here myself, so I won't trouble the crew. See you later."
"Okay, goodbye, Teacher Xie."
The staff at the scene said goodbye to her and then enthusiastically handed her some of their own company's products.
Xie Shi'an opened the car door and put it in. Today's shoot was for a chocolate commercial. The beautifully packaged gift box even had a small card with the advertising slogan: "My love for you is as sweet as chocolate."
She glanced at it, intending to tear it up, but then remembered that Chang Nian loved sweets, so she decided to take it back and give it to her.
Speak of the devil, and here comes the phone call from someone.
Jian Changnian's voice sounded rather gritted.
"What time is it? Are you going to film this commercial until tomorrow morning?"
Xie Shi'an, wearing Bluetooth headphones, was steering the car while observing the road conditions. Beijing was still a bit congested on New Year's Eve.
"Go change your clothes and get ready to go downstairs. I'll be there soon."
Jian Changnian then smiled broadly and hummed twice.
"That's more like it. See you in a bit."
Xie Shi'an said cheerfully, "See you later."
Jian Changnian had just finished packing her things and was about to go downstairs when there was a knock on the door. She ran over excitedly and opened the door.
"pickup……"
The person standing outside the door was Lü Xiaoting.
"What do you mean 'no'? Come with me to the convenience store to buy some things."
Jian Changnian declined, saying, "I'm going out again in a bit."
"I'm downstairs, I'll be back in a bit, it won't take up much of your time."
Jian Changnian thought about it and realized that since she was going down anyway, she was half-dragged and half-pulled away.
When she arrived at the apartment building, she didn't see Xie Shi'an, but instead saw someone else she didn't want to see.
Gao Jian stood in the open space in front of the apartment building waiting for her, surrounded by a circle of heart-shaped candles and scattered rose petals.
Jian Changnian took two steps back and was about to run away when she was pushed back by her group of friends. Gao Jian reached out and helped her up.
"Can...can you let me finish what I have to say?"
This was the first time Jian Changnian had faced such a situation, and she felt embarrassed and quickly pulled her arm back from his grasp.