As the sun set, the two of them, filled with hopeful dreams for the future, skipped and hopped out of the milk tea shop.
Zhou Mu's hearty laughter carried far.
"Hey Chang Nian, who knows, you might actually become a badminton superstar someday. You'll have to invite me to watch your matches then!"
"No problem, I'll not only invite you to watch my match, but I'll also reserve a front-row seat for you so you can see every single hair on my head."
***
On Monday morning, Jian Changnian went to complete the leave of absence procedures. Originally, her parents were required to accompany her, but the school agreed to it considering her special family situation and the fact that Yan Xinyuan was acting as her guarantor.
Before leaving, the dean of students patted her on the shoulder earnestly: "Jian, this opportunity is hard-won, so cherish it and strive to win the championship to bring glory to your alma mater."
Jian Changnian's face was expressionless.
"Thank you, I'll go back to my dorm to pack my things now."
"Oh, isn't this our big star back?" Yuan Yuan was much more obedient after her trip to the police station and stopped touching her inappropriately, but the usual sarcastic remarks were still inevitable.
"What, you're not going to school anymore? You? Hey, let's make a bet and see if she comes back in three months."
The whole dormitory burst into laughter.
"Yuanyuan, that's not fair of you. Anyone who bets on her to win will lose everything."
It was lunchtime, and Yuanyuan was sitting at her table eating instant noodles, splashing soup everywhere.
Jian Changnian ignored them and walked over to them.
"stand up."
"You're leaving anyway, what's wrong with sitting down for a bit?" Yuanyuan rolled her eyes and said with a grin.
"I told you to get up, I need to get something."
She repeated it again.
Yuanyuan remained seated and did not move.
"Look, you want to get something from under the table, right? Just squat down and get it yourself, can't you see I'm—"
Before she could finish speaking, Jian Changnian suddenly made a move, shoving her entire head into the instant noodle bowl from behind. The bowl tipped over, splashing the liquid all over Yuanyuan's new dress.
The entire dormitory seemed to have been paused, falling into complete silence.
The girl on the upper bunk across from me, who was cracking sunflower seeds, dropped them all onto her bed.
Yuan Yuan froze for three seconds before letting out her first scream, struggling desperately: "Jian Changnian, are you crazy? You bitch! I'm going to kill you!!!"
It's easy to pin her down from behind, especially given the disparity in physical strength between them.
Jian Changnian grabbed her hair and slammed her head hard on the table with a dull thud.
"I'm leaving anyway, so it doesn't matter. I might as well vent my anger."
"What are you standing there for?! Go find the teacher!" Yuanyuan was in so much pain that she saw stars, tears streaming down her face, crying and shouting at the same time.
"Don't move, Li Yuanyuan. Do you think your head is stronger than that man's? There are definitely more of you, and I can't beat you, but I can smash your head before the teacher arrives."
She was standing to the left and behind Li Yuanyuan when she said this. Li Yuanyuan was lying on the table and couldn't move, so she could only barely see her out of the corner of her eye.
Jian Changnian's eyes were clear and bright, but the corners of his eyes were bloodshot, and there were bruises on his face, making him look even more ferocious.
Li Yuanyuan shuddered, inexplicably recalling the look in her eyes when she smashed that man's head with a beer bottle that night—the same fierce, desperate look.
She truly doesn't care about anything anymore.
Li Yuanyuan burst into tears on the spot: "No...no...I'm sorry...I'm sorry...please don't hit me..."
The tall girl who had pushed her earlier swallowed hard and cautiously walked over to smooth things over; she had also been there that night.
"Um... Jian... don't be impulsive. We... we were wrong to bully you. Please, for the sake of our friendship, don't fight anymore."
"Classmates? When you were bullying me and tormenting me in all sorts of ways, splashing water on my blanket, tearing up my books and homework, cursing me behind my back, and calling people to beat me up, did you never think that we were classmates?"
“Actually, I’ve been thinking about what I did wrong that you treat me like this. Now I understand—” Jian Changnian grabbed Yuanyuan’s hair and pulled hard, dragging her up from the table.
“You are just bad. You think you are born into a privileged family and look down on anyone who is not as good as you.”
Li Yuanyuan sobbed, her face streaked with tears.
"I'm sorry, Jian Changnian. I know I was wrong. I'll never bully you again. Please forgive me..."
"The future? There is no future." Jian Changnian let go, grabbed the back of her collar and threw her to the ground, knocking her and the table and chair to the ground.
"I feel disgusted even breathing the same air as you."
At that moment, seeing their terrified and incredulous eyes, Jian Changnian felt a sense of satisfaction. She had never felt so relieved after enduring humiliation for half a semester.
With a touch of sadness, she thought: Maybe I should have done this a long time ago, that I should have retaliated the first time I was bullied.
On Friday night, when she was pinned to the ground and punched and kicked, she finally realized a truth.
Kindness should have its limits; blindly tolerating others will only embolden those who bully you.
Kindness is for kind people, not for evil people.
In the deathly silence of the room, Jian Changnian calmly opened the cabinet, took out a badminton racket, put it in her backpack, strode away, slammed the dormitory door shut, and bid farewell to the past.
Chapter 11 Intensive Training
"Hey, I heard our new coach is Yan Xinyuan, the former head coach of the national badminton team. That's amazing!"
"What's so great about him? Don't you know? Coach Yan has had training accidents before, otherwise why would a national team head coach come to this godforsaken place?"
Today was the day of the training camp. People started arriving one after another early in the morning, and by the afternoon almost everyone had arrived. They stood in small groups on the training ground chatting. As the assembly time approached, the last van drove into the training base, and everyone's eyes turned to it.
If I'm not mistaken, this is their head coach's car.
The teaching assistant was already blowing the whistle to prepare for assembly. Xie Shi'an looked away and followed Qiao Yuchu over.
Under the curious gazes of the crowd, the car door opened, and Yan Xinyuan, dressed in sportswear, was the first to jump out. He was over fifty years old, of medium build, balding, with a shiny forehead, and looked quite ordinary.
Someone in the group couldn't help but laugh, earning a glare from the teaching assistant.
Jian Changnian followed him out.
Qiao Yuchu was taken aback: "It's her? She's here too?"
Xie Shi'an also glanced at her, his brows furrowing slightly, clearly still remembering her.
"Go stand at the very back," Yan Xinyuan said.
Jian Changnian nodded, slung her bag over her shoulder, and ran to the end of the line to stand.
People in the group were whispering among themselves.
"You came with Coach Yan, are you a relative?"
"That's hard to say, but whether you can stay or not depends on your abilities."
She was listening intently to someone when, unexpectedly, someone gently tugged at her sleeve.
Jian Changnian turned her face and saw an old acquaintance.
“Sun…” she almost called out, after all, Sun Qian had left a very deep impression on her when they were in the gymnasium of Jiangbei No. 2 Middle School.
Sun Qian nodded, her eyes crinkling with a smile.
"I never expected to see you here."
Jian Changnian thought to herself: Me too.
Seeing that she had come with Coach Yan, Sun Qian was also a little curious, but before she could speak...
Yan Xinyuan whistled.
"Alright, I'm sure you all know me by now, so I won't waste any more time. Let's begin training. Five minutes of warm-up, then a 400-meter sprint—"
The group looked at each other in surprise. They had thought that the race would start with some polite words, but instead, the race began right away.
Some people couldn't hold back any longer.
"Coach, we're here to learn techniques, not to run."
Yan Xinyuan smiled slightly. Although he had never met him before, he had already reviewed the information in advance and noted down everyone's name, appearance, special skills, experience, and even the awards they had won.
"Your name is Zhao Qidong, right? If I remember correctly, you are already twenty-five years old and have participated in four national competitions. Unfortunately, you didn't win a single place. For a rookie, you don't need any special skills. Just being able to build a good physical foundation is enough to be grateful for."
A burst of laughter erupted from the crowd.
Zhao Qidong looked up angrily: "What are you laughing at! What are you laughing at! I've at least participated in the national competition, what about you!"
Yan Xinyuan blew the whistle again.
"Don't blame me for not reminding you, today's training schedule is packed. In addition to the outdoor 400-meter sprint and 1500-meter run, there are also shuttle runs, frog jumps, weighted squats, and so on. Our cafeteria opens at 5:30, and there definitely won't be enough food for so many people. Those who finish training first, go eat first."
"In addition, training results are linked to the final assessment results. If you want to stay, I advise you to give your all in every training exercise."
As soon as he finished speaking, everyone's expression changed, and they stopped whispering and started doing warm-up exercises.
Xie Shi'an squatted down to tie his shoelaces, and as soon as the starting gun fired, he dashed off like an arrow.
Jian Changnian was still in a daze when Sun Qian, who was next to her, pulled her aside.
"Run! If you're late, you won't get any food!"
Jian Changnian then came to her senses and rushed forward with the crowd.
After an afternoon of training, Jian Changnian's back was soaked with sweat. She staggered to the finish line, plopped down, panting heavily, and drops of sweat from her hair fell onto the grass.
Yan Xinyuan put away the stopwatch: "Alright, the last ten of you, after you finish eating, help the cafeteria ladies wash the dishes. Meet in the training room at 7:30 tonight."
Because she arrived late, there wasn't much food left in the cafeteria. Jian Changnian wolfed down a whole bowl of rice with the cold seaweed and egg soup. By the time she and the others finished washing the dishes, it was already 7 p.m. She didn't have time to take a shower, so she changed her clothes and rushed to the training room.
When Jian Changnian went in, most of the people had already arrived, gathered in small groups. It was clear that after an afternoon of getting to know each other, they had formed small cliques.
Jian Changnian was the last to arrive today, and she came with Yan Xinyuan, so she naturally received a lot of stares.
People were whispering among themselves.
"Her? Someone with connections? She's probably at the bottom of the class today."
Xie Shi'an sat on the parallel bars, surrounded by many people. As a well-known veteran member of the Binhai Provincial Team, she was never short of companions.