Qiao Yu turned around, but it was too late. She watched helplessly as it fell outside the boundary line, just centimeters away from the white line.
The referee blew his whistle: "Jian Changnian's smash went out of bounds, 21:19, Qiao Yuchu wins."
how so.
Jian Changnian stared wide-eyed at the ball in disbelief, the light in her eyes gradually fading.
Qiao Yuchu moved her lips, wanting to go over and say something to her.
Not wanting anyone to see her sad and disappointed state, Jian Changnian quickly turned around and left the court with her racket.
After the third day of competition, Jian Changnian only scored one point in a small round, and his ranking remained basically unchanged.
Qiao Yuchu wanted to talk to her, but Jian Changnian disappeared after dinner. She searched the dormitory, canteen, training room and playground but couldn't find her.
The winter night was clear and cloudless, dotted with countless stars.
Jian Changnian sat on the parallel bars, her hands gripping the railing, her legs swinging aimlessly. From her high vantage point, she could see over the wall the endless farmland outside the training base.
The country lanes were lit up, and occasionally someone would ride a bicycle by, and you could hear a dog barking once or twice.
She felt inexplicably homesick and missed her grandmother. She sniffed and couldn't help but shed tears.
A sneer came from behind.
"If crying worked, we wouldn't have lost today's game."
Jian Changnian was so frightened that she almost fell off the parallel bars.
"You...how did you get here?"
Xie Shi'an slowly descended the stone steps, her pockets tucked in, and stood with her back against the other side of the parallel bars, the night breeze ruffling her hair.
"I was taking a walk after dinner when I heard a noise coming from the playground. I thought I had seen a ghost, so I came to check it out."
There is a large playground in the training base, which is where they usually run and train their physical fitness. There is also a small playground to the southeast of the large playground, which is next to the outer wall of the training base, down the stone steps.
This place is deserted, with only a few ping-pong tables and some fitness equipment. The original intention was to allow people to relax after training, but who has the time to play here? It was quickly abandoned.
However, Jian Changnian really liked this place. She found it very quiet and would occasionally come here to sit when she was unhappy.
What Xie Shi'an didn't tell her was that this was also her secret base.
This person's reason for coming to see the joke is quite unique.
Normally, Jian Changnian would have argued back, but today she really had no desire to quarrel with anyone.
"Let's leave after we've seen it. I want to be alone for a while."
Seeing her expression of utter despair and resignation, Xie Shi'an stood up: "Actually, it's not like there's no way to get into the top ten..."
"What did you say?!" Jian Changnian immediately jumped off the parallel bars, staggering slightly because of the speed of her movement.
Xie Shi'an shrugged: "Didn't you want to be alone for a while?"
"Oh, I was just saying that in anger..." Jian Changnian knew that dealing with Xie Shi'an was not a matter of being tough; you had to be gentle and appease her.
"Oh." Xie Shi'an nodded to indicate that she understood, but turned to leave, prompting Jian Changnian to rush up and grab her arm.
"Stop playing games with me, I really want to stay!"
The boy spoke earnestly, and the warmth of his hand holding hers was as intense as his gaze, penetrating her heart through the thin fabric.
Xie Shi'an was slightly moved and said calmly.
"We must win both matches tomorrow and the day after."
In just one sentence, the conditions were incredibly demanding.
Jian Changnian released her hand.
Xie Shi'an knew it would be difficult, but she had to do it.
"The top eight positions on the leaderboard are basically fixed. No matter what, it will be very difficult for the rest of you to take two points from these eight. Therefore, the ninth and tenth positions have become the ones you must fight for."
"In tomorrow's battle, theoretically speaking, everyone ranked below 20 will be eliminated because their current points and remaining matches are not enough to support them in surpassing the current top ten. What you need to do is maintain your current ranking and strive to enter the top fifteen. If you are lucky in the draw, there is about a 50% chance that you will be drawn against someone higher up. Try your best to win and get a good head-to-head record. If you really want to join the provincial team, this is your only way."
"The best outcome would be if you won all your matches and secured a spot; the worst outcome couldn't be worse than what we're seeing now."
After Xie Shi'an finished speaking, she was met with a long silence.
She knew that this was no less difficult than a pipe dream, and that a miracle would only happen if God smiled upon her.
Everything that needed to be said has been said; whether or not she does it is up to her.
Xie Shi'an turned to leave, but Jian Changnian raised her head and said, word by word, "I don't know if I can stay, but no matter who I draw, even if it's you, I will do my best."
Suddenly a strong wind arose.
Leaves twirled and fell around them.
Xie Shi'an slightly curved the corners of her lips where she couldn't see.
"Me too, I won't hold back."
As the boy lifted his foot to leave, he paused slightly.
"By the way, someone is looking for you."
Jian Changnian was taken aback, but then she realized that Qiao Yuchu must have been looking for her everywhere, worried that she might do something rash.
Before she ran away, she turned back and solemnly said, "Thank you."
Chapter 25 Unexpected Changes
Qiao Yuchu searched the training base for a long time but couldn't find anyone. Just as she was about to go back to the dormitory to ask her roommates, Jian Changnian ran up from the corridor: "Sister Yuchu!"
Qiao Yuchu turned around and saw that it was her, and her face lit up with joy.
"Where did you go? I thought you were angry with me."
Jian Changnian scratched his head and smiled somewhat embarrassedly.
"No, I just sat on the small playground for a while."
The two people stood in the corridor talking, facing the wind.
"I'm sorry about today. Although I won, you..." Qiao Yuchu sought her out to apologize.
Jian Changnian shook her head: "Sister Yu Chu, you don't need to apologize to me. It's just that I'm not as good as you. It's not your fault. Besides, I had a lot of fun playing. That's enough. And it's not like I had no chance at all."
She repeated what Xie Shi'an had told her to someone else.
Qiao Yuchu laughed: "Shi'an is still the smartest."
"I've made up my mind. I'll do my best and try not to leave any regrets." Jian Changnian's eyes sparkled like stars in the night sky.
"Even if I don't get elected this year, there's next year, the year after, and the year after that. I will keep going and going."
“Because—” The boy revealed a bright and radiant smile.
"This place is not only about dreams, but also about friends."
Qiao Yuchu smiled and reached out to pat her head.
"You're right, win or lose, we're friends, forever friends."
Jian Changnian has no siblings, but she thinks that if she had an older sister, she would be like Qiao Yuchu—gentle, kind, approachable, always thinking of her, tolerant, and encouraging.
Therefore, she spoke to Qiao Yuchu with a rare hint of coquettishness.
"Then can you practice with me some more? Your move was really amazing during today's competition..."
Qiao Yuchu grabbed her and ran, saying, "Come on, I'll teach you."
***
On the fourth day of the competition, Jian Changnian drew Sun Qian as her first opponent. The two looked at each other and held slips of paper with each other's names written on them.
Sun Qian walked over and smiled, "I didn't expect to draw you."
Sun Qian is currently ranked twelfth. If we can score two points against her, we'll have a much better chance in today's match.
"I didn't expect that either."
"Then let's go."
Compared to Jian Changnian's solemn expression, Sun Qian looked relatively relaxed: "I lost to you in the gym last time, but I won't do it again this time."
Her former defeated opponent has improved rapidly in the past three months, and Jian Changnian wants to fight her again.
"We won last time, and we'll win this time too."
Qiao Yuchu nudged Xie Shian's arm: "Hey, who do you think will win?"
"Let's split it 30/70, with Jian Changnian at 70% and Sun Qian at 30%
"Sun Qian's grades have been pretty good lately, why don't you think highly of her?" Qiao Yuchu asked, somewhat puzzled.
She thought the two of them would fight to a standstill, with neither side gaining the upper hand.
“From the first day of the assessment, Jian Changnian drew opponents who were several times stronger than herself, while Sun Qian was a bit too lucky. After playing too many games with an advantage, she didn’t know how to play when the game was going against her.”
Yan Xinyuan, who was watching from the sidelines, also noticed the problem and puffed on his pipe.
“Sun Qian has been led by the nose the whole time. If she can’t regain the initiative and Chang Nian keeps pulling her along like this, she’s likely to lose this game.”
As expected, Jian Changnian won the first game with a score of 21:10.
At the start of the second game, Sun Qian took the initiative to attack, repeatedly targeting Sun Qian's backcourt. However, Jian Changnian had played too many games in a losing position these past few days, so she was very experienced in handling them. She defended calmly and then looked for opportunities to launch attacks, catching Sun Qian off guard. She seized the momentum and took back the rhythm from Sun Qian, reaching match point.
Xie Shi'an turned and left: "I'm not watching anymore, there's no suspense."
Sun Qian, who lost the match, walked off the court looking somewhat dejected with her racket in hand. Jian Changnian chased after her, wanting to offer a few words of comfort.
"Um...it's okay, we can win it back next time."
Sun Qian turned around and gave her a deep look: "You make it sound so easy! It wasn't you who got beaten two to zero!"
Jian Changnian, who had been inexplicably yelled at, stood there stunned. By the time she tried to catch up, the person was already far away.
She pursed her lips and lowered her head.
Qiao Yuchu walked over and patted her on the shoulder: "Let her go."