Yin Jiayi nodded: "Okay."
The group then left the stadium.
"How could this be..." Zhou Mu stared wide-eyed in disbelief as Jian Changnian stood on the sidelines, refusing to leave the court, pointing at the referee with her racket and anxiously trying to explain something.
The referee shook his head, his expression unchanged, and gestured for her to go down first.
Seeing that things were not going well, Yan Xinyuan also went over. As soon as she saw him, Jian Changnian spoke with a hint of crying in her voice.
"Coach Yan, I...it wasn't me...my racket string broke...that ball..."
Because she was anxious, she was somewhat incoherent.
Yan Xinyuan put his hand on her shoulder to comfort her: "It's okay, go down first, there are still two games to go."
The referee also said, "If you disagree with any of the rulings, please file an appeal with the event organizing committee after the match."
Jian Changnian glanced at Yan Xinyuan, who nodded to her. Only then did she reluctantly leave the stage with tears in her eyes.
Qiao Yuchu wanted to go over and comfort her, but the doubles match was about to start, so she could only pat her shoulder as she passed by and say, "It's okay, we're here for you."
Jian Changnian lowered her head and nodded slightly in response.
She sat there, listening to the cheers of the audience and the gentle words of comfort from her teammates. The more she thought about it, the more upset she became. As she wiped her eyes with a towel, a bottle of mineral water suddenly appeared in front of her. She was a little surprised. Following the person's fair wrist, she saw that it was Xie Shi'an.
Seeing that she didn't react for a long time, and that the competition time was about to start.
Xie Shi'an coldly threw the bottled water into her arms, said "Trouble" and ran off to the competition.
Xie Shi'an and Qiao Yuchu won the last two matches that day, bringing the score to 2-2. The final singles match has become especially important.
Yan Xinyuan glanced at his team members. Xie Shian and Qiao Yuchu had just played and couldn't play again. Zhang Chun was quite strong, but she was still struggling against the national youth team players. As for Jian Changnian, her current physical condition and form were not suitable for her to play anymore. That left only Yang Li.
All eyes turned to her, and Yang Li suddenly felt immense pressure, as she was also a newcomer who had just joined the team this year.
Yan Xinyuan walked over and patted her on the shoulder.
"Play relaxed, drag the match into a deciding set, and there's still a chance to win."
Yang Li took several deep breaths to encourage herself, nodded, and after getting ready, she took her racket and went to the court.
Despite Yang Li's best efforts, she unfortunately failed to level the score after losing the first game, losing 0-2 by a narrow margin of 18-21.
The moment the scoreboard lit up, it meant that they had been eliminated from this year's national tournament, finishing third in the Eastern Conference.
In competitive sports, there are only winners and losers. Nobody cares how the runner-up gets out of the game, especially since it's just an unknown small team.
The entire stadium was cheering for Jiangsu's victory.
The Binhai Provincial Team quietly left the venue.
Jian Changnian boarded the car in a daze. Everyone was laughing and chatting when they arrived, but no one spoke a word on the way back.
The entire carriage was deathly silent, the atmosphere oppressive and heavy.
...
This emotion finally erupted when we ate in the cafeteria.
The incident started when Yang Li asked Zhang Chun to get her a chicken leg.
Perhaps because everyone was in a bad mood, Zhang Chun chimed in, "We've already lost the game, and you're still in the mood to eat, eat, eat."
Yang Li dropped the plate, which landed right at Jian Changnian's feet.
"What do you mean?! It's not like I lost on purpose. My knees were scraped raw from trying to save the ball, didn't you see that?!"
"What do you mean?! Weren't you the last one to go on stage?! If you had won, would we have stopped here?! You lost the match and still have the nerve to throw a tantrum like this? Are you sick in the head?!"
"I'm so confused. It's not like I'm the only one who lost today, so why are you all pointing the finger at me? Didn't I try my best? Jian Changnian lost too! And she lost so badly! Why don't you blame her? If you had all won, would all this be happening?! We would have made it to the finals long ago!"
Upon hearing her words, her teammates from the other doubles team who were playing today also became unhappy and came over to push and shove her.
"What do you mean by that? You think you were the only one who tried and we didn't? I don't know who played so badly, losing 0-2 to Jiangsu. At least Jian Changnian made it to the third game."
The group couldn't agree on anything, and before anyone knew who started it, they all started fighting. When someone tried to break up the fight, they were pelted with rice and soup, leaving a mess on the ground.
Jian Changnian stood there, her eyes slowly reddening. Suddenly, she threw down her plate, turned around, pushed through the crowd, and ran out the door.
Xie Shi'an had just entered through the door when she was suddenly bumped into. In the instant she looked down, she thought she saw Jian Changnian crying, her eyes as red as a rabbit's.
Before they could even react, someone shouted, "Coach Yan is here!"
As soon as Yan Xinyuan entered, he saw them tearing at each other, with tables and chairs overturned and plates scattered everywhere. An inexplicable anger surged to his head, and he smashed the thermos cup in his hand on the ground.
With a sudden, thunderous crash, the sound of thunder echoed from the ground.
Everyone stopped what they were doing and fell silent.
"This is outrageous!!! Look at you all, you don't look like a group of athletes at all! What are you doing eating? Stop eating! Everyone, get ready! Assemble on the field! Two hundred push-ups, get ready!!!"
People were whispering among themselves.
"Coach Yan, I didn't get into a fight."
Yan Xinyuan pointed at his nose and started cursing.
"Aren't you from the Binhai Provincial Team?! Aren't they your teammates?! You saw your teammates fighting and stood by and did nothing, and you think you're in the right? If you just get out of here right now, you won't be punished! As long as you're here, you're a member of this group. If one person makes a mistake, the whole group will be punished!"
"Now, I'm giving you ten minutes to clean up the cafeteria and put the tables and chairs back in their original positions. I'll be waiting for you on the playground in ten minutes. I'll be timing you with a stopwatch. If you're one minute late, you'll have to do one hundred push-ups."
Under his sharp gaze, everyone sprang into action. Even the instigators, Yang Li and Zhang Chun, dared not utter a sound. Yang Li wiped away her tears as she picked up all the plates that had fallen to the ground.
Yan Xinyuan turned and left. The moment he lifted the curtain and stepped out the door, perhaps out of anger or from the cold wind, he began to cough incessantly.
Coach Liang came over to help him up: "Look at you, I told you to smoke less."
Yan Xinyuan waved his hand, indicating that he was fine.
"It's because...cough cough...they were angry..."
"It's good that you're alright. I'll go find Chang Nian now," Coach Liang said.
Yan Xinyuan coughed a few more times, and the itching in his throat finally stopped.
"I'll go instead... I haven't finished writing the appeal about today's match yet, and I need to submit it to the event organizing committee before noon tomorrow."
Coach Liang nodded repeatedly.
"Okay, I'll go write it now."
***
Since there's no one in the training room, we'll have to do it on the small playground.
Before Yan Xinyuan even got close, he heard soft sobbing.
Jian Changnian leaned against the parallel bars, wiping away tears, sobbing uncontrollably.
He thought for a moment, then made a little noise and walked over, stepping on the fallen leaves.
When Jian Changnian heard someone coming, she immediately wiped away her tears with her sleeve and forced a smile at the person.
"Coach Yan, what brings you here?"
Yan Xinyuan jumped onto the parallel bars, patted the spot next to him, and gestured for her to come up as well.
He didn't beat around the bush and told her directly.
"Although you lost the match, this is only your first national tournament in your professional career. There will be more in the future..."
Before he could finish speaking, he was interrupted by Jian Changnian's tearful voice.
"But for Sister Yu Chu, and Coach Yan, this isn't the first match. This year... this year is our most promising year, and Shi An... she wants to win so badly, but I..."
Jian Changnian broke down in tears at this point.
"After the match, I didn't dare look her in the eye."
"Coach Yan, I'm not inferior in skill, I... lost to myself."
Hearing her talk about these things, Yan Xinyuan's expression was also somewhat complicated. He knew that he was over fifty years old, and his physical strength and energy were declining year by year. Whether he could teach a few more classes of students was purely up to fate. Qiao Yuchu was also in a very awkward stage. If she could not achieve good results, she might have to retire directly.
Although Jian Changnian didn't say it, she knew exactly what was going on, which is why she fought so hard on the field today. What she wanted to protect was not only the honor, but also her coach and friends.
Even though he had met countless people and mentored many outstanding students, he rarely encountered someone as pure and kind-hearted as her.
The old man hesitated for a moment, but seeing how hard she was crying, he gently placed his hand on her back and patted her slowly but firmly, like he was comforting a child.
"As the head coach, I also bear responsibility for the loss, but as an elder, Chang Nian, I know you have done your best, so I don't blame you, and I think they feel the same way."
The more he said that, the less Xie Shi'an said, which only made her feel more upset and guilty. Overwhelmed by guilt and frustration, she was completely overwhelmed.
Jian Changnian was sobbing so hard that snot bubbles were coming out of her nose.
Yan Xinyuan looked at her with a smile and suddenly asked, "Xiao Jian, are you happy when you play ball?"
Jian Changnian was stunned, tears still clinging to her face.
"Only when I'm playing ball can I not think about anything, but it seems like I can't beat anyone..."
"Although I keep emphasizing to you during training that you need to achieve certain goals within a week, sometimes it's enough to put aside your ambitions and enjoy the happiness that the game brings."
"This is just a national competition. One day, you will shine on the world stage."
Jian Changnian's tears fell again, one after another.
"But I have disappointed you."
"How could that be? You are my proudest student."
Chapter 41 National Competition (5)
In the winter nights of the South, the temperature is low and the humidity is high. Even if you wear thick clothes, you can't keep out the bone-chilling cold, let alone doing push-ups with your hands on the cold plastic track.
The heat accumulated from exercise was released as exhaled white breath that clung to everyone's eyelashes. Then, it was dispersed by the cold wind, and the chill seeped into their entire bodies, causing them to shiver before long.
Someone cried out, "Coach Yan, I can't do it!"
"If you can't do it, just tell me who started the fight today, and you don't have to do it."
Just as Zhang Chun closed her eyes and was about to blurt out the words, Yan Xinyuan's next sentence froze her in place, rendering her unable to move.
"According to the provincial team's regulations, anyone who engages in fighting will be expelled from the team. However, the law does not punish the masses. As long as you confess who started the fight, everyone can quit, but that person must leave the Binhai Provincial Team."