"Hey, watch out—"
Just as Jian Changnian saw her about to fall and was about to push the door open, someone caught her.
It was Qiao Yuchu, who came in through the back door.
"Why are you here?" Xie Shi'an turned around, saw it was her, and a faint smile appeared on his lips.
"When I got back after my shower, your bed was still empty. What time is it? Are you made of iron?"
Xie Shi'an shook his head: "I need to make full preparations before facing Yin Jiayi."
But hearing what she said made me realize I was actually a bit tired, so I simply leaned against her and didn't want to get up.
Qiao Yuchu was both annoyed and amused.
"Didn't you say you weren't tired? What's going on now?"
Xie Shi'an simply closed his eyes and completely relaxed his body.
"Don't move, let me lean on you for a while and I won't feel tired anymore."
Holding her back was still a bit unsafe. Afraid that she would fall, Qiao Yuchu sighed helplessly and gently turned her over so that she could lean on her shoulder to relax.
"I just can't do anything with you."
Before Xie Shi'an could even feel happy for long after being embraced in a familiar embrace, he saw Jian Changnian standing outside the door.
She straightened up, her expression unchanged.
What are you doing here?
For some reason, although it was just a very ordinary question, Jian Changnian felt that there was a hint of dissatisfaction in the tone.
"Um... I... I wanted to return your racket, so I went to your dorm but you weren't there, so I came here."
Xie Shi'an nodded indifferently.
"Isn't there a match the day after tomorrow? You can continue using it."
Jian Changnian was overjoyed: "Ah, really... is it possible?"
Qiao Yuchu walked over and put her arm around her shoulder: "Hey, just keep it. This person has more than just this one racket; she's collected a lot of them."
Jian Changnian stared in disbelief: "This...this rich?"
"Tsk, she scraped together every penny she could, even going without food to buy equipment. You can't follow her example."
Xie Shi'an slung his racket over his shoulder, carried his bag in one hand, and walked past her, deliberately bumping into her.
"Go back to sleep."
"Hey, wait for me!"
Qiao Yuchu put her arm around Jian Changnian's shoulder and chased after them.
While they were back in their dorm room preparing to rest, Yin Jiayi was also doing planks. She had just settled down when her phone, which she had left aside, rang. She initially ignored it, but when she glanced at it, she saw her coach's name flashing on the screen, so she had no choice but to sit up and answer the call.
"Hello?"
"Our opponent in the final has changed; it's the Binhai Provincial Team."
Yin Jiayi's pupils contracted, somewhat surprised.
"They played in tiebreakers?"
"Yes, after a five-game battle, we defeated the Jiangsu team. Xie Shi'an won both the singles and doubles matches 2-0, eliminating the national team's seeded players."
A hint of eagerness crept onto Yin Jiayi's lips.
"Coach, please arrange for me to face her."
The head coach sounded somewhat tired.
"That's what I was thinking too. I've already sent the videos of those two matches she played to your email. Take some time to study them."
Yin Jiayi nodded and hung up the phone.
"good."
After hanging up the phone, a familiar cat avatar popped up on the screen.
Yin Jiayi's contact name for her was "N".
N: "Still up so late?"
She continued typing her reply while supporting herself on the yoga mat with one hand.
"You're still awake too? You're probably too nervous to sleep."
The other party sent an angry emoji.
"How could that be? I'm sure I'll win."
After a while, N typed again: "But you, I heard your opponents this year are very strong."
"So what? I'm a national champion, a national champion."
The other party replied quickly: "I'm really looking forward to the match against the national team player, so you absolutely mustn't lose!"
A smile appeared on Yin Jiayi's lips as she looked at the words.
"I'm also looking forward to the match against the South Korean prodigy. See you in Beijing."
See you in Beijing.
***
The night before the final, Jian Changnian still went to the phone booth to call her grandmother. Listening to her grandmother's clear voice on the other end, she heard her grandmother say that she had eaten several bowls of rice and was already able to walk.
She laughed from the bottom of her heart.
"That's great, Grandma. You must listen to the doctor and move around more to help you recover. When I get back from Beijing, I'll come pick you up from the hospital and we'll go home together for the New Year."
Grandma's face also broke into a smile, though her eyes were slightly moist.
"Oh, Grandma is doing well. The doctors and nurses are taking good care of me. As for you, forget about being a champion. Grandma just hopes you take good care of yourself, stay healthy and safe."
As night deepened outside the window, while she was on the phone with her grandmother, the training room was brightly lit, and Xie Shi'an continued playing ball.
Yan Xinyuan was giving her his final intensive training. He had a tube of shuttlecocks tucked under his arm and a basket full of badminton shuttlecocks next to him.
He held the racket in one hand and threw the ball out, swinging it in the air to hit the ball, imitating Yin Jiayi's attacks from various angles. He didn't have to receive the balls Xie Shi'an returned, but Xie Shi'an had to receive every single ball he served.
"Okay, not bad, the right side."
"Speed up."
"Didn't the cafeteria give you any food this afternoon? Were you practicing Tai Chi or playing ball?"
"I told you to be careful of the defensive gaps on the right side of the field, but no one reminded you on the field!"
"Is this how you challenge Yin Jiayi?! Look at yourself now, how many balls have you missed?!"
Even though Xie Shi'an had performed exceptionally well, managing to return most of the balls he served, Yan Xinyuan was still not entirely satisfied with her performance and was still picking and choosing.
Xie Shi'an gritted his teeth and persevered, not even bothering to wipe the sweat that streamed into his eyes, his eyes fixed intently on Yan Xinyuan's every move.
After the first tube of balls was used up, Coach Liang replaced it with a new one.
Second tube, third tube, fourth tube...
After all the balls in the large basket on the ground were used up, Coach Liang and his assistant coach carried over another basket.
Yan Xinyuan was exhausted and had to take a break. Coach Liang became her sparring partner, and another basket of balls was finished.
Xie Shi'an rested his hands on his knees, panting heavily. His clothes were completely soaked, and he looked as if he had been pulled out of the water.
After resting enough, Yan Xinyuan picked up his racket and walked back to the opposite side of her.
"What, it's not working already?"
"You think you can beat Yin Jiayi in your current state? I bet you'd have a hard time even fighting a few of us old guys."
Upon hearing this, Xie Shi'an gritted his teeth, looked up at him, his eyes bloodshot, and breathed heavily.
"I...I don't have time to rest, otherwise..."
"Tired?" Yan Xinyuan asked knowingly.
"I can let you rest, but at this hour, guess if Yin Jiayi is asleep or not?"
If nothing unexpected happens, Yin Jiayi should be training overtime just like her.
Xie Shi'an swallowed hard, straightened up, and stared intently.
"Again."
Yan Xinyuan turned around and shouted to Coach Liang, "Old Liang, get her a 31-pound racket."
The higher the tension of a racket, the less elastic it is, and the more precise the control of the ball's landing point and trajectory. However, because of the low elasticity, it requires a very high level of wrist strength from the user.
Even members of the national team generally use a weight between 29 and 30 pounds. For athletes like Jian Changnian who have just joined the team and are not yet strong, the weight is lower so as not to put too much strain on their bodies.
Coach Liang attached a sensor to the racket and handed it over.
Xie Shi'an took it in his hand and nodded.
"Let's begin."
Yan Xinyuan glanced at Coach Liang, who indicated that the speed measurement was ready.
He's been shouting ever since he threw the first ball.
"Speed up! Speed up! Speed up!"
"Run!"
"Yin Jiayi won't play this kind of slow, old-fashioned ball game with you!"
"You've seen all her match videos. She's an impenetrable wall, with no weaknesses. She's flawless in both defense and counter-attack."
"If you want to beat her, there are no shortcuts; you have to fight her head-on!"
"Her fastest ball speed is 347 km/h, a record she set at last year's World Championships. If you can surpass her fastest speed, then perhaps this match still has a chance!"
As his speech quickened, the speed at which he threw the balls also increased. Once one can of balls was used up, the assistant coach would immediately replace it with a new one, the white feathers flying towards him dazzling the eyes.
Xie Shi'an moved quickly, twirling and weaving around the court with her racket. She would jump up and smash the ball from time to time, and the numbers on the speedometer kept jumping.