Upon hearing this, the staff inside looked up at her.
"Are you... alright?"
Xie Shi'an then realized that her face was covered in tears. She sniffed and wiped her face haphazardly with her sleeve.
"No...it's nothing..."
"The total is over fifty-six thousand."
The staff member was just about to swipe the card.
She added.
"I'll pay for another month's medical expenses in advance."
"Here you go, keep the receipt safe."
Xie Shi'an took his ID card and □□, then turned around and slowly walked back to the ward.
Jian Changnian didn't ask her if she had seen it, what had happened, or why she came back like this.
When Xie Shi'an said she wanted to go home, she silently helped her pack her things and took her to the hospital entrance.
Xie Shi'an hailed a taxi and took his bag from her shoulder.
"Please ask Coach Yan for leave for me. I might need to rest for a while."
Jian Changnian nodded.
"good."
As she was about to get on the bus, she was still a little worried and grabbed the door, refusing to let go.
"If you don't want to be hospitalized, why don't you go back to the training base? There's a team doctor there who can help you change your dressings and bandages."
Xie Shi'an shook his head, the smile on his lips was light and faint, as if he could be blown away by a gust of wind.
"No, I'm really fine, don't worry, I'm just... just a little tired... I want to get some sleep."
After she finished speaking, she slammed the car door shut and drove away.
Chapter 90 Promise
As soon as Jian Changnian returned to the training base, he bumped into Yan Xinyuan downstairs in the dormitory building.
He called the person to a stop.
"Where's Shi'an? Wasn't she at the hospital? Why did you come back alone?"
"Oh, she went home and said she needs to take some time off to rest."
Jian Changnian had a blank face and no sparkle in her eyes. She looked like a wilted eggplant. After speaking, she walked past him and left.
Yan Xinyuan watched her retreating figure.
"Hey, what's wrong with all of them?"
As soon as Jian Changnian returned to her dormitory, she collapsed onto her bed. She felt utterly exhausted, her mind replaying Xie Shi'an's words from the previous night. At the same time, for some reason, the more she thought about it, the more astringent she felt, and she felt as if some warm liquid was flowing down her face.
She raised her hand and touched her face; sure enough, it was tears.
She was still too young to understand love, yet she had already learned to feel sad for others.
Jian Changnian closed her eyes, turned over and buried her face in the pillow, her shoulders trembling slightly.
When she woke up, it was already dark.
It's holiday time, and there's no one in the dorm.
Jian Changnian stared at the bed for a while, then remembered that she hadn't called her grandmother in a long time. So she got up, put on her coat, and went to the public phone booth in the corridor to make a call home.
“I guessed you should be back today, so I waited in the village activity room. Although I didn’t see you come back, just hearing Niannian’s voice made me happy.”
Jian Changnian smiled, but her voice was a little hoarse when she opened her mouth.
"Grandma, I miss you too..."
Grandma sensed something was off about her voice and quickly said...
"What's wrong? Is someone bullying you?"
Jian Changnian shook her head.
"No."
"Is he sick?"
"No, I'm fine, don't worry."
"Niannian, if you're unhappy, come home."
My grandmother speaks slowly and draws out her words, which makes her seem especially gentle.
Jian Changnian's eyes immediately welled up with tears again.
“Hey, I’ll go home tomorrow and install a phone at home too. That way, if you miss me, you won’t have to go to the village activity room to make a call. We can chat anytime.”
Xie Shi'an sat cross-legged on the edge of the bed in the bedroom, from day to night, like a statue that neither moved nor spoke.
She had already cried all her tears and couldn't cry anymore. Her head ached, and she wanted to sleep but couldn't. Every time she closed her eyes, all she could think about were the words Qiao Yuchu had said and the images of her and Jin Shunqi together.
The phone lying beside me suddenly lit up, becoming the only source of light in the darkness.
She grabbed at it like a lifeline, and answered it without even looking at it.
“Yu Chu…”
Before she could finish speaking, the man interrupted her.
“It’s me, Dad.”
Xie Shi'an checked the screen again; it was an unfamiliar number. She had blocked him before, which meant he had changed his number again.
Without thinking, she was about to hang up.
The man continued.
"Have you gone back to Jiangcheng? The prize money from this World Championships must have been quite a lot, and your endorsement deal—I saw the ads everywhere. They must have given you a lot of money. Dad's a little short on cash lately..."
Like a fuse, Xie Shi'an's long-suppressed emotions were completely ignited, and she roared like a trapped beast.
"Get out! You're not my father! I cut ties with you a long time ago, you're an animal! A vampire! An old bastard! I won't give you a single penny!"
The man, who had initially spoken in a somewhat ingratiating tone, was immediately enraged after being subjected to a barrage of insults.
"I'm your father! You were born to pay off my debts. If you don't give me money, don't blame me..."
Before he could finish speaking, Xie Shi'an flipped open the back cover of his phone, quickly pulled out the SIM card, and then smashed the phone and its contents to the ground, where they shattered into pieces.
The words stopped abruptly, and the world returned to silence.
She stood in the dark room for a long time, panting heavily, before finally finding her wallet, getting up in a daze, and walking outside.
She went to the only 24-hour convenience store that was still open at the entrance of the community and almost emptied the shelves of all the alcoholic beverages.
"How much?"
The shop owner looked at the shopping basket full of wine and was slightly taken aback.
"One...the total is 258."
Xie Shi'an didn't even look at it before taking out a wad of cash from his wallet, placing it on the counter, and then walking out with the plastic bag in his hand.
"Hey, I haven't given you your change yet."
The boss shouted after her retreating figure, but she had already walked away.
She stepped off the sidewalk and was about to enter the residential area when she was suddenly stopped by someone—it was the auntie who sold rice noodles at the entrance of the residential area.
"Shi'an, you're back?"
A hint of surprise welled up in the aunt's eyes, and she greeted her warmly.
“I saw it on TV. This child is really promising. You must be hungry since you came back so late. Auntie will cook you a bowl of rice noodles.”
"No……"
Xie Shi'an was just about to refuse.
The aunt looked at her, her expression seemingly filled with emotion.
"Time flies. In the blink of an eye, you've grown up so much and even won a world championship. Your grandfather would be so happy if he knew you'd have this day."
Xie Shi'an felt a slight chord in his heart.
She sat down at the small table and chairs, carrying a plastic bag.
"Auntie, a bowl of rice noodles, extra spicy."
"Okay, sure."
Auntie turned around and went to get busy, Xie Shi'an said again.
Do you have a bottle opener?
The aunt turned around and her gaze fell on the beer bottle next to her. She paused for a moment before speaking.
"Yes, it's on that table over there."
Xie Shi'an stretched out his arm and reached for it.
When the rice noodles were served, the aunt brought out a small plate with two peeled braised eggs on it.
"Go home after you finish breakfast."
After she finished speaking, someone came to buy rice noodles, so she went back to work.
Xie Shi'an's eyes welled up with tears. He ate heartily, coughing repeatedly as he choked, and tears rolled down his cheeks again.
She wolfed down her food and left without saying goodbye.
When the aunt went back to tidy up the tables and chairs, she discovered a hundred yuan under the wine bottle. She looked around, but Xie Shi'an had already disappeared.
"This child..."