Cheng Zhen gave a wry smile, watched her disappear into the depths of the alley, then shifted gears and drove off.
***
Jian Changnian only stayed in the hospital for seven days before insisting on being discharged. Firstly, she felt uneasy because it was Coach Yan's money that was being spent.
Secondly, the seven-day holiday was over, and she didn't want to fall behind in training, so she was eager to go home.
Fortunately, she recovered well. The doctor prescribed some more medicine and told her to maintain a light diet and regular sleep schedule for the next few months before letting her go.
Qiao Yuchu accompanied her back to the training base.
"Regarding Sun Qian's matter, the team has issued a decision: she has been expelled and will never be rehired. Her ranking will be passed on to you."
Jian Changnian sighed, "If only we could have fought fairly and squarely, maybe both she and I would have had a chance to get in."
Qiao Yuchu helped her carry her luggage upstairs: "Opportunity? I think she doesn't even have the chance to go to university."
"How so?" It seems quite a lot has happened during her week in the hospital.
“She was involved with idle people in society. The police investigated and found her at the school. The school disciplined her and expelled her.”
"Is that so..." Jian Changnian lowered her eyes, feeling a mix of emotions she couldn't quite describe.
Qiao Yuchu pushed open the door to her dormitory: "Don't think too much about it. You have to bear the consequences when you do something wrong."
When the door opened, Jian Changnian was stunned; the huge dormitory was completely empty.
"they……"
"They've all left." Qiao Yuchu helped her carry her things inside.
"Just make do for a few days. We'll see if you move out or if new people move in once the dorms are reassigned."
Jian Changnian nodded. She would have to get used to her new roommates again. Since it was assigned, she wondered if she would have a chance to share a dorm with Qiao Yuchu and the others.
Qiao Yuchu saw through her thoughts and smiled.
"I don't think that will work. We'll have to divide it into teams one and two."
It really is a case of "clear class distinctions".
Seeing the disappointment on her face, Qiao Yuchu comforted her.
"Alright, it's all on the same floor anyway. If you want to come over, Shi'an and I will welcome you anytime."
Thinking of Xie Shi'an's sour face, Jian Changnian pursed her lips: "Forget about Xie Shi'an, I'm afraid only Sister Yu Chu is genuinely welcoming me."
"She's all bark and no bite. Come on, let's go eat. The cafeteria has a new chef, and his cooking is amazing!"
Qiao Yuchu pushed the person away.
***
office.
Yan Xinyuan reorganized the roster, took off his reading glasses, and warmed himself by the coal stove.
Coach Liang wrote their names one by one on the blackboard in front of him, then turned around with the chalk and handed him a form.
"The national competition will start after New Year's Day. According to the latest news from the Chinese Badminton Association, the format of the team competition has been changed. Instead of being divided into four groups (A, B, C, and D), it has been divided into eastern and western divisions. We have been assigned to the eastern division."
Yan Xinyuan put on his reading glasses again and carefully examined the notice.
"This arrangement is probably to balance the strength of the teams from different provinces, so that the strong teams are drawn into the same group and the seeded teams have to compete in the finals early. This has happened before."
Coach Liang frowned: "But our Eastern Division is not weak either. Look at Jiangsu, Zhejiang, and Guangxi. Which one is easy to deal with? Jiangsu has won the national team championship for two consecutive years. If things go wrong, it might be difficult for them to even qualify."
Yan Xinyuan laughed too, half-jokingly and half-seriously.
"You should be content. The Beijing team wasn't included. They're full of national team reserve members and quite a few national team players. I think this time, let alone qualifying, the finals might even be an all-East vs. West battle."
Speaking of the Beijing team, Coach Liang remembered something else.
“I heard from my friends in Beijing that a Korean player came to their team this year to learn from them. She is seventeen years old, of mixed Chinese and Korean descent, and has won the women’s singles championship in the Korean university league. She is studying at a university in Beijing and joined the Beijing team as a special foreign aid. She will also participate in this national competition.”
"Wow, not bad, still so young, that's interesting."
As a stop in the BWF Super Series, South Korea boasts a very high level of athletes. They have consistently been at odds with Chinese players in various international competitions. The Korean University League serves as a touchstone for selecting young South Korean athletes, making this championship medal highly valuable.
The key point is that she is still very young, only seventeen years old, yet she has the determination and perseverance to study abroad. For some reason, Yan Xinyuan suddenly had a feeling that the Beijing team, or rather, this foreign player of the Beijing team, would be their formidable opponent.
"What's your name?"
Coach Liang thought for a moment: "Call him... call him Kim something, oh right, Kim Nam-ji."
***
The calendar turned another page, and the birch trees outside the window had all lost their leaves. It had snowed the night before, and the snow had accumulated on the bare trunks. If you spoke even slightly loudly, the leaves would fall off.
Yan Xinyuan blew the assembly whistle, and the twenty people stood timidly on the playground, the north wind howling.
He wore a hood and a whistle around his neck, stood with his hands behind his back, and glanced at them.
"First of all, congratulations on joining the Binhai Provincial Team. As you all know, the National Competition will begin on January 7th, after the New Year's Day holiday. After the reform of the team competition system, we have been assigned to the Eastern Division. Your opponents are very strong, including the previous champion and national team players. It will not be easy to get out of the group stage. Moreover, there will be a physical fitness test before the National Competition. Those who fail the test will not be able to participate. Time is tight and the task is heavy, so I will give you special training in the remaining two weeks."
No sooner had he finished speaking than Zhao Qidong raised his hand and asked a question.
"Coach Yan, what is special training?"
Yan Xinyuan gave a forced smile: "You'll find out when the time comes."
For some reason, Jian Changnian had a vague feeling that things were going to be a little uneasy about what was to come.
Yan Xinyuan continued, "Now, put all your electronic devices, such as cell phones, earphones, MP3 players, and game consoles, into this pocket."
Coach Liang and another assistant coach walked over with a large sack of marijuana.
The first boy in the first row was clutching his pocket, looking somewhat reluctant.
Yan Xinyuan glanced at him: "If you don't hand it over voluntarily and I find it, prepare two hundred frog jumps."
In an instant, everyone's expression changed, and they all rummaged through their pockets, finding all sorts of electronic products in the sack.
Jian Changnian watched as Xie Shian handed over his phone, MP3 player, and then ripped the earphones off his neck and threw them in. For some reason, she felt a little smug and covered her mouth to chuckle.
Xie Shi'an, who was standing in front of her, turned around and gave her a cold look.
After handing over his phone, Zhao Qidong whispered to his teammate standing next to him, "Luckily, I secretly kept a secret weapon in the dorm..."
Before he could finish speaking, Yan Xinyuan glanced at him. These little brats were still trying to outsmart him.
"As for the dormitories, we have arranged for the dormitory managers of each building to go and tidy them up with the teaching assistants. From now on, I don't want to see anything unrelated to training in the base."
Some people were indignant and started finding fault.
"This is so unfair! How can they train every day without any free time?"
Yan Xinyuan didn't even frown: "You can quit. Also, I advise you not to even think about playing anymore, because you might not even have time to sleep in the days to come."
I thought that after getting through the training camp, the days would be bright, but little did I know that the real ordeal had just begun.
Team One and Team Two together have a total of twenty people, and Yan Xinyuan actually made training plans for each of them. After the fixed group training every day, each person has extra training content to help them strengthen their weak areas in a purposeful and targeted manner. The assistant coach is responsible for supervising and implementing the training, with a small test every three days and a big test every five days. The starting lineup for the national competition will be determined based on the final results.
After the first day of special training, Jian Changnian was limping up the stairs. She was alright because Yan Xinyuan had gone easy on her since she had just been hospitalized and hadn't assigned her too many subjects. As for the others, they weren't so lucky. There were seven or eight people who went to the infirmary for physiotherapy and massage.
When Jian Changnian returned to her dormitory, she didn't even want to wash her face. She collapsed onto her bed, too exhausted to even lift her hands.
Just as she was dozing off, her other roommates returned. She was reassigned to a dormitory and moved in with the members of the second team. There were eight beds in the dormitory, but only five people lived there. Her upper bunk was empty and used to store her things. The girl on the bed opposite her was a slightly chubby one.
As soon as she entered the dormitory, she screamed, "Ah! My novels and my CDs have all been taken away!"
"And my tape recorder, seriously? I just use it to listen to English and learn, and you're taking that away too?"
Another roommate shouted as well.
Jian Changnian struggled to get out of bed and rummaged through her closet. Luckily, she didn't have any entertainment, so all her things were still there.
"Stop talking, everyone go to sleep early. We need to get up at 5:30 tomorrow for assembly."
Exhausted and sleepy, she finally struggled to take a shower. When she got back, her head hit the pillow and she immediately closed her eyes. It didn't seem like she was asleep, but rather like she had been knocked unconscious.
The lights in the men's dormitory have also been turned off.
Zhao Qidong, playing on his phone under the covers, chuckled, "Luckily, I hid another phone in my sneakers..."
No sooner had he finished speaking than there was a tap on the edge of the bed.
"Who is it? What are you doing so late at night?!" He angrily poked his head out, only to be immediately blinded by the flashlight beam.
Yan Xinyuan stood by the bed in the dark: "Give me your phone."
The dormitory was pitch black, making the faint glow from his phone stand out all the more. Everyone else, huddled under their blankets, chuckled softly.
Zhao Qidong reluctantly handed over the phone, his face contorted in a grimace: "Coach Yan... Coach Yan..."
"I forgot to mention, the dorm supervisor took away the dorm door locks during the daytime room check. From now on, Coach Liang and I will come over for surprise checks at night. If we find anyone playing on their phone, playing games, or sneaking out to play, then if you don't want to sleep, then get ready to do two hundred squats in the hallway."
Zhao Qidong let out a bloodcurdling scream that echoed throughout the entire boys' dormitory.
Previously, Jian Changnian would get up early voluntarily, but now she is forced to get up early. If she wants to sleep in for a few more minutes, Yan Xinyuan will whistle wildly downstairs and use a megaphone to wake them up. He will make them jump out of bed with their eyes closed, get dressed, brush their teeth, wash their face, and run downstairs at top speed.
Xie Shi'an used to play ball as a hobby, and would often stay late at night after training. Now, she was forced to stay until the very end. The training that Yan Xinyuan arranged for her was the most arduous and demanding in the women's team. Not only that, but he also supervised her personally. It wouldn't be so easy to slack off under his watchful eye.
When Jian Changnian dragged her tired body out of the training room, Xie Shian had just finished his shuttle run and immediately put on the rubber band.
"Do five sets of twenty reps each. Start now and finish within three minutes."
Yan Xinyuan stood next to her with an old racket, looking like he could get beaten up if she wasn't careful.
One end of the rubber band is tied to the badminton net post. This rubber band is also specially made and very difficult to pull. She needs to imitate the forehand, backhand, and smash movements when hitting the shuttlecock to pull the rubber band. Through repeated practice, she can improve her arm swing and shuttlecock control.
Xie Shi'an gritted his teeth, and with each pull, drops of sweat fell to his feet in the freezing winter.
In just one week, everyone seemed to have shed a layer of skin. Even Zhao Qidong, who was a 180cm tall fat man, lost a full 20kg when he stepped on the scale. The training effect was obvious.
New Year's Day arrived quickly, and Yan Xinyuan gave everyone a half-day off, partly to rest and partly to visit relatives and friends.
After the closed training ended, the base was open to the public on holidays. Many parents knew it was a holiday today and waited at the gate early. As soon as the whistle signaling the end of training in the afternoon blew, the boys, whose minds had already wandered off, scattered like birds.
Qiao Yuchu was organizing her backpack in the rest area: "My dad is coming home from a business trip today, so I have to go back for dinner."
Xie Shi'an knew that the family should get together at the beginning of the new year, so she nodded and said, "Okay, be careful on the road."
"You finally have a holiday, you should rest well too, look at your dark circles." Qiao Yuchu pinched her cheek again before leaving.
Xie Shi'an slapped the person away, his voice filled with complaint, but his eyes held a hint of a smile.
"Okay, now you can go."