Chapter 86 Soothing You: Have You Ever Seen a Cocktail Injection?

The hospital test results were worse than I had imagined.

The scans showed that Yang Yiyan's right anterior cruciate ligament was indeed torn, her meniscus was slightly damaged, and there was a small amount of fluid buildup.

Regarding the injury that had recovered during the off-season, the doctor believes that the muscle training during rehabilitation was not up to par, and the athlete's training volume was too high. The impact of landing on the ice exceeded the muscle's ability to withstand it, causing the recurrence.

When Xia Yuezi arrived at the hospital, the doctor was just telling Yang's mother the results of the consultation.

"She must now stop all high-intensity training and competitions and undergo surgery to repair the damage. If she pushes herself, her ligaments will likely suffer another severe blow."

The doctor looked at Yang's mother, then at the young coach beside her, and said in a serious tone, "I don't know how your General Administration of Sport discussed this, but I have treated many athletes who were forced to play, and their careers were not long."

Xia Yuezi pursed her lips, didn't reply, and nodded frequently, trying her best to keep a humble attitude.

She twisted her sleeves, memorizing the doctor's words, took the medical record, and walked out of the office with Yang's mother.

In fact, not to mention doctors, many athletes, including Xia Yuezi herself, use injections to relieve pain during major competitions, but in their eyes, major competitions probably only include the World Championships and the Olympics.

As an international event held worldwide, the Grand Prix Final doesn't have a strong presence. It's merely a test of the first half of the season, and many countries don't care much about the medals in this competition; they just feel that they can get better ones.

For example, in Russia, the European Championship title is considered more prestigious than the World Cup final title. If an athlete wins both titles, advertisers will be more inclined to use the European Championship title for promotional purposes.

Speaking of Japan, another Asian country, Shirai Nanako won the championship at the age of 15. However, when the media promoted her that year, they rarely mentioned this gold medal. Instead, they used the term "3A Girl" more often, so few people knew about Shirai's achievement.

As for China, few people have won the Grand Prix Final, and even fewer have had the opportunity to be promoted, so they basically only leave a mark in the hearts of figure skating fans.

As soon as Yang's mother stepped out of the office, her eyes were red-rimmed, and her voice was a little hoarse: "Coach Xia, this..."

Even before she finished speaking, Xia Yuezi knew what she wanted to ask. She stopped and spoke in a very soft voice, as if trying to persuade someone.

"Auntie, please don't worry. We'll follow the doctor's instructions and get the surgery done first. Our leader... isn't that heartless."

As she finished speaking, Xia Yuezi couldn't help but look away, then naturally took Yang's mother's slightly trembling arm and returned to the ward.

Yang Yiyan's bed was close to the window, and she had an ice pack on her right knee as she looked out the window.

The orthopedic ward is on a high floor, and without getting out of bed, all you can see is a hazy gray sky, just like Yang Yiyan's empty and blank eyes at this moment. When she heard someone call her, she turned her head as if waking from a dream.

"Mom, Coach, what did the doctor say?"

Xia Yuezi rushed to the bedside first, forcing a slightly natural smile on her face, and casually tidied the stray hairs on her forehead: "What can I say? Just wait for the surgery, and then rest well to make sure the areas that didn't heal properly before are completely healed."

Xia Yuezi spoke as if she were describing a minor problem, as if her illness could be cured at any time. However, Yang Yiyan, whose hand was hidden under the blanket, silently gripped the bed sheet.

The coach understands his student, and the student understands the coach as well. Yang Yiyan didn't ask any further questions. She just bit her lip, stared straight at Xia Yuezi, and her eyes gradually welled up with tears, as if she only wanted an answer.

"It really won't work?"

Xia Yuezi felt a pang of sadness under Yang Yiyan's gaze, and almost lost her composure. She grasped Yang Yiyan's slightly cool hand, but instead of giving her the answer she wanted, she changed the subject.

"Have you ever seen a 'blocking injection'? It's probably a bit longer than the syringe used for regular vaccinations, because regular syringes are used for intravenous injections, while 'blocking injections' are injected directly into the lesion."

She placed her other hand on her knee and demonstrated to Yang Yiyan. Yang's mother couldn't bear to hear this topic and hurriedly left, covering her face.

"The anterior cruciate ligament is roughly here, passing through the middle of your patella and entering the joint cavity. The injection is then administered. Because it directly contacts the injured area, the pain it causes will be much greater than that of a vaccine. It's roughly... the feeling you get when you fall during a triple jump. And once you get the injection, you'll need to keep getting it, and the side effects will stay with you for life."

Xia Yuezi pressed her finger on a spot, turned to look at the now-grown-up girl, and asked in a very gentle voice, "So, are you still going to persist?"

Yang Yiyan's eyelashes trembled twice, and her hand, held by Xia Yuezi, was sweating slightly. It was hard to tell whether it was because the two were holding hands too tightly or because she was nervous and scared.

Her gaze shifted from the coach's knee to her own, imagining a long needle piercing her joint. Her leg, which had been iced, seemed to begin to ache slightly.

Seeing that she was gradually wavering, Xia Yuezi seized the opportunity to add fuel to the fire: "Your career is not just this half season. You can recover from your injury, regain your strength, and return to the field. We can all wait, right?"

Actually, Xia Yuezi wasn't sure herself when she said that. The golden period for female singles players is too short. In addition, after this surgery, Yang Yiyan's weight will definitely change significantly, and her leg muscles will also atrophy to some extent. She will have to start training from scratch in terms of technical difficulty and strength.

She doesn't know when she'll return to her current level.

After receiving Yang Yiyan's affirmative answer, Xia Yuezi continued to coax her half-heartedly until Yang's mother returned, at which point she made an excuse to leave.

It's not difficult to appease the athletes and their parents; the real challenge lies with the leaders who are exploiting the athletes.

Li Tan had mentioned that the director currently overseeing the registration and review of athletes for competitions was surnamed Wang. Xia Yuezi immediately had a bad feeling, and it turned out that he really was Wang Can's father.

Xia Yuezi thought back carefully. In the National Championships before the Sochi Winter Olympics, Yang Yiyan's P score was reduced by a few points, but her total score was still normal.

At the time, she thought that domestic judges were benchmarked against international competitions and was afraid that giving high scores would create unnecessary illusions for the athletes and fans.

As a result, after the Sochi Winter Olympics, when I wanted to enroll my two children in a B-level competition for training, the skating association was unwilling to do this or that.

The Chinese Skating Association manages not only figure skating but also other ice sports such as short track and speed skating. The leaders have all been promoted based on the gold medals won by the athletes. However, the leaders of the figure skating-related departments have been promoted less and less. With the arrival of several new people during the reshuffle, the chances of promotion are getting smaller and smaller.

It's likely that Director Wang, seeing no hope for promotion and knowing that there might not be any athletes in his son's group who could make it to the PyeongChang Winter Olympics, is deliberately making things difficult for the current athletes to make room for them.

The atmosphere within the skating association was not harmonious.

Li Tan was afraid that a group of old foxes would bully Xia Yuezi, a young girl, so he came over to discuss the matter. On the other side, besides Director Wang, there was also the vice chairman of the Skating Association.

The vice president was a woman who was the head of the figure skating department and served as the chief director. She was also a pair skater with Olympic experience, but her achievements were not particularly outstanding at the time.

Director Wang spoke first: "Xia, we understand how you feel, but athletes always have to make sacrifices when they fight for the country. The spot in the Canadian leg is very important. Do you think we can let Xiaoyan try her best to overcome this challenge?"

Xia Yuezi put down her teacup, not backing down at all: "Director Wang, the spots in the Canadian leg are related to the finals. Can I understand that the reason you think the Canadian leg is important is because you think Xiaoyan has the strength to enter the finals?"

Director Wang nodded slightly, vaguely sensing something was amiss. Then, he heard Xia Yuezi continue, "Generally speaking, those who can enter the finals are world-class athletes, and these athletes are often more likely to achieve a good ranking in the World Championships or even the Winter Olympics."

"Your work has always been related to the quotas for figure skating competitions, so you must be very familiar with our country's figure skating strength. It is rare for our country to produce such a skater. I believe that we should extend her career as much as possible in a healthy way, which is also in line with the original intention and philosophy of the Skating Federation in cultivating talents."

Director Wang was speechless for a moment, and his face turned somewhat ugly. He glanced at the chief supervisor and saw that she was still looking at the report and had no intention of speaking for the time being, so he changed his approach and continued to ramble.

“Coach Xia, because the Beijing team’s athletes performed well at the Winter Olympics, we have invested a lot of resources in the team this year. We expect to see results from this investment, but at the beginning of the season you told me that Yang Yiyan was going to withdraw from the competition. How am I supposed to explain this?”

Xia Yuezi leaned forward slightly, exuding a calm yet imposing aura as she stared directly at Director Wang.

“The resources have been allocated, and we definitely need to see results. The junior group competitions have already ended this year. Yan Rui, as a newly promoted athlete, has already qualified for the Junior Grand Prix Final. Other children who participated in the preliminary competitions also brought back two medals. This is a very important talent reserve for figure skating and a new force that can replace the veterans in the senior group in the future.”

Seeing that the chief instructor had put down the report in his hand, Xia Yuezi changed the subject and turned her attention to the chief instructor.

"Coach Zhang, Yang Yiyan is currently the most promising prospect in women's singles. You know what happened to the last women's singles player who had to get injections before her body was fully developed. We can't repeat the same mistake."

The bodies of underage athletes are already suppressed during long-term training, and it is common for female athletes to experience delayed development. Their physical growth cycle is also longer than that of ordinary women. If they receive injections at this time, it can easily affect their growth.

The last female singles player who received a pain-relieving injection before she was even an adult could go toe-to-toe with Zhang Mengyi before she was promoted to the junior group. The junior group's difficulty level was higher than hers, and she could even dominate her. But because of this injection, her knee gradually developed "chondrodysplasia", which ruined her career.

These words plunged the office into silence once again. Li Tan coughed lightly, afraid that Xia Yuezi's careless words might anger the boss.

"Coach Zhang, Director Wang, Coach Xia's words may be a bit blunt, but they make sense. Even if Yang Yiyan takes a season off, Zhang Meng is still there to support the women's singles team. I've watched her training videos, and although she hasn't returned to her peak form yet, she's already at about 70-80% back."

"Furthermore, we don't have the same talent pool as other countries. Unlike Russia, we don't have someone to take our place when one player is no longer good. If Yang Yiyan really isn't up to par, our country currently doesn't have any women's singles players who can match her and win medals in international competitions."

All eyes turned to the center of the room, where the commander-in-chief, who had been silent all along, touched his knees and finally spoke.

"I completely understand Coach Xia and Coach Li's concerns. The athletes' health is the most important thing. Without health, everything else is meaningless. However, the Skating Association also has its own considerations."

She looked up at Xia Yuezi and said, "Coach Xia, go back and draft another report. It would be best to attach Yang Yiyan's medical report. We need to assess the time and possibility of her returning to the competition. If she is still unable to compete in the second half of the season, we will have to reconsider the T spots for the Four Continents Championships and the World Championships. As for the allocation of spots for next season, the Skating Association will not give them to her directly. She will have to rely on her own abilities to get them."

The commander-in-chief made the decision in just a few words, and Xia Yuezi knew in her heart that this was the best outcome for the time being.

She suppressed the surging emotions in her heart and agreed to the task.

-----------------------

Author's Note: Sister Xia: "Have you ever seen a nerve block injection...?" (omitting many words)

Xiao Yan (trembling, afraid to speak)

Sister Xia (slightly raising her eyes), thinking to herself: "Now you know fear, don't you? Knowing fear will make you cherish your body in the future."

Ultimately, what Sister Xia was saying was all based on her own experiences. And it was precisely because of these experiences that when she spoke calmly, she was able to strike at Xiao Yan's deepest fears, acting like a tranquilizer, offering comfort.