158 Riyadh World Games

◎The inner world of a normal person is a series of tall buildings.◎

The cat didn't look particularly uncomfortable. It just looked like its legs had been crossed for too long and were numb, so it couldn't stand for a moment. It quickly recovered and walked out the door with its notebook.

The children were eating happily and didn't notice the cat was feeling unwell.

"Why is their rice so long? It's almost as long as two of our rice grains."

"Maybe it's because there's oil underground, so the crops grow better after drinking the oil."

"Drink water, drink water, this thing is too dry..."

Zhu Qi ate for a while and felt that he had no appetite.

Maomao had been out for a long time and hadn't come back yet. Zhu Qi wanted to talk to Maomao about their individual training arrangements.

The coaches' rooms and the players' rooms are on the same floor, so logically they should be back.

Thinking of how Mao Mao staggered out just now, Zhu Qi felt a little uneasy. He said, "I'm full," and got up and followed him out.

Ah Shui was still shouting from behind: "Is this enough for you? You still have to train tonight, don't get hypoglycemia again..."

Zhu Qi didn't respond and followed him out.

As soon as he went out, Zhu Qi saw Maomao leaning against the wall, holding his waist and moving forward step by step.

With each move, the cat would take a breath and then continue moving forward.

Step by step, in the empty corridor, it's like a traveler carrying a heavy load, trying to find an oasis at the end of the desert.

Maomao has been receiving massage therapy to loosen lumbar adhesions from the team doctor every day since the start of training. He then wears a waist belt and a cervical fixation belt similar to Beibeijia. This is the only way to relieve and prevent secondary strain on the lumbar spine caused by excessive force during competition.

But after a whole day of flying and traveling all the way, I guess I'm feeling uncomfortable again.

After delivering the things from the coach's room, Maomao did not return to his suite immediately. Instead, he walked to the end of the corridor and stood by the floor-to-ceiling window, looking at the outside world.

It was already dusk outside, and the orange-red sunset outlined the red sportswear on Mao Mao, making her figure look extremely tall and straight.

The world outside is beautiful, the capital is surrounded by greenery and many lakes.

Opposite the hotel is a very tall clock tower surrounded by intricate carvings.

On all sides there is a sense of alternation between the ancient and the modern.

It seems that anyone looking at this beautiful scene at this moment is also part of history.

When Zhu Qi walked over, Maomao knew who it was without even looking back.

"You said that the sun outside is no different, it rises and sets as usual." The cat looked a little tired, and the tiredness on his face could not be suppressed no matter how hard he tried to stay awake.

The table tennis team is the only team in the entire World Games that has to play fully from the first day to the last day of the World Games.

As the captain, he naturally has to think about more things than Zhu Qi, who is just an athlete.

Zhu Qi can take a break when he is not competing, but as the team captain he still has to run around for the contestants.

Looking at the place where Maomao's eyes were, Zhu Qi said calmly, "Yes."

Zhu Qi suddenly remembered a time when he went to England for a competition. The national team took more than 10 hours to reach London in the morning. Normally, it would have been evening in China, but when he arrived in England, he found that the locals had just finished lunch.

Then Zhu Qi, Maomao and A Shui sat at the door of the hotel. In order to adjust to the jet lag, they could only watch the sun set slowly in the sky while feeling sleepy.

At that time, Ah Shui was still shaking his head sleepily, and asked, "Why does the sun set so slowly in England? Could this be what they call the Empire on which the Sun Never Sets?"

So much time has passed in the blink of an eye.

In fact, Zhu Qi knows better than anyone that this may be Maomao's last time to participate in the World Games.

Just now when delivering things in the coach's office, Maomao also filled out something, which was an application for retirement.

Chang Hongxia was also in the house watching Mao Mao fill out the form. She understood Mao Mao's feeling very well. When she retired, she also felt like she had been skinned alive.

Being an athlete is truly exhausting. It felt like there was endless practice and games to do every day. Coaches used to be very aggressive, and if I fell behind in training even a little bit, they would scold me.

But that period was extremely pure. The only worry was how to play the game, rather than having to take care of a series of interpersonal relationships after retiring and entering the so-called society.

If she had to choose, Chang Hongxia actually wanted to go back to the time when she first played in the competition.

"Sometimes I really envy you." Maomao suddenly said this. She tilted her head slightly and looked at Zhu Qi, her eyes full of sincere yearning but no jealousy.

This is also what Maomao has always wanted to say to Zhu Qi.

In fact, Maomao wanted to say this to Zhu Qi a long time ago. To be precise, it was when Zhu Qi just joined the national team.

Maomao withdrew from the competition due to the defeat in the Macau World Cup, but that game was Zhu Qi's famous battle and the first piece of Zhu Qi's Grand Slam puzzle.

At that time, Coach Cun secretly told Maomao that Zhu Qi would be his biggest competitor in the future, and Maomao agreed with him.

He has extremely high talent and works extremely hard, and he loves to study hard.

For Zhu Qi, the most serious injuries that affect athletes were when he sprained his foot at the Chinese Games and at the Moscow World Games.

At least at this time, Zhu Qi felt that he could participate in at least one more session, and maybe even play until he was 33 years old.

After all, Zhu Qi has created too many miracles in his career, so it is not impossible that he will have another title of "most participation in World Games".

In fact, many people have expressed similar words to Zhu Qi, including many young players who have just entered the industry, many foreign players, and even CCTV reporters have expressed their envy of Zhu Qi.

But Zhu Qi didn't expect that Maomao also had such a mentality, because Maomao never showed any "envy" attitude, but instead did his own thing and played his own game well.

When Maomao said this, Zhu Qi inexplicably felt as if someone who had been traveling with him in a car for a long time was waving to him and saying, "I'm getting off."

Zhu Qi was a little dazed, remembering that when he was young and still playing in the provincial team, Qin Xiaoba had expressed many times that Zhu Qi had an almost paranoid obsession with victory.

She tried to lighten her tone, but still told a story: "There was a competition where I won the silver medal and lost a very important game. From the award ceremony to the podium, I had a sullen face the whole time. As soon as I left the competition venue, I threw the silver medal into the trash can. Then He Qianlu scolded me and asked me to pick up the silver medal.

I said "no," and He Qianlu threatened to ban me. I didn't even beg for mercy and just walked away. At the time, I was simply mad at myself. I felt like I shouldn't have lost points, but I didn't capitalize on the opportunities. Later, I realized I was wrong, but after losing the game, I was so emotionally drained that I couldn't care less. I just wanted to vent.

After I got home, the four adults at home kept comforting me, saying that a silver medal was pretty good, and I could get prize money and stand on the podium. Even Qin Shang, who won the championship at that time, didn't dare show his gold medal. To comfort me, my family didn't hold a celebration for Qin Shang.

During that time, I was suspended, and He Qianlu was angry with me and refused to let me return to the provincial team. I stayed home to fight him. I didn't know if He Qianlu would ever call me back, but at the time, I was too proud and arrogant to compromise. In the end, He Qianlu didn't rush me, so I stayed home for a week without training.

Maomao found it hilarious, and couldn't believe Zhu Qi could be so "naive" at times. "Then what should I do? Not having any games to play is fine, but not being able to return to the provincial team is not an option either."

"Yeah, at that time he didn't come to find me, and I didn't go to find him either. But I was also panicking. I wanted to go back to the provincial team but couldn't bring myself to do it. Then my uncle went to the provincial team and said a lot of good things to He Qianlu, saying that he would invite He Qianlu to his house for dinner. Only then did He Qianlu come to my house, thinking he could find a way to call me back. But guess what, when I saw him, I stiffened my neck and said, 'You can let me go back to the provincial team, just lift my suspension.'"

Maomao widened his eyes, as if he didn't expect that Zhu Qi, at that age, would dare to speak to his coach like that. But when he thought about it carefully, it was probably because the relationship between He Qianlu and Zhu Qi was too much like that of brother and sister, so they could talk about anything.

Zhu Qi was also "angry" about himself at that time and laughed: "To be honest, if I was He Qianlu and encountered such a 'difficult to communicate with' player, I would basically just pack up and leave. But He Qianlu just laughed at the time, sat on the sofa and asked me, 'Why do I have to beg you to return to the provincial team?' I said, 'From today on, I won't lose again.' And then..."

Then Zhu Qi did it.

Since then, Zhu Qi has never lost any game that is important to her.

Win, win, win all the way, and win to the national team.

"He also said that he had seen many different kinds of players, but he had never seen anyone as 'strong-willed' as me and who was determined to win. I told him that I was a person who didn't even have the right to cry after losing a game." Zhu Qi leaned against the window, looking at the setting sun outside. Most of the sky darkened, revealing the stars in the clouds.

Next.

Zhu Qi wants to tell Maomao his biggest secret.

It was a very long-ago story that was buried deep in Zhu Qi's memory.

"You can think of me as someone who's died once before, only to be 'reborn' after I went to live with my uncle at the age of six. Before that, I couldn't even imagine what my life would be like. In that home, there was only endless insults, beatings, and hunger. I wouldn't have been able to pick up table tennis, let alone join the national team and meet the friends I have now. The me of that time and the me of today are two completely different people. The me of that time lived in poverty and hardship, at the bottom of society. To me, tomorrow is a very empty word, because there's a very real possibility that I won't have a tomorrow at all. I believe that this wonderful gift of 'rebirth' wasn't meant for me to enjoy myself in this life. I should contribute to myself and the industry I love. I hope my presence will be a blessing to those around me, so I keep working hard..."

The cat listened quietly.

This was also the first time that Zhu Qi was willing to talk to me about this.

Although we used to chat with each other about some intimate things, most of them were related to the competition and encouragement to each other.

As the person who has been in the national team the longest among all of them, Maomao personally experienced the time when Chang Hongxia, the last of the "Four Heroes of Table Tennis", was about to retire. At that time, Ding Shushu had passed her golden period, Jin Lili was very impetuous and in an unstable state, and her own shoulder injury also recurred frequently.

Not to mention the men's team. At that time, Gao Xiaofeng was also suffering from old injuries, and they kept losing in major competitions and the morale of the team was low.

At that time, many outsourcing companies said that this was the easiest time to destroy the Great Wall of Table Tennis.

As long as Chang Hongxia and Gao Xiaofeng retire, the Chinese team will no longer be the only dominant team.

At that time, it also coincided with the important time node of the transition from old to new in the national table tennis team.

However, cats stuck during this time are likely to become victims.

Maomao knew that Zhu Qi wanted to tell her.

There are many different tracks in life.

Every person has her own mission in her life.

Maomao felt that the inner world of the girl in front of him was once a barren and desolate cliff, but the empty space was filled because of table tennis.

But……

The honor and sense of identity brought by table tennis, as well as the appearance of her uncle's family and friends around her later, only filled the "hole" in Zhu Qi's heart, and made her go from "negative" to "zero".

The inner world of a normal person is like a series of tall buildings.

This is something that the trauma of childhood can never make up for.