Eye of the Storm (Part 4)

There is no doubt that the days of recovery are tough.

Moreover, it was incredibly difficult to endure.

Zhou Zeyi really didn't know what bad luck he had in his past lives. Not only had he spent so long recovering from his previous injury, but now he had to start a new round of recovery. The frustration was even greater, it was practically like being in prison.

It was precisely because he saw that she was so idle that she was about to grow weeds that Coach Xu allowed her to make a trip to London. However, Coach Xu's kindness only lasted that long. After Zhou Zeyu returned, all the preferential treatment and benefits disappeared. Coach Xu even maliciously linked her location to his own phone and would bombard her with calls whenever he saw that she was not at the rehabilitation center. This scared Zhou Zeyu so much that she had to report even if she went out for a walk.

This is a bit too much of an overreaction. She has resisted this dictatorial behavior more than once, but each time it was dismissed with a casual "You can't be trusted."

Don't trust me? Where do you think I don't trust you!

Okay, I really can't trust him.

Because Zhou Zeyu longed for a free life, she would often push her wheelchair out for random walks. On a few days, she would even be several kilometers away when she came to her senses. Coach Xu was so frightened that he quickly took her back and asked her in surprise how she had managed to push her wheelchair so far.

"That's the source of my powerful arms," ​​Zhou Zeyu said smugly, before being unsurprisingly criticized by the doctor and Coach Xu.

According to the doctor, her injury was actually a stroke of luck amidst misfortune. It was just a simple fracture of the patella and other parts, without damaging key structures such as the cruciate ligaments, meniscus, and articular cartilage. Moreover, the fractured pieces were well-positioned and fixed, so there was still a possibility of recovery.

In the early stages of her rehabilitation at the center, Zhou Zeyu was very serious. This included not only obediently following the doctor's orders, but also getting up earlier than the chickens every day to start rehabilitation training and not eating anything except broccoli and chicken breast. This obedient facade lasted until the moment she got rid of her wheelchair.

When her feet finally touched the floor after so long, she was almost in tears. She grabbed the nurse's hand and shook it uncontrollably, declaring with tears streaming down her face that this was the most important moment of her life. The innocent nurse smiled and asked her why.

Of course, it's because she can now escape.

Thanks to her initial hard work, she can now walk normally, although she still experiences some pain when walking fast. However, compared to before, this is a leap forward, and she is very satisfied.

But it's all London's fault.

Yes, it's definitely a problem in London.

Zhou Zeyi firmly believed that the gloomy and continuous weather in London during those days must have caused the knee pain to recur. It had been fine before, but it relapsed after returning from London, so it must be London's fault.

"What a huge scapegoat you're making! Why don't you just say it's your own fault for running around like this?"

Zhou Zeyu lay on the bed at the rehabilitation center and slowly replied, "How can you say that? Of course I take care of my own body."

When his questioning failed, Coach Xu snorted coldly, "It's not necessarily that much of a cherishing."

Well done, he didn't give her any face at all. Zhou Zeyu blinked guiltily, "No, right..."

Coach Xu was peeling an orange for her, his face contorted with a forced smile, before shoving the orange into her mouth without a second thought. “I’ve discussed it with the doctor and come up with a new rehabilitation plan for you. Remember to behave yourself this time and don’t do anything reckless just because you can walk, understand?”

After receiving the plan sheet, which was a full meter long, Zhou Zeyu finally woke up from his half-awake state. His eyes widened as he looked at Coach Xu in disbelief. After meeting his unquestionable gaze, he swallowed hard and obediently began to look down at the imperial edict.

Quadriceps leg extension training, glute contraction training, full range knee flexion training, balance and coordination training, lateral sliding step-and-hit simulation shallow jump training...

Is this an imperial edict or an arrest warrant? I'm completely baffled.

Zhou Zeyu stared at the dense text for only three seconds before feeling dizzy. He decided not to push himself, put down the paper, and nodded obediently, "Okay, I will."

"Anyway, I will do it." Zhou Zeyu interrupted him decisively, revealing a determined expression, looking at him like a model student with exceptional willpower.

Coach Xu still looked at her with some doubt. After a while, perhaps feeling that the child was older and needed more tolerance, he nodded, which was rare for him. He tried his best to look trusting and said lovingly, "Okay, then I'll believe you this time."

Zhou Zeyu nodded in deep agreement, smiling obediently.

"I might have to go on another business trip soon, so I won't have much time to look after you. Take good care of yourself and don't always rely on me to keep an eye on you, okay?"

"Another business trip?" Recalling the purpose of his last business trip to Nanjing, she couldn't help but be suspicious. She narrowed her eyes and stared at him suspiciously. "What are you going to do there?"

"There's something going on, don't overthink it." Coach Xu remained unmoved, even standing up and quickly drifting towards the door, looking like he didn't want to say anything more.

Just as Zhou Zeyu was about to call out to him, Coach Xu had already slipped away in a flash. "Where are you running off to, Lao Xu!"

As expected, the old fox is the most cunning. She snorted coldly. Someone was feeling guilty and determined not to let her find out anything. Zhou Zeyu wasn't stupid. Now she must know that his business trip had impure motives, or at least that he was going to do something he didn't allow her to participate in.

Coach Xu kept his word and promised not to let her get involved anymore. He really didn't tell her a single thing, not even a hint. Zhou Zeyu originally wanted to ask Fang Xiaocan for information, but she didn't expect that even the big mouth Fang Xiaocan had been bribed by Coach Xu and refused to say a single word.

Now Zhou Zeyu is completely helpless. She can't run away or fly away. She spends all day eating cauliflower at the rehabilitation center, feeling like a poor thing abandoned in a secluded place.

The situation outside has been turbulent recently, which was to be expected. She had heard about it beforehand and was happily waiting for things to escalate. Unexpectedly, at this crucial moment, she was imprisoned in this living prison, and a certain prison guard surnamed Xu deliberately blocked the news.

There was nothing that could be done. Zhou Zeyu was practically grabbing the nurse's sleeve, pitifully asking her what was happening outside.

"What happened?" the nurse replied gently. "They're going to build a park on that vacant lot outside the rehabilitation center, and I heard the sweet and sour pork recipe in the cafeteria has been changed, and..."

Zhou Zeyu listened intently, somewhat regretting that she had actually asked the question. But the next second, realizing what she had heard, she suddenly shouted, "What?! Why change the formula?!"

The nurse was startled by her reaction, but she didn't lessen her grip and forcibly kept her sitting in place. She smiled and said, "Maybe the original chef was fired. I heard from others the other day that he seemed to have connections."

Zhou Zeyu seemed to have grasped a key point. He raised his eyebrows and asked with great interest, "How could someone with connections be fired? Shouldn't they be the ones with the most secure jobs?"

The nurse glanced around discreetly, then leaned down, deliberately lowered her voice, and said mysteriously, "I only heard about this secondhand, so please don't tell anyone."

"Of course not," Zhou Zeyu quickly assured him, offering his ear in a respectful manner.

"I heard that people from above came to investigate thoroughly, and even our dean was suspended. They also purged a lot of people with connections in the hospital. The chef is his brother-in-law, so of course he can't escape."

Zhou Zeyi became quite interested. "A thorough investigation? Why did the higher-ups suddenly send people to investigate without warning?"

"How would we know?" The nurse shrugged, indicating that she knew nothing more. Then she brought over a large bowl of Chinese medicine steaming with black smoke and happily handed it to her. "You've heard it, so you'd better drink your medicine obediently today."

She knew it. Zhou Zeyu scoffed, picked up the bowl and drank it all in one gulp. He casually wiped his mouth and then asked, "Who is this dean of yours? How come he was dismissed after just one investigation?"

The nurse took the large bowl, and upon hearing this, shook her head dismissively, giving her a look that said, "You don't even know this?" She continued, "What else could it be? Aren't all hospital directors the same? They're just greedy for money, lustful, and abuse their power, and they like to bring all their relatives in."

"That's really unexpected," Zhou Zeyu said insincerely, but quickly nodded sincerely. "But in your opinion, these serious crimes are indeed universal."

She remembered someone she knew.

I wonder when that person will finally be finished. It would be best if I woke up to the news of his execution.

As Zhou Zeyu was happily lost in thought, she didn't notice a gentle knock on the door. Another nurse pushed the door open and entered. "Ms. Zhou, someone wants to see you."

Standing next to the nurse was the very person she had been cursing frantically just half a second ago.

To be honest, it took Zhou Zeyu a full three seconds to come to her senses and realize that this was not a hallucination caused by her excessive hatred. She also repeatedly checked that she hadn't uttered those swear words. After finally sorting out her thoughts, she finally showed a slightly surprised expression and looked at Coach Huang with a thoughtful look in her eyes.

It's true, people don't visit temples without a reason.

Of course she wasn't stupid. In fact, after seeing the expression on his face, Zhou Zeyu immediately became extremely alert and cautious, narrowing her eyes slightly and silently waiting for him to explain his purpose.

Unlike his last visit to Fang Xiaocan, this time his expression was more serious. He didn't even bother to put on a friendly visitor's face. His hands were empty, and he didn't even bring the two boxes of milk. Zhou Zeyu clicked his tongue in slight dissatisfaction. This old guy is too lazy to even do the pretense. What good things could possibly come his way?

Once she understood this, she felt much more at ease. Seeing the other person's obvious state of panic, she even felt a bit maliciously pleased. She slightly shifted her position against the bed and adopted an expression that seemed to enjoy watching the drama unfold.

Coach Huang gave her a lukewarm look, sat down on the bedside chair, waved for the nurses left in the room to leave, and the moment the door closed, he immediately revealed the purpose of his visit.

What do you want?

Zhou Zeyu shook her head. "I don't want anything, Coach Huang."

He gave a hasty, cold laugh. "I'm not going to waste my time with you, Zhou Zeyi. What exactly do you want?"

If he were to ask sincerely, Zhou Zeyi could honestly say that she did indeed want many things, such as a house in Beijing's inner ring road, tens of millions of yuan that had inexplicably appeared in her bank account, and a resort island named after her. However, it was clear that these worldly and beautiful wishes could never be fulfilled by him.

That's just too disgusting.

Zhou Zeyu shrugged and didn't say anything.

It's so hypocritical, so hypocritical that Zhou Zeyu almost didn't want to listen anymore.

Did he really believe that Zhou Zeyi was unaware that he was the one who interfered with her job search before?

At that time, Zhou Zeyu still had some unrealistic thoughts. She thought that the head coach of an entire team would not personally come down to trip her up with a small injury number. But the reality was absurd to the point of being ridiculous. Her repeated rejections were all his doing.

His meaning was simple: he wanted Zhou Zeyu to realize that without the team, without him, she was nothing. A world champion couldn't even find a decent job. He wanted her to give in once again.

Unfortunately, no.

Back then, Zhou Zeyu wouldn't give in; she simply gave up looking for a job and went to the club to start a new path. Now, Zhou Zeyu certainly won't give in either. She's long been used to unfair treatment, and this setback is nothing to her.

So she smiled slightly and said, "Don't rush to talk about these things. Let's talk about your conditions instead."

"OK."

For Coach Huang, who always liked to beat around the bush and whose words were full of riddles, such quick frankness seemed very unusual. Zhou Zeyu raised an eyebrow, but this also proved that he was indeed in a mess and no longer had the composure he used to have. He was so eager to solve this problem that he even came to her.

Oh, right, Zhang Yuan.

It's quite obvious that Coach Huang came for that document.

Because of all the things that happened before, he had drifted further and further away from Sports Daily. Not to mention that Zhang Yuan had now fled overseas, and he couldn't do anything about him. Zhou Zeyu had even guessed that he had contacted Zhang Yuan in private. However, judging from Zhang Yuan's temperament, he was more concerned about the scoops he had now. Coach Huang's threats or attempts to please him were completely useless.

So he shifted his focus to the person who had meticulously compiled all of this information and traveled a great distance to London to report it.

Zhou Zeyu.

"Do you know the consequences of spreading fake news? Zhou Zeyi, don't do anything stupid."

“You know perfectly well that none of those were fake news.”

Zhou Zeyu laughed, "No, you can't do it."

"Your presence here today precisely proves that you've run out of options," she said calmly. "Otherwise, why would you try to bribe me? Did you really think I could stop Zhang Yuan? Of course not."

"Coach Huang, you've really gotten old."

Zhou Zeyu raised his head slightly, staring at his face, feeling a mix of emotions. "If it were before, your solutions would have been even smarter. It's a pity you're old now, and when faced with problems you can only resort to desperate measures. It's time for you to step down."

He looked at her with a somewhat bewildered expression, as if he couldn't believe that the person in front of him was Zhou Zeyu.

Feeling confused? Feeling surprised? Someone he had used for so long and never received a shred of pity from him, now has the right to sit in front of him, and not only that, he even accelerated his demise.

"When you first said you would give me a job, I thought you had suddenly come to your senses and were planning to make it up to me after all these years."

Her tone was tinged with amusement, and even her face wore a faint smile, but there was no doubt that she was just talking nonsense; she had never thought of it that way.

But she still wanted to know his reaction when he heard those words.

I want to know if, after all these years, he feels even the slightest bit of guilt.

It's a pity that it didn't happen.

Coach Huang looked at her with slight surprise, but his eyes only showed his disgust and wariness that she knew the truth, and even a moment of loathing. After barely suppressing those emotions, he stood up, with no intention of answering her.

"It's a pity you're still not one of us."

He left those words behind and strode away.

Before he walked out the door, Zhou Zeyu took a deep breath and answered in this way.

"This is the thing I'm most grateful for in my life."