Passing By (Part 3)

The sound of the ventilator was so faint it was almost inaudible, and the unpleasant smell of the ward still lingered around her nose. She seemed to be having a very long dream.

When Zhou Zeyu opened her eyes, she was stiffly following the referee through the tunnel towards the bustling stadium. The moment the blinding light hit her, it felt as if countless colorful petals exploded above her head, fluttering down onto her. The noisy crowd and the mechanical announcements rang out together, and she stood at the edge of the field, her mind blank.

This is... her match against Angelica.

As she recalled the ending, she felt her limbs grow cold, and even her breathing became hoarse and sluggish, as if rusted. Her clothes were instantly soaked with sweat, sticking to her back in a sticky and cold embrace.

She looked around aimlessly, but she couldn't even explain what she was looking for. Countless unfamiliar faces appeared around her, and everyone was celebrating and waiting for this victory.

Zhou Zeyu desperately wanted to escape, to roar hysterically, to let them know it was a crushing defeat, and to extinguish that irresistible passion and surging emotion. But she couldn't. She didn't even have the courage to close her eyes and escape reality.

However, a hand suddenly reached out from the darkness and shoved her in the back without mercy. The force sent her straight onto the court. When Zhou Zeyu staggered and grabbed the table, she looked up and met Angelica's smiling eyes.

The air became extremely humid and hot, and even the moisture from her breath could not evaporate. Her face was covered with a thick layer of sweat. She supported herself on the table with her hands to keep steady, but something seemed different. At least she could feel that this was different from the scene back then.

Has something changed, been altered?

She opened her eyes wide and tried to get her brain working, but just as she straightened up and tried to take a step, she suddenly realized what the biggest change was.

It was her knee, the most vulnerable part of her right knee, the kneecap that determined her life and death and almost influenced her entire athletic career.

It no longer hurt, and even the foreign body sensation caused by the steel nail had completely disappeared. Zhou Zeyu moved hesitantly, and it remained so stable and healthy, as if it had never been injured.

It was as if nothing had happened.

Zhou Zeyu's breathing suddenly slowed down, even almost stopped. When the whistle blew, all the air rushed into her lungs, and she finally realized that she had come back to life.

The race was strangely sped up, and she couldn't perceive her own movements. Her limbs felt as if they were tightly bound by fishing lines and controlled by an unknown force.

Receiving the ball, smashing it, serving it, and chopping it—she sprints forward, twists her body to the side, and leaps left and right, tightly controlling the situation on the court. Her racket traces sharp arcs in the air, and the gusts of wind she creates whistle in her ears. She is so light and so composed, almost omnipotent.

But after another burst of speed, Zhou Zeyu stood there and suddenly felt that his movements were very unfamiliar.

After so many injuries and slumps, her body was no longer able to support this style of play. In other words, she had actually abandoned this explosive style of play a long time ago.

This was not her intention; it was entirely out of necessity. Changing her playing style was extremely painful. She was not used to it and did not like it. She always had to worry about her injuries, and her nerves were constantly on edge, as if she were bound by something. She could no longer play as freely and happily as before.

So all of this seems rather bizarre, as Zhou Zeyu defeated Angelica in this final using a playing style that was no longer his own.

This is a dream, of course it's a dream, because it's impossible for it to happen.

Zhou Zeyu didn't know when the competition ended, or even how she got onto the podium, standing in a position that didn't originally belong to her, enjoying the cheers of the whole world. Everything was too hazy and too unreal.

It was so fake that she couldn't even hypnotize herself to force herself to enjoy even a second of the stolen victory.

Zhou Zeyu walked down the podium in a daze. There were only two shallow steps, but she suddenly fell to the ground without warning. When she looked up again, a huge mirror suddenly appeared in front of her. The person in the mirror was also looking at her, and then very slowly, he showed her a bright smile.

Seventeen-year-old Zhou Zeyu stared intently at her in the mirror. "Did you win the championship? I knew you could do it."

She felt her blood turn cold in that instant, screaming and trying to break through something, but she just sat on the ground without saying a word, staring at everything in disbelief.

Those eyes looked at her with a smile, and Zhou Zeyu saw many things in them: hope, anticipation, happiness, and an overflowing confidence. The emotions were so strong that she couldn't say a word.

“See, I told you I would succeed,” seventeen-year-old Zhou Zeyu laughed, excitedly pacing back and forth in the mirror. “Who dares to say I don’t deserve this title? They should really see that I am a true genius.”

Genius, genius...

Zhou Zeyu seemed to think she was laughing, but even as her muscles stiffened, she didn't find it funny at all.

Genius, when you were seventeen, you probably imagined this scene through the mirror: a talented girl fulfilling her potential without reservation, winning the championship amidst the world's cheers, and calmly ushering in her own era.

Please, please, even if she went through so much later, whether it was failure or despair, Zhou Zeyu ten years later could be defeated, but Zhou Zeyu ten years ago could not. She could not know all of this, nor could she show defeat on that arrogant face. She should be arrogant and self-important, and keep going with naive hope.

Keep walking, keep walking, don't suffer, and don't regret. Keep moving forward until the time comes when you have to stop.

“Yes,” Zhou Zeyu knew she was crying because the youthful face in the mirror showed astonishment. “You succeeded.”

"Why cry if you've succeeded?"

The seventeen-year-old smiled brightly, "If that day really comes, I won't cry, I'll laugh and happily step onto the podium."

"That's good." More tears streamed down her face uncontrollably. She smiled and wiped them away haphazardly. "You should smile more. No matter what happens, try to be happy."

Don't learn from her, don't be like her, don't follow in her footsteps.

Be happy, healthy, and then win this championship.

The figure in the mirror seemed to slowly blur. Zhou Zeyu's eyes widened, and he rushed forward in a few steps, grabbing the mirror and speaking resolutely.

"Don't be fooled, don't go to the Beijing team, listen to Coach Xu and stay by his side!"

Suddenly, without warning, the mirror shattered into pieces. Zhou Zeyu cried out in surprise, but immediately forced herself to calm down and stared at the broken face.

"Be careful during training, and take good care of your knees. Remember! Don't injure your right knee."

The sound of shattering grew clearer, and the cracks in the mirror had long since become too large to ignore. Zhou Zeyu knelt in front of the mirror, hysterically shouting into it.

The mirror shattered completely in front of her, leaving only a mess of ruins. In the broken lens, the seventeen-year-old genius girl vanished completely, right in front of Zhou Zeyu, right within her reach, disappearing once again.

She collapsed helplessly to the ground, overwhelmed by pain and despair at the same time, even more so than the fleeting, false joy brought by the championship.

However, another sudden force struck, grabbing her by the back of her collar and lifting her up like a sandbag. When she opened her eyes again, Angelica was back in front of her.

Champion, you won first place, so why aren't you happy?

Champion, the legendary world number one, is your right knee no longer hurting? Do you think nothing happened and that you can go back to your old self?

Champion, oh champion, whose championship did you steal?

...

Zhou Zeyu screamed and struggled, her body covered in sweat. The medal around her neck felt like a rope; the more she struggled, the tighter the rope tightened, almost threatening to hang her.

Let go, let go now!

The voice rang in his mind, its sharp tone causing Zhou Zeyu's head to throb with pain, to the point that he even touched his neck.

But the next second, that intense desire for survival forcefully suppressed her instinct to live. She gritted her teeth, her eyes bloodshot, and forced herself to stand up. She didn't want to let go, and she wouldn't let go.

She had longed for it for so long that she even dreamed of having it. Countless sleepless and agonizing nights had accumulated into a powerful desire, and she was completely controlled by this strange emotion.

Angelica's voice rang out with a laugh: "How pathetic, a once invincible genius girl, now only able to covet glory that doesn't belong to her in her dreams. Don't you find it ironic?"

Zhou Zeyu laughed. "And then? What are you trying to say? Are you trying to mock me and then completely defeat me?"

Her face displayed a contradictory and complex expression, a mixture of pain and rage, as if two souls were frantically rejecting each other within her.

"Do you really think buying a few articles and getting on a few trending topics is enough? Has that traffic and buzz improved your counter-attack strategy? You won against me by chance, do you really think you can win a second time?"

Zhou Zeyu stood up, staring straight at her, then shook his head wearily the next second, "Angelica, how can you be so ridiculous?"

She closed her eyes, waiting for the familiar darkness to envelop her once more. When the light returned, she was already elsewhere, and before her lay that familiar face, gazing at her.

Seventeen-year-old Zhou Zeyu smiled, as if waiting for her to speak.

Zhou Zeyu smiled back: "I can't use that fighting style anymore, but you can, so actually you defeated Angelica, not me."

The other person neither confirmed nor denied, simply shrugging, "Is that what you think?"

Isn't that so?

“No,” she said, “it’s you, it’s always been you.”

However, she was interrupted. The self-important girl raised an eyebrow, crossed her arms, and looked thoughtful.

"Have you ever thought that if you hadn't injured your right knee back then and hadn't gone through so much, you could have won that match entirely on your own? She wouldn't have been your match."

The other person interrupted her again, frowning and seemingly impatient, "How can her level be compared to yours? What are you hesitating about? I didn't know you'd become so indecisive."

"You're just scared of being beaten, right? You're depressed by failures and setbacks, you feel so bad that you can't even beat an amateur student on the street, and you're so pessimistic that you want to destroy your entire career, am I right?"

Zhou Zeyu closed his eyes. "What do you want to say?"

The seventeen-year-old seemed confused. "I don't understand, why didn't you realize the most important point?"

What should I be aware of?

"Look at this."

Suddenly, a huge mirror appeared in front of him. Zhou Zeyu couldn't help but open his eyes to look at it, but then he was stunned and stood there.

A third Zhou Zeyu appeared in the mirror. She looked older than the other two. She stood in the center of the stage, holding a microphone, while a large banner was stretched above the stage, with the words "Retirement Ceremony" written in conspicuous font.

Her arm was adorned with all the medals she had won over the years, which clanged against each other in the wind. The stadium was filled with fans who had traveled from afar to see her off. The announcer stood beside her, slowly reading aloud her glories over the years in a broadcasting voice.

The moment she finished reciting her lines, the entire hall erupted in thunderous cheers. She put on the most important championship medal, smiled, stood on the high platform, and waved goodbye to everyone.

After the ceremony, the team announced that she would officially begin coaching as a coach, becoming another championship-winning coach. Countless people sent her their blessings and prayers, hoping that she would lead the team to new heights.

In the very end, she saw herself, now middle-aged, sitting on a sofa, legs crossed, being interviewed by the media. They asked her how she would evaluate her career, and she simply shrugged, confidently replying:

"Perfect, successful, brilliant."

Zhou Zeyu stood there, staring blankly at herself in that state.

Did you see that?

When the sound rang out, Zhou Zeyu finally realized what was happening and turned to look at his younger self beside him.

"What did you see?"

"I can see your future."

She could hardly believe her ears. "My future? What future?"

"The future you should have had."

The girl spoke succinctly, then turned her head and smiled at her.

"Have you ever thought that your destiny was not originally like this? It should have been so fulfilling, successful, and brilliant. This is what you were originally meant to have."

Zhou Zeyu felt her blood run cold. She tried her best to suppress the urge to tremble and looked at her calmly.

What are you trying to say?

The girl stared at her, her eyes seemingly revealing a hint of pity.

"Don't you want to know who caused you to fall to this state? Don't you want to know how you went from a genius to an ordinary person?"

Zhou Zeyu was stunned. She suddenly raised her head and saw a huge hand hanging above her head. The silk threads on the hand were connected to her back and easily manipulated her, but she could not see the appearance of the owner of the hand no matter what she did.

"Did you do this?" she murmured to herself, "It really was you..."

She received no answer. Suddenly, the silk thread behind her was yanked, causing her to fall to the ground in a disheveled and humiliating manner.

As she struggled to her feet, Zhou Zeyu looked up again and vaguely saw the face. The familiar features matched those of someone deep in her memory, but she couldn't remember who it was.

Who are you? Why are you doing this to her?

Why is it that she can't see your face clearly?

Zhou Zeyu lowered her head, the stinging in her eyes finally making it impossible for her to keep her eyes open and look up. The girl in front of her seemed to chuckle softly.

"After suffering so much injustice and scheming, after being used as a scapegoat, a shield, and a bloodsucker for so many years, when the truth is about to be revealed, why do you choose to turn a blind eye?"

No, she knew.