Chapter 36 Chapter 36
When Chu Xi received the news, he had just completed the check-in procedures at the base.
She took the time to send the game time to Fang Ruinian, put away her phone, and continued to pull her luggage towards the base apartment.
The apartment environment is exactly the same as the one she lived in before, giving her a familiar feeling of being back home.
After a while, Chu Xi came out of the apartment after putting his luggage away and saw Lu Meng walking towards him with the Jiangbin Province Shooting Team.
Lu Meng was stunned for a moment, then reached out and greeted Chu Xi.
The two nodded to each other, then separated and continued walking in different directions.
I went to the base to handle various procedures and packed up casually, and the whole morning had passed.
When it was time for dinner, Wang Xingwen led Chu Xi and others to the cafeteria.
"During the competition, everyone should watch their diet and eat in the cafeteria. Don't let anything unexpected happen that might affect the competition."
There are special regulations for athletes' diet. Due to international doping control regulations, athletes who are still in active service are generally strictly prohibited from eating out at will.
Especially during important competitions, athletes' dietary management will be more stringent.
Chu Xi and Yang Ruoxue came to the cafeteria window one after another to get their meals.
"Sister Xi, I just saw the players from the national team. They are here for dinner too!" Yang Ruoxue leaned close to Chu Xi's ear and said in a suppressed excited voice.
Chu Xi turned around and glanced behind him, and sure enough, he saw Lu Wenxuan and others walking towards him with plates of food.
There was a hint of surprise in Chu Xi's eyes.
Unexpectedly, not only my uncle's family remained unchanged, but even my teammates on the national team were still there.
Lu Wenxuan, a member of the national men's 10-meter air pistol team, is humorous and talkative. When you eat at the same table with him, you will feel the lively atmosphere of people around you the whole time.
Chu Xi has a good relationship with him because they were in the same team in the mixed 10-meter air pistol competition in the last Olympics and won the Olympic silver medal.
Originally, there was hope of winning gold in this event, but unfortunately, when Lu Wenxuan finished shooting the last shot, he was exactly 0.1 ring behind his opponent.
He felt regretful for a long time. After Chu Xi left the field, he and his coach counseled and comforted him. He quickly adjusted his mentality and won back the gold medal in the final men's 10-meter air pistol, which made up for his regret a little.
In that Olympics, Chu Xi and Lu Wenxuan each won a silver and a gold medal.
"Junior Sister Chu Xi, right?" Lu Wenxuan walked up to Chu Xi with a smile and patted her shoulder cheerfully. "I've always heard Coach Song praise you, and today I finally get to see you in person."
Junior sister?
This name sounded quite unfamiliar coming from his mouth.
Chu Xi was stunned for a moment, then nodded to Lu Wenxuan, "Well, I've always heard about Senior Brother Lu Wenxuan's deeds, and today I finally have the chance to see him in person."
When Lu Wenxuan heard this, he was immediately a little surprised, "Really? Have you heard about my deeds?"
Chu Xi smiled and nodded, then continued, "I heard that my senior brother was promoted from the second team to the first team not long after joining the national team. His progress should be the fastest in the team."
Lu Wenxuan's pupils were shocked.
This Junior Sister Chu Xi really knows about him!
Could it be that this junior sister is actually his fan?
Thinking of this, Lu Wenxuan looked at Chu Xi with a loving look, "My behavior is nothing. I heard from Coach Song that your junior sister won the gold medal in her first National Shooting Championship. You are truly amazing."
Lu Wenxuan smiled and walked to the cafeteria window. "Auntie, give my junior sister another chicken leg. Use my card."
After he finished speaking, he turned around again, and his aunt looked at Chu Xi with a smile, "Eat more so you can have strength for training."
Yang Ruoxue was so excited that she almost leaned over, "Brother, I admire you very much too."
"Auntie, give this junior sister a chicken leg as well!" Lu Wenxuan shouted generously.
Normally in the national team, everyone’s daily life is filled with training, so there is no such good opportunity to be admired by junior sisters.
It is a rare opportunity to treat his fellow junior brothers and sisters to a meal, so Lu Wenxuan must be generous.
After dinner, Lu Wenxuan smiled and sat at the same table with Chu Xi.
"Don't feel too much pressure when you two compete. Many of the candidates who are trying out for the national team this year are truly exceptional. Their abilities are truly insane. Take Lu Meng, for example. She's only been with the Jiangbin Provincial Shooting Team for a year, but she's already won a ton of medals. The last time our national team went out to compete, we ran into Lu Meng and were completely crushed. They're definitely going to have to fight again in this World Cup Qualifying Tournament."
"Young people nowadays are so fierce." Lu Wenxuan shook his head with emotion while comforting Chu Xi and the others.
Chu Xi took a bite of the chicken leg, chewed it, and looked up at Lu Wenxuan. "Isn't Senior Brother Lu quite young too?"
"Keep a low profile." Lu Wenxuan modestly lowered his hand. "After all, I've been training since I was a child. Judging from the time I've been training, I'm not young anymore."
The earlier you participate in the competition, the sooner you will encounter setbacks and mature.
Although Lu Wenxuan has a seemingly childish and simple appearance, his ability to withstand psychological pressure is actually stronger than that of ordinary players.
"So, junior sister, you two should compete well, and we will try to meet in the national team." Lu Wenxuan comforted her a few more times before starting to eat.
During the meeting, players from other national teams showed a little surprise when they saw Lu Wenxuan running to this table.
"Brother Lu, why are you here to eat? Who are these two?" An Hongfei sat down with a plate in his hand and looked at Chu Xi and the others hesitantly.
"The one on the left is Junior Sister Chu Xi, whom Coach Song specifically mentioned. The one on the right is her teammate, also a junior sister." Lu Wenxuan stuffed a mouthful of chicken and introduced them to his teammates.
An Hongfei immediately looked at Chu Xi twice more.
He smiled slightly and nodded to Chu Xi and the others, "Hello, hello. Just call me An Hongfei."
The four of them chatted at the table for a while, and then went their separate ways after finishing their meal.
After separating from Chu Xi and the others, An Hongfei leaned close to Lu Wenxuan's ear and whispered, "When we were chatting just now, that Junior Sister Chu Xi seemed to know a lot about you. What's going on?"
Lu Wenxuan smiled and waved his hand, "She's my fan. When she came up just now, she told me all my stories in detail."
An Hongfei was stunned, "You already have fans?" There was some hesitation in his tone.
"So what? I'm handsome and have a good figure, so it's normal for me to have fans." Lu Wenxuan patted his chest with a proud look on his face.
It can be seen that he is very pleased with the fact that Chu Xi is his fan.
An Hongfei couldn't stand his narcissism and rolled his eyes speechlessly.
The sun slowly sets and night falls.
Inside the Hilton Hotel's family suite, Fang Ruinian stood at the doorway, holding a palm-sized piece of paper. "Dad, see? That's the distance from you to me, multiplied by two, which is ten meters. The size of the paper in my hand is the size of the target paper."
Fang Xiangyun frowned, squinted hard, and leaned forward. "You can't even see the words on the paper. So how does your sister shoot?"
Fang Ruinian put the paper away and slowly walked to the sofa and sat down. "This is the meaning of their training. I heard from Xiaoxi that she is basically training for twelve hours a day now. It's very tiring."
After tidying up the bedroom, Zhu Lifang walked out with a look of disgust on her face. "Can you two help me with something? You just threw the suitcase on the ground like nothing happened. Can you clean it up?"
Fang Xiangyun and Fang Ruinian looked at each other, forced a smile, and quickly stood up to help.
"Mom, Xiaoxi replied to me and said that her competition will be held the day after tomorrow. First there will be the qualifying round, and then the finals." Fang Xiangyun replied with a smile while folding clothes.
"Can we go to the base to see Xiaoxi tomorrow?" Zhu Lifang continued to ask with a frown.
"No, the base has regulations. You can only go on the day of the game." Fang Ruinian quickly pushed Zhu Lifang to the bedroom. "Mom, go and rest. Dad and I will fold the clothes."
After settling Zhu Lifang down, Fang Ruinian and his father began to study various things related to the ten-meter air pistol.
From daily training to the various rules of shooting competitions, the two of them went through them from beginning to end.
Before going to bed at night, Fang Ruinian held his mobile phone and searched the Internet for videos related to Chu Xi's shooting.
I stayed up late and watched movies until my eyelids couldn't hold up anymore, so I turned off my phone, lay down exhausted and fell asleep.
…
The next morning, each shooting team received the official schedule details.
Just after finishing breakfast, Chu Xi was called by Wang Xingwen for a private chat.
"I just got the news that Xue Yaning, the last Olympic champion in women's 10-meter air pistol, will be participating in the trials with you as a member of the national team. She is the strongest representative of your last class, and her strength is definitely not to be underestimated."
Wang Xingwen said earnestly, "However, according to Coach Song, Xue Yaning might be thinking about retiring. If she really has that plan, then you and Lu Meng will definitely have to take the spot in the women's 10-meter air pistol event."
Xue Yaning would be just 26 years old this year, and the Olympics would not open for another two years.
She is no longer at an advantage in terms of age.
Athletes have very high requirements for physical fitness, and once they reach that age, their body functions will inevitably decline significantly.
Therefore, many athletes choose to retire after participating in two consecutive Olympic Games.
Only those contestants who started participating at a very young age would be able to persist for three sessions.
"I understand." Chu Xi nodded in agreement.
Wang Xingwen stood up and patted Chu Xi on the shoulder. "Compete well, you'll be fine."
As the competition schedule was gradually announced, shooting teams in various provinces also began to hold additional meetings.
At noon, Chu Xi went to the cafeteria to eat as usual.
I happened to meet Lu Wenxuan and others again.
They probably just finished training and were walking towards the cafeteria window chatting and laughing.
"Hey, isn't this Lu Wenxuan's little fan? Is she Junior Sister Chu Xi?"
I don’t know how Lu Wenxuan showed off, but in just one day, even his teammates began to know the identity of Chu Xi’s little fan.
Chu Xi raised her eyes and glanced at Lu Wenxuan.
Thinking of the friendship they had when they trained together in mixed doubles, she finally gave him some face and didn't expose the truth to his face. "Well, I'm Chu Xi."
Lu Wenxuan smiled as he walked over to Chu Xi and put his hand on her shoulder, acting like a close friend. "Junior sister is here with the team to gain some experience. She's young and inexperienced, so please take care of her during the competition."
Lu Wenxuan's teammates were also very easy to talk to. They all agreed with a smile: "No problem, we will definitely take care of it."
Chu Xi was brought by Lu Wenxuan to the national team's dinner table.
Several senior students were also very enthusiastic and asked about Chu Xi's competition arrangements.
Chu Xi quietly picked up some food and ate, replying, "Qualifying rounds tomorrow morning, finals the day after tomorrow morning."
"Okay! It just so happens that I'm competing behind you. I'll go and see how you perform in the competition." Lu Wenxuan slapped his thigh and made the decision directly.
At this point, a senior sister suddenly remembered something, "I remember Yaning will also be participating in the women's 10-meter air pistol."
"Yes, Yaning is under a lot of pressure. She's the only one who can achieve a good result in the women's 10-meter air pistol event. If no young athlete can surpass her this time, she might have to compete in the next Olympics. It's not easy."
The other events of the shooting team are fine, except for the women's 10-meter air pistol, which has been out of favor for a long time.
More than ten years ago, it was the most glorious time for women's 10-meter air pistol. The gold medals in major international competitions, and even the first Olympic gold medal, were basically all won by athletes in this event.
But after the glory, loneliness follows.
Because there was no successor, the performance of this project continued to decline and no gold medal was awarded for many years.
It was not until the last Olympic Games that Xue Yaning emerged and broke the record of not winning a gold medal in this event for three consecutive Olympic Games.
But the joy did not last long, as the project began to face the situation of no successor.
"I heard that Lu Meng seems to be okay. She has always performed well in various competitions. She was almost selected in the last national team selection. I guess she will have no problem this time." An Hongfei looked up and interjected.
The others nodded, "When I went to the competition before, I went to watch Lu Meng's finals. She is indeed capable."
A few of them were chatting idly, completely ignoring the presence of Chu Xi next to them.
Chu Xi remained calm. Although he was ignored, he just continued to pick up food and eat.
After a while, Chu Xi finished his meal, picked up his plate, and greeted everyone: "I'm done. I'll go practice for a while in the afternoon. You guys take your time eating."
Lu Wenxuan quickly stood up and waved to Chu Xi, "Okay, go ahead. I'll go watch the finals while you're there."
Chu Xi turned around and left with the plate.
Lu Wenxuan sat down only after seeing Chu Xi's back walking away.
An Hongfei leaned over and asked, "Do you think your little fan can be selected for the national team this time?"
"Hasn't she just joined the provincial team? This time it's definitely a stretch, but she still has plenty of time. After two years of training, she'll definitely make the national team."
An Hongfei smacked his lips. "But she's too old to prepare for the next Olympics."
Lu Wenxuan glanced at An Hongfei strangely, "How do you know her so well?"
"Because she's a celebrity, her information is all over the internet. After Coach Song mentioned Chu Xi yesterday, I went back and did some research. She's 22 this year, and the next Olympics are still six years away. By then, she'll be 28."
Lu Wenxuan was stunned on the spot, "She's a star? Isn't she from the Kyoto Provincial Shooting Team?"
He trains every day and really doesn't know anything about the entertainment industry.
"Yes, she changed her career a month ago and joined the shooting team. She hadn't practiced for long when her coach pulled her in to try out for the national team."
An Hongfei continued, "Given her age, she'd definitely have the best advantage participating in these Olympics. But two years, going from just joining the provincial team to the Olympics, is a huge leap. Unless she's one of those legendary geniuses."
Lu Wenxuan became more and more shocked.
A star? Just joined the shooting team a month ago? And then the coach dragged him straight to the national team tryouts?
Is his little fan so surprising?
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