Chapter 38 Chapter 38
Fang Xiangyun nodded, "Your aunt is right. I think so too."
Chu Xi lowered her eyes slightly, carefully tracing her aunt's face.
There are fine lines at the corners of my aunt's eyes, and when she smiles, the lines become extremely obvious.
But her eyes, which had seen so much vicissitudes of life, were now full of anticipation.
"I will definitely be selected." Chu Xi's voice was clear and firm.
"Okay, we believe you." Zhu Lifang patted Chu Xi's shoulder with relief.
After Fang Ruinian saw the three of them finish their conversation, he finally had the chance to interrupt: "Then can we go eat? I'm starving, and Xiaoxi must be hungry too."
"Yes, yes, yes. Let's go and have dinner first." Fang Xiangyun waved his hand and ended the topic.
Wang Shaorui came out from the other exit and stood by, watching Chu Xi and his family walk away.
She pursed her lips for a long time before she sighed helplessly.
Lu Meng alone has made her bear the title of perpetual runner-up, and now there is Chu Xi.
Wouldn't that mean she would always be the third?
…
It was afternoon, inside the shooting training venue.
Li Lingshan stood behind Lu Meng, rubbing her shoulder. "Girl, I watched the match this morning. That Chu Xi was pretty impressive. Do you know her?"
"I know her." Lu Meng's eyes flashed with solemnity, "She won the last National Shooting Championship."
Li Lingshan was stunned. As expected, when she watched Chu Xi's game in the morning, she could see the potential of this girl.
"I ran into Chu Xi's uncle and aunt while watching the game this morning. They said Chu Xi only joined the provincial team last month."
Lu Meng replied, "Yes. During the National Shooting Championships, she didn't make the shooting team. I was planning to recruit her to our team, but Kyoto Province got there first."
Li Lingshan's expression became much more serious. "Dear girl, tell me the truth, are you sure you can beat her?"
Lu Meng was silent for a long time before answering, "No."
Li Lingshan understood her daughter's character. If she was 50% sure of defeating Chu Xi, she would not say no.
In other words, she is not even half sure now.
"It's okay, mom is with you, we just need to do our best." Li Lingshan patted Lu Meng's shoulder gently.
…
At this time, in the cafeteria.
After Chu Xi's family finished their meal, they sat down around the dining table.
"Sister, how did you discover that you have a talent for shooting? Share it with me soon. Maybe I also have this kind of athletic talent." Fang Ruinian couldn't wait to ask after just taking two mouthfuls of rice.
Chu Xi's hand holding the chopsticks paused for two seconds.
"This...I discovered it by accident."
It probably started when she was in elementary school. She went shopping with her friends on the weekend and came across a roadside stall where you could get a doll by shooting a gun.
The friend insisted on playing, and Chu Xi had no choice but to go along.
After the first two shots, Chu Xi quickly discovered that there was something wrong with the toy gun's aim. She tried to adjust it, and the next few shots all hit the balloon.
In the end, he took several dolls before leaving, and the stall owner had a wry smile on his face.
It was at that time that a friend learned about Chu Xi's shooting talent. Later, during physical education class, he mentioned it to the physical education teacher. Through layers of connections, the news happened to reach the ears of a shooting coach.
Not long after, the shooting coach came to the school in person to find Chu Xi. He then conducted various balance and stability tests on her. After confirming that Chu Xi did have a talent for shooting, he began to find ways to recruit Chu Xi to practice shooting.
Later, when my cousin learned about this, he took the initiative to ask the coach if he also had a talent for shooting.
But the test results showed that Fang Ruinian had no shooting talent at all.
The matter was left unresolved.
"Sister, is your team still recruiting? Otherwise, you can ask the coach for me to see if he can test my shooting talent." Fang Ruinian said eagerly.
Chu Xi was stunned for a moment, "Aren't you still studying abroad? Can you come back for training?"
"It's true." Fang Ruinian immediately began to worry.
Fang Xiangyun glanced at him and said, "Just forget it. Stop bothering Xiaoxi. She has the finals tomorrow."
Fang Ruinian sighed again, probably regretting his decision to study abroad.
"I heard that you got first place in the group qualifying round. That's great." Lu Wenxuan's familiar voice came from behind, and then a big hand patted Chu Xi's shoulder.
Chu Xi turned his head.
Lu Wenxuan was standing opposite with a tray in his hand, a look of surprise on his face.
"Hey, who are these people?" Lu Wenxuan just noticed the presence of Fang Ruinian and others and asked subconsciously.
Chu Xi: "My uncle, aunt, and cousin."
The smile on Lu Wenxuan's face froze immediately. After coming to his senses, he quickly withdrew his hand from Chu Xi's shoulder.
However, by this time, it was too late.
Fang Ruinian stared at Lu Wenxuan with a cold expression, looking him up and down. He didn't even bother eating, but stood up and questioned him, "Who are you? What's your relationship with our Xiaoxi?"
"We're just friends. Brother, don't get me wrong, we just met yesterday." Lu Wenxuan didn't know why. He had done nothing wrong, but under Fang Ruinian's questioning, he felt a little guilty.
"Can we be so close just because we're friends? Our Xiaoxi is a girl." Fang Ruinian walked to Chu Xi's side, and his protective aura could not be concealed.
Lu Wenxuan quickly took a step back and nodded in apology, "Yes, yes, I'm used to doing this with my teammates, I really didn't pay attention. I will definitely pay attention to the distance next time."
Fang Ruinian looked him up and down, then turned and examined Chu Xi.
After making sure that he didn't see anything fishy between the two of them, he looked away and said, "Yeah."
Chu Xi coughed lightly, then looked up at Lu Wenxuan, "Don't worry, my brother is just like that."
Lu Wenxuan laughed dryly and scratched his head. "It's okay. My fault. Um... I'll go get some food first."
After saying that, Lu Wenxuan turned around and left.
Chu Xi withdrew his gaze and continued to pick up his chopsticks to prepare to eat.
As soon as he lowered his head, he felt two gossipy gazes coming from the opposite side.
Fang Xiangyun smiled and said, "Xiao Xi, that boy just now looked pretty good. Is he your teammate?"
Zhu Lifang was a bit picky. "It looks just average, Xiaoxi. I'm telling you, you can't believe a word a man says. Don't be fooled."
Chu Xi: “…”
It took a long time to explain clearly that she and Lu Wenxuan had just met yesterday, and only then did her uncle and aunt finally calm down.
After they finished their meal and dealt with their plates, when they walked out of the cafeteria, Chu Xi suddenly received a call from Wang Ruiguo, asking her to go to the coach's office at the national base as soon as possible.
"Aunt, I won't see you off then. The coach told me to hurry over, it seems like something urgent."
Zhu Lifang waved her hand and said, "Go ahead. We'll meet again for the final tomorrow morning."
The national base does not allow outsiders to stay for a long time, so after watching the game, family members must leave as soon as possible.
Fang Xiangyun and Fang Ruinian also waved their hands, "Go ahead."
After Chu Xi separated from the three people, he immediately turned and walked towards the coach's office.
Five minutes later, Chu Xi knocked on the door and walked into the office.
For some reason, the atmosphere in the office was a little serious.
Wang Ruiguo and Song Anshan sat on both sides, their brows tightly furrowed, their expressions solemn.
"Coach, what's wrong?" Chu Xi realized that something might have happened, and that this matter might have something to do with him.
Wang Ruiguo frowned and looked at Chu Xi, "Today, the National Training Base suddenly received several anonymous reports about you."
Chu Xi had a bad feeling in her heart, pursed her lips, and then continued to ask: "Is it serious?"
Wang Ruiguo and Song Anshan looked at each other, and both seemed to not know how to start, and fell silent at the same time.
Chu Xi clenched his hands slightly, "Coach, just tell me directly, I can bear it."
"Go ahead." Wang Ruiguo waved his hand and turned away, no longer daring to look at Chu Xi's eyes.
Song Anshan sighed softly, "Today, a lot of people suddenly and anonymously reported that there was something fishy going on with your joining the provincial team. The higher-ups have decided to temporarily suspend you while you're under investigation."
The suspension period is at least three months.
Chu Xi clenched his hands, and his arms, which were as steady as a rock on the field, began to tremble uncontrollably.
"But coach, tomorrow is the final." She tried to keep her voice steady.
Wang Ruiguo's face was filled with reluctance. "I know this happened so suddenly, but the leadership has made the decision. Coach Song and I will do our best to help you secure special recruitment for the national team."
"As long as the investigation results are correct, with your ability, we can definitely help you get the special recruitment qualification. You don't have to worry." Song Anshan also added.
Wang Ruiguo nodded in agreement. "Yes, we've watched you progress step by step to where you are now. We know best if there was any shady dealings involved in your joining the team. But the leadership didn't have much contact with you. I suspect they received a report and checked your file. Seeing that you didn't have much competition experience before joining the provincial team, they mistakenly thought there might be some shady dealings, and that's why they suspended you."
Generally speaking, leaders will definitely protect their own athletes more. If Chu Xi had not joined the provincial team too quickly, it would have been easy to cause misunderstandings, and the leaders would definitely not have taken such a serious action as suspension.
Moreover, suspension at this time is not a bad thing for Chu Xi.
Fortunately, it was just an internal selection of the national team, so it was stopped. After the investigation was clear that there was no problem, Wang Ruiguo and Song Anshan could help apply for special recruitment.
But if it is suspended right before an international competition like the World Cup, if you miss it, you really miss it.
Chu Xi lowered his head and was silent for a long time before he responded: "Okay, I understand."
Wang Ruiguo and the other man could see that Chu Xi was in a much lower mood than usual.
But at this time, any comfort is useless.
Wang Ruiguo stood up and walked to Chu Xi. "It's okay. You can go back to the dormitory and rest first. This period of suspension is just right. Think of it as a holiday. Training is so tiring, it's good to have a break."
"Yeah." Chu Xi responded with his head down, turned around and walked out of the office silently.
After watching Chu Xi's back disappear from his sight, Wang Ruiguo withdrew his gaze and cursed fiercely: "Damn it! Who would make an anonymous report at this time? It's completely insane."
The most important thing for a shooting athlete is mentality. The sudden suspension of Chu Xi at this time would be a serious blow, which could make Chu Xi unable to adjust to her form for several months. Wang Ruiguo had high expectations for her, so of course he was very angry.
Song Anshan sighed heavily: "You forgot that Chu Xi used to come from the entertainment industry. She has indeed been too high-profile recently, and it is inevitable that some people can't stand it."
After Wang Ruiguo finished cursing, his emotions calmed down a little. "You need to talk to your superiors about this matter. Chu Xi joined the provincial team, so there must be no shady dealings. You know this too."
"Yes, I said it. What the leader meant was that Chu Xi had too little game experience before joining the provincial team, only one game in total. This resume is a bit too exaggerated, so it must be checked." Song Anshan's tone was also a little helpless.
The problem in this matter is that Chu Xi is too talented. He changed his career to become an athlete halfway through his career, won the championship in a competition, and then joined the provincial team. Then a month later, he participated in the national team selection.
The entire time didn't even take more than four months.
The leader will definitely check this kind of exaggerated resume.
"Now, I just hope that this incident won't affect Chu Xi's mentality, otherwise... I'll really be so angry that I'll vomit blood." Wang Ruiguo shook his head helplessly.
Song Anshan was quite calm, "It's okay, I believe she can adjust."
…
That afternoon, the second group qualifying round of the women's 10-meter air pistol ended, and Xue Yaning and Lu Meng advanced to the finals with the first and second place in the group respectively.
At the same time, the overall ranking of the qualifying rounds was released.
First, Xue Yaning, 495 rings.
Second, Chu Xi, four hundred and ninety-four rings.
Tied for second place, Lu Meng, 494 rings.
According to the rules, Chu Xi and Lu Meng tied in score, so they should play an extra game to compete for the final ranking.
But unfortunately, the notice of Chu Xi's suspension was released together with the news of his promotion.
Chu Xi was directly disqualified from the ranking, and Lu Meng, who was tied for second place with her, directly advanced to the finals with the second place in the qualifying round.
"Chu Xi was suspended?" Lu Meng was confused after receiving the news.
Li Lingshan was stunned for a moment and looked over. "Did I tell you this morning that the girl was suspended?"
"Yeah." Lu Meng nodded.
She frowned and stared at the notification of Chu Xi's suspension on her phone.
Generally speaking, suspension is a very severe punishment for an athlete. Moreover, this kind of punishment has a huge impact on the athlete's mentality. Shooting is a sport that places great emphasis on mentality. She even felt a little sorry for Chu Xi.
…
"You're crazy! Suspending him at this time will only mess up his mentality." Lu Wenxuan was preparing for the qualifying round when he suddenly learned about Chu Xi's suspension. He was furious on the spot.
"It is said that someone has anonymously reported Chu Xi, and the leaders must investigate. They didn't report it earlier or later, but had to wait until tomorrow before the final to report it. This is obviously intended to mess with Chu Xi's mentality." An Hongfei's tone was not very good either.
Suspension is a nightmare for every athlete. If they encounter such a thing, they will definitely stand on Chu Xi's side.
Furthermore, shooting has always been the cleanest sport in the world. Even if someone were to engage in shady dealings or use backdoors, they would be exposed as soon as the competition began.
If Chu Xi really had something shady going on, it would have been exposed during yesterday's qualifying round.
"Okay, don't be angry on behalf of your little fan. You still have to compete in the qualifying round later. Let's finish it first." An Hongfei patted Lu Wenxuan's shoulder and comforted him.
Lu Wenxuan finally calmed down and returned to the training ground to warm up.
…
After Chu Xi returned to the dormitory, she received a WeChat message from Fang Ruinian: [Sister, my parents and I are at the hotel. Is the finals still at 9 o'clock tomorrow morning?]
After seeing this message, Chu Xi suddenly didn't know how to reply.
Her fingertips lingered for a long time, and only after the screen went dark did she come back to her senses and reply: [Don't come tomorrow, I won't compete.]
Just two seconds after I replied to the message, Fang Ruinian called me.
"Xiao Xi, why don't you compete anymore? What's the meaning?"
Chu Xi pursed her lips, organized her words for a long time, and finally replied truthfully: "I'm suspended."
There was silence from the other side, and the next second, Fang Xiangyun's voice came over: "Xiao Xi, didn't you advance today? Why don't you compete?"
"Yes, I did advance. But because of an anonymous report, I'm now suspended for investigation and can't compete anymore."
There was silence on the other end of the line for a while, and then Zhu Lifang's voice rang out: "Xiao Xi, it's okay. Your uncle and I will pick you up now. Let's talk in person."
After the call was hung up, Chu Xi put down the phone, leaned his head against the wall, and completely lost the strength to support his body.
Fatigue, confusion and other emotions intertwined in her heart, making her suddenly feel very tired.
Until Fang Ruinian and the other two rushed over from the hotel.
"Xiao Xi, what's going on? How could your coach suspend you at this time? You have the final tomorrow." Fang Ruinian still didn't understand the situation and continued to ask.
Fang Xiangyun realized something was wrong and quickly pulled Fang Ruinian aside, "Don't ask any more questions. Let's take Xiaoxi out to relax first."
Chu Xi was dragged out of the national team training base by Fang Ruinian.
Zhu Lifang and Fang Xiangyun could both see that Chu Xi was in a bad mood. They were afraid of asking her about her sad story, so they didn't dare to open their mouths to ask her along the way.
Later, Fang Ruinian waved his hand and said, "Mom and Dad, you two can go back to the hotel. I'll take care of Xiaoxi."
After saying that, he quickly winked at his parents.
Zhu Lifang and Fang Xiangyun nodded, said hello, and took a taxi back to the hotel.
Fang Ruinian took Chu Xi into another taxi and asked, "Master, is there a night market nearby?"
The driver, speaking with a local accent, smiled and said, "Yes, the sun is about to set, and there's a night market in the west district that's quite popular. Many young people go there at night."
"Okay, let's go there."
Chu Xi leaned his head against the back of the chair, looking calmly at the scenery outside the window that was constantly receding, without saying a word.
Although Chu Xi doesn't like to talk much, it is obviously abnormal for him to not say a word.
Fang Ruinian sighed quietly.
What is going on? We were all happy today.
Why was the game suspended suddenly?
The taxi soon stopped at the entrance of the night market.
After Fang Ruinian got out of the car first, he immediately walked quickly to the other side and helped Chu Xi open the door.
Chu Xi stepped steadily on the ground and got out of the car holding the door.
"Come on, I'll take you out for a walk." Fang Ruinian closed the car door, put his arm around Chu Xi's shoulder, and took her to the night market.
The bustling streets and the atmosphere of fireworks around him slowly dissipated Chu Xi's depressed mood.
Fang Ruinian pulled her to a balloon shooting stall.
"Tell me, which doll do you want? I'll help you win it."
Chu Xi raised his finger and pointed at the blue Doraemon opposite him, "This one."
When the stall owner saw Chu Xi and his sister, he quickly came over with a smile and introduced them: "Fifteen yuan for twenty shots. Shoot fifteen shots and you get the largest doll. Shoot ten shots and you get the small doll in the middle. Shoot five shots and you get a random small doll as a reward."
Fang Ruinian scanned the code with his phone. "The money has been transferred. I'll try twenty shots first."
Chu Xi has to shoot Doraemon fifteen times before she can get it.
Fang Ruinian came to the shooting stall, picked up a toy gun at random, held it up, and started aiming.
Chu Xi stood by and silently watched his cousin's ridiculously wrong shooting posture, and reminded him: "Brother, your aim is wrong."
"Ah? What's wrong?" When Fang Ruinian replied to her, he had already fired a shot. None of the balloons on the opposite side exploded, so it was obvious that he missed.
Fang Ruinian put away his gun and turned to look at Chu Xi, "What did you say just now?"
Chu Xi sighed helplessly, walked over to Fang Ruinian, and helped him adjust the gun again. "The sight of this toy gun is not as good as a real gun, so you have to adjust the aiming angle according to the situation."
The stall owner quickly asked with a smile, "You look like you know a lot about shooting, girl? Did you shoot a lot?"
"No, my sister is a professional shooting athlete." Fang Ruinian introduced proudly.
The smile on the stall owner's face froze immediately.
Chu Xi took the gun from Fang Ruinian and said, "Let me do it."
She stood in front of the shooting position, raised the toy gun in her hand, looked at the sight, and pulled the trigger.
A shot was fired, but the balloon on the opposite side still did not explode.
Chu Xi lowered her head to study the sight of the toy gun and realized that the sight was not very accurate. If she wanted to hit the balloon, she had to raise the gun a little higher.
After figuring out the principle, Chu Xi raised his gun again, aimed and shot for the second time.
"Bang--"
The small balloon on the opposite side exploded directly.
Chu Xi found the technique, took advantage of the opportunity and continued to aim with his gun.
"Bang, bang, bang!" Several shots were fired in succession, all of which accurately burst the balloons.
The stall owner's face turned pale and then green, and he quickly looked at Fang Ruinian, "Brother, this is a small business...you guys..."
After Fang Ruinian saw Chu Xi was still aiming and shooting, a smile appeared on his face and he waved to the boss, "It's okay, let's just play a round. Mainly because my sister wants that Doraemon."
The stall owner's mouth twitched, "Okay, then one."
Chu Xi fired eighteen consecutive shots, and all of the balloons exploded accurately, clearing the entire panel.
Many passers-by saw this scene and stopped, standing nearby to join in the fun and watch.
"Boss, you have a shooting expert here."
The stall owner's smile was full of embarrassment, "Hahaha, yes."
Chu Xi put down the toy gun, turned to look at the stall owner, raised his hand and pointed at Doraemon over there, "Boss, I want Doraemon."
The stall owner wiped the sweat from his forehead, ran over to take the doll down, and quickly stuffed it into Chu Xi's arms, "Sister, I'll give you another little Doraemon. Let's call it a day, okay?"
As he said that, the stall owner quickly took another small doll from the table and handed it to Chu Xi.
Chu Xi glanced at Fang Ruinian and nodded, "Okay."
Chu Xi handed the big doll to Fang Ruinian, held the little Doraemon in her arms, turned around and continued walking towards the night market.
After seeing Chu Xi's mood improve, Fang Ruinian's eyes also showed a smile. He willingly followed Chu Xi holding the doll that was half his size, "Xiao Xi, what else do you want to play?"
Chu Xi said without even turning his head: "Let's go take a look at the front."
…
Chu Xi and his sister strolled around until dark. It was past nine o'clock in the evening before Fang Ruinian sent Chu Xi back to the base dormitory.
"You're suspended now, why do you still have to live here? You might as well come back to our hometown with us, and I can take you out to play." Fang Ruinian is becoming more and more disgusted with this national team.
"No, the suspension investigation requires me to cooperate at all times. If I'm not there during the investigation, I will really be judged as violating the rules." Chu Xi explained calmly.
Fang Ruinian sighed: "Okay, go back and get some rest early."
After separating from Fang Ruinian, Chu Xi turned around and walked towards the base dormitory alone.
The street lights on both sides emitted faint light, illuminating the road ahead.
Chu Xi looked down at the shadow on the ground and continued walking forward step by step.
The moment she learned that she was suspended, she was indeed a little confused and aggrieved.
But when she held the toy gun in her hand and shot it, her wavering heart became firm again.
From the moment she chose sports, her path was destined not to be smooth.
She was unwilling to give up.
She can still continue training after a three-month suspension.
As long as she is given a chance, she swears that she will return to the competition with the most dazzling results and shatter all rumors and doubts.
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