Retirement
Jian Zhaonan bought KFC for dinner.
He knew that he might not be able to eat enough at a high-end restaurant, so he planned to wait until the romantic Qixi date was over and eat some fried chicken alone to fill his stomach.
Qixi took his girlfriend to eat fast food in the car. If he told others about this, he would be laughed at by his brothers. He saw that Liu Jianchun didn't care and even kept praising him for his foresight, so he felt a little relieved.
"I saw several stores were sold out of whole chickens. Where did you buy them?"
He casually replied, "The one at the east gate of the training center."
She was a little surprised: "You went back to training? Are you preparing for the direct competition? You should have told me earlier..."
"I'm going back to get some things. This is not training. I won't participate in the direct-to-finals." He still smiled decently, but a trace of loneliness flashed in his eyes.
"Why?"
"I can't fight anymore."
She suddenly became serious. "Stop talking nonsense. How old are you? Twenty-six, twenty-seven? You're in your prime. How can you just say you don't want to fight? Are you worried about your back injury?"
The smile on his face gradually turned bitter: "Yeah, I can't even handle the workload of training twice a day now."
She put down the tissue in her hand and subconsciously held his hand: "I've asked for your help. There are new treatments for your condition abroad. The probability of complete recovery is 60%."
"You know, it's only 60%." He stopped smiling. "The remaining 40% probability is complete paralysis. Not only will I be unable to continue playing, I won't even be able to do it like a normal person."
She was stunned, and her grip on his hand loosened a little.
She actually knew the consequences, but she always liked to think positively, always feeling that the odds were 60-40, and that bad things would never happen to her. Once the operation was successful, his future would be unimaginably bright.
She stammered, "But...what if it succeeds? Failure is a low-probability event after all."
"With a 40% failure rate, four out of ten people might become completely paralyzed. Can you even call that a low probability?"
She was speechless, but the voice in her heart was still shouting, "Please persuade him, please persuade him..."
"Xiao Nan, this opportunity is rare, please think about it again."
He didn't respond: "Why are you still calling me Xiaonan? Didn't you agree to change it before?"
She smiled awkwardly.
"Look, changing a habit is so difficult, how can it be so easy to heal injuries that have been left for years... Giving up treatment? Do you think that's what I want to see? From the age of five until now, a full twenty-one years, all those years of hard work are finally paying off. Do you think I'm willing to give up now? But if I don't have the surgery and retire now, I can still do a lot for the team. I can be a coach, I can do publicity everywhere, and I can still make use of my remaining energy. But if the surgery fails and I become a disabled person, what do you want me to do? Join the Disabled Persons' Federation?"
Everything he said made sense, and she was powerless to refute him. However, she felt a little unwilling in her heart: "Zhao Nan, please don't give up so easily, okay? Just think of it as doing this for me."
"For you, I choose to become a useless person? Have you ever truly considered me, even just a little bit..."
After hearing what he said, she was so surprised that she didn't know what to say: "I definitely sincerely hope that you will be well. How can you, how can you doubt my position?"
Jian Zhaonan calmed down, but the smile on his face was gone. "I don't doubt your position, nor do I have the right to doubt it. To be honest, your position and opinion can't change anything."
After he finished speaking, there was silence in the car for a long time. He felt that maybe what he said was a bit harsh, so he took the initiative to touch her arm and seek peace with his actions.
She understood what he meant, and thought that today was Chinese Valentine's Day, a day that should have been a day to put aside worries and enjoy a date. It was not worth it to have an unpleasant incident, so she pulled his hand and said she was full and wanted to take a walk by the river.
The two walked hand in hand along the river bank without saying a word. They knew that once they opened their mouths, the conversation would return to the previous topic. Instead of embarrassing each other, it was better to say nothing and listen to the wind, the water, and the cicadas.
However, the fact that there is no debate about right and wrong does not mean that the issue has completely ended in silence.
The next day, Jian Zhaonan passed by Qin Tianyi Restaurant and heard that the other party was in the store, so he went in and sat down.
The pastry chef in Qin Tianyi's store had something going on at home and had to resign and return to his hometown, which was giving him a headache. When he saw Jian Zhaonan, he asked him if he knew any friends.
Jian Zhaonan was also amused by his desperate attempt to find a cure: "I don't necessarily know as many chefs as you do."
Qin Tianyi grabbed him and refused to let go: "Please help me find someone to ask. More people to help means more hope."
He didn't like flirting with people of the same sex and pushed Qin Tianyi's hand away with disdain: "Okay, there's really nothing I can do about you. I know a French friend whose wife loves desserts after she got pregnant, so they hired a pastry chef. I'll ask him if he has any Asian classmates he can introduce to you."
Qin Tianyi happily gave him a bear hug on the spot. After finishing his own business, he remembered to ask this great man who lived in seclusion in the city why he suddenly had time to come to him.
A trace of worry appeared between his brows: "I want to have a drink with you and relax."
While arranging dinner and drinks, Qin Tianyi asked him maliciously whether he had quarreled with Miss Liu.
Before he got drunk, Jian Zhaonan was of course very stubborn and absolutely refused to admit the incident. But after three rounds of drinks, the dizziness and heat overwhelmed his rationality, and even if Qin Tianyi didn't ask, he had to tell it himself.
"If she didn't know the risks of the surgery, it would be fine. She clearly knew everything! What I care about is not the result, but what she really thinks. Does she regard me as her lover, or as a tool to fulfill her dreams? Qin Tianyi, tell me, how could I have met such a hard-hearted woman? Did I commit murder and arson in my previous life?"
Qin Tian patted him on the shoulder and told him to stop thinking too much and not to lose his manliness in front of a woman.
"Fuck your manners, I have none." He was probably really drunk, and as he spoke he collapsed on the table.
Qin Tianyi filled his glass again: "If you don't have the generosity, then don't have the generosity. Come, drink this and everything will be over."
He accidentally knocked over the wine glass while waving his hand, and the wine spilled all over the table, but he was completely unaware: "I can't get over it... It's impossible to get over it... I've liked her for so long, how can I let her go just like that..."
Qin Tianyi didn't know whether to laugh or cry: "Who told you to let her go? I meant to let this matter go. Think about it, she is actually doing this for your own good. You have worked so hard to get to where you are today. It would be a shame to give up so easily."
Seeing Jian Zhaonan drunk, Qin Tianyi was worried that the wine in front of him would get on his body, so he walked over to him to help wipe it off. Unexpectedly, this man took the opportunity to pounce on him, hugged him and cried.
Qin Tian had known Jian Zhaonan since he was a teenager. He had never seen him cry, no matter if he lost a game or was injured. He didn't expect that he would cry like this today because Liu Jianchun said a few harsh words to him.
He comforted him while smiling, and finally got the drunkard off him, freeing his hands to call Liu Jianchun.
Liu Jianchun was not surprised that Jian Zhaonan and Qin Tianyi were together, but he was a little surprised to hear that he was drunk and unconscious.
She took a taxi to the hotel, and together with Qin Tianyi, she moved the drunk Jian Zhaonan into the car, and drove him home in his car.
When she came across a pharmacy on the way, she bought some hangover medicine and stomach medicine. A guy like him who doesn't drink often, drinking so much suddenly, it is inevitable that he will have gastrointestinal discomfort. It is better to prepare in advance than to wait until he has stomach pain and go to the emergency room.
When she came out of the pharmacy, the person lying in the back seat was able to get up.
She handed him the hangover medicine and water: "You're not drunk?"
"I'm drunk." He rubbed his cheeks to clear his mind before reaching out to take the medicine.
She chuckled and said, "Drunk people always say they are not drunk, but you are obviously pretending."
She got in the car and didn't rush to start the car. Instead, she waited until he finished drinking the medicine before leaving. "It's good that you're not drunk. I heard from Qin Tianyi on the phone that you were drunk and crying and making a fuss. Before I came, I was a little worried about how I was going to get you back by myself."
He screwed the cap on the bottle tightly and put the water down casually: "If I don't pretend to be drunk, how can I complain to him?"
She smiled faintly: "Are you still suffering inexplicably?"
He pursed his lips, glanced at her coldly, and turned his head to look out the window: "You can't park here for a long time, let's go."
She started the car and glided slowly without pressing the accelerator: "Why don't you answer my question?"
"There's no good answer to that question."
She knew she shouldn't laugh, but she couldn't help laughing because Qin Tian told her everything he had said to her on the phone early in the morning.
She naturally knew what he wanted to complain about.
In the past, she only viewed men as strong leaders, so a man who did not possess these characteristics was not qualified in her eyes. Now it seems that there are more than one kind of men, and men with a little temper can be cute.
"If you have any thoughts about me, you can just tell me directly. Complaining to him won't solve the fundamental problem."
He turned back to look at her profile: "Why does he tell you everything?"
"Don't blame him. I was the one who insisted on asking. I said I wouldn't pick you up if he didn't tell me, and then he told me everything. However, he didn't say only bad things about you." She glanced at him secretly through the rearview mirror. "I didn't expect you to have connections in France."
"There are also table tennis courses in Germany. Do you want to go there and teach elementary school students how to play table tennis?"
"How can I still teach elementary school students there? Of course I have to coach the national team after I go abroad."
"You are indeed a good candidate to be a coach. At the critical moment of life and death, all you want to do is not let the team down. I would rather sacrifice the rest of my life than be missing me in the team." There was something else in his words. It sounded like he was praising him, but his tone was like he was mocking him.
She was silent for a long time and stopped the car: "Zhao Nan, even if that's what I think, do you really think I'm wrong?"
"You're right."
The redness on his cheeks had not yet dissipated, and his eyes were wet.
"It's just that I want you to think of me before you think of collective honor."
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