Chapter 54 The Crown-Winning Domination Zone
Since receiving Cheng Mingdu's email last time, a long time has passed, and Ye Yuying doesn't know what she should send him in return.
She always felt that nothing she posted was appropriate. Posting something too superficial or mundane would disturb his time. So, she posted something different: her life consisted of nothing special, just going between studying and training.
The only news worth sharing is the upcoming provincial competition, but the competition is still nowhere in sight.
Sometimes Ye Yuying longed for the provincial competition to arrive quickly, or for something to happen in her life.
She kept what Cheng Mingdu said in her mind until one day when she was exhausted from training and her mind was a little dazed.
She stated a fact in the email:
[Brother, in today's 400-meter test, your time was 56.88 seconds, 0.3 seconds faster than last week, and the first time breaking the 57-second barrier. Your cornering technique is still inconsistent. Also, you got 98 on the English quiz.]
Cheng Mingdu's replies were even shorter, often arriving in Chengdu in the early hours of the morning, two or three days after she sent the email.
He also seemed to be in the midst of some intense preparation, as his reply was filled with calmness and a subtle, elusive concern:
[Re: Progress Report]
[My 400-meter time is stable. Cornering technique is a matter of energy distribution; pay attention to your rhythm in the first 200 meters and conserve energy for the final sprint. Improving your English score depends on logic rather than memorization; read more social science articles and learn how to construct long sentences. Avoid staying up late and pay attention to nutrition.]
He never inquired about her feelings, nor did he ever mention his own life, yet he always managed to subtly weave his concern into situations closely connected to Ye Yuying.
He was like a mentor living in another world, guiding her in this lonely war waged in another dimension with the way of thinking from that world.
This email exchange made the arduous days of preparing for the provincial competition feel pure and intense.
After receiving a reply, Ye Yuying would feel at ease for a long time. Sometimes she would imagine Cheng Mingdu watching her from afar, which would give her a lot of motivation.
This is more effective than any encouragement.
She is like a precision machine wound up to its highest level, cutting her life into modules measured in minutes.
Every night, she would fall asleep with her textbooks in her hands, gradually working through the mistakes she made in class and exams, and patching up her knowledge gaps in detail during her spare time.
She stopped thinking about the insurmountable barrier between them, because she was using her sweat and hard work to build a unique bridge for herself, brick by brick, to a higher place.
The days flew by in this relentless, almost burning struggle.
*
As autumn deepens, the Provincial Youth Track and Field Championships have finally kicked off amidst tension.
This is Ye Yuying's first time representing the entire city of Rongcheng on the provincial stage.
She felt unworthy countless times. How could someone who had been involved in track and field for less than a year be qualified to represent a city in a competition?
The competition was held in Jiangcheng, in a brand-new sports center with an international standard track.
As she and her teammates rode in the bus into the magnificent stadium, even with her strong will, she couldn't help but feel a sense of insignificance and awe.
The air here is different from the stadiums in the city. Everywhere you look, there are top athletes from all over the province, their expressions arrogant, their figures agile, and every one of them has a burning desire for victory in their eyes.
"Don't be nervous," Teacher Yang patted her shoulder, his voice as steady as ever, "Just treat this place like our usual training ground. Your opponent isn't them, it's only yourself."
Ye Yuying nodded, took a deep breath, and suppressed the unease she felt upon arriving in this new place.
Before the competition, she sent Cheng Mingdu her last email before the event:
[Brother, I've arrived in Jiangcheng. Tomorrow is the 400-meter preliminary round. Hope everything goes well.]
She knew that because of the time difference and the intensity of his training, he would likely not see the letter for another day or two. She didn't expect any reply. It was more like a ritual, a silent report to her distant strategist before heading to the battlefield.
The next day, the women's 400-meter preliminary rounds took place.
Ye Yuying stood on the starting line. When she heard her name called over the loudspeaker, she could feel several sharp gazes being cast at her from her opponents in other lanes.
Clearly, her status as a double champion in the city league had already made her a key target for study by these provincial powerhouses.
Bang!
The starting gun fires!
Ye Yuying's start was as perfect as ever.
Her performance was so composed that she didn't seem like a newcomer participating in the provincial competition for the first time.
As she transitioned from the curve to the straightaway, she began to exert her strength!
She began to surpass her opponents one by one, her steps light yet full of overwhelming power.
All her insecurities and concerns vanished as the wind howled, just like her adversary, and she simply enjoyed the joy of breaking through the wind.
Every time she steps onto the field, she knows she is a newcomer and should accept the possibility of failure, even if she is last in the group. She always prepares for the worst.
But everything always surprised her.
Ultimately, she easily crossed the finish line as the top finisher in her group, successfully advancing to the finals.
As she stepped off the track, Teacher Yang handed her a bottle of water, a satisfied look on his face.
Just then, a tall girl wearing the uniform of another city's team walked past her.
The girl was Sun Ying, the defending champion of last year's Provincial Games. As her name suggests, she was heroic and imposing, with distinct facial features, sharp and direct eyes, and long and powerful legs. She was the biggest favorite to win the championship in this competition.
She stopped beside Ye Yuying, turned her head, and with her sharp eyes, openly and without hesitation, sized Ye Yuying up and down, a slight smirk playing on her lips:
"From Chengdu? I've never seen you before. You ran well, see you in the finals."
After saying that, she walked away, leaving behind a proud and confident silhouette.
Ye Yuying's grip on the water bottle tightened slightly; she realized that this was the truly terrifying opponent in the final round.
She also envied the other person's confidence, and for a moment even wondered if all provincial champions had such an aura.
Ye Yuying's grip on the water bottle tightened slightly. She realized that this was the truly terrifying opponent in the final round—a powerful, confident opponent who made no attempt to conceal his dominance.
At the same time, she envied the other person's confidence, that innate, domineering aura.
For a moment, she even wondered if all provincial champions possessed this kind of charisma.
Teacher Yang, who had witnessed everything, waited until Sun Ying's figure was out of sight before speaking slowly and calmly, her voice carrying a hint of knowing-it-all: "Envious of her?"
Ye Yuying snapped out of her daze and nodded honestly.
“There’s nothing to envy.” Teacher Yang’s tone was indifferent. “That’s the ‘presence’ of a champion, an aura that’s cultivated after winning countless times. She deliberately stopped to talk to you today to use that ‘presence’ to put pressure on you, to plant a seed in your heart that ‘you are not as good as her’ before the final.”
Teacher Yang looked at Ye Yuying with sharp eyes like an eagle: "The more she acts like this, the more it shows that she considers you a real opponent. She feels threatened, which is why she needs to use these off-field tactics to shake you."
Ye Yuying was stunned. She hadn't expected that behind those few words of exchange, there was such a psychological battle.
"You envy that drive she has?" Teacher Yang's lips curled into a challenging smile. "Then go and take it from her yourself."
"Use your strength on the track, be fair and square, and make that 'momentum' that belongs to the champion your own."
Teacher Yang's words were like a thunderclap, instantly dispelling the fog of envy that had been building in Ye Yuying's heart.
A more intense and pure fighting spirit surged from the depths of her heart, sweeping through her entire body.
“I understand, teacher.” Her voice was no longer uncertain, but filled with a desire for victory.
In the afternoon's 400-meter semifinals, Ye Yuying and Sun Ying were placed in the same group. Everyone thought it would be an early clash of titans, but the result was unexpected.
The two seemed to have reached some kind of tacit understanding, using only 80% of their strength, and easily advanced together as Sun Ying first and Ye Yuying second, securing the gold lane in the finals.
In the stands, Coach Li praised Coach Yang, saying, "Your student has such a good mental fortitude! She knows when to hold back and when to let go. Sun Ying wanted to put more pressure on her in the semi-finals, but it didn't affect her at all. Sun Ying comes from a family of athletes and has been trained in track and field since she was young. She probably hasn't seen an opponent of this caliber for several years. She must have been feeling a bit apprehensive before the finals."
The following day, the women's 200-meter preliminary rounds followed, and Ye Yuying felt much more relaxed.
The 200-meter race is her strongest event, and it's now her domain on the Chengdu track.
In the end, she crossed the finish line first, with a more dominant and undisputed performance than in the 400-meter preliminaries!
The audience in the stands erupted in another huge cheer.
Ye Yuying stepped off the track, her chest heaving, but her eyes were unusually bright. She could feel that the atmosphere in the entire arena had changed because of her performance.
Although her ultimate showdown with Sun Ying has not yet arrived, she has at least made a response in her own way in terms of momentum.
*
On the third day of the competition, during the final, the crowd roared like a tsunami.
The atmosphere at the Jiangcheng Sports Center was intensified by the morning sun and the tense atmosphere, making the air scorching as if it could be set on fire at any moment.
All eyes were focused on the track where the women's 400-meter final was about to begin.
When the on-site broadcast introduced Sun Ying, the defending champion from the provincial sports school, standing in lane four, the entire stadium erupted in thunderous applause.
When the broadcast then introduced Ye Yuying, the "dark horse" from Chengdu, who was in the fifth lane, the applause and cheers were equally enthusiastic, mixed with countless curiosity and anticipation.
The battle for the championship, between the challenger and the defending champion, is about to unfold under the watchful eyes of the entire audience.
Ye Yuying stepped onto the starting blocks and gently touched the cool plastic track with her fingertips.
She slowly crouched down, adjusting her breathing. The whole world seemed to quiet down at that moment; all she could hear was her own steady and powerful heartbeat.
In her mind, there were no opponents, no tactics, only Cheng Mingdu's entrustment that crossed the ocean, and her grandmother's loving voice in her dream.
“...From this day forward, every day will be for yourself…”
“…Ah Ying, you must run, like Forrest Gump, run forward without hesitation.”
She wanted to achieve real success, even if it was the only time in her life.
She closed her eyes, and when she opened them again, all that remained was a pure, burning calm.
Bang!
The starting gun fires!
Eight figures shot out like cheetahs!
Sun Ying's start was as powerful and perfect as ever. With her rich experience and explosive power, she took the lead at the first corner. Like a lord ruling the track, she tried to control the entire race from the very beginning with her own rhythm.
And Ye Yuying followed closely behind!
She kept the coach's tactics firmly in mind, remaining calm and composed, like a red shadow clinging tightly to Sun Ying. Her steps were light yet full of power; those special spiked shoes seemed to be an extension of her body, each push-off bringing her a continuous and unstoppable forward thrust.
In the first 200 meters, the two were almost neck and neck, forming an unshakeable leading group that left the other runners far behind! Everyone in the stands held their breath, watching this incredibly tense chase with bated breath!
Entering the final bend, the decisive moment has arrived!
Sun Ying began to accelerate, attempting to use her best cornering technique to shake off her opponent in one fell swoop.
This has been her winning formula for years!
However, Ye Yuying was not left behind!
She gritted her teeth, her body leaning and stride increasing in perfect harmony. Not only did she keep up, but even as she exited the bend and entered the final 100 meters of the straightaway, she was almost parallel to Sun Ying!
For the first time, a look of shock appeared on Sun Ying's face!
The final 100 meters! This is no longer a contest of technique and tactics, but a battle of will and soul!
Their breathing had become incredibly heavy, their lungs felt like they were on fire, and the muscles in their thighs were tearing with excruciating pain due to the rapid buildup of lactic acid. Before them lay only the finish line, the symbol of glory.
Sun Ying was roaring; she was running with the last shred of dignity she had as a champion!
But Ye Yuying's mind was blank. There was no pain, no exhaustion, only one thought—she wanted to win!
Even if it's just once, she wants to experience the citrus at its peak!
Fifty meters, thirty meters, ten meters...
Almost simultaneously, the two crossed the finish line with a powerful, aggressive stance!
The entire room fell into a deathly silence.
Everyone stared intently at the giant electronic screen at the finish line, awaiting the final, fateful verdict.
Time seemed to slow down countless times at this moment.
Finally, the numbers on the screen flickered once, then froze—
First place, lane 5, Ye Yuying, time: 54.21 seconds!
Second place, lane 4, Sun Ying, time: 54.23 seconds!
0.02 seconds!
A new record! A new provincial high school girl 400-meter record!
After several seconds of silence, the entire sports center erupted in deafening cheers, like a landslide!
After crossing the finish line, Ye Yuying staggered a few steps, unable to support herself any longer. Her body went limp, and she collapsed onto the track. She gasped for breath, her chest heaving violently, sweat and tears mingling and blurring her vision.
She won.
She really did win.
Teacher Yang and medical staff rushed over immediately. Not far away, Sun Ying, supporting herself on her knees, stared in disbelief at the results on the electronic screen.
After a long while, she slowly straightened up and looked at the girl who was lying on the ground, disheveled yet incredibly dazzling, with a complex expression in her eyes.
Finally, she nodded very slightly, almost imperceptibly, in the direction of Ye Yuying, then turned and left dejectedly.
An era, at this moment, silently came to an end.
In the afternoon, the 200-meter final began.
The victory in the 400 meters in the morning was a gold medal that Ye Yuying snatched from the defending champion with her iron will and a bit of luck.
However, she felt that she could give it her all in the 200-meter final.
At this moment, her confidence and momentum were at their peak. She stood on the starting line, enjoying the cheers of the entire audience, unaware of who they were cheering for.
Gunshot, start, accelerate, turn, sprint!
She completely let loose and ran with exhilaration! This time, there was no suspense; with an absolute advantage, she left all her opponents far behind and won the 200-meter championship once again!
Sun Ying remained in second place.
As Ye Yuying stood on the podium, listening to the stirring national anthem playing in the stadium, and facing countless flashes of light and applause, her heart was filled with an unprecedented peace and clarity.
She thought that she had finally, with her own hands, turned the "momentum" that belonged to the champion into her own.
*
After the awards ceremony, on the bus back to Chengdu, the first thing Ye Yuying did was take out her phone, excitedly wanting to share this immense joy with her best friend.
She edited a message and sent it to Ji Zi along with a selfie of herself wearing two gold medals and smiling like a fool.
[Ji Zi! I won! Champion in both the 400m and 200m!]
She eagerly awaited Ji Zi's instant reply, filled with countless exclamation marks and exaggerated emojis.
However, one minute, ten minutes, an hour... there was still silence on the other end of the phone, with no response for a long time.
The elation in Ye Yuying's heart was quietly cooled by this sudden silence. She comforted herself, thinking that perhaps Ji Zi was busy, or perhaps her phone was out of battery. But a strange, slight unease still lingered in her heart like a fine needle.
*
The day I returned to school was the first Monday after the provincial competition ended.
When Ye Yuying walked to the school gate in the morning mist as usual, she was stunned.
Above the school gate, a huge and eye-catching red banner was prominently displayed, with a line of gold-embossed characters written in bold Song typeface:
Warmest congratulations to Ye Yuying, a student from Class 4, Grade 9 of our school, for winning the women's 200m and 400m double championships at the Provincial Youth Track and Field Championships, and breaking the provincial middle school student records!
The banner, dazzlingly red in the morning light, instantly made her the focus of everyone's attention in the entire school.
She subconsciously tugged at the strap of her backpack, lowered her head, and tried to walk in quickly.
However, she underestimated the huge sensation brought about by the titles of "provincial champion" and "record-breaking".
As she walked into the campus, she was greeted by countless complex and converging gazes.
Those gazes contained undisguised amazement, unbelievable awe, the pure worship of a young person for the strong, and even some unmasked jealousy.
Discussions about her arose one after another, and her classmates would automatically make way for her, as if she were some rare person who needed to be admired.
The principal gave her a five-minute public commendation at the morning assembly and awarded her the honorary title of "Outstanding Student." Her homeroom teacher looked at her with the same pride and care one would give a gem.
However, amidst this immense glory that almost overwhelmed her, the small unease she felt about Ji Zi continued to fester and grow.
Ji Zi didn't come to school today. All the messages she sent went unanswered.
Ye Yuying sat in her seat, surrounded by the kindness and congratulations of her classmates and teachers, but she always felt that there was a transparent glass between herself and this bustling world.
Her gaze would always unconsciously drift towards the empty seat next to her.
She thought that after school, she would definitely go to Ji Zi's house to see for herself. She had to find out what had happened.
This lingering worry for her close friend overshadowed the immense joy of victory and made her somewhat distracted by the praise around her.
After the last class of the afternoon, the corridor immediately returned to its lively state.
Ye Yuying packed her schoolbag and was about to leave when she was surrounded by several classmates from other classes who wanted her autograph and photos.
She dealt with it somewhat awkwardly, her gaze inadvertently sweeping across the crowd to the other end of the corridor.
There, she saw Ge Jie and her several followers.
They were leaning against the windowsill, laughing so hard they were shaking.
One of the girls, named Wang Anna, was holding a folded piece of paper in her hand, flicking it lightly with her finger from time to time, as if showing off some trophy.
Ye Yuying's gaze lingered on the letter.
It was a pale blue letter paper, with a tiny, almost imperceptible cluster of lily of the valley flowers printed in the lower left corner.
Ye Yuying felt as if her heart had been suddenly clenched by an invisible hand.
She was very familiar with the color and pattern of the letter paper—it was her favorite type of letter paper, which she had found in a very small stationery store. Because of its uncommon style, she had hardly ever seen anyone else using it in the entire school.
And she used this kind of stationery to write down all the unspeakable secrets about Cheng Mingdu in that dark blue notebook.
How could it be... how could it be such a coincidence?
An absurd and terrifying thought, like a black lightning bolt, flashed through her mind in an instant. But she immediately and forcefully extinguished it.
Impossible. It must be a coincidence. So many people in the world use the same type of stationery; she must be overthinking it.
She said to herself.
But that image, like a frozen, ominous movie scene, played repeatedly in her mind. The girl's flippant gesture as she flicked the letter, Ge Jie's malicious and amused smile, and... Ji Zi's prolonged and illogical disappearance.
All these clues, frantically and uncontrollably connecting in her mind, pointed to a terrifying possibility that sent chills down her spine.
"Excuse me, can I get your autograph?" A voice pulled her back to reality.
"...I've finished it." Ye Yuying pushed the notebook aside in a daze and ran away absentmindedly.
She couldn't stay there for another second. She pushed through the crowd roughly and rushed back to the classroom, almost as if she were running away.
The classroom was completely empty.
She rushed to her seat, her heart pounding, her hands trembling slightly with tension and fear.
Trembling, she unzipped her schoolbag and dumped all the books and papers inside onto the table.
She frantically searched through the pile of junk.
Math tests, English vocabulary notebooks, iPod, headphones, water bottle...
She searched every corner and every hidden compartment.
The schoolbag is empty.
The letter she treasured, the one that held all her girlish secrets, is gone.
boom--
Ye Yuying felt her entire world collapse completely in an instant.
A chill instantly shot from the soles of my feet to my head.
Only Ji Zi had seen these letters, and only Ji Zi could watch her schoolbag.
It turns out that it wasn't a coincidence.
It turns out that while she was rushing to the competition, fighting for honor, and while she was standing at the top, enjoying the cheers, her only friend was behind her back, personally handing the sharpest knife, capable of slowly killing her, to her most vicious enemy.
She slowly crouched down and picked up the books scattered on the floor, one by one. Her movements were slow and steady, and her face was expressionless.
She finally understood why Ge Jie looked at her with that victorious gaze.
Because no matter how much glory she wins on the track, her most vulnerable and easily defeated weakness has been clearly exposed to her most vicious enemy.
So, is this why Ji Zi doesn't come to class? Because she's afraid to face it...?
Her mind was on the verge of a complete breakdown, and another voice kept saying: Could it be that she misunderstood...? What if... what if there's some other reason? What if she was forced? Ji Zi was her only friend, the girl who secretly supported her even when everyone else was bullying her...
However, more speculation and clues, like a tightening net woven from cold reality, completely strangled her pitiful, self-deceiving fantasies.
Only Ji Zi knew that she had a habit of writing letters, and also knew that she was hiding a secret in her heart.
Only Ji Zi could so easily take things from her schoolbag when she wasn't paying attention.
Logic, the tool she was most adept at using to analyze everything in the world, now gave her the most painful answer in the clearest and cruelest way.
Ji Zi, oh Ji Zi…
How could you be so cruel to me!
This thought, like a red-hot branding iron, was fiercely burned into her heart, instantly shattering all her composure and pretense.
She stood up, but her body began to tremble violently uncontrollably. Her vision blurred, and she heard a loud, piercing buzzing in her ears.
She staggered, knocking over the chair behind her. The jarring sound echoed in the empty classroom, but it couldn't drown out the roar in her heart.
She felt like she was going crazy.
That extreme loneliness and despair of being abandoned by the whole world was like countless cold hands reaching out from all directions, tightly gripping her throat and making it impossible for her to breathe.
She wanted to scream, but no sound came out. She wanted to cry, but her eyes were too dry to shed a single tear.
An immense, unventable pain raged within her, finding no outlet, and ultimately transformed into a destructive impulse bordering on self-harm.
She suddenly raised her hands and gripped her hair tightly, her knuckles turning bluish-white from the force.
Then, she closed her eyes, and with all her might, pulled outwards—
With a "ripping" sound, a strand of jet-black hair, along with a few specks of blood, was forcibly ripped from her scalp.
The sharp, clear pain emanating from her scalp finally provided a brief outlet for her chaotic and throbbing nerves.
She loosened her grip, letting the broken hairs fall through her fingers.
She slowly opened her trembling palm, looking at the few strands of broken hair in her palm and the tiny bloodstains on them, her face still expressionless.
The heart-wrenching pain of betrayal seems far more intense and numbing than physical suffering.
She could no longer hold on and collapsed onto the cold, dusty floor.
-----------------------
Author's note: 50~
Is he fat or not?
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