Camel thorn (Part 3)
Nearly a month later, when the news of Coach Huang's official dismissal was finally seen, Zhou Zeyu was finally discharged from the hospital, and Fang Xiaocan had gained another ten pounds.
Because the two met every day during this period, Zhou Zeyu hadn't noticed how much weight Fang Xiaocan had gained. However, when Coach Xu rushed back, he was shocked by the dramatic changes that had occurred in his absence. Some people had become incredibly thin, while others had become plump and round.
What's going on with you two?
Faced with Coach Xu's accusatory tone, the two men unanimously chose to bow their heads and admit their mistakes, saying, "We were wrong."
Coach Xu looked worried and didn't bother to ask questions like "Where did you go wrong?" He casually put his suitcase by the door and invited the two to sit down at the dining table to discuss things.
Zhou Zeyi and Fang Xiaocan quickly exchanged a glance, knowing that they probably couldn't fool each other this time. They sat down facing each other at the table with worried expressions, putting on two faces that showed they were apologizing.
"What's with that expression?" Coach Xu was looking down and rummaging through his backpack when he looked up and saw two miserable faces. He paused, staring at them in confusion. "It's not like we're having a public denunciation meeting. Why are you looking so miserable?"
"So it wasn't a denunciation meeting after all." Fang Xiaocan immediately breathed a sigh of relief and said with a grin, "I thought it was a denunciation meeting."
Seeing her overjoyed expression, Coach Xu snorted and lightly tapped her on the head with the document: "Still laughing? You were so carefree back then, but you dumped all the mess on me afterward. I'm so busy I'm about to explode."
Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Zhou Zeyu snickering to herself. Coach Xu slapped her on the head with a piece of paper and said, "Don't laugh. I can tell you haven't been eating properly. You're so thin your face is sunken in, and you're still grinning like a bamboo pole."
The two immediately stopped smiling and sat obediently in their chairs, looking extremely well-behaved after being reprimanded.
Coach Xu gave a few pale laughs, but Zhou Zeyi felt that he was laughing out of anger. "I was only gone for a month, and look what you've done to yourselves?"
Zhou Zeyu spread his hands innocently, "No, we're all fine, it's just that Lao Xu, you have even more gray hair now."
She had noticed before that Coach Xu's white hair had been appearing like crazy since some time ago. If his hair was still considered gray before, it was now completely white. She wondered what he had been through recently.
Before he could finish speaking, Fang Xiaocan, in his excitement, suddenly raised his credit card, stuffed it into his chest, and kissed it several times. "Old Xu, you're practically a professional at demanding back wages!"
The old man, who was a professional wage collector, laughed at her pathetic appearance. He scratched his head sheepishly, having already lost himself in Fang Xiaocan's enthusiastic praise, and said that it was just a small matter and nothing to worry about.
Zhou Zeyu frowned slightly. She looked at the credit card in front of her, then at Coach Xu who was beaming with joy. She seemed to want to say something but hesitated. However, since the atmosphere was just right, she decided not to ask and put the card in her pocket.
During this period, everyone knew that the situation was turbulent. Due to the major scandal, the entire team was in unimaginable chaos. The leadership was busy shirking responsibility and protecting themselves, while the subordinates were living in constant fear. Under such circumstances, it was by no means an easy task to recover the back wages owed to the two men.
Coach Xu's gray hair is probably partly due to this reason.
Zhou Zeyu forcibly suppressed his emotions, sighed without leaving a trace, and looked at Coach Xu, who was smiling broadly, "Things haven't been going well lately, have they?"
"Look at what you're saying, when has anything ever gone smoothly?"
When will the new leader take office?
Coach Xu seemed taken aback, not expecting her to suddenly ask about this. "It happened in the last few days, what's wrong?"
What kind of person is he?
"Good."
He's lying again.
Zhou Zeyu had known Coach Xu for so many years and considered herself to know him quite well. She knew that he, like most middle-aged people, had the bad habit of only reporting good news and not bad news. This was not what Zhou Zeyu wanted to hear. She also knew that the complexities involved were not as simple as just saying "it's all good". Otherwise, he wouldn't look so tired.
It's estimated that he'll only be passable. New broom sweeps clean, and although we don't know how good this new leader really is, he won't be any worse than Coach Huang in the short term.
Oh well, it's better than before.
Zhou Zeyu had figured it out and stopped worrying about it. She smiled and asked him, "Now you can be considered to have done a good job of supporting the emperor. After so many years of hard work, you can finally get promoted, right?"
She had only meant to mention it jokingly, and she thought Coach Xu would jokingly reply, but to her surprise, he suddenly fell silent, smiled, shook his head nonchalantly, and did not answer her directly.
Now Zhou Zeyu was the one who was confused. She and Fang Xiaocan exchanged a glance, both of them looking stunned, unable to understand how things had turned out this way.
"What... happened?"
Coach Xu glanced at the expressions on their faces and seemed to smile. "I'm getting old too. Can't I just enjoy my retirement?"
His words sounded easy, but everyone knew it wouldn't be that simple.
This kind of life-or-death power struggle could lead to complete defeat if one is not careful. Zhou Zeyu had long known the cruelty of it all, which was why Coach Xu was so resistant to her involvement. In other words, he may have even foreseen today's outcome, which is why he was so determined to shoulder the burden himself. At least in this way, only he would be affected.
But Coach Xu gently interrupted her, as if amused by her words, and smiled with narrowed eyes, "Calling me 'Little Xu' won't make me any younger, so don't put too much effort into it. It's alright, you've worked so hard for so many years, you should take a good rest."
“That’s true…” Zhou Zeyu agreed sullenly. “I just feel sorry for you. You wasted so many years under Coach Huang. You could have been better, just like Fang Xiaocan.”
"Why is this related to me?"
Fang Xiaocan, who had been sitting to the side with her head in her hands, suddenly heard her name called and protested, "I've said it before, I don't want to go back again. I've reached the point where I feel disgusted just looking at the gym. Let whoever wants to play, play. I'm not doing it anymore."
However, thinking about this, the question that she had been deliberately ignoring before surged into her mind again. She paused, lowered her head somewhat forlornly, and couldn't quite explain what she was thinking.
Coach Xu has retired, Fang Xiaocan has retired, so what about her? What should she do next?
This was a difficult decision to begin with. If she joined the club with the intention of starting over, should she continue after such a dramatic turn of events?
The doctor had discussed this issue with her before, and the doctor's advice was simple: her knee was no longer suitable for any high-intensity sports, and this major injury only aggravated the situation. So many months of rehabilitation training could not guarantee that everything would be back to normal; it could only barely allow her body to recover to a passable level.
Simply put, she is really not suitable to continue playing.
Zhou Zeyu realized this a long time ago. She knew her own body best, but many times, even she couldn't tell whether she was persevering or stubbornly clinging to her beliefs, or whether there was any point in continuing down this path.
The current situation is like a movie where the protagonist finally gets a happy ending, the villain is defeated, the protagonist wins with the halo, and everyone seems to have ushered in their own wonderful new life. But no one tells her what her new life should actually be.
Zhou Zeyu shook his head and chose to remain silent.
Seeing her dejection and hesitation, Coach Xu sighed slightly and asked, "Haven't you made a choice yet?"
"not yet."
An awkward silence fell over the room. Fang Xiaocan turned her head, looked at Zhou Zeyu who was not saying a word, and then at Coach Xu who had a complicated expression. She sighed and patted Zhou Zeyu's shoulder heavily: "Never mind, I support you!"
Zhou Zeyu, who had been lost in thought, was startled by her sudden outburst and nearly jumped off his chair. He stared at her with wide eyes and said, "What are you supporting me for? I haven't even made a decision yet!"
Fang Xiaocan gave an awkward dry laugh: "What I mean is, whatever decision you make, I'll support you."
"Unconditional?"
"Of course, unconditionally."
"Then I want to be the president of the International Olympic Committee."
“I’m not going to continue,” Fang Xiaocan immediately changed her mind, “You can keep dreaming.”
"How can this be? Are people not even allowed to dream?"
"make a deal."
"ah?"
Zhou Zeyi looked completely at ease, all traces of his earlier dejection and hesitation gone. He stood up, hands on his hips, and looked at the astonished Fang Xiaocan with a smile: "You said you'd be my slave."
Fang Xiaocan immediately felt like she had been scammed and reflexively looked to Coach Xu for help. However, Coach Xu also looked confused and helplessly shrugged at her, mouthing with amusement, "I can't help you now."
"What's this? You've been digging a hole for me!"
"That's right!"
The rogue, showing no shame whatsoever, nodded smugly, slammed his hand on the table, making the old-fashioned dining table tremble precariously, and said passionately, "Never mind all that. Now that the dynasty has changed and times have changed, I certainly have no reason to give up easily. In short, I will continue."
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