“For someone like her,” Jiang Wang laughed, his voice deep and magnetic, “would winning a gold medal even help?”
“True,” Xu Ningqing nodded and chuckled, not acting like an older brother at all. “You also think she’s pretty clueless, right?”
“Then why did you participate, especially in the 4×100 relay?” Xu Ningqing asked again.
Jiang Wang handed his cards to someone else, extracting himself from the game.
“For the bottle of water in her hand,” he finally said carelessly.
Xu Ningqing was stunned.
“Jiang Wang,” Xu Ningqing’s voice carried a hint of schadenfreude, “you’re about to fall hard.”
He had returned late yesterday and woke up close to noon.
His head was pounding, and there seemed to be signs of a slight fever.
Jiang Wang sat on the edge of the bed, lit a cigarette, then coughed for a while. He frowned slightly; the light filtering through the curtains made him squint uncomfortably.
After finishing the cigarette, he stubbed it out in the ashtray.
He finished a quick wash, didn’t bother to check his temperature, just found a box of fever medicine and swallowed two pills with cold water.
He took a phone call, grabbed his keys, and went out.
On the first day of the National Day holiday, there weren’t many people at the swimming pool.
“Coach,” Jiang Wang pushed open the door.
The coach immediately stood up when he saw him and patted his shoulder: “You’re here! How have you been lately?”
He replied lazily: “The same as always.”
“Want to try?”
Jiang Wang asked: “No one training in the facility now?”
“No, I gave them three days off for the holiday.”
The training area was on the other side, not the same area as the pool open to the public. When Jiang Wang changed his clothes and walked in, there wasn’t a single person there.
Jiang Wang took off his shirt, revealing clean-cut shoulder lines and beautifully proportioned muscles.
“Get ready, I’ll time you,” the coach said.
“Mm.”
He took out his hearing aid, a flat square piece. The coach glanced at it: “You wear this every day now?”
After removing the hearing aid, sounds became much fainter, but fortunately, the swimming pool was spacious with good acoustics, so Jiang Wang could still vaguely hear the coach’s words.
He made another sound of acknowledgment.
“—On your marks!”
The coach stood on the other side, giving commands as in an official competition.
Jiang Wang took his starting position.
It had been more than a year since he’d last done this—a feeling both strange and familiar.
The coach waved his hand, issuing the command, and Jiang Wang leaped into the water, his movements beautiful, his lines extremely smooth as he plunged beneath the surface.
To non-professionals, it was a perfect entry with extremely fast speed, but the coach paused, looked down at the timer, and paused again.
Compared to his former peak condition… There was indeed quite a difference.
Although with this level of skill and some intensive training, there was no doubt he could make the provincial team, the coach also knew Jiang Wang’s character.
If he wanted to do it, his target wouldn’t be the provincial team, but the national team.
What he wanted was first place.
At 17 or 18 years old, young men and women are in their prime, their dreams just beginning to take root, their lives fresh and new, their paths ahead uncertain yet full of unknown challenges and hope.
But Jiang Wang was different.
His dream started early and was shattered early.
At 18, he had received permission to join the national team, but that same year, he developed an ear problem, which consequently prevented him from entering the national team.
For an athlete, a hearing impairment is fatal.
Jiang Wang was an extremely proud person. He didn’t want to compete for a gold medal against disabled athletes because of his hearing, but compared to able-bodied athletes, his hearing problem would significantly slow his reaction to the starting gun.
In competitive sports, even one-tenth of a second must be fought for with countless drops of sweat.
Even Jiang Wang, exceptional as he was, was powerless against this disadvantage.
After his hearing was impaired, he had gone through a period of hellish training, but still couldn’t stabilize his performance at his previous standard. The decline was substantial, and for a young, arrogant youth at that time, the blow was fatal.
Everyone knew how proud Jiang Wang was.
What he wanted was to stand above everyone else, to take the crown and be king.
If that wasn’t possible, he could only resolutely give up.
Finishing the 400 meters, he hit the timer and stood up from the water.