The noisy morning, it all started with the roar of the captain of the USA Men’s National Volleyball Team, Caddy, shouting, “William!”
Qin Chunxiao held an English vocabulary book in his left hand and a croissant in his right hand, expressionless, watching Caddy chasing William down the corridor, holding socks in his hand.
“Why did you stuff the socks into the bed seam again?” Caddy shouted.
Li Ling stumbled out and asked, “Are they going for a morning run?”
Qin Chunxiao replied, “I think this is the unique morning run style of the USA Men’s National Team.”
French breakfast was quite simple, mostly sweet, with mostly bread with butter and jam, served with coffee or juice. The portions were not large. Qin Chunxiao had eaten two croissants, two boiled eggs, 800 milliliters of orange juice, and a large plate of Provençal stew for breakfast.
Chang Xiaole handed him a piece of paper and said, “Received information: the six teams will be divided into two groups for a round-robin match. The top two teams in each group will enter the top four. Your group will be Brazil and the USA.”
So, that meant Russia and France, Poland were in the other group?
Ding Rong sighed, “If we really play according to Lao Newton’s strategy, the friendship among the three GM old regions will become even stronger. After all, both Brazil and the USA have already been shaved by us.”
Qin Chunxiao commented, “You’ve played that historical reference quite well.”
Chang Xiaole criticized, “Isn’t France the host team? Lao Niu also said he suspected they deliberately didn’t want to be in the same group as the Chinese team.”
After all, in the Italian station, France was exhausted after playing against the Chinese team and suffered heavy defeats in the subsequent matches. Playing against China meant they would be either robbed or helped. That realization was painful!
Mao Xunfeng was lying down and said, “But by next year, it should be much easier for us to reach the finals.”
Everyone agreed with this. After all, the FIVB has already hinted that the format of VNL will change again next year, and the number of teams in the finals will be expanded to eight.
Presumably, the gentlemen of the FIVB felt that the grouping of six teams was inconvenient, so it was better to change it to eight, and with two more slots, it meant that more teams would enter the finals. Thus, at least the audiences of the two countries behind these two teams would be more interested in the game, increasing the viewership.
Li Ling said, “I wonder how many fans from our hometown are watching.”
Tong Shulan passed by and smiled, “At least there are many volleyball fans in Shandong.”
Kong Duojin glanced at him and said, “Why don’t you reply to her text? She used to be your friend. Why are you ignoring her?”
Tong Shulan coughed awkwardly, “I’m still sitting on the substitute bench. I feel bad to reply to her now.”
Qin Chunxiao was puzzled, “Who?”
Both Tong Shulan and Kong Duojin replied in unison, “It’s none of your business.”
Gao Depi seemed to know something and patted Qin Chunxiao’s shoulder, “I’ll tell you after the finals. You actually know the number one fan of Old Tong.”
Tong Shulan jumped up, “Gao Pi, you’re itch!”
Gao Depi ran away, and Tong Shulan chased after him, leaving Qin Chunxiao bewildered with a face full of confusion.
On July 5th, China was the first to face Brazil.
By this time, Brazil had regained the world’s number one ranking through continuous victories in the VNL divisional matches.
Before the match, Newton encouraged the young players, “In the two matches, as long as we win one, we can enter the VNL top four. If we play well, we might even get on the podium. Let’s go, boys, give it your best!”
The Chinese team responded, “Yes!”
On the other side, the players of the Brazilian team surrounded a tanned young man.
Captain and setter, Caique, said, “Christian, we’re going to the finals together. I promised that we’ll get you a ticket to the finals.”
Dominique, a main attacker, said, “Christian, I’m so glad to fight alongside you.”
Joshua, another main attacker, said, “Brother, your knee doesn’t hurt anymore, right?”
Billy, the libero, asked, “How’s your condition?”
Brazil’s main opposite, Christian, felt a warm feeling in his heart and said, “Thank you, I’m much better now, at least I won’t hold you back.”
Christian, 33 years old this year, was an absolute key player for the Brazilian team during the Rio cycle. However, as he had aged and faced multiple injuries, he had to undergo surgery this year, which caused him to miss the matches in China. He only returned to the VNL finals.
It could also be said that if Christian had been on the court during their previous encounter, China would probably not had been able to push Brazil to the fifth set.
Christian was a player who had led the Brazilian team to win several honors, and his return had completely changed the spirit of the Brazilian team.
Newton looked in the direction of the Brazilian team and sighed, “Christian is the soul of the Brazilian team.”
The most important thing was that when China and Brazil went to the fifth set in their previous match, it was partly due to China’s initial surprise. They had thoroughly studied the long-standing world number one, Brazil, but Brazil didn’t have a deep understanding of the Chinese team, who were relatively new. Additionally, China kept playing creatively, using various tactics that caught Brazil off guard.
Now, both sides could only rely on their raw power, as these tactics were no longer effective.
This match was undeniably difficult, and China’s defeat was not unexpected. However, they successfully pushed Brazil to the fifth set, which was an achievement. After all, in Italy, the Chinese boys had collectively improved with the help of the King of Beach Volleyball, making them much tougher than before!
The scores of the five sets were 27-25, 25-23, 22-25, 21-25, and 25-22.
By the end of the last set, both teams were exhausted. Christian, who had just returned, had to be substituted and rested in the fifth set. Caique, who was also in his thirties, was also replaced for a whole set.
After the match, Mars looked at his own athletes, who were panting heavily, with a worried expression. Then, he looked at the direction of the Chinese team and noticed that the young team seemed spirited. He couldn’t help but shake his head.
If this team continues to develop, Brazil would have one more strong opponent to worry about.
The assistant coach of the Brazilian team said to Mars, “The Chinese men’s and women’s volleyball teams are both difficult opponents.”
This statement reminded Mars of the Chinese women’s team. He showed a dazed expression and said, “Now that you mention it, I’m worried about Yu Qing. I don’t know how she’s doing.”
The VNL finals for the women’s volleyball were held in Nanjing, China, and ended on July 1st. The champion was the Turkish team, while the Chinese team won the bronze medal. After the game, the main opposite of the Chinese women’s national team, Meng Yuqing, announced her retirement on the spot.
Outside, the public couldn’t understand why she chose to retire, as Meng Yuqing was born in the 1990s and was still in her prime years. It would have been more reasonable for her to play in the Tokyo Olympics before retiring.
However, none of Meng Yuqing’s coach and teammates were surprised by her retirement, nor did they try to stop her. This indicates that there must be some reason that forced her to retire.
Mars thought for a moment and caught up with the Chinese team. “Hey, Chinese boys, I have a question to ask you!”
The Chinese team stopped, and Qin Chunxiao turned around, asking friendly, “Coach Mars, what’s the matter?”
Mars asked directly, “I want to know why Yu Qing from your women’s team retired.”
As this question was brought up, the Chinese team, who had not shown any disappointment after losing the match, suddenly became serious.
After hesitating for a moment, Qin Chunxiao replied, “She’s about to lose her color vision, so she can’t play volleyball anymore.”
Meng Yuqing’s soulmate, Meng Yuling, had a recurrence of osteosarcoma. Even though she underwent amputation again, the cancer cells continued to spread. Her pelvis and abdomen were already invaded, but she still came to Nanjing to watch her sister’s VNL final. After the match, she was admitted to the hospital and now in critical condition.
Volleyball is colorful. Every time the ball soars high, players can clearly see its trajectory and rush towards it. However, if one day the world was only left with black and white, it would undoubtedly affect the player’s abilities. Meng Yuqing was strong; she could restart her career in the Brazilian league after suffering serious injuries. But her strength also had its limits. If she lost her sister and the color vision, even she would need to stay away from the court and find a place to heal.
Mars let out a soft sigh and made a sign of cross. “May God bless them.”
Qin Chunxiao smiled and said, “Thank you for your concern for Yu Qing.”
After leaving the court, Qiao Mingming comforted Qin Chunxiao and Li Ling, “Don’t be too sad.”
They all knew that the Guangdong provincial team had helped train the Shandong women’s volleyball team, and the two teams had a good relationship, so the players naturally got along well. Qin Chunxiao was also acquainted with Meng Yuqing.
Qin Chunxiao shook his head, “I’ve already gone through the most painful phase.”
Li Ling pouted his lips, trying not to cry, “I didn’t want to cry.”
Liu Yuelou handed him a tissue, and Li Ling took it and started wiping his tears.
At 10 PM in the evening while in China 4 PM, Tong Shulan received two bedtime messages.
“Tong, if you don’t reply to my messages, I won’t bother with you anymore.”
“I’ve noticed that you have a great body now. It seems you’ve been working out hard. Can I touch you, my old friend?”
Tong Shulan rolled his eyes, lay down, and stared at the phone screen until Kong Duojin drowsily reminded him, “It’s not good for your eyes to look at the phone while lying down.”
Tong Shulan replied, “I’ll look for a little longer.”
After a while, he replied with a message, “I’ll let you touch me when I go back, but on the condition that you let me go to the hospital to see you, alright? I don’t mind that you have no hair.”
That night, Qin Chunxiao received a message from Meng Yuling.
Meng Yuling: “Xiao Zai, Sister Ling is here to say ‘fighting’ one last time. After this, you must play well, study hard, make good friends, and fall in love. I heard you want to go to Antarctica for scientific research after retirement, is that true? I wish you success. I don’t know if I’ll be conscious when you have your match tomorrow, but if I am, I’ll be watching your game O(∩_∩)O.”
Qin Chunxiao replied, “I will definitely win for you to see!”
The Chinese team and the American team had a gap in strength, but in the history of volleyball, there were cases of teams ranked around 20 in the world defeating the world number one.
Underdogs have the possibility of creating miracles and beating stronger teams, especially when the gap between the Chinese and American teams was not that big.
Qin Chunxiao’s alternate account on Weibo, “Wolf of the Gale,” had a new notification sound.
Weibo – Yomi: “I feel that the painful time is about to end. I’m glad that the cancer cells haven’t reached my eyes. The doctor said my cornea can be donated. That’s great; in the future, someone can see the world with my cornea. Besides my cornea, I will donate the other parts of my body to the medical university in my hometown to make a small contribution to medical progress.
I’m sorry that I can’t give everyone an ending for some of the stories. There are still some original works left and a few real-person fanfics… The real them have even more wonderful and beautiful stories than my imagination.
Fortunately, I sent private messages to them recently, and they all replied and allowed me to post on Weibo. They were just embarrassed after the protagonists read the fanfics. But I’m grateful for their care.
Thank you to my friends and family for your encouragement and support.
Finally, I wish you all well. Bye.
July 6, 2018″
Qin Chunxiao didn’t bother to avoid suspicion, he directly reposted the message on his main Weibo account and then handed his phone to the coach, putting on protective gear and starting his warm-up.
Fu Biyang saw Qin Chunxiao changing to a red wrist guard and asked in confusion, “Aren’t you wearing the black wrist guard today? And this red one looks quite old.”
Qin Chunxiao shook his wrist, “It is quite old. The previous owner bought this wrist guard in 2007 and wore it in the World Junior Championships. Unfortunately, she retired not long after that.”
2007 World Junior Championships… A veteran player like Gao Depi immediately realized that it was from the same year as Meng Yuqing and Meng Yuling.
Gao Depi raised Qin Chunxiao’s wrist and saw the embroidery of a wind chime and the sun on the wrist guard. He didn’t say anything and turned to wave to Tong Shulan.
“Lao Tong, give it your all today.”
Tong Shulan was confused at first. He was sitting on the ground, wrapping his ankle with a bandage. Then he saw Gao Depi raising Qin Chunxiao’s wrist, and the red wrist guard was very eye-catching.
Tong Shulan was also from Shandong province, and his relationship with the Meng sisters was even closer than that of Qin Chunxiao!
With that, there was no need for any words. Tong Shulan quickly stood up, knowing that Meng Yuling had given that wrist guard to Qin Chunxiao. But he also knew that Qin Chunxiao usually preferred to wear the more durable black or dark blue wrist guards.
Thinking about her illness, he understood what was going on.
Kong Duojin, who also came from Shandong provincial team, quietly put on his protective gear, and the usually gentle smile on his face showed a rare coldness and determination.
As players, they always gave their all in every game; it was part of their professional ethics. But giving it all and playing recklessly were not the same!
Newton also sensed something and announced the starting lineup: “Today’s starting lineup: Qiao Mingming, Ding Rong, Tong Shulan, Qin Chunxiao, You Ziyu, Kong Duojin, and Du Xiaofeng as the libero.”
If there were no injuries, Newton would have deployed three out of the four main attackers as the starting lineup. And with Tong Shulan already decided on giving his all, the Chinese team might have had two quasi-beast-level attackers today.
Qin Chunxiao was playing as a receiver today, standing in position 6, and Tong Shulan was standing on the right in position 1.
This senior, who had been silent for too long due to injuries, held the ball with a seemingly nostalgic look. Before the referee’s whistle, he looked at the camera, blinked, and then, with the sound of the whistle, he tossed the ball high and jumped up.
In the summer of 2007, we were both selected from the provincial team to the national team and went to the World Junior Championships together.
At that time, Tong Shulan said to Meng Yuling, “Wow, there’s actually a girl as tall as you in the world! Sister, with your height, why are you still playing as a setter? You should be an attacker like me.”
Meng Yuling stood on the court with a smile, holding the volleyball. The wrist guard on her hand was eye-catching in red. “You don’t understand, do you? A setter is the core of the team, the brain. I’m so clever. It would be a waste not to be a setter.”
“Lao Tong, do you believe that I can be a world-class setter too? On the other hand, for you as a male player to reach the world-class stage, it probably takes more time than me. But don’t worry, I’ll be waiting for you there.”
At that time, they were both young, and their healthy bodies made them feel invincible. Tong Shulan and Meng Yuling competed to see who would achieve results first.
Tong Shulan thought that Meng Yuling saw him as a rival, even though men’s volleyball and women’s volleyball were different sports, and setter and attacker were different positions.
As for any ambiguous feelings between them, neither of them had such feelings. In fact, the term “half-blood siblings” was more fitting for them, even though they were not related by blood. But that was okay because there was more between young boys and girls than just romantic love. There was a stronger emotion, like understanding and rivalry with each other.
But everything came to an end when the girl’s dream was shattered after losing a leg. She didn’t allow Tong Shulan to visit her.
She cared about her appearance without hair, cared about the leg she lost. Tong Shulan secretly went to visit her once and was met with an emotionally unstable girl who threw a water bottle at him in the ward.
And then, they didn’t meet for a long time.
Bang! The ball fell heavily to the ground, and the speedometer showed that the speed of this serve was up to 128 km/h.
Tong Shulan adjusted his wrist guard, and only now did some fans notice that his forearm had become much thicker than before the major injury.
He had lost the absolute advantage in aerial play, so he gave up on maintaining a relatively slim and better-jumping figure. Instead, he worked hard to build his strength and turned himself into a heavy artillery. The transition in technique and the long period of adaptation kept this former “Four Great Attackers” on the bench for a long time, until today when he had to play with an entirely new posture and play his heart out.
Tong Shulan thought, “I’ve always believed that you can step onto the world stage, but now I’ve arrived here first. I’ll show you that I can win.”
The noisy morning, it all started with the roar of the captain of the USA Men’s National Volleyball Team, Caddy, shouting, “William!”
Qin Chunxiao held an English vocabulary book in his left hand and a croissant in his right hand, expressionless, watching Caddy chasing William down the corridor, holding socks in his hand.
“Why did you stuff the socks into the bed seam again?” Caddy shouted.
Li Ling stumbled out and asked, “Are they going for a morning run?”
Qin Chunxiao replied, “I think this is the unique morning run style of the USA Men’s National Team.”
French breakfast was quite simple, mostly sweet, with mostly bread with butter and jam, served with coffee or juice. The portions were not large. Qin Chunxiao had eaten two croissants, two boiled eggs, 800 milliliters of orange juice, and a large plate of Provençal stew for breakfast.
Chang Xiaole handed him a piece of paper and said, “Received information: the six teams will be divided into two groups for a round-robin match. The top two teams in each group will enter the top four. Your group will be Brazil and the USA.”
So, that meant Russia and France, Poland were in the other group?
Ding Rong sighed, “If we really play according to Lao Newton’s strategy, the friendship among the three GM old regions will become even stronger. After all, both Brazil and the USA have already been shaved by us.”
Qin Chunxiao commented, “You’ve played that historical reference quite well.”
Chang Xiaole criticized, “Isn’t France the host team? Lao Niu also said he suspected they deliberately didn’t want to be in the same group as the Chinese team.”
After all, in the Italian station, France was exhausted after playing against the Chinese team and suffered heavy defeats in the subsequent matches. Playing against China meant they would be either robbed or helped. That realization was painful!
Mao Xunfeng was lying down and said, “But by next year, it should be much easier for us to reach the finals.”
Everyone agreed with this. After all, the FIVB has already hinted that the format of VNL will change again next year, and the number of teams in the finals will be expanded to eight.
Presumably, the gentlemen of the FIVB felt that the grouping of six teams was inconvenient, so it was better to change it to eight, and with two more slots, it meant that more teams would enter the finals. Thus, at least the audiences of the two countries behind these two teams would be more interested in the game, increasing the viewership.
Li Ling said, “I wonder how many fans from our hometown are watching.”
Tong Shulan passed by and smiled, “At least there are many volleyball fans in Shandong.”
Kong Duojin glanced at him and said, “Why don’t you reply to her text? She used to be your friend. Why are you ignoring her?”
Tong Shulan coughed awkwardly, “I’m still sitting on the substitute bench. I feel bad to reply to her now.”
Qin Chunxiao was puzzled, “Who?”
Both Tong Shulan and Kong Duojin replied in unison, “It’s none of your business.”
Gao Depi seemed to know something and patted Qin Chunxiao’s shoulder, “I’ll tell you after the finals. You actually know the number one fan of Old Tong.”
Tong Shulan jumped up, “Gao Pi, you’re itch!”
Gao Depi ran away, and Tong Shulan chased after him, leaving Qin Chunxiao bewildered with a face full of confusion.
On July 5th, China was the first to face Brazil.
By this time, Brazil had regained the world’s number one ranking through continuous victories in the VNL divisional matches.
Before the match, Newton encouraged the young players, “In the two matches, as long as we win one, we can enter the VNL top four. If we play well, we might even get on the podium. Let’s go, boys, give it your best!”
The Chinese team responded, “Yes!”
On the other side, the players of the Brazilian team surrounded a tanned young man.
Captain and setter, Caique, said, “Christian, we’re going to the finals together. I promised that we’ll get you a ticket to the finals.”
Dominique, a main attacker, said, “Christian, I’m so glad to fight alongside you.”
Joshua, another main attacker, said, “Brother, your knee doesn’t hurt anymore, right?”
Billy, the libero, asked, “How’s your condition?”
Brazil’s main opposite, Christian, felt a warm feeling in his heart and said, “Thank you, I’m much better now, at least I won’t hold you back.”
Christian, 33 years old this year, was an absolute key player for the Brazilian team during the Rio cycle. However, as he had aged and faced multiple injuries, he had to undergo surgery this year, which caused him to miss the matches in China. He only returned to the VNL finals.
It could also be said that if Christian had been on the court during their previous encounter, China would probably not had been able to push Brazil to the fifth set.
Christian was a player who had led the Brazilian team to win several honors, and his return had completely changed the spirit of the Brazilian team.
Newton looked in the direction of the Brazilian team and sighed, “Christian is the soul of the Brazilian team.”
The most important thing was that when China and Brazil went to the fifth set in their previous match, it was partly due to China’s initial surprise. They had thoroughly studied the long-standing world number one, Brazil, but Brazil didn’t have a deep understanding of the Chinese team, who were relatively new. Additionally, China kept playing creatively, using various tactics that caught Brazil off guard.
Now, both sides could only rely on their raw power, as these tactics were no longer effective.
This match was undeniably difficult, and China’s defeat was not unexpected. However, they successfully pushed Brazil to the fifth set, which was an achievement. After all, in Italy, the Chinese boys had collectively improved with the help of the King of Beach Volleyball, making them much tougher than before!
The scores of the five sets were 27-25, 25-23, 22-25, 21-25, and 25-22.
By the end of the last set, both teams were exhausted. Christian, who had just returned, had to be substituted and rested in the fifth set. Caique, who was also in his thirties, was also replaced for a whole set.
After the match, Mars looked at his own athletes, who were panting heavily, with a worried expression. Then, he looked at the direction of the Chinese team and noticed that the young team seemed spirited. He couldn’t help but shake his head.
If this team continues to develop, Brazil would have one more strong opponent to worry about.
The assistant coach of the Brazilian team said to Mars, “The Chinese men’s and women’s volleyball teams are both difficult opponents.”
This statement reminded Mars of the Chinese women’s team. He showed a dazed expression and said, “Now that you mention it, I’m worried about Yu Qing. I don’t know how she’s doing.”
The VNL finals for the women’s volleyball were held in Nanjing, China, and ended on July 1st. The champion was the Turkish team, while the Chinese team won the bronze medal. After the game, the main opposite of the Chinese women’s national team, Meng Yuqing, announced her retirement on the spot.
Outside, the public couldn’t understand why she chose to retire, as Meng Yuqing was born in the 1990s and was still in her prime years. It would have been more reasonable for her to play in the Tokyo Olympics before retiring.
However, none of Meng Yuqing’s coach and teammates were surprised by her retirement, nor did they try to stop her. This indicates that there must be some reason that forced her to retire.
Mars thought for a moment and caught up with the Chinese team. “Hey, Chinese boys, I have a question to ask you!”
The Chinese team stopped, and Qin Chunxiao turned around, asking friendly, “Coach Mars, what’s the matter?”
Mars asked directly, “I want to know why Yu Qing from your women’s team retired.”
As this question was brought up, the Chinese team, who had not shown any disappointment after losing the match, suddenly became serious.
After hesitating for a moment, Qin Chunxiao replied, “She’s about to lose her color vision, so she can’t play volleyball anymore.”
Meng Yuqing’s soulmate, Meng Yuling, had a recurrence of osteosarcoma. Even though she underwent amputation again, the cancer cells continued to spread. Her pelvis and abdomen were already invaded, but she still came to Nanjing to watch her sister’s VNL final. After the match, she was admitted to the hospital and now in critical condition.
Volleyball is colorful. Every time the ball soars high, players can clearly see its trajectory and rush towards it. However, if one day the world was only left with black and white, it would undoubtedly affect the player’s abilities. Meng Yuqing was strong; she could restart her career in the Brazilian league after suffering serious injuries. But her strength also had its limits. If she lost her sister and the color vision, even she would need to stay away from the court and find a place to heal.
Mars let out a soft sigh and made a sign of cross. “May God bless them.”
Qin Chunxiao smiled and said, “Thank you for your concern for Yu Qing.”
After leaving the court, Qiao Mingming comforted Qin Chunxiao and Li Ling, “Don’t be too sad.”
They all knew that the Guangdong provincial team had helped train the Shandong women’s volleyball team, and the two teams had a good relationship, so the players naturally got along well. Qin Chunxiao was also acquainted with Meng Yuqing.
Qin Chunxiao shook his head, “I’ve already gone through the most painful phase.”
Li Ling pouted his lips, trying not to cry, “I didn’t want to cry.”
Liu Yuelou handed him a tissue, and Li Ling took it and started wiping his tears.
At 10 PM in the evening while in China 4 PM, Tong Shulan received two bedtime messages.
“Tong, if you don’t reply to my messages, I won’t bother with you anymore.”
“I’ve noticed that you have a great body now. It seems you’ve been working out hard. Can I touch you, my old friend?”
Tong Shulan rolled his eyes, lay down, and stared at the phone screen until Kong Duojin drowsily reminded him, “It’s not good for your eyes to look at the phone while lying down.”
Tong Shulan replied, “I’ll look for a little longer.”
After a while, he replied with a message, “I’ll let you touch me when I go back, but on the condition that you let me go to the hospital to see you, alright? I don’t mind that you have no hair.”
That night, Qin Chunxiao received a message from Meng Yuling.
Meng Yuling: “Xiao Zai, Sister Ling is here to say ‘fighting’ one last time. After this, you must play well, study hard, make good friends, and fall in love. I heard you want to go to Antarctica for scientific research after retirement, is that true? I wish you success. I don’t know if I’ll be conscious when you have your match tomorrow, but if I am, I’ll be watching your game O(∩_∩)O.”
Qin Chunxiao replied, “I will definitely win for you to see!”
The Chinese team and the American team had a gap in strength, but in the history of volleyball, there were cases of teams ranked around 20 in the world defeating the world number one.
Underdogs have the possibility of creating miracles and beating stronger teams, especially when the gap between the Chinese and American teams was not that big.
Qin Chunxiao’s alternate account on Weibo, “Wolf of the Gale,” had a new notification sound.
Weibo – Yomi: “I feel that the painful time is about to end. I’m glad that the cancer cells haven’t reached my eyes. The doctor said my cornea can be donated. That’s great; in the future, someone can see the world with my cornea. Besides my cornea, I will donate the other parts of my body to the medical university in my hometown to make a small contribution to medical progress.
I’m sorry that I can’t give everyone an ending for some of the stories. There are still some original works left and a few real-person fanfics… The real them have even more wonderful and beautiful stories than my imagination.
Fortunately, I sent private messages to them recently, and they all replied and allowed me to post on Weibo. They were just embarrassed after the protagonists read the fanfics. But I’m grateful for their care.
Thank you to my friends and family for your encouragement and support.
Finally, I wish you all well. Bye.
July 6, 2018″
Qin Chunxiao didn’t bother to avoid suspicion, he directly reposted the message on his main Weibo account and then handed his phone to the coach, putting on protective gear and starting his warm-up.
Fu Biyang saw Qin Chunxiao changing to a red wrist guard and asked in confusion, “Aren’t you wearing the black wrist guard today? And this red one looks quite old.”
Qin Chunxiao shook his wrist, “It is quite old. The previous owner bought this wrist guard in 2007 and wore it in the World Junior Championships. Unfortunately, she retired not long after that.”
2007 World Junior Championships… A veteran player like Gao Depi immediately realized that it was from the same year as Meng Yuqing and Meng Yuling.
Gao Depi raised Qin Chunxiao’s wrist and saw the embroidery of a wind chime and the sun on the wrist guard. He didn’t say anything and turned to wave to Tong Shulan.
“Lao Tong, give it your all today.”
Tong Shulan was confused at first. He was sitting on the ground, wrapping his ankle with a bandage. Then he saw Gao Depi raising Qin Chunxiao’s wrist, and the red wrist guard was very eye-catching.
Tong Shulan was also from Shandong province, and his relationship with the Meng sisters was even closer than that of Qin Chunxiao!
With that, there was no need for any words. Tong Shulan quickly stood up, knowing that Meng Yuling had given that wrist guard to Qin Chunxiao. But he also knew that Qin Chunxiao usually preferred to wear the more durable black or dark blue wrist guards.
Thinking about her illness, he understood what was going on.
Kong Duojin, who also came from Shandong provincial team, quietly put on his protective gear, and the usually gentle smile on his face showed a rare coldness and determination.
As players, they always gave their all in every game; it was part of their professional ethics. But giving it all and playing recklessly were not the same!
Newton also sensed something and announced the starting lineup: “Today’s starting lineup: Qiao Mingming, Ding Rong, Tong Shulan, Qin Chunxiao, You Ziyu, Kong Duojin, and Du Xiaofeng as the libero.”
If there were no injuries, Newton would have deployed three out of the four main attackers as the starting lineup. And with Tong Shulan already decided on giving his all, the Chinese team might have had two quasi-beast-level attackers today.
Qin Chunxiao was playing as a receiver today, standing in position 6, and Tong Shulan was standing on the right in position 1.
This senior, who had been silent for too long due to injuries, held the ball with a seemingly nostalgic look. Before the referee’s whistle, he looked at the camera, blinked, and then, with the sound of the whistle, he tossed the ball high and jumped up.
In the summer of 2007, we were both selected from the provincial team to the national team and went to the World Junior Championships together.
At that time, Tong Shulan said to Meng Yuling, “Wow, there’s actually a girl as tall as you in the world! Sister, with your height, why are you still playing as a setter? You should be an attacker like me.”
Meng Yuling stood on the court with a smile, holding the volleyball. The wrist guard on her hand was eye-catching in red. “You don’t understand, do you? A setter is the core of the team, the brain. I’m so clever. It would be a waste not to be a setter.”
“Lao Tong, do you believe that I can be a world-class setter too? On the other hand, for you as a male player to reach the world-class stage, it probably takes more time than me. But don’t worry, I’ll be waiting for you there.”
At that time, they were both young, and their healthy bodies made them feel invincible. Tong Shulan and Meng Yuling competed to see who would achieve results first.
Tong Shulan thought that Meng Yuling saw him as a rival, even though men’s volleyball and women’s volleyball were different sports, and setter and attacker were different positions.
As for any ambiguous feelings between them, neither of them had such feelings. In fact, the term “half-blood siblings” was more fitting for them, even though they were not related by blood. But that was okay because there was more between young boys and girls than just romantic love. There was a stronger emotion, like understanding and rivalry with each other.
But everything came to an end when the girl’s dream was shattered after losing a leg. She didn’t allow Tong Shulan to visit her.
She cared about her appearance without hair, cared about the leg she lost. Tong Shulan secretly went to visit her once and was met with an emotionally unstable girl who threw a water bottle at him in the ward.
And then, they didn’t meet for a long time.
Bang! The ball fell heavily to the ground, and the speedometer showed that the speed of this serve was up to 128 km/h.
Tong Shulan adjusted his wrist guard, and only now did some fans notice that his forearm had become much thicker than before the major injury.
He had lost the absolute advantage in aerial play, so he gave up on maintaining a relatively slim and better-jumping figure. Instead, he worked hard to build his strength and turned himself into a heavy artillery. The transition in technique and the long period of adaptation kept this former “Four Great Attackers” on the bench for a long time, until today when he had to play with an entirely new posture and play his heart out.
Tong Shulan thought, “I’ve always believed that you can step onto the world stage, but now I’ve arrived here first. I’ll show you that I can win.”
