After school in the afternoon, Yuan Tian took the initiative to send a message to Ji Huai and invited him to drink milk tea.
There are also several milk tea shops near the school, and there is always a "buy one, get one free" promotion. However, people say it is "the second cup is half price." Most couples come to buy it.
I don't know if it was because Ji Huai was too sunny and upright, but Yuan Tian never thought about it in his heart.
At a young age, he was already the national youth badminton champion, with added honors. Although she has made great achievements in painting, and has won awards in national and even world youth competitions, she cannot be compared with someone like him who has brought glory to the country. Any wrong thoughts feel like blasphemy, and he feels that he has his own brilliance.
Ji Huai drank the milk tea she bought and walked with her on the roadside. His long legs slowed down and his voice was low, "How are you going to get home?"
"Well... take the bus." She called Uncle Wang and asked him not to come pick him up.
Ji Huai: "Where is your home?"
Yuan Tian said the name of the community, he stopped and looked at her, a clear smile spread on his lips, "Isn't that the opposite direction? The buses here don't go there."
She was startled, then faced his warm and bright smile. She felt so boyish that she forgot to answer for a moment, and her ears were still a little red.
Ji Huai: "Let's take you back."
He stopped a car and took her home.
At first, Yuan Tian just wanted to get off the car near her home, wait for him to leave, and then go home by herself. She subconsciously wanted to conceal her identity, fearing that there would be a direct gap between the two. Growing up, good friends who knew her identity, as long as they were not of the same class, would either choose to distance themselves from her or please her.
Ji Huai didn't pay attention. She got out of the car. He was still lying on the car window, his eyes met hers, his smile was contagious, and he waved his hand enthusiastically, "See you next time."
"See you next time, bye." Yuan Tian looked at him, and the corners of his lips couldn't help but rise.
She went upstairs and returned to the room. Her mind was still a little dizzy, and she felt his voice still echoing in her ears. It was a strange feeling. The other person seemed to have positive energy in his bones, he was young and energetic, and he was a handsome young man dressed in white.
Half an hour later, Ji Huai sent a message saying that he was home.
Yuan Tian was in the studio at this time. Looking at last night's painting, he finally understood what was wrong and found his award-winning photo online.
Wearing a red sportswear, he stood on the podium with a gold medal around his neck. He had a bright smile, confident and a little green, like the warm sun in winter, and his eyes were shining. It was so touching.
The two chatted on WeChat, and Yuan Tian was a little distracted. He always had to check his phone for messages before drawing, and it was difficult to concentrate. From time to time, he clicked on the photos in his circle of friends.
She was still mumbling before going to bed: "Why does he smile so beautifully? He also likes to laugh so much."
"Students in the last row move to the left."
"one two three… "
"Okay, here's another one, one, two, three!"
"Come on, come on, come to our class, tidy up your clothes."
…
The head teacher urged, and everyone lined up and walked over.
After the students all stood up, the class teacher pointed to Ji Huai in the third row, "Ji Huai, what's wrong with you? You're so tall and you're still standing so far forward. Stand at the rightmost position in the last row. Go, go, go."
"I've already moved to the side." Ji Huai was on the far left of the second to last row. He was still struggling. "I don't want to move. I'm half squatting?"
As soon as he finished speaking, the classmates laughed and turned to look at him. Yuan Tian stood in front of him and turned to look at him.
His brows were furrowed, and his handsome face was wrinkled, looking a little cute for no reason.
"What are you squatting for? Hurry up and hurry up." The head teacher stepped forward and pulled him off. When he touched his arm, he said, "Look at your muscles. If you don't win a few more championships, you will be sorry for the country's training. You will serve the country for a long time." Win glory and bring glory to your alma mater, do you hear me?"
"Okay, take as much as you can!" Ji Huai was placed on the other side and deserved to be quick and easy.
The head teacher smiled, glanced at him several times, raised his hand and patted his shoulder, then turned around and walked forward, sitting next to the head teacher.
"Caka."
The picture is frozen at that second. In the photo, the young faces are filled with innocence, reluctance and longing for the future.
On the last weekend before the exam, Yuan Tian met Ji Huai in the library, holding the autobiography of world-famous athlete Jon Felton in his hand. He is known as a tough athlete who can run in middle and short distances, and is known as the invincible Xiaoqiang. He has been breaking through physical limits throughout his sports career and creating miracles one after another. He is one of the top athletes in the world.
Ji Huai also brought her a cup of milk tea, original half-sugar pearl milk tea.
He inserted the straw for her and pushed it to her end. Yuan Tian hesitated for a moment, then slowly took out a box from the bag and whispered, "This is for you."
"Huh?" Ji Huai raised his eyebrows and took it over curiously and opened it.
"Aren't you going to have a training camp in two days? I don't know if we can meet in person in the future. I'll give you a gift." She said pretending to be relaxed, clenching her hands nervously under the table.
Ji Huai looked at the black watch in the box. It was made of light metal and was a new model recently released by Yarui. The black dial was decorated with blue and white metal, making it look good and cool.
He didn't go back and curled his lower lip, "It seems you don't like to owe favors. If you exchange a mobile phone for a watch, I still make the profit."
Yuan Tian was told what he was thinking and couldn't explain it.
"I like it very much, thank you." He didn't shirk it too much, put it on his hand on the spot, raised his hand and asked her, "Does it look good?"
"It looks good." She nodded vigorously.
This one is a sports watch that uses solar cells and has good quality. She thinks it suits him very well.
Ji Huai was also very satisfied. He lowered his head and played with it for a while. When he left the library, he invited, "How about I treat you to dinner? If we have a chance to meet again next time, you can treat me again."
"good."
…
The two went to have a meal. When chatting, he could pick up on everything she said, as if there was an invisible tacit understanding. If he didn't understand, he would take the initiative to ask questions and occasionally talk about his life in the training camp.
Before I knew it, after chatting for two hours, I was still a little unfinished.
When Yuan Tian took the high school entrance examination, Ji Huai had already packed his things and entered the training camp.
The coach felt that they were still young and lacked self-control. In order for them to concentrate on training and take breaks on time, they had to hand in their cell phones and hand them back during breaks.
For Ji Huai, he would also train during the half-day break in the past. Not only did he have no days off throughout the year, he was also more particular about his diet than other athletes.
He is very restrained and applies training in all aspects, including diet, in order to go further in his career.
After Yuan Tian finished the exam, he went to live with Chen Wei for a while, and created several paintings with Chen Wei, and his life was pretty good.
She occasionally received messages from Ji Huai, sometimes simple greetings, sometimes photos of training. She also developed a habit of sending him messages from time to time to talk about her current situation.
After mid-July, the two barely talked. She knew that he was about to participate in the competition, and the training was getting harder and harder, so she had no time.
Yuan Tian changed the painting from last time and changed the basketball into badminton. Her hands were full of paint at this time, and she was constantly mixing colors and describing his eyes in detail.
In the picture, he was wearing a blue sportswear, holding a badminton racket in his hand, and there were several badminton balls on the ground.
After she finished, she looked into those bright eyes and smiled, staring at them for a long time.
At the end of the month, the "Continental Star Cup" officially started and was held in Riadan, the capital of Ghani.
Ji Huai showed off his skills on the court with ease. He swept through young athletes from all over the world in the semi-finals, semi-finals, semi-finals, and reached the final after defeating Nicaraguan Clay Bloomer.
When Yuan Tian knew that he had entered the finals, she became excited. She turned on the online live broadcast and kept watching.
Ji Huai was wearing a light yellow sportswear. Standing opposite him was another player from Niga. The host introduced that the other player had won two golds, one silver and three bronzes in major youth open competitions.
Ji Huai is serious and calm on the court. He holds the racket in his hand and stares ahead with his lips pursed. He looks completely different from the smiling appearance before.
The opponent serves. Ji Huai held the racket and stepped forward to return the ball. His steps were flexible. After the opponent smashed the ball, he retreated, turned around, picked the ball again, and quickly came to the center of the court.
The opponent continued to attack. He picked up the ball and then smashed it, quickly occupying the home court. He came up with a lob, but the opponent's return ball did not pass the net.
He scored the first point of the first inning.
Yuan Tian didn't watch badminton games before, and didn't even understand them at all, but now he watched them with gusto. Seeing that he scored points, he couldn't help but get excited.
The score continued to catch up, and Ji Huai was overtaken once. The opponent gained two more points, and the score reached 15:17.
Yuan Tian looked anxiously, and the cheers on the scene kept rising. When the two sides took a break, the coach kept talking on the side. Ji Huai had no expression on his face, drinking water and nodding.
The game started again, and the opponent started to attack again. Ji Huai aimed at the opportunity. After killing the ball, he took advantage of the opponent's slight hang and stepped forward again to kill with a backhand and regain a point.
Then he won four consecutive points, reached the match point early, and successfully won the first game.
He won the first game, and Yuan Tian blushed with excitement. When he lost the second game, he was dejected and anxious, and watched the third game with tense nerves.
Chen Ya knocked on the door twice, but she didn't answer, so she opened the door and walked in. When she saw her daughter looking at the computer, her cheeks almost came together. Before she could frown, Yuan Tian's eyebrows lit up and she was so happy. He opened his mouth and breathed a sigh of relief.
"What are you looking at? Are you smiling so happily?" Chen Ya was curious.
"Watch the badminton match, our national team won!" Yuan Tian wanted to hold back his smile, but he couldn't hold it back either. His face was full of smiles and he couldn't hide them.
"When did you become obsessed with badminton?" Chen Ya was curious and took a look at it before handing her the honey water. "You were so fascinated by it that Mom thought you were painting in the studio."
"Thank you, Mom." She took it, still glancing at the computer from the corner of her eye, listening to her words absentmindedly. She didn't fully come back to her senses until the advertisement was broadcast on the computer.
In the evening, Yuan Tian sent a message to Ji Huai, and the other end quickly responded with a video.
After the call was connected, the background was the hotel. He was wiping his hair and looking at the camera with a smile, "How did you know I won the championship? I haven't told you yet."
She looked away and replied, "I knew it."
Ji Huai: "Did you watch the live broadcast? Or did you search for it?"
"When will your competition end? Do you still need to train?" Yuan Tian asked quickly.
"He also deliberately changed the topic." He curled his lips and replied, "The game is not over yet. I still have a team competition and a singles competition."
"Oh~~" Yuan Tian pursed Min's lips, "You have to work hard and win the championship."
Ji Huai continued to look at her: "It's not easy to win the championship."
"Didn't you take one?" She raised her chin slightly and looked at him with her bright eyes.
Ji Huai's clear laughter came and he nodded, "Yes, I will try to get another one."
He was really good at it. He played as the second single in the team competition and won the second game 2:0. The men's team won 3:0 and won another championship.
This time in the "Continental Star Cup" Youth Championship, the national team returned with a full load, winning three golds, one silver and one bronze. Ji Huai won the men's singles and men's team championships.
Because he is handsome, some people still took photos of him and uploaded them online, but he was not participating in a world-class competition. After all, it was still a youth competition for minors. Not many people followed him, but there were also a few comments and reposts, and they all commented on it. Compliment his appearance:
"Handsome little brother, I can do it."
"You have such a nice smile, and you nod your head a little bit."
"Oh, you look so handsome to me, you have strength and good looks."
…
After Ji Huai returned to China, he did not return to Quyan City. Instead, he continued to prepare for the Shire Youth Badminton Open in early August at the training hall of the State Sports General Administration.
He improved in all aspects in competition after competition and won the Shire Youth Open Championship.
In October, the World Youth Badminton Championships officially started. Ji Huai went as a substitute and did not play in the end.
The men's singles championship was won by Mizuki Sekiya, known as the "little badminton genius". This time they only won the men's team championship, but both the women's singles and women's doubles won gold medals.
Ji Huai sat in the audience and observed Mizuki Sekiya's playing style. The opponent had a strong sense of offense and a fierce style of play. He basically took advantage of gaps, hit neutrals, mobilized the opponent to run around the court, and then caught him by surprise and hit the ground with one strike.
Later, he faced the player in the quarterfinals at the Redan International Youth Badminton World Championships in November.
Mizuki Sekiya, who won the World Youth Badminton Championships, is at the height of his success. He will be an adult next year and will soon participate in major real international competitions. He is also being trained as a successor to the Olympics in China. Facing Ji Huai, he did not let go. In the eyes.
Basically he is attacking and Ji Huai is defending.
Ji Huai smashed the ball with a lob, and after Ji Huai pushed it back hard, the opponent directly smashed the ball in the forehand area, winning one point after another.
In the first game, Mizuki Sekiya won.
In the second sentence, the opponent attacked again and scored five points in a row. The score reached 8:14, with Ji Huai trailing by six points.
Li Cheng was very anxious. During the intermission, he handed the water to Ji Huai and kept saying, "Stay steady, switch from defense to offense, strike first, don't follow his rhythm, don't let him lead you."
"I wasn't led by him." He took another sip of water and said, "His waist is so twisted and his style of play is so aggressive. Will he be disabled?"
It is said that this guy did not come to participate in the "Continental Star Cup" last time because of surgery. Isn't it possible that he is so twisted
Li Cheng felt that his focus was a little wrong, so he raised his voice and said, "You don't care if he is useless or not, hurry up and compete seriously."
Ji Huai closed the bottle cap and played again.
Mizuki Sekiya seemed to want to make a quick decision and used his expertise to hit a four-corner smash.
Ji Huai tried his best to save the ball. When the opponent made a backhand smash in front of the net, he jumped over to pick the ball, quickly returned to the center, turned around when the opponent made the next smash, picked up the ball with his backhand, and then turned to the net to smash the ball.
He scored six points in a row to catch up to level.
When the opponent asked him to run, he ran, his pace was smooth and fast, and he learned things quickly. In the second game, he came to the match point early, caught the ball and turned to attack. When Mizuki Sekiya was running, he learned his trick. , a backhand chop followed the high ball, and it fell into the boundary, but the opponent did not catch it.
"Okay!!! Well done!" Li Cheng couldn't help but stand up and applaud. It was obvious that he was very excited.
Ji Huai still lost in the third game, falling behind by two points.
"You performed very well." Li Cheng patted Ji Huai's shoulder and said comforting words.
The opponent is the champion of this year's World Youth Badminton Championships. Ji Huai's performance is already very good. His level is there. As long as he performs normally, there will be no problem.
Ji Huai was sweating all over, and was wiping the sweat with a towel. His clothes were soaked. He was silent and did not speak, his chest rose and fell violently, and he was trying to regulate his breathing.
He and Mizuki Sekiya looked at each other. The other party also narrowly won. He is probably still frightened and unable to laugh.
After returning from that game, Li Cheng found that Ji Huai's independent training had strengthened. He was the first to arrive at the training ground in the morning and the last to leave in the afternoon.
In this game, it was revealed that his physical fitness was not enough. He did not play technically in the second half. When the opponent was playing dead corner kicks, he lost several points due to his slow pace and lack of timely reaction due to his physical fitness.
Mizuki Sekiya has a strong offensive awareness, so Ji Huai strengthens his defense and counterattack. He plays hard, so he tries his best to save the ball, improve his running ability again, and stabilize his mental quality to seize opportunities.
Ji Huai can often be seen running on the training ground. Others find it difficult to hold on for 400 meters, but he carries it hard and sweats all over the playground.
Li Cheng knew that he was not a genius, and he paid special attention to the limits of his body. However, he was like a spring, with strong elasticity and recovery power. The most important thing was that he had great perseverance and always took the initiative to break through.
In mid-March of the following year, Ji Huai participated in the Scottish Open and won the championship. This was the first time he won the championship in this Open after finishing runner-up last year.
Later, he won the championship in the National Youth Badminton Championships, beating Chen Ruiyi several times and becoming the first men's singles player in this team. He also qualified for the "Continental Star Cup" at the end of July and the "World Youth Badminton Championships" at the end of October. At that time, he will represent the national youth league as the top seed in men's singles.
Ji Huai didn't go home during the Chinese New Year this year, so Chen Xiuman visited him alone and brought him a box of dumplings made at home.
His contact with Yuan Tian was intermittent. Sometimes he wouldn't exchange a few words a week, and sometimes he would chat for several hours.
She would talk to him about school or other things, and he would tell her about things in the training camp. The two seemed to be very familiar with each other and formed a tacit understanding.
Yuan Tian went to the capital for a month-long painting training at the end of May, and Ji Huai invited her to hang out with him.
The two met in the national park. Seeing that his hair was wet when he arrived, Yuan Tian couldn't help but said, "You didn't get up early to train and then come here, right?"
"Yes." Ji Huai nodded and didn't hide anything, "Get up at five o'clock, take a shower and change clothes twenty minutes before going out, it's just in time to get here."
"..." Yuan Tian looked at him, "Have you grown taller again? You were not this tall when I last saw you."
The two actually haven't seen each other for a long time, probably nearly a year apart, but they chat a lot online and are familiar with each other, so there is no awkwardness when they meet.
"This month's measurement is 1.82 meters, which is only two centimeters taller." Ji Huai thought for a while, then looked at her wearing a white pleated skirt, "You are the one who is a lot taller."
Yuan Tian denied: "I didn't."
"Really?" Ji Huai stretched out his hand and gestured above her head, "It didn't reach my place last time, but it's here now. How many centimeters is it estimated to be longer?"
She looked at his behavior like a dwarf and reached out to pat the back of his hand. Ji Huai smiled and dodged, "Come on, I'll take you for a walk and treat you to something to eat."
"I'm going to make you poor!" she said angrily.
"Okay, eat more." After Ji Huai finished speaking, he added with a smile, "Little dwarf~~"
Yuan Tian was so angry that she didn't care about her image and subconsciously wanted to chase him. He took a long step and easily left her far behind.
The two of them walked through the streets and alleys, looking for various snacks.
Ji Huai took several portions in his hand and tasted them again and again. Sometimes he commented with a look of disgust on his face, "This one is delicious, that one is not. Just give it a try."
He also has very high requirements for food. He doesn't eat most of the time and only tastes a little bit of what he can eat.
Yuan Tian took the snack he handed and took the opportunity to make fun of it, "You still buy it if it's not delicious? You've been here for so many years, don't you know where it's delicious?"
"I don't know." Ji Huai shook his head and stuffed a mouthful of snacks into his mouth. He puffed his mouth and said vaguely, "I don't always stay at the General Administration of Sports Training. It's not like you don't know that I often go to other places for training. , I haven’t been to this place either.”
Hearing this, Yuan Tian choked for words.
She did know his whereabouts, he was always training and competing. He would take the initiative to say it, and she would often ask.
The two of them walked forward. When Ji Huai saw the charcoal-grilled beef skewers, he suddenly said, "This is delicious, especially delicious."
Yuan Tian: "Have you eaten it?"
"No, we are not allowed to eat these things during training." Ji Huai shook his head honestly and explained seriously, "I heard during our training that it tastes delicious and is a local specialty."
After he finished speaking, he walked over and bought ten skewers and handed them to her to taste.
Yuan Tian and he found a seat in the snack street and sat down. She took two bites and thought it tasted pretty good. She looked at his face close at hand and asked, "You train like this every day, are you tired?"
Ji Huai nodded: "I'm tired."
Yuan Tian stopped and muttered, "It's weird if I'm not tired. There are so many games all the time."
"Well, there are a lot of competitions. In order to compete at the end of July and October, I have not participated in the recent open competitions." He gave her another skewer of roast beef. Seeing her frowning, the corners of her mouth raised, her tone was relaxed, " I’m tired now, I’ll just take a nap and I’ll be fine. I pay good attention to my health. I don’t have any major problems at the moment. I’m working hard and happy.”
Yuan Tian knew that he would also read books on medical and physical therapy, and he would be professional and meticulous. He would be strict with food and at the same time very self-disciplined. When he saw her eating beef skewers, he was not greedy for it. It was so delicious.
She nodded, "That's good."
"You won another prize for drawing last month. This is your reward." Ji Huai handed her a box, which contained a delicate and small platinum necklace with a broken diamond on the pendant.
The style is simple and elegant, small and exquisite, and the design is unique.
Before she could react, he stood up with a smile and said, "This necklace is of great significance. I bought it with my competition bonus. Although it is not expensive, it was bought with a lot of sweat. It is a gift that is light on courtesy but heavy on affection."
After he finished speaking, he didn't say anything more. It was like a gift given casually to celebrate, and Yuan Tian had no reason not to accept it.
This is how the two of them get along very comfortably. It's not ambiguous, but if it's really pure, Yuan Tian is a little confused.
Is there really a pure friendship between men and women
After Yuan Tian went back, he looked at the necklace for a long time, put it on himself in the mirror, and chatted with Ji Huai for a while. He rested early and had to train tomorrow. After he went offline, she thought about it for a while and sent a message to Li Meina.
They were both in the Provincial No. 1 Middle School and were roommates, so they had a good relationship. However, no one knew about her relationship with Ji Huai, and they really didn't know how to tell others about it. It felt very pure, but also felt strange.
She asked Li Meina if there was any pure friendship between men and women. The other party responded quickly and sent a voice message in an excited tone, "What kind of pure friendship? Which man is here to fool you again? He must be trying to get you to let your guard down, and then Start acting like a monster. There is no pure intention between a man and a woman, unless the other person is gay."
Yuan Tian typed silently, "He didn't say anything, and then he's not the same sex? He's just a good friend. He never crossed the line. He chatted often and was very close to each other."
Li Meina: "Sisters, run quickly, you have fallen into his pond!!!"
Yuan Tian: "I don't think so. He's just very upright and upright."
Ji Huai is really upright and full of energy. He has never done anything out of the ordinary to her, which is why she feels so safe.
Li Meina: "How long have we known each other?"
Yuan Tian calculated the time and replied to her: "One year."
Li Meina sent a bunch of ellipses, "I guess... you have a good temper? A sunny and warm man?"
Yuan Tian: "Yeah."
Li Meina asked a few more details, such as whether she would deliberately say something that crossed the line, such as being jealous, asking her if she had a boyfriend, paying special attention to her, especially her feelings...
It seems that there is none, just talk about it, Ji Huai has his own very important things to do, let alone talk to her about whether he likes her or not, and what else to be together with her, that is simply impossible.
The other party sent an animated picture of a sighing kitten, "I'm overthinking it. Some people are like this. They have a good temper and strong interpersonal skills. Maybe they don't care about you at all. They are just friends?"
Yuan Tian herself felt that this was a possibility, but as soon as the other party said it, the tip of her nose suddenly became sore inexplicably as she listened to the voice, and she felt a lot depressed.
A feeling of sadness and loss came to my heart.