The news media had long called the 29th Olympic Games the Silent Olympics. Sinni saw that the vast and empty stadium during the opening ceremony was now covered by a sea of 100,000 people, but the silence remained. The silence in this sea of people was the heaviest silence. The reason why Sinni was not mentally crushed was because Emma's appearance attracted her attention.
The complete defeat of the West Asian Republic in the simulated war was a foregone conclusion. The departure of Sarri had completely broken the spirit of the West Asians. The West Asian sports delegation had already fallen apart before their country. Some wealthy or well-connected officials in the delegation had disappeared. The athletes, who could not go anywhere, locked themselves up in their rooms in the Olympic Village apartments, waiting for their fate. No one had the energy to watch the last game or attend the closing ceremony. When Sinnie walked to the starting point, only Claire accompanied her. Under the gaze of 100,000 people, she looked so lonely and weak, like a small dead leaf floating in the vast stadium, which could be blown away by the wind at any time.
In contrast to her poor opponent, Frances Emma was escorted to the starting line by a crowd of people. Her coaching team consisted of five people, including a famous sports physiologist, and her medical care team consisted of six doctors and nutrition experts. Three people were responsible for her running shoes and clothes alone. Emma has now become a half-human, half-god celebrity. As early as the early 1980s, someone predicted that based on the growth rate of the world's best women's marathon results, excluding non-physical competitions such as shooting and chess, marathon would be the first sport where women would surpass men. This prediction came true at the Chicago International Marathon three years ago: Emma created the world's best result that surpassed men. In response, some male sports commentators sourly believed that this was due to the separation of men and women. During the women's race, the wind speed conditions were obviously better than those of men. If Scott (the men's champion) ran with them at that time, he would definitely have surpassed Emma. This self-comforting myth was broken at the 2004 Athens Olympics. Men and women ran the entire course together. Emma left Scott more than 500 meters behind when she reached the finish line, and for the first time brought the world's best marathon time below two hours. She thus became the most dazzling sports star at the beginning of this century and was called the Earth's Divine Deer.
This black girl named Emma has always been the sun in Sinnie's heart. Among her few meager possessions, the one she treasured most was a tattered scrapbook, which contained hundreds of photos of Emma that she had cut out from old newspapers and magazines. Next to her narrow upper bunk in the refugee camp, she pasted a large color sports photo of Emma, which was one of the photos in a calendar. Sinnie saw the calendar at a stall last year, but she couldn't afford it, so she waited for someone else to buy it. She followed a buyer and watched the grocery store owner hang a new calendar on the wall next to the counter. Emma's photo was in March, and Sinnie waited eagerly for three months. She often ran to the grocery store and took the opportunity to open the front page to take a look at Emma's photo when no one was paying attention. On the morning of April 1st, she finally got the calendar that had become a waste page from the store owner. That was her happiest day. Now, at the starting point, Sinni secretly looked at her opponent a few meters away from her. At this time, the stadium and the sea of people had disappeared from Sinni's eyes, and only Emma was there. Sinni felt that there was an invisible halo around her. She breathed the air from the world outside, bathed in the sunshine from the world outside, and not a single speck of worldly dust could fall on her.
At this time, Claire gently pushed Sinni to wake up. He whispered, "Don't be scared by her. She is not as scary as you think. I have observed that she has poor psychological quality." Hearing this, Sinni turned her head and looked at him with wide eyes. Claire understood what she meant, "Yes, she has competed with the fastest men in the world and defeated them, but so what? She didn't have any pressure that time, but this time is different. This is a race she absolutely cannot lose!" He glanced at Emma and lowered his voice, "She will definitely adopt a preemptive tactic and reach the highest speed after the start, trying to get rid of you in the first ten kilometers. Remember, bite her at the beginning and let her consume while leading. As long as you follow her in the first twenty kilometers, her spirit will collapse!"
Xinni shook her head in panic.
"Kid, you can do it! That pill will help you! It's a drug that can't be detected in any drug test. It's as powerful as nuclear fuel. Can't you feel it? You're already a world champion, kid!"
At this moment, Xinni felt an inexplicable excitement, a strong desire to release something through running. She looked at Emma again, who had completed the lengthy and professional preparations that Xinni had never seen before, and stood shoulder to shoulder with her behind the starting line. Emma had always held her head high and never looked at Xinni, as if she did not exist.
The starting gun finally sounded, and Xinni and Emma ran out side by side, starting to circle the field at a steady pace. Wherever they went, the audience stood up, forming a surging wave of people in the stands. The sound of the crowd standing up was like a dull thunder in the distance, but there was no other sound. People watched them run silently.
In previous training, Xinni always felt a sense of peace after each start, as if she had temporarily left this cruel world and entered her own time and space, which was her paradise. But this time, her heart was full of anxiety. She wanted to finish this lap as soon as possible and enter the world outside the stadium. She wanted to reach a place as soon as possible, where she had what she wanted, a drug called GMH-6.
She ran in the dim corridor of the hospital. There was a pungent smell of medicine in the air, but she knew that there were not many medicines left in the hospital for the patients. There were many helpless patients sitting and lying against the wall of the corridor. Their screams were fleeting in her ears. Mom was lying in an equally dim ward at the end of the corridor. Her skin was dazzlingly white on the dirty sheets of the bed. It was a dying white. There were a few drops of blood oozing out of this white skin. The nurse was too lazy to wipe it. The sheets around Mom were wet with a circle of red. This is a strange disease that many people have suffered from recently. It is said that it was caused by a uranium-containing drug in the recent bombing. Just now, the doctor told Xinni that Mom was hopeless. Even if the hospital had that kind of medicine, it would only last for a few more days. Xinni gestured desperately in front of the doctor and asked where there was that kind of medicine now. The doctor took a lot of effort to understand what she meant. It was a medicine that the doctors of the United Nations relief agency had recently brought. Maybe it was in the relief base on the outskirts of the city. Xinni took out a piece of paper and a pencil from her schoolbag and held them in front of the doctor. The burning anxiety and desire in her big eyes made the doctor sigh. It was a new drug from Western Europe. It didn't even have an official name, only a code name. Forget it, kid. That drug is not for poor people like you. In fact, what's the difference between dying of starvation and dying of illness? Okay, I'll write it to you...
Sinnie ran out of the hospital gate. It was so tall and magnificent. Above the gate was a holy fire, like a beacon from heaven. She remembered that she had followed the national flag through this gate three days ago. Now, where was the team of athletes from her motherland? What was guiding her now was not the national flag, but Emma, the god in her heart. Just as Claire expected, once she was out of the gate, Emma began to accelerate rapidly. She was like a light black feather, blown by the strong wind that Sinnie could not feel. Her long legs seemed not to be pushing herself to run, but just to grab the ground to prevent herself from flying into the air. Sinnie tried hard to keep up with Emma. She had to keep up. Her own two feet were driving her mother's wheel of life. Is this the street in the capital? When did it become so wide? There were gorgeous high-rise buildings and green lawns next to it, but there were no craters. There were crowds of people on both sides of the road. Those people were neat and white, and they were obviously people who could eat enough. She wanted to take a ride, but it was a day of martial law, saying there was an airstrike, so there were almost no cars on the road. It seemed that there was only the guide car that appeared and disappeared in front of Emma, and several cameras could be seen on it facing them. Sinni knew deep in her mind that she couldn't take that ride, and the reason... was very clear. She had been there before. She had already run to the UN relief base, in a white house, and she showed the doctors the paper with the name of the medicine. Oh, no, a doctor who could speak West Asian said to her, no, this medicine is not part of the relief supplies, you need to buy it, oh, of course you can't afford it, I can't afford it either. So, Emma, why are you still running? I can't get the medicine, mom... Of course, we have to run, to get back to mom quickly, so that she can take one last look at me, and let me take one last look at her. Thinking of this, Sinni's anxiety burned again, and she subconsciously accelerated, catching up with Emma, almost surpassing her - let her consume while leading! Sinni remembered Claire's instructions, and slowed down to follow behind Emma. Emma noticed Sinni's move and immediately started the second round of acceleration. They had already run five kilometers, but the West Asian furry kid had not been left behind. Emma was a little annoyed. The Earth God Deer showed its crazy side, burning in front of Sinni like a ball of black flame. Sinni also accelerated. She had to catch up with Emma. She hoped that Emma would go faster. She missed her mother... Ah, no, the road was wrong. Where was Emma going? What was that giant needle piercing the sky in the distance? The TV tower? The TV tower in the capital seemed to have collapsed long ago. But no matter where she went, she wanted to follow Emma, follow the god in her heart... ... She knew that her mother was no longer in this world.
Covered in mud and sweat, Xinni pushed open the door of the ward and saw her mother's lifeless body covered under a white sheet. Two people were trying to move the body, but Xinni blocked them like a mad little beast, so they had to give up. The doctor who wrote the name of the medicine for her said, "Okay, child, you can stay here with your mother for one night. Tomorrow we will take care of your mother's funeral, and then you have to leave. I know you have nowhere to go, but this is a hospital, child, and it's not easy for anyone now." So Xinni sat quietly beside her mother's body, watching a few blood stains appear on the white sheet. Later, the pale moonlight shone in from the window, and the blood stains turned black in the moonlight. After an unknown amount of time, the moonlight had moved to the wall. Someone came in and turned on the light. Xinni didn't look at the person, but felt him come over and grab her hand. The rough hands pressed her wrist motionlessly for a while. She heard the person say, "Fifty-two beats." Her hand was gently put down, and the person continued, "Before dark, I saw you running from a distance upstairs. They said you went to the rescue base. There were no cars today. Did you run there? It took you only an hour and more than ten minutes to run back, about 20 kilometers, and this also counts the time you wasted at the rescue base. Your heart rate has now recovered to 52 beats per minute. Xinni, in fact, I noticed you a long time ago, and now I have confirmed your talent. Don't you remember me? I'm Sturm Oka, a physical education teacher, who taught physical education in your class. You didn't come to school this semester because of your mother's illness? Oh, just when your mother died, my grandson was born upstairs, Xinni, life is like this, coming and going in a hurry. Do you really want to be like your mother, struggling in poverty all your life, and finally leaving the world so miserably?" The last sentence touched Xinni, and she finally woke up from her trance. She looked at Oka and recognized the thin middle-aged man. She shook her head slowly. "Very good, child, you can live another life. You can stand on the podium in the center of the magnificent Olympic Games. People all over the world look at you with admiration, and the national flag of our suffering motherland will also rise because of you." Xinni's eyes did not shine, but she listened carefully, "The key is, are you going to suffer?" Xinni nodded, "I know you have been suffering, but the suffering I am talking about is different, child, that is unbearable for ordinary people, are you sure you can bear it?" Xinni stood up and nodded more firmly, "Okay, Xinni, come with me."
Emma maintained a constant high speed, her movements were precise and uniform, like a program that entered an endless loop, like a running machine. Xinni also wanted to turn herself into a machine, but it was impossible. She was looking for the next destination, and the destination disappeared, which frightened her. But she actually held on, she actually caught up with the Earth God Deer, she knew that the magical medicine had taken effect, she could feel it burning in her blood vessels, giving her endless energy. The route turned 90 degrees, and they ran to the world's widest street called Chang'an Avenue. It should be wider, because there should be endless deserts on both sides of the road. In the training that lasted for several years, no less than 20 kilometers a day, Xinni's favorite was this road outside the city. Every day, the distant desert looked smooth and soft in the dark of the early morning, and the green road stretched straight to the horizon. The world seemed extremely simple, and there was only her, and the sun rising at the end of the road seemed to belong to her alone. During that period, although the training was harsh, Xinni still lived a happy life. Men and women who passed by her couldn't help but look back at her. They were surprised to find that the face of this mute girl was ruddy. Compared with the other girls with the same sallow faces, she looked much more attractive. Xinni herself was also surprised that she could eat enough in this hungry country! Oka placed Xinni in an empty staff dormitory in the school. Oka personally delivered her meals every day. There was enough staple food such as bread and potatoes, which was quite good. From time to time, there were cheese, beef, mutton and chicken eggs. These things could only be bought on the black market and were as expensive as gold. Xinni didn't know where Oka got so much money. As a teacher, his monthly salary was not enough to feed himself for a week. Xinni asked several times, but he always pretended not to understand her sign language... ...
On the other side of the Asian continent, the West Asian republic was on the verge of disintegration, the government was paralyzed, the declared war criminals began to flee, and ordinary citizens waited numbly. The few who were still watching the live broadcast of the Olympic marathon began to spread the news, and more and more people returned to the television and radio.
The road became wider, so wide that Sinni could not believe it. She knew that she was running on the largest square in the world. On the left was a magnificent ancient oriental building. She knew that behind it was a magnificent palace of an ancient empire. On the square on the right was the flag of this vast country that was both ancient and young. Sinni initially thought it was a kingdom, but people told her that it was also a republic and had suffered more than her own republic. At this time, she saw a red signboard passing by, with "21 kilometers" written on it. The halfway point of the marathon had passed, but Sinni was still following Emma. Emma looked back at Sinni. This was the first time she looked at her opponent in the eye. Sinni caught her eyes and was shocked: the arrogance in her eyes had disappeared, and Sinni saw fear in them. Sinni shouted in her heart: Emma, my God, what are you afraid of? I must catch up with you! Although it was a road without a destination, Sinni had something to escape from. She wanted to escape from the people in Teacher Oka's house. They were waiting for her at school! They wheeled Oka to her residence. There came Oka's wife holding a baby, his three brothers, and several other relatives whom Sinni did not know. They pointed at Sinni and asked Oka angrily, where did you get this wild child? Oka said she was a marathon genius! They said Oka was a fool. In this era when people were starving to death every day, who would still think of marathon? We all know that you are an incurable dreamer, but you shouldn't have sold that old version of the Quran. The words on it were written in gold powder and were very valuable, but it was an heirloom and the whole family was starving for so long that they were reluctant to sell it. And you used that money to support this little mute to live like a princess, while your own grandson didn't even have milk to drink! Didn't you hear him crying all night? Look at how thin he was... ... Later, there were rumors that Sinni was the illegitimate child of Oka and Weina (Sinni's mother). At first, this statement seemed untenable, because it was well documented that Wina had lived in a northern city a few years before and after Sinni was born, and during that time, Oka was in the south participating in the First West Asian War as a second lieutenant in the army and was injured. But there were rumors that Oka's war experience was a big lie, that he had never participated in the war, nor had he been to the southern front, and that he actually spent the first war in the north with Wina.
Thirty kilometers later, Xinni was still following Emma. The race was reported and the whole world was paying attention. Two helicopters were in the sky. In the West Asian Republic, everyone gathered in front of the TV and radio, holding their breath and watching this final marathon.
At this time, the anemia caused by lack of oxygen has turned the world into a ball of black fog in Xinni's eyes. She feels that her heartbeat is like a series of explosions, and each time it causes severe pain in her chest. The ground is like cotton, and there is no place to step on. She knows that the effect of the medicine has worn off. Venus emerges from the black fog, and the Venus merges into a ball. That is the Olympic flame. My fire is going out, Xinni thought, it is going out. General West held the torch and smiled like a father. Xinni, if you want to keep the fire from going out, you have to light yourself. Do you want to burn yourself? Light me up! Xinni shouted, and the general held out the torch. Xinni felt herself burning up... ...
That night, Xinni packed her simple luggage and went to Oka's room in the staff dormitory. He had moved out of his home a few days ago. Xinni said in sign language: I am leaving, teacher, go home, so that your grandson can have milk. Oka shook his head, his hair had turned gray in the past few days, Xinni, you know, this is our common cause... ... Do you have to leave? Do you still think that what I have done for you is unreasonable? Well, I will give you a reason: what they said is true, I am your father, I am just atonement. Xinni was skeptical about those rumors, but she believed it all after hearing what Oka said. She did not cry in her father's arms, he owed them too much, which made her accept this fact very calmly, but it was still the happiest moment in Xinni's life, after all, she had a father.
At this time, a girl's cry could be heard faintly. It was Emma, it was Emma. She was crying while running, saying something intermittently. The words were very simple, and Xinni, who only had a junior high school education, could almost understand them: "God... ... what should I do... ... tell me... ... what should I do..." Xinni almost felt sorry for her at this time. My God, you have to keep running. What should I do without you? I don't know the destination. Emma got the answer. The voice came from the miniature earphone in her right ear. It was not God, but her head coach. "Don't be afraid, we are sure that she has exhausted her strength. She is running hard now, and you still have great potential. You just need to calm down. Listen, Emma, slow down and let her lead."
When Emma slowed down, Sinnie felt a brief sense of excitement, but when she realized that Emma was following closely behind her, she realized that she had encountered a fatal move. Sinnie currently has only three choices: one is to slow down with her opponent, forming a situation where the two of them are running slowly and in parallel, which will allow Emma to recover both physically and mentally; the other is to lead at the current speed, so that Emma will have a chance to recover mentally (which is what she needs most at the moment). Any of the above choices will allow Emma to restore her top-notch fighting power as a marathon superstar, and Sinnie will definitely lose in the duel in the last distance. The only hope of winning is the third choice: to speed up quickly and get rid of the opponent. With Sinnie's current exhausted physical strength, this is almost impossible to succeed, but she still made this choice and started to speed up. Even for experienced long-distance runners, leading is a heavy psychological burden. For this reason, in most marathon races, participants are divided into several groups and move forward in parallel at an agreed speed. If someone in each group starts to provoke and speed up, unless he (she) is sure to finally leave the opponent behind, he (she) can only be the leader and become a stepping stone for his followers to win. Xinni had almost no experience in competition. When the road ahead was unobstructed and the hot summer wind hit her, she was like a person swimming in the ocean with a small boat. The boat suddenly disappeared, and she was the only one floating in the endless waves. She needed a psychological support, a destination, or a purpose, and she found it. She was going to her father.
Oka sent Sinni to an unemployed track and field coach in the suburbs, who instructed her training for a period of time. Five days later, Sinni received the news of her father's death. She rushed back immediately, but only got Sturm Oka's urn. Sinni watched her father's body weaken day by day during the last days, but she didn't know that her training during this period was supported by his selling blood. After Sinni left, Oka suddenly fell to the ground during a physical education class and never stood up again. Just like the night her mother died, Sinni sat quietly in the small room at school, and the pale moonlight shone through the window on her father's ashes. But not long after, the door was knocked open, and Oka's wife and the group of relatives broke in, asking Sinni what Oka had left for her, and rummaging around in the house. The old principal of the school followed in and reprimanded them for their reckless behavior. At this time, someone found a new sweatshirt that Oka had left for Sinni under her pillow. There was a pocket sewn inside. They tore open the pocket and took out an envelope with a note on it that it was a legacy for Sinni. It seemed that Oka had long realized that his body could not support him for much longer. The old principal snatched the envelope and said that Sinni was Oka's teacher's daughter and had the right to get it! The two sides were arguing, and Oka's wife held the urn against her ear and kept shaking it, saying that there seemed to be a metal object inside, which must be a wedding ring! Before she finished speaking, the urn was snatched away, and the white ashes were poured onto the table. A group of people were searching inside. Sinni screamed and rushed over, but was pushed to the ground. When she got up and rushed over again, someone had already found the piece of metal in the ashes, but he immediately threw it on the ground. His hand was cut, and blood flowed out in a striking line on his palm covered with ashes. The old principal carefully picked up the object from the ground. It was a small diamond-shaped piece of metal with extremely sharp corners. He told everyone that it was a piece of *shrapnel. Oh my God, so Oka really fought in the South?! Someone exclaimed. After a moment of silence, they understood the meaning of this matter: Xinni, Oka is not your father, and you are not his daughter. You have no right to inherit his estate! The principal tore open the envelope and said, "Let's see what Teacher Oka left behind." He pulled out a piece of white paper from the envelope. Under the gaze of a group of people, he stared at the white paper for three minutes, and then solemnly said, "A rich legacy." Oka's wife snatched the paper from him. The old principal continued with the second half of the sentence, "It's a pity that only Xinni can get it." A group of people stared at the piece of paper for a long time. Finally, Oka's wife looked at Xinni in confusion and handed the paper to her. Xinni saw that there were only a few words on the paper. It was written by her teacher, coach, and the person who was not her father but she was willing to be his daughter. He used up the last strength of his life to write it. The handwriting was so strong that it could be seen through the back of the paper: (To be continued)