The terminal of Beijing Capital International Airport was packed with onlookers.
Wang Chuqin pushed two large suitcases and walked ahead with a backpack, turning his head from time to time to see if Shasha was keeping up. They were the only two athletes from the Chinese National Table Tennis Team sent abroad for this competition, accompanied by a group of energetic seventeen- and eighteen-year-old athletes from other sports. Dressed in the uniforms of the Chinese Team, they caught the attention of passersby who raised their phones to take pictures.
The Youth Olympic Games, an event athletes could only participate in once in their lifetimes, kicked off in Buenos Aires, Argentina, in South America. Each country was allowed to send only one male and one female table tennis player, and the coaching staff had placed high hopes on the two of them.
Chapter 43