Once the car started moving, Datou still couldn't help breaking the silence. "Sister Manyu, did Shasha break up with me because she's angry with me?"
Wang Datou spoke with cautious tentativeness, his tone inquiring.
"Datou, do you think Shasha treats you well?" Wang Manyu's tone lacked its usual detachment, carrying a hint of heartache.
Datou and Shasha were the teammates and friends she was closest to; she didn't want to see anyone drift apart.
"She treats me very well. In this whole world, aside from my parents, she treats me the best," Wang Chuqin replied in a muffled voice, speaking with utter earnestness.
That was why he couldn't figure out why Shasha suddenly thought he was childish. Wasn't he always like this before? Didn't she like him anymore?
"The three of us have played table tennis together since we were kids. Shasha and I are very close, and she's good to everyone on the team, but she treats you differently than she treats the rest of us. You know that, right?" Wang Manyu continued.
"She used to look at you like a big brother, and afterwards you went through so much together through thick and thin. You should know in your heart how she has always treated you."
Wang Chuqin didn't answer, because he knew it all too well.
When he was at his lowest, she stayed by his side and comforted him; when he doubted himself, she encouraged him and told him he was the best player in the world; when he was restless and impulsive, she calmed him down and told him not to rush; and in his moments of glory, she stood right beside him, sharing the victory and triumph with him.
The goodness Shasha showed him was steeped in time, stacked up in every little detail, a grand feast in his life.
They were the "destined mixed doubles pair" chased after by the whole world, the "childhood sweethearts" in the eyes of the media, and the "lucky charm of the Chinese National Table Tennis Team" blessed by their seniors.
Yet in the corners unseen by others—during their late-night seaside strolls and bustling street walks—they were just two ordinary, worldly young lovers, bickering and fooling around, eating and drinking, holding onto the simplest and purest happiness.
Throughout his grueling, monotonous, and high-pressure athletic career, he had faced skepticism and abuse, possessed flowers and applause, and confronted—
Amidst all the twists and turns and hardships along the way, his greatest and truest happiness was being with Shasha.
Training together, going to competitions together, eating in the cafeteria together, gossiping about other people, discussing techniques together, reviewing match footage, inventing new tricks in secret, sneaking out for late-night snacks, writing self-criticisms together, running and losing weight together. Oh, and all the other things they did in secret. Too many, far too many...
In short, Wang Chuqin hadn't been joking earlier: Shasha was the most important person in his life. If Shasha stopped playing table tennis, he could accompany her to do anything else.
The prolonged silence inside the car made the air feel somewhat heavy.
"Sister Manyu, just tell me straight. What on earth is wrong with Shasha? I don't believe she's had a change of heart. I admit I lost my cool earlier and was acting irrationally jealous. And I shouldn't have gone looking for her so abruptly to interrogate her about why she wanted to split up our mixed doubles pairing. She must have been hurting just as much. But I don't understand why Shasha insists on breaking up, and why she's so determined about it."
By now Wang Chuqin had calmed down considerably. He knew Shasha must have said something to Manyu; this was probably his only channel to understand Shasha's true thoughts.
"You just need to know that she's genuinely doing this for your own good, and then you'll understand," Manyu said slowly.
Lin Gaoyuan glanced at his girlfriend's slightly distressed face, reached out with his right hand to gently clasp Manyu's, and gave her a look that said, "Don't worry, I'll handle the rest."
He glanced in the rearview mirror at Datou's scrunched-up, puzzled expression, thinking to himself: *My wife just spelled it out so clearly, and even I understood. If you still don't get it, no wonder Sun Yingsha wants to dump you.*
"Datou, think about what Sun Yingsha cares about most. Today you said you'd never play mixed doubles with anyone else, and you even said that if she can't play anymore, you won't play either. People might find that touching when they hear it, but take a guess—does Sun Yingsha find it touching?" Gaoyuan said slowly.
Hearing this, Wang Chuqin's mind went slightly blank before plunging into deep thought.
Would Shasha be touched? No, she would only feel even worse. If she truly couldn't play anymore, she would certainly feel lost and devastated, and if she ended up dragging him down so that he couldn't play either, cutting his career short as well, she would blame herself even more.
That was their shared passion and dream; they had bonded initially over the exact same aspirations, which was the very source connecting them at the beginning. If everything they had fought so hard for had to be abandoned because of her, how heartbroken would she be?
Shasha wasn't someone who put romance above everything else; she hoped he could pursue his own dreams, enjoy the fruits of his hard work, and be truly happy. If she became a stumbling block or a burden to his future, she would turn away decisively—even if it meant lingering alone in the darkness, facing the fear of a completely unpredictable future all by herself.
Shasha had always been so resolute and broad-minded, standing at a height of thought he had never even reached, tenderly sacrificing for him.
"Sister Manyu, Brother Yuan, I think I understand now." Wang Chuqin drew a long, deep breath. But suddenly his train of thought shifted, and he realized an even more serious problem.
"Sister Manyu, tell me the truth. Is Shasha's wrist really injured so badly that she can't play anymore?"
The car instantly plunged into an icy silence. All three of them held their breath, leaving only the faint sound of tires rubbing against the asphalt and the distant hum of traffic.
Manyu took a deep breath, deciding to disregard Shasha's warnings and tell the truth.
"The situation is terrible. She has severe injuries not just to her wrist, but to her shoulder and her knees as well. To compete in the Los Angeles Olympics, Shasha received six cortisone injections half a year ago. She was afraid you would worry, so she never told you."
Wang Manyu's words made the air in the car freeze even further.
In the back seat, the man kept his head down so his expression couldn't be seen, but the crimson corners of his eyes welled up with sparkling droplets that quickly slipped away.