Shi Niannian handed the mineral water bottle to Jiang Wang and left.

The two-day sports meet ended completely after the 4×100 relay, and everyone, having just witnessed such a dramatic scene, was still savoring it when the National Day holiday began right after.

Everyone returned to their classrooms to pick up their homework and then dispersed to go home.

When Shi Niannian arrived home, Xu Ningqing was already there.

Since starting university, he had barely stayed at home. Like last night, he had only dropped her off at the door before returning to sleep at his apartment.

Shi Niannian changed into slippers in the entryway and called out, “Brother.”

“You’re home early today,” Xu Ningqing said while playing his game. “I was planning to pick you up after finishing this round.”

“The sports meet… ended early.”

Xu Ningqing nodded without saying anything more.

When she took out the silver medal, her aunt almost wanted to hang it in a prominent place in the house.

Shi Niannian didn’t know whether to laugh or cry, and it took a lot of persuading to stop her.

Her aunt rubbed her hair: “Look at you, so impressive with that small frame, even winning a silver medal. Your aunt will have to keep it safe, as a family heirloom.”

Xu Ningqing rolled his eyes without the slightest consideration for her feelings: “You’re treating something the school bought in bulk for a few dollars as a family heirloom.”

His mother slapped his leg hard: “What do you know! Can this be measured in money?”

“Hmph, I had several medals back in high school, too,” he retorted.

“You ungrateful child, moving out as soon as you started university! What would I want your medals for?” his mother rolled her eyes back at him.

Xu Ningqing sat up straight, pointing at Shi Niannian: “Tell me, isn’t your aunt being way too biased?”

Shi Niannian smiled gently on the side.

Although her aunt and brother were always bickering and arguing, and sometimes her brother could make her aunt so angry that she wouldn’t speak to him for days, it was still easy to feel that the mother and son had a very good relationship.

She smiled until her eyes grew sore, rubbed them, and then returned to her room to do homework.

The bar sign displayed a cursive, flamboyant character for “Wild.”

Inside the bar, more than a dozen young men occupied a corner booth, smoking and playing cards.

Jiang Wang tossed out a single card, turned his head to yawn, looking rather uninterested.

“Where are you going for the National Day holiday?”

“Everywhere is congested these days. It’s too late to decide on a trip now.”

“Exactly. Look at that fatty Fan Mengming, how efficient he is. He got himself a goddess last week, and now they’re going to Disneyland together for the holiday.”

Nearby, Xu Ningqing lazily played with his phone. Hearing this, he laughed, “That fat guy got a girlfriend so quickly?”

“Yeah! Tsk, it’s unbelievable, like a flower stuck in cow dung!”

As everyone chatted, suddenly a guy holding his phone hollered.

“Holy shit! Wang, is this you?”

He passed over his phone.

It was a video from today’s 4×100 relay, recording the entire process of Jiang Wang overtaking three people and breaking through the finish line.

Others also crowded over to watch.

“Wang’s back in action?!”

“Where did this come from?”

“My cousin posted it on her Moments. I heard it’s gone viral! Everyone’s talking about this race!”

Beside them, Xu Ningqing raised his eyebrows and opened his WeChat. If all of First High was forwarding this video…

He first clicked on Shi Niannian’s WeChat. This girl’s Moments were almost empty; Xu Ningqing had never seen her post any content.

Sure enough, there was nothing.

However, he quickly found the video in the Moments of other friends, posted by a former schoolmate who should now be a senior in high school.

At the end of the video, Jiang Wang took a bottle of mineral water from a girl.

Others might ignore this detail, but Xu Ningqing couldn’t—that was his sister!

And since Jiang Wang had stopped participating in such competitions after his ear problem, Xu Ningqing hadn’t expected him to take part at all, especially since Jiang Wang wasn’t the type with strong class spirit.

He narrowed his eyes slightly and nudged Jiang Wang with his elbow.

Jiang Wang looked over.

“Why did you participate in the sports meet this time?”

Jiang Wang made a questioning sound, his gaze returning to the cards in his hand. He glanced at the game, threw out his last five cards, and didn’t respond.

“Was it to show off in front of Shi Niannian?”

The deafening music pulsed with the beat; Xu Ningqing’s somewhat teasing words could only be heard by Jiang Wang.

He still did not react, just tugged at the corner of his mouth.

“For someone like her,” Jiang Wang laughed, his voice deep and magnetic, “would winning a gold medal even help?”

“True,” Xu Ningqing nodded and chuckled, not acting like an older brother at all. “You also think she’s pretty clueless, right?”

“Then why did you participate, especially in the 4×100 relay?” Xu Ningqing asked again.

Jiang Wang handed his cards to someone else, extracting himself from the game.

“For the bottle of water in her hand,” he finally said carelessly.

Xu Ningqing was stunned.

“Jiang Wang,” Xu Ningqing’s voice carried a hint of schadenfreude, “you’re about to fall hard.”

He had returned late yesterday and woke up close to noon.

His head was pounding, and there seemed to be signs of a slight fever.

Jiang Wang sat on the edge of the bed, lit a cigarette, then coughed for a while. He frowned slightly; the light filtering through the curtains made him squint uncomfortably.

After finishing the cigarette, he stubbed it out in the ashtray.

He finished a quick wash, didn’t bother to check his temperature, just found a box of fever medicine and swallowed two pills with cold water.

He took a phone call, grabbed his keys, and went out.

On the first day of the National Day holiday, there weren’t many people at the swimming pool.

“Coach,” Jiang Wang pushed open the door.

The coach immediately stood up when he saw him and patted his shoulder: “You’re here! How have you been lately?”

He replied lazily: “The same as always.”

“Want to try?”

Jiang Wang asked: “No one training in the facility now?”

“No, I gave them three days off for the holiday.”

The training area was on the other side, not the same area as the pool open to the public. When Jiang Wang changed his clothes and walked in, there wasn’t a single person there.

Jiang Wang took off his shirt, revealing clean-cut shoulder lines and beautifully proportioned muscles.

“Get ready, I’ll time you,” the coach said.

“Mm.”

He took out his hearing aid, a flat square piece. The coach glanced at it: “You wear this every day now?”

After removing the hearing aid, sounds became much fainter, but fortunately, the swimming pool was spacious with good acoustics, so Jiang Wang could still vaguely hear the coach’s words.

He made another sound of acknowledgment.

“—On your marks!”

The coach stood on the other side, giving commands as in an official competition.

Jiang Wang took his starting position.

It had been more than a year since he’d last done this—a feeling both strange and familiar.

The coach waved his hand, issuing the command, and Jiang Wang leaped into the water, his movements beautiful, his lines extremely smooth as he plunged beneath the surface.

To non-professionals, it was a perfect entry with extremely fast speed, but the coach paused, looked down at the timer, and paused again.

Compared to his former peak condition… There was indeed quite a difference.

Although with this level of skill and some intensive training, there was no doubt he could make the provincial team, the coach also knew Jiang Wang’s character.

If he wanted to do it, his target wouldn’t be the provincial team, but the national team.

What he wanted was first place.

At 17 or 18 years old, young men and women are in their prime, their dreams just beginning to take root, their lives fresh and new, their paths ahead uncertain yet full of unknown challenges and hope.

But Jiang Wang was different.

His dream started early and was shattered early.

At 18, he had received permission to join the national team, but that same year, he developed an ear problem, which consequently prevented him from entering the national team.

For an athlete, a hearing impairment is fatal.

Jiang Wang was an extremely proud person. He didn’t want to compete for a gold medal against disabled athletes because of his hearing, but compared to able-bodied athletes, his hearing problem would significantly slow his reaction to the starting gun.

In competitive sports, even one-tenth of a second must be fought for with countless drops of sweat.

Even Jiang Wang, exceptional as he was, was powerless against this disadvantage.

After his hearing was impaired, he had gone through a period of hellish training, but still couldn’t stabilize his performance at his previous standard. The decline was substantial, and for a young, arrogant youth at that time, the blow was fatal.

Everyone knew how proud Jiang Wang was.

What he wanted was to stand above everyone else, to take the crown and be king.

If that wasn’t possible, he could only resolutely give up.

Finishing the 400 meters, he hit the timer and stood up from the water.

He didn’t need to see the time; his body’s response told him the result wouldn’t be good.

“Maintaining this level after a year without training is already quite remarkable,” the coach still encouraged him. Jiang Wang was one of the most promising people he had ever seen, and had been trained as a key prospect back then.

He smiled and patted the coach’s shoulder: “I’m going.”

After leaving, Jiang Wang went to a nearby convenience store and bought a pack of cigarettes and a lighter.

He tilted his head, put a cigarette in his mouth, cupped the flame with one hand, and skillfully lit it. Through the swirling smoke, he saw a man in a suit who was also looking at him with fury.

“Jiang Wang, look at yourself—how are you anything like my son?” the man frowned.

Jiang Wang raised his eyelids, scanning him up and down.

Jiang Chen wore an immaculate suit, his hair slicked back without a strand out of place, while he had just come from the swimming pool, his hair not even dry yet.

Indeed, they didn’t look alike.

He slightly raised his eyebrows and blew a puff of smoke toward him.

“If we weren’t in front of the company, you’d see if I wouldn’t beat you to death,” Jiang Chen said, restraining his anger.

The Jiang Group was right across the street.

No wonder they met.

Jiang Wang laughed outright: “Mr. Jiang is impressive.”

“Don’t talk to me like that!” Jiang Chen pointed his index finger at his face.

Shi Niannian came out of the bookstore, not expecting to see Jiang Wang.

She had come by bicycle, and after buying books, she went to the back of the bookstore to find her bike when she saw Jiang Wang and a… man fighting.

Not wanting to get involved in trouble, she turned to leave.

But then she heard the man kick Jiang Wang to the ground and roll up his sleeves: “Today I’m going to teach you a good lesson, you little beast!”

Shi Niannian paused, looking back.

The man appeared to be in his forties, dressed in a suit and leather shoes. Jiang Wang sat on the ground, chin raised, with a cold, self-mocking smile.

She had seen Jiang Wang fight twice before, but had never seen him so disheveled and defeated.

“Stop!” she shouted, her voice wavering halfway, sounding lacking in confidence.

She ran between the two, arms spread wide in front of Jiang Wang. “I-I’ve already called the police.”

The words came out stuttering, and no one would believe her. Jiang Chen frowned, glancing at Shi Niannian.

She had casually put on her school uniform when going out, with First High’s emblem on her chest.

Jiang Chen angrily said, “Get out of the way!”

Shi Niannian looked at the man before her, and for a moment xthought his features somewhat resembled Jiang Wang’s.

Jiang Wang grabbed her hand and pulled Shi Niannian behind him again, his eyes flashing with fury and gloom.

“Try touching her, I fucking dare you.”