11 Wang Chuqin

After the National Table Tennis Team's Spring Festival Gala ended, they were given a holiday. Although it wasn’t many days off this year, there were still a few days of break during the festive season.

Although Duan Nanzhou lived far away and couldn’t return home in time, it didn’t stop her family from coming to Beijing to reunite with her.

Originally, Wang Chuqin wanted to meet Duan Nanzhou as soon as the gala finished, but he never found the chance.

At first, Duan Nanzhou was surrounded by the female team members, who were all clinging to her affectionately. Then the coaching staff paid her a lot of attention. Finally, several key players from the men’s team came to greet her. In the end, Wang Chuqin couldn’t find a moment to get close.

Especially the coaches—they were watching very closely. The men’s team coaches were somewhat indifferent, even hoping their young stars might win over the big girl. But the women’s team coaches, especially Wang Hao and Qiu Yike, kept a tight watch, worried their precious girl might be swept away.

In the following days, Duan Nanzhou went out to tour Beijing with her visiting parents. They all wanted to spend the holiday together, and she herself needed to go home for the festival. So, the two hadn’t met for quite a while.

When the team regrouped after the New Year, they immediately plunged into intense training. The coaches temporarily stopped Duan Nanzhou from frequently going to the men’s team area. Under this heavy training schedule, the two hardly saw each other, only sometimes exchanging a few messages on their phones, which usually ended with Duan Nanzhou citing her busy schedule.

Duan Nanzhou herself didn’t understand why the training had become so demanding lately. Except for meals and rest, she was constantly training. Even her good roommate, Sun Yingsha, rarely saw her outside of breaks.

Judging by the coaching staff’s endless meetings and planning, it seemed they had some special arrangements for her. Duan Nanzhou’s year turned into a whirlwind of nonstop activity.

What complicated matters further was that her schedule rarely overlapped with most of the national team’s, so many team members hardly saw her at all. Duan Nanzhou was too busy to even think about what the coaches were planning.

However, her good roommate Sun Yingsha and several key players from the men’s and women’s teams were equally busy, each following their own arranged routines.

With the next year’s Olympics approaching—especially since it was to be held in a country where “someone was having a good time”—Duan Nanzhou guessed that this frantic pace was mostly because of that. But she was so exhausted she barely wanted to think about it.

Returning to such a relentless training lifestyle made Duan Nanzhou feel like she was back to her days as a systematic trainee, so overwhelmed she even doubted her own sanity.

Fortunately, this intensity lasted only about half a year; otherwise, Duan Nanzhou joked, she might have quit before the Olympics arrived.

From the coaches’ perspective, however, she was practically superhuman. Despite the grueling schedule, she remained spirited and visibly improved at an astonishing rate. They marveled at how she didn’t hit a significant plateau but kept progressing. She was already regarded as the national team’s number one “phenom.”

So, Duan Nanzhou was only getting stronger and more consistently so.

This routine went on for a long time, nearly until year’s end, when it finally eased a bit.

Returning to a relatively lighter schedule, Duan Nanzhou felt somewhat dazed. Especially when she saw Wang Chuqin again, she realized how long it had been since they’d had a proper, extended meeting.

Perhaps because they hadn’t trained together like before, an awkward atmosphere lingered between them.

Because of their rare meetings and being placed on different squads, many in the national team speculated that the two might have broken up, so they were avoiding each other.

Wang Chuqin wanted to say: Nonsense!

In truth, Wang Chuqin himself was upset. Not only were they split up, but they hardly got to see each other or train together anymore!

During those days, Wang Chuqin openly protested, barely training properly and even losing his temper during matches, smashing his paddle. The coaches soon reprimanded him, threatening that if he didn’t improve, he’d be sent back to his provincial team and never see Duan Nanzhou again.

But after the scolding came a carrot: if he performed well and progressed quickly, they would consider pairing him with Duan Nanzhou again for mixed doubles.

Caught off guard, Wang Chuqin promised to work hard, embarking on a period of intense effort for his future.

Thus, that year Wang Chuqin also improved visibly.

Seeing Duan Nanzhou now, Wang Chuqin felt tears welling up. He desperately wanted to tell her about his efforts and progress, but they were still just ordinary friends; some things simply weren’t appropriate to say.

“Big Head? Why don’t you come over?” Duan Nanzhou looked at Wang Chuqin, who had clearly come to find her but was standing at a distance, hesitant.

“Nanzhou, long time no see…” Wang Chuqin sounded like a melancholy, artistic soul, about to say more.

Duan Nanzhou quickly made him bring a paddle and play a round, cutting through his sentimental mood. After being "crushed" in the game, Wang Chuqin finally snapped out of it and returned to his usual attentive and caring self.

“Big Head? How do you feel?” Duan Nanzhou knew Wang Chuqin well. He was prone to little bouts of sentimentality and sadness, and she never knew what he was thinking. Although he was like an older brother to her biologically, she had never called him that nor acknowledged it—he was just an immature little boy in her eyes.

“Zhouzhou, you’ve gotten even stronger!” Wang Chuqin’s eyes lost focus from the earlier game. Though he wasn’t at his best then, it was clear that Duan Nanzhou had improved even faster than him over the past year. When would he ever catch up?

Wang Chuqin sank back into his own thoughts, restless over the past months.

Already insecure and overthinking in this silent crush, the year apart had made him feel that their friendship and the budding romance between them were extinguished. Seeing Duan Nanzhou treat him like just a regular friend today pushed him over the edge.

Indeed, unrequited love breeds insecurity, making one imagine the worst. Wang Chuqin’s mood hit rock bottom, but he kept it to himself, playing with Duan Nanzhou and eating with her as usual before escorting her back to the dorm, then retreating to process his feelings alone.

However, his good friends suffered too. Hurt by Wang Chuqin’s heartache, they endured his wild mood swings—singing breakup songs one moment, asking “why, why” in despair the next, or lying down silently mumbling to himself.

When they asked what was wrong, Wang Chuqin said nothing, leaving his friends frustrated and bewildered. Even Ma Long, Xu Xin, and Fan Zhendong came over, concerned and asking what had happened.

Feeling like he was out of the game and emotionally down, Wang Chuqin didn’t want to drag Duan Nanzhou into his turmoil, so he chose to sulk alone for a few days until he was ready to face her again.

As a result, after that first day seeing Wang Chuqin, Duan Nanzhou didn’t see him for over a week. Even when she sought him out in the men’s team area, he was nowhere to be found.

The few brothers forced to help keep his secret, along with some gossiping teammates, found the task difficult. “What’s up with Big Head? Did he get rejected? Is that why he’s avoiding Nanzhou?”

The older brothers exchanged looks, then glanced at a carefree Duan Nanzhou, who kept casually coming to find Wang Chuqin, and gave her a look as if she were the heartless one.

Especially Xu Xin, who looked at her as if she were a heinous sinner, leaving Duan Nanzhou baffled—she was only trying to find out where Wang Chuqin had gone.

Unable to find him, Duan Nanzhou wondered if he was really avoiding her. Later, she gave up searching. Meanwhile, rumors on the women’s team circulated that Wang Chuqin had found a girlfriend during her absence.

Hearing this gossip, Duan Nanzhou was stunned. It seemed unlikely; team rumors were often absurd. They had even fabricated stories about her dating several handsome men, complete with detailed romantic tales, which she had to deny repeatedly, much to the disappointment of the curious female teammates.

Convinced that Wang Chuqin’s feelings for her were real—otherwise, why would he come looking for her and act so ambiguously? Although they hadn’t seen much of each other that year, he had come to find her again shortly after his return, though he soon disappeared again.

Still, Duan Nanzhou felt she needed to confirm the dating rumors. If they were true, continuing this ambiguous “entanglement” with him would make her the real heartbreaker!

With that in mind, she quickly messaged Wang Chuqin, asking him to meet after training that evening for a chat.

Without waiting for his refusal, she hung up. Wang Chuqin had wanted to reply with a “not going” and pretend to be dead in the dorm, but his good brothers betrayed him.

After training and dinner, as he headed back to the dorm, Wang Chuqin was literally dragged out by his close friends Lin Gaoyuan, Liang Jingkun, and Liu Dingshuo. Seeing Duan Nanzhou waiting outside the men’s dorm, arms crossed and with a “so it is” expression, Wang Chuqin felt awkward.

Duan Nanzhou had anticipated that Wang Chuqin might try to refuse, so she enlisted Lin Gaoyuan and the others to “gently coerce” him out. Under her imposing presence, they readily agreed, promptly forgetting all their instructions from their good friend.

Thus, Wang Chuqin was hauled outside, still stunned and embarrassed, his shocked face and the tuft of hair sticking up on his head unable to be smoothed down, standing there lost in thought.

His friends had long since abandoned him and left.

“Let’s go. I just want to ask you something,” Duan Nanzhou said, grabbing Wang Chuqin’s arm and pulling him forward, signaling him to follow. The men’s dorm entrance was hardly a suitable place for a serious talk.

So the two walked in silence to a quiet spot, ready to discuss the matter at hand.