Liang Zhiyi sniffed, wiped away her tears, and tried to suppress her emotions. “I’m not crying…”
When she thought of Pei Chen collapsing on the court just now, her mind went blank. Seeing him now, eyes tightly shut in pain, she held back her tears, feeling both panicked and distressed, wishing she could fly straight to the hospital.
Ten minutes later, the ambulance arrived at the city’s First Hospital.
As soon as they got out of the ambulance, Liang Zhiyi called her mother, Zhong Xinrou. “Mom, are you on the night shift today? A classmate of mine got injured playing basketball. Can you come and take a look?”
Zhong Xinrou happened to work at the First Hospital and was a leading expert in orthopedics. Hearing the worry in her daughter’s voice, she first asked for the injured person’s name and then reassured her, “I’m free right now. Don’t worry; I’ll make the necessary arrangements.”
Pei Chen was taken to the emergency department and lay on a hospital bed. Zhong Xinrou soon arrived and asked them, “What happened?”
“There was a collision during the game, and his knee got hit,” they explained.
Seeing the scar on Pei Chen’s knee, Zhong Xinrou asked, “Was he injured before?”
Liang Zhiyi then explained that Pei Chen had been in a car accident before. Zhong Xinrou and a nurse began treating Pei Chen’s knee. “Let’s send him for an MRI scan.”
Pei Chen was wheeled away, and Zhong Xinrou told her daughter, “His condition has stabilized for now, but the results of the scan will take some time, so don’t worry too much.”
“Okay…”
After Zhong Xinrou left, Liang Zhiyi turned to Principal Jiang. “Principal Jiang, they still need you at the game. Why don’t you head back? The three of us from the support team can stay here with Pei Chen. By the way, the doctor who just treated Pei Chen is my mother, so you can rest assured.”
Ji Fei’er and another boy chimed in, “Principal Jiang, you should go back. We’ll take good care of Pei Chen.”
Since the game was still ongoing and Principal Jiang was needed there, he gave them a few instructions: “Take good care of Pei Chen and report to us immediately if anything happens. Make sure Pei Chen rests and doesn’t worry about the game.”
They all nodded in agreement.
Pei Chen was brought back to the emergency room, where his knee continued to be iced. After a while, Liang Zhiyi received a call from her mother and went to her office.
“This classmate—is he the very impressive deskmate you mentioned before?” Zhong Xinrou asked.
Liang Zhiyi nodded, then asked worriedly, “Mom, how is he? Did his knee get injured again during the game?”
“The reason he’s in so much pain isn’t because of the impact itself but because it aggravated an old injury.”
“The scan just came out,” Zhong Xinrou said, motioning for her daughter to sit beside her. “I reviewed the report. His right knee’s meniscus was severely damaged before. He needs a rehabilitation surgery, but he never had it done.”
“If he had undergone the rehabilitation surgery back then, his leg would have fully recovered, and he wouldn’t be facing such a serious situation today.”
Liang Zhiyi, who had been completely unaware of this, was stunned.
Surgery… rehabilitation…
Xuan Xia never mentioned this to her back then…
Zhong Xinrou sighed, “How could he participate in such an intense basketball game with a damaged meniscus? This could very well cause irreparable damage to his leg.”
She then offered her advice, “He needs to rest properly now and avoid participating in any sports activities. Although it’s not absolutely necessary, if conditions allow, it would be best for him to undergo that rehabilitation surgery…”
…
Liang Zhiyi slowly walked back to the emergency room, holding the report in her hand.
Inside, Pei Chen lay on the bed, with Ji Fei’er and the other male support team member by his side.
Ji Fei’er noticed her return. “Zhizhi, you’re back.”
She sighed softly and said, “The school just sent word—our team lost.”
In the fourth quarter, their school was overtaken by their opponents, even though Liang Tongzhou tried his best to catch up. In the end, they narrowly lost the game.
Liang Zhiyi responded with a quiet “Mm,” her mind too preoccupied to think about the outcome of the game.
She hesitated for a moment, then suggested to Ji Fei’er and the boy, “Why don’t you two go get something for Pei Chen to eat?”
Sensing her intention, Ji Fei’er paused briefly before nodding and leaving with the boy.
Now, only the two of them remained beside the bed. Pei Chen looked up at the girl standing in front of him, his expression heavy, his throat dry.
Liang Zhiyi slowly walked closer, meeting his gaze, and then spoke in a daze, “Pei Chen, you lied to us, didn’t you?”
Pei Chen’s long lashes trembled sharply at her words.
“Your knee hasn’t recovered at all. When I asked you the other day, why did you tell me you were fine?” she questioned coldly.
Pei Chen lowered his eyes, unable to respond.
Liang Zhiyi let out a bitter laugh. “We all thought your leg had healed, so we allowed you to compete. But how could you fully recover without surgery? I didn’t even know you still needed one…”
He chose to hide it from everyone just to play in the game!
She stared at him, tears falling. “Do you realize how risky this is? How could you gamble with your health like that?”
Her voice was a mix of anger and distress. “I’m going to report the truth about your injury to the school right now. You’re not allowed to play anymore; you need to rest and recover properly.”
Just as she was about to turn and make the call, Pei Chen grabbed her wrist.
“Please, you can’t tell the school.”
Pei Chen’s voice was low and rough, as if filled with sand.
“I shouldn’t have lied to you, but basketball is really important to me.”
Liang Zhiyi was exasperated. “Is basketball more important than your leg? Pei Chen, do you realize that if you keep playing, you could end up permanently injured?”
Pei Chen’s eyes slowly turned red as he listened. “I know everything you’re saying is true, but… I’ve been waiting for this game for a long time. This is my only chance to participate in an inter-school competition.”
“You can play basketball again in the future. Is this inter-school competition really that important?”
After a long silence, Pei Chen spoke in a low, restrained voice:
“My dad was the one who taught me how to play basketball.”
“When I was little, as long as he had time, he would take me to play basketball. Those were the happiest moments of my life. But after my dad became paralyzed, he could never play with me again.”
Pei Chen lowered his eyes. “Later, because of certain things… my parents divorced. During that time, basketball was the only thing that kept me company.”
Back then, he was still in elementary school. He often came home from school only to hear his parents arguing about money, about his father’s paralysis, about their broken marriage. He was frequently woken up in the middle of the night by the sounds of their fights and things being thrown. Terrified, he would curl up under his blanket, eyes wide open until dawn.
At first, he tried to get his parents to stop fighting, but he soon realized it was useless—it only got worse. With his father becoming increasingly timid and silent and his mother growing more and more resentful, Pei Chen chose to remain silent.
He began to dread going home, to fear being there, so after school, he would go to the basketball court alone.
“I love basketball because only when I’m playing do I not feel so alone.”
His voice dropped. “I’ve never had many friends. All my happiness, loneliness, anger, and sadness—only basketball understands.”
Basketball was the only outlet for his emotions.
“To me, it’s not just a hobby; it’s like a friend I’ve grown up with. People may leave me, but basketball never will.”
Hearing this, Liang Zhiyi suddenly froze.
“Ever since I learned about the Lincheng High School Inter-School Basketball Tournament in middle school, my dream has been to stand on the championship podium with the basketball I love.”
Pei Chen let out a bitter laugh. “But then I had that car accident and could never play basketball again.”
“I didn’t get the rehabilitation surgery because…” His voice grew hoarse, “because my family couldn’t afford it.”
Of course, he wanted to heal his leg and return to the court healthy, but his family simply didn’t have the money for the surgery. He chose to hide this because he so desperately wanted to play basketball again.
Liang Zhiyi was shaken by his words, her mind reeling.
This was the first time Pei Chen had ever talked about his family and parents, the past he had always guarded with his pride, not wanting anyone to touch it.
He had been working so hard, she realized, because he was taking care of his father alone and saving money for the surgery.
Hearing this, tears blurred Liang Zhiyi’s vision, leaving her too upset to speak.
“The final game is really important to me,” he said, looking up at her with a rough, pleading voice. “Zhiyi, please don’t tell the school, I’m begging you.”
“Do you really have to play?”
“I’ve come this far. No matter what consequences I have to face, I must finish this last game.”
Liang Zhiyi turned her tear-filled eyes away, biting her lip, torn between her emotions.
The two remained silent for a long time.
Finally, the girl spoke softly, “I promise not to tell the school about your leg injury for now.”
However, she added, “But before the game next week, you must come back to the hospital for another check-up. If the doctor says you absolutely cannot play, I won’t let you go on the court.”
Though today’s pain was caused by aggravating an old injury with external force, and there were no other complications, if his condition didn’t improve after a few days of rest, she couldn’t allow him to take such a risk.
“Okay,” he agreed.
The girl lowered her head, wiping away her tears. Pei Chen watched her, his heart feeling as though it was being squeezed tightly, his thin lips trembling as he hoarsely tried to comfort her:
“I’m sorry. Please, don’t cry.”
His knee no longer hurt as much, but his heart felt like it was breaking.
Liang Zhiyi, choking back sobs, muttered, “Also, after the game, you need to come to the hospital for surgery. You don’t have to worry about anything else; just make sure you show up.”
Pei Chen remained silent, saying nothing.
After calming herself down, Liang Zhiyi called Xuan Xia. On the other end, a group of teammates was planning to visit Pei Chen at the hospital.
After a moment of hesitation, she finally said, “Pei Chen is okay. It’s late, so there’s no need for you all to rush over to see him. He’s about to go home now.”
However, Xuan Xia was still worried and insisted on coming to the hospital to check on him, telling the other teammates to go home and rest.
The coach took the phone, asking to speak with Pei Chen. Liang Zhiyi handed the phone to him, and the coach asked a few concerned questions, to which Pei Chen responded that he was fine.