Chapter 81: Injury
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Both of them did not speak as they continued looking at each other.
Feixiang Lin was feeling rather complicated as he stared at Dai Li. Dai Li did not look away, watching him, expecting him to say something. It was as if time was frozen, yet the atmosphere was not an awkward one.
Gradually, Feixiang Lin's facial expression began to change, as if he had been in a difficult emotional struggle. After a long while, he sighed and said, "I think you have probably realized that my legs are almost wasted, and that I am a useless man now, haven't you?"
Dai Li did not reply. He thought the "wasted" and "useless" sounded a bit too harsh. He could not believe that Feixiang Lin would even use them to describe himself.
"Champion? I cannot be a champion anymore. I can never be a champion in this life. How could a cripple like me compete for a championship?" Feixiang Lin looked very indifferent and numb, as if he had already gotten used to being a slave who was incapable of accomplishing anything.
Dai Li pointed to the spot next to him and asked him to sit down. He said, "What on earth is happening? Would you mind telling me about it in detail?"
"There is nothing else to say. You already know everything!" Feixiang Lin said.
"Others are just spreading fake rumors. What I have heard from them may not be completely true. I think the only truth lies with you. You must have something that has been troubling you!" Dai Li asked.
Dai Li sat next to Feixiang Lin. Feixiang Lin sighed and said, "Well, I am not troubled by anything, and things are not that complicated either. I was injured and had a torn Achilles tendon surgery, but I have not recovered yet, which means I can never be as good as I was."
"So you want to give up? You are still young! You are in the prime of your athletic career. Even if you have been badly injured, you can still recover and have the ability to break the world record."
According to the statistics, an athlete of a S-rank had the potential and ability to break world records. Because Feixiang Lin was a S-rank athlete, he would definitely be able to achieve that again.
"I have already heard what you are saying hundreds of time. Yes, I am still young. I should have fun while I am still young! What can I get out of working hard in my training? Getting injured again, falling down again, lying on the bed in the cold surgery room and feeling terrified of the unforeseeable future? I think it would be better if I shot more commercials and made more money before I get old. I will not need to worry about the rest of my life anymore!" Feixiang Lin got a bit excited.
The next second calmed down again. His hands drooped sadly as,he said: "Besides, I can never be as good as I was before."
Dai Li waited a few seconds so Feixiang Lin could gather himself, then said, "Are we talking about the difficulty of your surgery or your recovery?"
"I do not know. I really do not know." Feixiang Lin shook his head. "Even the doctor cannot give me an answer. They just say that the surgery has been successful, but I do not feel like it has been. I am sure that I am not as agile as before. My legs react slowly now, and more importantly, my legs always hurt. It is as if I am constantly being stung or burned, especially when I land on the ground. I have a strange feeling that these legs are not even mine."
Feixiang Lin patted his right leg and said, "You do not understand. Every time I even make the motion of jumping a hurdle, I feel pain. I make a move, and I feel pain. The larger my movement range and the quicker I move, the more pain I feel, and it makes me worry all the time. I keep wondering if I will get injured again, and even begin to fear doing hurdles!"
"Have you told all this to the doctor?" Dai Li asked.
"Yes, I have, but they do not listen. They only check my body with a cold medical instrument and do the NMR (nuclear magnetic resonance) over and over. They look at the data on the screen of the instrument and tell me the operation was successful! And yes, the operation may have been successful, but my legs are aching too! Ah..." Obviously Feixiang Lin felt that what the doctors had been telling him was ridiculous, and completely disagreed with what he was being told.
"How about the coach of the National Team? Coach Ding Jihai, have you told him yet?" Dai Li asked.
"What can he do? He is not even a doctor. I have been so badly injured, how can I possibly recover? Coach Ding has been comforting me, but what is the point? My right leg has been wasted! I am a cripple now. I can never be as good as I was," Feixiang Lin said for the third time.
"So you had a big quarrel with Coach Ding?" Dai Li began getting curious about the situation.
"Although Coach Ding has been very strict, he has always been a father to me. He has been with me for more than ten years. He has spent ten years on me, but I know that if he left me behind, he could still cultivate the second or the third World Champion. But honestly, how many decades does someone have in them? He is already in his fifties, I really do not want him to waste his time and energy on me anymore," Feixiang Lin said. From his tone, one could tell that he was feeling rather guilty and sad leaving Coach Ding.
Suddenly, Dai Li said, "Stop saying you are a cripple. Even if your leg has been injured, has your heart been as well? Do you not want to be a champion?"
"Of course I do, but so what? I cannot be a champion. If I was as good as I was before, I could easily win a gold medal in the Olympics. But can I do it now? Your Achilles tendon has never been injured, and you have never experienced that pain. You could never understand. Unless there is a miracle, I can never be as good as I was before!"
Feixiang Lin changed his tone and said, "You are probably thinking that I am just making excuses so I can get away from training and continue living the casual life I am living now. I know you must be thinking like this. You are not the only one who has thought this."
Dai Li was a bit astonished. He had indeed thought about this. He thought Feixiang Lin was just making excuses so he could get out of training.
The training of an athlete was very tiring and boring. Those who were not determined could never become professional athletes. Who would want to go back to a life filled with tiring and boring training when they had an opportunity to enjoy a life of feasting and fun, and become so careless that they could even forget about life and death? There were too many athletes who lost sight of their dreams and began enjoying themselves too much when they became famous.
Few could still be as determined when they were facing the temptations of the prosperous and bustling world. Surely some people would say they could, but it was much different when you were actually facing the temptation every single day. Those who said they would not so much as blink their eyes if faced with a mountain of gold only said so because the mountain was not right in front of them.
The two sat in silence again. This time, the silence lingered.
"There are too many things that cannot be explained scientifically with the current stage of modern medicine. For example, some people can suffer from ENS (Empty Nose Syndrome) after receiving an operation for the removal of their turbinate. ENS is not even discussed in medical textbook. One can feel so much pain that they will want to die, yet the doctor can believe the patient is perfectly normal after referring to the clinical criteria. Some even categorize the problem as a psychological one." Thinking this, Dai Li looked at Feixiang Lin's legs.
"Maybe Feixiang Lin is telling the truth about his legs not recovering completely," Dai Li thought to himself. "After all, a ruptured Achilles tendon is a really big deal, and is very difficult to fully recover from. But I am not a doctor myself, so I cannot assess how bad his injury really is...wait, I have an idea!"
Dai Li thought of the rehabilitation massage.