Su Jun stared intently at the girl, a hidden fire of rage burning in his eyes.
In the cramped room, there were only two pieces of worn-out furniture.
On the heated brick bed, Guo Yanping slowly took off her shoes, revealing her severely deford feet.
Su Jun, as well as the police officers present, all gasped.
They were feet that were completely twisted, with several toes overlapping, and severe bunions.
They looked almost like the feet of a monster.
Su Jun pressed the cara’s shutter, capturing the scene.
"I was a really good runner when I was little. When I was nine, I took second place at the city gas. The people running with were all taller and older than , but they just couldn’t outrun ."
"Later, my gym teacher sent to the Qilihe Sports School. After just one year, they wanted to send to an even better sports school. My dad sold our house in the village just to scrape together enough for my tuition. That day, after he paid the fees, he bought two sesa seed buns at the school gate, told to train hard, and then he left."
"Then in ’95, a coach scouted and brought onto the National Team. Back then, we trained in a rundown railway sanatorium at Shanhai Pass. It was completely sealed off. There were wolfdogs on guard, and none of us could go out. We couldn’t even call or write letters to our families."
Su Jun, who had sat down across from her, adjusted the cara angle to focus on Guo Yanping’s vacant gaze.
"Training was incredibly hard back then. Sotis we’d get up at four in the morning and start with a 40-kiloter run. During intense training periods, they’d double it. Only after we finished running could we co back to eat. There wasn’t much to eat, just stead buns, pickled vegetables, and eggs. After eating, we’d go right back to running—dozens of 400-ter and 800-ter sprints."
The middle-aged couple beside them had already started to sob, covering their faces.
The seated police officer silently lit a cigarette, his brow furrowed as he listened.
"I really didn’t want to train anymore, but the other girls on the team all said, ’Just keep at it. We’re all country kids, not cut out for school. If we don’t do well at this, what else can we do? At least they feed us and give us a place to live here, and we might get a job assigned to us later.’ I was young back then, so I just had to endure it and keep training."
"Anyway, I rember my feet started giving out the second year. Before a competition, they hurt so much I couldn’t even stand. The coach would just give cortisone shots. Later, the soles of my feet were rotting, but I didn’t dare say anything. I was afraid the coach would yell at and call useless. He had a bad temper and always hit us. One ti, he beat Sister Sun, who was two years older than , and broke her bones."
Su Jun silently clenched his fists. His nose tingled, and he asked through gritted teeth, "What about later? After you started getting results, did things get any better? I saw in the files that you won a lot of dals."
"Sixteen dals in total, I think."
Guo Yanping gave a bitter smile and shook her head. "I never felt it was that great. It was just constant training, then competitions. Eventually, I won second place in an international marathon. That was my best achievent."
"And then, my feet gave out. I couldn’t run anymore. Last year, the coach told to go ho and get treatnt, but they couldn’t fix it. He told to retire, gave a few hundred yuan, and sent ho. But I didn’t want to! Since ’95, my monthly salary and all my prize money from competitions, he held onto all of it. I don’t even know how much money there was."
"When I went to find him after the New Year, he beat up again. Then he said he’d arrange a job for . And what was the job? He assigned to stoke boilers for the railway. I can’t even stand up, and he wants to stoke boilers?"
"My thoughts?"
In a spacious room, Guo Yanping sat in a wheelchair behind a podium, staring blankly at the reporters in front of her.
Cara flashes went off one after another, and the endless CLICK-CLICK-CLICK of shutters filled the air.
After a long mont, Guo Yanping finally spoke. "I sotis think that if I could live my life over again, I would never, ever take up running. It was just too hard."
She looked out at the crowd and forced a smile.
Beside her, a serious-faced Su Jun cleared his throat and took over. "What I want to say is that situations like Guo Yanping’s are not isolated incidents. For example, let ntion soone else."
"Zhou Chunlan." Su Jun held up one finger, his expression grave. "She once won three consecutive gold dals and broke world records. She was our country’s best weightlifter. But after she retired in ’93, who ever heard her na again?"
"Not long ago, when my colleague found her, she had just left the sports brigade and was working in a bathhouse, scrubbing people’s backs."
"If that’s not enough, I’ll give you another one: Cai Li."
"How many of my fellow journalists here even rember him? In his career, he won more than 60 championships and was known as Asia’s Strongest Man. But after retiring, due to problems with his job assignnt, he’s now working as a security guard at the local sports brigade. Most importantly, the injuries accumulated from training have left him plagued with illnesses. To pay for treatnt, his family is destitute."
"Returning to the cases we previously covered—Liu Yudong and Hu Weidong competing while injured—we truly hope that through these stories, we can draw everyone’s attention to this issue and hopefully bring about so change."
「Phoenix.」
Chen Yu closed his laptop. He replayed the video he had just watched in his mind, his feelings a complicated mix.
Looking up at Su Jun, who was sitting across from him, Chen Yu thought for a mont and asked, "So, has there been any change?"
Su Jun nodded. "Yes, things have gotten a little better."
A smile appeared on his face. "We helped Guo Yanping find a lawyer, and we’re in the process of suing her coach. We also found a doctor for her to see if her feet can be treated. As for the others, our reports have brought them widespread attention, and people are now willing to help solve the problems they’re facing."
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