“Lin Gaoyuan, I hope the road ahead is smooth, happy, and free.”
Wang Manyu raised her glass. Her eyes were red, yet she smiled with more grace than anyone else.
At twenty-five, the world champion and “tragic artist” with nine silver medals had finally brought his career to an end with his own hands.
He said he would return to Shenzhen and take up the racing he had always wanted to try.
He said his era in table tennis was over.
He was a coward.
He had fallen nine times with the Grand Slam within reach, and in the end, he chose to walk away.
With love so close, he let go of the hand that had already embraced her.
She was brave.
She had fought her way from a small city in the Northeast to the pinnacle of the world, from substitute to undisputed mainstay.
When everyone urged her to “let it go,” she grabbed him by the collar and said:
“It’s okay if you’re a coward. I’m brave enough for both of us.”
Then she rose onto her toes and kissed the corner of his mouth.
