Chapter 63: Her Decision
Actually, she had always known that her father was very dissatisfied with her choice. She knew it from the beginning, clearly knew it, but…
She was always unwilling to accept this fact.
Nangong Zhuo’s expression remained unchanged, his face still holding that cold look, unwavering. His daughter’s words did not move this man’s heart.
“You used to come to the stadium often for training when you were young, remember?”
This man didn’t directly answer her question, but changed the subject.
Nangong Ying looked at this path. Soon she would be able to go in and watch their training. National-level athletes training – this scene must be spectacular. When she was young, she also often trained in the stadium. Dad often trained her until she cried bitterly, without mercy. Later, she entered the martial arts team, often training with the main group in Beijing, but occasionally went to the stadium too. For her, the stadium was truly a part of her childhood life.
At the same time, her father’s strictness was also an indelible memory of her childhood.
She was once a star of tomorrow, called the person most likely to inherit Nangong Zhuo’s career. Everyone called her a genius, but only she knew, where did genius come from? Weren’t all results achieved through her own hard work?
She personally gave up the path of an athlete.
“I remember. How could I forget? When I was little, you often gave me special training there.”
“You girl often cried when I scolded you. Thinking back now, it still feels like it happened yesterday.”
Entering the stadium, the spaciousness inside greatly exceeded her imagination. A straight path extended forward, and behind the bright exit was a vast training ground. Male athletes in training uniforms were desperately sweating under the coach’s roar. The floor was already covered in liquid. Cleaning staff cleaned it repeatedly, but within fifteen minutes, it returned to its previous state.
When this group saw Nangong Zhuo, their faces showed respect, greeting this former national-level athlete one after another. In the eyes of these young people, this man was forever the pride of the country. Although he had retired, he was forever a hero.
But… who was the little girl behind this man?
This group had been in the training team for so long, yet had never seen Nangong Zhuo bring a little girl over. He hadn’t even brought his wife in. Why did he bring a girl over today?
“Are they all under your training?”
Nangong Ying looked at this group of energetic and vibrant young athletes, a sense of respect rising in her heart. No matter when, people who worked hard were always the most handsome. She had been in a training team before, knew what it felt like inside, and could empathize with the life here.
Although she was no longer one of them, her heart still held respect for this group.
“Yes. After retiring, I didn’t have other skills. The country gave me the opportunity to train newcomers. Anyway, it’s all for the country. It’s no problem for me to cultivate some more young people. Our old generation can’t fight anymore; we have to rely on the young people.”
As a former star athlete, who had represented the country many times and had an international reputation, Nangong Zhuo, although no longer on the field, his heart still served the country.
Now over forty, he just wanted to contribute a little more to the country, and incidentally, let this group fulfill the dreams of his youth.
Nangong Ying didn’t speak, silently watching this group struggle. She was always an outsider, not an insider.
She once trained crazily hard in the training team, gritted her teeth and persisted in the martial arts team, winning numerous awards, the most dazzling being the national championships. As long as she was willing, she could become an athlete. What made her different from ordinary people was that she had her father’s cultivation, help that others couldn’t enjoy, and this unique talent. Given time, she could become a professional athlete and compete for the country.
She gave up this glorious profession to become an artist. Simply because compared to the sports field, she preferred being noticed on stage. She wanted more people to see her performance.
Yes, that’s right. Being an athlete could also attract attention, but how many people could achieve what her father did? How many truly conquered the world with strength and gained the attention of ordinary people?
She didn’t want that. She wanted to be her truest self on a bigger stage.
Therefore, she gave up this path.
“Dad, do you blame me…?”
“…This is your choice. Originally, I had no right to interfere. But, seeing the daughter I personally cultivated choose to go elsewhere, as a father, I feel somewhat disappointed. But this is your choice, I cannot interfere.”
He spoke the truth.
At the same time, it was the fact he was most unwilling to accept.
He personally cultivated her, precisely to send her onto the professional stage. With her talent and effort, she could reach the end. But unfortunately, she didn’t take this path.
What chilled his heart the most was that his daughter actually chose to be an artist.
“But Xiao Ying, why did you choose the entertainment industry? There are so many choices in the world for you to choose from. Even if you just became an ordinary person, I wouldn’t have objected. But you insisted on going into the entertainment industry. Honestly, I’m very disappointed.”
As a father, he absolutely didn’t want his daughter to enter this big dyeing vat.
The entertainment industry looked glamorous on the surface, but inside, there were all sorts of hidden rules, all kinds of dirty water. Although he wasn’t an insider, as a nationally renowned figure, he understood some things about it.
The place his daughter entered really couldn’t gain his approval.
“Dad, this is my ideal. I want to perform. I want to be my true self.”
Nangong Ying also had her persistence. Her choosing this path wasn’t without reason. A long time ago, she wanted to go to farther places. Just the sports field, just this small place couldn’t make her known to the world. She wanted her name to spread throughout the country, let most countrymen know her name.
Just being an athlete couldn’t satisfy her wish.
“You had countless choices, yet you insisted on choosing the path you shouldn’t take, becoming the dirtiest kind of person. You disappoint me too much.”
“What do you mean I’m dirty? I worked hard, okay! I desperately worked hard, desperately put in effort, filming day and night on set. I even refused stunt doubles! I worked so hard for my job, did you see it? On what grounds do you say that about me!”
Other things could be ignored, but why negate her efforts? This was something Nangong Ying absolutely refused to accept.
Father and daughter always had a barrier between them. The father’s lack of understanding created their obstacle.
From the moment Nangong Ying gave up her sports career, their relationship began to crack. Although still father and daughter, there were subtle changes.
The talent Nangong Zhuo wanted to cultivate vanished in the blink of an eye, and even went into the entertainment industry. How could he possibly accept this fact?
“I won’t say anything more. Anyway, that’s the path you chose. You’ve grown up, I can’t control you anymore. Do whatever you want.”
He was already unwilling to bother with these matters.
He wouldn’t bother anymore.
“Dad, you’ve always been like this since before, always demanding I do this and that, but you never asked me what I truly wanted to do. Fine, since you don’t approve of my work, then I’ll show you results. One day, I will succeed.”
Nangong Ying left this sentence, turned around, without looking back.
It had always been like this since before. Always ignoring her opinions, forcefully stuffing unwanted things onto her. When she was young, he wanted her to learn long-distance running. Because she was young, it didn’t work out, plus she didn’t show special talent in long-distance running. He sent her to the martial arts team to learn martial arts. Later, after quitting the martial arts team, he let her enter high school as a specialty student, demanding she must win at least one national sports competition championship in high school.
Her life was always arranged.
But she was no longer willing to be arranged like this.
“One day you will understand my intentions. You go there now, I guarantee you will regret it! Do you think you will be rewarded just because you put in effort? Silly child, that’s not a fair competition field!”
Nangong Zhuo’s rare low roar frightened the several young athletes who were training.
But Nangong Ying didn’t look back, just turned her back to him, resolutely walking forward.
“Then I’ll show you. I’ll make my name spread throughout the country, I guarantee it.”
She left, without hesitation. If it were in the past, she would absolutely not dare to do this. But today, she dared.
Nangong Zhuo watched the departing figure, a sense of defeat in his heart. The daughter who used to obey his every command was finally no longer under his control.
This feeling really wasn’t pleasant. It seemed something was lost.
And Nangong Ying returned to the filming set afterward. In the following days, she frantically threw herself into filming, completely entering the state. She seemed to work even harder, performing even more desperately, but it was unknown what she was avoiding.
Nangong Ying was striving towards the place she wanted to go. No matter how difficult the road ahead, she had to move forward, because she had said, she wanted her name to spread throughout the country. She wanted to be a big star, let everyone know her. She wanted people to call her the big star Nangong Ying when they saw her, not Nangong Zhuo’s daughter.
No matter the cost, she had to obtain her own honor.
During this period, she desperately put in effort, desperately worked overtime, driving the entire crew to rush work, making the progress much faster. Soon, this movie wrapped up filming.
After such a long period of filming, “Storm Seal” finally wrapped up perfectly. Next was post-production. After completing this work, Nangong Ying, fulfilling Orange River’s appointment, entered Orange River Company’s film crew to shoot a new movie, becoming the female lead with a salary of 2.5 million. This salary was even higher than her 500,000 salary for “Storm Seal.”
She agreed to film for Orange River, but refused to become an actor under their banner, also refusing multiple contracts. Because of this, both sides were not very happy. But Nangong Ying still entered the crew to shoot the new movie. This new movie was still a costume drama, but not a female-led drama, but a male-led one. She played a female martial artist with high skills but a slow brain.
While others didn’t know, Nangong Ying was slowly spreading her wings and taking flight.