Chapter 177: Ruined for Life

The woman looked at the older woman with a glimmer of interest. The corners of her mouth slowly curled upward, her slightly red lips parting to reveal a cold, detached voice laced with frost. "Shouldn't you be the one giving an explanation? Weren't you the one who killed Li Xue?"

Mu Ran's words were drawn-out and carried a hint of killing intent.

Feng Chun bit the inside of her cheek, her chest heaving violently, anger burning in her eyes.

She forcefully suppressed her panic, using anger to mask her fear.

"I don't know what you're talking about."

Mu Ran let out a cold laugh, lifting a slender finger and slowly reaching it out toward Feng Chun.

"What are you doing!"

Feng Chun took a step back, but her legs, weakened by fear and tension, failed to support her upper body, and she collapsed heavily onto the ground.

"Get away from me, stay away!"

Looking up at Mu Ran towering over her and catching the chilling glint in the other woman's eyes, Feng Chun felt a wave of panic.

Why did Mu Ran know that Li Xue's death was related to her?

And what about the drugs she had mentioned?

Where on earth had this Mu Ran found out about that?

Dead men tell no tales; it couldn't possibly have been Li Xue who told her!

"Coach Feng, what are you afraid of?"

Mu Ran squatted down nonchalantly, positioning herself right in front of the terror-stricken older woman. She extended her arm and brushed the snow off the other woman's shoulder.

Feng Chun stiffened all over, full of resistance. Glancing out of the corner of her eye at Mu Ran's hand, her entire body went rigid, her hair standing on end as she entered a state of complete defense.

"Li Xue wasn't killed by me, Mu Ran, stop talking nonsense!"

Mu Ran stood up lazily, the smile at the corners of her lips fading. "I didn't say you killed her."

Feng Chun was left speechless, closing her mouth.

"I heard from a teammate of ours that the treatment for athletes in Huaguo is exceptionally good—endless delicacies every day like abalone, lobster, matsutake, and sea cucumber. I wonder if it's true."

One of the American athletes playfully patted Shao Ping's shoulder, casting occasional glances at Feng Chun on the ground.

Feng Chun's shrewish incompetence had already become the talk of the American national team.

Every coach on the American team held this head coach of the Huaguo national team in utter contempt, privately dubbing her the tumor of the skiing world.

Could it really be true?

American athletes possessed a strong thirst for knowledge.

"Mumu, back when you were on the national team, Coach Feng was also the head coach. Was your treatment really that good?"

Mu Ran and Shao Ping exchanged a glance, chuckled softly, and shook their heads.

They were the kind of people who were never favored by their teammates on the national team.

Simply because they were too good.

The meals Shao Ping and Mu Ran ate in the national team were nothing more than ordinary radishes and cabbages.

Where on earth were there any exotic delicacies?

Athletes were at the national training team to train, not to lounge around and get fat.

"Is it true? I heard that the favorite disciples personally trained by Coach Feng live the high life, eating the best of everything."

The American athlete persisted with the questioning.

Mu Ran glanced at Feng Chun, who was looking up at her with a warning in her eyes. Her tone was lingering and deeply suggestive. "Is this something we're allowed to talk about?"

"Why wouldn't it be?" Shao Ping snorted coldly, glancing at the live-streaming camera moving toward them.

"Ahem!"

Feng Chun gritted her teeth and stared with wide eyes, her bloodshot eyeballs seeming ready to burst from their sockets.

"If it's not something that should be said, then don't say it! Everyone in the national team is completely equal. Eating, drinking, living, and traveling—we all get the exact same treatment. How could there possibly be any exotic delicacies!"

Shao Ping scoffed at the older woman's threats. "Don't listen to her. The national team nowadays has been completely ruined by this woman. Everything looks fine on the surface, but it's all an act—just a front this woman puts up to fool the inspection teams sent from above."

"Shao Ping, shut your mouth! Say another word and get out of the national team!"

Seeing the camera behind Feng Chun getting closer and closer, Shao Ping raised his voice significantly.

The boy first glanced at Mu Ran, who wore a blank expression of detachment, and receiving her silent tacit approval, he began to speak in a continuous stream.

"The national team today is nothing like it was back when my master was here. Back then, my master Mumu—none other than your idol Mu Ran—was on the national team, and Coach Feng didn't dare to act too unscrupulously."

"You ask why? Well, obviously it's because Mumu was an athlete hand-picked to join the team by the leaders of the Huaguo Sports Administration, so Feng Chun was wary of her."

Shao Ping cast a triumphant glance at Feng Chun, whose fury was so intense her eyes looked ready to pop, and the boy felt his excitement double. "But Feng Chun had her ways; she ruthlessly squeezed out a world champion."

"Ever since then, the national team has been in a slump. Of course, there are still some good prospects, like myself and Zuo Yunxuan—just the four of us carrying the burden."

"The other athletes don't train every day; instead, they suck up to Feng Chun. When Feng Chun is in a good mood, she takes them out, pocketing training funds to treat those flatterers to gourmet feasts."

Excited by his own words, Shao Ping unzipped his ski jacket, pulled his phone out from an inner pocket, and walked forward to stand right in front of Feng Chun.

The boy unlocked his phone and held it up directly in front of the camera. "Look, I secretly took this. I didn't eat a single bite of it myself—eating too much of that stuff gives you internal heat."

"Shao Ping! Who are you showing that to?"

Suppressing her rage, Feng Chun let out a venomous cry laden with despair.

Straining to lift her neck, she watched Shao Ping's movements.

Shao Ping offered a sarcastic smile. "Turn around and look, I'm showing it to a lot of people."

"What?" Feng Chun's internal alarm bells rang wildly.

She wanted to twist her waist and look back, but she couldn't turn around.

Her waist was injured—slammed into by that Richard.

"Come on, cameraman, stand over here. Coach Feng is getting up there in years, and her back isn't doing so well."

The cameraman hoisted the broadcast camera and filmed Feng Chun's hideous expression up close.

Live Stream Comments:
[I never expected this Feng Chun to be so utterly corrupt behind the scenes!]
[I'm so furious!]
[That scared the hell out of me. What kind of look is that woman giving? Terrifying!]
[Is she trying to commit murder?]
[Athletes eating sea cucumbers?]
[If athletes who contribute to the country like Mu Ran and Shao Ping eat sea cucumbers, that's totally fine!]
[Right! Why should those do-nothing athletes be eating gourmet feasts every single day?]
[Hello everyone, I am Li Changde, Head of the Inspection Team at the State General Administration of Sports. We will immediately verify whether what Shao Ping just said in the live broadcast is true!]
[Holy crap! The officials are here!]
[Verify it quickly! Feng Chun is a cancer to the team!]

Shao Ping held his phone, opened the live broadcast room, and a look of surprise washed over his face, quickly replaced by gloating amusement. "Coach Feng, who is Li Changde?"

"Who?"

Feng Chun feigned utter indifference, maintaining a poker face while her heart pounded wildly.

She snatched the phone from Shao Ping's hand and looked at the comment in the live stream.

"I asked, who is Li Changde? He just said in the live stream that he's going to investigate you." Catching the older woman's panic, Shao Ping's smile grew even wider.

Feng Chun's hands trembled, her lips quivering as she found herself utterly unable to utter a single word.

"Oh my, Master, if I remember correctly, Li Changde is the head of the Sports Administration's inspection team."

Mu Ran curved her lips into a faint smile at Shao Ping, turned, and stepped onto the escalator. Just before leaving, she dropped a final remark to Feng Chun: "Coach Feng, it seems your troubles are far from over."

"You! Mu Ran! Why don't you just go die!" Tears welled in Feng Chun's eyes, her heart drowning in infinite panic and despair. She was finished.

The rest of her life was completely ruined.

There were at least a million people watching the live stream; everything she had done in the national team had been exposed.

Fortunately, at least the matter regarding Li Xue hadn't been exposed.

She collapsed onto the ski slope, leaning weakly against the foam safety barrier behind her.

"Coach Feng, you won't be getting any more exotic delicacies. Go enjoy prison food instead."

Under Huaguo law, embezzling public funds—especially from the national team—guaranteed a prison sentence of at least three years.

"You!"

Feng Chun gritted her teeth and stared fiercely, pointing a finger at Shao Ping's carefree, gloating face. A mountain of angry words choked in her throat.

The next second, she closed her eyes, kicked her legs, and passed out cold.

"Let's go, my two American friends. The finals are starting."

Shao Ping gave a cold snort toward the old woman, rolled his eyes, and then threw an arm around the shoulders of the two American athletes as they stepped onto the escalator.

...

The finals began.

Mu Ran was the very last competitor.

Shao Ping and the two American athletes had already completed their runs.

Everyone's gaze converged on Mu Ran standing on the platform.

Would that brilliant, extraordinarily talented former skiing champion and current world record holder, Mumu, complete this competition with her signature flawless moves?

Mu Ran glided smoothly down the high platform, her movements light, her posture standard yet full of power.

Another flawless routine brought to a perfect close.

Suddenly, Shao Ping and the two American athletes, who had been craning their necks, shouted in unison, "Wait! Something's wrong!"

A split second before Mu Ran was about to land from her descent, the skis on her feet detached.

The woman tumbled down.

This scene looked uncannily like the moment Richard had tumbled down from the peak.

How could this be?

Deeply worried, Shao Ping unstrapped his own skis and stepped forward.

By this time, Mu Ran had already rolled to a stop at the bottom.

"Master! Are you alright? What on earth happened? Did someone tamper with your board?"

With a dark expression, Mu Ran slowly picked herself up. Her icy, freezing gaze swept the surroundings, her face growing even colder and more displeased.

She nodded slightly, took a few steps forward, turned around, and picked up the fallen ski. When she saw the crack running across it, the killing intent in her eyes burned even hotter.

"I'm fine, no injuries." Casually tossing the ski aside, she slowly reassured the anxious and unsettled Shao Ping.

Mu Ran took off her gloves and patted his shoulder. "Don't worry. If I lose, you're the champion."