Chapter: 1597

Any normal man would inevitably feel a sense of pity when facing such a gentle and lovely woman.

She's like a most exquisite and rare fragrant flower, evoking a sense of tenderness in everyone.

Ye Chen may not have fallen for her, but appreciation still accounts for half of it.

Appreciating someone naturally means you don't wish that person to get hurt.

However, the opponent she's facing now is none other than Qin Ao Xue, Little Hot Pepper.

From a competitive standpoint, Ye Chen certainly hopes Qin Ao Xue wins and can bring glory to China at the same time.

However, from a personal perspective, he also doesn't want Naoko Ito to suffer too much damage.

At one moment, Ye Chen thought of cautioning Qin Ao Xue, telling her to leave some real power after getting on stage, so as not to hurt Naoko Ito too badly.

However, after hesitating for a moment, he abandoned this thought.

Because he knew he couldn't interfere with Qin Ao Xue's competition.

If he were to say this out loud, Qin Ao Xue would definitely be shocked and feel betrayed.

After all, he was her revered mentor Ye Chen, as well as her current coach. If he were to tell her to hold back on her opponent before the match, she would surely feel a sense of being abandoned by him.

So he could only keep this concern to himself, while also thinking that if Naoko Ito wasn't seriously injured, he wouldn't intervene again and let her return directly to Japan.

But if Naoko Ito was severely injured, he couldn't just stand by and do nothing; he had to rescue her once, couldn't let her become a mere mortal like Yamamoto Ichirou did.

At the same time, in the other resting room, Naoko Ito's expression was slightly tense.

Her assistant, Tanaka Hiroki, placed two phones in front of her, both of which were making video calls.

One was with Yamamoto Ichirou lying in the hospital; the other was with her father, Ito Yohei, who was far away in Japan.

Yamamoto Ichirou's face was stern as he said, "Naoko, you can still drop out now. It's best not to go on stage and compete against Qin Ao Xue; if you're seriously injured, your future will be ruined forever!"

"But if you're really going to say that, please don't say it anymore. I still have 10 minutes before I go on stage, so could you please give me some encouragement or offer some strategic advice instead?"

Yamamoto Ichirou let out a deep sigh and said, "What? You're not listening at all!"

Another phone in the other room was also ringing with Ito Yohei's anxious voice saying, "Naoko! Why aren't you listening to Mr. Yamamoto's advice? He is your teacher, and you're determined to compete in this match? Dad can't bear the thought of you getting hurt, let alone having regrets for the rest of your life!"

Naoko Ito's eyes reddened as she opened her mouth and said, "Father-in-law, you know me better than anyone else. If I retreat now, I'll probably spend my whole life regretting it. I'm only 22 years old this year. Can you really bear with me carrying these regrets for the rest of my life?"

Ito Yohei was taken aback and his voice choked up as he said, "Naoko, why do you always call me Father-in-law? Today, I want to hear you address me normally, like a child in an ordinary family. Just call me 'Onii-chan'!"

Naoko Ito immediately stood up straight and bowed deeply in front of the video screen, saying respectfully, "Onii-chan!"

"Onii-chan" is Japanese for "older brother" or "big brother". JrNovels.com