Almighty Coach

by Stayrr

How could a poor graduate student without any background or connections become successful? With a coaching system? An upgrade? This is not a computer game, but real life we’re talking about! This will be a fantasy based on reality. Dai Li will fight back against all those who would mock and humiliate him with his astonishing and awe-inspiring training skills. From a nobody he’ll t

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Chapter 253: The Guess Work

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

Waiting always makes people unable to calm down. It was just like sitting on a boat and shaking with the waves. The mood of anxiety was like the bad weather when you are struggling with the waves, which make you complain about your bad luck and cause in you some reverence and fear for God.

Finally, when his phone vibrated, Director Zhang knew that the bureau had replied to his message. Hurriedly he began sliding his phone screen.

"Director, I have personally verified that there is no one from the Labor Union or the Family Planning Office on the training staff trip to America. But there is one from the Retired Officials Division. He is the division chief, Changjin Xiao."

Seeing this, a grim look appeared on the face of Director Zhang.

"It is true that Supervisor Jiang of the Inspection Group noted one of them! So, it seems that the example said by leader Jiang was not a coincidence. He was just now talking about us!" Director Zhang felt that his heart was suddenly in his throat and sweat broke out on his forehead.

"Could it be that the Inspection Group is going to use us as a warning to others? If so, I will have to bear the responsibility." Clenching his fists, Director Zhang cursed Shousheng Liu, who was responsible for the training program in America, and Changjin Xiao, who caused the trouble.

Changjin Xiao always gets me into trouble. This time he has pushed me in front of the Inspection Group. Stupid guy! If this gets worse, even I could be punished! The more he thought, the more nervous Director Zhang got. However, with so many years of official experience, he quickly calmed down and started to analyze the matter.

But then again, there were so many departments, like the human society department, the housing department, the land and resources department, and the tax department that had real power. Compared with the Sports Bureau, even the science, education, culture, and health departments were more prominent. How could Supervisor Jiang have noticed us alone? And how did he know this? It must be someone in our bureau who disclosed this. Who is so widely connected to bring this to the Central Inspection Group?

Director Zhang heaved a sigh as he could not think about someone so tricky in the Sports Bureau.

The problem must have been caused by the allocation about quota for going abroad! Realizing this, he took out his phone again and texted a message.

"Tell Shousheng Liu and Changjin Xiao to wait for me in my office."

…

Standing in front of the office door, Changjin Xiao was nervous and didn't know why he was asked here.

In the distance, Shousheng Liu came over and greeted Changjin Xiao immediately. "Xiao, are you coming to report to Director Zhang?"

Changjin Xiao shook his head and replied, "Director Zhang told me to wait for him here. He is attending a meeting at the Provincial Party Committee and hasn't come back."

"What a coincidence. Me too. He also asked me here," Shousheng Liu said.

"Did he tell you why?" Changjin Xiao asked in a low voice.

"No. I was informed by the office." Shousheng Liu asked, "What about you?"

"Me too. I was also informed by the office, and I know nothing else," Changjin Xiao replied.

They both fell silent and tried to figure out why Director Zhang had asked them there. To figure out what's on the mind of the leader, in other words, understanding the intention of leader, was one of the basic skills of middle-class officials.

Suddenly, Changjin Xiao asked, "Director Liu, is everything alright for me to go to America?"

"Sure, no problem. It's all settled," Shousheng Liu said confidently.

"I mean the coach I have replaced. Any problem with him?" Changjin Xiao asked again.

"The coach called Dai Li from the track and field team?" Shousheng Liu sneered. "Take it easy. Dai Li comes from Yuzhou City, and he does not have any connections in our Qing City. You shouldn't worry about him."

…

Just after the meeting, Director Zhang walked out the number one conference hall in a hurry.

I have to get back to figure out what happened. Thinking this, Director Zhang walked faster.

Just then, a man came up beside him. As he kept pace with Director Zhang, he said, "Zhang, why are you walking so quickly? Since everyone is trying to get out, the exit of the parking lot will be blocked again."

"It's you, Du!" Director Zhang slowed down a bit and said with amusement, "Easing the traffic is just your work, Du. Since the road is blocked, why don't you get down to your work quickly?"

"What can I do? The road is so narrow!" Du said.

The "old man" was the deputy director of the traffic police department of the Public Security Bureau. Since the Sports Bureau often hosted sports games or national fitness activities, it was quite normal to ask the traffic police to maintain and ease the traffic. Therefore, the business between Sports Bureau and Director Du was quite a lot. As a result, Director Zhang and Chief Du had become familiar.

Director Du said, "Zhang, I heard that your department would send people abroad. To America, right?"

"How did you know?" Director Zhang asked in surprise.

"Hey, it's no big deal to me. Recently, many coaches from your Sports Bureau came to the Entry-Exit Administration Center for passport application or change," Chief Du explained.

According to the regulations, the passport application for officials of the institution would be put on a special register. Someone who were in a high position even needed to submit their passports to his or her organization for safekeeping.

However, Director Zhang frowned and asked, "Du, you are in charge of traffic police. When were you in charge of the Entry-Exit Administration?"

"I happened to see that!" Lowering his voice, Chief Du continued, "Supervisor Jiang of the Inspection Group came to our bureau for inspection that day and met someone he knew at the service hall who was applying for his passport. After all, this man was related to Supervisor Jiang, so we checked him out by the way and found that he was a coach from your bureau."

"Some guy in our bureau knows Supervisor Jiang!" Instantly, Director Zhang's back was soaked by cold sweat and the doubt in his mind was solved immediately.

"Du, check for me who the coach was!" Director Zhang said at once.

"Well..." Chief Du hesitated.

"I know it is against the rules, but it's important to us. Du, do me a favor!" Director Zhang continued to say.

"OK. I'll check it for you." Finally, Chief Du agreed.

"Du, this is very important, check it for me at once when you get back, as soon as possible," asked Director Zhang, with an urgent expression.

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Chapter 254: He Has Connections

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

After more than an hour, Shousheng Liu and Changjin Xiao finally met with Director Zhang when he came back.

However, when they saw the serious look on the face of Director Zhang, they both felt that it must be that someone had made Director Zhang really angry.

The two looked at each other and entered into the office, looking down.

Without asking them to sit down, Director Zhang asked directly, "Why does the name of Changjin Xiao appear on the list for coaches studying in America?"

"It is because of this. I had it right." Shousheng Liu took a peep at Changjin Xiao.

Shousheng Liu was the one who was in charge of the matter of studying abroad. If he failed his mission, and the director wanted to blame someone, he would be held responsible for it.

Nevertheless, Changjin Xiao was the beneficiary. At this time, Shousheng Liu hoped that Changjin Xiao would stand up to defend him.

Changjin Xiao was a good man, and he didn't shift the blame all onto Shousheng Liu. He said, "Director Zhang, it's my fault. I wanted to go abroad to see advanced training ideas in America, so I asked Liu to get a quota for me."

Seeing Changjin Xiao took the responsibility onto himself, Shousheng Liu sighed with relief at once. But Director Zhang snorted on the other side of the table. He knew how this thing had played out, even without anyone telling him anything.

However, Director Zhang was quite satisfied about Changjin Xiao's attitude toward admitting his mistakes. He then asked, "The quota for going abroad this time is so few. Whose place was replaced?"

Shousheng Liu dared not conceal the matter. As a matter of fact, this kind of thing could not be concealed at all. He had to answer honestly. "For the track and field team, Coach Weidong Chu didn't want to go, and instead they sent a young coach called Dai Li. He is only about 26. He is too young, and he is inexperienced in leading a team. Besides, he has no official title. I think it is a waste to let him go to America. Therefore, we gave the quota to Chief Xiao."

"Dai Li? You thought he was young, powerless, and easy to bully!" Director Zhang's words exposed the mind of Shousheng Liu.

Shousheng Liu smiled cunningly and said, "Director, don't worry. I would never do anything that would trouble our bureau. I have checked about this Dai Li. He comes from Yuzhou City. He is just an ordinary coach, without any interpersonal connections in Qingcheng."

At that time, Director Zhang's phone rang.

It's Du. He must have checked out the coach who knows Supervisor Jiang. Director Zhang picked up his phone right away.

"Hello, Du. How's it going?" Director Zhang asked.

"I found it out. The coach is called Dai Li from Yuzhou!" Director Du replied.

"What! Dai Li?" Director Zhang almost jumped out of his chair.

And then he glared at Shousheng Liu resentfully.

An ordinary coach? No interpersonal connections? Then how does he know Supervisor Jiang of the Inspection Group of the Central Committee? This connection goes all the way to the top! Director Zhang screamed in his mind.

After hanging up, Director Zhang glared at Shousheng Liu with a murderous stare.

Shousheng Liu was frightened by this. When hearing Director Zhang saying the name Dai Li, he realized something was wrong. Seeing the murderous look in Director Zhang's eyes, he dared not even breathe.

"Shousheng Liu!" Director Zhang growled resentfully.

I screwed it up. Director Zhang is angry! Shousheng Liu was frightened and shuddered in his mind.

At this time, the generous Changjin Xiao said again, "Director, I will give up this quota for studying in America. Let Dai Li go!"

Changjin Xiao's words inspired Shousheng Liu, and he said hastily, "Great. Great. Let Dai Li go! I'll call the track and field team immediately to inform Dai Li."

"Call him?" Director Zhang pounded on the table and said, "You go to the track and field team in person and explain it clearly. I don't care what excuse you use. You must gain the forgiveness of Dai Li!"

"Yes, I'll go right now!" Shousheng Liu said immediately.

By this time, Shousheng Liu realized that he had stepped into some deep trouble.

…

He went to track and field team personally and found coach Weidong Chu, but he didn't find Dai Li.

"You mean Dai Li is on vacation? He went back home?" Failing to meet Dai Li, he became greatly depressed.

Weidong Chu nodded seriously. "Coach Li has been working overtime recently. He intended to finish this phase of training before going to America. However, since he can't go abroad now, I sent him on vacation for a few days."

"Who said he couldn't go? Coach Li will go to America. I'm sure!" Shousheng Liu said without any hesitation.

Yet Weidong Chu said with interest, "On the name list for those coaches going to study in America, there was no Dai Li at all."

"Uh, our staff made a mistake. Coach Li was missed due to a mistake," Shousheng Liu said hurriedly.

Weidong Chu just narrowed his eyes. How could he believe his poor excuse? Furthermore, he knew that Changjin Xiao had replaced Dai Li.

It must be that Li used his connections, or Shousheng Liu himself would not come here in such a hurry. It seems that Li has someone above! Thinking of this, Weidong Chu raised his hands in a helpless gesture. "Dai Li will return next Monday. How about you come again then, Chief Liu?"

"I'm afraid so." Shousheng Liu nodded and took his leave.

He had not gone far when his phone rang.

"It's Director Zhang!" Shousheng Liu picked up his phone hastily.

"How's it going? Have you seen Dai Li? Everything is explained clearly?" Director Zhang asked desperately.

"Director Zhang, I didn't see him. He's on vacation and went back to his hometown in Yuzhou. He will come back next Monday, so I intend to come early then..."

Before Shousheng Liu could finish, there came the voice of Director Zhang, "By train or by bus, you go to Yuzhou now. In a word, find Dai Li and explain everything clearly!"

"Go to Yuzhou? Now?" Shousheng Liu looked at the time. It would be dark even if he took the high-speed railway to Yuzhou. And after dark, there would be no high-speed train or bus returning to Qing City, which meant that he would have to spend a night in Yuzhou.

"Go now! After seeing him and explaining it clearly, call me to report at once!" As if he suddenly thought of something, he added, "And you pay the fees of transportation and accommodation yourself! Never expect the bureau to reimburse the expense caused by your own trouble!"

Director Zhang hung up after finishing his words, leaving Shousheng Liu looking at his phone, gloomy and depressed.

"Why does Director Zhang react so fiercely this time? It seems that this Dai Li is more than an ordinary coach. He must have someone connections above!"

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Chapter 255: The Visit To UCLA

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

It was tough to be on a plane for a dozen hours, not to mention when it was the economy class.

The torture, apart from the roar of aircraft engines and the discomfort of high pressure, was boredom and tediousness.

This was the first time for Dai Li to go abroad, and he was full of anticipation when the plane took off. However, he felt anxious and fretful after several hours. The plane was flying above the clouds and the scenery outside the window remained unchanged. It was quite refreshing at the first sight, but it was boring after a long time. The little television in front of him played these old movies again and again, and even worse, Dai Li had seen all those movies before. The shaking due to airstream from time to time made him nervous each time it happened.

Finally, the plane arrived safely in Los Angeles, and a car took them to the hotel, where almost everyone laid down to have a rest. A dozen hours of journey and the jetlag could easily cause mental fatigue, and thus everyone felt exhausted.

After a day's rest, their visiting began formally. The first stop was the famous American university—UCLA, or the University of California, Los Angeles.

As one of the top universities in the United States, UCLA attracted many tourists and scholars every day, and such visiting delegations were common for UCLA.

At UCLA, student volunteers served as the guides, and they introduced the campus to visitors. And lots of places on the campus were open to the public where they could visit freely, such as the library as long as there was no noise. The hard-working students basically paid no attention to the visitors.

"Oh, American universities are so unique. There are small stalls where it seems that university associations are attracting new members!" said Guangming Song, the head coach of the weightlifting team. He wanted to join them and headed over.

Zhongyi Xu warned, "Song, don't go over there. Don't you see the protests? You want to join them?"

"Protest? I've never experienced one." Song said with a smile.

Zhongyi Xu smiled again and said, "Look there, the boxes are prepared for raising money. If you go there, you have to donate money."

On hearing donating money, Song put his hands in the pocket and returned to the team immediately and mumbled, "Americans earn much more than I do, so do not expect me to donate money to them."

Laughing and joking all the way, they looked at everything with curiosity like Granny Liu in the Grand View Garden. However, nobody laughed several hours later.

Everyone realized the huge gap between American training and the training in China.

They said, "The training intensity they have is so high! Their training in college is even more intense than that of our provincial team. I can't imagine the intensity of their professional training centers."

"You are right. Their training is very professional. I spent some time at our provincial School of Physical Education, and compared with UCLA, our training is so easy."

"Please note that UCLA is a comprehensive university rather than a professional sports university. They have no major in sports. It is surprising that a university without a sports major can offer such high-intensity training."

Zhongyi Xu, grim-faced, is a great coach who has cultivated a world record holder. He has been to many countries, including America and Australia. Ha has brought back some foreign training experiences, but now when they are in UCLA, Xu still perceived the huge gap between UCLA and Chinese universities.

"Li, you have been in Tsing Hua University. How is the training in UCLA compared with the training in Tsing Hua University?" Zhongyi Xu asked.

"Both Tsing Hua University and UCLA are top universities in the world, and neither has established a major in sports. But to be honest, UCLA is better than Tsing Hua University in terms of sports training," Dai Li replied with some helplessness.

"Just as I expected." Zhongyi Xu was not surprised by the answer.

"In my view, this is a kind of cultural difference, I mean the difference in sports." Dai Li paused, and then went on. "The Americans love sports more than the Chinese. In terms of university admission, they focus not only on the candidates' scores, but also their hobbies and interests, including their talents in sports. In the admission process of those American elite colleges, excellent sports students are more popular than those with excellent grades, and they get more attention."

Zhongyi Xu replied, "You got a point. The sports atmosphere in American universities is much better than ours."

"Actually, the sports atmosphere in Chinese universities is not so bad, but our students pay more attention to words rather than actions." Dai Li smiled and continued, "When I was in college, I used to talk about the tactics of NBA teams and their characteristics with my roommates, but we seldom put these tactics into practice. I guess that a lot of basketball fans in China are like this. When it comes to theories about basketball, they have a lot to say, but when required to put these into practice, they are all disabled. They are all talkers but not doers."

"Talkers but not doers?" Zhongyi Xu smiled and said, "You are right, in terms of sports, the Chinese, unlike the American, pay more attention to theories rather than realistic actions. In the United States, there are many vacant lands for sports. They have basketball courts in the community, and the schools are also open to the public. But in China, it is difficult for us to find a playground, and the basketball courts of school are not available to the public even during the holidays."

"All the vacant lands in China are used to build houses, so there is no room for sports courts!" Di Li said, while looking up to the front. "The basketball stadium of UCLA is not far away from here. The basketball level of UCLA teams ranks top in NCAA. They have won the championship of NCAA ten times. Many NBA basketball players come from UCLA basketball teams, and I've always wanted to go to see their basketball teams."

"Please wait for a moment. Coach Alford will be here soon," said the guide.

"Alford is one of the top basketball coaches in The United States. It is said that NBA teams pay high salaries to hire him to train their players."

"The best achievement of Alford's was to win the second place of NCAA, but his team entered the top 16 many times."

The group was talking to each other in low voices. Then, a white-haired, tall man came from the distance accompanied by a middle-aged black woman.

"Here comes Coach Alford," the guide pointed to the man.

"It seems that his height is more than 1.90 meters, and he may have been a basketball player himself when he was young," said Guangming Song.

At that point, however, Coach Alford seemed to be trying to get rid of the black woman.

"Coach Alford, please give my son a chance. Allen is really talented!" The black woman followed Alford and implored him.

"Mrs. Hampton, I know Allen Hampton is a very talented basketball player. His great performance in high school has proven that. The data of his performance averaging at 31 points, 8 rebounds, and 9 assists has made him qualified for the NBA." Coach Alford paused and then added, "but you should know that your son is a time bomb! He has criminal records, and he is currently struggling in a lawsuit, right? UCLA will never admit a time bomb! Therefore, I suggest you go to other universities."

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Chapter 256: The New Dream

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

Coach Alford finally got rid of the black woman.

"I'm sorry, guys, the lady just now wanted us to admit her son onto our basketball team. This kind of things happen every year. Thank you for your patience and forgiveness," Alford seemed to be worried that everyone's English was not good enough to understand what he was saying, so he spoke very slowly.

Led by Alford, they visited the basketball team of UCLA.

The UCLA basketball team was worthy of its long-standing reputation. Their training conditions were no less than that of professional basketball teams at home, and of course, the athletes were better than most professional athletes at home.

After visiting UCLA's basketball team, everyone had a sense of frustration. Especially the head coach of the basketball team. He kept shaking his head all the way, and his eyes were full of admiration.

Compared with the basketball team, the places they visited before were not the essence of UCLA sports. Basketball, baseball, and American football were the most popular sports in the United States. They were the most heavily-invested in sports at UCLA and many top-ranked players were trained there. So, these were the most important sectors of UCLA sports.

The next day, the visiting group went to the second destination, the University of Southern California.

The University of Southern California, was also a world-famous university with a long history. They had a great reputation in cinema, music, media, and other subjects, and many of the world's best directors and musicians were once students in the University of Southern California. The university had the world's largest number of Academy Award winners.

Meanwhile, USC also had strong athletic competence, and in many sports events, USC and UCLA were competitors. Especially in the NCAA matches, the competition between USC and USLA was very exciting.

USC had won a total of 144 gold medals, 93 silver medals, and 72 bronze medals. In terms of both the number of gold medals and the number of medals, USC ranked first among American universities. UCLA only ranked third in The United States.

They were at the basketball stadium of USC.

"Coach Babe, thank you very much." The deputy bureau director leading the team showed his gratitude to the basketball coach of USC. They shook hands again, and then the visiting group walked away.

Meanwhile, a middle-aged black woman rushed over.

"Hello, Coach Babe, my name is Anne Hampton, the mother of Allen Hampton. I want to talk with you? Do you have time?" the black woman asked.

"Allen Hampton? The Allen Hampton from Beze High School?" Coach Babe asked.

"Yes, you've heard of my son! Oh! It is such a great honor for me!" said the black woman.

"Of course, I know him. The top genius at his high school. Meanwhile, he is also a troublemaker!" Babe said with a pause and then added, "Does he want to join the USC basketball team?"

The black woman said expectantly, "Of course, everyone who wants to join the NBA is interested in USC."

"But you are on the east coast. There are many perfect universities for you to choose, such as Duke University, Georgetown University, Wake Forest University, and University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. None of them is inferior to us. And these universities are closer to you. Why does your son want to join us?" said Babe.

The middle-aged woman hesitated, but finally answered, "Uh huh, the reason is…"

The middle-aged woman hemmed and hawed for a long time before she finally said, "Because Allen was arrested for carrying an excessive amount of drugs."

"Far more than that, Mrs. Hampton. As far as I know, this year on February 14, Valentine's Day, Allen Hampton was involved in a brawl of more than 50 people, and more than 20 people were seriously injured. According to the district court, four people were sentenced to 15 years in prison, and Allen was sentenced to 5 years in prison. Am I right?" asked Babe.

"The judgment was unfair. The whites were released on bail, while the blacks were all convicted. They are discriminating against blacks. We have lodged an appeal and won the case. My son was released on parole!" The woman explained hastily.

"But my team doesn't need a criminal," Babe applied gravely.

"But Allen has mended his ways!" Mrs. Hampton said immediately.

"But he is still on parole, isn't he?" Babe shook his head and said, "I'm so sorry, Mrs. Hampton. Your son, Allen Hampton, doesn't fit the admission requirements of our university."

"What are you looking at, Li? Let's go!" Zhongyi Xu shouted to Dai Li.

Li's attention was drawn back from Coach Babe and the black woman. He walked quickly to catch up with the team.

"What are you looking at, Li? Reluctant to leave? Why don't you take some photos?" Zhongyi Xu continued.

"I am looking at the black woman. Yesterday at UCLA, there was the black woman who went to Coach Alford. She's here again with Coach Babe." Dai Li added.

On the third day, they finally came to the famous AP training center to witness the world's top sports training.

"This is the KEISER vapor resistance equipment. It is used to train the explosive power of athletes. The most striking feature of it is the ability to ensure that the users complete actions at any speed under certain loads and complete many actions that cannot be done by using traditional heavy weights equipment, and what's more, it reduces injury."

"This is a vibration trainer, which is used frequently in basketball and football training. As an emerging neuromuscular exercise, vibration training can improve the coordination between neuromuscular systems."

"This is the liquid nitrogen cell for cryotherapy. When the athletes enter the equipment, the temperature decrease from minus 110 degrees Celsius to minus 180 degrees Celsius. This equipment can quickly relieve muscle and joint pain in athletes. I guess that you've seen it in many news reports, and this equipment has been widely used in the leagues of the United States."

The guide was just like a salesman who is always talking. The coaches were whispering to each other.

"They are so advanced, I heard about this sports equipment before, but it is the first time that I've seen it!"

"The liquid nitrogen cell for cryotherapy is so great. I really want to buy one, but I'm sure it's be very expensive."

"As far as I know, the price of that is barely affordable. You can buy a cheaper one at the price of lower one hundred thousand dollars. However, it is quite expensive to use it. Liquid nitrogen costs $60 or $70 every three minutes. And this does not include the equipment wear and depreciation."

"It would cost $100 to use per time. That is 700 or 800 yuan! That's too expensive! We can't afford it."

"What are you worried about? We just came here to visit."

While the crowd murmured, Li was looking at the advanced equipment with admiration.

"If I had such a big training center and so much advanced equipment, that would be so great."

Just then, Li realized that he had another dream. He wanted to have a training center of his own.

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Chapter 257: The Basketball Camp

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

Members in the visiting group were envious of the hardware equipment in the AP Training Center. However, everyone knew that a provincial training team couldn't afford them and even if they could, they couldn't afford the maintenance costs.

Just like cars, the more expensive it was, the higher the maintenance costs would be. If you bought a luxury car, you would only use the highest octane gasoline to fill its tank.

The guide introduced all the advanced equipment to the group with pride, like a guy who was showing off his fortune. Then everyone was brought to the reception room where they saw David Mills, the head of the AP Training Center.

"You've just seen our training equipment, and I know that you must be eager to see the real training activities here. But I am afraid that you can't see it." David Mills smiled and continued, "You must know that many famous athletes come here and do their training, which they hope can be secretive. Besides, it involves privacy. So, most of training is done in private."

Hearing this, all of them were disappointed.

In America, people cared about their privacy more than people in China. Even if they weren't famous athletes, they didn't like the interruption from visitors.

David Mills said, "Please cheer up! The latest Adidas Basketball Camp will be undertaken by our Training Center. The camp gathers excellent high school students, and it is open to anyone, including coaches in universities, scouts in professional basketball teams, reporters, and you."

There were a number of similar camps in America. Some coaches, even athletes may host their own camps. There was no doubt that Adidas Basketball Training Camp was the one that everyone wanted to join in. Of course, those athletes who could join in this camp were top players from all the schools in America. Therefore, it could attract attention from the media, coaches in universities, and NBA scouts who were eager to find future stars.

Those young athletes joining in the camp can no only improve their skills, but also attract attention. They were happy to have more people observe them.

It was the first day in Adidas Basketball Training Camp. Dai Li saw that black woman on the training ground again who followed tightly the head coach of the Adidas Basketball Camp, Hyde, an old man around 50 years old.

"Mr. Hyde, please give Allen another chance, please!" The black woman begged.

"Mrs. Hampton, I've explained to you several times. We sent out an invitation to your son Allen Hampton before, but he didn't reply to us that he would come to our camp."

"He didn't have his parole then." the woman said.

Mr. Hyde threw up his hand sand said, "Mrs. Hampton, I hope you can understand. Since we've made rules, we must observe them, right? If everyone who came here and asked for privileges got them, our camp could no longer do what we do."

Eventually, the woman left, disappointed.

Sitting in the stand and watching the athletes, Dai Li screamed in his heart, Are these really high school students?

Besides Dai Li, the other coaches in the visiting group showed their surprise.

"Those high school students bear comparison with our professional athletes of the provincial team, right?"

"In my view, they can play in our national lower-level leagues."

"Far more than that! See that guard! What a wonderful breakthrough, and he dunked directly! This guy can play in CBA."

Yet, the American audience looked more at ease. Obviously, they were accustomed to it.

A reporter beside Dai Li, of about the same age as him, kindly introduced the players for Dai Li.

"See the young lad who dunked just now? He is from New York. His nickname is Son of New York. When he was just an elementary student, he could compete with adults in basketball game already. Among high school students this year, he may be listed within the top 3. And he may be the MVP in this Adidas Training Camp."

"Pupils compete with adults!" Dai Li was shocked. He observed this young lad immediately and found he had A-level talent.

"A-level talent is good enough. He is a strong basketball player in America. I don't know the talent of our national professional athletes."

The young reporter continued his introduction, "that lad who did a three-point shot is a leading scorer in Mountain Top High School in southern California, and he helped his school become state champions this year. Although he is only 19 years old, he is a father. So, he is trying to find a school which could provide him with a basketball scholarship."

Dai Li began his observation again.

"He has A plus talent, and he is good at shooting three-pointers. It seems like this athlete will be an excellent shooter."

The reporter pointed to a big guy under the basketball frame. "He is six-feet, nine-inches, and he might grow to around seven feet. He is thin, yet he has a long wingspan. His ball handling skills are just so-so. But he is good at grabbing rebounds and blocking shots. Just some more weight will make him a wonderful defensive center!"

"This big guy has A-minus-level talent who can be counted as a superior basketball athlete in America, not so good as I've imagined. I thought their talent would be higher in America as the country is a top basketball power. Maybe that is the gap caused by training."

Dai Li took a deep breath and thought again, If we could grow up in America where sports are everywhere around us, maybe our achievements in sports wouldn't be defeated by the Americans.

Again, the reporter said, "Those guys I mentioned just now can definitely enter the NBA, even the lottery. But there is one guy who didn't come this time. What a pity."

"Who? Is there anyone who is willing to ignore such a good chance like this?" Dai Li asked with his poor English.

But the reporter knew what Dai Li meant. He said, "Maybe due to injury or something. That guy is Allen Hampton from Holy Land High School. He is not only an excellent basketball player, but also a great football player. He helped his school get the state championships in both football and basketball. In the last season, he averaged 31.6 points, 9.2 assists, and 8.7 rebounds per game. He is a real genius!"

By football, the American reporter meant American football, not soccer.

The reporter continued, "But the genius is a bad boy. It was said that he was sentenced to jail for carrying drugs when he was 15. Then he broke his parole regulations, which resulted in a longer prison term. After a while, leading a group of people to cause trouble got him another prison sentence. His lawsuits succeeded owing to help from The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. The coaches of famous universities don't like this bad boy, I guess."

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Chapter 258: The Talent Who Was S-level For Two Sports

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

The first day in the basketball camp had passed, and the coaches of the visiting group spent a whole day sitting in the stands watching games.

Actually, it was not a boring experience to watch high-level basketball games at all, even if for a whole day. On the contrary, some felt that they didn't get enough games to watch.

Just like watching video games live, we like it because it is quite a pleasure for us to watch excellent games, especially those high-level ones. If we participate in the games, it would be game over in no time. So it brought satisfaction just by watching those high-level gamers win the game.

The same was for watching basketball training games. We can acquire a great sense of satisfaction from their hard work, especially from the training programs where many athletes train together. It was like a real game.

The layman watched the crowd, and the inner man looked at the doorway. As head coaches, they'd seen the world. Although they were not basketball coaches, they could still acquire some information by analyzing.

For the group of professional coaches, the more they knew about the AP Training Center, the stronger feeling of respect they had. At that time, they were eager to bring their players to this center.

"This is just the first day, and we've already seen such strong training intensity. I bet our high school students would throw up after this kind of training."

"It would be too much for adult athletes, let alone high school students."

"Actually, you must have noticed that plenty of them were not accustomed to the training intensity."

Then, head of the AP Center David Mills appeared again.

"Gentlemen, I guess you've gotten a lot after a whole day's watching," David Mills said. "Today's training is just a simple start; tomorrow's training will be more complex and intense."

"Mr. Mills, I have a question," a coach who could speak fluent English asked. "Don't you think this intense training is too much for high school students? I noticed that everyone was exhausted at the end."

"That is a good question." David Mills smiled and said, "The goal of this basketball training is not only to show their strengths, but also their weaknesses. That is why we set complex training programs."

David Mills continued, "Starting tomorrow, a number of scouts and coaches from university basketball teams will come here in succession. They hope they can know about every athlete, know their strengths and weaknesses."

"Mr. Mills, improving their ability is not one of your goals then?" The coach asked.

After several seconds of consideration, David Mills said, "The goal of most training camps is to improve the skills of their participants, but we are different. We don't charge fees from the athletes. We don't earn any profit. Yet, we have our sponsor, Adidas. For Adidas, what they want is to raise their brand influence, not to train excellent athletes. Strictly speaking, Adidas is the employer, and we are the employees. What we must do is to put their needs first. However, great athletes can improve their skills here, I believe."

The coaches gathered in the McDonald's near the AP Training Center, chewing hamburgers and drinking cola which could be refilled.

"The medium coke is as big as our large coke. But the chicken in the sandwich is too hard to chew."

"This apple pie is good, enjoy yourselves."

"Eating in McDonald's is economical after calculating price. This chicken nugget is as big as two of those in China. I am full after eating only one."

"We must save as much as we can as our budget is limited. I hope we can make the best of it," the deputy bureau director said, wiping his hand with a napkin.

Zhongyi Xu leaned over to Dai Li and said, "I saw a convenience store along the road when I came here. Let's find something to eat in a minute."

"What do they have in American convenience stores? Do they have bread and ham?" Dai Li asked.

Zhongyi Xu had been in America before. He replied in a low voice, "Lots of snacks, instant noodles and doughnuts that can satisfy our hunger."

"I need a bag of instant noodles." Dai Li drank up his coke, stood up and said, "I need to use the bathroom."

At the sink, Dai Li washed his hands and was leaving when he saw a middle-aged black woman staring at him.

Dai Li recognized her immediately because he had seen her several times.

The black woman approached him and greeted him, "Hello, my name is Anne Hampton."

"Hello." Dai Li replied.

"Are you a member of the foreign visiting group?" Anne Hampton asked.

Nodding his head, Dai Li admitted it.

"Have you been to the Adidas Basketball Training Camp?" Anne Hampton asked continuously.

"Yes." Dai Li nodded his head.

"Are you going there tomorrow?" Anne Hampton asked.

"Yes, I will stay there for another day according to our schedule." Dai Li then asked, "Is there anything that I can help you with?"

"Sir, could you help me record training activities in the Adidas Training Camp?" Anne Hampton took out an old mobile phone.

"Why don't you go yourself? Anybody can go there," Dai Li asked.

"I need to go to three other universities tomorrow. I don't have enough time," Anne Hampton answered.

"Then can you tell me why you want me to do this?" Dai Li asked vigilantly.

Anne Hampton noticed his alarm and said, "Please don't worry. I mean no offense. I just want to record the training and show it to my son. My son should have been at the camp, but he couldn't, for certain reasons."

Anne Hampton spoke fast. Dai Li didn't follow, and he asked her to speak again, then he understood.

"Ma, you are here!" A young black man came over.

The young black man was young, 18 years old, maybe. He was no more than 1.8 meters with short spiky hair. However, he was very strong with obvious muscle lines in his arms. And Dai Li also noticed that there were tattoos on one arm.

"He is my son, Allen Hampton," Anne introduced.

"Allen Hampton! The genius?" Dai Li looked at him and turned on his detector.

The next second, Dai Li was shocked by the result.

S-level basketball talent! S-level football talent! A talent who is S-level for two sports! I haven't seen anyone like him before. What a sports genius!

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Chapter 259: The Feast Of Hamburgers

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

Dai Li had met only one S-level athlete in his long career life as a coach. That was Feixiang Lin. In addition to Feixiang Lin, the most talented athlete he had seen was Feifei Yu, who was level S-minus.

In the National Track and Field Team, level B talent was among the best, and the only A-level athlete from the sprinters was Sijie Yang, who was discovered and trained by Dai Li himself. And the entire National Track and Field Team had less than five A-level athletes, while the S-level group there contained only Feixiang Lin.

So Dai Li had already learned that even pandas outnumbered the level S athletes. These athletes were "endangered species"—there were just a few nationwide.

What Dai Li learned in the Adidas Basketball Training Camp during the day, also confirmed the analysis of Dai Li. The United States of America, as the top basketball power in the world, attracted not only the basketball elites from within the country, but also the basketball elites of the same age from all over the world, to the Adidas Basketball Training Camp. But among them there were only one A-plus level, one A-level and one A-minus level, which perfectly proved the scarcity of level S talents.

Yet now, this Allen Hampton standing in front of Dai Li, was an athlete with two kinds of level S talents.

If the two S-level talents are of the same category, that might not make Dai Li surprised. For example, it is usual for a sprinter to have S-level talents on both 100-meter and 200-meter programs and a swimmer to have S-level talents on both the freestyle and the butterfly. Because they are of the same category of sports. They have lots of technical characteristics in common and have same physical requirements.

However, the two S-level talents of Allen Hampton belonged to two completely different sports: basketball and football. That was what shocked Dai Li.

One with one level S talent in one sport could be one of the world's top athletes, and there is no doubt that two S-level talents on two different sports made a man a real sports genius.

At the moment, Allen Hampton was looking at Dai Li, and then he asked, "What are you doing, mom? Who is this guy?"

"This gentleman is a member from a foreign delegation, and I would like to ask him to help us record the training in the Adidas Basketball Training Camp," Anne replied.

"Mom, I don't need it. I can do the training myself," Allen Hampton said stubbornly.

"I think you'll change your mind when you finish watching the video of the Basketball Training Camp," Dai Li Suddenly said in English, not so fluently though. But the Hamptons understood what he said.

He took out his mobile phone and said, "I recorded some training videos today. You can take a look first."

And then he found the video on the phone and handed his phone to Allen Hampton. The latter soon got attracted by the video.

Allen Hampton was obviously a proud man. Although he said he didn't need it, he still wanted to see the training video of the basketball camp.

Dai Li, looking at Allen Hampton, could feel the longing in Allen's face. The man was wishing that he was the one being trained in that video.

A moment later, Allen Hampton finished watching the video and gave the phone back to Li.

"Now, do you want me to record the video for you?" Dai Li asked.

Allen whispered with a little hesitation, "But we don't have any money. We can't pay you too much."

"Hahaha..." Dai Li laughed. "I don't want your money."

"For free? No way! You worked, and you should be paid," said Anne.

"And I don't need your charity!" said Allen with a stubborn face.

Dai Li realized that it perhaps was due to the cultural difference. In the eyes of Americans there was no working for free. If someone did something for you, it was natural for you to pay him a price.

For instance, if people eat in the restaurant in the U.S., they give tips to the waiter. Living in a hotel, people are supposed to give tips to those who park their cars, carry their luggage, book the taxi, and clean up their rooms. People usually give tips to the driver when they take a taxi. Service industries such as haircuts, beauty, and car washing almost inevitably require people to give tips.

Lowering his head, Dai Li thought for a few seconds, and then he said to Allen Hampton, "I have just arrived in Los Angeles, and I will stay here for about two weeks. Let's make a deal. You can be my guide here and in return, I will record the training video for you."

"A guide?" Alan Hampton looked bewildered and asked.

"Yes. A guide to show me around. As a foreigner I am totally a stranger to Los Angeles. I need a guide. But I cannot afford to hire a professional one," said Dai Li.

"Deal!" Allen Hampton said without hesitation. "But during the day, I have to work. So only afternoons and evenings are available!"

…

That night, Allen Hampton brought Dai Li to several fast food restaurants and Dai Li didn't have to go to the supermarket to buy instant noodles and doughnuts anymore.

American fast food was more than just McDonald's and KFC. There were many other brands that Dai Li had never heard of, but they were very well-known in America.

In general, all other fast food restaurants offered hamburgers, French fries, pizza, sandwiches, fried chicken, apple pie, and doughnuts, but they offered them with different tastes and features. Such as medium beef burgers, big burgers that could only be held by two hands, and the double hamburger with overflowing cheese. Those were difficult to be found in KFC and McDonald's.

What's more, some fast food brands were really honest and willing to use enough ingredients. The hamburgers and sandwiches they made were exactly the same with what they showed in their advertisements. Make great publicity, but produce something with just two pieces of dry bread? They never did that.

Of course, those fast food brands might be slightly more expensive, and American consumers have always been very rational. Average Americans care about cost-effectiveness very much, and they do not want to spend money buying expensive products.

…

Zhongyi Xu held the remote control of the TV set, with a bored face.

"Let me check my instant noodles." Zhongyi Xu paced to the table and was staring at the instant noodles when Dai Li opened the door and came in.

"Li, where have you been? My instant noodles are ready. And there is half kettle of hot water. If you want to use it, boil another kettle. I want to have some tea after a while." Zhongyi Xu continued saying without looking back, "So difficult to get hot water. I gave the waiter a tip of two dollars to get me this kettle. A painful death of me!"

Westerners obviously didn't have the habit of drinking hot water. They drink the tap water directly as tap water is drinkable in America. There is hot water in the bathroom, but that was not drinkable.

Usually hotels do not prepare a kettle for every room. But of course, they could provide it if the guest so requires. And it was inevitable to give tips to the waiter for asking him to offer a kettle.

Zhongyi Xu smelled barbecue when he was going to eat the instant noodles.

"What's that? It smells so good!" he looked back at Dai Li and asked.

"I bought you many hamburgers and sandwiches of various kinds. Enough for the full day tomorrow." Dai Li took the food out.

"Hamburgers? No! Hamburgers for lunch, and hamburgers for supper. Aren't you fed up with them?!" said Zhongyi Xu with his expression full of grievance.

Picking out one of the hamburgers, Dai Li replied, "This is not McDonald's."

"So big? Oh, it smells quite good!" Xu came over curiously, leaving his noodles aside.

…

"Li, come here. Let's play cards," Guangming Song said loudly.

"We have four people here. One more to start a 'Fight the Landlord' poker game," someone next to him said.

"Let's play 'The Upgrade' poker game." Guangming Song stood up and added, "We still need a deck of cards. I'll go to Zhongyi Xu's room and borrow one from him."

And then he left the room. The other three stayed.

The three waited for five or six minutes but they didn't see the return of Song.

"Zhongyi Xu' s room is just two rooms next to ours. Why hasn't Song come back! It should not take more than five minutes to borrow a deck of cards. He should have been back even if he crawled to Xu's room." The elder Li felt worried and got up. "I'll go and have a look."

He did not come back either five or six minutes later.

"Old Li is famous for his quick temper. What is taking him so long?"

"Is there anything wrong? Maybe we should go and take a look?"

The two who stayed in the room thought they'd better go and take a look after they discussed.

They then approached the door of Zhongyi Xu's room and saw that the door was not completely closed. They heard the voice of Guangming Song inside.

He was saying, "Li, keep that one with beef for me! There is cheese inside. I love cheese!"

"Shut up. First come, first served. He who finished the one in hand will get that one with cheese!" cried elder Li.

The two outside looked at each other.

"Sounds like they are eating something!"

"They are eating delicious food, and they don't tell us!"

"We should stop them from eating while ignoring us! Let's go inside!"

They pushed the door together and went in.

"We caught you! Hand over immediately what you are eating!" One of the two persons shouted.

But the next second, he saw four men around a table and several hamburgers were on the table.

"You are eating hamburgers! Haven't you had that enough after a full day's McDonald's?" he ridiculed, just like Zhongyi Xu moments ago.

"Okay. I feel disgusted as soon as I smell burgers now." The man pretended to vomit, but the next moment he said, "But the food you're eating smells wonderful."

"Of course, this is not what we ate at McDonald's during the day!" Zhongyi Xu said. "Li bought them from the fast food restaurants around here. Come and have a try. Fast food, this is the authentic American food culture!"

Invited by Xu, the two came close, and each chose one hamburger to gulp.

…

"I once thought there were only KFC and McDonald's in the United States. It is a surprise for me to know that there are so many fast food brands here." Guangming Song held in hand a piece of wrapper, paused with a burp, and then added, "I've gotten used to burgers of this brand. Its meat is thick, and the cheese is abundant! I've never had such a delicious hamburger in my life. Li, where did you buy this hamburger?"

"We will pass by the spot when we go to the AP training center tomorrow. I'll show you," answered Dai Li.

"Oh, and that sandwich, the one with really thick meat, where did you buy it? " the elder Coach Li asked, gesturing the thickness of the hamburger with his hands.

"That shop is a little farther away. It's around two kilometers from here. I'll locate it on the map on your mobile phone later," Dai Li replied.

And the Coach Li laughed. "A two-kilometer trip to get such thick meat is totally acceptable."

…

The next day, the group of visitors went to the AP training center again.

There were indeed many new faces in the stands. They were there with laptops, watching the training and taking notes. And some of them simply set up a video camera against the training field and recorded the training process directly.

Dai Li knew that there must be professional scouts, chief coaches, or assistant coaches of university basketball teams among those people.

Many of them were old acquaintances. They observed the players and discussed with each other. Who they talked about the most were the three players with A-level talents: "The Son of New York", the three-point shooter, and the tall, skinny guy.

Allen Hampton would be the focus of the basketball court if he were here, Dai Li thought.

Just then, the deputy bureau director who led the visiting group came over to sit beside Dai Li.

"Li! I heard that you wandered around the place where we're staying yesterday?" he asked.

"I got hungry. So, I went out to find food and took the opportunity to look around," Dai Li answered immediately.

"Well, take care when you go out. We are in America. The public security here is not as great. It is not our country." He stopped for a moment and then continued, "You can leave early this afternoon. Go and check the restaurants nearby. Find some economical ones. It would be better if you could find some offering a buffet. We still have more than 10 days to stay here. We cannot eat at McDonald's every day. You can visit a few more restaurants and make a list of their locations, prices, and menus. And tell me about that when you come back."

"OK. No problem!" said Dai Li without hesitation.

It would be easy to find a buffet restaurant with the help of Allen, an American.

…

"Restaurant? Inexpensive? And it would be better to offer a buffet? Okay, you are asking the right person for help!" Allen added, "I cannot afford high-end restaurants, so I know a lot of low-priced and fast food restaurants."

He talked and, meanwhile, opened the mobile phone to watch the videos recorded by Dai Li.

"Those videos are fragmented. Each of them is divided into dozens of sections." Allen opened the first video.

"I just picked those useful scenes to record and left the useless ones aside. I was saving the power of your phone for you," Dai Li said. He then added, "Don't forget that I am a professional coach."

"Never mind, I am not doubting your ability," Allen explained at once. "I thank you sincerely. I know you're helping me. You have the map application on your phone, and you can walk around without me."

Dai Li smiled and then asked, "You already have the training video, so what are you going to do next? There are some training programs that you can't do by yourself."

"I have some good friends, and they will help me!" Allen patted his chest and added in a mystical tone, "In fact, I have a training ground of my own!"

"A training ground of your own? Stop joking around," replied Dai Li.

"It is true. I can show you if you don't believe me," Allen said proudly. "And I am afraid that you dare not go there with me."

"Me, dare not? It's not that there is any bomb on your training ground, and they will explode when I get there! Bang!" Dai Li laughed with a gesture of "Boom."

"It's in a black community. It's not very safe. White people don't want to go there," Allen said. He continued confidently, "But please be at ease. No one will hurt you as long as you tell them you are my friend."

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Chapter 260: The Ghetto

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

The hotel that Dai Li lived in was not luxurious, but the security around it was good enough to allow the guests to hang out in the evening, without worrying about being robbed. However, the place that Allen Hampton brought Dai Li to was totally different. It was the ghetto, and could be quite unsafe. There were armed robberies even in the daytime. Drugs, guns, and crimes were nothing new here.

The houses here were shabby, and seemed to have been in disrepair for a long time. Window glasses of some of the houses were broken and covered with plastic paper. Various graffiti on the dim gray walls showed the African American culture. By the roadside, there was a very old car. Dai Li even thought that it might be older than him. The glass on one of its window was broken. Several black children were playing near it.

Dai Li looked around with a little fear, and also some curiosity. Allen Hampton, walking by him, said, "To be honest, public security in Los Angeles isn't too bad. This block is better than those blocks in the central east. If you are in Detroit, you dare not drive into some of the blocks filled by the poor, because you may have a gun pointing at you at any time."

A group of young men with tattoos on their bodies gathered on the roadside. One of them, a big guy of around 300 jin (or, 150 kg/330 pounds) showed a fierce expression on his face after he saw Dai Li.

A thought to escape came to Dai Li at that moment. But Allen shouted to the big guy, "Martin, put away your scary look. He's my brother, don't bother him!"

The big man followed Allen's words with a grin. He stopped frightening Dai Li. Others heard Allen's words, and did not pay attention to Dai Li any more.

"You see? I get along with them well here!" Allen said proudly.

"Do you live nearby?" asked Li.

"No, my family was in Virginia, and I grew up there. I came to Los Angeles to join the Adidas Basketball Training Camp, and to find a college that could offer me a scholarship," Allen said this with an unnatural facial expression.

"Then why didn't you attend the Adidas Basketball Training Camp?" Dai Li asked.

"I missed the confirmation," Allen said, then added, "The Adidas Basketball Training Camp sent me an invitation, but I didn't confirm within the time limit. So, they cancelled the invitation."

"Why?" Dai Li continued asking.

Allen hesitated and then answered, "Because I was in prison at that time."

Dai Li did not ask for more details, but Allen went on to explain, "In the high school football team, I am a quarterback. I am the best quarterback across all Virginia high schools, and I also won the state championship for my school. On the day of our celebration for the championship, we went bowling. A quarrel was started between us and a group of white people. They called us 'niggers'. That's racism. So, we had a quarrel and finally started a fight!"

"Those whites could not defeat us. So, they called up more people to join that fight, and we did the same. Finally, it became a mass brawl of more than fifty people. We, of course, were the final winners. More than ten people from their side were taken to the hospital. We also had a couple of guys injured. Then, my four companions were sentenced to 15 years in prison, and I was sentenced to five years in prison!"

"But the leading white men who fought with us were only sentenced to community corrections. And we blacks were not even given the chance of parole. We chose to appeal. Some black groups helped us, and black lawyers defended our case for free. Finally, we won the lawsuit. However, I still spent four months in jail because of this case."

"I see!" Dai Li nodded.

Although there are advocates fighting for equality everyday, serious racial discrimination still exists in America. Colored races suffer discriminations in enrollment, job applications, and almost every aspect of daily life. When faced with racial discrimination, Chinese people tend to endure, while black people prefer to use their fists to speak for them.

Allen added, "Four months in jail, I lost a lot of opportunities. Before that, there had been some football coaches from several universities who wanted me to join their teams. Actually, I prefer football. I like the feeling of bringing the ball out of the crowds. Basketball is soft compared with football."

"I think most Americans prefer football," Dai Li agreed. The "football" they were talking about was, of course, the American football.

American football is the most popular sport in America, as compared with other sports. It's the real "sport for all" in America. All Americans love it.

"Because of this fight, I couldn't get a football scholarship from any university. No university would want a guy who went to jail because of a brawl." Allen sighed.

Having been in prison was indeed a big problem. A former convict would be faced with discriminations in enrollment and job applications. Even in the United States, no university would accept a guy who was just released from prison.

Also, American football is very intense. The players collide with each other, and the game is very fierce. Fights often break out on the football field, and fighting during a game is inevitable, even in the top NFL professional league.

Such a violent sport obviously would not welcome Allen, who was formerly convicted, due to a mass brawl. The coach would consider Allen as an unstable element in the team. Although he was the best of the quarterbacks, the core on the field, across all high schools in Virginia, no coach from any university would accept him.

Allen said in a low mood, "My football career has come to an end early. So now, I can only hope that basketball can help me get a basketball scholarship from a university. Let me play basketball for one or two years in the university, then I would like to take part in the NBA draft!"

Allen's eyes were sparkling as he was speaking of the NBA Draft.

"I'm sure you'll be admitted by the NBA," said Dai Li.

After all, Allen was a player with S Level talents, and players like him were rare even in the NBA. Dai Li thought that, as long as the managers of NBA teams were not blind, Allen could easily get into that lottery.

"But first of all, I must find a university which would enroll me. In the east I have a bad reputation, so I can only come to the west to have a try. I cannot go to any university if I have no scholarship." Allen shrugged and then said, "To get a scholarship, and then go to university, is my only chance."

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Chapter 261: Happy Hunting

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

"Here we are! This is my training ground!" Alan pointed at an open space ahead of him, which was a shabby street basketball court. Only two basketball stands were placed in the court. Half of the rebounds' area's lacquer finish had been worn out. The baskets were also rusty. When they got closer, Dai Li found two young black people in the court; one was dragging a heavy tire with a rope, while the other one was lifting a rusty dumbbell.

"That's the Claude Brothers. The one on the left is Joe. He is a ship loader, but he wants to be a truck driver and have a truck of his own. The one on the right is David. He dreams of becoming a bodybuilder. Now, I am living in their house."

"Their father was killed in their childhood. Later, their mother was arrested by the police, because she was delivering drugs for drug dealers. So, only the two of them are living in their house now. The Claude Brothers like basketball very much. My daily training is also dependent on them, for they are my sparring partners," as Alan introduced this information, he led Dai Li to them.

"Hey, boss, you are finally back. We've been waiting for you for a long time," David said.

"Oh, boss, you also brought a man here! A yellow person! Is he a bastard from the Chinese Town? Don't tell me, he is a Korean asshole!" Joe stared at Dai Li and said.

"Did they just call you boss?" Dai Li asked in surprise, for he could tell the Claude Brothers were older than Alan.

"Of course. I teach them basketball. They definitely should call me boss! The Angelinos like basketball very much. Therefore, anyone who is good at basketball is very popular on the block," as Alan said this, he patted Dai Li on his shoulder and made his official introduction, "This is Li from China, my new friend."

"A foreigner, okay, as long as he is not a Korean asshole!" Joe Claude said.

Alan continued to introduce the Claude Brothers' family, "Their father was killed in the riot over 20 years ago, by some Korean immigrants, so they hate Koreans."

Early in the 1990s, a riot broke out in Los Angeles, which was caused by the conflicts between the Koreans and the black people, together with some Mexicans. The initial trigger of the riot was that a young black man, Rodney King, was stopped by the police while driving home one day, but he resisted arrest, which caused him to be severely beaten by the police on the scene, fiercely, with police batons.

This incident happened to be captured by a civilian living nearby with a camcorder, who sold the video to a TV station later. The meddlesome TV Station only showed the footage of King being beaten by the police, which caused a great disturbance in the United States. Four police officers were prosecuted, but there was no hard evidence of the police's being at fault, so the police officers were acquitted.

When the trial result was announced, thousands of black people gathered in Los Angeles, and it was then that the big riot was triggered. At the beginning, it was just a protest, but later, it developed into assault and looting. Besides the black people, the illegal Mexican immigrants also participated in the riot. Thousands of shops in Los Angeles were looted and burned down. Dozens of people were killed. Even San Francisco, Seattle, and Atlanta were affected by the riot.

Also during the period of Rodney King's case, a 15-year-old black girl stole things in a supermarket owned by Koreans in Los Angeles, but her theft was discovered by the Korean proprietress, who was knocked to the ground by the black girl. When the black girl was leaving the store, she was killed by the Korean proprietress with a gun from behind. At last, the Korean proprietress's behavior was identified as being legitimate defense by the court, and she was only sentenced to a fine of USD 500 and 400 hours of community service.

The local black people were irritated by this case as well. Maybe they had tasted the sweetness of looting shops, but whatever the reason, the black people and Mexicans assaulted the Korean Town in Los Angeles, but LAPD chose to do nothing, instead indulged in allowing the looting. Soon the Korean Town was in anarchy.

However, to the surprise of the whole United States, the Koreans were quite unified. They picked up guns to protect their properties. The unarmed Koreans lined up to buy guns in the gun stores. Someone even managed to obtain the M16 military assault rifles and 12mm shotguns. In the Korean Town, over 70% of the Koreans were armed. Even the Korean students from the universities in Los Angeles picked up pistols to join the defense of the Korean Town.

This was just like the real-life version of the PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds. One side was garrisoning the house with guns, but the other side had just landed, and was planning to attack the house bare-handed. As a result, the black people and Mexicans suffered serious casualties during the assault of the Korean Town. And the black people kept a distance from the Korean Town long after the assault.

The Claude Brothers' father was killed in this assault.

...

"Joe, David, I bring you something good today. See, the training video of the Adidas Basketball Training Camp!" Alan waved his cellphone and said, "Later, let's practice according to the instructions in the video."

"OK, boss, but before that, you have to accept the challenge from Sanders," David said.

"Sanders has been defeated by me so many times, yet he still refuses to give up?" Alan asked in surprise.

"I've heard he got an external assistance, the Street Basketball King of Sacramento, goes by the name of Morris!" As David said this, he checked the time and then said, "They will be here in roughly half an hour."

"Fine! If they come here to give me money, I can't reject them. Give me the ball, I will warm up first." After finishing his words, Alan turned around and said to Dai Li, "Li, later I will invite you to enjoy a good show, and just see how I will defeat them easily."

...

In despair, Morris was watching Alan, who was standing in front of him. Morris was regarded as the Street Basketball King of Sacramento. He was a minor celebrity in Sacramento. He even opened a basketball training camp to teach a lot of kids to play basketball. However, today Morris felt he was so feeble in front of Alan.

Too fast! He is moving too fast! He could dribble past me easily, with just one crossover. Is he really a high school student?

Although Morris was reluctant accept the result, the fact was that he was defeated by a high school student in this street basketball one-on-one match.

"Sanders, you lost again!" Alan stretched out his hand to a black man.

"Damn it! God damn it! You are a monster! You shouldn't be here. You should play in an NBA game in the Staples Center." The black man, whose name was Sanders, drew out two hundred dollar bills from his inner pocket and handed them to Alan.

Alan handed one of the "Franklins" to the Claude Brothers, and kept the other one. Now Dai Li realized that both sides had made a bet on this match.

"Haha, Sanders, I've told you, our boss could defeat whoever was invited by you, even a professional player," Joe Claude said.

Beside him, David Claude also spoke in support of his brother, "Our boss will be an NBA superstar in the future!"

An NBA superstar? Maybe it is really possible. Dai Li cupped his chin with his hand. Now he was very happy, just like a headhunter who had spotted a good employee.

To coach an athlete of grade S gift must be very interesting!

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Chapter 262: Forge the Scoring Machine

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

In the shabby training ground, Alan Hampton was practicing by simulating the content of the video with training equipment that was even shabbier. Beside him, Dai Li kept shaking his head. From the point of view of a coach, Alan's behavior was nothing but aimless training.

"You won't benefit from training like this," Dai Li said suddenly.

"Why?" Alan stopped, wiped the sweat from his forehead, then continued to say, "Although our training equipment is very shabby, Joe and David are also not professional sparring partners. My training is exactly the same as the content of the video you recorded. I didn't slack off."

"I know, but you don't understand the meaning of these training programs that were set up in the Adidas Basketball Training Camp. Do you think this training camp is established to help the player in enhancing their levels?" Dai Li said.

"Isn't it?" Alan asked back.

"Of course not." Dai Li shook his head, "The training programs set up in the training camp are to demonstrate the advantages and disadvantages of the players to the audiences as much as possible, including the scouts, the coaches, and the correspondents."

Alan was not clumsy, so he figured it out immediately.

"I understand now. It's more of a talent show, designed to check the skills of the players to facilitate the selection of the coaches and scouts. However, no one could see my training here. So, it's meaningless, right?" Alan asked gloomily.

"Right. It's useless for you to practice according to the content of the video, for no coach or scout could see it, and they don't know how outstanding you are. Therefore, you need a training plan that is more suitable for you," Dai Li said.

"I know, but I don't have money, and I can't afford one-on-one guidance by a coach." Alan's eyes were dimmed.

"Don't forget I am a coach!" Dai Li shook his index finger, "And I'm free of charge!"

"Li, are you willing to help me?" Alan was getting a little bit excited.

Dai Li nodded, "At least I could help you in your training in the next 10 days."

"Thank you!" Alan was moved.

Dai Li continued to say, "However, I am not a professional basketball coach, so I can't give you any advice in basketball tactics. Also, my help will be very limited in your basketball techniques, but I am pretty good at physical training. With my help, you could run faster, jump higher, and get stronger. "

With the help of the detector, Dai Li had long known the advantages and disadvantages of Alan, including the defects in his techniques. However, Dai Li was not a professional basketball coach.

Maybe he was even not as good as Alan in the basketball techniques. What Dai Li could do, was just to point out the technique defects of the basketball players, but he couldn't find a way to help them in rectifying those defects.

Before when Dai Li was coaching the sprinters, he could prepare a detailed training plan, according to the defects of the athletes in order to help them improve. All these skills and knowledge were acquired by Dai Li from Li Xue, but he could not use these skills and knowledge in the basketball training.

For example, the detector indicated that one player's defect was instability in his center of gravity during shooting. Dai Li could point out this defect, but he didn't know the training method to rectify this defect for the player, as he was not a professional basketball coach, and his knowledge in basketball training was insufficient.

Of course, it was natural that, compared to the first-rate basketball coach, Dai Li's basketball knowledge was insufficient. In the face of an NBA coach, Dai Li was just an elementary school pupil.

In the face of a first-rate basketball player, only a professional basketball coach could be qualified for the coaching. However, it was quite satisfactory for Alan to now have a presentable coach who was willing to help him.

...

Dai Li walked to Alan and said, "According to my observation, you are not just a point guard, but are more of a combo guard. In fact, according to my opinion, it is more cost-effective for you to score directly, than pass the ball to others."

"Your greatest advantages are agility and athletic ability. Therefore, although you are not very tall, your defense is pretty good, which is quite oppressive to opponents. Also, noticed you are really good at stealing."

"But your shooting is very unstable. I haven't seen you shooting three-pointers. Your field goal percentage is also not high. I noticed your shooting is always hasty, as if you are worrying that your shots could be blocked, right?"

Alan nodded, "Actually I am not good at shooting three-pointers, and I am planning to improve that."

"That's not necessary, at least for your current stage. You could practice your three-pointer technique when you are at university." Dai Li paused a bit and continued to say, "Now, your priority target is to find a university which could offer you a scholarship. You need to impress the basketball coaches of the universities, so you should give a full display of your advantage."

"Advantage? You mean my speed?" Alan asked.

"Yes, your speed! Just use your speed to get to the basket and score through layup, or draw fouls, or pass your opponent with your speed and shoot a fadeaway. This is the scoring method most suitable for you. The point is, that you should enhance your field goal percentage. In other words, improve your field goal percentage with your speed."

"As for other aspects, such as passing, I think that, for now, you could neglect it temporarily. I know you have acquired the technique of passing the ball. However, there are a lot of guards who know the passing ball technique among your peers, so the scouts and coaches really have many options. Therefore, you should tell those university coaches that you are a scoring machine!"

"But I am a point guard. If I only focus on scoring, I will be a shooting guard, right? And I am too short to be a shooting guard," Alan said.

Dai Li smiled, "Have you ever analyzed about which scoring probability is higher, whether it be passing the ball to your teammates, or the directly doing a layup by yourself?"

"For this…" after pondering it for a while, Alan felt what Dai Li said was reasonable. In his high school days, when he passed the ball to his teammates, his teammates might miss the hoop. On the other hand, the opposing defensive players couldn't stop Alan from shooting a layup by himself.

"Alan, your body is your most powerful weapon. No one is as strong as you, and no one could be faster than you. What you need to do is just use your strong body and fast speed to the utmost advantage, which means to give a full display of your weapon," Dai Li continued to say.

"I got you." Alan nodded, "Thank you, Li. Thank you for your help!"

...

Dai Li prepared a training plan according to Alan's characteristics, which focused on enhancing Alan's body stability when he was in physical contact with other players.

Dai Li planned to forge Alan into another top-notch driver. However, Alan was less than 1.8m tall, and he would definitely face fierce physical contact when he got to the basket. Therefore, his body stability was crucial. Even though he couldn't win in the physical contact arena, he could still score through layups, as long as he could keep his balance, or draw fouls directly from the opposing inside players.

Dai Li didn't formulate any training plan to rectify Alan's defects, like his unstable shooting. Dai Li almost knew nothing about the basketball techniques. Also, his time was very limited. In the daytime, Dai Li would perform observation and continue learning in the AP Training Center. He could only instruct Alan's training in the evenings.

During the training, Dai Li also sensed the advantage of coaching an athlete with the grade S gift, which was the rapid accumulation of a wealth of experience. Before, when Dai Li was in the Beikou Training Center, although Feixiang Lin was also an athlete with the grade S gift, Dai Li was just assisting the training of Feixiang Lin, so he was a high-level handyman at most. But now, Dai Li was the head coach of Alan, who could dominate Alan's training, so his experience accumulation was more rapid than in his days spent in the Beikou Training Center.

Soon, over one week had passed. Alan had achieved remarkable progress. His journey to becoming a "scoring machine" had become smoother and smoother.

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Chapter 263: Children of The Poor

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

In the afternoon, Alan came to pick up Dai Li to take him to his training ground as usual. Without Alan, Dai Li wouldn't dare enter that black neighborhood alone.

However, Alan was a little bit depressed today.

"Alan, what's wrong? Are you sick? You look quite depressed," Dai Li asked.

"Li, I have to leave Los Angeles in a few days," Alan said.

"Are you going back to Virginia?" Dai Li continued to ask, "Is something wrong with your university application?"

Alan nodded, "My mom went to some really good universities in Los Angeles, but none of those universities were interested in me. They even refused to give me a chance to tryout."

"Then what are you going to do?" Dai Li continued to ask.

"I will go back to the east coast, and try my luck in Massachusetts by checking whether a second-rate university would offer me a scholarship." Alan sighed and continued to say, "Let's change the topic. Come with me, let's go shopping in a mall now, for it will be closed if we get there too late."

"What do you want to buy? Are there discounts or special sales happening?" Dai Li asked.

Dai Li had stayed in the United States for several days, so he had more or less known something about the American culture. A lot of the Americans' consumption was quite rational.

For most Americans, they preferred to go shopping during the discount season. A shopping mall with a sales promotion was always attractive for many consumers. During the Christmas promotions, like the "Black Friday" sales, many Americans would buy commodities for the next few months, or even a year in advance, taking advantage of those times when the prices were pretty low.

"No discounts." Alan continued to say, "I want to buy a Barbie doll set."

"Barbie doll? Isn't that for girls?" Dai Li didn't expect Alan had taste like this.

"Don't jump to conclusions! I'm going to buy it for my younger sister. I have promised to bring a gift to her," Alan said.

"You have a younger sister? I have never heard you mention that," Dai Li asked in surprise.

Alan nodded, then he took out his cellphone and found a picture. In the picture, a girl, about 15 or 16, was standing on the left of Alan, holding a little girl aged 3 or 4 years old in her arms.

"This is my younger sister Brandy, she has just started her high school years, and beside her is my youngest sister Lisa, who is only 4 this year. I'll buy the Barbie doll for her," Alan explained.

"She is very cute," Dai Li praised.

"She is also very miserable, for she is suffering from congenital heart disease," Alan shared, melancholy showing in his eyes.

Dai Li pondered this news for a while, before figuring out the meaning of the term "congenital heart disease".

Then Dai Li asked, "It's very difficult to treat this disease, right?"

"Yes. The doctor told me Lisa could only live less than 20 years, unless she undergoes a surgery." Alan clenched his fists in agony.

Alan let out a long sigh, and continued, "When my mother conceived me, she was only 15. Shortly after my birth, my biological father left us. Later, my mother got married to my foster father, then she gave birth to my two younger sisters."

Dai Li nodded, for this was quite common in the United States, especially in the black population.

"My foster father is a good man. He really wanted to support the family. However, he failed to get a stable job because of his criminal record of drug trafficking and frequent imprisonment. My mother had to do all kinds of part-time jobs. The place we lived was really terrible. We couldn't afford to pay the electric bill, so our power was cut off quite frequently. We couldn't afford to buy enough food either, so we were always hungry. We couldn't afford to pay the water bill, so so sometimes we even didn't have drinking water. We even used to get thrown out by the landlords, having to spend the night in the streets because we couldn't afford to pay the rent."

Dai Li nodded. He had read some reports about the ghetto. It was conceivable that Alan really had experienced so many hardships in his childhood.

"My youngest sister Lisa grew up in poor health. She was diagnosed with congenital heart disease not long ago. Lisa doesn't have medical insurance. We can't afford the medical insurance, as well as Lisa's surgical fee," Alan said in a very low voice, then continued, "Moreover, Lisa is very young, the surgery success rate will be higher if her surgery is performed by an expert from a high-end medical center, which is very expensive."

In the United States, without medical insurance, the treatment of a minor illness could also be a heavy burden; but many poor families in the United States couldn't afford the medical insurance.

The prescription drugs, examination fees, and surgery fee in the United States were strikingly expensive. A routine blood test would cost over 100 American dollars. An ambulance call would cost over 1,000. An appendectomy in the hospital would be followed by a bill of 40,000 or 50,000. It was quite normal to spend over RMB 100,000 for a caesarean section. Therefore, ordinary wage-earners really couldn't afford the medical costs without the medical insurance.

What makes things worse, was that some Americans didn't have the habit of saving money. They had gotten used to using credit cards to buy commodities, expensive or inexpensive. They always spent the money for tomorrow today. Therefore, a sudden illness might cause bankruptcy directly.

In the United State, if you wanted to see a doctor in a public hospital, the only thing you could do was to wait. The medical costs in the public hospitals were low, but you had to make appointments for a most common examination 2 or 3 months in advance. As time went by, the patients' illnesses might worsen, or the patients might even have recovered by themselves.

It was also very normal for a patient who needed emergency treatment to be ignored for a night, the doctors only having the resources or manpower at that moment to deal with the patients who were critically ill. Back to China, if a registration is made in the morning, the patient could receive treatment in the same day, and if an examination was performed that day, the patient could get the result the very following day.

Sometimes, the patients who suffered from some chronic diseases could get treatment in the emergency center of a hospital. All these things were totally impossible in the public hospitals of the United States.

Furthermore, all high-level doctors of the United States were working in the private hospitals. Many medical centers, which could perform medical research, would always be flooded with ace doctors.

Therefore, the doctors in the private hospitals were more competent than the doctors in the public hospitals, but the medical cost in the private hospitals was much higher. In a private hospital, as long as you could pay, you could receive the treatment in the same day.

The medical cost in the United States' private hospitals could also be reimbursed, all of which depended on the insurances the patient had. The insurance companies had signed contracts with the hospitals. Patients who had expensive insurances might even enjoy VIP treatment in the top-level private hospitals.

Alan continued to say, "Lisa doesn't have medical insurance. If she has to receive a surgery, the surgery will cost us around 1 million American dollars. Normally we could never make so much money, so the only route to take is that I could be a professional player, either in the NFL or NBA. As long as I could be a star player, I could earn enough money to pay Lisa's surgery fee. Otherwise, Lisa will die…"

"I was really stupid then. If I hadn't gotten in that fight, maybe I would still have had the chance to be a player in the NFL, and could have continued to play football. Then maybe the university coaches wouldn't have refused me like they are now, and I would have found a good university that could offer me a scholarship…What I have done was really stupid!" Alan shook his head and said, "So, I swear, I will never get into a fight in the future!"

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Chapter 264: The Opportunity Came Up

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

Dai Li was moved by Alan's experience. He was even surprised after hearing that the surgery fee needed by Alan's youngest sister was almost 1 million American dollars.

What Alan mentioned was a lot of US dollars! Dai Li knew the surgery for congenital heart disease was very expensive. In China, it would cost anywhere between 100 thousand Yuan to a few hundred thousand Yuan. By contrast, 1 million dollars was really an astronomical sum.

In the United States, a guy who could earn 50,000 to 80,000 dollars was regarded as being in the middle class. Therefore, the middle class in the United States still needed to save money for nearly 20 years, without eating or drinking anything beside the bare minimums, before they could finally accumulate 1 million dollars. As for the low-income group and poor people, it was impossible for them to earn 1 million dollars. Hence, the only way Alan could save his youngest sister was to play hard and become an NBA star player.

"Alan, in case you can't find an appropriate university in the United States, have you ever considered playing in a foreign league? For example, you may go to Europe. Many NBA players used to earn money in Europe. The salary of the European leagues may be lower than that of NBA, as it is very difficult to sign a contract of 100 million American dollars with the clubs. But it is still possible for you to earn 1 million dollars in Europe," Dai Li said.

"I have considered that, but now I am on parole, so I am not allowed to leave the United States according to the parole regulation. Now, I can only stay in the United States." Alan let out a long sigh.

Dai Li nodded. Now, if Alan wanted to be a star player, the only way for him to do so was to be admitted by a University, and then to participate in the draft of the NBA. However, it seemed that the only way out had been obstructed.

"Alan, just don't give up, maybe we still have other opportunities." Dai Li continued to say, "Even if we don't, we could still create opportunities!"

...

The Adidas Basketball Training Camp was drawing to an end. A match would be held on the last day of the training camp, which was more of a stage for the players to show their talents than a pure match.

Compared to the normal training days of the camp, which had the presence of scattered scouts or university coaches, the match held on the last day would attract more attention, with all coaches of the famous universities in California attending. Even some coaches, who were studying in the eastern United States, would fly directly to Los Angeles to take a closer look at their favorite players.

This was just like the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show. A long preparation period was needed. During the preparation period, the media would release all kinds of news to evoke people's expectations and anticipation. On the last day, the whole fashion world would flock to the show, while the long-legged models showed their most beautiful sides on the catwalk.

...

David Mills, the person responsible for running the AP Training Center, was carefully checking a name list in his hands, looking for any possible missing names. The contents of the name list were the names of the coaches of famous universities, scouts of NBA teams, and famous basketball correspondents.

The AP Training Center had invited everyone listed in the name list. Mills hoped these people could come and watch the last match, and if they did, their travel costs and accommodations would be undertaken by the AP Center.

This kind of basketball training camp was essentially a stage play, which would be meaningless if they only had performers. Hence, the audience was also needed. The coaches of the famous universities and the NBA scouts were apparently the most adoring audiences. A news report from a famous basketball correspondent would enhance the level of the training camp remarkably.

Just at this moment, the secretary knocked at the door and entered.

"Mr. Mills, a Mr. Li wants to see you. He is a member of the foreign delegation," the secretary said.

"Mr. Li? OK, just let him in," Mills said.

Dozens of seconds later, Dai Li entered the office of Mills.

"I am really sorry to interrupt you, Mr. Mills. My name is Dai Li." Dai Li first introduced himself.

"Hello, Mr. Li, what can I do for you?" Mills continued to say, "If possible, I hope you could make this short. My time is quite precious."

"OK, I was hoping you could give an opportunity to Alan Hampton." Dai Li brought out his purpose directly.

"Alan Hampton, I have heard this name somewhere." Mills was pondering with knitted brows.

"He is the high school student from Virginia," Dai Li said immediately.

"I got it, the bad boy! He missed our training camp. For that, his mother used to come to me on his behalf as well." Mills did a double take, then he said, "Mr. Li, don't you think it is too late for you to come to me now? Our training camp is about to end. You should have come to me at least 10 days ago, if you wanted to intercede for that bad boy."

"Mr. Mills, you misunderstood me. I hope you could give Alan Hampton an opportunity to play in the match held on the last day," Dai Li said.

"Mr. Li, did I just hear that right? Alan Hampton didn't participate in our training camp, so how could he play in the match held on the last day?" Mills said, shaking his head.

"Mr. Mills, please don't refuse me so fast. My proposal will be very beneficial to the AP Training Center," Dai Li said.

"We could benefit from your proposal? OK, I am interested now." Finally Mills sat up straight, folded his arms, and pricked up his ears.

Dai Li asked, "First, I want to know, how much do you know about Alan Hampton?"

"I've heard about him, that he is a genius player, and a double star player of football and basketball from Virginia. It is hardly overestimating to address him as the No.1 high school player in Virginia." Mills continued to say, "But, I also heard he got into some trouble outside the basketball court. I've heard that he was involved in a fight and received a jail sentence."

"But he is gifted indeed. If he had a clean record, he would be the most sought after high school player this year, right?" Dai Li said.

Mills nodded. He didn't deny that.

Dai Li continued to say, "Mr. Mills, I remember you used to say that your training camp was established for the players to show their talents, right?"

"This is what our sponsors expect to see. Of course we should meet the requirements of our customers." Mills didn't answer the question directly, which could be viewed as his agreeing with Li.

"So, Alan Hampton's participation in the match held on the last day could be viewed as one more player showing his talent, and one more option for the scouts and coaches to choose among. However, the AP Training Center didn't invest any training resources in him. What you need to invest is just several minutes' showtime for him. Therefore, it is almost a zero cost investment for you."

"In case Alan Hampton is selected by a coach of a famous university, or an NBA scout, or were to be written about in a well-known basketball column by a correspondent, it will undoubtedly be good publicity for the AP Training Center. To win this type of surefire lottery, with zero cost, would you like to have a try, Mr. Mills?"

Dai Li prepared this rhetoric yesterday, then modified it with translation software for several times, before keeping it memorized in his heart. Therefore, he could say it smoothly in front of Mills today.

Mills was absorbed in thought. From the perspective of a businessman, what Dai Li said was quite reasonable, especially the last sentence, "To win a lottery with zero cost", really impressed him. This was quite like taking a walk after dinner. If you could find money on the road, you are lucky, or if you didn't find any money on the road, you have still lost nothing.

"Mr. Li, I am convinced by you," Mills finally said. "I will inform Coach Hyde to give 5 minutes to Alan Hampton. I hope he can put up a good show."

After hearing Mills' reply, Dai Li clenched his fists in triumph. He knew the opportunity for Alan had come!

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Chapter 265: A Convergence of Celebrities

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

On the last day of the basketball training camp, a test match would be held.

"Li, thank you! Without you, I would have come back to Virginia," Alan said sincerely.

Dai Li patted Alan on his shoulder, "OK, don't think too much. Later, just play well in the court. Today, a lot of basketball celebrities will watch this match. You only have 5 minutes, so don't waste your time with unnecessary things. Just try to demonstrate your advantage as much as possible. Show them your speed, your strength, and your scoring ability. Make them see that you are unstoppable on this court!"

"I will!" Alan said, his eyes filled with resolute fighting will.

Some people, who were familiar to the Americans, had been seated in the front seats of the court, where the scorching eyes of the players participating in the match were focused.

"Oh, look! Coach Alford of UCLA and Coach Babe of University of Southern California are over there! They are really here!"

"That's for sure. They are local coaches from California, so they will definitely come. See that gray-bearded black person over there? That's Coach Thompson of Georgetown University."

"There's more. Coach Wright of University of North Carolina is also here. He is the best coach in the NCAA, who is good at small-ball tactics, which suits me very well."

"The head coach of Duke University didn't come. They sent their deputy head Coach Frye instead."

"No need to tell me. It's extremely difficult to enter Duke University. Even the top-notch high school players might not be lucky enough to get a basketball scholarship to Duke University."

"Look! That man should be Reed, the scout of the Los Angeles Lakers!"

"It's really him! My Gosh! Even the scout of the Lakers has arrived. As such a great club in the NBA, do they also pay close attention to the high school basketball training camp?"

No wonder this is the Adidas Basketball Training Camp! It could even attract the scouts of NBA giants! Today I shall do my best, and will hope Reed could write a nifty scout report about me!

"The one over there with brown hair, who wears a suit and tie, is the famous basketball correspondent Zach! I've heard many basketball professionals are readers of his column. I have seen him many times in the interviews of the legendary star players."

"He turned out to really be the basketball correspondent Zach! The coach of my high school team has been following his column for 10 years."

"Yes! There are readers of Zach's basketball column all across the United States. If you could appear in his column, the whole United States would know your name!"

The appearance of the celebrities caused great excitement among these high school players. This was the exclusive effect of the top level basketball training camp. These celebrities would ignore the invitations of the ordinary training camps, even the camps that agreed to pay them for their presence.

...

These coaches were familiar with each other, for they were coaches of the famous universities, and had met each other in the NCAA matches many times before. The NBA scouts were more familiar with the coaches of the universities, for universities were the main talent pool of NBA.

The coaches of the universities also hoped their apprentices could play in the NBA. Sometimes, the coaches of the universities would recommend their apprentices to the NBA scouts.

As for that Zach, who was the correspondent of the basketball column, he was the acquaintance of all these coaches, who had been interviewed by him before. Some coaches had known Zach for over 10 years.

The meeting of the acquaintances would always give out competitive sparks, let alone between some coaches from the teams which were "sworn enemies" of each other. For example, there was the rivalry between UCLA and University of Southern California, which were not only in the same state, but also in the same city, as well as that present between Duke University and University of North Carolina, which were also in the same state as one another. These teams were equally matched, and thus, rivaled each other naturally.

Coach Alford of UCLA didn't see eye to eye with Coach Babe of University of Southern California. Coach Wright of University of North Carolina just ignored the Deputy Head Coach Frye of Duke University, and started to talk with Coach Thompson of Georgetown University.

"Thompson, I know Georgetown University is used to cultivating big players. So this year, you've come for that big guy, right? He is a little bit skinny, but his wingspan is quite good, which suits you very well," Wright said.

"I've heard he has been admitted by University of Massachusetts, which offered him a pretty good scholarship. We are no match for them in this aspect." Thompson shook his head and said, "As for you, your team needs an offensive guard, right? That Steve looks pretty good."

"Steve, the "Son of New York"! Yes, I came for him. We need an offensive guard. I am very optimistic about him. He will definitely enter the NBA lottery pick. With him, we will certainly overpower Duke University!" Wright said without concealment.

"Yes, indeed he has a lot of potential. If the NBA also allows the high school players to participate in the draft, I guess he will appear on the scene of this year's draft. Moreover, with his gift, his rank won't be low, maybe he will be selected by the Knicks with the preferential draft pick," Thompson said. He knew a lot of coaches on the scene were coming for this "Son of New York".

...

At the same time, the "Son of New York" Steve was sitting on the sidelines, enjoying the attention from many people. From afar, Coach Hyde brought a player onto the court.

"Now you sit here. Later, when it is your turn to play, I will call you," Coach Hyde said as he pointed at a bench.

Steve turned around, finding that he knew the newcomer.

"Hampton!" Steve shouted in surprise.

"Steve!" Alan also recognized Steve.

They knew each other, because both of them were guards and of about the same age. One of them was from New York, while the other was from Virginia. Their places of origin were along the coast of the Atlantic Ocean, and not too far away from one another. In addition, both of them were frequently mentioned at the same time, even in the arguments on which of them was the No. 1 high school player in the eastern United States.

However, Steve knew he was no match for Alan. Steve accomplished his current achievement by focusing all his energy on basketball. Alan played basketball and football concurrently, which meant Alan achieved the same accomplishment as Steve, but with undivided energy.

Why is Hampton here? I haven't seen him in the previous trainings...with knitted brows, Steve had realized today's match might not be as smooth as he had expected.

...

"Is he Alan Hampton from Virginia? He doesn't seem to be very tall, I'm guessing he is under six feet."

"Be careful! He is a dangerous guy! Have you heard about that group fight he was involved in? Over 20 people were hospitalized because of serious injuries. We should keep a distance from him!"

"I know, that case even got to the Supreme Court."

"Could you tell me which one is stronger, Hampton or Steve?"

"I don't know, but today we will know the answer. Both of them will compete with each other in this match. If I were Coach Hyde, I would definitely put them on the two opposing teams respectively."

While the rest of the players were still talking, Alan lowered his head and recalled the trainings and instructions of Dai Li in recent days, silently.

...

The whistle to start the match was blown. Alan was not included in the starting lineup, so he had to sit on the bench as a substitute.

This was a test match, which was different from an official match. A player could be assigned to team A during his first appearance, then he would be assigned to team B during his second appearance. Also, there was no pause during the match. One short break would be arranged for each 20 minutes long match.

Therefore, the most important issue was not the result of the match, but the skills and performance of the players. During the first 20 minutes, Coach Hyde seemed to have forgotten Alan. He kept changing the players, but never called the name of Alan. After all, Alan didn't participate in the previous trainings, so Coach Hyde would naturally give priority to other players.

Alan was a little bit anxious, just sitting around and watching others playing hard in the court. The second 20 minutes had half-past, and all the rest of the players had made their appearances. Finally, Coach Hyde remembered Alan.

"Hampton, warm up yourself, and prepare for your appearance."

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Chapter 266: Here Comes the Scoring Machine

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

"That Steve is pretty good. He has the potential to be a top-notch guard. I guess he is good enough to play in the NBA," as Zach said this, he wrote down something in his notebook.

Steve's heart would dance with delight, if he knew of Zach's comments about him. In the draft period, this exact comment from Zach would raise Steve's ranking in the draft pick.

After finishing his note-taking, Zach looked up and saw a figure get to the basket and score through a layup, while the opposing defensive player didn't make any defensive action, as if he had been nailed on the floor. The big guy under the basket, who was responsible for the ball recovery, was also looking at the basket blankly, as if he hadn't come to himself yet after that layup.

What happened just now? Did the defenders zone out? As Zach thought of it, he fixed his eyes on Alan Hampton, who had just scored that layup.

...

Alan looked around and found that all faces were so strange to him. For the rest of the players, Alan was also a stranger. These players had stayed in the training camp for over 10 days, and had gotten to know each other very well. Therefore, for them, Alan was a "newcomer".

However, the ball was returned to Alan again, as he was the point guard, who should launch the attack of his team. Alan walked past the half court with the ball, and kept observing the positions of the opposing defenders.

They have such a big loophole in their defense. I should be able to rush to the basket directly. Alan made a judgment in his mind.

Also at this moment, the defender on Alan ran up slowly. To Alan, this player was indeed very slow.

Beside Alan, one teammate was in a good position, so he waved to Alan and shouted, "Newcomer, pass me the ball!"

Just at this moment, Alan started to move. A figure just rushed to the basket and scored through layup in a wink.

He dribbled past me! When that defender was still wondering how Alan dribbled past him with one move, he heard the sound of the friction between the ball and the net in the hoop.

The big player, who was responsible for the inside defense, was also looking at Alan with wide eyes. Just now, when he found Alan's breakthrough, he planned to fill in. However, before the movement of his body, Alan had gotten to the basket, which meant that Alan's layup was a lot faster than the reaction of his body.

This little guy is really fast!

...

In the first row of the spectator area, Wright shook his head and said, "It was not a good offensive option, as his teammate was apparently in a better offensive position. He should have passed the ball."

Coach Wright, of the basketball team of University of North Carolina, was the most skillful coach, who was the very best at small-ball tactics in the NCAA. Compared to other coaches, he was more skillful in using the guards.

"But he scored at last, what an impressive breakthrough!" Thompson, who was beside Wright, said.

Wright didn't contradict Thompson. Thompson was the coach of the basketball team of Georgetown University, of which the tactics were based on big players. They preferred to use the center. In its history, Georgetown University used to have centers of NBA Hall of Fame level. Therefore, for Wright, to discuss the usage of guards with Thompson, was nothing but playing the lute to a cow.

The two coaches continued to watch the match. The player who had just been dribbled past by Alan was eager to save face, so he kept focused on the ball, hoping to dribble past Alan.

He was nearly 10 cm taller than Alan. To him, Alan was just a dwarf. He believed he could easily get rid of Alan through his physical advantage.

However, the tough defense of Alan gave him a good lesson. Also Alan's tackling ability went beyond his expectation.

In Alan's senior year, he could realize 3.4 steals per game, which ranked second among all high school students in the United States. So, a player who ignored Alan's tackling would bring disgrace on himself.

When Alan was in close marking defense, he poked the ball with his hand suddenly, sending the ball out of the control of his opponent. Immediately after that, Alan rushed out and retained the ball. Without a break, he rushed directly to the basket of the opposing team.

He ran so fast, and left his opponents in the dust as always. Those defenders, who were getting back to defend, could not catch up with Alan, even though they did their best to run fast enough.

"He is so fast!"

At this moment, all eyes in the arena were fixed on Alan.

"He is holding the ball, and his opponents can't catch up with him! Could the dribbling be faster than the off-the-ball running?"

"So fast! He is even as good as the top-notch NBA guards! "

"Who is this guy? I haven't seen him before."

Everyone stared on, commenting in amazement.

...

Score, score, score again!

Alan rushed to the basket and scored through layup, or drew fouls on the defenders and then made free throws, or dribbled past the defender and shot a fadeaway. Alan had officially started his stunning performance. Now Alan had been turned into a scoring machine, according to Dai Li's plan, and started to score crazily.

As long as the ball was passed to Alan, he would definitely attack by himself, without passing the ball out. However, all his offenses were effective through scoring, drawing fouls on the opposing defenders, or causing a three-point play.

As for the rest of the players on the court, although they were also high school students, in front of Alan, their levels were much lower. Though they were not as fragile as the elementary school students, they had never been able to pose a substantive threat to Alan, as Alan's attack would always open up the defense of the opposing team, no matter what defense formation they used.

"The gap is too great!" someone in the spectator area couldn't help exclaiming.

...

Alan knew he only has 5 minutes, so he needed to do his best to prove himself in those 5 minutes. So in those 5 minutes, Alan scored 21 points alone. Most spectators on the scene were all convinced by Alan's remarkable performance.

"The boy is pretty good, but he is just too "selfish". He always attacks by himself, and never passes the ball to his teammates. He has no team spirit at all." Coach Babe of University of Southern California gave his comments.

"But he scored 21 points! This is a perfect performance. I guess he could score at least 10 points in each game, if he could play in NBA," Coach Alford of UCLA contradicted him immediately. "If he passed the ball to his teammates, his teammates might not score so many points. Moreover, he has drawn many fouls from the opposing inside players. The big player standing in front of him has fouled three times in 5 minutes."

"OK, gentlemen, stop discussing." Reed, the scout of Los Angeles Lakers, stopped their argument, then asked, "Could anyone of you tell me who this brilliant boy is, please?"

The rest of the people looked at each other. After over 10 seconds, one person said, "I kind of recognize him. He is Alan Hampton, the No. 1 high school player in Virginia!"

"That Alan Hampton, who was jailed because of fighting?" Reed nodded, before continuing, "So it's him…"

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Chapter 267: A Great Young Man

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

The name of Alan Hampton was nothing new for the people. As the basketball and football champion of Virginia, Alan had been a star player in his high school years, so he deserved to be known by the public.

Actually, people were more impressed by his achievements in football. After all, the national sport of the United States was not basketball but football. The notoriety brought forth by football was much bigger than that of basketball. Moreover, Alan was regarded as the best quarterback of Virginia.

But now, when the name of Alan Hampton was mentioned, people would first think of that fight, which was sort of demonstrating the saying "evil news rides fast, while good news baits later".

The coaches shook their heads, when they got to know that brilliant player in the court was Alan Hampton. A lot of coaches dissolved their idea of selecting Alan on the spot. Alan's criminal record prevented the famous universities from offering him a scholarship, even though Alan was invincible on the court now.

...

Coach Hyde opened his mouth slightly, because of his amazement.

What a surprise! Alan Hampton is so strong. His offensive game has gone far beyond the level of high school students. Even the university players couldn't stop him. This kind of sharp breakthrough could only be found in the NBA.

When Hyde was pondering all this, the assistant coach beside him reminded, "Coach Hyde, it's been five minutes."

"Five minutes?" Hyde had just remembered that Alan only got five minutes of show time.

Yes, it's time to take him out. Hyde was a little bit reluctant to do so. Alan's breakthrough was too amazing, so Hyde really wanted to enjoy it a little longer. At this moment, a staff member of the AP Center ran over in a hurry.

"Coach Hyde, Mr. Mills asked you to take Steve onto the court, assigning him to the opposing team of Hampton," the staff member said.

"A confrontation between Steve and Hampton?" Coach Hyde looked towards the whereabouts of Mills, and happened to see Mills nodding to him, which meant that his command should be executed.

"OK, I will take Steve onto the court immediately." Hyde nodded for agreement confirmation.

Coach Hyde could understand the plan of Mills. The confrontation between two ace players could promote the visually enjoyability of the match, especially if Alan and Steve were playing in the same position.

...

"Look, the 'Son of New York' Steve enters the court!"

"Both Steve and Hampton are point guards. Now they are on two opposing teams, so a fierce confrontation between them will definitely be staged. Now the match is more enjoyable!"

"Showtime! It's time to test their real strength. Who could be stronger, the 'Son of New York' Steve or the 'Double Champion of Virginia' Hampton?"

"They should be the top two high school players in the eastern United States this year. Finally, they are confronting each other, and the winner will be the No.1 high school player of the eastern United States."

"What a surprise! It's lucky for us to enjoy the competition for the No. 1 high school player of the eastern United States in the Adidas Training Camp."

The spectators were whispering in the spectator area, while the coaches, scouts, and correspondents, who sat in the front row, were watching the two gifted players with wide eyes. These basketball professionals knew that to defeat the rookies easily, could not demonstrate the real skills, which could only be shown during the competition between high level players.

...

Now Alan held the ball and prepared to attack. Steve hunched over and stared at Alan seriously.

I really didn't expect I could compete with Hampton in this instance. He is very fast, and I am also not slow. Moreover, I am 7 to 8 cm taller than him, so I should have physical advantage. I must contain him! Previously, he always attacked by holding the ball himself, so I will also be the winner if I could force him to pass the ball to others. Steve's thought raced through his mind.

In the next second, Alan started to move suddenly. He leaned forward.

He is coming! No, it's a fake!

Steve took a step back directly, and stopped to move laterally to continue the close marking. Since Steve took a step back, Alan got the space to accelerate. Then Alan changed his direction suddenly, as he tried to dribble past Steve.

It's indeed a fake!

Steve tried to cover in the moving direction of Alan. However, Alan made a sudden stop and changed his direction again.

It's just a sudden stop and direction change! He may have more fakes!

Steve stepped back again, but this time Alan dashed forward directly. Steve was a half-step slow. It was too late for him to catch up. Alan dashed to the basket. Steve was running closely after Alan. Steve jumped up, trying to block Alan's layup shot, but he slapped on Alan's arm accidentally.

The referee blew the whistle immediately.

I fouled! Steve also realized that, as the whistle's trill pierced the air.

However, to Steve's surprise, although Alan was slapped by Steve, Alan didn't lose his balance. Alan continued to shoot the layup in the air by throwing the ball to the hoop stably.

Woosh! The ball was thrown into the hoop. Alan finished a three-point play successfully!

At this moment, Dai Li's training worked. He formulated a training plan for Alan to enhance Alan's performance in body contact, so that Alan could still shoot the layup when he lost his balance. Therefore, Alan's breakthrough and layup were more like "racketeering" tactics.

He was not afraid of body contact.

On the contrary, he strongly inclined to have body contact with his opponent. As long as he was fouled by his opponent, he would get two free throws. If he was lucky, he might even finish a three-point play.

...

Alan's three-point play was successful, which also triggered a round of applause in the spectator area.

It is really a brilliant shot, especially at the final stage. When Hampton was fouled, he still managed to finish the layup. He is not very tall, but his performance in body contact is excellent. I've heard he is a genius. Now I think I underestimated him. He is really a great young man!

With his chin cupped in his hand, Thompson had remembered that Alan's mother used to visit him several months ago, but he had refused her.

Maybe I made a mistake at that time. I've heard that the fighting that time was caused by the white people's discrimination against the blacks.

Looking at Alan, who was running in the court, Thompson's heart was filled with a wave of sympathy. Thompson was also a black person. As such, he had also experienced the feeling of being discriminated by others many times since his childhood.

If he hadn't been involved in that fighting, he would have been the most sought after player among the famous universities.

As he thought of it, Thompson took a deep breath, the love of talent was surging in his heart.

If I made a mistake by refusing Hampton that day, let me correct that mistake today!

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Chapter 268: Go Home

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

Alan continued his performance. Even the "Son of New York" Steve couldn't stop him.

Alan played football and basketball concurrently in his high school days. He also won the championship of basketball and football in Virginia. At that time, Alan invested more stamina in football than basketball. His love of playing the quarterback in football was much more than that of performing as the guard in basketball. After all, it was quite normal to give priority to football in the United States.

Even though Alan invested most of his energy in football, he still accomplished remarkable achievements in basketball. Now, Alan had focused all his energy on basketball, so he was immediately turned into a star in the basketball court.

All coaches on the scene were impressed by Alan's performance. However, Alan's criminal record prevented the coaches from admitting him. Only a few coaches planned to give him a chance.

Coach Thompson of Georgetown University really appreciated Alan's gift, but he also knew it was quite risky to offer a scholarship to Alan. If Alan could straighten up and fly right, and kept his nose clean, it would be a happy story.

But if Alan still got involved in fighting like before, he would definitely be punished. Thompson would then also suffer due to Alan's behavior.

The test match was over. Thompson made up his mind finally.

I hope he will not fail me in the future. Thompson let out a long sigh. He decided to gamble on Alan, so he stood up and walked to Alan, to tell him the good news.

...

Alan ran to Dai Li feverishly.

"Li, we made it! Just now, Coach Thompson of Georgetown University came to me, saying that they will offer me a full scholarship!" Alan said exaggeratedly, as if he had found a great treasure.

As one of the top universities in the world, as well as the oldest university in the United States, Georgetown University was located in Washington D.C., the capital of the United States. In fact, Georgetown University is only 2 miles away from the White House. Children of many foreign diplomats would choose it for this reason.

This university has also cultivated many politicians. Therefore, Georgetown University is for elites, and is regarded as the cradle of aristocrats.

Georgetown University has indeed cultivated many "aristocrats", such as the Presidents, the Secretary of State, the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, the Secretary of Defense, the National Security Advisor, Leaders of the House of Representatives, Chairpersons of the Republican Party of the United States, the Crown Prince of Spain, the Prime Minister of Portuguese, the King of Jordan and the President of the Philippines, just to name a few. For people like Alan, who came from the ghetto and had criminal records, the admittance of Georgetown University was just like reaching the sky in a single bound. The gilded signboard of Georgetown University was sufficient to cover a shameful history.

"Congratulations!" Dai Li changed the subject and said, "The admittance to university is just the first step. You should work harder in the future to be a star player in the NBA and make a lot of money, so that you can then afford the treatment for your youngest sister. More importantly, never get into a fight again."

"I will never get into a fight in the future," Alan nodded and said solemnly.

...

The basketball training camp was over. The visiting group's learning schedule in the United States was also drawing to an end. Two days later, Dai Li said goodbye to Alan and boarded the return flight.

Dai Li benefited a lot from this oversea learning trip. He visited the best sports training center in the world, and also got acquainted with Alan Hampton, who had become his friend.

Dai Li walked out of the passenger passage of Qingcheng International Airport, then he turned on his cellular phone and called his father to confirm his safe arrival. Beside him, other passengers who had just gotten off the plane also took out their cellular phones to make calls, sending short messages or Wechat messages.

After obtaining their luggage, the passengers walked out of the airport and waited for the coach bus. At this moment, Ping Wang, who was the head coach of the table tennis team, put down his cellphone, his expression quite serious.

"Song, please send my luggage back, I have to go to the hospital," Ping Wang said to Guangming Song.

"What happened?" Guangming Song asked immediately.

"Mr. Ma of our team was injured in a car accident and now is hospitalized." Ping Wang continued to say, "Just bring my luggage back to our team. I will come to the Director and ask for a leave."

"Mr. Ma? The physical trainer of your team?" Guangming Song continued to ask.

"Yes, it's him!" Ping Wang let out a sigh. "The National Table Tennis Tournament will start soon. It's really bad luck for us to lose our physical trainer before the match."

Guangming Song took over Ping Wang's luggage, and said, "OK, just go to the hospital, I will bring your luggage back to your team."

...

After returning from the United States, Dai Li had two days off before going back to the provincial track and field team. Dai Li was summoned to the office of Weidong Chu, when he had just returned to the provincial track and field team.

"Li, how was your holiday? Have you gotten over the jet lag yet?" Weidong Chu asked considerately.

"I have," Dai Li said.

"How was your trip to the United States?" Weidong Chu asked casually.

"It was really an eye-opening trip for us in the United States." As Dai Li said this, he took out a document and put it on the table in front of Weidong Chu, then continued, "Coach, I prepared a brief report of the trip."

"OK, just leave it here. When you have time, prepare a PPT and show us everything you have seen and learned in the United States, so that we could also acquire some knowledge." Weidong Chu placed Dai Li's report aside, then said, "Li, I called you here for another issue. Three days ago, the physical trainer Ma of the table tennis team was injured in a car accident, and now is staying in the hospital. Have you heard this issue?"

"When I have just returned from the United States, I heard it in the airport. The Head Coach Ping Wang of the table tennis team went directly to the hospital to see him, after getting out of the plane," Dai Li answered.

"Although Mr. Ma is just a physical trainer, he has been working in the table tennis team for many years. As the backbone of the team, he will need at least 2 or 3 months for the treatment of his fracture." Weidong Chu continued to say, "The National Table Tennis Tournament is drawing near. Without Mr. Ma, the table tennis team will have problems in physical training. Ping Wang is so anxious, that he comes to the Director every day to ask for a replacement."

"The National Table Tennis Tournament is also an important event. After all, table tennis is the national sport of our country. It is quite popular among the public. In recent days, the rise of the live webcast of sports events also enhances the young people's concerns about table tennis. Therefore, the Provincial Sports Bureau has attached great importance in this National Table Tennis Tournament. The Director has commanded that all training teams of the sports team shall give their full support to the preparation of the table tennis team for the National Table Tennis Tournament."

"Hence, the Sports Bureau has decided to transfer a physical trainer temporarily to the table tennis team, to act as the replacement of Mr. Ma from other training teams. The temporary transfer will be finished by the end of the National Table Tennis Tournament." As Weidong Chu said this, he stared at Dai Li, then asked, "Li, I've heard you were a physical trainer of the weightlifting team, when you just joined our track and field team. Now, are you interested in acting as the physical trainer of the table tennis team?"

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Chapter 269: Be an Official

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

Dai Li looked at Weidong Chu inexplicably.

During my recent stay in the United States, I didn't make mistakes or cause offense to somebody, did I? My training level ranks the top in the track and field team, so Weidong Chu has no reason to throw me out. And Weidong Chu also doesn't have limitless empathy to send me to make contributions to the table tennis team out of nowhere.

As Dai Li thought of these things, Weidong Chu made his explanation, "The physical trainer in the table tennis team is quite a cushy job, which is being chased by many coaches."

"Is it a cushy job?" Dai Li asked questioningly.

Weidong Chu nodded, "The administrative rank of Mr. Ma is First Officer, and he is enjoying the treatment of the section chief rank. Now you should be able to understand, right? The Sports Bureau will give an administrative rank to the one who would replace Mr. Ma. Otherwise, it will be difficult for the replacement to do the job. Therefore, it is indeed a cushy job. You have been working in our provincial team for several years. I guess you will be promoted to Second Officer, if you could replace Mr. Ma temporarily."

Second Officer! He is making me an official! Dai Li figured it out immediately.

In the cadre system of China, the first and second officers were not leading positions. Although they could also enjoy the treatment of the section chief rank, their functions and powers were definitely no match for that of the section chief and deputy section chief, who both held a leading position.

However, in the sports system, the second officer could be regarded as a low level official. Many coaches couldn't be promoted to second officer in their whole life.

In the domestic sports system, the General Administration of Sport of China of the highest level was a minister-level unit. Although addressed as "Director", the official-in-charge of the General Administration of Sport of China was indeed a minister-level official.

The administrative centers, which were affiliated to the General Administration of Sport of China, such as the Athletics Administrative Center, the Aquatics Administrative Center, and the Table Tennis Administrative Center, etc., were all department-level units. The principals of these administrative centers were addressed as "Director of XXX Administrative Center", but they were indeed department-level officials, who had reached the level of national high ranking cadres. Their ranks were equivalent to the mayor of Prefecture-level city. Some ignorant people might think the principles of those sports administrative centers were just "low level directors", by equating them with the workshop directors in enterprises.

In the provincial-level administrative system, the provincial sports bureau was a department-level unit. The training teams, which were affiliated to the provincial sports bureau, were normally division-level organizations. The head coach and deputy head coach of the training teams were division-level cadres and hold the leading positions.

However, the training teams were not administrative organizations with real powers. Therefore, under the division-level cadres, instead of setting section chief and deputy section chief, who held the leading positions, the first officer and second officer, who didn't hold leading positions, were set.

Of course, there were also department-level cadres and division-level cadres, who didn't hold leading positions. For instance, the "Inspector" was a department-level rank, while the "Investigator" was a division-level rank. In the system, these titles were prepared for cadres who were going to retire. The in-service cadres would not act as inspectors or investigators.

In the systems of science, education, culture, health and sport, the promotion of the officials was different than that of the administrative organization with real powers. It was very difficult for the frontline positions to get administrative promotions, such as the scientific research personnel, the teachers in schools, the doctors in hospitals and coaches in the sports bureaus, most of whom could not get an administrative rank.

Examples of this would be the famous doctors, who might be Directors of the hospital departments. Another example would be teachers in schools; the normal teachers didn't have any administrative ranks. The president and vice president of the schools normally would not give lessons to the students for a whole year, and this was what the reality was.

Meanwhile, in the systems of science, education, culture, health and sport, the administrative ranks of the staff were relatively low. For example, the president of a county or district level key middle school might manage several hundred teachers and several thousand students, but the president was actually a section-level cadre. Imagine if the president of a school was just a section-level cadre, then how could the ordinary teachers be promoted as cadres?

The sports coaches were just the same. The possibility for ordinary coaches, who didn't have the background of a famous athlete, to be promoted to an official, was just a little bit higher than zero.

After graduating from the university, Dai Li started his career as a coach. It had been years till now, but he still had no administrative rank. Dai Li also didn't consider something like being an official in his life plan. After all, the possibility for the frontline coaches to development their official careers was very low, and required not only personal efforts and capabilities, but also good luck. Only very few lucky ones among the sports coaches might obtain some harvest in the official careers.

Now, it seemed Dai Li had a stroke of luck.

Mr. Ma was a first officer, so his replacement should not be an ordinary coach without any administrative rank. People who were in management positions without administrative ranks would have difficulty in work. Moreover, for this kind of temporary transfer, no one would like to go without some "bonus". Otherwise, the replacement would not work hard, even if the replacement was assigned forcibly.

All training teams were more or less shorthanded, so the head coaches of the teams wouldn't accept the temporary transfer easily. After all, it was a selfish era.

The helpful and generous people, like Feng Lei (a famous soldier in the People's Liberation Army and a communist legend in China, who, after his death, was characterized as a selfless and modest person devoted to the Communist Party and the people of China) were very few.

However, a second officer was definitely a great temptation for ordinary coaches. After becoming a second officer, the coach could enjoy the treatment of a deputy section chief. Although the powers in hand were not changed, and the salary was only increased by roughly RMB 100 or 200, it could stand for the first step in one's official career.

For Dai Li, this was also a good issue to consider. He had no reason to refuse it. So he nodded immediately and expressed his interest.

"OK. I will recommend you to Head Coach Ping Wang of the table tennis team." Weidong Chu continued to say, "This time, a lot of people were interested in this position, among whom were many ace coaches of other teams. Therefore, Ping Wang will definitely organize a selection, so the final result will be up to your personal capabilities."

...

As Weidong Chu said, a lot of people had signed up for this position, not just the physical trainers, as there were even some technique trainers that had signed up, too. Apparently, a lot of people were unwilling to be an ordinary and nameless coach for a lifetime. Although the second officer was just in the lowest level of the bureaucratic system, it would still provide room for promotion, as well as more chances in the future cadre selection.

Thanks to the great influence of the table tennis event, a temporary replacement could be given a rank of second officer. For other sports, especially for those lesser-known sports, it was absolutely impossible, as the provincial sports bureau might just ignore the appeal for replacement.

However, the table tennis was the national sport of China, which enjoyed great popularity and attention among the public. Leaders of different levels also attached great importance to it. Especially some cadres were fans of table tennis, and therefore, a good basketball player or soccer player might be forgotten by these cadres, but a good table tennis player would definitely be remembered by them.

The same could be said of the ordinary people. Almost all middle-aged people aged 30 to 40 years old might be able to name the table tennis champions in the recent two decades. However, if they were asked to name the players of the National Football Team, who used to participate in the World Cup 2002 that was held in Japan and South Korea, most of them might have forgotten those names of those players, especially if they were not soccer fans.

This was the power of the "national sport"!

Therefore, even it was just for showing off in front of high level management, or being remembered by the leaders, the table tennis event deserved great investment!

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Chapter 270: Rating

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

When the Head Coach Ping Wang of the table tennis team had just returned, he was anxious, like a cat on hot bricks. The National Table Tennis Tournament would start soon, and the hospitalization of his physical trainer made him feel quite helpless and desperate.

In order to get a replacement, Ping Wang had almost decided to hang on in the office of the Director of the sports bureau. It was lucky that the Director was quite supportive of the table tennis event.

The Director's approval of the rank of the second officer for the replacement had directly ignited the enthusiasm of the best physical trainers in the provincial sports team, at least in regards to acting as the replacement in the table tennis team. The cost performance of being promoted as a second officer for acting as the physical trainer in the table tennis team for a duration of two or three months was remarkably high!

Ping Wang was suddenly surrounded by happiness, for he could choose any physical trainer from all the training teams of the provincial sports teams at will. However, he was worried at the same time, as there were too many excellent candidates, and he really didn't know which one he should select.

This issue might end up offending others! Ping Wang suddenly realized the selection was indeed a sort of "hot potato" scenario.

If it had just been an issue about making a selection of a physical trainer, it would be quite easy for Ping Wang to make this decision. However, this issue was related to the rank of a second officer, so Ping Wang had to deal with it scrupulously. Otherwise, he might be involved in unnecessary troubles.

Offending others was nothing, but if he was reported for a violation of discipline or regulations in the selection, no matter what the final result was, it would exert a negative influence on him.

It's really a hot potato! Ping Wang let out a long sigh. I have to organize a selection, which will judge the candidates only on their competences. Only the most competent one can be selected. The losers would not blame me, but would blame their own incompetences, so, in that way, I could avoid offending these people.

Ping Wang looked at the wad of registration forms in his hand, and started to think about the selection plan.

...

The Temporary Selection Criteria for the Physical Trainer of the Table Tennis Team was placed on the bulletin board of the internal website of the provincial sports bureau. The first part was presenting the rating.

For example, the candidates might get more points for their educational background, working experience, and coaching achievements, etc. For the educational background, a bachelor degree would definitely be advantageous than a technical secondary school.

As for working experience, the longer the duration of working years was, the higher the points would be. As for the coaching achievement, a coach who had cultivated an excellent athlete, would naturally get more points.

Apparently, this kind of rating which was performed according to certain rules and regulations, was the most equitable one. The points were fully dependent upon one's personal competence. Coaches with limited educational backgrounds, working experiences, and coaching achievements, could not blame others, but only their own incompetence, for any low points ratings.

The rating, in the first part, could open a big gap among the coaches especially. For instance, the score of the coaches, who used to cultivate high level athletes, would be much higher than the rest of the coaches.

The second part was the interview portion. The candidates would make a presentation, one by one. The presentation time was 15 minutes, and the content of the presentation would center around their understandings of the physical training of the table tennis players, as well as a brief introduction of the candidate's training plan. Then, the candidate would be rated by of the all coaches of the table tennis team.

Normally, the interview was just a formality. The physical training of table tennis was not confidential, like the research of nuclear weapons, as even the most professional content could be found in some theses. The coaches of all levels, from the national team to the sports universities, would publish some theses related to this topic. After reading over 10 theses, and making a summary, a candidate would be able to become an armchair expert easily.

As for the detailed training plan, although different coaches had different plans, their overall training concepts were about the same, only with some different details. After all these years spent developing the athletic training, an optimal training direction had long been summed up through experience accumulation from countless successes and failures, as well as the unremitting research of kinematics experts. Hence, the overall plan couldn't go wrong, as long as this optimal direction was adhered to.

Moreover, in order to avoid the deliberate downplay in the rating, the highest score and the lowest score would be removed in the rating of the interview. The coaches, who were responsible for the rating, had a pretty good idea that all of the candidates were their colleagues, who they would see all the time, so this made them want to save face for the candidates. Without deep hatred, it was unnecessary to give an extra low score. By giving similar scores, the coaches doing the rating wouldn't need to worry about offending the candidates.

After the first two parts, the top three coaches would undergo a one-day field training. After all, the coach was a practice-oriented job, and no matter how good one's theory or educational background was, possessing the real basic skills was essential for a coach. To be sure, one day's trial training wouldn't have any effect on the athletes. However, the competence and training level of the coach would be demonstrated easily from the trial training.

...

"The score of the first part of the physical trainer selection of the table tennis team has been announced!"

"I've heard that this rating is quite detailed. The educational background and work experience have been taken into consideration."

"Yes, indeed. The scores of all candidates are publicized on the bulletin board. Let's go and have a look."

Seven or eight people had now gathered in front of the bulletin board.

"Alas, I only got 19 points. It seems I have been knocked out."

"Nineteen points is a better rating than mine. I only got 15 points. Alas, I am hindered by my educational background. I've heard that the college degree holder would have an additional 2 points, while the bachelor degree holder would have an additional 5 points. It is a pity that I graduated from a technical secondary school. If I were a university graduate, I would have 20 points!"

"One year of working experience would add 1 point. Wang, you have gained 12 points from your working experience, right?"

"The additional 12 points are still not enough, as my final score is only 20 points. My coaching achievement is poor. The best athlete cultivated by me only got a provincial championship title."

"Look, someone got 31 points! It's Guang Wu of the gymnastic team. Wu, where are you? You got 31 points!"

In the crowd, Guang Wu smiled shyly, but his heart was filled with elation.

"It seems an athlete cultivated by Wu won second place in the parallel bars event of the National Games, right? This achievement will definitely bring a lot of points to him."

"Besides the second place in the parallel bars event of the National Games, his athletes also won several championship titles in the national championships, which could also bring him some additional points," someone explained.

Just at this moment, someone exclaimed, "Youdi Wei of the boxing team got 49 points! It's awesome!"

Every one fixed their eyes on the bulletin board again. The 49 points had been the highest score so far, as it was 18 points higher than the score of Guang Wu. The scores of several coaches were even lower than 18 points.

Someone said, "Our boxing team has achieved great accomplishments in the recent years, including one champion of the National Games and one champion of the national championship. As the physical trainer of the boxing team, Youdi Wei would get a high score, naturally."

The people who were speaking didn't notice that Youdi Wei, who had scored 49 points, was standing at the very end of the crowd. After hearing the discussion of the people in front of him, Youdi Wei smiled triumphantly.

My score should be the highest one. Many coaches, those with similar seniority as me, only got a score which was less than half of my score. I guess I should be No. 1 among all the candidates. I have been a coach for 10 years now, and finally, I'm getting the rank of the second officer.

When Youdi Wei was thinking these things confidently, someone cried out, like they were seeing a ghost.

"What the hell? 122 points! I can't believe what I see! How could it be possible?"

"It's really 122 points. Did they add an extra "1" mistakenly? How could a candidate score 122 points?"

"Who is this incredible guy?"

"Dai Li, it's Dai Li of the track and field team, with 122 points!"

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Chapter 271: The Competition is a Show

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

Hearing of this 122-point high grade, sent a shock through everyone at once.

"My God, 122 points! My grade is only a fraction of his!"

"A score of 122 points! How could it be possible, is there any mistake? I may have believed, it if it was 22 points."

"Dai Li, I have heard about him before. He hasn't been in our team for long, and is probably still in his twenties. How would it possible for him to earn 122 points?!"

Hearing the people's discussions, Youdi Wei clenched his fists angrily.

How can this be true?! My 49 points was the highest grade! Why there is someone else, whose grade is higher than mine, almost twice as much as mine, in fact! It's impossible! It must be some shady deal! Right, this Deputy Director must be predetermined?! The competition cannot real, but only a show!

Youdi Wei was plagued by all kinds of negative conjectures. Someone from the crowd said, "I think I once saw Dai Li before. A few days ago, in the visiting group to America, he was there."

"Isn't that visiting group only allowing chief coaches in? How could Dai Li be a part of it?"

"Well, you know why. He must have some backings, otherwise, how could he go to America!"

"Then, this competition for Ping-pong fitness coach is just a show, the leaders have already determined Dai Li as the man to win."

"Probably so, otherwise, how can he gain 122 points, which is the sum of five to six people's grades?! There is no need for the others to compete anymore. I say, let's give the Deputy Director to him directly!"

The discussions stimulated Youdi Wei's incomparable anger. After all, his 49 points used to be the highest among all the candidates, that is, before Dai Li's grade came out. He had been believing that he was only one step away from that position, but now, he felt that he had been treated in an extremely unfair way.

"So-called selection, we are all supporting actors!" Youdi Wei snorted coldly.

Meanwhile, someone standing at the front said, "There is a sentence at the bottom of the announcement, and it says that detailed evaluation information can be found in the attached file. Ha! This announcement has an attachment! Perhaps the information is too much, so that it can't fit in this announcement."

"Let's go to find a computer, and take a look at the detailed evaluation. I want to know why I only gained 20 points!"

"Yeah, I also want to see what my 25 points are about!"

"And Dai Li's 122 points, I want to check why they gave him 122 points!"

Referring to Dai Li's 122 points, someone joked in anger, "Well, well, perhaps he once cultivated an Olympic champion!"

"An Olympic champion? Shall he have had the chance?" another person said, while pointing at the mailroom not far from there. "If I'm right, there is a computer in the mailroom, let's go and check the attachment!"

As he appealed, the others immediately moved towards the mailroom also.

...

"That's it, click here and download the file!"

A form was displayed on the screen.

"Old Ding, you are the first one. College degree, two points, length of employment, 11 points..."

"Don't look at mine, I'm finished. Look at someone else's," said Coach Ding.

"How about Dai Li's? Let's look at his!" a person, who stood at the back, suggested.

The one in front of the computer dragged the mouse, soon finding Dai Li's name.

"University degree, 5 points. Length of employment, 5 points, these are only 10 points. Where do the 122 points come from?"

"Let's see what's next, ah, his achievements."

The guy kept moving his mouse, and located Dai Li's coaching achievements.

"Got it, here, let me see. Athlete's name, Aiguo Jiang. Organization, Hanbei Weightlifting Team. Achievements during training, National Weightlifting Grand Prix Qingcheng substation 62kg Champion."

"A national Grand Prix substation champion can only have brought him 4 points!"

"He has to have at least 30 national Grand Prix substation champions to gain 120 points!"

"Like I said earlier, Dai Li must have some backing, hence, this competition is indeed a show..."

The coaches discussed these findings with disdain, while the one sitting in front of the computer continued reading.

"Athlete name, Haiquan Fang. Organization, Hanbei Youth Athletics Team. Achievements During Training, Hanbei Youth Games Long Jump Champion."

"Provincial Youth Game Champion? That is nothing, only counts 2 or 3 points!" someone snorted.

"Wait a minute, what is the athlete's name again? Haiquan Fang? Is it THAT Haiquan Fang?" another person asked.

"You mean the Asian Games Long Jump Champion Haiquan Fang? Hey, he did come from our youth team. No one else would be named that!"

"Haiquan Fang is the domestic long jump genius No. 1. He won the Asian Games champion at 18! Was he trained by Dai Li? I remember that, in the evaluation rubric it mentioned, sending talents to the national team also counts as achievements, and so one can earn some points for that."

"Besides, Dai Li sent an Asian Games champion, which also counts. He can add some points on this."

"But that's still not enough for 122 points!" Youdi Wei was quite discomforted, as he continued, "Besides, Haiquan Fang won the Asian Games Champion after he joined in the national team, so he didn't make it when he was in our team."

"Make sense. The boxing team's National Games championship and National Championships first place were all made, step by step, and Wei put all his efforts in it!" somebody said, to defend Youdi Wei against any injustice.

The guy in front of the computer moved on, reading, "Athlete name, Guohong Niu. Organization, Tsinghua University athletic team.Achievements during training, National University Games Third Place."

"Bah! There are no professional athletes in the National University Games, as the participants' competences can only be high-level amateurs at most. A third place, one -point reward is too much for its caliber!" someone said in a cynical tone, with a lopsided mouth smirk.

"Wait, that's not the end yet... Athlete name, Guohong Niu. Organization, National Athletic Team. Achievements during training, the Asian Games Men's 4100m Relay Race Champion!"

"The Asian Games Relay Race champion? I see, that's why I felt this name sounded familiar. He was one of the champion relay team members. A few days ago in the National Games, he was in the Top Eight, if I'm right."

"The organization is the National Athletic Team. Was Dai Li in the national team before?"

"Perhaps, during the Asian Games Training Camp, he was favored by a national team coach, and so then was able to stay in the national team for a while. Such things happen sometimes," someone reminded the crowd.

The people present were all professionals, and without further explanation needed, they understood what had happened.

"Then this Guohong Niu was also sent by Dai Li to the national team. Moreover, he was also a champion in the Asian Games, which could earn many points for Dai Li."

"If Dai Li has several trainees, each of whom are as good as Guohong Niu, 122 points is indeed possible. After all, an Asian Games championship is worth more points than a National Games champion."

Youdi Wei's face looked even more terrible now. His trainees were only champions in the National Games and the National Championships, but Dai Li had two Asian Games champions already.

Previously, Haiquan Fang's Asian Games champion was not cultivated by Dai Li himself, but the national team. Thus, Youdi Wei could find some excuse to convince himself that Dai Li was not as good as him. But now that Guohong Niu was trained by Dai Li all the time, even in the national team, Youdi Wei couldn't find any more excuses.

It's just an Asian Games champion! Youdi Wei thought with a lopsided mouth, his face filled with discomfort.

But the guy at the computer screen kept reading:

"Athlete name, Sijie Yang. Organization, Tsinghua University Athletic Team. Achievements during training, the National University Games Champion!"

In the next second, somebody shouted with surprise, "Sijie Yang? The Asian Games 100m Sprint champion Sijie Yang? The guy who is most likely to run it in 10 seconds? He is also Dai Li's student?"

At this moment, Youdi Wei's face turned extremely pale...

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Chapter 272: Practical Training

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

At present, Sijie Yang was a well-known athlete in the country. He won the Asian Games champion at a very young age, and became the "Star of Hope" of domestic athletics.

Also, he had a Nobel Prize Winner father, so he was definitely a descendant of a noble family. Therefore, even ordinary people knew who Sijie Yang was, let alone these professional athletic coaches.

"Even Sijie Yang was trained by Dai Li? Does he really have something, or was it just luck that he was able to meet such outstanding athletes?"

"Now I understand why Dai Li has earned 122 points, he has several Asian Games champions as his students, so it's acceptable for him to have such a high grade!"

Some people present had now changed their tones. At the very beginning, everyone was doubting that Dai Li had some backup support, but now, many people had changed their minds.

Youdi Wei clenched his fists and teeth. His heart was filled with ambivalence, unwillingness, discomfort and a sense of astonishment. But the guy in front of the computer kept reading.

"Athlete name, Yue Zhao. Organization, National Athletic Team. Achievements during training, the Asian Games Men's 200m Sprint Champion!"

"Another Asian Games champion, Yue Zhao! 200m sprinter Yue Zhao was also trained by Dai Li? Then, does it mean that, the sprint championships in the Asian Games all belonged to Dai Li?!"

"No wonder he has 122 points, he got four Asian Games champions!"

"I'm convinced, totally II admire him now, from my heart. There is no problem at all for Dai Li to gain 122 points!"

"There is more!" the guy said, as he continued reading.

"Athlete name, Kenan Shen. Organization, Hanbei Athletic Team. Achievements during training, the National Games 4100m Relay Race Champion. Athlete name, Jialiang Zhang. Organization, Hanbei Athletic Team. Achievements during training, the National Games 4100m Relay Race Champion. Athlete name, Yihao Wu. Organization, Hanbei Athletic Team. Achievements during training, the National Games 4100m Relay Race Champion. Athlete name, Dong Qian. Organization, Hanbei Athletic Team. Achievements during training, the National Games 4100m Relay Race Champion!"

"So the National Games Relay Race champion team was also trained by Dai Li?"

"I heard that 4100m relay race was a great surprise. Our athletic team sent second-level athletes, but finally, they brought back a gold medal. So the miracle was made by Dai Li!"

"Relay Race is a group event, so the championship is worth more value than individual competitions."

"Well, 122 points, now I think this grade is pretty low, isn't it?"

"You are right, I also feel that 122 points is not enough for him."

At this moment, no one said anything about any "shady deal" any more, neither did they mention the idea that "the competition is just a show". Dai Li's achievements were extraordinary, and he was indeed worth that 122 points.

While seeing one championship after another, some people even felt numb.

Youdi Wei stood there, having completely lost his wits.

He used to be mostly satisfied with his achievement of having a National Games boxing champion, as he had trained that athlete to be on the top, which not only made him feel quite proud of himself, but also brought him a sense of priority in within the team. However, Dai Li had also trained the National Games champions, which was a whole team of champions.

Although the titles were the same, a group championship was always more valuable than individual championships. Therefore, Youdi Wei knew that the relay race gold medal was more "expensive" than a boxing gold medal, and was, therefore, a pretty heavy counterpoise.

"I'm falling more than seventy points behind in the first event, so what about the next events?! How could I win?" Youdi Wei kept taking deep breaths, trying to calm himself down.

"Don't worry, this is just the first round. There will be two more rounds, in which the third event, Practical Training is the most crucial part. That's where we display our true abilities. Show me what you got!"

...

Although the first event was not an elimination, many coaches gave up right then and there. Those who hadn't reach 20 points would not be able to smile at last, even if they participated in the next selections, hence, they gave up early, in order to avoid embarrassment of earning too few points in the end.

Especially after Dai Li's astonishing 122 points came out, most people's confidences were terribly hurt. Some coaches didn't have even one national games champion, so they would rather quit voluntarily than endure humiliation from the coach who had trained several Asian Games champions. Therefore, at last, only seven people were left standing for the second selection.

The second round was an interview, where every coach entered into the meeting room to make a self-introduction, a presentation on their understandings of Ping-pong fitness training, and generally talked about their training methods.

In this part, every candidate earned similar points, and the grade gap was controlled, maintaining no more than 5 points between one and another.

Based on the "not to offend anyone" principle, the coaches in charge of scoring showed mercy to the candidates. For instance, the first candidate earned 90 points, the second had 88 points, and the third got 91 points. Hence, everyone's grade was close. Then, when counting final grades, the distinctions were even smaller.

Some even only offered the highest grade, in order to give everyone 100 points. When counting the final grades, the highest and lowest grades would be eliminated, which meant that those 100 points were useless. By doing it this way, the coach could build good relationships with the candidates, while not influencing the results of the selection.

So, to be honest, the second round interview was a mere formality. Such situations were commonly seen in governmental organizations. Nowadays, when competing for officers, interview were always there in the selections. But the interview was just a show, as the final position was predetermined by leaders, a process which actually had little to do with candidates' performances in the interview.

After the first two rounds had finished, people whose total grades were ranked as among the top three, could then be permitted to be in the last event, Practical Training. Dai Li had already taken the first place after the first round. After all, 122 points was 73 points higher than the second place Youdi Wei, which was an irreversible distance.

The other two places were obtained by Youdi Wei and Guang Wu. The temporary ping-pong fitness coach would be selected out of these three people.

...

Ping-Pong Team Training Center.

Dai Li, Youdi Wei, and Guang Wu stood in a line. The ping-pong team chief coach, Ping Wang, looked at the three with excitement.

Ping Wang, at this moment, was indeed delighted. The three remaining contenders in the competition were the best people in the athletic team. Each was capable to lead a team alone, all they all had outstanding achievements.

In normal daily life, they would never take the place of Old Ma, who was hurt in a car accident. But now, under the allure of the role of Deputy Director, the three gathered together.

"You three are talents!" Ping Wang grinned slyly, "And since you are talents, I can't use regular evaluations to assess your abilities. It's time for you to try my special offer..."

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Chapter 273: A Feast

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

"For today's practical training, our ping-pong team will send three trainees. Each of you is responsible for one person. You determine your own training contents, methods, and programs." Ping Wang grinned slyly, then continued, "To ensure fairness in our selections, we won't use any of our original team members, but three 'outside assistants' to receive your training."

Dai Li and the other two all nodded agreement. They were all Sports Team coaches, and Youdi Wei had more than ten years coaching experience and knew plenty of people on the team. If today's trainees were ping-pong team players, since they might already know the coaches, the trainee and coach could deliberately collaborate in order to get a high grade.

But if the trainees were from other places, and had never met the coaches before, then there weren't any potential conflicts of interest. This made it less likely that any shady deals would happen.

Coach Ping Wang finished, then took out his phone to make a phone call. "Mr. Zhang, please come here!"

After a short while, three old men came in. They were all dressed in sport suits, with ping-pong paddles in their hands. The three were in their sixties, with well-proportioned figures, ruddy faces, and energetic appearances.

Are they the so-called outside assistants? Why are they so old? Dai Li, Youdi Wei, and Guang Wu were all shocked. They had guessed that Ping Wang would invited three athletes from the Qingcheng city team, a sport university, or even sport schools, but they had never expected him to find three old men.

"Please allow me to introduce our assistants. These three are our Retired cadres of the provincial Party committee, and are experienced ping-pong lovers."

"This is Mr. Zhang, who once won the championship in the Qingcheng Amateur Ping-Pong Games. This is Mr. Liu. He won three successive championships in provincial transport system ping-pong games. This is Mr. Chen. He used to be a professional ping-pong player, and participated in national competitions. He is our senior!"

"For the rest of the day, you will take care of these three seniors," Ping Wang instructed. Then he turned to the old men and said politely, "Gentlemen, these our our three coaches, you can pick whoever you want."

Mr.Liu was the first one to respond. "I'm the oldest among the three, so I will choose the oldest coach." As he spoke, Mr. Liu pointed at Youdi Wei.

Youdi Wei was indeed older than Guang Wu and Dai Li, which could be easily distinguished from their appearances. But after being selected by Mr. Liu, Youdi Wei felt bitter in his heart. He had never trained an older person before. As Mr. Liu mentioned, he was the oldest of the three trainees. There was a saying: Old people do not talk about muscles and bones. When getting old, people began to have poor physical qualities and less flexible movements. In athletic events, the older one was, the more disadvantages one had.

People at this age were suitable to play Taiji boxing or square dance, but they were not fitted for fierce competitions.

After Mr. Liu chose Youdi Wei, Mr. Zhang stepped forward and pointed at Dai Li. "I will follow this young man!"

"Then I don't have any choice," said Mr. Chen, naturally following Guang Wu. Mr. Chen used to be a professional ping-pong player, while Mr. Liu and Mr. Zhang were only amateurs. It looked like Mr. Chen had a better foundation.

But in fact, the three were at similar levels.

The three were all in their sixties. Mr. Chen had been a professional forty years ago, and at that time, being an athlete required a "poor peasant" identity rather than talent. If one was not a "poor peasant," no matter how gifted he was, he could not be an athlete.

Not only being an athlete, but also being a worker, becoming a civil servant, or going to college—only "poor peasants" had such preferential treatments.

Moreover, at that time, many people could not feed themselves, and were commonly malnourished. Without enough food, how could they have sufficient energy for training? Therefore, even professional athletes didn't have high competencies.

On the other hand, ping-pong amateurs in mining enterprises often acquired better skills. In the era of vigorous development of a planned economy, factories didn't care about marketing, they only focused on production. At that time, workers were better than civil servants, since they had urban residences, received so-called "Treasury grains," and enjoyed the same treatment that civil servants did. While enterprises controlled production resources, they sometimes offered extra benefits to the workers, which ordinary civil servants could not have.

Therefore, in that era, many factory workers had better living conditions than professional athletes. As the saying went, "Study when poor, play sports when rich." People who lived in better living conditions had more energy to play sports.

...

Dai Li didn't have any experience in training elderly people, either. So when facing Mr. Zhang, Dai Li reacted just like the other two; he didn't know where to start.

This Coach Ping Wang is indeed difficult, finding three old men for us! Although the three all have some ping-pong basis, they are still lagging far behind when compared with young professionals. Besides, this is the provincial team; they are not competitive at all in front of provincial team members. Hence, I can't use the same methods to train them that I used training professionals.

But these three are not ordinaries, they should be at the top among amateurs. Therefore, the normal training methods for amateurs won't work on them, either.

Furthermore, considering their ages, they can't receive extreme exercises. They couldn't bear such exertion. If they were sent to the hospital due to overtraining, I would be in big trouble.

Ugh, it's so complicated... Definitely more difficult to arrange plans than to train athletes. To design plans for elderly people, I must consider their ages and physical endurance. Plus their bodies are weaker than young people's, and once I increase the tasks, they may not bear it. I must focus on their reactions all the time, and adjust my plans on the spot.

Wait, I got it! At this moment, Dai Li finally understood why Ping Wang had found these old men.

Ping Wang found these old men because he wants to evaluate not only our training abilities, but also our abilities to react and adjust.

It is difficult to make fitting plans for the elderly people, which is the first challenge. But during training, we will have to adjust plans based on current conditions. Due to the fact that the elderly have disadvantages in age and physical qualities, we must adjust plans faster and more accurately, which will allow him to test our reactivity. This is the second challenge.

Considering this, Dai Li shook his head slightly. He keenly sensed that things would probably be more complicated. Perhaps after they started, there would be third and fourth challenges waiting for him.

I know this Deputy Director is not easily gotten. Ping Wang, you really have prepared a feast for us!

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Chapter 274: Increase Difficulty

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

There was a man, who was in his forties, standing beside Ping Wang. He was not tall, was pot-bellied, and looked pudgy.

The man was named Tao Lin, and he was the vice chief coach in the ping-pong team. Tao Lin used to be the grand master in the national team, and after retired, he went to the provincial team to coach. Although he had not been coaching for long, as a previous grand master, he was able to become the vice chief coach in the team within a short time.

"Coach, your three retired cadres, this is a tough task for them," Tao Lin joked with a smile.

"True gold does not fear fire. How can I tell who is better, without giving challenging tasks?" Ping Wang looked at the training field, as he continued to say, "I think most coaches have little experience in coaching old people, therefore, training seniors is a brand new topic for them."

"Old people have poorer physical conditions than young people, let alone when compared with professional athletes. To us professional coaches, who are used to teaching high-level athletes, when facing seniors, the most important thing is knowing how to control the level of difficulty and the intensity of training."

"Take the Warm-Up before formal training, for example. Usually, professional athletes need twenty minutes' to half an hour's high-intensive warm-up, while old people can only bear about ten minutes of a low-intensity warm-up. Another example is training length, as we professionals can commonly bear a continuous high-intensive training for an hour, but ordinary people can not do so for sure. As for seniors, they must be weaker than the ordinaries, so they might practice no more than half an hour. Therefore, when designing training plans, the coach must take these things into consideration."

Tao Lin nodded, then said, "These three are the best guys in our sports team, so they can surely think about these, can't they?"

"Of course. If they can't even consider these, then they are not qualified to be here. But one must talk the talk, and walk the walk, in order to reasonably arrange training plans. After all, that is indeed a tough question, due to the fact that they lack the experience of working with old people. Hence, they don't know what level of intensity to use to maximize the training effect," answered Ping Wang.

"So, they can only figure it out during training?" Tao Lin immediately asked.

"Right, they can only work it out through actual attempts. In addition, during training, they have to adjust their training methods at any time, based on real and changing conditions," Ping Wang explained.

"You are testing their reactions!" Tao Lin now understood Ping Wang's purpose.

"Haha...yes." Ping Wang grinned cunningly. "I am testing their reactions, but how can things be that apparent?!"

Tao Lin was surprised, asking, "Do you have any other 'traps'?"

Ping Wang nodded proudly, then lowered his voice and explained, "Those three retired cadres, they all have some problems."

"What do you mean?" Tao Lin asked, dazed.

"That Mr. Zhang, he has Lumbar Disc Protrusion and slight Cervical Spondylopathy. Mr. Liu has not only Scapulohumeral Periarthritis, but also a poor cervical spine. As for Mr. Chen, he has Osteoporosis and Arthritis on his knee." Ping Wang paused, then said, "But I didn't tell the three candidates about these awarenesses."

Tao Lin was shocked, his eyes wide and his thumb up, as he said, "So, these three old cadres have sicknesses! These illnesses will probably affect their training. In this case, some training programs are not suitable for them. Hey coach, you are so brilliant!"

"Let's wait and see when they realize this!" Ping Wang said. "After all, their three resumes all said that they are good at rehabilitation training, so I should give them a chance to show themselves!"

...

Dai Li looked at Mr. Zhang in front of him, and couldn't stop brainstorming which method was suitable for this old man.

I'd better detect him first. Let me have a general understanding of Mr. Zhang!

Thinking about this, Dai Li detected Mr. Zhang.

The result showed that, Mr. Zhang was an ordinary person, as his ability was counted within the percentile system for normal people, rather than the thousandth system for athletes. The result displayed that Mr. Zhang had 63 points for individual ability, which was pretty good for his age.

Since Mr. Zhang was not an athlete, the detector didn't show his talents. But it did give evaluations on individual advantages and disadvantages, which were aimed at ordinary people.

"Advantage: Frequent exercise has equipped him with a good physical quality, so this person is suitable for most mid-intensive sports activities. Disadvantages: This person has Lumbar Disc Protrusion, and thus, he is not suitable for spending a long duration of exercising, and should avoid any exercise with large movements, which may result in compression to the lumbar spine."

Seeing this disadvantage, Dai Li frowned his eyebrows at once.

Lumbar Disc Protrusion. This meant that many exercises involving bending should be avoided. Besides, individuals with Lumbar Disc Protrusion would feel much pain, once they stand for too long. As such, I can't let him stand for long. I need to revise my plans again.

Dai Li sighed silently, feeling that bad luck had come to him again.

Poor me, why do they give me an old cadre with such an illness?! One out of three, so it was a one-third probability this would have happened on me. Am wondering now, what do Youdi Wei and Guang Wu have over there...

Dai Li thought these things, as he detected Mr. Liu subconsciously..

Scapulohumeral Periarthritis? Youdi Wei is as poor as me. Mr. Liu has Scapulohumeral periarthritis, which means that 80% of upper-body practices cannot be done. It seems that I'm not the only one with bad luck!

Dai Li suddenly felt more balanced.

Let's look at Guang Wu's... I heard that Mr. Chen used to be a professional athlete, and it looks like he has been taking good care of his health. Dai Li detected Mr. Chen.

Knee Arthritis? This is the toughest problem in athletics. Usually, people with Knee Arthritis cannot do fierce exercises, and have limitations on choosing programs. For instance, speedy runs or jumps must be avoided. To patients with Knee Arthritis, the best exercises are bike-riding and swimming. It looks like I'm not the poorest, but that Guang Wu has even worse luck than me!

At this moment, Dai Li felt he was lucky. If Mr. Chen, who had Knee Arthritis, picked him, he would be in big trouble.

Suddenly, Dai Li sensed something different.

Lumbar Disc Protrusion, Scapulohumeral Periarthritis, plus Arthritis, these three old cadres all have physical problems! Although these are common illnesses among seniors, they can affect physical exercises. I see, these are arranged on purpose, in order to enhance the difficulty of the competition!

Dai Li had already felt that today's practical training had been upgraded from "Complex Level" to "Difficult Level".

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Chapter 275: Training Seniors

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

"Li, I'm ready. What should we do first?" Mr. Zhang asked eagerly.

"Mr. Zhang, how about we do some warm-ups first?" Dai Li replied.

"Sure, as you say. Let's do some warm-ups." Mr. Zhang was very affable.

Warming up was an essential part of any athletic training. Warming up could help individuals prepare for the upcoming exhausting exercises both physically and mentally. It enhanced the body's core temperature and muscle temperature. The increase of muscle temperature stimulated the muscle, making it more relaxed and flexible.

Effective warming up could also increase heart rate as well as the depth and frequency of breath, using greater blood flow to carry more oxygen and nutrition to the muscles. This allowed tendons and joints to better bear harder training, while reducing the risk coefficient of physical injury.

The length and intensity of warming up must be calculated individually, for each person had different physical abilities. And they should also be adjusted from one program to another. Professional athletes who had specialized in athletic training had a pretty good body temperature regulating system, hence their need for a long, fierce warming up to produce an ideal effect. Generally, professional athletes took at least 20 minutes to warm up.

Ordinary people had no need for such a long, high-intensity warm-up. For them, 10 to 20 minutes would be fine. If one spent too much time or energy on warming up, then his energy would be used up before the real exercise started.

In addition, external factors also had influence on warming up. For example, in winter when the weather was cold, one needed a longer warm up, while in summer when it was hot, one could shorten the warm up a little bit.

Formal warming up was not about running or jumping on the spot; it required releasing knee, hip, shoulder, and ankle joints, as well as sufficiently stretching the muscle of the back of the thighs, the inner thighs, the diaphragm, and the back.

For professional coaches, helping athletes warm up was their most regular and easiest task; in their daily work, the first task was to do warm ups. After decades of accumulated experience, they couldn't be more familiar with warming up.

But today, despite their differences in age and experience, Dai Li, Guang Wu, and Youdi Wei all chose relatively conservative and cautious ways of warming up.

The three were aware that they were not training professional athletes, but elderly men in their sixties. Hence, they didn't put much time or intensity into the warm up.

Ten minutes later, the three retired cadres' were all finished warming up. There was sweat on the three old men's foreheads, and their breath was rasping loudly. Judging by the effects, the three old cadres were just right.

"Warming up is just right, seems like none of them has the better of the others in warm ups!" Tao Lin evaluated at the side.

"They determined the old cadres' training time by observing their physical conditions. This is hardly new, any coach with some experience can tell whether an athlete is ready or not." Ping Wang continued, "Next, let's see how they are going to practice."

...

Mr. Zhang's clothes were wet with sweat, but at present he was still performing actively, not falling behind where a young man would have been.

Of course, this was also due to the fact that Dai Li hadn't chosen high-intensity exercises. After all, Mr. Zhang was more than sixty; he couldn't run or jump like a young man. Therefore, during training, Dai Li adopted "just right" as the standard.

"Mr. Zhang, let's take a break!" Dai Li signaled Mr. Zhang to stop.

"I'm not tired!" Mr. Zhang said, looked at Mr. Chen and Mr. Liu who were far from here. He said, "Those two are still training. I can't be defeated!"

"Mr. Zhang, you are soaked with sweat, you must have some water first," Dai Li said, handing a water bottle to Mr. Zhang. "Plus, the next program is massage, so you can simply lie down on the ground."

"Massage? Aren't we doing fitness training? Why do we have a massage?" Mr. Zhang asked, confused.

"Massage is an essential part of professional fitness training. After exercise, the human body produces lactic acid, and once it accumulates to a certain degree, it will lead to muscle pain, and affect later practices. Massage is needed to accelerate lactic acid decomposition," Dai Li said, to generally explain the idea.

"Oh, I see. Okay then, let's have a massage, then I will keep practicing. I can't be defeated by Old Liu and Old Chen!" Mr. Zhang said with stubbornness.

...

"Coach, Dai Li is stopping to give a massage!" Tao Lin pointed at Dai Li and said, "Isn't it too fast? Normally, muscle massage is given after training finishes, and right now they have only been practicing for an hour! Even though the trainee is an old man, there is no need to give a massage so quick."

Ping Wang raised his arm to check the time on his watch. "Right, only one hour past. They have taken a break, and now it's time to have another break. But I don't think it's necessary to give a muscle massage at this time!"

"I say this Dai Li is overly cautious. I checked his achievements during training; he has cultivated several Asian Games champions, and our relay team surprisingly won the 4100m relay race championship in the National Games under his influence. I used to think that he was a man who liked to struggle hard, but I never thought he was so cautious. This is over-reacting!" Tao Lin shook his head, apparently not liking Dai Li's behavior.

"Huh?" Ping Wang made a sound with surprise. On the training field, Dai Li asked Mr. Zhang to get down on all fours, then began his massage on Mr. Zhang's waist.

"Dai Li is massaging Mr. Zhang's waist!" Ping Wang suddenly frowned.

Tao Lin asked quietly, "Coach, you mentioned there was a person with Lumbar Disc Protrusion... is that Mr. Zhang?"

Ping Wang nodded, didn't say anything. He seemed to be absorbed in meditation.

By his side, Tao Lin sighed. "Dai Li, did you really notice this problem, or is this just a coincidence?"

...

On the training field.

"Mr. Zhang, how do you feel?" Dai Li asked.

"Nice! You are quite skillful, as good as a massage therapist!" Mr. Zhang nodded with satisfaction.

"Mr. Zhang, please turn around and lie down, let's massage your backside," said Dai Li.

"Why massage my backside?" Mr. Zhang was confused. He turned around, and Dai Li put his hands on Mr. Zhang's waist.

"Well, Mr. Zhang, I feel that your lumbar disc is a little bit protruded!" Dai Li said deliberately.

"You can feel that my lumbar disc is protruded!" Mr. Zhang was astonished.

"Of course!" Dai Li continued, "Mr. Zhang, please allow me to massage your lumbar. To reduce your discomfort from lumbar disc protrusion, I should press hard on your lumbar. It might hurt, please stand it!" As he spoke, Dai Li began a rehabilitative massage.

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Chapter 276: Arthritis And Scapulohumeral Periarthritis

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

Although Youdi Wei had more than 10 years coaching experience, at this moment he was still quite cautious, because he had never trained elderly people before.

Youdi Wei's trainee, Mr. Liu, was the oldest among the three retired cadres, so he closely observed Mr. Liu's status and dared not to make any mistakes.

Meanwhile, Youdi Wei also paid attention to Dai Li and Guang Wu's behaviors, especially Dai Li, who was Youdi Wei's main competition. Since Youdi Wei knew that, although Guang Wu was pretty good, he was still behind Wei, and Dai Li was Youdi Wei's strongest opponent.

Dai Li is taking a break now. Is it because Mr. Zhang can't catch up? Youdi Wei checked the time on his watch, then looked at his trainee, Mr. Liu, and felt that they needed some rest, too.

But several seconds later, Youdi Wei suddenly noticed that Dai Li was giving Mr. Zhang a muscle massage.

Muscle massage? They have only trained one hour. Why are they having a massage now? Shouldn't muscle massage be given after a whole day's training. Why do they start now! Youdi Wei didn't get Dai Li's point.

"Ouch!" A groan came into Youdi Wei's ears. It was Mr. Zhang's painful scream. He couldn't bear the pain during Dai Li's massage on his lumber.

Youdi Wei almost laughed out loud.

He must be putting too much power into the massage that Mr. Zhang can't bear the press. Dai Li's massage sucks. He can't even control his strength. This Dai Li does have outstanding achievements, but he is still too young and lack skills on muscle massaging!

...

On the other side, Ping Wang and Tao Lin also furrowed their eyebrows.

Tao Lin said, "Dai Li seems to be not very good at muscle massage."

"But he should be. His materials said clearly that he was proficient in rehabilitative massage. Moreover, he has been on the national team for quite a while, according to my understanding. The national athletic team offers extremely high-intensive training, and every day after training finishes, muscle massage is a requirement. Dai Li has been studying on the national team and should have acquired some true abilities. more or less."

"Who knows, perhaps the materials are not sufficient." Tao Lin paused, then said, "But I'm worried about Mr. Zhang. After all, he is a retired cadre from the Provincial Party Committee. If he gets hurt here with our team after today's training, and the news spread, we will lose face."

While the two were discussing, Mr. Zhang, who was still on the ground, showed an extremely enjoyable look.

"Comfy, this is so enjoyable! I feel my whole lumber is relaxed." Mr. Zhang stood up and twisted his waist pretty hard, then realized that his previous soreness caused by Lumbar Disc Protrusion had gone completely.

"Hey, young man, you are good! My Lumbar Disc Protrusion has been with me for more than 20 years. In recent years I have received conservative treatment, but it is not as effective as your several-minute massage. It looks like I don't need to worry about twisting my waist anymore today," Mr. Zhang said, as he kept shaking his body.

"Shall we move on?" asked Dai Li.

"Sure, let's do it!" Mr. Zhang nodded.

...

At eleven o'clock, morning training finished.

Mr. Chen plodded on the ground. He was having difficulty stepping forward.

Mr. Chen's behavior brought Guang Wu a sense of foreboding.

Is it because the morning training intensity was above Mr. Chen's endurance that he is exhausted? Guang Wu carefully recalled his training and felt that there was nothing wrong.

But the other two cadres, Mr. Liu and Mr. Zhang walked as if on wings. Their conditions were way better than Mr. Chen's.

We three have the same training time, and we probably have similar training intensities. But why does only Mr. Chen walk unsteadily? Guang Wu was confused.

Dai Li and Youdi Wei also noticed it.

Youdi Wei thought Guang Wu had trained Mr. Chen improperly, but Dai Li knew clearly, that Mr. Chen's Arthritis must be acting up.

...

Ping Wang drove the three seniors home in his car.

"Mr. Chen, is your leg alright?" Ping Wang asked.

"I'm OK. The only thing is that I haven't practiced like that for a long time. I can't bear it. My Arthritis has been there for years. Once I take a break this afternoon I should be fine." Mr. Chen paused, then said, "Wang, I won't come this afternoon."

Ping Wang nodded, then asked, "Mr. Zhang, Mr. Liu, are you two alright?"

"Nothing is wrong. With my Scapulohumeral Periarthritis, as long as I don't catch cold or get exhausted, I should be fine," said Mr. Liu.

"My Lumbar Disc Protrusion is fine!" Mr. Zhang said. "Hey, you know what? That coach Li does have something. After his massage, I feel my whole waist is relaxed!"

"You really feel comfortable? Old Zhang, I heard you scream during it. It didn't sound comfortable!" Mr. Chen joked on Mr. Zhang.

"You know nothing. I did feel some pain when he was pressing, but after that I really felt comfortable. Let me tell you, in massage, the pain indicates that the massage therapist found the spot. The good joints won't produce pain when being pressed. By the way, I have tried many massage therapists, and none of them compares to Coach Li. I think if he is not a coach, he can earn much money being a massage therapist." Mr. Zhang smiled.

Ping Wang interrupted, "Mr. Zhang, I saw Dai Li give you massages on your waist two or three times. Did he know you have Lumbar Disc Protrusion?"

"Yes, he knew," Mr. Zhang said. "But I didn't tell him. When he was massaging, he touched my lumber and said that I have a protruded lumber. I thought he must have sensed it, otherwise how can he massage so well!"

"So Coach Li sensed it himself!" Ping Wang nodded silently. Now he knew that was why Dai Li gave Mr. Zhang a massage. The reason was that he hoped to reduce Mr. Zhang's lumber pressure through massaging, so that Mr. Zhang could perform better in the upcoming exercises.

Dai Li is incredible. He has indeed stayed on the national team for a while, Ping Wang said in his heart.

Then he asked, "Mr. Liu, did Coach Wei know about your Scapulohumeral Periarthritis?"

"I didn't tell him, so how could he know that?" Mr. Liu replied.

As for whether Guang Wu knew about Mr. Chen's Arthritis or not, Ping Wang didn't even ask. If Guang Wu knew it in advance, he would have paid more attention during training, and Mr. Chen would not be like he was now, who couldn't even walk smoothly.

...

At two o'clock in the afternoon, the training continued.

Dai Li, Youdi Wei, and Guang Wu were already waiting on the training field.

After a while, Ping Wang led the retired cadres there. However, only Mr. Zhang and Mr. Liu showed up. Mr. Chen was not there.

"Coach Wang, where is Mr. Chen?" Guang Wu asked involuntarily.

"Mr. Chen can't come this afternoon. His Arthritis is bothering him again, and he needs to take a rest at home." Ping Wang seemed to say it casually. He paused, then continued. "Wu, since Mr. Chen is not here, you can go back and rest. There is no need to participate in afternoon training."

Ping Wang's words apparently announced that Guang Wu was eliminated. Today was practical training, if the trainee was gone, there was no need for the coach to stay.

Ping Wang's words shocked Guang Wu like a thunderclap. His face was filled with astonishment.

"Arthritis? Mr. Chen has Arthritis!" Guang Wu's eyes widened.

Arthritis was a common disease, but it was the deathly opponent of all athletic activities. Guang Wu suddenly heard the news, and his heart surged with violent waves.

"It's just ordinary Arthritis, which developed when he was an athlete," Ping Wang added.

Arthritis was a degenerative disease. The main causes were degeneration and injury of articular cartilage and joint marginal and subchondral bone hyperplasia. There were many factors that induced Arthritis, such as obesity, strain, trauma, congenital malformation, or because as one aged, sclerotin became worse, which led to a natural degeneration of articular cartilage, then caused Arthritis.

Many athletes, dancers, or heavy manual laborers who did a large amount of training, exercise, or work when they were young had joints that became abraded or even damaged. Such abrasion or damage might not have been noticeable when they were young, but if patients didn't take good care of their joints, when they get older, the potential problems could lead to Arthritis. Mr. Chen was a professional athlete in the past and received a huge amount of training every day. At that time, there was no scientific training at all, and many athletes devoted themselves to exercises simply by their passions. Therefore, athletes over-practicing and then being discarded was a common occurrence. Mr. Chen's joint damage had a particular cause, and to have Arthritis at his age was normal.

Actually, there was no effective treatment for Arthritis, and it mainly depended on rest and physiotherapy. If the symptoms were severe, then the patient could take medication. However, medicine such as Chondroitin, anti-inflammatories, and analgesics could only reduce pain, but were useless for rehabilitation. Sometimes patients chose to inject Hyaluronate into joints, but it couldn't cure Arthritis completely, either. When conditions were really bad, the only thing that could possibly help was an artificial joint replacement.

Once an individual had Arthritis, the main treatment was not to "cure" but to "maintain", to avoid overwork or over-exercise, to reduce joint pressure and burden, and then wait for the Arthritis to disappear slowly and gradually. Eventually, the symptoms would lessen.

Therefore, Mr. Chen with his Arthritis was not suitable for long-term, high-load exercises.

However, Guang Wu didn't know about this, so he didn't avoid stimulating Mr. Chen's joints on purpose. After a whole morning's training, Mr. Chen's joints were obviously overloaded. That was why he plodded when he left at noon.

At this time, Guang Wu was very upset. He felt that he had been framed by Mr. Chen. If Mr. Chen had mentioned his disease in advance, he surely would have been cautious the whole time so as to avoid stimulation on Mr. Chen's weak knee joints.

...

Guang Wu was kicked out, and then only Dai Li and Youdi Wei left.

Youdi Wei looked at Mr. Liu by his side and asked scrupulously, "Mr. Liu, do you have any Arthritis?"

"When getting old, joints will have problems more or less," Mr. Liu said. "My joints are definitely not as good as you young people, but mine are not as poor as Old Chen."

As he said this, he confidently patted his two knees.

"Good to know." Youdi Wei released a long breath, then added, "Mr. Liu, if you feel anything that is not right, please tell me at once!"

"Sure thing. Don't worry, if I feel uncomfortable, I will immediately let you know," answered Mr. Liu.

Youdi Wei relaxed a little bit. He involuntarily glanced in Dai Li's direction, only to find the Mr. Zhang was still lying on the ground, receiving massage from Dai Li.

"Massage again? Afternoon training hasn't started yet. Why do you massage now? You are a coach, not a massage therapist," Youdi Wei murmured.

...

On the training field, Mr. Liu's actions gradually slowed down.

"What's wrong, Mr. Liu?" Youdi Wei asked immediately.

"Wei, help me to take some rest over there," Mr. Liu answered. Youdi Wei immediately supported Mr. Liu by his shoulder.

"Don't, don't touch my shoulder, it hurts!" Mr. Liu grinned with pain. Youdi Wei changed to support his arm at once and sat down with him.

"What's going on, Mr. Liu. Is your shoulder hurt? Did you twist your shoulder?" Youdi Wei asked worriedly.

"Nothing serious. My Scapulohumeral Periarthritis is occurring again. I will be fine with a medical paste," Mr. Liu talked to himself. "There were many activities today. I got wet all over and was blown by the wind, so my shoulder caught cold just now. My Scapulohumeral Periarthritis has been with me for years. The only thing I'm afraid of is to catch cold."

"Mr. Liu, you have Scapulohumeral Periarthritis? Why didn't you tell me when I asked you?" Youdi Wei was about to cry.

"You asked me whether I have Arthritis or not! Mine is Scapulohumeral Periarthritis, not Arthritis." Mr. Liu said innocently.

Youdi Wei cried without tears.

Scapulohumeral Periarthritis was a common disease of the elderly. When it occurred, the patient not only felt pain in the shoulder, but also in biceps and triceps; the whole upper limb would usually not be able to rise.

This disease had slow onset, many patients with Scapulohumeral Periarthritis looked normal in daily life, but once the weather changed or the individual was overworked, the pain would be sensed on the shoulder.

Another feature of Scapulohumeral Periarthritis was the patient was afraid of coldness, therefore, the patient's shoulders should always be kept warm throughout the year. In summer, they dared not to uncover their shoulders, nor did they dare to expose shoulders in front of a fan. Some people even used cotton padding to cover their shoulders all the time.

Like Arthritis, Scapulohumeral Periarthritis also needed conservative treatment and physiotherapy. Medicine could only reduce pain and inflammation, but could do nothing for rehabilitation. In daily life, besides keeping warm and not being overworked, the patient should take good care of his shoulders.

But Youdi Wei didn't know that Mr. Liu had Scapulohumeral Periarthritis, so he didn't avoid using shoulders in his training plans, which caused Mr. Liu's shoulders to get overworked and get cold, and then he suffered from pain.

Dai Li's training continued, while Youdi Wei's had stopped. It seemed that in the follow-up session, Mr. Liu couldn't return to the training field due to his disease.

Far from the field, Ping Wang looked at Mr. Liu, who was taking a break on the side and sighed, "It looks like the results of this test section are out!"

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Chapter 277: He is More Skillful

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

Mr. Liu's Scapulohumeral Periarthritis flared up again, so he didn't continue training, but instead, put on a jacket. He then covered his whole shoulder with another cloth.

Youdi Wei's heart was filled with helplessness. He stared at Dai Li, who was not far away, especially when he noticed that Mr. Zhang was still exercising, brimming with energy. He felt that the world was treating him unfairly.

Why does my trainee Mr. Liu have Scapulohumeral Periarthritis, when Dai Li's trainee Mr. Zhang is quite healthy?! I must be down on my luck! Youdi Wei thought.

Ping Wang and Tao Jiang conversed from afar.

"Mr. Liu, what's going on? Are you alright?" Ping Wang asked thoughtfully.

"I'm alright, it's just my shoulder hurts again!" Mr. Liu said, as he stood up.

"Coach Wang, I need to go back and put on a patch, then have some physiotherapy. Could you find me a car, and send me home?"

"Sure, Let me call the driver." Ping Wang winked at Tao Jiang, who, wordlessly understanding, then turned around to arrange a car.

Ping Wang told Youdi Wei, "Coach Wei, Mr. Liu is about to go back home, you won't have any tasks for the rest of you time here, so how about you go back and rest?"

"Go back and rest" were the words Ping Wang had told Guang Wu a while ago, which also announced that Guang Wu was out of the game. Now, those same words were given to Youdi Wei, so he clearly understood that Ping Wang was actually indicating that he was being eliminated.

However, at this moment, Youdi Wei was not convinced at all. He felt very uncomfortable about it all.

Youdi Wei didn't leave at once, but rather, he hesitated, then asked, "Coach Wang, I think this practical training is not fair, as it doesn't show my true ability."

"Oh?" Ping Wang was not offended, but instead, he looked at Youdi Wei with interest, saying, "Coach Wei, we are colleagues, feel free to share your ideas or concerns."

"Thank you Coach Wang,then I will say it straightforwardly. Mr. Chen has Arthritis, and Mr. Liu has Scapulohumeral Periarthritis. These two diseases will affect normal training. But, before we started,we didn't know about the two old cadres' chronic diseases. Guang Wu was not aware of Mr. Chen's Arthritis, which was why he overtrained Mr. Chen, and caused his discomfort."

Youdi Wei paused, then continued, "I didn't know that Mr. Liu had Scapulohumeral Periarthritis, so I didn't adopt targeted measures to avoid hurting Mr. Liu's shoulders. If I was informed in advance, I would definitely not have used my original training methods, and Mr.Liu's shoulders would not be hurting now."

"However, Dai Li's trainee, Mr. Zhang, doesn't have these chronic diseases. That is why he can finish a whole day's training plans." Youdi Wei glanced at Dai Li again, then said, "This is too unfair to me and Guang Wu! We have different trainees, and if Mr. Liu didn't have Scapulohumeral Periarthritis, we could also be finishing our training tasks today."

"Oh? You think that Mr. Zhang is very healthy?" Ping Wang smiled.

"Then, does Mr. Zhang have Arthritis?" Youdi Wei replied with a question.

Ping Wang shook his head. "No!"

"Then, does he have Scapulohumeral Periarthritis?" Youdi Wei asked another question.

"No." Ping Wang shook head again.

Youdi Wei was about to say something, when Mr.Liu, who was resting on the side, suddenly interrupted, "Old Zhang has Lumbar Disc Protrusion."

"Lumbar Disc Protrusion?" Youdi Wei repeated, as he looked toward the direction of Mr. Zhang with surprise. In the next second, he asked: "Does Dai Li know this?"

"He does. But we didn't tell him, and neither did Mr. Zhang. He discovered it by himself, when he was massaging Mr. Zhang," Ping Wang explained.

"Massage!" Youdi Wei immediately recalled that, during morning training, every time they took a break, Dai Li would give Mr. Zhang a massage.

I see! That's not simply a muscle massage, but a targeted lumber massage. The reason why Dai Li massaged him so frequently, was to reduce Mr. Zhang's lumber pressure.That's why Mr. Zhang could still act actively, and how he is not affected by his illness! Without those massages, Mr. Zhang would probably have lied down on the ground by now.

Youdi Wei had figured out everything.

"Coach Li, take a time out!" Ping Wang shouted at Dai Li to call him over.

Then Ping Wang said, "Actually, in today's practical training, you all had the same starting level. Mr. Zhang has Lumbar Disc Protrusion, Mr. Liu has Scapulohumeral Periarthritis, and Mr. Chen has Arthritis. These three Chronic diseases will all affect training. But, we didn't inform you before you started."

"Well, to be honest, we did so in order to find create some trouble on purpose, as we wanted to make the optimal selection. You three are so good, and are the best coaches in our provincial team. Any of you coming to our ping-pong team as a fitness coach would be our pleasure, and I believe that you can do quite well on your future job. Therefore, we warmly welcome you, no matter who stays in the end. But in normal times, without the Deputy Director allure, none of you would be willing to come, I'm guessing!"

Hearing Ping Wang's words, Dai Li and Youdi Wei both smiled awkwardly.

Ping Wang continued, "But only one person can be the deputy director, as the saying goes: 'the monks are many, and the supply of gruel is meager--not enough to go around'. Hence, we here in the ping-pong team decided to use such an extremely strict, or rather, tricky assessment as the selection. As for the final result, Dai Li is more skillful. He noticed Mr. Zhang's Lumbar Disc Protrusion, and adopted targeted measures to ensure the proper training process."

As Ping Wang spoke, he turned to Youdi Wei, then continued his explanation, "Coach Wei, please don't hate me, as I did this for work. You guys are so good, that regular selections cannot distinguish who is the better, so we were forced to creatively challenge you."

Youdi Wei took a deep breath in order to calm himself down. Although he was still not completely convinced, in his heart, he had accepted the truth of being defeated by Dai Li.

"Mr. Liu has Scapulohumeral Periarthritis?" Dai Li pretended that he knew nothing. He turned to Mr. Liu.

"Just some old trouble. My Scapulohumeral Periarthritis has been here for more than ten years, and once I catch any cold, I can't raise my arm. But it's not serious, so after I go back home, I will use a hot lamp to heat my shoulder, then put on a patch, and I shall be fine tomorrow," said Mr. Liu.

"Mr. Liu, may I help you?" asked Dai Li.

Mr. Liu considered this, and since the car hadn't come yet, he nodded. "Sure. Old Zhang told me that your massage is as good as those experienced massage professionals."

...

Five minutes later.

"Uh-huh! It doesn't hurt anymore!" Mr. Liu said, as he attempted to raise his arm. "I can move it. My arm was not able to even raise up a small bit several minutes ago, but now I can completely raise it up!" Mr. Liu exclaimed, excited.

Dai Li smiled, as he said, "Mr. Liu, my massage can only release your pain for a while, so after you go back home, you still need to keep warm and take good care of your shoulders."

On the side, Youdi Wei witnessed what had happened. His eyes were shining with admiration.

It's only been five minutes, and Mr. Liu's pain has been released. It seems that Dai Li's massage skill really is amazing! I thought he didn't know how to massage, but it's actually his buried skill. This time, I am defeated by Dai Li, but I know that I don't lose unjustly. He is indeed more skillful.

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Chapter 278: A Red Envelope

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

Dai Li joined in the ping-pong team as he wished, and became an agent fitness coach. On the training field, Dai Li made a brief self-introduction, and while getting to know each other, he also detected the team members.

"Talent, C; Talent, C; Talent, C." Such a reading revealed that the continuous three athletes all had C talent.

Ping-pong is indeed the national ball, C talent is the most commonly seen in the provincial team. If it had been in the athletic team, Ctalent would definitely be the major force. And with a large potential, the athlete could be recruited into the national team.

Dai Li detected the others, until finally, he found a B- talent player.

Aha, a B- talent, why wasn't he selected to the national team?!

Dai Li sighed in his heart. Ping Wang pointed at a 23 or 24 year old, suntanned man, and introduced him, "This is Feng Zhu, the best player in our team. Feng Zhu is also the one with the highest potential to be in the national team."

"Nice to meet you, Coach Li!" Feng Zhu greeted him at once.

Dai Li replied, while he detected Feng Zhu...

He is a B talent, so why does such a talented person stay in the provincial team? His talent is great, and if he was in athletics, even in the national team, he could be a major force! I never expected that, in ping-pong, a B talent can only be at the top in provincial team. So then, does this mean, in the national ping-pong team, that the players all have A-level talents? Or, maybe there will be more than one S-level talent player in the national team?

Dai Li boldly guessed these things. After all, Dai Li had stayed in the national athletic team for a long while, and knew pretty much about each athlete in the team. For instance, people like Guohong Niu, who was a B-level athlete, although he was already 22 years old when he was recruited, and yet he still received focused cultivation from the team.

Actually, among all present in the national athletic team, B-level talents were the main force. In some weak events, the team even needed C level talents to keep up appearances. There were only a few A-level talents, as people like Sijie Yang and Haiquan Fang were regarded as geniuses of their decades.

In regards to talents, athletics had nothing to compare with ping-pong, but it was in direct proportion to strength.

The national team's athletic competence was not poor, after all, as during every Olympics, the team won gold medals in athletic events, and often won the championships in athletic World Championships. Therefore, the national team's ability, although it may not be at the top-level in Track and Field Powers, was admittedly a contender as being the second-level in the world.

But the national ping-pong team was a place gathered by "Kings of the Devils". To foreign athletes, the national team randomly sent a player, who was a hell-difficult opponent. The national team owned absolute power in regards to ping-pong throughout the world, and this fact was undisputed.

In regards to World-level games, it was no longer news to hear that the national team won all the gold medals, but it might be big news if they failed to do so. Therefore, seeing domestic players showing high talents in regards to ping-pong was a normal thing.

Other than talents, the detector also presented athletes' shortcomings. Unfortunately, shortcomings on ping-pong techniques were things that Dai Li could not handle, as Dai Li was only a fitness coach, not a professional ping-pong coach. Moreover, ping-pong emphasized greatly on techniques.

To be honest, Dai Li's ping-pong skills were fine, at least when he held the bat. Then, no matter if he was to serve or receive, he could make his play presentable. But, as for guiding another professional, especially professional players in the provincial team, he was far from being qualified. Even though Dai Li could figure out a player's shortcomings, he didn't have the ability to guide that player in improving.

Domestic ping-pong coaches were at an extremely high level. Many coaches in the provincial team used to be national grand masters themselves, or might even have been at the top among masters. They had the world's best skills on techniques, experiences, and comprehension of the sport, so there was no need for Dai Li to show off in front of them.

Therefore, after he came to the ping-pong team, Dai Li focused on his own job as a fitness coach. Being the fitness coach, Dai Li handled his tasks and role with great facility. What he had learned in the national team was good enough for him to deal with any fitness training.

Among all sports, athletics required the most fitness training. Compared with other events, the athletic events were more simple, and were mainly just about who ran faster, who jumped higher, who threw further, etc. In these competitions, the role of the fitness coach was especially important. While in other sports, the importance of fitness training was apparently not on the top of the list.

Take basketball and football for example, the players not only needed sufficient energy, but also techniques, cooperation, and tactics. In the competitions, cooperation and tactics were more important than individual ability.

Basketball or football coaches, who had attained some fame, all created their own tactics, which they were good at, like top-level basketball or football coaches, who were masters of tactics. But, it was never heard that a famous basketball or football coach was famous for his fitness training.

Most individual events required more learning of techniques than improvements of physical qualities. Take shooting for instance, which was a sport that totally relied on techniques. Even if the athlete had a poor physical quality, and needed to take a break after every shoot, as long as he could take good aim, he could win as champion.

In fighting events, like boxing and Taekwondo, no matter how hard one punched or kicked, or how energetic an athlete was, if he could not hit his opponent, it was all in vain. Many times, one punch could KO and end the game.

Water games were also different. Diving was a high-technique activity, but swimming was similar to running, in that, both were speed contests. However, athletes' physical talents were more crucial in this arena. With big palms and feet, swimmers could have more power to thrash and pedal water. Thus, big hands and feet were basic requirements for being a top swimmer. People with small hands or feet would surely be eliminated in selections.

Since athletic events relied much on fitness coaches, therefore, as long as one was an athletic coach, his fitness training ability wasn't bad. And athletic coaches could do well on other events, like fitness coaches. In addition, Dai Li received assistance from the detector. He knew every athlete's pros and cons.

So, although Dai Li couldn't help on ping-pong techniques, he could help players fix fitness problems.

On the first day of joining the ping-pong team, Dai Li showed a convincing performance. Fitness training on ping-pong mainly included several points: speed training, flexibility training, power training and endurance training. The four programs didn't refer much to professional techniques, and thus, they belonged to a fitness coach's working area.

Speed training mainly focused on the speed of waving the arm when hitting the ball, and the speed of movement when getting the position of stance. After a single fast action, the muscles could receive relaxation and maintain brief pauses, so that they could remain unfatigued for a period of time.

Ping-pong contests required athletes to make immediate judgements, have fast reactions, quick starts, high swing speeds, and quick movements, as well as being able to change direction quickly. Only when doing these, could the player could grasp the initiative in fast, but complex, contests. These were also all based on an athlete's possessing good speed.

Flexibility influenced the athlete's accuracy of judgement and speed of reaction. The feature of ping-ping required players to react with flexible movements in the field. Meanwhile, enhancing body flexibility could improve action coordination and the accuracy of movements. Hence, players could better react to various situations, and control their bodies more accurately.

Power was the non-neglected part in modern ping-pong. Especially in recent years, the rules of the ping-ping game had changed, which caused changes in ping-pong techniques, and produced higher requirements of the players' powers. Nowadays, ping-pong had increased its demand on rotation and speed, because without sufficient power, the ball couldn't have high-rotation or high-speed.

Endurance was the necessity in most events, including ping-pong. Ping-pong was a game in which the rhythm and intensity changed continuously. Without enough endurance, the player couldn't respond to the rhythm and intensity in the game.

Moreover, after International Table Tennis Association changed the small ball into big ball, and set rules for "Unshielded Service", speed and rotating intensity were reduced more than before. These obviously all offered stricter demands on players' endurance.

Moreover, since every player had their own styles and types, ping-pong fitness training could not be generalized, but was adjusted based on each person's technical features. For example, some athletes were strength type, and had strong power, so there was no need for them to undergo long term power training.

Meanwhile, the time of training should also be paid attention to. For instance, if the player was doing flexibility training, he'd better do so at the beginning of training, when he had sufficient energy still. Only with enough energy, would the excitement and inhibition of the central nervous system be relatively strong and balanced, and maintain a high accuracy. Only in such conditions, could athletes develop sensitivity.

Before speed training, players should do a certain amount of intensive sprint or upper-body movements, for these could increase the excitability of the nerve process, and thus, provide better effects for training. After speed training, players could do some jumping training, which was good for improving both speed and jumping ability.

After a whole day's training, athletes left the training field in groups, talking amongst themselves.

"This newcomer, Coach Li, does have something, as he could tell with a glance that I lack flexibility, and asked me to start to whistle run tomorrow."

"Coach Li saw my shortcoming on endurance, too. He added a 1500m run in my tasks."

"Why do I feel that this Coach Li is better than our previous Coach Ma?"

"Of course! I heard that Coach Li used to stay in the national team for a while, and that he has coached several Asian Games champions! He is the trump card in the athletic team! If not for the Deputy Director, how would he be degenerating himself to our team as a fitness coach?"

"Tell us more about inside story!"

Several gossipy athletes immediately gathered together. Usually, as gossip spreads, the story becomes more exaggerated. So, if the thing used to be as simple as 11=2, after being delivered from one to another, the story ended up much more complicated, and in many various versions.

Recently Dai Li had given up Glory of Kings, but fell into Survival of the Jedi. After a whole day's training, Dai Li roughly finished his dinner, then ran directly to the a cyber bar. Two hours later, after experiencing several times of "landing box", and being tortured by cunning players, Dai Li went back to his dorm with extremely bad feelings.

However, there was a man at fifties stood in front of Dai Li's room. This man was not tall, was suntanned, and although he was not simply dressed, he didn't wear expensive brands either.

Seeing that Dai Li walked towards him, the man stared at Dai Li for a while, as if checking Dai Li's identity. Then, he asked, "Excuse me, are you Coach Dai Li?"

"Yes, I am. Who are you? What can I do for you?" Dai Li looked at the man with confusion, as he knew nothing about this man.

"Finally, Coach Li!" The man smiled, as he stepped forward, then said, "I'm Feng Zhu's father. Feng Zhu is in the ping-pong team."

"Oh, you are Mr. Zhu." Dai Li recalled Zhu Feng at once, as he was also dark skinned, not tall in height, but had B talent. From his appearance, Feng Zhu and his father were very alike.

"Mr. Zhu, why are you coming for me?" Dai Li asked.

"Sorry, this is not a suitable place. Shall we move inside?" Feng Zhu's father pointed at Dai Li's door.

Dai Li hesitated, then nodded and opened the door. He went on to clean up the mess inside, while he apologized, "Sorry Mr. Zhu, I didn't do the cleaning today, so it's a little bit messy here."

"It's alright, it's alright." Feng Zhu's father waved his hand. He closed the door voluntarily, then took out an envelope from his pocket.

"Coach Li, please take this." Feng Zhu's father cautiously handed the envelope to Dai Li.

"What is this?" Dai Li subconsciously received the envelope. But at the time when he took the envelope, he sensed there was a pile of money in the envelope.

Dai Li was slightly shocked, and he hurriedly opened the envelope. There was indeed a pile of money inside, which was tied firmly in a small bundle. From its thickness, there might be ten thousand yuan.

"Sorry, Mr. Zhu, what do you mean by this?" Dai Li's face turned cold.

Feng Zhu's father rubbed his hands embarrassingly, as he faltered out the explanation, "Coach Li, I inquired that you have some relationships in Huajing, and I wondered whether you could transfer my son Feng Zhu to the national team or not!"

"Sorry, what?" Dai LI felt that surely he hadn't heard clearly.

"Coach Li, I know this is not enough, and that this is just our first meeting, but as long as you can put my son in the national team, please feel free to tell me how much more you want!" Feng Zhu's father said generously.

At this time, Dai Li finally figured out what was happening. Feng Zhu's father was here to give him a red envelope, filled with cash!

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Chapter 279: The Dream of Three Generations

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

As Dai Li held it, the envelope full of money suddenly became as heavy as a thousand kilograms in his hand.

What's going on here? Why does somebody give me such an amount of money? What did Feng Zhu's father say just now? Did he mention the national team?

Dai Li's brain was in a daze, shocked.

"Mr.Zhu, did you say you wanted Feng Zhu to be in the national team? What's going on here?" asked Dai Li.

"Coach Li, I heard that you have some relationship in the national team, and thus, have some power in the team. You have the capacity to send my son there, so please help us..." said Feng Zhu's father.

"I have relationships?" Dai Li suddenly laughed. "Mr. Zhu, I think there must be some misunderstanding. I'm just an ordinary coach from Yuzhou, which is a very little city, so how can I have any relationships in the national team?"

"Coach Li, please don't be so modest!" Feng Zhu's father pointed at the envelope, and said, "I know this is definitely not enough, and you must need more money to request national team leaders. Please feel free to tell me how much you need, and I will bring you more tomorrow."

"Don't get me wrong, Mr. Zhu. You misunderstand me. I don't have such an ability, to send an athlete to the national team." Dai Li waved his hands to deny this at once, then asked, "Wait, where did you hear that I know somebody in the national team?"

"It's widespread knowledge in the ping-pong team." Feng Zhu's father replied. "They say that you know a lot of people in Huajing, many of whom are officers, and who have power in the General Administration of Sports."

"That is nonsense!" Dai Li laughed with self-deprecating humor. "If I did have such an ability, I wouldn't stay here any longer, but would have already been coaching in the national team myself."

"Weren't you a member of the national team?" Feng Zhu's father asked. "The rumor goes that you came back to the provincial team, just for the experiences of being grassroots, and that you have a promotion promised you upon your return to the capital."

Impressed about that scenario! But shouldn't I be informed in advance, as the lead actor of this imaginary playact? Dai Li was shocked.

"Mr. Zhu, there must be some misunderstanding, I think," Dai Li thought things over, and then explained, "It's true that I was a member of the national athletic team, instead of the ping-pong team. If you want a position for him in the track and field team, I'd like to recommend him, but ping-pong is really far beyond my reach!"

As he said so, he handed the envelope with the money back to Feng Zhu's father. However, the father believed that the reason he refused the request was for the insufficient amount of the money in the envelope, so he continued to argue, "Coach Li, it's just my regards. I know you will need much more than this. I can surely give you more, and I can promise that tomorrow!"

"No no no no!!! I don't mean that. It's really out of my capability!" Li passed the envelope back to Feng Zhu's father, once again.

"I see, I see!" Feng Zhu's father, now enlightened, finally took his leave.

...

Dai Li was taking the whole thing as a misunderstanding, resulting from someone's making up stories, but what was beyond his expectation, was that another envelope was found lying on the ground at just the moment when he opened his door! Obviously, the envelope was from the crack of the door, and had been waiting there for him to return home.

Dai Li opened the envelope, and this time, no money was found in it, but a it was a bank card, instead. There was also a note, which read: "Coach Dai Li, please kindly accept this", with six numbers following that, which were apparently combined to form the password code of this card. The name of the gift sender was Feng Zhu's father.

No, not this again! Dai Li felt helpless, but he was also annoyed. He looked out at the walkway, but couldn't find Feng Zhu's father anywhere.

As an athlete, he doesn't focus on training to improve himself, but always is thinking about dishonest methods. Alright then, let me go find Feng Zhu and give this money back to him directly, and rebuke him as well!

Thinking about this, Dai Li took the envelope with him, then walked towards the athletes' dorm. As a coach, Dai Li lived in a single dorm, while Feng Zhu, who was an athlete, lived in a double room.

After Dai Li arrived at the athletes' dorm and inquired about Feng Zhu's room number, then he directly walked there. As he knocked at the door, someone immediately opened it.

"Coach Li, why have you come here?" The guy who opened the door was also in the ping-pong team, so he recognized Dai Li.

"Is Feng Zhu here?" Dai Li asked in a threatening manner.

"You are here for Feng Zhu? He hasn't come back yet," Feng Zhu's roommate replied.

"It's half past eight, so why he is not here? Is he in the cyber bar? Or, maybe is he out having fun?" Dai Li frowned his eyebrows disapprovingly.

Automaticity was the required quality that professional athletes must possess. Strict work-rest schedule was a part of that. Usually, athletes should end their days and go to rest no later than ten o'clock, as if they stayed up late, they wouldn't get enough rest, which would surely affect their next day's training. As such, many athletes went to bed at around nine o'clock.

And if you added time for bathing, athletes should return to the dorm at around eight every night. Without special cases, if an athlete didn't return to the dorm until after eight thirty, that individual was obviously not being very self-disciplined.

Hearing Dai Li's doubt, Feng Zhu's roommate immediately explained, "Don't get me wrong, Coach Li, I can guarantee that he is not out having fun! He must be in the training room, practicing with the equipment! Every night, he takes extra practice there, and won't come back until nine o'clock. Would you like to wait inside? I will call him back now."

"No, thank you." Dai Li waved his hand. "The training room is not far from here, so I will go look for him there."

...

'He takes extra training every night'? it sounds like Feng Zhu is a hardworking athlete. Why such a person preferred to go to the national team through dishonest ways, makes no sense... This is really out of my expectation.

Dai Li wondered these things, while walking to the training room.

The light in the training room was on, and a moving figure could been seen from afar. Dai Li went through the gate, seeing at a glance that Feng Zhu was indeed practicing on the equipment, sweating profusely.

He is indeed here. Dai Li looked at sweat pouring down from Feng Zhu's face, which added a little sense of admiration in his heart for the player.

Coaches often referred hard-working athletes. Previously, Dai Li felt that Feng Zhu didn't train seriously, but only wanted to find an easy pass to the national team. But now, it looked like he was not such a kind of lazy player.

There might still be some reason! Dai Li thought. He felt it would be better not to make a rough, snap judgement.

At this moment, Feng Zhu saw Dai Li walking in from the gate. He stopped practicing at once.

"Coach Li!" Feng Zhu called, as he got down from the equipment.

Dai Li took out the envelope from his pocket, then handed it to Feng Zhu with a cold face. Feng Zhu received the envelope, glanced at Dai Li cautiously, then asked tentatively, "Coach Li, is this not enough?"

Dai Li was almost angered to laugh, as he spat out, "You think so?" Dai Li's voice was extremely cold, he continued, "Your father is muddled, so are you muddled, too? Do you think national team selection is just a children's game? Do you think you can pay for admission?"

"I..." Feng Zhu struggled with his words, saying, "I just wanted to try. They all say that you have some relationship in the national team."

"Huh, even if I did know somebody, I would not help you, or rather say, I wouldn't help you because of your money." Dai Li took a deep breath, then continued, "Don't forget who you are. You are an athlete, so if you do want to be in the national team, use your own power, rather than someone else's!"

"I'm sorry," Feng Zhu said, as he lowered his head. "I didn't want to do this, but I was afraid I won't have another chance. I'm 20 years old, if I can't be selected to the national team, I will never be in the future."

As far as ping-pong national team selection, a 20-year-old was indeed an old athlete. In the national ping-pong team, many famous athletes that were remembered by the public, all joined in the team at around age fourteen to fifteen.

Those who were selected after such an age were regarded as old athletes. To the national team, athletes above 20 years old were probably not regarded as being able to be cultivated much anymore. Thus, first-tier athletes, without good conditions, would often even retire at around age twenty-six to twenty-seven.

Therefore, Feng Zhu the 20-year-old athlete, while he might still be a new star in other sports, in ping-pong,which was filled with young talents, he would not get the ticket to the national team, due to his age. However, Dai Li didn't show sympathy to Feng Zhu as he said, "This is not a good enough reason to be dishonest. What you have done not only insulted me, but also yourself as well. You put your athlete identity to shame."

"I'm sorry," Feng Zhu apologized again. Clearly, he knew he was wrong.

"To be honest, your ability is at the top in our provincial team. Even though you couldn't be in the national team, you can still prove yourself in competitions. You can still be a good athlete. Although not being in the national team means that you can't participate in international competitions, you can go to domestic games. Domestic ping-pong games are more fierce and more challenging than international games. In addition, you can also choose club races, and there shouldn't be any problem for you to fight in Table Tennis Super League as the No.1 in the provincial team!" said Dai Li.

"Coach Li, you don't understand. To be in the national team is my dream, and it is also the dream of three generations in my family!" Feng Zhu's tone became excited, as he said, "Actually, my family is a well-known ping-pong family. My grandfather used to be a ping-pong player, when he was young. He was a soldier, and represented the army in participating in the First National Games."

"The First National Games? He is a such a senior player!" said Dai Li.

Dai Li learned of this at school, so he knew that the First National Games meant a lot. It was not exaggerating to say that the First National Games set the foundation of the domestic sports business.

Various domestic sport systems were developed right after that game. Without the First National Games, the national sport business might still be like the Indians, having fun in playing cricket, but making no achievements on international competitions.

Feng Zhu continued, "In that era, there was no concept of one being a professional athlete, nor did they have professional coaches. My grandfather played ping-pong so well, that he was sent by the army to the National Games. After the games ended, although my grandfather didn't win any medals, he received an invitation from the national ping-pong team."

He continued, "But at that time, my grandfather was in active service, so he refused to be in the national team, which became his main regret in life, for two years later, after the National Games, in the 26th World Table Tennis Competition, our national team won the gold for the first time, a gold for men's group competition."

Dai Li nodded. Although it happened half a century ago, the first World Table Tennis Group Competition gold medal was the great honor that was worth remembering forever, and it was the first time the national team first kissed the Swaythling Cup. That moment would always be remembered, and be a source of great pride to every national team athlete.

But Feng Zhu's grandfather had missed it...

Dai Li felt that, if he was Feng Zhu's grandfather, he would also regret that forever. Feng Zhu continued, "Not being in the national team is forever a knot in my grandfather's heart. Later, he cultivated my father for the honor. My father went to amateur sport school at seven, and learned to play ping-pong. He joined in the City Youth Team at nine, and went on to the City Sport Team at twelve. He became a member in our Provincial Sport Team at fourteen. My family all thought that my father was surely going to be selected into the national team."

"But right before the national team came here, my father got Phthisis. Although he was finally cured, he had some sequela in breathing. Once he over-exercised, he would have aerothorax. Hence, his career ended there."

Phthisis was called consumption in the ancient times, and for thousands of years, it was a serious and fatal infectious disease. Throughout history, a lot of famous people died of consumption.

Since the nineteen-fifties, anti-tuberculosis medicines were discovered gradually, thus, the epidemicity of Phthisis was finally under control. In that country, once it became the nineteen-eighties, the disease finally had a more stable cure.

In that era, the morbidity rate of domestic Phthisis was more than 710/100,000. Every year, there were more than 300,000 who people died of Phthisis, so it was not a big surprise for Feng Zhu's father to contract it.

Phthisis was an infectious chronic disease, so even in modern times with developed medical treatment, after being cured, phthisis still caused calcification in a patient's lungs, which affected the respiratory system. Also, in the past, when medical techniques were not as well-developed, more sequela existed.

Such as the past relating to Feng Zhu's father, who had been suffering from sequela of Phthisis. He would have aerothorax after over-exercised, which meant that he would never be allowed to become an athlete again. The other athletes could have a big meal in the canteen to regain energy, but his way of regaining energy was to be in the hospital uptaking oxygen. In such a sad scenario, no training team dared receive him, let alone allow him to join in the national team.

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Chapter 280: Feng Zhu's Story

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

Feng Zhu finished his father's story, and finally, he talked about himself, "My grandfather and my father have rested their hopes of being in the National Team on me. When I was 3 years old, my grandfather started to train me to play ping-pong. To be honest, I can't remember things clearly back at that time. I only remember that my grandfather emptied the living room and bought a ping-pong table especially for me, even though I was no taller than the table."

"Then, not only my grandfather, but my father also joined in to train me. I was never in kindergarten when I was a child. I was trained by my grandfather on weekdays, while my father trained me on weekends. My family spent a lot of money on my training. They bought nutrition supplements to help me get stronger, and engaged a coach to help my training. Almost all my father's salary, and my grandfather's pension, were spent on me."

"When I was 7 years old, I started to participate in ping-pong games between amateurs. When I was 8, I got my first achievement, the champion of our City Table Tennis Match Children Group. It did not take long before I was selected by City Sport Team. Then, was recruited to Provincial Youth Team. And later, when I was 14, I went to Provincial Sport Team."

"Soon after I joined in our provincial team, a national team coach came for selection. He gave me high praise. However, since I was only in this team for a short time, he didn't take me to the National Team immediately. He let me stay here and practice for 1 or 2 years to accumulate more experience."

"From then on, I started training madly, and had an additional training day and night. I knew both my grandfather and my father were anxious for me to enter in the National Team. I didn't want to let them down."

"When I was 16 years old, a National Team coach came here again. It was another coach who came specially for testing me. But in the end, I was not chosen by the National Team." Ending here, Feng Zhu showed a painful look on his face.

"Why?" asked Dai Li.

"The coach thought I lacked strength, and my techniques were outdated. I was really thin at that time, thin and short, and not strong." After a short pause, he went on, "What's more, I learned my ping-pong techniques from my grandfather and my father. The techniques in their time was different from modern times."

Dai Li nodded to show his understanding. In the past decade, International Table Tennis Association had modified the competition rules repeatedly, and started to use new table tennis equipment. The major purpose was to restrict our National Team and break the monopoly on table tennis.

These changes had slowed down the speed of the ping-pong ball, which on the other hand, made it easier to play stalemate ball. Given an example of match ball, 38mm-diameter balls were used in the past, while 40mm-diameter balls were used in recent years. Although the diameter disparity was just 2mm, the ball speed slowed by 17%, and the rotation degree was cut by 23%, which made the previous playing style of fast and flexible become obsolete.

Almost all the world champions twenty years ago were the kind of players who had flexible bodies and fierce playing styles. The most popular style was like a fierce tiger, which gave the opponent a rush in 2-3 rounds and ended the fighting in 5-6 rounds. It was almost impossible to play stalemate ball!

Especially some short players were at a disadvantage on movement, because of their heights. They had to take two steps, while their opponents only took one. Therefore, these short players had to pursue fast and fierce playing techniques, so that they could gain the initiative and not be led by the nose.

Once they kept playing stalemate ball for a long time, or did not gain the initiative, their shortcomings would be amplified, which brought increasing probability of loss. However, it did not work to use the previous playing style. Modern table tennis not only needed techniques and flexibility, but also ample strength. Without strength, the ball would lack high-speed and rotation, then an attack would be not fierce enough. In this case, the opponent would catch the ball and launched counterattacks easily.

As for strength and rotation, the players who were tall with long arm spans certainly had advantages. That a big player would have more power, was a common view in the sports field. What's more, based on the leverage principle, players who had longer arm spans led to a bigger ball rotation. So in recent years, there were no more short world champions.

Feng Zhu was not very tall. He was less than 1.7 meters, in fact. Among males, this didn't matter 20 years ago, but now, it was definitely a disadvantage. The influence of height would not be obvious when players were teenagers, but the disadvantage would show up after they became adults.

That was what professional sports were supposed to be like. No matter what kind of sports, being outstanding when one was young was not real success. Many talented teenagers became ordinary and unknown after they became adults.

One of the important reasons for this was a change of their physical condition.

Youngsters engaged in sports didn't need to be at high physical conditions, and there was no big gap between youngsters. But after they became adults, being too tall, too short, too fat, too thin, or having arms that were not long enough, legs that were too short, shoulders that were too broad, hands that were not big enough, etc, all those factors would be obstacles to progress.

Take basketball for example, it was almost impossible to be a professional basketball player if one's height was only around 1.8 meters. But if one was 2.2 meters tall, basketball coaches would find one voluntarily, even if that guy could not play basketball at all.

Beyond that, Feng Zhu's playing style was another problem. Feng Zhu was trained by his grandfather and father, whose techniques were popular in the last century. Of course, Feng Zhu, who was trained by them, hence, used obsolete techniques.

Pursuing speed and having fierce techniques were nothing wrong for teenage players, and Feng Zhu could easily win against all his peers. In fact, Feng Zhu became the star of hope by his techniques.

However, in the National Team coaches' eyes, such techniques were out of date. At least, those skills could not survive in the National Team today.

There were too many table tennis talents in the country. Many teenagers' techniques and experiences were worse than Feng Zhu, but they had better physical conditions. This gave them better potential. National Team coaches valued players' potentials, rather than their current abilities.

Because there were too many talented players in the National Team, immediate force was sufficient. A lot of players, who stayed in the National Team for 7 or 8 years, hadn't waited for the opportunity to become the major force, so how could Feng Zhu's inconspicuous achievements catch those coaches' attention?

Feng Zhu continued, "After the coach left, I started power exercises. I knew that, compared with those tall players, I didn't have any advantage in strength. The only thing I could do was to work extremely hard. If others exercised for 1 hour, I exercised for 2 hours. On techniques, I started making adjustments, and began to use strenuous techniques."

"I heard it from Coach Ping Wang!" Dai Li thought back for a while, then continued, "Coach Ping Wang said that your strength was great, your serving speed was very high, and your rotation of the ball was powerful. In this respect, many tall players were no match for you. Therefore, you are the No.1 of our team!"

When Dai Li was speaking, he greatly admired Feng Zhu in his heart. Although Feng Zhu lacked physical talent, he made up for it with efforts. In the respect of power, he had to make a lot of efforts, so that he could fight against big players.

There is no doubt that Feng Zhu is very hard-working. But I can't understand why such a diligent player bribed a coach in order to enter the National Team. Perhaps his obsession to enter in the National Team is too deep. Dai Li sighed in his heart.

By his side, Feng Zhu sighed, "I did obtain better strength, and changed my techniques. I had expected that I would be in the National Team by doing so. But two years ago, when National Team coaches came here for selection, I failed again."

"Why did you fail this time? You were 18 years old two years ago, which was not too old. It wasn't your age, was it?" asked Dai Li.

"It was flexibility. The coach thought that my technical movements were too rigid. They deemed that I was not flexible enough, which would influence many difficult technical movements and the continuity of actions. But I didn't have such problems in the past," answered Feng Zhu.

"Because of power exercises?" Dai Li asked at once.

Feng Zhu nodded, "The coaching staff analyzed it. My body flexibility declined because of overloaded power exercises."

Too much power exercising must lead to the decline of body flexibility. Perhaps there were many people who thought that, male gymnasts or divers who had many muscle groups, including eight abdominal muscles, could still make difficult technical movements. They were undoubtedly flexible. This had proved that muscle men could acquire high flexibility.

But in fact, those difficult technical movements were driven by power. Just like body varial in both gymnastics and diving, it was finished not by flexibility, but by great initial force and lumbar abdomen power in midair instead.

Overloaded exercising on muscles would decline the body's controllability. Many muscle men in the NBA, who had amazing talents, had poor free throw performance. That was because of physical controllability. They had too many muscles and too much power, which affected their strength of free throwing.

Plus, due to some mental factors' negative influences, they rarely threw accurately.

But on table tennis, flexibility was a necessity. From characteristics of ping-pong, it was a kind of a skillful sport. In professional contests, players had to make judgments within a few seconds, because of the high speed of the ball. And they had to switch fine stroke movements, which required flexible joints all over the athlete's body, and high expansion of action range. To achieve this, one must have strong body flexibility.

From technical development of ping-pong, a small ball in the platform had been more and more important. If the player could handle the ball in the platform successfully, one would not lose the game, even if he couldn't make trouble for his opponent. If one couldn't handle the ball satisfyingly, one's flaws would be exposed to, and seized by, his opponent.

To deal with in-platform balls, the player needed fine body flexibility. Body flexibility was closely related to players' sensitivity, speed, strength and endurance, all of which were essential factors for playing ping-pong. Having fine body flexibility could help players make bigger ranges of actions, as well as aiding them in improving joint flexibility and muscle elasticity. Hence, athletes could move easier, while saving more efforts. Therefore, for ping-pong players, low flexibility would be a shortage, let alone no flexibility at all.

National Team coaches selected the best player out of merely good ones. There was a huge ping-pong talents reserve, so the national team didn't worry about shortages of players. Even a tiny blemish would be a reason for rejection by National Team coaches.

Feng Zhu continued, "From then on, I had tried many exercises to improve my flexibility, but..."

"But the effect was not obvious, was it?" Dai Li interrupted him.

Feng Zhu nodded and agreed, "There was almost no effect. I was too old to practice flexibility, which was indeed a little late."

The lack of flexibility is indeed Feng Zhu's current main shortage. Dai Li thought.

Dai Li had studied Feng Zhu before, and already knew his shortage. His training program also aimed at enhancing flexibility. But, to a 20-year-old adult player, it was hard to enhance body flexibility. Female gymnasts, who had fine flexibility, were at their best status when they were 14-16 years old. They should probably retire at 18. The main reason was that they couldn't improve their flexibility anymore at that age, or even decline, no matter how many exercises they did.

So Dai Li continued, "During training these days, I think you have felt that my training program aims at improving your flexibility. For instance, things such as Kicking Training, which can help you with the flexibility of coxa. I also added Knee Joint Circling Training and Kneeing Foot Training."

Feng Zhu nodded, "I know those exercises can help me increase flexibility. I had been doing those exercises for a long time, but it didn't work. If I can't improve my flexibility, I would never be chosen by the National Team!"

"You can't improve your flexibility, and can't be selected by the National Team, so you decided to take the other side?" Dai Li said, pointing at the envelope in Feng Zhu's hand with a bank card in it.

Feng Zhu lowered his head shamefully, "I am sorry, Coach Li. I was too eager to be in the National Team. It is a dream of three generations in my family!"

"But this is not the reason you take the other side!" Dai Li repeated those words, then he continued, "If you made efforts and tried your best, you were still an admirable player, even though you were not selected into the National Team. But you want to enter the National Team by a bribe, I would look down upon you, even if you made it!"

"I am really sorry, but I have no choice. What I have done was all for my grandfather!" Feng Zhu raised his head with a painful look. "My grandfather was recently diagnosed with lung cancer. I don't know how long he can stay alive. But I'd hoped I could reach his desire in his lifetime, and I now hope he could go without regret!"

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Chapter 281: Practice Yoga

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

Dai Li didn't expect Feng Zhu's reasons, and he asked: "How is your grandpa now?"

Feng Zhu said in a very low voice: "My grandpa will be over 70 this year. At this age, the risk of surgery is very large. And his body can't take chemotherapy. Therefore, right now we can only consider conservative treatments."

In the field of cancer treatments, apart from conservative treatments, the other three useful treatments were surgery, radiotherapy, and chemotherapy. It was not difficult to understand the surgery method, which meant lying on the surgery bed and removing the cancer tissues, however, this treatment was not suitable for senior people. Just imagine the scene of cutting their skin and taking out a small part of their organs… a young man could bear the pain, but it would probably kill a senior person.

Radiotherapy equaled radiation treatment, which was a treatment that killed the cancer tissues by ray, wire, proton beam or other beams. However, those radioactive substances were bad for people's health, and also, they had trouble identifying the cells, therefore, they tended to kill all the cancer cells, as well as healthy cells during the treatment.

Such reasons were why patients with lung cancer seldom chose radiotherapy. The treatment requires extensive exposure, which would affect other organs inside the thorax, such as the heart. It would be a loss to sacrifice your heart for the sake of your lung.

Regarding chemotherapy, it was a way to kill the cancer cells with a chemotherapeutic agent. It was a treatment that was applied to the whole body. No matter what way the patient took in the pills, the medicine would travel with the blood and reach almost every organ and tissue. It was really effective for tumor treatment, and for tumor inhibition in later stages.

The medicines used in chemotherapy were cytotoxic drugs, and they surely had side-effects. The most common ones were digestive system problems, hair loss, lessening of lung and kidney function, and leukocyte reduction. The problems in the digestive system would cause nausea, throwing up, and even cause trouble with eating. Therefore, patients who took chemotherapy tended to become thinner.

On the other hand, the patients still had to take supplements, because if they were to not, they would be weaker, and so would their immune system. The decline of leukocytes would definitely lead to the decreased functioning of the immune system. Therefore, the patients tended to catch other diseases, and those other diseases would harm the other organs in the body. Hence, as a consequence, the damage of the immune system would be fatal.

Many people found chemotherapy unfamiliar, which was why they thought it would speed up death if a patient took the chemotherapy treatment. Some people even thought that the hospital had "killed" the patient, when they saw the patient walk into the hospital safe and sound, only to later come out looking, and feeling, dreadful.

The chemotherapy itself had nothing wrong with it, it was just that the patients couldn't bear the side-effects of it, and ended up with complications or the decay of organs, which would then lead to death. People who were weak or old were not advised to take chemotherapy, because while it took the cancer cells years to cause death, the breakdown of the immune system would make patients die in three months.

Those expensive anti-cancer medicines available abroad had less side-effects, or sometimes no side-effects at all. Therefore, those rich people that could afford them wouldn't have to worry about their diseases, as they could get these medicines and maintain their lives. Also, when you got enough nutrition, your immune system wouldn't be damaged as much, and you could live for 10 to 20 years more, living just like a normal person.

Feng Zhu was not born into a rich family, and it would be impossible for him to buy those extremely expensive anticancer medicines. Also, Feng Zhu's grandpa was too old to try all the three methods for fighting the cancer, so he might have to wait for death at home.

…

After Dai Li knew about this, he forgave Feng Zhu's bribe from before. "Feng Zhu, since you told me all this, I want to be honest with you." Dai Li paused, then continued, "Don't believe what they say. I don't have networks connections to the higher ups, and there's no way for me to get you into the national team. I am not turning you down or lying, it's just that I have no right to do that."

Dai Li looked sincere, while Feng Zhu looked like he had lost all hope. Dai Li continued saying, "But I may have something to help you with your flexibility issue."

"Really?" Feng Zhu suddenly raised up his head. He looked astonished and excited.

"Of course, it's true. You think I would tease you?" Dai Li replied.

"No, that's not what I mean." Feng Zhu explained, "Coach Li, I don't doubt your words. It's just that I am too old to practice flexibility. And plus, I have tried to do this for two years. However, I didn't achieve anything in the last two years. I don't have faith in myself."

"It is kind of late to start training flexibility at your age. And I don't think the normal training routine would be suitable for you." Dai Li kept saying, "Therefore, we need to figure out other ways to do this, to use some special method… something you have never tried before."

"What method?" Feng Zhu asked anxiously.

"Well…" Dai Li hesitated, and didn't reply immediately.

Dai Li was thinking of flexible yoga, which was similar to slimming and fat reduction exercises. Coaches were asked to guide the athletes to do yoga, and the athletes could improve their flexibility by practicing yoga.

Dai Li hadn't used this skill after he learned it. He always thought this was a skill that was only used in sports like gymnastics.

Many people would think yoga was a sport that was specially taken by those office ladies who spent time in the gym only to relax. If so, it was okay for average people, but it would be ridiculous for high-leveled athletes to take it as a professional training.

That was why Dai Li didn't point out the answer immediately, as he assumed Feng Zhu would think it was a joke. However, seeing Dai Li mumbling, seeming to hold words back, Feng Zhu mistook the method as something super hard and cruel.

Feng Zhu said, "Coach Li, don't worry. I can bear the hardships. No matter how hard it is, I will take it!"

"Bear the hardship?" Dai Li was stuck when he heard this, then he shook his head. "This training method is not hard at all. You can even say it's quite easy, comparatively. It's just a bit special!" Dai Li stressed on the word "special" on purpose.

"Coach Li, just tell me, no matter what it takes, as long as it can help improve my flexibility, I would do it!" Feng Zhu asked.

"Well then, my method is…" Dai Li said the last few words clearly, "Practice yoga!"

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Chapter 282: Two Amateurs

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

"Yoga?" Feng Zhu had a surprised look on his face, as expected.

Modern citizens would find yoga familiar. As long as there was a gym, there would be yoga class. Females are the major participates, as few men would practice yoga.

Many domestic people considered practicing yoga as a trend-chasing activity. They practiced so that they could post the picture on their social media and get attention, not for pure exercise.

Actually, practicing yoga had many advantages. It was, after all, a kind of sport, and it had its strength. From a physiology perspective, it could improve circulation, the immune system, and strength, as well as balance. It also helped with reducing muscle aches. Besides, practicing yoga could increase flexibility, as the old saying goes: the more flexible your body is, the longer you are going to live.

Practicing yoga also helped reduce stress and allowed people to better maintain a calm emotional state, and therefore, to be healthy and happy. But yoga seemed ridiculous, when compared with other professional training sessions.

As for the amount of exercise, yoga was much less than other aerobic exercise. Many people might feel tired after yoga training, but this kind of tiredness was different from that caused by a more exerting physical output. For a professional athlete, this tiredness was not tiring at all.

The effect of yoga on improving physical function was not as good as other specialized training sessions either. For instance, yoga could help with strength, but it was nothing compared with lifting weights, let alone the fact that professional athletes would practice in a more professional way, so they would choose more personalized exercises rather than yoga.

Therefore, when Feng Zhu heard "yoga", he thought he misheard, and his second reaction was to think that this was a joke. However, looking at Dai Li, he seemed to be serious.

Zhu Feng had to ask and make sure, "Coach Li, did I hear it wrong? Did you say 'yoga'?"

"That's right, yoga." Dai Li kept saying, "You may find it unbelievable, but I'm serious. My method is practicing yoga, more specifically, practicing yoga under my guide."

"Coach Li, I know I made a mistake before. I really regretted it. You don't really have to punish me in this way!" Feng Zhu said impatiently.

"This is not a punishment." Dai Li shook his head, "I meant it. But I won't force you to do that if you don't want to."

"Practice yoga? This is impossible! Of course I won't take it! How is this going to work?" Feng Zhu replied without hesitation.

"I suggest you think about it." Dai Li continued saying, "You have been trained to be more flexible for two years, but nothing has improved. Do you think it's going to work out one day, magically? You'd better try something new rather than waiting."

"But that's yoga! It's not going to work," Feng Zhu argued.

"How could you know it won't benefit your flexibility, if you don't give it a shot?" Dai Li argued back.

Feng Zhu was speechless. He kept silent for a while.

Dai Li continued saying, "Surely you could choose to ignore my advice and repeat your old tricks, those moves that are not going to help, even if you practice for all your life. Or, you could take my advice and practice yoga. If it works, your flexibility will be improved, and you may possibly be selected by the national team."

"Stay where you are, or take the challenge and do something different. It's your own choice." Dai Li paused, turned around and said at the same time, "Take your time, think about it. If you want to practice yoga, come to me."

There was a struggling look on Feng Zhu's face. Feng Zhu still couldn't buy it. He didn't believe that yoga would be more effective than what he had done before.

However, he had to admit that Dai Li's words made some sense. If he continued what he was doing, he would achieve nothing. But a slight change could make some difference, even it sounded unreasonable.

Finally, Feng Zhu thought it through and made his decision. He ran to the outside, taking big strides.

"Coach Li, wait for me!" Feng Zhu shouted. "I believe in you, I will try yoga."

…

Dai Li himself had never learned yoga before either. He was just copying the actions on the system. His movement was not smooth at all, and was even a bit rusty, to be honest.

Yoga was different from slimming exercises. The latter were kind of like setting up exercises to radio music, which had been practiced by Dai Li for years since primary school. You could simply master it, as long as you practiced it for a couple of times.

But yoga was new to Dai Li, and that was why he was rusty. Feng Zhu just looked at Dai Li and imitated every move he made.

Soon Feng Zhu came to realize that Dai Li didn't do the whole set in a smooth way. "Coach Li didn't look professional at all. He seems to be an amateur at yoga. Is he really qualified in teaching others? Or is he just messing around with me?" Feng Zhu had so many questions.

The good thing was that Feng Zhu had never practiced yoga before, hence, as a starter himself, he had no right to judge. So he held his words back and kept doing what Dai Li was doing.

Dai Li felt awkward as well.

"Yoga's movements are way harder than slimming exercises. I made a fool of myself. I would have practiced several days ahead, if only I had known this was going to happen, so I would be smoother. I am a coach, so how can I convince my athletes, if I can't do the movement right myself?"

Although Dai Li performed badly, he felt confident about the effect yoga could have, because the system never failed him.

"What we had practiced all worked out immediately. I hope this could work at once as well! As long as it worked immediately, even only a little effect could make Feng Zhu believe in it," Dai Li prayed silently.

The yoga motions weren't difficult, and didn't involve any stunt, such as lifting the legs above the head. However, it took Dai Li an hour to accomplish the whole set.

Dai Li was unfamiliar with the motions, so you couldn't blame him. Finally, after they finished the last move, Dai Li stood up.

"What do you feel?" he asked Feng Zhu immediately.

"What do I feel?" Feng Zhu shook his body. "I didn't feel anything special!"

"Nothing?" Dai Li seemed disappointed. He said, more like self-comforting, "It takes more than 1 or two days for the training to be effective. We still have plenty of time! It's pretty late, let's call it a day. We will see each other tomorrow and continue our practice!"

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Chapter 283: Yoga Worked

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

Early in the morning, Feng Zhu woke up and got up from his bed.

Suddenly, when he recalled what he did last night, he realized he had been foolish. Yoga? I am a professional player. How can yoga be effective? What's wrong with me? Maybe Coach Li went mad, but why I was so stupid then?

Besides, Coach Li was unfamiliar with those yoga postures, and his actions were uncoordinated, just like a beginner. How could he teach others when he is not so skillful?

The more he thought, the more Feng Zhu felt yoga was not reliable. After stabilizing his emotions, he thought that it was time to tell Dai Li that they should not waste time on yoga.

After breakfast, Feng Zhu went to the training ground and prepared for the day's training.

"Feng Zhu, come over for stretching!" The coach who was responsible for Feng Zhu motioned.

Stretching was the first thing for a ping pong player's daily training. It could be viewed as a warm-up before exercise, which could effectively prevent muscle strain. In terms of the characteristics of ping pong, stretching was a must before training.

Professional athletes tended to stretch more, so the pain would be more intense. Although professional athletes stretched before training every day, the stretches always seemed to be very painful, causing the athletes to grind their teeth and even scream. Athletes were so miserable when they stretched that people called ping pong coaches "leg tearers" on the internet.

As Feng Zhu lay on the ground, Coach Kong, the leg tearer, was doing his work faithfully.

"Feng Zhu, are you okay?" Coach Kong asked, while tearing Feng Zhu's legs.

"Sure, why not?" Feng Zhu was a little confused.

"Isn't it painful?" Coach Kong continued.

"A little sore," Feng Zhu answered.

"If it hurts, just call it out. You don't need put up with it," Coach Kong went on. "Normally, you would certainly call out in pain at this degree of stretch. However, you have said nothing today..."

Looking up at the degree of stretching, Feng Zhu was also surprised slightly.

What's wrong with me today? Stretching to such a degree was just a bit sore. Could it be the yoga last night was really effective?

The next second, Feng Zhu shook his head. No way! I am a professional player. How could yoga be effective!

...

"Nice! Nice catching!" Coach Zheng couldn't help but start clapping for Feng Zhu.

"Feng Zhu, you seem to be in great condition today. You couldn't catch such a ball before," his opponent also said.

"Did I?" Feng Zhu thought back carefully and realized that he was more coordinated than before. As for some difficult skills, he usually completed them but with skill distortion. However, distortions were occurring much less today.

Is it really because of yoga? This idea came into Feng Zhu's mind again.

The whole day, Feng Zhu's training had been extremely smooth. Especially in one-on-one confrontation practice, where he even frequently used hard skills.

Feng Zhu himself could clearly feel the changes in his body.

Until now, Feng Zhu still didn't believe that this was because of yoga. However, except for yoga, nothing else had changed.

After a whole day's training, Feng Zhu rested for a while and appeared outside the training room with his head full of doubts, preparing to do yoga.

This morning when he got up, he thought that doing yoga was stupid, and he even wanted to stop doing it. However, what happened during the day changed his mind.

Still I don't think doing yoga is reliable. But now, better to believe something than nothing! Thinking this, Feng Zhu entered the training room.

...

The next morning.

Stretching for Feng Zhu, Coach Kong said, "Feng Zhu, I think your muscles are much looser today than two days ago."

"Looser? I didn't relax my training recently. I'm a little fatter, right?" Feng Zhu answered casually.

"Not that kind of loose. It's relaxation. Your muscles were very rigid before. I could feel it when I helped you stretch. It was so rigid that I was afraid of hurting you when I exerted more strength." Tearing the leg to a larger degree, Coach Kong went on, "But since yesterday, it has been different. Your muscles are not so rigid. Today is better than yesterday."

Feng Zhu nodded thoughtfully. The first thing that came to his mind was the yoga that he did last night.

Coach Li's yoga is really effective! It's amazing that something like yoga works for professional athletes!

In this way, as a week passed, Feng Zhu progressed at an almost visible speed.

Feng Zhu himself could clearly feel that his flexibility was improving every day. Every time before training, the degree of his stretching was becoming larger and larger. And in daily confrontation training, he performed hard skills more and more smoothly.

...

Other players started to discuss Feng Zhu's recent performance.

"Feng Zhu is in perfect condition lately. I was completely defeated every time I practiced with him!"

"Exactly. I have no confidence to practice with him now. Last time, he gave me five points ahead, but I was still defeated."

"Feng Zhu practiced overtime even after daily training. So it's normal to be so excellent."

"He practiced overtime before, but why is he so good now? I think he was enlightened all at once."

"The National Table Tennis Championship is about to begin, and I can't be slothful anymore. I'll go with him and practice more tonight!"

"I'll go with you!"

...

In the training room.

"Coach Li, I would not believe yoga could be so effective if I didn't experience it myself. If I had known that, I would have attended a yoga class two years ago!" Feng Zhu said excitedly.

"My yoga is different from others. This is specially designed for athletes, not like the kind of yoga in the gym," Dai Li said, as it was true.

Unexpectedly, Feng Zhu believed him. For the first reason, he didn't know other yoga coaches. For the second reason, Dai Li's yoga helped him with his body flexibility. At this time, Feng Zhu viewed Dai Li's words as truth.

"I must do well in this National Table Tennis Championship. It will be best if I can defeat one or two national champions!" Feng Zhu said with great morale. "I want to prove that I am qualified for the national team!"

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Chapter 284: Dai Li's Yoga Class

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

Da Liu was in a bad mood.

In the day training, Da Liu practiced with Feng Zhu. Although Feng Zhu gave him five points in every game, Da Liu still didn't win after several games.

Da Liu knew that he was not as excellent as Feng Zhu, but he didn't expect that the gap between them was so huge.

As an athlete, Da Liu naturally knew that effort and achievement were inseparable. Everyone knew that Feng Zhu trained overtime every day, so everyone expected him to achieve good results.

Da Liu wanted to make progress as well. He decided to learn from Feng Zhu, and he hoped Feng Zhu could teach him something after training.

Therefore, after supper, Da Liu took a bath, put on clean sportswear, and came to the training room.

The light is on. Definitely someone is in it. It must be Feng Zhu training inside. Da Liu stretched up his neck and looked into the room.

However, Da Liu was surprised to see Dai Li and Feng Zhu lying on the ground and slowly making strange motions.

What are they doing? Da Liu looked at them in surprising, with his eyes wide open.

It seems they are doing yoga! Those two are doing yoga! Two men are practicing yoga! Da Liu concluded, after watching for a while.

The two men were doing yoga on the floor. They seemed to be so uncoordinated!

Standing outside the door for several minutes, he didn't enter.

Suddenly, someone behind patted Da Liu on the shoulder.

"Da Liu, what are you looking at?" Da Liu was familiar with the voice. It was just his teammate Xiaolong Gao.

"Hiss, keep quiet!" Da Liu gestured with a finger across his lips, and then pointed Dai Li and Feng Zhu inside.

"Coach Li and Feng Zhu! They are doing... yoga! Am I seeing it wrong? They are doing yoga, right?" Xiaolong Gao was in great shock.

"It's yoga." Da Liu nodded.

"Why do they practice yoga? Two men!" Xiaolong Gao asked.

"How should I know?" Da Liu shook his head.

They both knew that yoga had nearly zero effect on high-level professional players. Therefore, they didn't understand why Dai Li and Feng Zhu practiced yoga.

Minutes later, another three athletes came over to practice. But when they saw Dai Li and Feng Zhu in the training room, they all stopped before the door simultaneously, looking at them in surprise.

It was weird enough for high-level professional athletes to take yoga as training, not to mention two men doing this.

A dozen minutes later, Dai Li and Feng Zhu ended their yoga only to find five people standing at the door already.

"Da Liu? Xiaolong Gao? Are you here for overtime training? Why don't you come in?" Feng Zhu asked.

"We..." Looking at each other, Da Liu and Xiaolong Gao didn't what to say for a while.

But Feng Zhu started to explain it anyway. "Coach Li is leading me in doing yoga! It can improve body flexibility. Will you have a try?"

"It's yoga indeed!" They were standing at the door and looking at each other with shocked expressions once again.

"Da Liu, even if yoga could improve the flexibility of your body, it should not be as effective as regular training for professional athletes, right?" someone asked in a low voice.

"It should be so." Da Liu nodded slightly.

"Why is Feng Zhu still doing yoga? Isn't that a waste of time?" that person asked again.

"It works more or less," Da Liu went on not-so-confidently. "Coach Li is a high-level coach. I don't think he can teach something useless. His teaching must be effective."

"Let's try it too!" a young guy behind said eagerly.

This proposal attracted many people's interest. After all, Feng Zhu was a good example.

As the strongest player on the ping pong team of Hanbei Province, Feng Zhu definitely could be a representative. His willingness to practice yoga worked like an invisible advertisement.

"I'll have a try." Da Liu nodded.

"You go and try it. I'll not. Yoga is for common people. There exists no effect on us athletes at all." Xiaolong Gao shook his head.

"I think so. We are professional athletes. There are so many targeted training projects! We needn't yoga at all!" another person said, agreeing with Xiaolong Gao.

...

Da Liu and other two athletes joined the yoga training.

After a week of training, Dai Li's yoga actions were much more skillful, and he was not like a beginner anymore. At least, Da Liu didn't doubt it through his actions.

However, Da Liu was still skeptical about the effect of yoga. As a professional athlete, he didn't think yoga was effective at all. Had it not been for Feng Zhu's leading role, Da Liu would not have tried yoga.

The next morning, Da Liu encountered the same situation with Feng Zhu.

"Da Liu, if it hurts, it would be better to just call it out. You don't need to put up with it," the coach said, as his stretching action loosened slightly.

"Doesn't hurt. Just a little sore at the beginning," Da Liu answered.

"Just a little sore?" the coach asked, surprised. "Ordinarily, if you were stretched this far, you would have streamed out in pain. Now I will tear harder."

Da Liu became aware of the change when the coach reminded him.

It can't be the yoga worked! Da Liu thought incredulously.

...

When Feng Zhu entered the training room, he found the three players who joined the training last night already waiting there. Apparently, they had tasted the benefits of yoga.

"Da Liu, you came earlier than me!" Feng Zhu said.

"Well..." Da Liu felt embarrassed and asked, "When will Coach Li come?"

"Maybe in 20 minutes," Feng Zhu said. He got close to Da Liu and asked, "Yoga worked, right?"

Da Liu nodded seriously, "If I hadn't experienced it myself, I wouldn't believe yoga could have such an effect on professional athletes."

"Coach Li said his yoga was specially designed for athletes. Other people's yoga may not be so effective! You are just beginning to practice now. You can feel how great Coach Li is when you train longer," Feng Zhu said confidently.

...

Three days later.

"Bang!"

Da Liu managed to score one point by an extreme retrieve.

"Nice!" Xiaolong Gao, his opponent, complimented him involuntarily.

"Da Liu, you are so vigorous these days. These two days, we have practiced for dozens of games and I lost them all," Xiaolong Gao said, a little unsatisfied.

"Who told you not to do yoga!" Da Liu pursed his lips.

"Yoga? You wouldn't tell me that you became so vigorous because you practiced yoga, right?" Xiaolong Gao said jokingly.

However, Da Liu didn't mean to joke and he nodded seriously. "Of course it's because of yoga! I wouldn't practice it every day if it didn't work. Since I began practicing yoga, my skills have been more coordinated than before. I can achieve hard skills without distorting them."

Xiaolong Gao still didn't believe him. In his subconsciousness, he still felt that yoga with such little exercise had no effect on professional athletes at all.

Although Xiaolong Gao didn't believe in yoga, others did.

Some athletes chose to join the training when they found out that Feng Zhu, Da Liu, and other athletes trained yoga every night. When they felt the effects of yoga on their flexibility and vigor, they came to the training and did yoga every day.

After all, humans are social animals with group psychology. Especially under the domestic system, professional athletes were always in groups, such as in sports schools when they were young and in sports teams when they grew up. Even a person with unique individuality would be ironed out and form to the habits of the community.

It was like in a university dormitory. If three of four people in a dormitory were playing one type of game, the last one would definitely play it soon. Similarly, if three of them went out to play basketball on weekends, the last one would serve as a stopgap even if he didn't play well.

Therefore, others chose to join the yoga training when more and more people joined it. Even Xiaolong Gao, who didn't believe in the effects of yoga, also joined the training at last.

When they felt the effects, they would never quit. Dai Li's yoga class was gradually expanding.

...

"Coach Li!"

"Coach Li, there you are!"

"Coach Li, when will we start straining?"

As soon as Dai Li entered the training room, he was surrounded by his students immediately.

Nowadays, Dai Li's yoga class had attracted all the athletes on the ping pong team. Every night, dozens of athletes did yoga following Dai Li. It was spectacular. Someone walking by might think it was a yoga class.

Dai Li felt a sense of achievement when he saw so many athletes already waiting for him in the training room.

As a coach, it was obviously a sign of success to be admired by athletes. Additionally, the entire team had been attracted here, which made him feel complacent.

As a coach, I should be satisfied with what I have achieved! Dai Li smiled involuntarily. However, he always felt something was missing.

Yes, the results. It would be perfect if we could achieve a championship! Looking at these athletes in front of him longingly, he knew that this goal was not far away, because the National Table Tennis Championship was coming soon!

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