Chapter 131: Trading the Gift for the Gift Wrap
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Training athletes was like rowing a boat against the current. If they could not advance, they would surely slide back.
The better the athlete became, the more that was required of the training conditions in order to maintain their physical condition. Low-intensity training could hold the athletes back and make them underperform. When Zhongyi Xu had first met Dai Li, and saw him training Feifei Yu, he had become furious for this very reason.
Take basketball, for example: the popular NBA stars were usually not willing to play in low-level foreign league games against mediocre players, even if they were offered higher salary. The main reason for this was that the low-intensity training in the low-level league games could only make their skills worse, not better. In order to prolong their careers, NBA stars were not willing to join inferior leagues or play in easier games for a short-term profit. The only time they would join for money was when their best years were behind them, and the end of their career was approaching.
With the help of the Coaching System, athletes were able to improve rapidly under Dai Li's training. But Xuexi Zhuang did not have such an almighty advantage; his training ability was nothing more than mediocre. If it had been, he would have been promoted with the help of his uncle.
After the shot put team had been taken over by Xuexi Zhuang, the athletes like Jiankang Chen had begun regressing. Luckily it had not been long since the takeover, and the regression was not blatantly obvious yet.
In crucial moments, the athletes lost the help of the explosive force halo.
Shot put was a sport that was highly reliant on individual explosive power. Athletes such as Jiankang Chen only had C-level talent. Without the explosive force halo, they could still be considered excellent shot put athletes. But when it came to the Provincial Youth Games, they were simply not top players.
Xuexi Zhuang's plan had failed. He stared at Jiankang Chen, who had just stepped off the field, with an angry face. Jiankang Chen ignored him.
Compared to Dai Li, Xuexi Zhuang's training skills could not impress the athletes. Especially after having compared him to Dai Li, the athletes ignored him even more. They all knew that Xuexi Zhuang's uncle was a deputy chief, and that he had given him the position instead of making him earn it.
Suddenly, a lady's voice rose from the loudspeaker. "The award ceremony for men's long jump will begin shortly. We would like to remind the winners to get ready for the podium." Upon hearing the voice, everybody in the stadium focused on the podium.
"Is the long jump game finished? Did Chenglong Hong win? I did not know he had so much potential when I was training him. How did he become so good after joining the sports team?" Xuexi Zhuang also turned his head towards the podium.
Chenglong Hong had been an athlete on the youth team, and had received training under Xuexi Zhuang for a while. Yet Xuexi Zhuang's training skills were insufficient, which covered up much of his potential. Later on, Chenglong Hong was chosen by the sports team and left the youth team. Since then, he had improved rapidly, and soon became the best young athlete on the sports team.
This was like a punch in Xuexi Zhuang's face. Chenglong Hong was a nobody when he trained with Zhuang, but had gained a reputation instantly after switching to the sports team. This only proved how poor Xuexi Zhuang's training skills were. As a result, Zhuang was not fond of his former apprentice, and even held some disdain towards him.
On the podium, Chenglong Hong stood on the right side. This was the position for the
third place winner. Second place would stand on the left, while the champion would stand in the middle. Xuexi Zhuang glanced at Chenglong Hong's position on the podium and realized that he had won the third place.
"It is only a third place finish! I thought he was going to be the champion." Xuexi Zhuang spoke as if he didn't care, but he was jealous in his heart. He was unable to achieve even a third place finish. But he tried to act as if he could not care less.
"The other two must be the first and second place winner. The second place winner seems to be an athlete from a city team. The champion looks so young; his game uniform looks like our youth team uniform in both color and style. Which city team is this? Did they not realize that their uniform is the same as ours? Maybe they used the same supplier."
The next moment, Xuexi Zhuang suddenly realized that this was the game uniform of the youth team!
"No, this is our game uniform. He is a member of our youth team!" Xuexi Zhuang was astonished. He looked around immediately, and soon found Dai Li.
Dai Li! He is here! He was the main coach of the long jump team, which means the champion is from our youth team. Right, I remember it now. It was mentioned in a meeting a few days ago that the team had assigned a long jump quota to the heir of the Continental Corporation. I remember there being only one participant from the long jump team. It must be him. He is the heir of the Continental Corporation!
Xuexi Zhuang took a deep breath. His heart was stirring rigorously.
"The heir of the Continental Corporation won the championship? Can a second generation rich kid be this good?"
Xuexi Zhuang's mindset was the same as many people. He thought that all second generation rich children ever did was date pretty girls in sports cars, squander their parents' money, and fool around everywhere, never working hard on anything. He could not believe that Haiquan Fang was able to win the championship.
A tang of jealousy rose in Xuexi Zhuang's heart. He was jealous of the champion, as well as Haiquan Fang's wealth and status. Haiquan Fang had everything that he did not. He had never won a championship. His deputy chief uncle had such little power compared to the Continental Corporation.
"He bought it. He definitely bought it! It is not hard for the Continental Corporation to bribe all the athletes with its assets. As long as they pay the other athletes to cheat in the game and underperform intentionally, they can ensure that their heir will surely be the champion! Despicable! Shameless! No sportsmanship at all!" Xuexi Zhuang was extremely upset. His attitude grew more and more negative. While he was making himself more and more upset, other coaches began discussing what had taken place.
"Did you hear? The long jump champion jumped 7.84 meters!"
"7.84 meters? That is amazing. 7.84 meters is an excellent record in formal games of adults!"
"It broke the U18 provincial long jump record! It also broke the national record for U16."
"Wait a minute, what did you say? U16? You mean the athlete is only 16-years-old? Jumping 7.84 meters at the age of 16. He is a genius!"
"This record can secure him a position on the national team."
"More than that. He will get special attention even on the national team."
Xuexi Zhuang heard these discussions. He now looked more upset than ever.
A minute ago, Xuexi Zhuang had been making himself feel better by assuming the championship had been "bought." A minute later, the news had come that two records had been broken. It was a heavy blow to his self-esteem.
"How could Dai Li have such good luck!? He came across a genius athlete. If I can get this genius...wait a minute, this genius was my athlete! I was the main coach of the long jump team!"
Regret was filling up Xuexi Zhuang's heart. He realized that he made a stupid deal of trading the gift for the gift wrap. There was a genius athlete in the long jump team all along. But he flipped everything around, and traded it for Dai Li's shot put team.
"Dai Li, the despicable Dai Li!" Xuexi Zhuang made a stupid choice. But he was a blamer. He would never attribute the failure to his own choice, but blamed Dai Li instead with hatred.