Battle for the Spots

Wang Chao got up early the next day. He was out of bed a little after six, when the sky outside had only just begun to lighten, but Wang Mei had risen even earlier and had already gone out.

Wang Chao hurriedly finished the two still-warm steamed buns and boiled egg on the table, then headed for Huimin Barber Shop.

The barbershop owner was in his thirties. His hair was a riot of colors, long on one side and short on the other, standing tall atop his head like half of Red Cliffs had been burned away.

Wang Chao guessed he had done it deliberately. After all, Er Zhuzi was far too rustic a name. He had to go savage on his hairstyle to live up to the lofty stage name of Tony teacher.

Tony teacher was a decent guy. On Wang Chao's first day, he earnestly advised him, "Watch carefully, learn carefully. Other masters like to keep their trade secrets hidden, but I don't hide anything here. Once you've learned it, you can replace me as the manager. I'll raise your pay then."

Wang Chao asked, "What about you?"

"I'm planning to open a milk tea shop." Tony teacher spoke with great ambition. "I heard a milk tea brand has been doing very well lately. I'm thinking of getting a franchise."

Wang Chao really wanted to tell him that milk tea shops were a bottomless pit. In his previous life, nine out of every ten people who opened milk tea franchises lost everything, down to their pants.

But he was only an eighteen-year-old poor student who could not even get into college. How much weight could his words carry?

Better to keep a low profile.

The morning passed quickly.

Huimin Barber Shop had good business. Tony teacher stayed busy the whole time, and Wang Chao kept watching. As he watched, he learned to pass over the tools. Then he learned to help shave customers' beards. And then...

He did not dare help wash customers' hair, because the young woman specifically in charge of hair washing had watched him warily all morning, as though afraid he would steal her job.

All in all, his first day at work was wonderful.

Until Han Feng and the others came looking for him at lunchtime.

"Hey, Sister Mei said you were apprenticing here. We thought she was joking. Didn't expect you really wanted to become Tony Wang?"

His friends laughed and joked, drawing a soft cough from Tony teacher beside them. Only then did Wang Chao hurriedly say, "Let me introduce you. This is my boss, Tony teacher."

The three knew they had misspoken and quickly apologized. Then they asked, "Chaozi, are you going to play ball this afternoon?"

Wang Chao sighed. Thinking of Wang Mei's exhausted face, he shook his head. "Forget it. Maybe in a few days."

Watching the three leave, Tony teacher seemed pleased. "Wang Chao, you're different from them. Their families will support them in the future, but you can only rely on yourself. You can't count on Sister Mei, so don't focus only on having fun. Settle down."

He rummaged through his pocket and actually pulled out five hundred yuan, which he handed to Wang Chao. "Part of this month's allowance, paid in advance. It's your first day on the job, so get off early later. Go buy half a jin of meat at the market and bring it home. Make Sister Mei happy."

Wang Chao quickly thanked him, though he felt a little guilty inside.

He could tell that his boss sincerely wanted to train him. Unfortunately, his future was not to inherit this shop and become a carefree young barber.

He planned to work for a few days first. Once his mother had calmed down, he would have a serious talk with her about his plans for the future.

What he did not know was how much of a stir yesterday's match at Mingyue Stadium had caused at the Jiangcheng City Table Tennis Training Base.

"Have the assessment rankings been confirmed? Does anything need adjusting?"

Wang Bin, head coach of the Jiangcheng City Table Tennis Team's reserve squad, organized the thick stack of "Jiangcheng City Table Tennis Team Main and Reserve Players Internal Promotion-Relegation Assessment (Supplementary) List" in his hands, his gaze sweeping routinely over the faces of the three coaches before him.

The three coaches were Li Zhenguo, Zhao Fuqiang, and Tian Qi—the same Old Li, Old Zhao, and Old Tian from Mingyue Stadium yesterday.

This was an utterly ordinary morning meeting at the training base, held once or twice almost every month.

They held an internal round-robin to determine each player's competitive condition and training results, then reranked the players and arranged their training accordingly.

The so-called rankings were, in fact, the final standings of the round-robin.

Jiang Shan: 15 wins, 0 losses, ranked first.

Tian Ye: 14 wins, 1 loss, ranked second.

Tian Zhengguang: 11 wins, 4 losses, ranked third.

Li Mu: 11 wins, 4 losses, ranked fourth.

Zhao Ge: 10 wins, 5 losses, ranked fifth.

Long Tao: 4 wins, 11 losses, ranked thirteenth.

Wang Bin's gaze swept over the chart in his hand, then suddenly paused.

"Hmm?"

He looked up at Tian Qi. "Why did Tian Zhengguang lose so many matches this time?"

Tian Qi explained calmly, "Have you forgotten? The base had a sudden power outage yesterday, so we had no choice but to conduct the assessment at Mingyue Stadium. It was noisy there, with lots of spectators. Some fluctuations in the players' form were normal."

Wang Bin nodded, but then said, "In that case, Tian Zhengguang's mental resilience needs further improvement. On the other hand, this Li Mu has good mental resilience and has improved quickly. I remember that in last month's assessment, he only had seven wins, right?"

Before Tian Qi could say anything, Li Zhenguo beside him rushed to answer, "That's right. This kid has particularly strong mental resilience, and he's been training especially hard lately. He also beat Tian Zhengguang in their match yesterday. He only ranked fourth because his total point differential across all matches was three points lower than Tian Zhengguang's."

Wang Bin nodded and did not pursue the topic.

As head coach, he knew something about the intrigues among the three coaches under him.

Basically, the first and second places in the current reserve squad were very stable: Jiang Shan and Tian Ye.

The fight for third place was more delicate. For the past half year, Tian Zhengguang, Li Mu, and Zhao Ge had been competing for it.

Over the last two months, Tian Zhengguang had held on to third place. If he held it again this month, the position would basically be his for good.

Yet Tian Zhengguang had stumbled this time.

That gave Li Mu and Zhao Ge a chance to move up.

In fact, simply looking at the surnames of those three players and comparing them to those of the three coaches made it clear there was something going on.

Zhao Fuqiang was Zhao Ge's distant uncle.

Li Zhenguo was Li Mu's maternal uncle.

As for Tian Qi, whose real name was Tian Qiya, he came from a very poor and remote mountain village. Everyone in that village had the surname Tian, and the children were ranked by age. He was seventh, while Tian Zhengguang was twenty-third...

So strictly speaking, he was Tian Zhengguang's older brother—though there was more than a ten-year age gap between them.

Wang Bin got straight to the point. "The promotion-relegation match against the main team is next week. We need to settle today on who will compete."

Tian Qi smiled. "I think we should stick to the old rules. Just send the top three from the round-robin rankings."

Naturally, Li Zhenguo was unwilling. "Li Mu and Tian Zhengguang have the same score this time. I think they should at least play another match. Whoever wins gets to compete. That would be fair."

Zhao Fuqiang added, "I think Old Li is right. One match is the most straightforward solution."

But Tian Qi was unwilling. "The players just finished a round-robin yesterday. They're physically exhausted, and the promotion-relegation match is about to begin. I think the most important thing now is to rest before the match and conserve their strength."

Li Zhenguo chuckled. "What are you afraid of? Afraid Tian Zhengguang can't beat Li Mu?"

Tian Qi refused to answer directly and merely shook his head. "The rules cannot be discarded."

This time, Zhao Fuqiang would not help him anymore. Smiling, he leaned back and began watching the show.