Tryout

Jiangcheng City Table Tennis Training Base.

As soon as Jiang Shan returned, he found Tian Ye. "Bro, let's play a match."

Tian Ye laughed. "Why do you look so awful? Did you get humiliated outside and come back to take it out on me, the perennial runner-up? Get lost. I'm not your punching bag."

Jiang Shan did not explain. He only said, "Bro, please. Play a match with me. Best of five."

Tian Ye studied his expression carefully and, once he was sure Jiang Shan was not joking, nodded. "Fine."

Fifteen minutes passed in a flash, and Tian Ye won decisively, 3–0.

"What's wrong with you? You look completely out of it."

Tian Ye leaned close to examine Jiang Shan. "I even messed up that serve just now. Why didn't you dare flick it? Why did you step back instead? What are you afraid of?"

Jiang Shan sighed.

"And in the second game, why did you keep attacking my backhand? Don't you know my backhand is stronger than my forehand?"

Jiang Shan moved his lips but still said nothing.

"What happened? If you won't tell me, I'm going to find Coach."

Tian Ye and Jiang Shan had always gotten along fairly well. Their skill gap was obvious; they were firmly first and second, so they were not direct competitors. He did not want to see his younger brother reduced to this state.

"Don't, I'm fine." Jiang Shan grabbed his arm, stood there blankly for a while, then sighed again. "Bro, let me tell you. I ran into a freak. Now I'm starting to wonder whether I even know how to play table tennis..."

Knock, knock, knock.

It was six in the evening. Wang Chao and Wang Mei were sitting on the sofa watching television.

Ever since Wang Chao had become an apprentice, Wang Mei's burden had been cut in half. She no longer had to wash dishes at night and could eat dinner with her son. It felt rather warm and harmonious.

Their family had never had many relatives, so someone knocking at the door at this hour felt somewhat abrupt.

Wang Chao sprang up from the old sofa. "I'll get it!"

The visitors were naturally the three coaches: Tian Qi, Li Zhenguo, and Zhao Fuqiang.

The shabby room caught the three of them off guard. For an extremely brief moment, shock showed on their faces before they hid it well. Yet when they looked at Wang Chao again, their feelings became somewhat complicated.

Naturally, they held a grudge against Wang Chao. This high school student had caused all three of them to lose a great deal of face in front of the head coach. The fine itself was secondary.

But this boy's family was actually this poor?

Wang Chao politely invited them inside, politely gave up the sofa, and politely brewed three cups of tea, placing them on the somewhat cracked coffee table. Only then did he sit down nearby and ask, "What can I do for you?"

This behavior surprised the three of them as well.

After all, only a few days earlier at Mingyue Stadium, they could be said to have formed a grudge against one another.

Though it had been the players who provoked him, the coaches' failure to stop them was itself a form of tacit approval.

Based on what the three coaches knew about young people these days, they should have been hot-blooded and fearless. Before coming, they had already prepared themselves to be met with cold faces.

To avoid making the atmosphere too awkward, they had even deliberately bought some gifts from a roadside supermarket.

But none of that happened.

On the contrary, when they explained why they had come, Wang Chao showed precisely the right amount of surprise and delight.

Wang Mei, however, found it hard to believe. Facing the smiles of the three coaches, she frowned slightly, her gaze darting between Wang Chao and the three men. After a long while, she asked suspiciously, "Son, did you... pay them to come here?"

Wang Chao was speechless.

He understood his mother's suspicion. After all, he had inexplicably become a table tennis expert, even defeated professional players, and now city team coaches had come to invite him for a tryout. No matter how one heard it, it sounded unreliable.

It sounded more like some farce he had concocted because he did not want to learn hairdressing.

Fortunately, the three coaches were still capable of handling matters. They directly showed their ID cards and work permits to prove who they were. Finally, Tian Qi settled the matter with a single decisive sentence.

He said, "Wang Chao's mother, table tennis has a bright future. Even as a substitute, he'd receive a basic monthly allowance of five thousand yuan. If he can move up to the main team, or improve enough to play in the Table Tennis First Division professional league, an annual salary of several hundred thousand yuan is no problem."

At that moment, Wang Mei was a little stunned. Though she appeared calm, Wang Chao saw the flicker in her eyes clearly.

"Besides, tomorrow is only a tryout. Whether he'll even be selected is another matter," Li Zhenguo added.

Wang Mei gave a reserved smile. "It doesn't matter whether he gets selected or not. As parents, the most important thing is supporting our child's interests."

After that, both sides rose and exchanged polite farewells. Wang Chao saw them to the door, and before leaving, the three men smiled at him. It carried something of the feeling that a smile had wiped away old grievances.

Once the door closed, Wang Mei's feigned composure immediately crumbled. She eagerly called Tony teacher to ask for leave on her son's behalf.

At seven thirty the next morning, Wang Chao entered the Jiangcheng City Table Tennis Training Base.

The training base was large. Substitute players and main-team players actually trained in the same facility, but it was divided into two sections. The substitutes and main team normally kept to themselves and did not interfere with one another.

"You're here?"

Wang Bin was nearing fifty but still in excellent shape, with none of the airs of a senior coach. He was helping pick up the little balls rolling all over the floor when he saw Wang Chao enter. "Ready?"

Wang Chao nodded.

"Then let's get started. Fitness testing first, then match play."

The first test was the shuttle run.

For table tennis, shuttle runs were far more important than long-distance running or short sprints. During a match, players had to deal with all kinds of feints from their opponents—left and right, near and far. No one could judge correctly every time. When one made the wrong read, one had to change direction and turn back quickly.

That was why the piercing sound of shoes scraping against the floor could always be heard during table tennis matches.

"Run from here to there, then back again. Ten round trips in total. Say the word, and I'll start the timer."

But Wang Chao was in no hurry. He stepped aside and began rolling his ankles, stretching his legs, and loosening up.

A strange glint flashed through Wang Bin's eyes.

Athletes needed to warm up before intense exercise. It was common sense that every professional player knew, but few amateurs cared about it. The reason was that amateur players did not exercise nearly enough to risk injuring their muscles and bones.

Wang Bin had deliberately chosen not to mention it, partly out of a mischievous sense of fun.

It was not that he wanted to see Wang Chao embarrass himself. He simply still could not let go of Wang Chao's remark: "Who says amateurs can't beat professionals?"

He cherished Wang Chao as a promising prospect, but he still wanted to see him make a fool of himself. If, after Wang Chao embarrassed himself, he could put on a surprised face and say, "This is common sense that every professional player knows. You seriously didn't know?"

That would have been perfect!

Unfortunately, Wang Chao gave him no such opportunity.

What followed was nothing remarkable. Wang Chao's stamina was poor, so his shuttle-run results were naturally unimpressive. He only barely passed the minimum standard. By the time he had completed all three rounds of testing, he was drenched in sweat and gasping for breath, looking as though he was about to collapse.