Water goods?

It was already eight o'clock, and the stadium gradually became more crowded. Soon, people noticed the situation over here and came to watch the excitement. Several coaches didn't stop them, allowing the players to gather outside the court and whisper.

"Do you think he'll pass the tryout?" Tian Qi asked Li Zhenguo, tilting his head.

"His stamina is worse than I imagined; he probably won't meet Coach Wang's standards," Li Zhenguo replied ambiguously. "But since he's here, it ultimately depends on actual combat, right?"

Tian Qi secretly disdained the old fox in his heart. After thinking for a moment, he said, "Then who do you think is stronger, Zhao Ge or Li Mu?"

His voice was a bit loud, and Zhao Fuqiang, who was on the other side, overheard it and directly interjected, "Naturally, Zhao Ge is stronger."

Li Zhenguo's eyes immediately widened. "Li Mu's ranking in this round robin was higher than Zhao Ge's."

Zhao Fuqiang snorted, "Mingyue Stadium is too noisy; it affects the players' condition, so the results naturally aren't accurate."

Li Zhenguo naturally disagreed. "Are you saying Li Mu wasn't affected? Don't forget, it's even noisier during actual matches."

Having successfully instigated, Tian Qi smiled and shut his mouth.

The competition for promotion and relegation spots had seen several changes in just one day, from yesterday to today.

Tian Zhengguang, who was originally the most hopeful, was completely out of the running. Head Coach Wang Bin had explicitly stated that he would not be allowed to compete.

Wang Bin then asked them to invite Wang Chao, and his intention was also clear: if Wang Chao was truly that formidable, then the last spot would belong to Wang Chao.

So, was Wang Chao really that formidable?

The three coaches had good judgment. After returning yesterday, they each found videos online and watched them carefully. After analysis, they unanimously agreed that Wang Chao's strength should be above Tian Zhengguang's.

In other words, the third spot was solidly Wang Chao's.

The three coaches had already given up hope. Since none of them could get the spot, they were calm. When they went to Wang Chao's house yesterday to invite him, all three were very polite. This was partly due to the head coach's instructions, and partly because they were convinced Wang Chao would definitely join the team, so they wanted to build a good relationship with him.

But they didn't expect Wang Chao to be so useless...

He almost failed to meet the standard even on the most basic shuttle run, and now he was panting heavily. Coach Wang's expression wasn't very good.

If Wang Chao couldn't pass the tryout, then the situation would become interesting, reverting to a contest between Zhao Ge and Li Mu...

Whoever lost would have to wait another year...

Because of this, the two coaches, knowing someone was fanning the flames, still refused to back down.

On the court, Wang Chao was already testing the second item, "Strength."

His arm was wrapped with a highly elastic rubber band. The band tightened, and then he swung his racket in the air. Naturally, an instrument would record his force exertion at that moment.

The results were also very unfavorable...

Wang Chao's strength didn't even meet the minimum standard set by the training base. Even more critically, during the seventh swing, Wang Chao, due to exerting too much force, stumbled and almost lost his balance, falling to the ground. It was quite embarrassing.

By this point, the discussions among the players off the court had become somewhat uncontrollable.

These people had all watched Wang Chao play at Mingyue Stadium that day and had personally witnessed him defeat Tian Zhengguang.

But that didn't mean they were convinced.

On one hand, it was because young people are high-spirited and proud. On the other hand, with table tennis, you can't see much just by watching. To know if someone is strong, you have to play against them.

"Tian Zhengguang wasn't playing seriously that day."

"Occasionally beating Tian Zhengguang isn't a big deal, is it? I could do it too."

Almost everyone had a similar mindset.

So at this moment, low laughter could already be heard.

Wang Bin's expression had already become very grim.

He knew, of course, that physical tests didn't equate to actual combat, but he also knew that if the physical tests were too poor, actual combat wouldn't be good either.

This was common sense!

If you couldn't keep up with the opponent's speed or return their powerful shots, then no matter how many techniques you had, where would you use them?

In a sense, playing table tennis was like practicing martial arts, and physical fitness represented a person's "internal energy."

"Next is the ball contact event. Let's first test your continuous attacking ability," Wang Bin's tone remained calm.

He had actually decided to reject Wang Chao, but outwardly, he intended to complete the test.

But Wang Chao shook his head at this moment. "Coach, I can't continue. I need to rest for ten minutes."

Wang Bin was a bit impatient, but his good upbringing led him to nod after a slight pause. Finally, he reminded him, "Actually, you can't rest during a tryout. This itself is a test of endurance, and requesting a rest will result in a deduction of points."

"It's okay," Wang Chao smiled, appearing extremely fatigued. "Since I'm here, I should try everything."

This statement was quite interesting, as if he already knew he would fail the tryout, which made Wang Bin glance at him deeply.

Fine, the kid has some self-awareness, so let him give up.

Then, someone pushed over a multi-ball basket specifically for training, filled with balls. It looked like there were hundreds of them.

"Let's start with a hundred balls."

After speaking, Wang Bin paused and added meaningfully, "In our usual internal training, we have to finish a basket of 500 balls at once."

Wang Chao smiled and said nothing more.

This time, Head Coach Wang Bin personally took action.

He stood at one side of the table, continuously taking balls from the basket and serving them. His speed was incredible, while Wang Chao stood on the other side, swinging his racket, determined to return every serve.

It wasn't enough to just hit the ball back; he had to return it with quality, while also ensuring a high success rate.

The posture had to be standard.

The ball speed had to be fast.

The landing point had to be precise.

The spin had to be strong.

The higher the quality of his offensive shots, the higher his test score.

One hundred balls were finished in just under two minutes. Wang Chao was again panting for breath, and outside the court, the players' suppressed chuckles had turned into outright laughter.

They really couldn't hold it in anymore!

They watched with their own eyes as this guy, here for the tryout, missed over thirty of the hundred balls, with an on-table rate barely exceeding sixty percent.

As for the quality of his attacks, it could only be described as dreadful to behold.

Too soft.

Too slow.

Was this the guy who had beaten up Brother Tian that day?

Turns out he was just a fraud…

Wang Bin sighed, already feeling like he couldn't continue the test. He sighed inwardly, realizing he had been too wishful, actually planning to find some peerless genius from the common folk.

"As expected, I was thinking too much…"

Wang Chao's expression remained calm. He took advantage of the short break to sit on a nearby bench and catch his breath, gulping down a couple of mouthfuls of water. Yet, he still felt severely exhausted, finding it hard to recover.

This body was still too weak. He hadn't trained seriously for over a decade, relying entirely on his youth to get by. It didn't cause much of an issue in his daily life, but in the realm of professional sports, it clearly wasn't enough.

However, he wasn't worried.

"Do you want to continue the test?" Wang Bin asked him.

"No need to test endurance. Look at me, do I look like I can still run?"

Wang Chao readily admitted his shortcomings and then said, "However, I'd still like to try some actual combat."

As soon as he said this, before Wang Bin could even respond, a player by the side shouted, "Coach, let me!"

The other players immediately followed suit, shouting.

"Get lost, let me!"

"Me, me! I wanted to play him that day at the stadium. I finally have a chance today, don't fight me for it."

Someone even flashed a bright smile at Wang Chao, "Brother, I feel a connection with you just by looking at you. How about we play, okay?"

Wang Chao smiled, remaining silent.

Although he could sense the contempt in their eager responses, his mature mindset kept his emotions in check.

Besides, who said he was really a pushover?