Training Partner Turmoil

The next morning, on the courts of the Jiangcheng City training base, sixteen players stood in perfect formation, awaiting the coaches' announcement of the new training plan.

Among them were the Xiao brothers, Xiao Ping and Xiao Jian, standing beside Wang Chao.

Both brothers were rather timid in personality and not yet old, one fifteen and the other sixteen. They had joined the team together two months prior and subsequently agreed to be sparring partners for Wu Li under Luo Zhihong's "trickery and deception."

Within a month, the two brothers had broken down three times.

Today, they were in good spirits, though their gazes kept drifting towards Wang Chao beside them.

Both were like startled birds, having called all the coaches the previous day until they were reassured that they wouldn't be needed for sparring.

However, they also learned that the new sparring partner had been personally chosen by the head coach: the rookie Wang Chao.

In fact, many people knew this news, such as Li Shaoqin, standing at the other end of the team, whose heart was filled with schadenfreude.

"Aren't you amazing? Don't you have a lot of fancy tactics? What good is it?"

"Why did you deliberately go easy and play like crap against Gao Ming?"

"Didn't see this coming, kid? You're about to be the ball lunatic's sparring partner!"

"You're about to learn what true cruelty is!"

The coaches were still whispering amongst themselves, seemingly discussing something, and their debate appeared quite heated. Thus, the players were all anxious and began to murmur amongst themselves.

"Hey, Brother Chao," Xiao Ping said softly, "My brother and I will treat you to lunch."

Wang Chao was baffled. "Why?"

"Because..." Xiao Ping found it a bit difficult to say, and his younger brother Xiao Jian chimed in, "Don't worry about it, we just have to thank you. Come to Le Hua Shi Fu outside the base. Order whatever you want, there's no budget limit today."

Wang Chao was confused, but faced with delicious food, his body responded honestly. "Okay, thanks."

At this moment, the coaches finally reached a consensus.

Several coaches responsible for daily training stepped back. Head Coach Luo Zhihong walked to the very front of the team, his gaze sweeping across the players' faces, three or four times, before finally landing with difficulty on Jiang Shan. "Jiang Shan."

"Here!" Jiang Shan responded spiritedly.

"You'll spar with Wu Li this week," Luo Zhihong said, bracing himself.

Jiang Shan's eyes widened abruptly.

Luo Zhihong patted his shoulder, his tone unusually gentle. "Play well, practice well. I have faith in you."

"No, why..." Jiang Shan tried to speak in his haste.

"Trust me," Luo Zhihong looked at him deeply. "You're a good fit."

However, Jiang Shan refused to accept his fate. He said loudly, "Head Coach, I think..."

"I don't want what you think, I want what I think." Luo Zhihong's hand on his shoulder suddenly tightened, pinching Jiang Shan until he grimaced. "If I say you can do it, you can do it!"

Jiang Shan still wanted to resist, but seeing the stern warning in the head coach's eyes up close, he was ultimately intimidated.

Li Shaoqin was stunned.

This wasn't how he imagined it...

The news leaked from other coaches yesterday wasn't like this...

Had some unknown change occurred?

He couldn't accept this reality and gathered his courage to speak. "Coach Luo, I think..."

"Do you have an opinion???"

Luo Zhihong's tone suddenly rose, his gaze fixed steadily on Li Shaoqin, scaring Li Shaoqin into retracting the rest of his sentence. He quickly realized his carelessness.

"Why would I stick my neck out at a time like this? What if Coach Luo suddenly changes his mind and makes me spar with that lunatic?"

Luo Zhihong didn't do anything so unethical.

He did something even more unethical...

"I was just about to talk about you, Li Shaoqin," Luo Zhihong said with a kind smile. "I heard you had a friendly sparring session with the new recruits yesterday on behalf of the veteran players. That's a good thing. We should treat new players with the warmth of spring."

Li Shaoqin had a vague feeling that something was wrong.

He was a veteran on the team and knew the head coach too well.

When the head coach smiled, he was definitely plotting against someone.

Luo Zhihong continued, "Since you've already become friends, you'll spar with Wang Chao this week."

The word "spar" was emphasized heavily.

Leaders always spoke rather cryptically, and their true intentions needed to be deciphered.

Li Shaoqin did not resist; he accepted his fate.

If even Jiang Shan could be sacrificed, what was Li Shaoqin?

Ten minutes later, with everyone assigned, Luo Zhihong exited. The courts were divided, and Li Shaoqin and Wang Chao arrived at the same table, with a coach standing beside them, watching intently.

This was to prevent someone from training passively due to dissatisfaction.

"Come on," Li Shaoqin sighed, waving Wang Chao over. "Whatever you want to practice, I'll join you."

He thought Wang Chao would continue to humiliate him with all sorts of tricky moves.

But that wasn't the case.

The entire morning, Wang Chao played very simply, focusing on multi-ball drills.

Li Shaoqin had a multi-ball basket next to him, filled with five hundred balls. Wang Chao sent them over one by one, and Wang Chao returned them one by one, practicing placement, transitions, speed, and stamina, without any fancy techniques.

An hour later, Wang Chao was drenched in sweat. He signaled for Li Shaoqin to rest, then sat on a nearby stool, panting heavily.

Li Shaoqin walked over slowly, looking confused, and sat beside him. "What exactly are you trying to do?"

Wang Chao gave him a strange look. "Practice, of course."

Li Shaoqin blinked. He felt like he wasn't getting the answer he wanted, but he couldn't think of another question to ask.

So, ten minutes later, they resumed practice, continuing with multi-ball drills. They rested when tired, and practiced again when they felt ready. The morning passed with Wang Chao's body drying and then getting wet again, and drinking five large bottles of water.

Li Shaoqin, on the other hand, barely broke a sweat. For him, this kind of sparring was too easy, almost unrealistically so.

As lunchtime arrived, Wang Chao even said "Thank you" before leaving.

Li Shaoqin stared blankly for a long time, then gave a self-deprecating laugh.

Was I just overthinking things?

He's here to practice, why would he bother getting into an argument with me?

The cafeteria was bustling and lively at noon.

Jiang Shan was uncharacteristically eating a plate of greasy twice-cooked pork and bright red spicy chicken, along with a large portion of white rice. Next to it sat a big piece of white chocolate. At first glance, it was a feast of enemies to any diet.

"What's wrong?" Wang Chao touched his forehead. "Did something happen?"

"Yeah, something happened!" Jiang Shan nodded fiercely, his eyes slightly red and shining with a bloodthirsty glint. "I'm going to eat until I'm full and strong, and then I'm going to beat that bastard this afternoon!"

Wang Chao couldn't help but laugh. "Did Wu Li push you too far?"

"He's not worthy of that!" Jiang Shan's voice suddenly rose, then he quickly lowered his tone, realizing they were in the cafeteria. He whispered, "I just don't want to stoop to his level."

Wang Chao smiled without saying anything.

He had heard of Wu Li.

This person was the undisputed top player at the Jiangcheng City training base. It was rumored that several coaches on the provincial team thought highly of him. Wu Li's greatest strength in playing was his ruthlessness.

If he could finish a point with one shot, he wouldn't bother with a second.

If he could win a match, he would never concede.

He meticulously analyzed every point, calculating every move, and never showed any carelessness even during practice.

It was said that he filmed his practice sessions every day and watched them repeatedly at night, analyzing the problems with the balls he lost, and then practicing them over and over the next day to correct them.

He was a precise, demanding, and rigorous person, bordering on obsessive.

Most terrifyingly, he possessed incredible stamina, rumored to be able to run a marathon and then immediately compete without any rest.

Legend had it that he had broken two rackets and worn out three pairs of shoes in two years, and had never returned home during that time.

This was how he earned the nickname "ball lunatic."