Internal Grand Cycle

Seven days later, the racket arrived. It had inverted rubber on the front and pimples-out rubber on the back. Two entwined golden-red koi were painted on the handle, looking beautiful and festive, perfectly fitting Chinese aesthetic preferences.

Wang Chao gave it a general feel. Overall, it was not bad. It would have been even better if the blade was a bit crisper, the weight a bit lighter, the rubber tackiness a bit lower, and the elasticity a bit stronger.

But he could understand. After all, this wasn't a high-end custom order; it hadn't reached that level of detail.

This racket was much better to use than the spare ones at the base.

So, he used a carving knife to neatly engrave "Wang Chao" on the end of the handle, as if only then could he truly become a professional table tennis player in this life.

A few days later, when Wang Chao went to the cafeteria to eat, the long-unseen cook surprisingly appeared behind him and spoke first: "Kid, you played well in that match."

Wang Chao was stunned. By the time he turned around to speak, the cook had already drifted away, resuming his unapproachable demeanor.

Wang Chao found it a bit amusing. Perhaps the cook had seen the match on the evening sports news and was moved?

A week ago, although his technique still had many rough edges, the feel of this body was truly unparalleled. That super ball was indeed a genuine super ball.

It was a divine shot that could make a national-level coach marvel.

He remembered that the coaches he knew in his previous life were generally divided into two types.

The first type of coach favored hard work and diligence, not demanding that their players' talent reach heaven-defying levels, because they firmly believed that any genius would ultimately come down to the path of "training."

The second type of coach favored true "super geniuses" because they believed that an athlete's feel had an upper limit. Training could only improve conventional acquired skills, but it could never allow an ordinary athlete to reach the innate feel of a super genius.

And the so-called "super ball" was a realm that only super geniuses could touch.

Wang Chao guessed that the cook was the second type of coach, and seeing his super ball had made him a bit eager.

Two days later, some players saw guests visiting the base. It was a group of middle-aged men who looked like business elites, all wearing crisp suits.

These people went into Luo Zhihong's office and emerged a long time later, looking displeased and leaving in a hurry.

Afterward, news spread that these people were from the "Black Spade Q Table Tennis Club" and had come to the city base specifically for assistance.

"Black Spade Q's performance hasn't been very good in the last two years. It's said that their behind-the-scenes sponsor suffered a big loss in the capital market, causing the club to be in financial straits, making it difficult to sign any strong players."

In the dormitory, the Xiao Ping and Xiao Jian brothers, who had gradually become familiar with Wang Chao, were recounting the first-hand news they had just gathered. "There's a heavyweight figure in the club who has a good relationship with our Old Luo, so they set their sights on the base, wanting to invite our top player, Wu Li, to play for a season to help them through this dangerous period."

Jiang Shan interjected with interest, "How much are they offering?"

Xiao Ping said, "It's said they want to sign a three-month season contract for a total of 600,000, half for the player and half for our base. Besides that, if they win, there are match bonuses ranging from 20,000 to 50,000."

Jiang Shan clicked his tongue in admiration, his eyes shining, looking extremely greedy.

Xiao Ping continued, "But Old Luo disagreed, saying that commercial competitions are a big dye vat, and a good prospect like Wu Li shouldn't be exposed to it too early, or it would ruin his foundation."

Wang Chao asked, "What about Wu Li himself?"

"He doesn't want to play any professional leagues," Xiao Ping laughed. "When Wu Li joined the team two years ago, he made it clear that his only requirement was to not leave the base for 365 days a year and to have balls to play every day. Even if he goes to the provincial team in the future, he hopes to play promotion-relegation matches, not any other friendly or sparring matches, because it would waste his precious training time."

The topic ended there. The Black Spade Q club was a completely unfamiliar and unrelated entity to the current group of players. After a brief sigh, everyone went to sleep.

Then, the internal grand loop assessment for this month arrived as scheduled.

This was the first internal grand loop after the promotion-relegation matches. All the players showed clear anticipation.

The other players mainly wanted to test the mettle of the two newcomers, Wang Chao and Jiang Shan.

After all, for nearly ten days, Wang Chao had been undergoing physical and endurance training, while Jiang Shan had been locked in a fierce competition with Wu Li. Neither of them had seriously played against anyone else yet.

As for Wang Chao, his excitement lay in finally having the opportunity to see Wu Li's true strength.

He was looking forward to it.

Although it was a summer morning in the south, there was still a hint of coolness. Wang Chao didn't get up at five to train extra today. He slept soundly until seven, leisurely washed up, and then headed to the court with Jiang Shan.

On the court were not only the familiar coaches but also a strange middle-aged man who looked quite imposing. He held a clipboard and was recording something with a pen.

Beside the middle-aged man, Luo Zhihong was speaking in a low voice. As he spoke, the middle-aged man nodded slightly. At first glance, it looked like Luo Zhihong was reporting work to a superior.

Wang Chao had a vague guess in his heart but didn't pay it any mind.

He was actually like Wu Li, only wanting to play well and not caring about anything else.

His first opponent was Zhou Bo.

Zhou Bo had ranked fourteenth in the last internal grand loop and was forced to play in the promotion-relegation matches. Fortunately, he encountered Tian Ye, the weakest of the three substitutes, and won with a score of 4:2, retaining his position as a main player.

But facing Wang Chao this time, he knew he had no chance.

Zhou Bo was different from Gao Ming. The reason his internal ranking was not high was that he was young, lacked match experience, and had only been on the team for half a year, requiring a lot of tempering.

But he was actually very smart and cautious.

After the last promotion-relegation match, he specifically inquired about Wang Chao's situation, watched the match at Mingyue Stadium, and also watched the match on the evening sports news a few days ago.

He knew that Old Luo had high hopes for Wang Chao, otherwise, why would he have specifically assigned a sparring partner to Wang Chao?

It should be known that before this, only Wu Li had a dedicated sparring partner on the team; other players practiced with each other casually.

"Brother Chao, show me your real skills. I want to know the real gap between us," Zhou Bo said to Wang Chao. "Don't go easy on me like you did against Ming last time, okay?"

Wang Chao smiled, revealing his white teeth, like a bloodthirsty shark.

He hadn't heard such a request in a long time.

"Okay, I'll be serious."

This match was brutal.

The first game was quickly decided within five minutes. Wang Chao scored six points on his serve and four on attacks. The final point came from Zhou Bo, whose serve went into the net out of sheer mental collapse.

Yes, the first game ended 11-0, a complete shutout.

The coach keeping score beside them bared their teeth, their expression calm, but their heart was utterly shaken.

After watching "Evening Sports News" a few days ago, all the coaches at the base agreed that Wang Chao was a genius. However, even then, they still didn't think Wang Chao could compare to Wu Li.

This was because Wang Chao had only shown unparalleled talent, while Wu Li, on top of his talent, also possessed incredibly formidable practical combat ability.

Wu Li lacked nothing in terms of stamina, courage, or strategy. Furthermore, Wu Li had another major advantage: meticulousness.

He played every point with precision, calculated every point, never wasted a single opportunity, and never revealed the slightest flaw.

For a table tennis player, this was almost one of the most core and fundamental advantages.

Table tennis balls are too small, and the game is too fast. This sport is completely different from basketball, soccer, volleyball, or any other ball sport. It's too difficult to maintain stability, and too difficult to maintain concentration throughout the entire match. It could be said that table tennis is almost the ball sport with the greatest fluctuations in player performance.

Bar none!

Even Sun Tianlong, the current world number one and the undisputed top player in China, whom countless national players respectfully called "Dragon Team," suddenly experienced a mental blackout in the World Championships final last October. His entire state was completely abnormal, allowing his opponent to score consecutive points. He ultimately lost a good position and handed over the gold medal, shaking the world of table tennis. The International Table Tennis Federation exclaimed: Europe is rising!

World number one versus world number one hundred. You would never dare to say the world number one is guaranteed to win.

But in a match between Brazil's soccer team and China's soccer team, Brazil is guaranteed to win.

This is the uncertainty of the table tennis world.

Wu Li, however, was remarkably stable.

He was like a flawless machine. When practicing, the most common thing he did was to shut out his practice partners, make them cry, break them down, and make them complain to their parents before he switched to another practice partner and repeated the process.

"I have no doubt that Wang Chao's raw skill will surpass Wu Li in the future. But I don't believe Wang Chao can beat Wu Li in actual combat."

This was a statement made by Head Coach Luo Zhihong during a meeting that evening.

All the coaches agreed wholeheartedly.

Until today, when this coach keeping score witnessed the match before them.