July in the Table Tennis World

For a moment, the dinner table fell silent.

When He Jingping said he had let the country down, it was no empty phrase.

As the national sport, table tennis had won countless honors for China, so everyone in the field valued national glory far more than people in other professions did.

If Luo Jiu really had the makings of a Grand Slam champion, and He Jingping had truly ruined him through coaching, ultimately causing China to lose gold medals in major events, then He Jingping really would have been blamed by the entire nation.

Tell me, aside from table tennis, what other sport had athletes condemned by the whole country after winning a world silver medal?

A certain Wang, who had finished runner-up in two consecutive Olympic Games in his previous life, was the most typical example.

After a long while, Wang Chao finally said, "So you refuse to take disciples yourself because you're afraid of ruining another talented prospect?"

He Jingping gave a quiet "Mm," seemingly having lost interest in continuing.

But Wang Chao asked again, "Does Luo Jiu hate you?"

"He doesn't." He Jingping smiled bitterly. "He called me many times, asking me to go back and keep coaching him. He even apologized to me, saying he hadn't worked hard enough and had let down my expectations... He's a good kid, but how could I still have the nerve to go back?"

By then, most people in the cafeteria had already left. Only a few genuine cooks responsible for cleaning up remained, chatting lazily in the distance and occasionally glancing over. They were clearly waiting for this table to wrap up so they could finish cleaning and rest.

The three of them quickly made their exit. Once they were outside, He Jingping still unwillingly asked, "Wang Chao, do you really not want to meet Old Qin?"

"I do, but I don't want to travel that far." Wang Chao smiled and half-joked, "How about... you take the closer option and make do with me instead?"

He Jingping was tempted but worried. After hesitating for a long time, he ultimately chose to refuse in a joking manner. "When Luo Jiu beats Sun Tianlong someday, I'll take you as my disciple."

Wang Chao smiled too and held out a hand. "Senior, you'd better keep your word. I'll be waiting for that day."

He Jingping burst into laughter. The gloom brought on by his memories finally faded somewhat. He reached out as well and high-fived Wang Chao to seal the promise.

Jiang Shan grinned nearby, taking the two of them as joking around. He did not believe in the slightest that Luo Jiu could defeat Dragon Team.

That was a man like a god!

That night, Wang Chao unusually did not ask Li Shaoqin for extra practice. Instead, he lay on his dorm bed playing with his phone.

"Jiang Shan, do you know where I can find videos of all Luo Jiu's past matches?"

Jiang Shan could not help sighing. "Brother Chao, Brother Chao, you don't cherish a chance to soar to the heavens, and you even dared turn down Qin Huachang... What's the use of watching Luo Jiu's videos now? Luo Jiu can't even beat Qin Huachang's disciples. What's there to watch?"

Even so, he enthusiastically gave Wang Chao the address of a website called "Silver Ball Dance," supposedly China's largest professional table tennis forum.

The dorm fell quiet. Wang Chao began watching the videos seriously. Only two hours later did Jiang Shan suddenly let out a belated cry. "Brother Chao, you don't seriously think Luo Jiu can beat Dragon Team, do you?"

Then he thought of something even deeper. "I seriously don't understand, bro. Why do you want so badly to become He Jingping's disciple?"

Wang Chao did not explain.

He did not actually need anyone to teach him.

He himself was the best coach.

To him, He Jingping and Qin Huachang were the same. They represented a faction, a patron.

China resembled the Huaxia of his previous life. At its core, it was still a society built on personal connections. In many places, one needed connections, reputation, and backing.

In this life, he had neither power nor influence. His mother worked odd jobs every day, and his father might as well not exist. If he did not want trivial matters to drain his energy, he had to find himself a patron.

If he were He Jingping's disciple, would Jiang Long have dared act so arrogantly in front of him?

It was good to have a big tree to shelter beneath...

Besides, He Jingping was a decent man. Wang Chao could give him the title of master for cheap, and once he won a Grand Slam in the future, He Jingping could share in the glory.

Wasn't that a master rising through his disciple's success?

That was why he needed to watch Luo Jiu's match videos.

He did not think he would necessarily spot Luo Jiu's problem, nor did he think he was so amazing that he could definitely make Luo Jiu defeat Sun Tianlong.

But what if he did manage it?

The next two days passed peacefully. Then Wang Chao suddenly realized something was wrong.

First, the head coach of the Xingcheng City table tennis team from neighboring Xiangnan Province came personally. He had not come to arrange a friendly match with the Jiangcheng City Team, nor had he come to observe and learn. He had come specifically for Wang Chao.

"I happened to watch one of your matches online. It should have been from the Evening Sports News on xx month xx day. I was deeply shaken after watching it."

The Xingcheng City Team's head coach was named Mao Qian, and his name suited him perfectly. He spoke with exceptional humility, using self-deprecating terms in every sentence. He warmly clasped Wang Chao's hand. "Our Xingcheng City Team needs a genius like you most of all! What I, Mao, enjoy doing most in my life is helping talented youngsters! So, may I ask, have you considered changing teams?"

It took Wang Chao a full half minute to grasp the essence of the situation. The head coach from the neighboring city team had come to poach him?

No wonder such a big shot had appeared so sneakily on the little path outside the gym.

Luo Zhihong arrived quickly and promptly invited Mao Qian into his office. No one knew what they discussed, but the next day, he called Wang Chao into the office and gave him a long, earnest lecture. The general message was that one should remember the source of one's water, repay kindness, and take responsibility for building up one's hometown team.

Wang Chao nodded throughout, maintaining a good attitude, then left the office ten minutes later.

But the matter was not over.

Another day later, Wang Chao saw unfamiliar faces in the gym again, more than twenty of them in all.

They did not appear to belong to the same group. They had split into little clusters of two or three, whispering among themselves while repeatedly sizing up Wang Chao, who was running laps around the court to build his stamina.

Wang Chao felt extremely awkward, but he had no way to unleash his usual tactic of tattling, because Luo Zhihong had brought these people in.

He was called in for another talk afterward, and he also learned what exactly had happened.

These people came from different organizations. Two were from city-level teams in other provinces, three were from Table Tennis First Division clubs in other provinces, and the last was even more outrageous: a provincial team coach who had come all the way from Yunan Province.

Precisely because that provincial-level coach had used his authority to pressure him, Luo Zhihong could not refuse. He could only bring them over and give them a chance to persuade Wang Chao.

Yes, they had all come to poach him.

Back then, they had known that the Jiangcheng City Team possessed a treasure named Wu Li. But since Wu Li had been raised by Jiangcheng City from childhood and was a homegrown talent, no one had considered making a move.

But Wang Chao was different. He had been an amateur player, joined the team at lightning speed, improved at lightning speed, and even now had spent less than a month at the training base. How attached to the team could he possibly be?

So everyone came at once.

To Wang Chao, the entire matter was nothing but a farce. Even when one Table Tennis First Division club directly offered him the exorbitant salary of five hundred thousand yuan per quarter, he still chose to refuse.

Only after everyone had left did he finally get the chance to ask Luo Zhihong what was going on.

"What else could it be? You've become famous!"

Old Luo could not help sighing. "Wang Chao, don't underestimate the impact of those two matches. Everyone knows their stuff. What you showed in that match against Li Shaoqin was terrifying. Are super shots really so easy to play? Is a chopping serve really so easy to practice? And later, you played Wu Li and came up with that weird thing called the hook turn. Whether it's strong or not is hard to say, but it proves your talent!"

Wang Chao was stunned. "Wasn't my match with Wu Li an internal match?"

Old Luo looked at him as if he were an idiot. "Didn't you know that official matches at the city team level must be recorded and archived? As long as they want to watch it, they can definitely get hold of it."

Wang Chao fell silent.

All right, that was another difference between his previous life and this one.

It could only be said that China's table tennis development and level of standardization were indeed far better than in his previous life.

Overall, China's table tennis coaches were still quite open-minded. People like Jiang Long were only a minority.

If the match shown on Evening Sports News had merely displayed Wang Chao's talent and touch, then his match with Wu Li had revealed his toughness, adaptability, precision, and calculation.

Aside from the major weakness of stamina and some minor issues with specific technical details, Wang Chao was already close to the prototype of what every coach considered ideal in every other respect.

That was why commercially oriented clubs had come calling. They believed Wang Chao's level was already enough for him to play official matches in the Table Tennis First Division.

Their willingness to offer a high price was a gamble. They were betting that Wang Chao would rapidly improve while playing in the Table Tennis First Division and deliver one million yuan's worth of results for a five-hundred-thousand-yuan salary.

"Besides, it's July now!" Old Luo added.

Yes, July was special in the table tennis world.

Not only was it the month of students' college entrance examinations, it was also the month when city-level and provincial-level teams played promotion and relegation matches. It was also the offseason for the Table Tennis First Division and Table Tennis Super League professional leagues, when every team waved money around the world to recruit talent in hopes of achieving better results next season.

The Table Tennis First Division wanted promotion to the Table Tennis Super League, the Table Tennis Super League wanted championships, club players wanted selection for the national team, and club operators wanted more advertising sponsorships.

July in the table tennis world had always been noisy, with demons and monsters running wild.

This year was even more so, because the Table Tennis World Cup was also being held in July.

In a few days, the 27th Table Tennis World Cup, currently taking place in Germany, would welcome its final!

All Chinese people were looking forward to Sun Tianlong regaining his footing and making a king's return after his unexpected defeat last year!