Chapter 22 p1
The most pitiful one was Coach Lu. She had something to attend to and was only a few minutes late. When she arrived at the sports field, besides the swirling fallen leaves, there was nothing left.
She looked around in a daze and touched her face. Was she still dreaming? Where were her team members?
The high jump team’s Coach Xue, next to her, gloated, “Your team members have all gone to feast.”
Who knew the heartache and anger of that moment?
To welcome the “potential stock” she had her eye on, Lu Chen had even spent 88 yuan to get her hair done. She immediately called Chu Ge in a rage, “Do you still have me, your coach, in your hearts?! Get back here right now!”
Chu Ge heard the anger in the coach’s voice and agreed very readily, “Okay, okay, we’ll be right back.”
After returning, Chu Ge didn’t rush Qiao Xiaoxiao, who was in front of a small mountain of food, but just watched her eat with a smile.
Qiao Xiaoxiao ate with such gusto. She had never seen so much delicious food before. Her cheeks were puffed out like a little squirrel, and while she ate, her eyes were still looking at the dishes outside. Wang Tiantian’s competitive spirit was aroused. Even though her stomach was about to burst, she still held up her fork and shouted, “Fight to the end!”
When Qiao Xiaoxiao got up for the third time, Wang Tiantian was in despair, her eyes narrowed to a slit from being so full. “Still eating?”
Focused on her food, Qiao Xiaoxiao only then noticed everyone’s astonished gazes. She touched her stomach and said very politely, “Then let’s call it a day for now.”
She was only seventy percent full.
When it was time to pay, Chu Ge had never felt her money was so well spent. It was as if Xiaoxiao alone had eaten back the cost for the whole team. The lobby manager flamboyantly introduced to her, “Ma’am, since you have a large group, getting a membership card is the most cost-effective! Not only do you get a discount, but there are also exquisite gifts. The discount varies with different stored value amounts.”
The moment Chu Ge heard these sales pitches, her temples throbbed. The team members even waved their hands, “No, no! Just recommend the most suitable one.”
Running was fine for them, but dealing with numbers was simply impossible.
Of course, the manager recommended the one with the highest stored value. Just as Chu Ge was about to pay, Qiao Xiaoxiao walked out from the crowd. Her eyes were bright, a significant difference from the team members around her. She smiled slightly. “Let me take a look.”
As soon as she said this, a chill ran down the manager’s back. The track and field team often came here to eat after training. Why was there a new face today?
Qiao Xiaoxiao quickly looked at the rules and pointed to the bottom one. “I want to top up this one.” She raised her hand again and pointed to the top one. “And I want this discount.”
The lobby manager was a little troubled. “Classmate, how can that be? We don’t issue cards like that.”
The form of address had already changed from “ma’am” to “classmate.”
Qiao Xiaoxiao smiled, not minding. She glanced at the team members beside her. “Do you think the money in this card is enough for them to eat a few times?”
The lobby manager rubbed his hands. “I know, the girls on the track and field team can eat a lot, they come often, but…”
“Doing business is all about give and take.”
“Next time, we might be able to bring the high jump team from next door over. If we cooperate well, it’s not impossible for the swimming team to come over.”
Negotiator Qiao started to “paint a big picture.” She was clearly in the catering industry, but in the end, the manager was still dazed by the big pictures she painted. Not only did he nod in agreement, but when they left, he even presented each team member with an exquisite little gift.
On the way back, each team member had a mascot tucked under their arm and a bottle of water in their hand.
The way everyone looked at Qiao Xiaoxiao was different. Just now, they had witnessed with their own eyes how Qiao Xiaoxiao’s glib tongue had almost tricked the lobby manager into a stupor.
Only the “big brain” Wang Tiantian had eaten too much and was a little carb-drunk. She jumped out and said unconvinced, “Isn’t it just topping up? What’s the difference between topping up a lot and a little?”
Qiao Xiaoxiao observed the reactions of the other team members. Besides the captain, Chu Ge, who was facepalming speechlessly, the eyes of the others were filled with the innocent romance of “Yeah, yeah, what’s the difference?”
“Let’s not even talk about the extra discounts for topping up on holidays,” Qiao Xiaoxiao explained patiently. “Just the rebate and the value of the gifts for each top-up are on a completely different level. The unused money can also be used for financial management. Most importantly, the catering industry is risky. Maybe today we top up, and tomorrow they go bankrupt.” She gave a whole speech and felt that everyone was listening very seriously. She asked, “Understand?”
The teammates, led by Wang Tiantian, blurted out, “No!”
…
That night, Chu Xinrou could feel Qiao Xiaoxiao’s happiness. When she read English, she even read it in an operatic tone. Maybe she was too excited, but she didn’t eat dinner that night.
Chu Xinrou called Qiao Xiaoxiao twice, but she didn’t come over. She started to wonder what was going on. Yang Feitang, who had come over for a free meal, rolled her eyes. “Don’t bother with her. That little brat went out for a buffet with others.”
The soup ladle in Chu Xinrou’s hand paused. “How do you know?”
Yang Feitang’s face changed. She slammed her chopsticks on the table with a smack. “That little brat is so wicked! When she came back at night, she didn’t come to your place first. She went to my music store and almost clogged my toilet!”
Chu Xinrou: ^0^
…
The days of formal training were happy.
Although it took up some of her time, for Qiao Xiaoxiao, it was very fulfilling, and getting along with her teammates was really easy. They were all single-celled organisms.
It was really as Wang Ying had said. Their minds were all on training. They said whatever they thought, and you didn’t have to think too much. Simple and direct was the best. This also improved Qiao Xiaoxiao’s “timid” personality to some extent.
There was only one thing. She had come just before the winter vacation. Usually, one needed to train for a full month before the judging panel could assess whether one could join the team.
Qiao Xiaoxiao was a little worried, but not much. After all, she had had too many “troublesome” things in her life since she was a child.
This made Wang Tiantian very anxious. Every time they trained, she would have a look of “hating iron for not becoming steel.” “Hey, hey, hey, classmate Qiao Xiaoxiao! Your starting reaction time is almost as slow as a sloth’s, 0.25 seconds? The coach hasn’t scolded you only because you’re a newcomer!”
She squatted down and pointed at the starting line. “Look at your ‘on your marks’ posture. Your back knee is so far from the ground. When you’re in the ‘set’ position, your center of gravity isn’t even pressed down properly. When you push off, the ball of your front foot doesn’t exert enough force. It would be a miracle if you could be fast!”
“And,” Wang Tiantian imitated Qiao Xiaoxiao’s movements, “in the first 10 meters of your acceleration phase after starting, you lift your body too quickly. You have the stride frequency, but your stride length is not open at all!”
She suddenly slapped Qiao Xiaoxiao’s back. “Core! Your core needs to be tight! Your waist is like a noodle, all the energy is dissipated. Do you understand the three-point line? Your ankle, knee, and hip joint need to be in a straight line to exert force!”
Finally, she didn’t forget to add a final blow. “With you like this, forget about the school sports meet, you can’t even beat the high jump team to the cafeteria for food!”
Qiao Xiaoxiao casually wiped the sweat from her forehead, turning a deaf ear to Wang Tiantian’s nagging, and continued to focus on her own training movements.
Seeing that she was ignoring her, Wang Tiantian put her hands on her hips. “Do you want me to give you the secret manual I’ve treasured since I was a child?”
The response was still silence.
Coach Lu stood on the sidelines, her gaze always following Qiao Xiaoxiao’s figure. In her eyes, this girl was like an uncut jade, pure in quality but not yet formed. She deliberately slowed down the training progress. Instead of pursuing short-term results, she wanted to tap into Qiao Xiaoxiao’s innate athletic intuition and explosive power.
This “special attention” actually made Qiao Xiaoxiao uncomfortable. Since she was a child, because of her poor family background, she had gotten used to being ignored and neglected. Now, suddenly becoming a key training target, she felt awkward all over.
“Don’t take it to heart,” Chu Ge walked over, chewing gum, and stuffed a sports drink into Qiao Xiaoxiao’s hand. “That girl Tiantian has been ‘abused’ since she was a child. It’s an occupational hazard. She wants to coach everyone she sees.”
Seeing Qiao Xiaoxiao’s confused expression, Chu Ge simply sat down beside her. “Her family is in the North Wutong District. The children in that area basically have no childhood. Tiantian is even more miserable. She was taken by her parents to practice track and field before she could even walk steadily.”
Every parent hopes for their child to succeed, and Wang Tiantian’s parents were even more so. Her childhood memories were filled with the rubber smell of the plastic track and her parents’ endless instructions of “swing your arms wider,” “increase your stride frequency.” In elementary school, she was indeed outstanding and won a silver medal in the national elementary school track and field competition. At that moment, her parents seemed to have already seen their daughter standing on the world podium, wearing the national team’s uniform.
Unfortunately, fate loves to play tricks.
As Coach Lu had privately commented, Wang Tiantian was the type of athlete who “lacked talent, and even hard work couldn’t make up for it.” In the second year of middle school, her 800-meter time was forever stuck at 2 minutes and 20 seconds, as if the pause button had been pressed. No matter how hard she trained, that number remained unchanged.
“Next year, she’ll be in her third year of high school. She might have to say goodbye to track and field forever.”
Chu Ge sighed. This was the cruelty of competitive sports. On the team, everyone could feel Tiantian’s love for running, but what could be done? Results were always king.
The second year of high school was a watershed for them. Many newcomers like Qiao Xiaoxiao would join the team, and many would leave in obscurity.
After training, Qiao Xiaoxiao clutched the little yellow duck doll, her knuckles turning slightly white. She paced back and forth at the entrance of the locker room for a while before mustering up the courage to walk up to Wang Tiantian.
Wang Tiantian, who was tying her shoelaces, jerked her head up and narrowed her eyes warily. “What do you want?”
What’s she doing with such an ugly duck?
Qiao Xiaoxiao’s gaze was sincere. “I think this duck looks a lot like you. It’s for you.”
This was the first time she had taken the initiative to show goodwill to someone. Her throat was as dry as if it were stuffed with cotton.
Wang Tiantian looked at the duck, her fists clenched, the sleeves of her tracksuit creased.
Just as the atmosphere was about to freeze, Qiao Xiaoxiao suddenly added, “Thank you for teaching me those techniques today.”
In fact, although it seemed like she hadn’t been listening, she had taken it all in. Xiaoxiao found that Chu Ge was right. Wang Tiantian had indeed been professionally trained. The data she mentioned was exactly the same as what the coach had said.
The air was suddenly quiet for a second.
“Hmph, you know what’s good for you,” Wang Tiantian’s fists relaxed. She snatched the ugly duck, but couldn’t help but squeeze it the moment she caught it. The duck let out a strange “quack,” and the corners of her mouth lifted unconsciously. “Seeing as you’re so humble in your request for guidance—” she turned and took out a notebook with worn-out corners from her locker and casually tossed it to Qiao Xiaoxiao. “Here, my secret manual. Don’t say I’m stingy!”
This time, Qiao Xiaoxiao didn’t refuse and took it. She flipped open the yellowed pages, and dense notes instantly came into view. From the starting angle to the breathing rhythm, there were even notes marked in different colors. Every page was soaked with years of sweat, recording the purest dedication of an athlete.
