Chapter 111: Goodbye, "Agent"
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Hui Zhang told the entire story to Bin Lu.
"17.11 meters? Did Jiankang Chen really throw 17.11 meters?!" Bin Lu knew the details, but had no idea who Jiankang Chen was.
Because there were a lot of athletes that left every year, there were always newcomers. People came and left frequently, and as a chief coach, Coach Lu was unable to remember everyone's name. He only knew the outstanding ones. Jiankang Chen was a nobody, so it was no wonder Bin Lu did not recognize him.
17.11 meters. That is good enough for him to participate in adult-level competitions. How could the Provincial Sport Team have missed such a good athlete?
Coach Lu searched for Jiankang Chen's personal information on his computer.
Found him. His score was 14.74 meters in the selection. He has improved so much within such a short period of time! Did he crack under the pressure during the selection?
Coach Lu combed through Jiankang Chen's performance evaluation from the previous month.
December, 14.68 meters; November, 14.63 meters; October, 14.59 meters...
Coach Lu sighed. He realized that Jiankang Chen had made a huge improvement after four months of training. Before, he had been a loser, and could not even threw beyond 15 meters. Now his score was above 17 meters.
Incredible! How did he do it?
Coach Lu suddenly remembered that the other team members on the shot put team had also all gotten over 16.50-meter performances.
What are their names again? Never mind, let me check the name list. Coach Lu typed something in, and seconds later the name list showed up on the screen.
None of them were able to throw over 15 meters! Coach Lu gasped at the result. He stared at the screen in astonishment.
It is not just Jiankang Chen—the rest all made great improvement! In only four months of training, just after the new year! What happened?
Nothing had changed. It was the same training field, same devices, same amount of training time; even the food in the canteen had remained unchanged. The only difference was the coach. Dai Li was the new shot put coach.
In athletics, only the coach could transform athletes! Coach Lu realized that the next second.
Dai Li, it must be him! Amazing! He is able to help the athletes greatly. He even defeated Xian Sum the third place finisher in the National Youth Game! I never knew he was so great! Coach Lu took a deep breath. His face was brightened with a gleaming smile.
...
That night, the Youth Team held a welcome party for Nantan Middle School.
Coach Lu was euphoric. Joy had that effect. He held his glass as he walked around and toasted. His face was full of cheerfulness.
The vice president of the Nantan Middle School squeezed out a smile and tried his best to maintain it. The smile conveyed a sense of embarrassment. Nantan would now have to return home with nothing. Their trump card had been defeated by a nobody, which was a great shame.
Dai Li, however, had amazed everyone on the Youth Team. He had transformed five "losers" into top young athletes within only four months. That alone was extraordinary.
In athletics, people judged others only by their ability. This rule was used to evaluate not only athletes, but coaches as well. Generally, coaches of youth teams were not as good as those of sport teams. Otherwise, they would not be with the youth team in the first place.
With the Coaching System's help, Dai Li was now a second-rate coach in his senior phase. His coaching ability was almost identical to the best coaches on the national team. He was now much better than most of the youth team coaches.
Dai Li never showed off, and because he was a newcomer, no one ever noticed him, nor expect him to achieve anything. But now things had changed. Everyone admitted that Dai Li was the one with great ability, and would definitely have a bright future. At the dinner party, Dai Li was the focus; many people came over to toast to him, hoping to build a closer relationship.
Later, Coach Lu came over to Dai Li.
Because he had been too excited, Coach Lu was drunk. He was red in the face, but looked delighted.
"Well done, Dai Li! You saved us all! Without you, we would have hurt our reputation! Bottoms up!" Coach Lu smiled and glanced at his own glass, saying, "I will finish a third of it!"
Coach Lu clinked glasses Dai Li, then drank.
Dai Li did not refuse. He drank the same amount of wine. Dai Li's drinking capacity was decent, and the glass was small. He was able to handle it.
But Coach Lu was drunk. He said, "You know, Dai Li? I knew you were a good man the first day we met! We welcome you! We love you! Wait a minute, are you still an agent coach?"
Dai Li nodded, "Yes. According to normal procedures, it should take me three to six months to become a formal coach, I think."
"Don't you worry!" Coach Lu waved his hand and said straightforwardly, "Tomorrow! Tomorrow I will submit a report and request that you to be a formal one!"
"That would be great! Thank you so much!" Dai Li thanked Coach Lu.
"You are one of us own, make yourself at home! Your are my worker, how could I not help you? I really like you. Keep working hard like this. You are still quite young; you must make great achievements in the future!" Coach Lu said, raising his glass again. "Come on, let's drink another round!"
...
Dai Li thought Coach Lu had been too drunk, and that he would never remember his promise. Dai Li had planned to remind Coach Lu about it, but hesitated. Because Coach Lu was Dai Li's boss, he did not want to push Coach Lu for a job.
However, Coach Lu did not forget what he had said. One week later, the approval came in, and Coach Lu immediately called Dai Li into his office.
"Congratulations! Dai Li, from now on, you are an official coach!" Coach Lu handed Li a document.
"Thank you, Coach Lu!" Dai Li took the document with excitement. He opened it and read it carefully.
Dai Li has been working hard throughout his career. He is responsible and loyal. Therefore, after thorough consideration, the department party committee has decided that Dai Li will become the chief coach of the Youth Team Long Jump Program for two years. This is the approval of the final decision. The decision of the above appointment begins as of the date of release...
Dai Li was frozen. He re-read the document again word for word, making sure that he had not missed anything.
Long jump? How come I am becoming a long jump coach? I'm the chief coach of the shot put team! Is there a mistake?