Chapter 4: SENIOR YE QUAN
Ye Quan was a 25-year-old singles player who suffered an ankle injury a year ago. He was the main men's singles athlete in the team before Lin Zhu snatched the title away after the older man was injured.
Ye Quan joined the senior team when he was 19, so he was a senior in the team. They both were on the same team, so they had known each other even before the unexpected meeting today.
Contrary to him, who had never won a title after promoting to the senior team, Ye Quan was quite successful as a singles player. He had come out as the champion and runner-up in several competitions, and the achievement was surely better than Lin Zhu's.
Unfortunately, the brilliant athlete had bad luck when he suddenly injured his ankle last year. The injury was severe enough to force him to miss all competitions in the past year, allowing Lin Zhu to be the number one singles player on the team.
His long hiatus finally came to an end this year, and Lin Zhu had heard about the information as well. He thought the older man would come back as a singles player once he recovered from his injury, so he was surprised to see the man hurriedly come in just now.
Or, was it just a misunderstanding? Perhaps the man came in for another purpose?
Lin Zhu still had a tiny hope in his heart, and he assured himself that the taller guy wasn't the one who would be his partner.
Unfortunately, Coach Su's next words crashed his hope without mercy.
"Ah Quan will be your partner, Ah Zhu."
A high explosive bomb just detonated inside his heart. His legs turned into puddles, and he almost fell to the floor if he couldn't control himself immediately.
Why did he have to partner up with that man? He wanted Zhao Jia as a partner, but why did he get Ye Quan instead?
Lin Zhu's heart couldn't accept the fact and kept screaming inwardly.
"I think you made a mistake, Co―"
"You dared to question my decision?"
The coach cut his words in an angry tone, and Lin Zhu widened his eyes in surprise. Did he just offend the head coach again?
"That's not what I meant, Coach!" He clarified while flailing his hands like a seal. "I mean, Senior Ye Quan has finally recovered from his injury, and won't it be better for him to go back to the men's singles team? He's your favorite athlete, Coach. How can you kick him out of the men's singles team?"
Lin Zhu acted as if he cared about the older athlete, but he just didn't want to partner up with the said athlete. Anyone was fine as long as it was not Ye Quan! Period!
The said athlete looked calm and didn't protest, though. It seemed that the athlete had known the plan beforehand, so he didn't look surprised at all. Lin Zhu felt betrayed once again. It turned out he was the last one to know about the new plan.
"You are right," Coach Su replied. "Ah Quan is my favorite player in the men's singles team, but unfortunately, he can't return to his top performance after he was injured."
Lin Zhu peered at the black-haired athlete, and the athlete suddenly turned his head to him and smiled. The brown-haired athlete flinched when he saw the smile.
'Why did he suddenly smile at me?'
Lin Zhu got goosebumps, but he chose to leave Ye Quan alone and refocused on the coach again.
"I have analyzed how you two play individually, and I believe that you two will complement each other as a team."
Lin Zhu tried so hard not to roll his eyes in front of the coach. 'Complement each other my ass!' He screamed inwardly.
"Ah Zhu, I've been complaining about you being a lazy ass when you were playing on the court, right? Your court coverage was not good, and your biggest weakness was when your opponents placed the shuttlecocks on the edge of the court. You need a player with better coverage as your partner."
Coach Su just revealed his biggest flaw, and he could only duck his head shamefully.
The coach often told him to improve himself and minimize his drawback, but his short legs couldn't help him to do better on the court.
Perhaps it was his pride that blamed his short legs, but actually, his legs were not the main culprit. He was just bad in that sector, and he couldn't argue about it.
"Ah Quan has better coverage than you with his long legs, but he lost his speed after he was injured last year. I don't think he can do better as a singles player, so I want him to partner up with you, Ah Zhu. I've talked to him before, and he didn't mind playing doubles with you."
He guessed it right that the senior athlete had known about the matter even before he came to the room. He glimpsed again at the man, and the man peeked at him too. He quickly shifted his gaze away from the man.
Just eye contact was enough to make him want to vomit, so how could he work with that man in the future?
"So, what do you say about the plan, Ah Zhu?"
The decision was in his hands now, and Lin Zhu felt a bit nervous. Ye Quan had agreed with the plan, and now they were waiting for his answer.
But, did he even have a choice? From the moment he arrived at the office building, Lin Zhu knew that he would not be given any choice. He was at the edge of a deep canyon, and if he didn't want to accept a new plan, then it would be the same as throwing himself into the canyon.
Now he could only think about his parents, his friends, and also his one or two loyal supporters, who had been supporting him for so many years. He couldn't let them down now.
"I agree with the assignment, Coach. I'll work hard with Senior Ye from now on."
Gifts
-- Gift
received Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone