章 2: PLAYING DOUBLES
Lin Zhu rushed to the team management office with his old car. Shit! He didn't even have money to buy a new car and was still relying on his worn car!
He was already 21-year-old, coming from a normal family consisting of a father, a mother, and a younger brother. His brother was 17-year-old and was taking an expensive music course right now, so he didn't have the heart to ask for money from his parents.
He was indeed bad as a human, but he was certain that he was a good son for his parents.
He parked the car at the parking lot and immediately ran toward the building. The head coach was a serious person who didn't like to joke around, so his threat just now wasn't just an empty threat.
He carried his slightly short legs up the stairs. Damn! This old five-story building didn't even have an elevator, and he had to run to go to the fourth floor!
Lin Zhu's legs weren't very long as his stature was a bit small for an athlete. A height of 176 centimeters was in the short category in the senior team because the male athletes on the team were mostly taller than 180 centimeters.
After struggling with all his might accompanied by sweat, he finally arrived at the fourth floor and stopped in front of the door. He didn't open the door right away as he was still trying to catch his breath. His right palm was on his knee, while his left hand was raised in front of his face.
Shit! He was two minutes late!
Not wanting to waste any more time, Lin Zhu finally pressed the doorknob and pushed the door open. His eyes immediately caught sight of two men in the room.
The younger man was the team manager, while the older one was the head coach of the men's singles team.
The manager smiled sweetly at him, but the head coach's eyes bored a hole in his head.
The young athlete gulped nervously at the sight, but he still dared himself to walk over to the scary man and stopped right in front of the man.
"W-what do you want to talk to me about, Coach Su?"
The head coach, Su Xueqin, didn't change his expression and was still showing his tiger-like face.
"I should be the one to ask the question, Ah Zhu. What do you want now?"
Lin Zhu blinked his hazel eyes confusedly. He peeked at the manager, but the calm manager just shrugged at him.
'You don't want to help me, gege? Fine! I'll kick your flat butt later!'
"You don't want to answer me, Ah Zhu?"
The brown-haired athlete flinched in surprise when another question came out of his coach's thick lips.
"I... I want to stay, Coach!"
The coach raised his brows while displaying a stoic expression.
"You answered my question with a stutter, and it seems like you're in a doubt, Ah Zhu. You can't believe in yourself?"
Lin Zhu was like a criminal in front of a judge now. He could only bite his lips, and his face turned pale.
Getting no response from the youngster, Su Xueqin groaned loudly and smacked the table in front of him with full strength.
"You have lost all your motivation and determination, Ah Zhu!" The bald man exclaimed in frustration. "When you were still in the junior team, you were always in high spirit in every match. I could see the fire in your eyes, so I decided to promote you to the senior team. But where's the fire now? Why did you kill the fire, Ah Zhu?"
Lin Zhu remained quiet as he listened to the lecture. He admitted that the coach was right, so he didn't dare to rebuke him.
"And your character has changed too! You weren't this arrogant before, but now you're nothing more than a brat! Your lifestyle has changed as well! What's with clubbing and gambling? You overestimate yourself!"
Once again, the coach stated another fact about him, and he could only remain silent. Even though he didn't want to admit it, maybe his new lifestyle did affect his career as the coach just said.
The young athlete could only reflect in silence. The coach just slapped his sanity with his words.
"Now tell me what should I do with you, Ah Zhu," the head coach suddenly lowered his voice. "Our country has the best badminton team in the world. We always have the best line-up in every sector, but because of your poor performances, we failed to win any titles in men's singles. Maybe I need to kick you out of the team to save our face."
Lin Zhu looked up at the coach and stared at him in horror.
"Please don't do that, Coach Su!" He suddenly pleaded as his eyes moistened. "I promise that I'll work hard, so please give me one last chance! Becoming the best badminton player in the world is my dream, so please give me a chance!"
The coach gave him a blank look, while the manager looked at him with pity.
He hated it when others looked down on him, but this time he admitted that he was indeed pitiful and miserable.
"You want me to give you one last chance, right?"
The coach spoke again, and he nodded without a doubt. "I won't disappoint you, coach. I'll train harder and become the number one player in the world!"
Su Xueqin snorted at his words. "I'm just about to give you another chance, but you become arrogant again."
Lin Zhu widened his eyes. "That's not arrogance, Coach!" He quickly denied the accusation. "That's my determination! I promise you that I will be a good athlete!"
Coach Su smirked while shaking his head. He seemed to be satisfied after hearing the reply.
"Alright," the coach decided. "I'll give you one last chance."
Lin Zhu's eyes sparkled brightly, and he felt like the heavy burden had been lifted from his chest.
"Thank you, Coach!"
The coach just laughed, but then he stopped laughing and looked down at the athlete solemnly.
"I'll give you one last chance, but I'm not sure whether you'll agree with my idea or not," the coach spoke again, and the athlete frowned at him in confusion. "Quit playing singles and start playing doubles, Ah Zhu."
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