Some of the parents had exchanged numbers with Coach Shouliang Zhao when they had enrolled at Talent Education. Although Shouliang Zhao had hopped to another job, he had kept the numbers. He picked up his phone and dialed one of them.
"Hello, are you Xiaoming Huang's parent? Yes, this is Shouliang Zhao, the coach of the municipal sports team. Your child is a little big, but he still has a chance to pass the high school PE entrance exam if we train him harder… There are only two weeks left before the exam. If we don't start the professional training as soon as possible, it might be too late to—
"I'm sorry? In the training class at Talent Education? Okay, I didn't make myself very clear. I'm no longer with Talent Education. I'm teaching at SA Student Education—
"What? Your son can do seven pull-ups?"
Shouliang Zhao hung up the phone and snorted. "He must be bluffing. Why didn't he just tell me that he didn't want to come instead of making up such a naïve excuse! Look at his fat son! Seven pull-ups? Come on!" Shouliang Zhao dialed another number.
"So you want to stay at Talent Education? No offense, but there is only one chance at the high school PE entrance exam in one's life, and sports make up 60 points. If you come to my class and join the training, I can at least promise your son gets 36 points. Maybe even 40 points if he is lucky.
"Full score? That's never going to happen. Look at your son's weight. He needs at least a year of training before that can happen.
"...No, I'm not looking down upon your son. That comes from my experience after all these years of being a coach."
"…Forget experience and talk about scientific training? I know nothing about scientific training? How dare you say that!"
Zhenye Zhu's mother was harsh and mean when she spoke. Shouliang Zhao almost fought with her over the phone. He was so pissed off after the call. He dialed the third number. You shouldn't expect an angry person to speak with a soft tone. He spoke as if he was going to explode any second. Regardless of his tone or attitude, he sounded very aggressive.
"Hello, is this Xun Li's parent? This is Shouliang Zhao… What is that 'don't take on the work if you don't have the ability' comment supposed to mean? You'd better make it clear! What? I'm not as good as others?"
Shouliang Zhao got the same answer from everyone else after dialing a few other numbers. All the parents wanted their children to stay with Talent Education. Some of them were polite enough to say thank you before hanging up. Others came close to arguing and calling him names through the phone. There was even someone who had said Shouliang Zhao was not qualified enough.
After all the calls, he felt very resentful. Once he had calmed down, he realized it was strange that all the parents had rejected him and chosen to stay in Talent Education. It had to be because Talent Education had somehow made those parents satisfied. It also meant that the new coach they hired was not just someone off the street.
"Maybe the coach they hired is another famous coach? But I'm sure he is not from our municipal sports team, otherwise I would have known him. Maybe he is from a sports school? Or someone who works for the college? Who the hell is he that he was able to make all those parents willing to stay? I have to find someone to ask about it."
Shouliang Zhao thought about it and began to contact his connections right away. After a while, he found out that the coach Talent Education had hired was not a famous coach who worked for a sports school or college, but an undergraduate student who had majored in sports!
"How could an undergraduate student win over students in competition with me?! Just wait, I'll show you who I am and leave you with no students!" said Shouliang Zhao.
To Shouliang Zhao, it seemed like they wanted to steal his money and compete for students. He made a living off getting commissions from students. One student meant one commission; one less student meant less income. As a professional coach, his commission per student was 1,000 yuan. Twelve students meant 12,000 yuan, which tripled his salary for one month. He didn't mind looking for trouble for 12,000 yuan.
…
"Congcong Wu, lean forward. Push the ball of your foot against the ground when you jump!" Dai Li shouted.
The students were divided into two groups on the training ground. One group was practicing the standing long jump, while the other was practicing the 1000 meter race.
Congcong Wu was definitely the biggest student among them. His height was only about 160 centimeters, yet he weighed more than 90 kilograms. If you looked at him from afar, you would think he was a giant meatball. He was also one of the most difficult students for Dai Li to train. Dai Li usually spent more time on Congcong Wu just to help him make more progress.
There was a small group of people walking towards him. Shouliang Zhao was leading them. He pointed out different things as he walked. Behind him were a few people who seemed to be parents.
He spoke as he walked, saying, "There are countless training classes in Yuzhou City. Training classes for the high school entrance PE exam makes up a big part of them. As far as I am concerned, there are dozens of sports training education schools that are renting places in this Youth Activity Center, and both seedlings and weeds grow together among them. Some of them are here just to take up space. Many of the so-called sports coaches don't even have the most basic qualifications. It's so clear that all they care about is swindling money!
"Money is not that important; the most important thing is that someone else's quest for money wastes the time of our children. The high school entrance exam is a once in a lifetime chance. If you fail the exam just because you went to an unqualified sports training education school and met a worthless coach, imagine how sad that would be! You might even lose the chance to enter a key high school. Don't you think so?"
All the parents following Shouliang Zhao nodded to show their support after listening to his words.
"You really need to learn how to choose a training class. The first thing you should do is check the coach's qualifications. For example, the training coach right in front us looks like he's in his early 20s. He is even younger than some of the athletes that I have trained, and obviously it's a bad choice to give your children to people like him. He is just here to fool everyone. I bet you don't want to waste your children's time on him." Shouliang Zhao pointed at Dai Li, who was not far from him, raising his voice on purpose.
The group caught Dai Li's attention right before they entered the room. Dai Li had not missed a word of what Shouliang Zhao said.
"I don't even know this guy. We've never met before. Why is he saying that I'm wasting these children's time when we barely know each other? There are even a few parents following after him. They are coming for trouble!"
Dai Li's look turned very serious and angry. How could he tolerate this when they had come all this way, right in front of him, to look for trouble? He took one step forward without holding back his anger and said, "Who are you talking about?"