62 The Battle of the Genders

◎Use your brain when playing ball!◎

The game begins.

The two sides are on the verge of a fight.

Release all your special moves first.

Qin Xiaoba first served a very fast baseline serve with a little loop.

A Shui was not to be outdone and in his own serving round he used a variety of reverse spin serves to his heart's content.

After following Chang Hongxia, A Shui's ball skills improved a lot.

After all, Chang Hongxia only has one player, A Shui, who also has experience in playing in the three major tournaments. She treats A Shui as seriously as Xu Dong treats Zhu Qi.

A Shui's reverse shooting technique has also become much more advanced.

She can even instantly reverse the shot to the black side when the red side is facing outwards, and then quickly reverse the shot to the red side with long rubber.

Before reporter Mori could blink, he saw Ah Shui change the racket in his hand twice in one second, just like a magic trick.

Red turns black and then red.

"Why is the action designed like this..." Reporter Mori asked in a low voice, a little confused.

Zhu Qi, who was sitting nearby, overheard this and explained simply, "This is a feint. If the opposing player's vision isn't sharp enough or their focus is on the ball, they could easily miss Ah Shui's backhand stroke and mistakenly think they misread the black side. Ah Shui can also use this feint to trick the opponent into thinking he's hitting the ball with the black side, when in fact he's still using red-side long rubber."

Maomao then explained, "After all, the black side is made of inverted rubber, and the red side is made of long rubber, so the spin on the ball they receive is different. If a ball is hit with backspin, the black side will still receive the backspin, but the red side will receive the long rubber with topspin."

Reporter Mori nodded repeatedly. "Wow, I see. So this is a deceptive technique? If the backhand doesn't keep up with the ball, won't we lose points?"

"I learned this technique from Xi Ling'en from the North Korean team. Xi Ling'en relies on this reverse shot technique to frequently deceive opponents and score," Maomao said with a smile. "After Bao Bao played against Xi Ling'en, he felt that this reverse shot technique would also be suitable for A Shui, so he asked Coach Chang to refine it based on A Shui's individual characteristics."

Now take a look.

Initial results are showing.

A Shui's reverse shot speed was extremely fast, and he completed this series of actions in almost one second. He did deceive Qin Xiaoba several times and scored points continuously.

[Small score, Fang Miao 8:8 Qin Shang]

The small racket seemed to be able to do many different things in A Shui's hands, changing every moment.

Chang Hongxia was very satisfied with what she saw. She turned around and glanced at Master Fo. He nodded slightly, which was rare for him. He seemed very satisfied with Ah Shui's progress.

Qin Xiaoba was obviously serious as well, and he put enough strength into every ball, looping when he should, hitting long balls when he should, cutting when he should, and dicing when he should.

Two people, you chase one point and I follow one point.

No one gives in.

The entire table was filled with the crackling smell of gunpowder.

In a flash.

Qin Xiaoba hit a fast, low, and diagonal backhand shot.

This angle is very large, very fast, very turning, and very tricky.

And even if the opponent receives it, it is still an opportunity for Qin Xiaoba to hit the ball at a wide angle to the opponent.

Zhu Qi is very good at this trick and used it to exhaust Xi Ling'en's physical strength in the final game of the National Table Tennis Championships.

This kind of wide-angle tearing requires a very high level of wrist flexibility from the player. It is very difficult to tear the ball to the right and left corners of the table every time. If the ball is not in good control, it is easy to go out of bounds.

More than 20 years later, many fans gave this technique a name, called "breaking off the big bevel".

The technology of breaking off relations after being torn apart in the private bureau.

The men's team nearby started to cheer wildly: "Oh! Oh! That's so ripped!"

Ah Shui was quick-witted and quick-handed! He quickly ran to the corner and used his long rubber to catch a shot. Then, before Qin Xiaoba could hit the next shot, he ran to the other side and caught the second ball.

Both of the "big angles of severed diplomatic ties" were actually taken back by A Shui!

Maomao murmured "Wow" and whispered to Zhu Qi: "A Shui's catch was pretty good."

"Yes, the speed and rotation have caught up." Zhu Qi praised.

After losing to Jin Lili in the National Table Tennis Championships, Ah Shui has been completely transformed.

"A Shui's performance rate was not high before because her hands were weak. During this period, Sister Xia has been watching her lift dumbbells and do push-ups. In just two months, she has made rapid progress." Maomao was very emotional. On the one hand, she was happy for A Shui's progress, and on the other hand, she felt that she also had to train hard to get back to her previous state.

"A Shui's talent for counting balls is actually quite good. When I played women's doubles with her, I felt that she could always guess where the next ball would land and fill the gap. It may be mainly because of her fake left hand, which compromised her touch a bit." Zhu Qi followed up.

The two girls' whispers were all heard by Ren Xinhua who was standing next to them.

Ren Xinhua was listening with great interest. As he became more and more engrossed, he turned around and said to Foye, "Do you think Baobao has the potential to be a coach?"

Foye was concentrating on watching Ah Shui's game and didn't hear what Ren Xinhua said clearly. His mouth was faster than his brain: "Yeah, is it... eh?"

The sound of balls hitting the court was too intense.

So much so that many people have forgotten which ball they hit.

When the coach flipped the scoreboard, everyone realized that the 32nd ball had been hit.

[Small score, Fang Miao 16:16 Qin Shang]

“…” Zhu Qi, Maomao.

Did it score so many points?

What are these two people doing?

Tug of war?

Both the men's and women's teams were exhausted and could only stare at the two people struggling fiercely on the table.

Qin Xiaoba was beaten so hard that he crawled on the ground, and A Shui's hair was disheveled after being beaten so hard.

The two men gritted their teeth and looked at each other fiercely.

The first game is over.

A Shui won with 19 points.

[Big score, Fang Miao 1:0 Qin Shang]

After walking to their respective team areas, teammates began to talk and give tactical instructions for the second game.

On the men's team, Big Bear asked: "What are you doing? Why are you using so much force on a little girl?"

On the women's team, Maomao asked: "Do you have a blood feud with him? Do you want to kill someone?"

"He always tears me apart..." Ah Shui cursed.

Zhu Qi patted Ah Shui's shoulder, pinched her sore shoulder muscles, and reminded her, "Don't give him backspin when you hit. Otherwise, when he gives you backspin, you can use your long rubber to receive it and turn it into topspin. He's just waiting for you to topspin... He's good at the first three shots, so don't rush him with the first three shots. Pull a few more times, and he'll be exhausted after the fifth shot. Just go for his forehand..."

Song Linzhou, also left-handed, took the towel and gave Qin Xiaoba some advice: "The left-handed are at a disadvantage when playing against the right-handed. If you hit her forehand, she can only receive it with her backhand. She can only use anti-spin glue on her backhand and won't play back-spin with you. Don't always think about finishing with the first three shots. You can still find more opportunities later..."

The second game begins.

Zhu Qi looked at Qin Xiaoba, who suddenly perked up after being scolded by him, and he didn't know whether he was relieved or helpless.

This little bastard is a spinning top. If he is scolded, he will be in trouble for three days.

It would be great if I could always be so motivated.

But Ren Xinhua seemed very satisfied with the performance of Qin Xiaoba and A Shui, and kept talking to the head coach of the men's team next to him.

"Both of these kids are short on energy. Once they get that energy up, they'll be able to hit the ball well. Although Xiao Ba is a bit unreliable, he has a good physique and talent. He has long arms and a broad skeleton. When he really gets up, he jumps back and forth like a little wolf, and he's a good runner too..."

"Why does Ah Shui's reverse-shot technique look more and more like North Korea's Xi Ling'en? Was it Bao Bao's suggestion?"

Ren Xinhua nodded. "Yes, Ah Shui had been practicing backhand with Xu Dong before, but the effect of the backhand was never achieved. After Bao Bao and Xi Ling'en finished their match, they gave Ah Shui some technical advice. Ah Shui watches Xi Ling'en's match videos every day, and now he's learning it quite well."

Anyway, it's time to put your knowledge into practice.

You can also use other people's good things as your own.

There was no news of Xi Ling'en after he returned to North Korea.

It is probably preparation for the Moscow World Games.

People outside cannot hear any news from North Korea, and North Korea refuses to accept interviews and exchanges from the outside.

However, Ren Xinhua and Fo Ye both felt that Xi Ling'en had a lot of room to perform, and the players that North Korea could send must be talents that they had cultivated with the whole country's efforts.

And the most important thing is that the North Korean team never goes out to compete easily, so there is too little video footage.

"North Korea won't be participating in the mixed team table tennis tournament in May," the Buddha next to him sighed. "Next time we meet, I'm sure things will change. Our kids are competing all the time, while they're just training. We have no idea how they're doing."

The coaches chatted for a while.

The second game ended with Qin Xiaoba scoring one point.

He stood by the table holding a racket, looked up to the sky and roared, and then hit the men's team's chest twice like a roc spreading its wings.

It’s getting late now.

The battle between men and women, which was originally scheduled to end at 9 pm, lasted until 11 pm.

Both the women's and men's teams were excited.

No one wants to leave.

But the dormitory inspection was about to begin, and both Qin Xiaoba and A Shui knew that this match would be the last one.

Someone from the men's team shouted, "Hurry up and win! I'm so sleepy, I'm going back to sleep after the fight!"

Someone from the women's team also shouted, "Sister Shui killed him!"

The third game begins.

As soon as Ah Shui came up, he continued to attack Qin Xiaoba's forehand. Qin Xiaoba circled the table back and forth, performing a move called "King Qin Circling the Pillar" to prevent Ah Shui from getting a chance to score.

A Shui was like Jing Ke, the balls he threw out were fast and quick, and each one was of extremely high quality.

The scores started to fluctuate again to over 10 points.

After each shot, the two players would stand still, wipe their sweat, and take a deep breath to adjust their strength.

A Shui's hair was all wet, sticking to his forehead, ears and back of his neck.

The whole person looked like he had been washed in water. His jersey was completely wet, with only a small dry spot at the bottom of the hem.

Both of them showed off all their unique skills.

Chang Hongxia didn't expect that A Shui could play to this level with the main players of the men's team next door, and she was very satisfied with A Shui's performance today.

But Gao Xiaofeng was not satisfied.

After he handed over the baton from national team player and men's team captain to Daxiong, the first person he chose after he transformed into a coach was actually Qin Xiaoba.

Although Song Linzhou performed well in the National Table Tennis Championships this time, his left hand is at a natural disadvantage compared to his right hand, and Song Linzhou uses a straight blade.

Song Linzhou's position in the team is also very clear, and he will be determined in doubles.

However, Qin Xiaoba is a right-handed horizontal racket player, and he followed his sister to switch to practicing loop balls. Gao Xiaofeng was training him to be his successor in singles.

With Daxiong and Song Linzhou in front of him, it is not easy for Qin Xiaoba to surpass these two brothers.

Seeing Qin Xiaoba trailing by four points in the third game, Gao Xiaofeng couldn't help but shout, "Forget about those 'breaking angles'! Just swing, cut, or slice along the center line! Use your brain when playing!"

"Hey! Lao Gao! We agreed that the coach wouldn't get involved!" Chang Hongxia jumped up to defend her beloved student. "A Shui, don't give him a chance! Keep hitting him forehand!"

"I just shouted, why are you so angry?"

"You have no competitive spirit!"

"Who are you calling lacking in sportsmanship?"

"You! It can still be me!"

The player war between the men's and women's teams has expanded to the coaching level.

The players were fighting fiercely on the table and arguing fiercely under the table.

All of a sudden, everything was in chaos.

The reporters were stunned, wondering: Is this how the national team practices? So... wild?

A Shui won the third game, Qin Xiaoba won the fourth game, and at the beginning of the fifth game, both of them were sitting on the ground and couldn't get up.

From 2 pm till now, A Shui and Qin Xiaoba have played two games each, which is really boring.

The old man was watching intently, but suddenly he shook the folding fan in his hand and whispered a few words to Ren Xinhua next to him while covering his mouth.

Ren Xinhua nodded and stood up: "This game is a draw."

"Draw?" Ah Shui and Qin Xiaoba were so tired that they were panting and shouting.

"I can still fight!"

"Me too! We must have a showdown!"

"It's 11:20, and we still have ten minutes until dormitory inspection. What are you still fighting for?" Shi Ge walked over and poked Qin Xiaoba on the head. "It's a draw! The men's team only won one game today, and it's a draw. Those who lost, go back and write a 5,000-word post-match summary and give it to me tomorrow!"

The boys on the boys' team were scolded again, and they all sighed and went back with their rackets.

Ah Shui was very proud of the last round. After high-fived Zhu Qi, Maomao, Chang Hongxia and Xu Dong in the first row, he shook his head amid the praises from all the girls.

"Teach him a lesson, I'll definitely give him a hand!" Ah Shui sat down next to Zhu Qi and began to let out the cool air, panting. "How is it? Me?"

She patted her chest and waited for praise.

Maomao said happily: "Not bad, he looks like an absolute main force now."

"It's a shame he didn't finish the fight. Otherwise I would have made him crawl out!"

Ah Shui became happier as he spoke, but he was not so happy the next day.

Ren Xinhua posted the list of players competing in the mixed team table tennis tournament.

Women's team: Zu Tianjiao, Zhu Qi, Fang Miao.

Men's team: Lv Yaohan, Song Linzhou, Qin Shang.

It is impossible for Zhu Qi and Song Linzhou to always play in mixed doubles.

Maomao's condition has only recovered to 70%, so we must prepare a mixed doubles candidate group.

Ren Xinhua stood in front of Ah Shui and Qin Xiaoba and announced, "You two need to play well together..."

“…” The darkness in front of A Shui and Qin Xiaoba’s eyes became darker and darker.

It's over.

Baobao actually guessed it right.

The team wants them to play mixed doubles and take over from Qilin.

/

The CCTV5 staff took the videotapes back and divided it into three parts, one a week, and broadcast them on the sports channel. The ratings soared.

Even the Xinwen Lianbo mentioned the gender war in the national table tennis team.

Seeing such good ratings, CCTV5 asked Ren Xinhua for another week of filming and also sponsored 30,000 yuan for clothing and supplies to the table tennis team.

For the sake of the 30,000 yuan, Ren Xinhua agreed.

The next day, the whole team changed into new sneakers, as well as a series of winter supplies including scarves, cotton socks, cotton gloves, cotton hats, etc.

There is also an endless stream of letters sent by fans to the General Administration of Sports.

When the staff from the General Administration delivered it, there were actually three large cardboard boxes.

There are all kinds of stamps packed inside.

"Wow, are these all sent from all over the country? This is too much." A Shui stood in front of the cardboard box, and Sasa and Youyou next to him began to sort the letters according to the recipients.

Zhu Qi and Maomao received the most letters, which piled up on the billiard table like a small mountain.

Ah Shui only had four letters. After reading his own, he wanted to read Zhu Qi and Maomao's.

Zhu Qi could only take time off from his lunch break to open the letters one by one.

This feeling is a bit familiar...

It’s very similar to opening a private message from a fan on Weibo twenty years later.

But these days, those who can send letters and have the conditions to do so are generally people with a knowledge base.

The contents of the letters are full of encouragement and praise, and occasionally you can see a few... novel ones.

"Hahahaha, this auntie asked in the letter if you have a boyfriend, hahaha..." Ah Shui laughed, holding a letter. "She also sent me a photo of her son. Let me see, wow! He's quite handsome! The auntie said in the letter that he's a Peking University student! Hey, why is he only 1.7 meters tall? No, no, he's too short. He doesn't meet our aesthetic standards. He has to be at least 1.8 meters tall, right?"

Zhu Qi took the letter with amusement and stuffed it back in: "Be careful not to laugh too hard."

"Hey, there's even one from an elementary school student! She said it was an assignment for her class to write a letter to her idol, so she sent it to you."

"There is also a young man from the Chongqing provincial team. He will go to the national youth training camp next year. He hopes to successfully enter the national second team and wants to take a photo with you. Maomao, this is your junior brother..." Ah Shui became more and more excited as he read, savoring the content with relish.

People of this generation are more reserved.

Most of them are compliments, and at best there are some more obscure "confessions" such as "I am deeply in love with you, and I love you so much".

After all, people still admire cultured people nowadays.

It wasn’t as straightforward as it would be twenty years later. It was straight forward, like “My wife, I love you so much, I want to sleep,” “Every night, the greedy girls have dream material,” “I will always fall in love with the girl who plays basketball,” “Sister, stop playing basketball and come and hit me, I’m very hittable and I can even scream.”

But there was one letter that Zhu Qi read over and over again.

It was sent by an old gentleman who is a veteran.

There is a family photo of a senior in military uniform. The old man in the middle looks to be in his seventies, but his military uniform is still straight and neat in the brown photo. There are five rows of medals on his chest, and his epaulettes show that he is a general.

There were only two sentences in the letter, written with a brush.

[When setting goals, one should be as bold as a tiger; when seeking knowledge, one should not be afraid of taking narrow paths.]

I wish you a smooth and successful racing journey.

In addition to the family photo, the letter also contained a medal representing 50 years of military service.

Medals of honor can only be given between soldiers, but the recipient cannot wear a medal that does not match his or her military service and can only keep it for collection.

Zhu Qi has only been in the Bayi team for less than half a year.

Not to mention military service, he doesn't even have a military rank.

After receiving this medal representing the Order of Merit, Zhu Qi looked at it from left to right and liked it very much.

Although I have never met this gentleman.

But he also received recognition from his predecessors.

She folded the letter and put it back in her golf bag. The other letters that had been read were sent to the logistics department for further sealing.

That's the downside of paper books.

It takes up too much space.

But the handwritten content is really incomparable to the electronic version. Everyone wrote it with great care. Even if there are some cute jokes from aunts and uncles, it is still quite funny to read.

Seeing Zhu Qi's popularity, Qin Xiaoba was very envious: "My sister is now loved by everyone from 90-year-old veterans to 8-year-old elementary school students."

Zhu Qi threw the box to him: "Carry it over to me."

If you have a younger brother and don't obey him, you are a fool.

Qin Xiaoba went.

Qin Xiaoba is back.

"Why do I see those uncles from the logistics department moving things?" Qin Xiaoba took a piece of bread and chewed it. "They brought in a pile of wood."

"What wood?" A Shui was curious.

"I don't know, but it's not something we can use for boxing, is it?"

As soon as the mixed team list for the National Table Tennis Championships came out.

Zhu Qi knew that he would have no holiday during the Spring Festival this year.

Ren Xinhua buried seven or eight rows of wooden stakes in the sand pit on the south side of the playground. Each stake was half a meter high, with about a hundred stakes and each stake was about 15 centimeters in diameter.

They were so densely packed in the sand pit that all the players passing by felt that something was wrong.

This...what is this for?

【Author’s words】

Twenty years later, fans' archaeological comments:

[The front row is contracted by the Hexagram Legion in childhood, Little Phoenix, Little Greedy Wolf, Star Cat Team, Bear Team, Weak Water Three Thousand, Left Straight Noble Young Master]

[Even the first generation witch is helpless against her younger siblings [Lop-eared rabbit head]]

[Our witch gong and cat shou are the pioneers of the younger generation! Humph!]

【National table tennis does not support idlers.jpg】

[[狗头] The value of the national table tennis son-in-law is still rising]

Whose little Tanlangxing is 17.5 years old and still being scolded and cried by his 18.9 year old sister? Oh, it's mine.

[This mixed doubles podium for the national table tennis team, any couple who steps on it will inevitably have trouble. Is the matchmaker blessing them?]

[If I were the emperor, I would grant them marriages! Grant them marriages! Grant them all marriages!]

【Qilin Qilin Qilin Qilin Qilin Qilin Qilin Qilin Qilin Qilin Qilin】

【Fang Qin Fang Qin Fang Qin Fang Qin Fang Qin Fang Qin Fang Qin Fang Qin Fang Qin Fang Qin】

【Double part double part double part double part double part double part double part double part double part double part】

[Bayi brothers and sisters, Bayi brothers and sisters, Bayi brothers and sisters, Bayi brothers and sisters, Bayi brothers and sisters, Bayi brothers and sisters, Bayi brothers and sisters, Bayi brothers and sisters, Bayi brothers and sisters, Bayi brothers and sisters]

[Bayi siblings, Bayi siblings, Bayi siblings, Bayi siblings, Bayi siblings, Bayi siblings, Bayi siblings, Bayi siblings, Bayi siblings, Bayi siblings]

[Wenwu Quxing Wenwu Quxing Wenwu Quxing Wenwu Quxing Wenwu Quxing Wenwu Quxing Wenwu Quxing Wenwu Quxing Wenwu Quxing]

I don't plan to level them for now. Cat and Bear are pure comrades.