Chapter 75 Good Seedling
Lizhou City Gymnasium is in Xicheng District, about half an hour away by bus. After breakfast that day, Gu Jianguo took Gu Siqing and her sister, the two Han brothers, and Zhang Mingli, who lived next door, to the gymnasium.
They arrived at the stadium a little after nine o'clock and bought tickets at the entrance, each costing five cents. Gu Jianguo bought seven tickets, and also bought tickets for Zhang Mingli and his son.
Zhang Mingli felt very embarrassed and insisted on returning the money to Gu Jianguo. The two of them argued for a while, but in the end Gu Jianguo did not ask him to return the money.
Zhang Mingli finally realized that the new neighbor next door was a particular person.
After entering the gymnasium, Gu Siqing looked around. Of course, the gymnasium at that time could not compare to that of decades later, but it looked very vibrant.
There was a wall covered with photos of sports champions, and many adults and children stood in front of it, looking at them. Gu Siqing and the others also walked over to take a look.
Gu Sanjing held Gu Siqing's hand and asked her softly, "Xiao Si, is it not easy to win the championship?"
Gu Siqing didn't know how to answer. She said it was difficult, fearing she would dampen Gu Sanjing's enthusiasm. She also said it was easy, but that would be a lie.
After thinking for a moment, she said, "Let's see if we have any talent first, and then we'll talk about it."
Gu Sanjing pursed her lips and said, "Yeah."
She was a little nervous, afraid that she didn't have talent. She also wanted many people to praise her like they praised Xiao Si, and she also wanted to be excellent.
Gu Siqing felt the sweat on her palms and whispered in her ear, "I just saw someone selling cotton candy. Let's go buy some later. I have fifty cents now."
When she heard there were delicious foods, Gu Sanjing's eyes lit up again, "I don't know how much each one costs, I have 40 cents."
Gu Siqing: "That's definitely enough."
"Let Dad take us to the zoo later. There should be some delicious food there." Gu Siqing said again.
Gu Sanjing swallowed her saliva and said, "Give some to my elder sister and second sister as well."
Gu Siqing nodded.
"What are you two talking about? I have money too, let's buy it together." Han Erpang came over and took out his own money.
Han Zhengping glanced at Gu Siqing. This girl was really cunning. San Jing was fooled by her and forgot what she was doing today.
They chattered about buying delicious food, so Gu Jianguo and Zhang Mingli found two coaches from the sports school and gave each of them two dollars.
This time, Zhang Mingli refused to let Gu Jianguo take the money for him. Although two dollars was not a lot, it was not a small amount either. He didn't like to take advantage of others.
Gu Siqing and the others followed Gu Jianguo and the coach to the swimming pool. The heating was strong and they were sweating soon after entering.
Several people took off their outer cotton jackets.
Since they didn't bring a swimsuit when they came, Gu Jianguo took Gu Sanjing and spent six dollars to buy a swimsuit.
Gu Siqing accompanied Gu Sanjing to the locker room to change clothes. Gu Sanjing was a little nervous, so Gu Siqing whispered to her, "Just think of this as the river at the entrance of our village."
Gu Sanjing hummed.
When the two of them came out, the coach glanced at Gu Sanjing and said, "Go down and try swimming a lap."
It was her first time swimming in such a large pool, and Gu Sanjing had no idea how to get in or swim. She turned to look at her coach, but he didn't give her any pointers. She gritted her teeth, plopped into the pool, and swam as fast as she could.
When she reached the other side of the pool, she didn't know where to turn back, so she came out of the water.
"Have you never swam in a swimming pool before?" the coach asked Gu Jianguo.
Gu Jianguo smiled sheepishly, "No, she usually swims in the village river."
The coach hummed, then waved to Gu Sanjing, "Swim back."
Gu Sanjing didn't know whether her performance was good or bad, so she dived into the water and swam back with all her might.
"How old were you when you started swimming?" the coach asked Gu Sanjing.
She wasn't nervous anymore at this point, and after thinking for a moment, she said, "Seven years old."
"Who did you learn this from?" the coach asked again.
Gu Sanjing: "I didn't learn it from anyone, I learned it on my own."
The coach turned to Gu Jianguo and said, "He has both explosive power and speed. He's a good prospect."
Gu Jianguo grinned upon hearing this, and Gu Sanjing's little face also broke into a smile. Gu Siqing and the two Han brothers were also happy.
"What else?" the coach asked again.
Gu Sanjing: "If I can jump into the water from a very high place, does that count?"
The coach's eyes lit up, "How high can you jump from?"
Gu Sanjing shook her head, "I don't know. I used to jump from trees into the river."
It was the first time that Gu Jianguo knew that she had done such a dangerous thing. He was so scared that he wanted to slap someone.
The coach turned around and pointed to a high platform beside a swimming pool not far away and said, "Is it as high as that?"
It was a diving platform, three meters high, the height for diving competitions.
Gu Sanjing estimated the height and said, "It shouldn't be that high, but it's not much lower either."
"Do you dare to jump from it?" the coach asked again.
Gu Sanjing nodded, but Gu Jianguo's heart was in a knot. Even he didn't dare to jump from such a high place.
"Come with me."
The coach turned and walked over there. Gu Sanjing was about to follow, but Gu Jianguo held her back and whispered, "Sanjing, can you do it?"
It is true that he wants his daughter to become a successful woman, but the prerequisite is safety.
"Dad, it's okay. There's water below. I can swim, so it's okay." Gu Sanjing looked eager to try.
Gu Jianguo was still worried, so Gu Siqing pulled his sleeve and whispered, "Dad, the coach is watching. It's okay."
Gu Jianguo frowned and nodded, then followed the coach and Gu Sanjing to the swimming pool over there.
"Sanjing is very strong, he will be fine." Han Erpang saw Gu Sanjing jump from the tree into the river.
When they arrived, the coach said to Gu Sanjing, "I'll go up and do one dance first. You watch how I do it, and then you can do it later."
Normally, when a coach shows a child whether they have talent or not, he or she won't give them on the spot any guidance. But since Gu Sanjing was a promising prospect, the coach couldn't help but want to teach her.
Patting Gu Sanjing on the head, the coach walked up to the diving platform and shouted to Gu Sanjing below, "Watch my form."
Seeing Gu Sanjing nod, the coach tried to slow down every movement, then jumped down, making only a small splash when he landed in the water.
"Come up." The coach waved to Gu Sanjing.
Gu Sanjing walked over and stepped onto the diving platform. The coach explained the movements to her, then she walked down the diving platform and went into the swimming pool to guard.
"Take a deep breath, straighten your body, and jump."
Gu Sanjing jumped down following the coach's command. Her jump almost made Gu Jianguo and Gu Siqing's hearts jump out.
Seeing her come out of the water with a big smile on her face, Gu Jianguo and Gu Siqing breathed a sigh of relief.
"Hahaha, not bad." The coach laughed, walked out of the swimming pool and stood in front of Gu Jianguo. He said, "Your name is Gu Sanjing, right?"
Gu Jianguo nodded and continued, "He's a good candidate. It's not the enrollment period after the Chinese New Year, but special circumstances will be treated specially. School will start on March 18th. You can come to the school to see me on March 15th, and I'll have the school organize an exam."
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