20. Pendulum
◎【2-in-1】Because the candy bar is the pride of China.◎
The boy was like a pendant, hanging on Zhu Qi's body. He took the train all the way to the national team, and everything he saw seemed new to him.
"My mom asked me to bring you a bunch of clothes. She said winter's coming soon, and you're afraid of the cold, so she knitted you several sweaters. They're a little bigger than your usual size, so you can try them on when you get home. Oh, and Brother Lu asked me to bring you two tennis rackets, the ones you used to use. He said you play so many games, and the rackets tend to get loose. If you're not comfortable with them, wait until he comes to Beijing and give them to him. He'll take them back to the factory and have them pressed on the machine..."
"I know, I know. Stop rubbing against me. You're so dirty!" Zhu Qi felt itchy all over, his mysophobia acting up.
This damn kid was covered in dust and sweat, and the smell of burning oil on the train had permeated his body.
Ahhhhh, get out!
"How could you do this to me? You haven't seen me for three months, don't you miss me?! You are so heartless!"
"If you want a dad, stay away from me."
Since Zhu Qi was preparing to play in the World Cup, they haven't seen each other much.
If you think about it carefully, the two of them have hardly been apart since Zhu Qi was 6 years old, and this time they have been separated for quite a long time.
I haven't seen him for three months, and he seems to have grown taller and gained muscle. He's not quite the size of a double-door yet, but at least he's not the skinny dog I beat him up with since he was little.
That's why they say teenage boys change every day. He was like a huge rock hanging on her, heavy and hot.
"You know, I just went to the dorms and they had to sleep in one room with 12 people! They stepped on each other's toes and heads. I heard you live in a single room on the seventh floor, that's so comfortable, right?! And my aunt packed a bottle of hot sauce, your favorite sweet chili sauce. She told you to share it with your roommate and finish it within a month because it doesn't store well..."
"Got it. Have you processed all those messy cards?"
"No, I just went to the dormitory to put my luggage when I first arrived. You have no idea how heavy it is. My mom wants to move her entire family here."
Qin Shang, carrying a light sports bag on his back, skipped and followed Zhu Qi towards the training ground.
The childish boy spoke in Jinling dialect, and the eavesdropping male players looked at each other with curiosity written all over their faces.
Is this the new member of the Jianghuai Provincial Team???
Many people have trouble adapting when they first join the national team.
The living conditions for the members of the second national team were not very good either. Twelve people were squeezed into one suite, and some had to sleep on the floor.
But Qin Shang is more heartless and can always get a hot meal wherever he goes.
He didn't mind that the place where the second national team members lived was too crowded, but he thought it was fresh and wanted to share it with Zhu Qi, and at the same time he envied Zhu Qi for having his own small single room.
Zhu Qi said, "Once you join a team, you can live in a less crowded place. Come in, this is the stadium."
As soon as he stepped through the gate of the training ground, Qin Shang shouted, "Wow! What a huge venue! So many pool tables! It's more than three times bigger than our provincial team's! Now I don't have to get up early on weekends to fight for a pool table!"
He rubbed his hands with excitement.
When I was in the provincial team, the tables were full of people every day.
After all, the national team is the national team. Those who can join are top talents who have been carefully selected, and their configuration in all aspects is definitely the best.
Zhu Qi looked around and finally saw several male team members piled up nearby.
The boys looked at each other, and in tacit understanding, reached out and pushed Song Linzhou out.
Song Linzhou felt a little uneasy and shifted his pace. Just as he was about to say hello, he heard Zhu Qi pointing at Qin Shang next to him and said to Song Linzhou, "This is my younger brother. He just joined the second national team. He needs to report to the coaching staff. Can you take him over?"
younger brother……
younger brother?
Zhu Qi has a younger brother?!
Shi Ge, the head coach of the men's team, glanced at Qin Shang's profile, then took a closer look at the fourteen-year-old boy in front of him. He carefully examined his face, which bore a striking resemblance to Zhu Qi, and asked, "Dear?"
Zhu Qi has beautiful double eyelids, eyes as round and large as almonds. But her brother has single eyelids, with slightly elongated corners, giving him a slightly phoenix-like look. Their facial shapes are somewhat similar, both with handsome, round faces. But when the brother smiles, his eyes curve into crescents, looking quite... festive.
"My cousin, from my maternal grandfather's family," the younger brother chuckled. "My sister's mother was my mother's older sister, but she died early, so I don't remember much about her. Actually, we both had an uncle. When my sister was six, she lived with my uncle and aunt, and that's when I learned I had a sister. Our families lived in the same village, and I loved visiting my uncle's house. So we grew up together..."
"Horizontal?" The head coach of the men's team brought the topic back from self-registration.
My younger brother nodded. "Yes, right-handed horizontal racket, double-sided rubber. My sister and I both learned from my dad, and we started with horizontal rackets. My sister became amazing after practicing with Brother Lu, but Brother Lu thought I was lazy and didn't want to coach me. My provincial team coach said I had good talent. I was second in the youth training camp, and Momo Hunhun even made the second national team, hehe..."
Shi Ge was getting a headache from the boy's noise. After putting the information in the drawer, he said to Song Linzhou, "The second team coach is not here right now. Da Ling, take this kid to familiarize himself with the environment."
"Yes." Song Linzhou responded and patted his brother's shoulder. "Come with me."
"Oh! Okay! Brother Da Ling!" He has been sweet-mouthed since he was a child. In his mother's words, he doesn't even need to add sugar when drinking Chinese medicine, just lick it off your lips.
Anyway, no matter what, just call me brother first!
Because Song Linzhou was born in the Year of the Sheep, his name on his birth certificate was originally Song Linyang. However, his grandfather thought the name was too quiet and not like that of a little boy, so he later changed Yang to "Zhou", which is the homonym of his mother's surname Zhou.
But the primary school teachers were used to calling me Lin Yang. Later, when I joined the provincial team, the provincial team coach started calling me Da Lin and Da Ling to make it easier for me to get to know him, and the nickname stuck.
This consciousness of worshipping the big team members.
My younger brother is no exception.
When following Song Linzhou out of the coach's office.
This kid kept shouting "Brother Ling, Brother Ling" and was very interested in everything he saw.
If I pass by and see a well-growing orchid, I will run over and touch it.
Unlike his sister, whose status soared like flying, his brother followed the normal promotion path of thousands of athletes.
After two months of intensive training with the National Youth Team, they would compete in a round-robin tournament. Only by coming out on top would they qualify for the national team. Then they would have to start again from the National Second Team...
Since stepping into the national team, my brother has never closed his mouth.
This place looks a bit like a school, but after entering, it feels a bit like a military unit.
The square buildings and the cool white color combination make people slow down and admire them.
national team!
So impressive!!
My brother's head explored back and forth, and every time he saw a place, he sighed "Wow".
Although the accommodation for the new kids from Team 2 is a bit crowded, the treatment for other members is the best!
Once you join the national team, you have to provide your own racket and shoes, but you will also receive rubber, sponge, organic glue and rubber expanding oil for free every month.
The cafeteria is divided into four areas: east, south, west, north, and south. They serve a wide variety of cuisines from Shandong, Sichuan, Guangdong, Jiangsu, Fujian, Zhejiang, Hunan, and Anhui. The food is excellent and affordable, and the monthly meal allowance is enough to cover five meals a day!
Watermelon, apples, bananas, oranges, and other fruits are all available in unlimited quantities! Mineral water is also free, but you have to pay for flavored soda, which the instructor doesn't recommend, saying it's bad for bones.
South Korea next door is crying with envy.
marvelous.
The younger brother had tears in his eyes. According to his sister, he passed the civil service exam at the age of 14.
From now on, you will be the one eating the country’s food!
It’s so good to eat the country’s food. Just look at the seniors in the team and you will know that the country has raised its own children to be fat and white.
Why are people of this generation unwilling to take the civil service exam?
My younger brother couldn't stop crying the whole way. He really wanted to stay in the national team until he retired.
Taking his brother for a walk, Song Linzhou said, "This is the basic structure of the national team. Actually, the only places we can use are the playground, the training hall, the cafeteria, and the dormitory building. Oh, and there's also a large auditorium for weekly meetings, but it's rarely used. If the coach has anything to say, he just speaks directly to them in the training hall."
"Thank you, Brother Ling! You took the trouble to accompany me on this tour. You're such a nice person." The younger brother quickly joined Song Linzhou in a conversation. "How has my sister been doing with the national team this past month? Has anyone bullied her? Is the coach treating her well?"
"She's doing well, and the coach really values her," Song Linzhou said with a smile. "You have a really good relationship with your sister, and you're already concerned about her life."
"Hey, after all, my sister always only reports good news to the family, not bad news. My 'old lady' is worried that my sister is being bullied in the national team, so she sent me here to get some information."
"The old queen?"
"It's my mom," my younger brother said with a playful smile. "You don't know, but my mom really hates my sister. When I was little, I was originally a basketball player, but my sister wanted to play table tennis, so my mom made me switch to table tennis. Before I joined the national team, my mom told me to keep an eye out for any 'bad guys' who might be trying to harm my sister and disrupt her training, and to be her swordsman."
“…”Song Linzhou.
After visiting the training base, the younger brother was instantly surrounded by the older brothers of the men's team.
And his name became "The Violent Brother".
"Hey, violent little brother, how old are you?"
"My violent brother, are you good at forehand and backhand?"
"Brother Bao Bao, are you on good terms with your sister?"
In the end, for some inexplicable reason, his nickname suddenly became "Xiao Ba".
Because Zhu is "seven", Qin is "eight".
never mind.
He actually doesn't care. It's just a nickname. As long as it sounds easy to say and sounds pleasant to the ear.
But what he didn't expect was that his sister was so famous in the national team.
Many people were curious about his sister, but because they didn't dare to talk to her easily, they all came to surround him, the "newbie" who had just joined the team, and asked him questions layer by layer.
And the most asked question is.
"What does your sister like to do?"
Qin Xiaoba's answer was also very honest: "Practice."
"What about personal hobbies?"
"Playing field ball."
"Besides practicing table tennis, is there nothing else?"
Qin Xiaoba thought for a moment and said, "There is one more."
The boys became interested: "What?"
"Train me."
Qin Xiaoba is very aware of his own level. He Qianlu even said that he has "more talent than hard work."
He likes to be lazy and take shortcuts, and won't train unless the coach is around.
If it weren't for his sister who often pulled him to urge him and practiced with him from time to time, causing him to run in front with his sister pulling him, he probably wouldn't have been able to enter the national team so easily.
Hello sister, you are wonderful sister.
My sister is a role model and a beacon of struggle.
It’s pretty good to be able to play ball behind my sister all the time.
Anyway, his mother told him when he came: "This time when you go to the national team, we don't expect you to make a name for yourself. We in the Zhu family have your sister to bring honor to the family."
Thinking of this, Qin Xiaoba was lying in the living room on the first floor of the men's dormitory. Adhering to the concept of "brothers from all corners of the world", he lay comfortably on the floor and chatted with the team members next to him.
Chatting about everything, all kinds of small talk, it's so pleasant.
He is also very popular in the provincial team, but to be frank, they are all from the same province and the things they can talk about are limited to Jianghuai Province.
But it’s different when you join the national team.
It’s even more interesting to see people from all over the world with all kinds of accents.
Just when Qin Xiaoba and his roommates were discussing which canteen had better food, the South Canteen or the North Canteen, the door of their room was knocked open.
Song Linzhou stood outside the door and said to Qin Xiaoba, "Your sister asked you to go to the training hall for a 'snack'."
Qin Xiaoba's excitement at joining the national team wore off, and he sat up with a sullen look on his face.
I almost forgot, his sister is also a devil of internal competition!
/
Soon, those who had previously envied Qin Xiaoba for having a sister who was also on the national team were no longer envious.
Many people may think that the first national team is the main team, and the training volume and projects must be much more than those of the second national team.
But that’s not the case.
Because the second national team consists mostly of minors, they are the focus of attention, and the coaches of the second national team have stricter requirements for the players of the second national team!
Even during dormitory checks, they would meticulously observe whether the players were sound asleep by 11 p.m. If they were caught pretending to be asleep, they would be woken up and dragged onto the playground for a penalty run.
The reason is: since you can't sleep, it means you didn't train seriously or weren't tired enough during the day. So go run on the playground until you are exhausted, and then you can fall asleep.
But the national team will not be so strict. After all, most of the players on the national team are adults, and the coaches will be more tolerant than they are towards adults.
Moreover, those who can make it into the first national team have already been screened and eliminated by the second national team.
Tempering round-robin competition for teams one and two.
The name of the competition is as good as it gets.
Those who can enter the national first team are even better than the best among men.
This group of people are more demanding of themselves, have stronger self-discipline, and do not need much supervision from coaches.
So, Qin Xiaoba, who joined the national team, found that not only had he failed to pass the civil service exam, but it was actually another stage of "hard training" for his active service career. He began to fall into his old habits and tried every possible way to avoid being lazy.
The coach asked him to practice three sets of serves, but he practiced seven or eight balls less, saying that he had practiced enough.
The coach asked him to run three laps, but he took a shortcut when the coach wasn't paying attention to reduce the running distance.
The coach asked him to jump rope 100 times, but he counted secretly, counting each number as two jumps.
But no one can escape from bloodline suppression.
Qin Xiaoba and these little rascals could fool the coach but couldn't fool their own sister.
During the mixed doubles evening training period from 7 to 9 every night, Qin Xiaoba was dragged over by his sister for extra practice.
By the way, receive some spiritual baptism.
"When I participated in the Ping Tiao League, it happened to be the round-robin tournament for the first and second teams. I observed the level of the second national team players and you are in great danger. During this period, you should participate in every competition and improve your team ranking. Otherwise, you will have to wait until June of next year for your next chance."
Zhu Qi's words were as sharp as a knife.
Qin Xiaoba said bitterly: "Sister, I just joined the national team. I need to rest and adapt to the rhythm of the national team first, Ah Xing?"
"No! The first and second team rounds only happen twice a year. Every day and every minute on the national team is precious. If you're not careful, you'll be overtaken by the people behind you." Zhu Qi looked Qin Shang up and down. "Your skills have dropped again. You can't even catch such a slow ball. Ever since you knew you were going to be on the second team, have you not touched your racket?"
"No! I practiced! I really practiced! If you don't believe me, ask Brother Lu!"
"You only put on the rubber last month. Do you think I can't tell? The edges are all shrunk inwards and it's so dry it's lost its elasticity!" Zhu Qi examined his racket. "I change my rubber every five days, and you don't even use one in a month. And you're still practicing? A shoehorn works better than your racket! Just play in the round-robin tournament when I tell you to. Why are you making up all these excuses?"
"Oh, I just arrived in Beijing. I took such a long train ride and even slept on the floor at night. My body hasn't recovered yet..."
"Qin Shang, I don't want to beat you in public. Don't force me to become a Jianghuai bitch again."
Qin Xiaoba said with a bitter face: "I will hit..."
/
Zhu Qi, who is preparing to compete in three events in the Table Tennis Super League, has a heavy training workload.
Women's singles training in the morning, women's doubles training in the afternoon, and mixed doubles training in the evening.
Every day's training time is packed.
The one who felt it the most was Qin Xiaoba. He felt that his sister had improved a lot in the national team in less than a month.
Because Qin Xiaoba was called over, Xu Dong could stand by and give orders.
The three training sessions every night are basically Qin Xiaoba and Song Linzhou men's doubles VS Zhu Qi and A Shui women's doubles; or Song Linzhou and Zhu Qi mixed doubles VS A Shui and Qin Xiaoba mixed doubles.
The four people are randomly shuffled and assigned in various ways.
But at the end of the fight, Xu Dong discovered that Song Linzhou and A Shui's cooperation was not very good.
Two people who are both left-handed are different from two people who are right-handed. In the technical system of table tennis, they are not suitable for forming a team.
A right-handed doubles player can give space to the other player, but two left-handed players cannot.
When they work together as a team, they are not very offensive, cannot run away, and easily collide with each other.
Especially when there are two right-handed players on the opposite side, the right hand will subconsciously hit the ball diagonally to the left from the attacking angle, and the left hand can only receive it with the backhand.
Backhand versus forehand is basically a disadvantage.
After an overall observation, Xu Dong and Ren Xinhua both agreed.
It is best to match them one on the left and one on the right.
Although very tired.
But Zhu Qi likes this feeling very much.
Tiredness made her feel alive.
Under normal circumstances, all members of the team would pack up and leave at 10 o'clock in the evening to rest, because there would be a dormitory inspection at 11 o'clock.
So Zhu Qi would arrive at the training ground half an hour early, and wait until everyone got up at seven o'clock before going for a morning run together.
A Shui thought she was a little crazy. He had seen curly hair before, but never one as curly as hers.
For the first two days, Ah Shui was still trying to work hard with Zhu Qi, but on the third day, he was completely exhausted and couldn't get up that early. And Mao Mao was also recovering and needed plenty of rest, so he couldn't work so hard.
All right.
Her ball partner couldn't get up.
Zhu Qi, who had already prepared to practice against the wall, found that the door was already open when he arrived. Standing at the door, he could hear the sound of the ball hitting the wall and the sound of footsteps running. It was obvious that he had been doing warm-up exercises for half a day.
Someone actually arrived earlier than her? !
The King of Volumes said he couldn't accept it.
She wanted to see who it was.
In the right corner of the training ground, which seemed even more spacious due to the small number of people, a young boy stood in front of a table with a basin of small white balls next to him, practicing serving alone facing the empty table on the other side.
Judging from the white balls scattered on the ground, he should have finished practicing half of the basin.
Zhu Qi was also familiar with the content of the practice.
It was she who defeated Li Ke's "over-the-baseline rapid running serve" in the World Cup final.
He picked up a ball, placed it in his palm, bent his knees slightly as he tossed the ball with his right hand, and swung the racket near his abdomen. Judging from his posture, he had specially studied this serve.
But the white ball was moving too fast and not spinning enough, so it hit the net.
The faint morning light seeps through the screen window, like a ray of holy light.
He stood in the center of the aperture, looking down at his racket in confusion.
The spot where the white ball hit left a shallow spot on the black rubber.
Should I move it further towards the edge of the racket?
"That's not the case."
Suddenly, a girl's voice came from behind.
Song Linzhou was slightly startled and looked towards the source of the sound.
The girl was standing not far behind him, carrying a golf bag that hung down to her knees.
It's easy to feel embarrassed when a little secret is discovered.
Song Linzhou lowered his head and scratched his head: "Your serve is very good, I want to learn..."
"Add a little twist to the feel." Zhu Qi put down the golf bag, pulled out his racket from it, gently wiped the surface, and then took out a white ball from the basin next to him.
She tested the elasticity of the white ball, leaning over, throwing the ball, and hitting it.
Bang!
The little white ball shot out of the dragon and landed on the opposite table with the net pressed down.
It's fast and spinning, and it's extremely low when it goes over the net.
She also has a superb control over the spin of the ball.
Just a casual serve can produce such high quality.
In addition to admiring the girl's talent, only those who are also athletes know how much effort it takes to achieve this.
After Song Linzhou revealed an expression of "really impressive," the girl tossed him a ball and instructed him, "Use your fingers hard when twisting. Oh, I forgot, you have a straight racket. That way, the ball will have more friction on the racket. Anyway, don't just hit the ball straight on with force. Without spin, it will just go off the net."
She was like a "little teacher", standing by with her arms folded.
From the posture, to the blade shape, to how to create spin with a straight blade, to the landing point of the ball, every detail is explained.
A basin of white balls is finished.
The serve either hits the net or goes out of bounds.
But Song Linzhou was not in a hurry. He followed Zhu Qi's instructions calmly and adjusted his posture and the details of his hands bit by bit.
If one pot is not enough, use two.
Later, seven or eight balls were finally put on the table.
Song Linzhou wiped the sweat off his face with his sleeve and pulled back his hair, revealing his fair complexion and a needle-tip-sized mole above his eyebrow. When he smiled, the mole was quite noticeable.
"Thank you for teaching me. This serve is really difficult. You're so talented, have you been practicing for a long time?"
"Of course." Zhu Qi walked to the outside of the net and reached out to pull it lower. "I used to make mistakes a lot when I was practicing. This kind of serve is called a 'suicide serve.' It's so close to the net, the error rate is so high, and it's easy to kill yourself with a serve. If you want to practice, start with no net, and gradually raise the net. That's how I practice."
"Okay, I will practice hard. This is for you." Song Linzhou took out an unopened bottle of sports drink from his backpack and handed it to Zhu Qi.
Zhu Qi did not refuse.
After explaining for a long time, I did feel a little dry in the mouth.
Two young children sat cross-legged on the ground, drinking from a bottle of water.
Sweat slid down his chin, hitting the dim light of the early morning.
"Do you come here every day? I didn't see you the past two days." Zhu Qi asked.
"My roommate was feeling a little unwell, and I was helping him get medicine from the infirmary the other day, so I didn't come."
"How long have you been practicing like this?"
"About a year."
"Come half an hour early every day?"
"About forty to half an hour. Get up at six, wash up quickly, and come over." Song Linzhou put the ball down and screwed the cap on the bottle, just in time to see Zhu Qi's golf bag next to him. "Are you going to come half an hour early every day to practice? I can be your golf club."
His cheeks were red, with the warmth from exercise.
Zhu Qi didn't expect that there would be someone so competitive in the men's team.
Anyway, they are not competitors in the same track, and they have to team up to play mixed doubles in the Table Tennis League, so it would be nice to have someone to roll with.
She nodded.
Song Linzhou's lips curved up in a shy smile.
Looking at the way Song Linzhou gripped the racket, Zhu Qi always wanted to ask: "Why don't you switch to a horizontal racket?"
It is common knowledge that straight-bar tablets are the trend.
Some people changed to horizontal boards, such as A Shui, who was relatively young when he changed to it so he was able to adapt to it.
There are also some who didn't make the right changes and continued to play with straight rackets. Then, when they found they couldn't make any progress, they retired while they were young and went back to school.
The fact that Song Linzhou was able to participate in the World Cup shows that he played well in the men's team.
If it can be changed to a horizontal board earlier, perhaps its status can be further improved and it can enter the absolute main force layer sooner.
Looking at the entire national team, Song Linzhou is one of the few straight-blade players.
Still the left hand.
"Because the straight-blade is the pride of China," he smiled. "And I've been practicing with it since I was a kid, so I'm a little reluctant to give it up. I want to bring it to the world stage, to show others that even with changes to the format and ball size, the Chinese team still has players who are really good at it."
Zhu Qi was unexpectedly moved by these words.
He didn't talk about becoming a world champion or achieving a Grand Slam.
There is no way to measure the weight of a young man's dream.
Hidden in one little white ball after another.
He knew that the coaching staff wanted to train horizontal board players more.
The replacement of athletes is very fast, and new talents will come up in the blink of an eye.
Even Song Linzhou's head coach thought he was a bit stubborn.
Even if everyone says that straight-blade tennis rackets are no longer popular, he will use his own experience to prove that the straight-blade tennis rackets used by Chinese people can still be passed down.
Even if it means practicing harder, more tiringly, and for a longer time than others, in order to make up for the weakened rotation of the straight blade.
However, he saw the girl slightly curl her lips towards him.
"You shouldn't be so rigid. You can practice hitting with the penhold."
【Author’s words】
After that, it became stable every morning at 9 o'clock and 6 o'clock. La la la [Drop-eared rabbit head] ~ I didn't expect that so many babies like Bao Bao. Thank you for your support! I will keep updating until the end. La la la la——
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