Chapter 34: A New Opportunity
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Was it seven? How come it is eight now? Coach Chen couldn't make any sense of it for a second, but then understood. Dai Li said seven had passed because only seven students had taken the test at the time. Now that the last student had also passed test, it bumped Dai Li's number up from seven to eight.
All the students reached the standard, and two of them even ran under 11 seconds! If I were him I couldn't be that good, Coach Chen gasped in astonishment. He looked at Li in a different way. 100% passing rate. This is definitely not a coincidence. I was wrong. Qingliang Xu and Haiyang Chen are high-flyers, but this young coach, whom I neglected before, is the real man of genuine ability.
Coach Chen knew that it was way more challenging to find a capable coach than to have a talented athlete. A good coach could make the ugly look beautiful. Coach Chen had an impulse for cherishing the talent.
He asked Li, "How old are you? How long have you been a coach?"
"I just turned 22. I haven't been a coach for a long time. I just graduated from university, and I taught a PE training class for the senior high school entrance PE exam," Dai Li answered.
"Just graduated? What was your major? Physical Education, Sports Training or Movement Science?" Chen listed three majors, which were all related to physical training.
"My major was sports training," Li answered.
Coach Chen nodded again and asked, "Do you have any other jobs besides running your training class?"
Dai Li was a little embarrassed. Although he had made a lot of money recently, he was still unemployed. He hesitated for a second, then replied, "I haven't found a job yet."
"In that case, are you interested in being my assistant coach in the Provincial Sport University? PSU expands enrollment this year. I am looking for an assistant. Although assistant coaches are employed under contract, you could have benefits similar to formal teachers. You will have performance-related pay and training grants besides your basic salary," said Chen.
Dai Li's face lit up with pleasure. He was planning to work as a fitness coach after he finished his training class, or find similar jobs on the job market. He never expected to be an assistant coach for the Provincial Sport University (PSU) . This great opportunity had just fallen into his lap!
For Dai Li, the only drawback of this job was that he had to leave his hometown and move to the capital city. But training excellent athletes in PSU was his biggest dream. He was eager to gain more experience so that he could upgrade his training system.
Without hesitation, he nodded in agreement. "Thank you for your offer, Coach Chen. It would be my pleasure to have this job."
...
Director Zhao felt that he couldn't get any worse. Coach Chen had already been in front of him, but turned him away. His hopes were dashed. Luckily Zhao didn't have hypertension or heart problems, otherwise such radical changes would have sent him to the hospital.
Dai Li, you again! You dashed my dream! I couldn't get an admission, how can I justify myself to President Lyv? Mr. Lyv must feel disappointed with the result. I think I have to say goodbye to my vice-president position. Zhao's heart was full of hatred now. He would definitely not have fired that temporary worker if he could have predicted today's awful result. He had to pay for his mistake.
Zhao began to feel regret. What if he hadn't fired Dai Li? The situation would probably be the opposite. He would get both admissions for his school, and he would also gain honor and fame.
Zhao gave himself a resounding slap across the face. I was so stupid! How could I fire Dai Li?
...
Leading teachers from high schools were busy discussing.
"Who is that young man over there? The two best performers were both his students. One of them even got a time of 10.64 seconds, which is good enough for official competitions."
"He doesn't look like a high school teacher. I know almost every PE teacher in Yuzhou high schools, but I have never seen him before."
"Is he from any nearby town or district? Wait a minute, candidates from nearby towns were normally sent here by bus. Each of the town normally sent few dozens of people in the past, but he only brought eight students. There is no way he is from the nearby town ."
"Hey, I got some news! That young coach is named Dai Li. He just graduated from college. He runs a training class, and all eight students he teaches have passed the qualifying standard. That's a 100% passing rate! Moreover, all of the students are high school graduates, none of them are sports talent students. They were recruited to high school in a normal way."
"They all passed? How could that be possible? Does this young man have super powers? Even professional coaches from sports schools and the Yuzhou sports team could not attain such an achievement!"
"Right? I heard that before this test, the sports school claimed that they could get admissions for the independent recruitment and send their students to the Provincial Sport University. They are making such fools of themselves! The only two admissions were taken by that young coach!"
"I say that the sports school has nothing special if a newbie coach could easily defeat them! I'm going to report all these things to our president. There is no need to cooperate with the sports school at all!"
These high school PE teachers and sport school coaches were competitors. They had nothing good to say about the sports school's performance.
Not far away from the crowd stood Dabing Sun, an assistant coach in the sports school. He couldn't bear the bad words about his school, so he took a step forward to interrupt the conversation. "Dai Li was from our school."
"Hey dude, don't say anything you don't know. Li is a college student, while your sports school is a special secondary school. How can your graduates enroll in college?" someone asked.
"Li is not our student. I mean, he was an assistant coach, just like me," Sun explained hastily.
"Then why isn't he there now?" someone else asked with interest.
"Li was fired." Sun answered with a lower voice.
"He was fired? Your school is that good, huh? You fired such an amazing coach!"
"I would say that Li must have offended someone from the upper level, otherwise with his outstanding abilities, how could he be fired?" These PE teachers had nothing else to do, so they stood there gossiping. Meanwhile, Dai Li's name spread amongst the crowd.