Almighty Coach

Li walked to the second floor. There were booths with fencing in between, and each booth had a curtain in front of the entrance. The booths were private rooms to protect guests’ privacy.

Li was taken to a booth, and the waitress opened the curtain. Feifei Yu was sitting there.

"Sorry to keep you waiting," said Li.

"Don’t worry, you are fine. I just arrived myself," answered Feifei.

Even though they hadn’t met for months, they sometimes messaged each other through WeChat, which was the reason they were both acting so calmly despite not having seen one another for a while.

"Here is the menu. Choose whatever you want, it’s my treat." Feifei handed a menu to Li with a smile.

Li looked through the menu and asked, "How about we have some vegetarian food? You have to be very careful with meat in outside restaurants, but I think vegetables should be fine."

"Don’t you worry about that. Pick whatever you want, I can eat any dish in this restaurant." Feifei leaned forward and said, "Do you know who the owner of this place is?"

"No idea. But ‘Champion’s Home’ is a special name," said Li.

"Yong Chen is the owner!" Feifei revealed.

"Yong Chen? Yong Chen from Yong Chen Bloc?" Li was surprised.

"Yes, that’s him!" Feifei nodded.

Everybody knew who Yong Chen was. He was a legend in World Gymnastics. He won the grand slam and numerous honors in his career, the most classic one being a clean sweep of all seven gold medals in a Gymnastics World Championship. That was unprecedented.

Chen was also a successful businessman. After he retired, he created a new brand for sporting goods. As time went by, "Yong Chen" became the best domestic sporting goods brand in the country, and the brand had gone public in overseas countries. It was common for big companies to open up branches and have diversification, but Li would never have expected that someone who started a sporting goods brand would also have a restaurant. As he was thinking about it, Feifei continued introducing him.

"Chen is an athlete himself, so he knows the importance of food safety. His restaurant is famous for its good quality. There are no preservatives or pollution. This restaurant exists mainly to serve athletes. That is why it is called ‘Champion’s Home.’ Professional athletes in Donggang City always come here to eat.

"This is so expensive! A fillet steak costs 188 yuan! It only costs 50 yuan in ordinary restaurants." Li continued staring at the menu and found that the fillet steak was only the beginning. If the two of them ordered four dishes, it would cost 1,000 yuan.

"I don’t care about the prices. The key point is I have to fill you up so that you have enough energy to help me lose weight tomorrow," Feifei said as she smiled.

As a world record holder, Feifei had earned tens of millions of yuan through all kinds of endorsements. In addition, because the entertainment industry was flourishing, Feifei could take part in some live shows as a celebrity for money after she retired. To her, a 3,000 yuan meal was affordable.

The two began eating and chatting. Li told Feifei some stories about the weightlifting team, while Feifei shared her experience in Australia.

All of a sudden, the curtain was opened again. Both Li and Feifei sat in a daze. If it was a waiter, he would definitely have said "excuse me" before opening the curtain. There would be no reason for a waited to show up, however, as all dishes had already been served.

"Haha, I hear you! I know it’s you! Feifei!" The stranger was a young man. He was around 1.9 meters high with dark skin, bright eyes, and a high nose. He looked cool at first glance, but looking closer, his face was rough with acne.

Li had to take another look with astonishment. He knew this guy, but he had never expected to meet him here in a restaurant.

"You are Feixiang Lin!" Li said involuntarily.

The young man smiled, seemingly used of this reaction. Feifei was surprised.

"Lin, why are you here?"

"I just finished my dinner. I passed by your booth, then heard someone speaking that sounded like you, so I came and check. It’s really you!" Feixiang Lin looked happy to see an old friend. He turned to Li, then said, "I don’t know you. Who are you? Are you Feifei’s teammate?"

"Lin, this is coach Dai Li," Feifei said, introducing Li. Feifei didn’t bother introducing Feixiang Lin, as everyone in the country knew Lin.

"A coach? You are young—younger than me." Lin began making fun of them. "Is he actually your boyfriend?"

"That’s bullshxt!" Feifei gave Lin a glare, then explained, "Coach Li is a fitness coach for the Hanbei Provincal Team. He is here for my training."

"Your team is so good to you! They even sent a coach with you to Donggang. I really feel jealous. I have never had that treat," Lin laughed.

Feifei immediately explained, "Coach Li just helps me in passing. He is here on secondment. Speaking of this...Lin, coach Li is working in your Beikou Athletic Training Center now. Please take care of him!"

"To our training center? Then you are not very lucky," Lin sighed.

"Why? Because of the high training intensity?" asked Feifei.

"That’s one reason. Apparently the training intensity is higher on the national team than the other teams, but it depends. But basically, coaches from provincial teams work as handymen. They can’t get involved in actual training," explained Lin.

"A handyman? Is Coach Li going to be ‘Linderella?’" Feifei laughed.

"Close to it," Lin continued. "Things like picking up shots, picking up discuses, picking up javelins, and picking up everything they throw away. They even clean the sandpit, or lead long-distance running. In my program, handymen get hurdles ready before we run. In addition, those poor guys have to wave towels, hand out water, get training clothes, etc. It’s just tedious."

"Coach Li is not a butler!" Feifei said. She felt like it was unfair. To her, Li should at least be a training coach here, not just some waterboy.

"Don’t worry, Feifei. Since he is your friend, I will tell the team leaders to let him work with me. I will take care of him." Lin looked at Li, "Your name is Dai Li, right? Just wait for the good news!"