Almighty Coach

Not only Anshan Wang, but also the other athletes who danced with Dai Li this morning, all sensed the unusual change. During the whole day’s training, their bodies remained fully activated. In such a condition, they got two-fold effects with only half the effort.

Today, after training ended, athletes walked out of the training center one after another, friends joking at each other.

"You were in great status today during training, I saw Coach Zhou praise you. He’s always bitch-faced, rarely smiles. And now, he is willing to praise you, how amazing! Pigs might fly!" Athlete A said.

Athlete B nodded. "Right, I was surprised, too. I have been after Coach Zhou for more than a year, I can count with one hand the amount of praise I’ve ever received from him."

"Come on, how did you get in such nice condition? Do you have any secret method?" Athlete A immediately asked.

"I guess, maybe because I did some square dance with Coach Li this morning!" Athlete B replied.

"Are you kidding me? Square dance? I can do ballet!" Athlete A curled his lips with scorn.

But Athlete B changed to a serious look. "I am serious. My training today had nothing different from my daily training, except that, this morning, I danced with Coach Li. Moreover, after I stopped dancing, I felt that my whole body was boiling with energy, and I was very excited, like I had just won a game. So that’s why I think the square dance worked."

Athlete A continued, "You must be joking! I mean, is it really necessary to exaggerate like this? You say, ’My body is boiling’, I say your brain is boiled away! Should I take you to the doctor’s?"

After his taunting, Athlete A mockingly looked innocent, waiting as Athlete B responded, saying, "I’m not joking, neither do I exaggerate. If you don’t trust me, why don’t you come earlier tomorrow, and do square dance with Coach Li, then you will see whether I’m lying or not."

"You want me to learn square dance? I would never go! I’m an athlete, and if the others knew that I went to learn Square dance in the national ping-pong team, they would laugh their jaws off!" said Athlete A.

"Come on, just have a try, it only takes you ten to twenty minutes, so you won’t waste much time. Besides, what if Coach Li’s square dance does work? You will enjoy its benefits!" Athlete B kept persuading.

...

The next morning, Dai Li arrived at the training center at five o’clock, just like he had the day before. To be honest, Dai Li also thought that, as a professional fitness coach, it wasn’t something worth being proud of, to teach athletes to square dance, even though the dance did work. Hence, he came early on purpose, in order to avoid being caught by the head coaches, and therefore, causing himself embarrassment.

Out of Dai Li’s expectation, Anshan Wang was waiting right at the gate, looking forward to seeing Dai Li.

"Coach Li, finally you are here!" After seeing Dai Li, Anshan Wang welcomed him at once, while saying: "We were waiting for you, please guide us in warming up!"

We? Before Dai Li figured out who he meant, several athletes from behind came closer to surround him. They were people who learned the square dance from Dai Li yesterday, and enjoyed the benefits. So today, they all arrived early, waiting for Dai Li.

"Coach Li, the sound of your phone is too low, so we couldn’t hear it from afar. I have brought a Bluetooth Loudspeaker!" One athlete squeezed to the front, with a small loudspeaker in his hand.

Ha, you guys are better equipped than I! Realizing that he was quite popular, Dai Li felt delighted.

"OK then, let’s start danc...No, I mean, warming up!" While he spoke, Dai Li took off his coat.

...

Pengfei Cui walked to the training center with eyelids half-dropped. From his look, obviously, he was not fully awake yet.

As he entered into the gate, he was yawning lazily. But what he witnessed next shocked him, his eyes wide open now.

What are they doing? And the music, are they square dancing?! Pengfei Cui subconsciously stepped back, then looked around to ensure that he was in the right place.

Pengfei Cui stepped into the gate again. He stared at those dancing athletes, and everybody looked familiar. Those were all his teammates!

What the hell is this? Are they crazy?! Pengfei Cui complained in his heart. He didn’t choose to join in the dancing team, but instead, found a corner for himself and began his solo practice.

"Step forward! Step back! Left! Right! Step forward! Clap!" Dai Li modeled the dancing movements, while shouting out directions.

The athletes all followed Dai Li, and danced orderly. When Dai Li instructed "clap", the crowd clapped with him.

"Bang bang!"

The two crisp claps went into Pengfei Cui’s ears, which distracted him. He couldn’t concentrate anymore.

Pengfei Cui looked around, noticing that, except him, the others were all dancing with Dai Li. Suddenly, a sense of loneliness flashed across his heart.

Should I try, too? Such an idea came to his mind, and soon, his feet were out of his control, as he subconsciously moved toward the dancing crowd.

Square dance was like this, as its dancers were not shy, and the audience couldn’t wait to join in. Especially when everybody was square dancing, the one who stood aside felt himself as an outcast. If he wanted to make himself look normal, either he joined in, or he turned around and left.

That morning, some other athletes joined in the group. Then, on the third day, the thirteen athletes of the National Ping-Pong Men’s Team 1 all learned square dance with Dai Li.

...

"Early birds eat worms, early worms are eaten by birds..." Bin Wang sang his own-written song, as he walked to the training center.

As the vice chief coach of the national ping-pong team, Bin Wang always showed up in the training center before seven o’clock in the morning. However, when there were training camps, normally, he wouldn’t show up until regular working time.

But today, he couldn’t sleep since waking early at 4 am, so he got up instead, and came to the training center. Before he went into the gate, Bin Wang heard music coming from the training center.

"Who is playing music out loud so early in the morning, and the song, it sounds familiar. Wait, I see, isn’t it that recently popular, divine tune of square dance?! Ha, this song is really suitable for refreshing my mind!" Bin Wang considered, as he stepped into the training center.

The next second, he suddenly changed his facial expression, as he saw the dancing athletes in the center.

"What are you doing?!" Bin Wang roared.