Almighty Coach

Mr. Liu’s Scapulohumeral Periarthritis flared up again, so he didn’t continue training, but instead, put on a jacket. He then covered his whole shoulder with another cloth.

Youdi Wei’s heart was filled with helplessness. He stared at Dai Li, who was not far away, especially when he noticed that Mr. Zhang was still exercising, brimming with energy. He felt that the world was treating him unfairly.

Why does my trainee Mr. Liu have Scapulohumeral Periarthritis, when Dai Li’s trainee Mr. Zhang is quite healthy?! I must be down on my luck! Youdi Wei thought.

Ping Wang and Tao Jiang conversed from afar.

"Mr. Liu, what’s going on? Are you alright?" Ping Wang asked thoughtfully.

"I’m alright, it’s just my shoulder hurts again!" Mr. Liu said, as he stood up.

"Coach Wang, I need to go back and put on a patch, then have some physiotherapy. Could you find me a car, and send me home?"

"Sure, Let me call the driver." Ping Wang winked at Tao Jiang, who, wordlessly understanding, then turned around to arrange a car.

Ping Wang told Youdi Wei, "Coach Wei, Mr. Liu is about to go back home, you won’t have any tasks for the rest of you time here, so how about you go back and rest?"

"Go back and rest" were the words Ping Wang had told Guang Wu a while ago, which also announced that Guang Wu was out of the game. Now, those same words were given to Youdi Wei, so he clearly understood that Ping Wang was actually indicating that he was being eliminated.

However, at this moment, Youdi Wei was not convinced at all. He felt very uncomfortable about it all.

Youdi Wei didn’t leave at once, but rather, he hesitated, then asked, "Coach Wang, I think this practical training is not fair, as it doesn’t show my true ability."

"Oh?" Ping Wang was not offended, but instead, he looked at Youdi Wei with interest, saying, "Coach Wei, we are colleagues, feel free to share your ideas or concerns."

"Thank you Coach Wang,then I will say it straightforwardly. Mr. Chen has Arthritis, and Mr. Liu has Scapulohumeral Periarthritis. These two diseases will affect normal training. But, before we started,we didn’t know about the two old cadres’ chronic diseases. Guang Wu was not aware of Mr. Chen’s Arthritis, which was why he overtrained Mr. Chen, and caused his discomfort."

Youdi Wei paused, then continued, "I didn’t know that Mr. Liu had Scapulohumeral Periarthritis, so I didn’t adopt targeted measures to avoid hurting Mr. Liu’s shoulders. If I was informed in advance, I would definitely not have used my original training methods, and Mr.Liu’s shoulders would not be hurting now."

"However, Dai Li’s trainee, Mr. Zhang, doesn’t have these chronic diseases. That is why he can finish a whole day’s training plans." Youdi Wei glanced at Dai Li again, then said, "This is too unfair to me and Guang Wu! We have different trainees, and if Mr. Liu didn’t have Scapulohumeral Periarthritis, we could also be finishing our training tasks today."

"Oh? You think that Mr. Zhang is very healthy?" Ping Wang smiled.

"Then, does Mr. Zhang have Arthritis?" Youdi Wei replied with a question.

Ping Wang shook his head. "No!"

"Then, does he have Scapulohumeral Periarthritis?" Youdi Wei asked another question.

"No." Ping Wang shook head again.

Youdi Wei was about to say something, when Mr.Liu, who was resting on the side, suddenly interrupted, "Old Zhang has Lumbar Disc Protrusion."

"Lumbar Disc Protrusion?" Youdi Wei repeated, as he looked toward the direction of Mr. Zhang with surprise. In the next second, he asked: "Does Dai Li know this?"

"He does. But we didn’t tell him, and neither did Mr. Zhang. He discovered it by himself, when he was massaging Mr. Zhang," Ping Wang explained.

"Massage!" Youdi Wei immediately recalled that, during morning training, every time they took a break, Dai Li would give Mr. Zhang a massage.

I see! That’s not simply a muscle massage, but a targeted lumber massage. The reason why Dai Li massaged him so frequently, was to reduce Mr. Zhang’s lumber pressure.That’s why Mr. Zhang could still act actively, and how he is not affected by his illness! Without those massages, Mr. Zhang would probably have lied down on the ground by now.

Youdi Wei had figured out everything.

"Coach Li, take a time out!" Ping Wang shouted at Dai Li to call him over.

Then Ping Wang said, "Actually, in today’s practical training, you all had the same starting level. Mr. Zhang has Lumbar Disc Protrusion, Mr. Liu has Scapulohumeral Periarthritis, and Mr. Chen has Arthritis. These three Chronic diseases will all affect training. But, we didn’t inform you before you started."

"Well, to be honest, we did so in order to find create some trouble on purpose, as we wanted to make the optimal selection. You three are so good, and are the best coaches in our provincial team. Any of you coming to our ping-pong team as a fitness coach would be our pleasure, and I believe that you can do quite well on your future job. Therefore, we warmly welcome you, no matter who stays in the end. But in normal times, without the Deputy Director allure, none of you would be willing to come, I’m guessing!"

Hearing Ping Wang’s words, Dai Li and Youdi Wei both smiled awkwardly.

Ping Wang continued, "But only one person can be the deputy director, as the saying goes: ’the monks are many, and the supply of gruel is meager--not enough to go around’. Hence, we here in the ping-pong team decided to use such an extremely strict, or rather, tricky assessment as the selection. As for the final result, Dai Li is more skillful. He noticed Mr. Zhang’s Lumbar Disc Protrusion, and adopted targeted measures to ensure the proper training process."

As Ping Wang spoke, he turned to Youdi Wei, then continued his explanation, "Coach Wei, please don’t hate me, as I did this for work. You guys are so good, that regular selections cannot distinguish who is the better, so we were forced to creatively challenge you."

Youdi Wei took a deep breath in order to calm himself down. Although he was still not completely convinced, in his heart, he had accepted the truth of being defeated by Dai Li.

"Mr. Liu has Scapulohumeral Periarthritis?" Dai Li pretended that he knew nothing. He turned to Mr. Liu.

"Just some old trouble. My Scapulohumeral Periarthritis has been here for more than ten years, and once I catch any cold, I can’t raise my arm. But it’s not serious, so after I go back home, I will use a hot lamp to heat my shoulder, then put on a patch, and I shall be fine tomorrow," said Mr. Liu.

"Mr. Liu, may I help you?" asked Dai Li.

Mr. Liu considered this, and since the car hadn’t come yet, he nodded. "Sure. Old Zhang told me that your massage is as good as those experienced massage professionals."

...

Five minutes later.

"Uh-huh! It doesn’t hurt anymore!" Mr. Liu said, as he attempted to raise his arm. "I can move it. My arm was not able to even raise up a small bit several minutes ago, but now I can completely raise it up!" Mr. Liu exclaimed, excited.

Dai Li smiled, as he said, "Mr. Liu, my massage can only release your pain for a while, so after you go back home, you still need to keep warm and take good care of your shoulders."

On the side, Youdi Wei witnessed what had happened. His eyes were shining with admiration.

It’s only been five minutes, and Mr. Liu’s pain has been released. It seems that Dai Li’s massage skill really is amazing! I thought he didn’t know how to massage, but it’s actually his buried skill. This time, I am defeated by Dai Li, but I know that I don’t lose unjustly. He is indeed more skillful.