Chapter 103: Learning from Foreign Strengths to Empower Ourselves

The next day, December 18th, Rousseau arrived to find Qian Feng practicing shuttle runs, straight-leg runs, and other drills. Tomorrow, Rousseau was scheduled to compete at the Quancheng Station. Thanks to the Glass Crown, he had already enhanced his attributes.

Although he could afford to relax somewhat, he still trained as usual today. The pressure weighed heavily on Rousseau because of Pan Kai’s impressive 10.15-second time.

Watching Qian Feng train for a while, Rousseau suddenly found the exercises somewhat familiar. Under the dim, half-light sky, the figure on the field overlapped with memories of his own past training.

“Qian Feng,” Rousseau called out.

Qian Feng turned and eagerly ran over upon seeing Rousseau.

“Brother Lu!” Qian Feng greeted.

“Are these exercises the coach told you to do?” Rousseau asked.

“No, I added them myself,” Qian Feng replied. “I copied the training you used to do.”

That explained it.

“How did you know what I used to practice?” Rousseau questioned.

“Shi Wei told me,” Qian Feng answered.

“Besides these drills, are you doing the equipment exercises as well?” Rousseau inquired further.

“Yes, exactly the same as you!” Qian Feng said. “Brother Lu, you’re so hardworking. I don’t know how you managed to endure all that training…”

“You shouldn’t train like that,” Rousseau interrupted.

Only because Rousseau had a status bar could he push himself so hard without injury. If Qian Feng trained that way, he’d ruin himself.

“Brother Lu, I know my talent isn’t as good, but I believe that with hard work, even if I can’t run as fast as you, I can still get pretty quick.” Qian Feng sounded a little aggrieved.

How to explain... Rousseau scratched his head. This kid was stubborn.

As they spoke, Lu Jinrong and other team members gradually arrived at the training ground.

Rousseau pointed at Qian Feng and said to Lu Jinrong, “Coach, Qian Feng has been overtraining lately.”

“Not really. It’s about the same as when you started,” Lu Jinrong replied, clearly noticing Qian Feng’s extra efforts.

Hearing this, Rousseau suddenly realized that he might have set a bad precedent for the Pengcheng Provincial Team. If Lu Jinrong thought that Rousseau’s training was achievable and imposed similar requirements on other athletes—or at least didn’t stop them—then the future of the Pengcheng team looked bleak.

“I think,” Rousseau carefully chose his words, “each individual’s physique is different, so everyone’s training should be tailored accordingly.”

“So what? You want to create a personalized training plan for everyone?” Lu Jinrong asked. “What, being champion isn’t enough for you anymore? Now you want to usurp my authority and take my position?”

Ha! Rousseau laughed. Clearly, Lu Jinrong was joking, but he didn’t really believe Rousseau anyway.

“Coach, I want to draft a training plan for the 4x100 relay,” Rousseau said. “There’s still a month until the National Games. Besides me, we don’t have many medal prospects. So, I propose a plan for everyone to follow. The best performers will run the 4x100 at the National Games with me. How about that?”

“You really want to steal my job, huh!” Lu Jinrong glared. If it were someone like Tian Shiwei saying this, he might have kicked them away with a Foshan Shadowless Kick.

“I’m pretty confident,” Rousseau replied.

“Confidence?” Lu Jinrong thought Rousseau had too much confidence and too much free time. With a strong rival like Pan Kai right in front of him, Rousseau wasn’t focusing on that but instead on how the Pengcheng team could win gold in the 4x100 relay. And besides, could he really figure it out?

“You don’t even understand the 4x100 yourself, where’s your confidence from!” Lu Jinrong said, but in truth, he was somewhat intrigued. His strong reaction was because his authority had been challenged in front of the team.

According to Lu Jinrong’s coaching philosophy, when an athlete becomes a coach, it’s like replicating themselves. Now that Rousseau was retired and coaching, he should at least be able to produce a national 200-meter champion, which would surpass Lu Jinrong. But Rousseau hadn’t yet mastered the 4x100 relay—how could he come up with a reliable training plan?

“Coach, if you don’t believe me, ask them if they’re willing to train according to my plan,” Rousseau said, gesturing towards the athletes.

“I’m willing!” The first to raise his hand was, unsurprisingly, Rousseau’s devoted fan, Qian Feng.

The other athletes were immediately tempted.

That was a National Games gold medal on the line.

One gold could sustain a lifetime.

Retiring with such a medal could at least guarantee a position in the local sports bureau, far more prestigious than being a middle school PE teacher.

So several athletes were eager to raise their hands.

Only Tian Shiwei, sly as ever, watched Lu Jinrong’s furious expression but refused to support his good brother openly.

After all, Tian Shiwei owed his position to Lu Jinrong’s relentless backing.

Bang!

Lu Jinrong moved behind Qian Feng and delivered a swift Foshan Shadowless Kick to his backside. Coincidentally, Lu Jinrong was indeed from Foshan, and his kicking technique was exceptionally sharp.

Qian Feng clutched his rear, too afraid to utter a word.

Tian Shiwei chuckled, thinking, “Kid, you still have a lot to learn.”

...

The next day, December 19th.

It was the day of departure.

This time, the destination was Quancheng.

Ruan Mei did not come along; only Rousseau and Lu Jinrong went.

The promotional and technical materials from the Lu family were nearly complete. Because Ruan Mei had caught a fever on her last business trip and was currently resting, Rousseau felt her constitution was a bit weak.

While waiting at the airport, Rousseau pulled out a thick stack of documents and handed them to Lu Jinrong.

“What’s this?” Lu Jinrong asked.

“A training plan,” Rousseau replied.

Lu Jinrong flipped through the papers, uttered a low “Hmm,” and began to study them carefully. After a while, he looked up in disbelief. “You wrote this?”

“I said, Xiao Yu wrote it,” Rousseau said. “We collaborated—brother and sister.”

“...Doesn’t seem like it,” Lu Jinrong shook his head. “Too professional.”

“Coach, I’m a professional, you know,” Rousseau said.

In the past, when Rousseau said this, Lu Jinrong would laugh at him. Now, he wasn’t so sure how to respond.

“Actually, it was copied from the national team,” Rousseau added.

“I thought so!” Lu Jinrong breathed a sigh of relief, feeling more comfortable with the materials.

Indeed, it was copied from the national team, with some insights from the status bar added.

Back when Rousseau was sidelined by Li Yan, he carefully observed the national team’s training methods. At that time, Li Yan had focused on the 4x100 relay as a key event for the East Asian Youth Games, training it diligently.

Last night, Rousseau reviewed the status bar and recorded those training methods. Xiao Yu polished them, and the final product was the documents in Lu Jinrong’s hands.

With the status bar’s corrections, this method should be even better than the original.

It should work wonders at the provincial games.

“You’ve grown from your trip to the national team,” Lu Jinrong said, patting Rousseau’s shoulder with satisfaction. “You know how to bring good things home.”

Was that a compliment? Rousseau wondered.

“Li Yan isn’t a great person, but his training methods are definitely effective. This is called learning from others to strengthen oneself!” Lu Jinrong concluded.

What? Rousseau didn’t quite understand.