Transmigration: Flirted with My Childhood Sweetheart-Chapter 646 - 645: The Last One and a Promising Seedling

Table tennis in Huaxia has always been something special.

After winning their first gold medal at the World Table Tennis Championships in 1959, from the competition with Japan for supremacy during the 60s and 70s to the China-Sweden rivalry in the 80s and 90s, and then to the later quote, "For some people, the match is lost as soon as they shake hands"...

"Comrade Lin, is this the child?"

Coach Wei Hongwei of the provincial team had finished his tasks and came over to size up Zheng Shan.

The little girl was dressed in a pink long coat, her delicate face like a painted sculpture, her long hair tied behind her head, and she was wearing a Head Flower that Coach Wei’s daughter had pestered him to buy for a long time but he was reluctant to part with.

She looked like a child raised in pampering, not one who appeared capable of enduring hardship.

Wei Hongwei frowned unconsciously.

He was the head coach of the provincial team, and there were numerous people who used connections to plead for him to take their children into the team.

Generally, Wei Hongwei would directly refuse with the excuse of "the provincial team has a selection rule."

The case with Lin Nianhe was obviously an exception—Wei Hongwei’s superior directly informed him to receive them, and did not forget to remind him that the person who called the team lives in a single-family house in a large courtyard; even if the child played as softly as fluffing cotton, he could not curse.

Reality is always somewhat helpless.

"Good day, Coach Wei," Lin Nianhe greeted with a smile, shaking his hand, "This is Zheng Shan, my student."

As she spoke, Lin Nianhe gently squeezed Zheng Shan’s hand.

Zheng Shan pursed her lips and, following Zheng Lirong’s teaching, bowed to Coach Wei: "Hello, coach."

"Hey, hello." Wei Hongwei didn’t put on a stern face to the child and asked her, "How long have you been playing?"

"One month."

Wei Hongwei: "..."

Are you kidding?

Wei Hongwei looked at Lin Nianhe, his expression especially stiff, as he struggled to suppress the impulse to swear and said diplomatically: "Comrade Lin, this is the provincial team. Most of the athletes are selected from the city team, and they have been playing for at least two to three years before joining."

He understood that it’s common for parents to think the best of their own children, but competitions won’t award you a gold medal because "my mom thinks I’m unparalleled."

He had even less interest and time to teach a nearly grown child how to play table tennis.

Lin Nianhe had anticipated the coach’s reaction, otherwise she wouldn’t have asked Su Yuncheng to use his connections.

"I understand," Lin Nianhe nodded, still wearing a smile, "We don’t have intentions of making it big immediately. The main purpose of our visit is to understand our own gap. If it’s convenient for you, could you arrange for a team member to play a match with Shanshan, would that be okay?"

"This..." Wei Hongwei’s eyebrows relaxed a bit and after pondering for a moment, he nodded, "Alright, come with me."

Just having one match was better than having him directly accept the girl.

He didn’t take a little girl who had only played table tennis for a month seriously at all, and randomly called an athlete who ranked at the bottom of the provincial team to play with Zheng Shan.

Lin Nianhe helped Zheng Shan take off her coat and pinched her little face, saying: "Go have fun."

Zheng Shan was holding her new racket tightly, pursing her little mouth, tense as if she was going to participate in the most important match.

The athlete playing against Zheng Shan was called Zhang Yongqing, who was already sixteen years old, much taller than her, with longer arms and legs.

He was a little nervous and asked Wei Hongwei in a low voice, "Coach, how should I play?"

"Just play casually," Wei Hongwei said, "Don’t make the child lose too badly."

"Okay." frёeweɓηovel_coɱ

Zhang Yongqing stood beside the table, habitually biting his lower lip. Before coming to the provincial team, he was the city competition’s champion, but after coming to the provincial team, first place became the last. Now, every time he stood next to the table, he couldn’t help but start sweating in his palms, even if his opponent was just a child.

Zhang Yongqing noticed that the little kid across the table was even more serious than himself, her eyes bright and burning with an animal-like aggressiveness.

Zhang Yongqing got startled, subconsciously served a backhand underspin ball.

As soon as he served the ball, he regretted it—just after the coach told him to go easy, he went ahead with a high-difficulty serve. What if the kid couldn’t return the first ball and started crying? Would the coach kick him?

Unexpectedly, Zheng Shan managed to return the ball.

True, Zheng Shan had only played table tennis for a month, but she had faced numerous opponents. There were players like Wen Lan, who played a straightforward fast-attack game; there were those like Sie Yufei, who liked to show off fancy techniques; and then there were the utterly unpredictable ones like Wang Dong.

It wouldn’t be an overstatement to say that after being tormented by Teacher Wang’s skills, even if a wolf stood on the other side of the table, Zheng Shan wouldn’t be afraid.

She couldn’t think of anything scarier than playing against Teacher Wang.

Zheng Shan was very calm, with eyes only for the ball; she didn’t even notice what her opponent looked like.

Wei Hongwei was only present as a courtesy at first, but gradually, his expression turned serious.

This child...

The score on the court was 9:4, with Zheng Shan at a disadvantage.

"Has this child really only played for a month?" He found it hard to believe.

Even though Zheng Shan was losing points, the fact that she could hold her own against Zhang Yongqing, a formal provincial team member and an experienced competitor in city-level matches, was already quite impressive.

"Yes, truly just a month." Lin Nianhe said, her mouth turning up proudly, unable to contain her pride.

She was a layperson, but she thought Zheng Shan scoring any points was incredible. If anyone spoke ill of Shanshan, she’d give them a piece of her mind.

On the court, Zheng Shan’s long braid swung from side to side, tracing lively and beautiful arcs.

"She’s got talent." Wei Hongwei commented thoughtfully.

While the two of them discussed on the sidelines, the players on the court were both under pressure.

No need to mention Zheng Shan—sweat had already begun to bead at her temples, and her cheeks were flushed red.

Zhang Yongqing felt increasingly nervous—he could feel that scoring points against her was becoming harder and harder!

Sports success doesn’t come overnight, but the kid opposite him was like a dry sponge, continuously absorbing everything even while on the court.

She even tried to perform a backhand underspin serve; she failed, but her posture was identical to Zhang Yongqing’s serving motion.

Zhang Yongqing unconsciously clenched his teeth tighter, even tasting the faint flavor of iron.

He might be in last place now, but he used to be number one!

He frowned, putting an extra third of his strength into his arm, unleashing his best quick attack.

The ball came fiercely; Zheng Shan struggled to return it. She had just hustled to the right to hit the ball and hadn’t even turned around when she heard the ping pong sound closing in again.

She whipped around swiftly, extending her hand towards the sound.

But suddenly, everything went dark!

It wasn’t a power outage, nor was it from exhaustion.

It was because her swinging braid had covered her eyes.

Zheng Shan felt the ball graze the edge of her paddle and bounce away, then she only felt a sharp pain in her eyes.

"Ah!"

She couldn’t help but exhale softly.

"Shanshan!"

Lin Nianhe was startled, taking a quick step forward to catch the unsteady Zheng Shan.

She carefully pushed aside her long hair, using her shoulder bag as cover, and took out eyewash from her space to rinse Zheng Shan’s eyes.

Zheng Shan’s eyes were red, slightly sore from being whipped by her hair, but what was more troubling was her irritation.

If it weren’t for her hair, she could have returned that ball.

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