Chapter 106: The Strongest of the Strong

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

Hu Liu looked at Dai Li and the five athletes with pride. He was expecting to see Dai Li panic, as well as how shocked the athletes were. To his surprise, they all appeared calm, not surprised by 16.31 meters at all. Hu Liu felt as if he had just thrown a punch into thin air.

Dai Li spoke first. "This is indeed a national first-class athlete! Fantastic! Admirable!"

"Admirable? I don't see a trace of admiration on your face!" Hu Liu complained silently to himself. He said, "You are most kind. This is an average performance for Jinpeng Lu."

"If an average performance is this impressive, I cannot wait to watch the national bronze medallist!" As Dai Li spoke, he looked at Xian Su, the bronze medalist of National Youth Track and Field Championship.

Xian Su looked arrogant. He told Hu Liu, "Sir, I think Lu will suffice. I don't need to participate, do I?"

The youth team members frowned. By saying this, it was clear that Xian Su was looking down upon the youth team athletes. He didn't even consider them worthy competition. He was trying to embarrass them.

Hu Liu's face turned cold. He criticized him by saying, "This is a friendly match, but no matter what kind of match it is, you must treat it seriously. Will you refuse to participate in a formal game because your rivals are not good enough?"

It sounded like Hu Liu was criticizing Xian Su, but in fact he was being sarcastic in front of the youth team. He thought they were too weak!

But the speech did not work on Xian Su. As a national bronze medal winner and a superstar in Nantan, he had won his fame at a young age and feared no one. He didn't seem to care, and spread his hands. "If so, I will forfeit my first pretrial attempt. This is permissible by game rules, correct?"

"You!" Hu Liu could not do anything about it. He turned his head and said, "Mr. Li, Xian Su forfeits this attempt."

Dai Li suppressed the anger in his heart. He looked at his five students and said: "Qin, you go first!"

Qin was not the best among Dai Li's five students, but he was the steadiest one. Letting him go first was a strategy to stabilize the team.

Qin walked to the throwing circle, grabbed the shot, played back the movements he had been practicing inside his head, then prepared himself to throw.

In a similar fashion to Jinpeng Lu, his back faced the throwing circles. He stood near the inside rear of the circle, with one foot in front of the other spread about 30 centimeters, his right foot pointing at the inner throwing circle. Then he relaxed his body, lifted up his left arm naturally, and positioned his body weight on the straight right leg.

"Hehh!" Qin's body moved with a loud shout. The shot gained powerful momentum with a sudden spinning of his body. With a solid thrust, the giant shot ball took off in the air.

Hooh The shot ball travelled through the air and landed solidly on the ground.

In the distance, Hui Zhang's heart was filled with a sudden excitement. "What? Over 16 meters again? It seems to be as far as Lu's attempt just now. This is enough to qualify for a national first-level athlete. Why was he not selected by the sports team last year? I guess they also make mistakes sometimes!"

"16.37 meters!" the measurement crew announced.

What? 16.37 meters! Hu Liu's face suddenly turned grim.

"16.37 meters, that is further than my distance!" Jinpeng Lu was also shocked.

"Good job, Lei Qin!" Dai Li was satisfied with Qin's performance, but not surprised at all. In fact, he had already detected Jinpeng Lu. Lu's ability value was slightly higher than Qin, but Qin had the help of the explosive force halo. It was such a miraculous gizmo for shot put athletes. Dai Li estimated that Qin could throw 16.50 meters if he performed well. Yet Qin had only thrown for 16.37, suggesting a mediocre performance.

"Zhanshan Zhao, your turn!" Dai Li appointed his next player.

Zhao stepped onto the field without saying a word. He was as good as Qin. Qin's 16.37 meters made Zhao confident. He felt that if Qin could beat Lu, so could he.

"Go!" Zhao threw the shot with a similar shout.

"16.41 meters!" The result was announced by the front crew.

Coach Hui Zhang was astonished. "This is further than the other two people, beyond 16.40 meters! When did we get such competent athletes on our team? Did the sports team make another mistake in their selection?"

On the side, Hu Liu's face turned gloomy. Two athletes in a row from the Hanbei youth team had outperformed Jinpeng Lu. This was not a coincidence. At this moment, Hu Liu finally realized why he could not find a single sign of panic on Dai Li's face earlier. It was because he was confident all along!

"I thought he was just a young coach playing petty tricks. Turns out he's playing pig to eat the tiger! I may have kicked on an iron board." Hu Liu shook his head silently. But he did was not worried.

"Even if you are an iron board, we have a diamond drill. We'll drill through your iron board!" Hu Liu looked at national bronze medalist Xian Su.

Dai Li pointed at Feng Luo to signal his turn. Luo did not disappoint Dai Li. He threw 16.36 meters, still further than Lu's 16.31 meters.

"Another good throw. There are three consecutive good attempts already. This athlete was not chosen by the sports team either. How could it be? One could be a mistake. They could not have made the same mistake three times!" Hui Zhang suddenly realized the key to the problem. He turned his head towards Dai Li, with mixed emotions in his eyes.

"This Mr. Li was transferred here at such a young age. He is not an ordinary guy. He is capable of something."

Counting Xian Su, who had forfeited his attempt, there were five athletes who had completed the first attempt. To everybody's surprise, Jinpeng Lu, the national first-class athlete from the Nantan Middle School was at the bottom of the rankings.

Lu was the most upset by this. He had come with pride, believing that he could smash his rivals easily, but he was ending up at the bottom. Each of the three athletes from the rival team were better than him. He felt as if he had smashed his own head against the wall.

But Dai Li was smiling with content. Behind him was Bin Wang and Jiankang Chen, who had not appeared on stage yet. They could not wait to try. However, Dai Li did not intend to let them compete. He told Hu Liu, "Mr. Liu, you are a guest from afar. I have two more athletes, but they will forfeit their first attempts as well!"