stonecrandall Chapter 146
Chapter 146
After training, Coach Li called Lin Feng to the sidelines.
"You're improving faster than I expected," he said. "But you still have a lot to learn. Your physical abilities are pretty good for your age, but your explosiveness and core strength are lacking. Your shooting percentage dropped a lot after you changed your shooting form, which is normal because you're still adapting. Your dribbling is still the same old problem; your center of gravity is too high."
He closed the notebook and looked at Lin Feng.
"The provincial youth team has a training camp in July at the provincial sports training center. It's a two-week, closed-door program. Would you like to go?"
Lin Feng thought for a moment.
"go."
Coach Li nodded. "Then I'll talk to Coach Zhang. We'll let you know the specific time later."
After Coach Li left, Zhang Weiguo came over.
"The provincial youth team's training camp," he said, "If you perform well there, you can stay. If you stay, you'll have to transfer to the provincial sports school. You can't stay in Beichuan anymore."
Lin Feng was stunned for a moment.
Transfer schools.
Leaving Beichuan.
He left Cheng Yuxin.
He left Liu Jian.
He left Sun Jianguo.
Leave that concrete stadium.
He remained silent for a few seconds.
"understood."
Seeing his expression, Zhang Weiguo didn't say anything more.
On his way home, Lin Feng sat in the last row of the bus, looking out the window.
One by one, the streetlights came on, their orange glow reflecting off the damp asphalt and creating dappled patterns. Shops along the roadside closed one after another, the clanging sound of roller shutters being pulled down echoing from afar.
He was thinking about something.
If he goes to the provincial youth team, what will happen to CodeLight? Can Liu Jian manage it alone? Cheng Yuxin will be starting school after summer vacation, and she still has her own studies to attend to.
. . . . . .
If he went to the provincial youth team, he would never be able to go back to that cement court at four in the morning. That dilapidated basketball hoop, that worn-out backboard, that bumpy cement floor—he practiced on that for three months, going from not knowing how to play to beating Zhao Lei.
And then there's Zhou Jianguo. That tall guy who comes every morning before dawn to shoot hundreds of balls, that man who doesn't talk much but every word he says is effective. Why does he come every day? Is it to maintain his shooting touch, or something else entirely?
Lin Feng felt that only Zhou Jianguo himself probably knew the answer.
The bus arrived at Fengyayuan Station.
He got out of the car and walked into the residential area.
Go upstairs and open the door.
Cheng Yuxin sat in the living room with the TV on, the volume low. She leaned back on the sofa, holding a book but not reading it, her eyes fixed on the TV screen, which was showing some kind of drama, the kind with emotional entanglements, where the male and female leads were hugging and crying.
Hearing the door open, she turned her head.
"You're back? Have you eaten?"
"I ate. I ate at the sports school cafeteria."
Cheng Yuxin nodded, put the book on the coffee table, and stood up.
"Then I'll heat up a cup of milk for you."
She went into the kitchen.
Lin Feng changed his shoes and walked to the kitchen door.
Cheng Yuxin took the milk out of the refrigerator, poured it into a pot, and turned on a low heat. The milk slowly steamed in the pot, and the white steam rose up, blurring her face.
"Sister Yuxin."
"Um?"
"The provincial youth team will have a two-week training camp in July at the provincial sports training center."
Cheng Yuxin paused for a moment.
"Go ahead," she said, her voice flat, as if she were talking about something very ordinary.
"If I perform well, I can stay. Then I might have to transfer to the provincial sports school."
Cheng Yuxin didn't say anything. She turned off the stove and poured the heated milk into a cup.
Then she turned around and handed him the cup.
"Then go."