SSD 70. The Mysterious Coach Appears

Xu Fanming was really looking forward to Saturday’s team meeting, because they were finally going to meet their basketball coach.

This mysterious Coach Qiu, the one they had only heard over the phone… what would he say about their performance in this game, or about everything they had done so far this semester?

Fang Ruihan and Zhu Xuyao both seemed to have a close relationship with him. What kind of person would he turn out to be?

Xu Fanming was so excited that he arrived at the gym half an hour early, only to find that Fang Ruihan was already there, setting up the space.

Seeing Fang Ruihan moving benches around the gym, Xu Fanming hurried over to help. “Captain, why are you here so early?”

“Coach told me to clear out the space. He said he’s going to use it later.”

“What for?”

Fang Ruihan gave a slight smile. “He didn’t tell me.”

The two of them quickly tidied up the scattered benches and trash. Once they were done and sitting side by side on the floor to rest, Fang Ruihan handed Xu Fanming a bottle of water. Seeing the look on his face, he smiled and asked, “Curious, aren’t you? About our coach.”

“No… uh, fine. Maybe a little.”

Fang Ruihan smiled again. Just then, the sound of footsteps echoed from the entrance as the rest of the team arrived.

Xu Fanming noticed that Zhu Xuyao came in with Pan Yuan. So they had made up already?

Judging from the way Zhu Xuyao looked, he seemed back to normal. So did Pan Yuan beside him. Xu Fanming was still trying to figure it out when He Jiang suddenly came up from behind and gave the back of his neck a playful pinch, like handling a kitten.

“Hey, what was that for?”

Xu Fanming turned around in frustration and caught He Jiang giving him a look, chin lifted slightly in a subtle gesture. He followed He Jiang’s gaze and saw Wen Qin standing nearby, looking a little lost.

“Step aside a little,” He Jiang whispered into his ear. “Don’t get in their way.”

“Oh, oh,” Xu Fanming nodded quickly, and followed He Jiang a few steps away from Fang Ruihan, clearing a path.

Fang Ruihan was busy getting everyone in formation and didn’t have time to look around, so he naturally didn’t notice Wen Qin standing off in the corner. But Wen Qin’s eyes never left him. His expression was hesitant, like he had been trying to find a moment to speak with Fang Ruihan.

Yet after all that hesitation, he still hadn’t taken a single step.

Then came another steady footfall at the entrance of the gym—

“Ah, Coach Qiu.”

Fang Ruihan turned toward the door and stopped what he was doing. In an instant, the entire gym fell silent. Every player’s gaze snapped toward their long-absent coach.

Xu Fanming stared at the man in the tracksuit, unable to look away. He looked somewhat like the hazy figure he had pictured in his mind, but not quite.

He looked about thirty-five. Close-cropped hair, tall and solidly built, with broad shoulders and a thick waist. Dressed in gray sportswear, his half-squinted eyes were piercingly sharp.

He gave off the vibe of a terrifying high school homeroom teacher… who also doubled as the PE teacher.

Their coach was finally back.

The moment Coach Qiu’s sharp gaze swept across the room, every Qinghuo player instinctively straightened up. When his eyes scanned the five starters in the front row, the substitutes in the back all dropped their heads nervously.

The air felt heavy.

Everyone’s heart was weighed down. They had just lost a game. Lost badly. Right here, on the same court. What would their coach say about them? Would he offer encouragement, or just feel disappointed all over again?

After last year’s defeat in the provincial league, their coach had gone to Shanghai for further training. But them? They had hardly improved at all…

113 to 74. The score was a total blowout.

Calling it a “crushing defeat” wasn’t even an exaggeration.

It was the kind of result you couldn’t show anyone with a straight face.

Just as everyone stood there waiting anxiously for him to speak, dreading what might come, the man at the center of attention suddenly lifted his arm and barked, “Team up! Warm-up! Twenty laps around the gym!”

Xu Fanming’s eyes went wide. “Is he serious…”

What was this supposed to mean?

Before he could even process it, Fang Ruihan had already started organizing the formation, splitting everyone into two columns. While stretching, Zhu Xuyao let out a soft sigh and murmured to Xu Fanming, “Let’s just run first.”

The two columns started jogging along the perimeter of the gym. Before they even finished half a lap, everyone was surprised to see that their coach had taken off his jacket and joined them, running alongside the team.

A bunch of tall boys, with a straight-backed middle-aged man among them, ran together in the vast gym. Their synchronized footsteps echoed powerfully through the space.

“Coach…”

Someone in the group had already started biting their lip to keep from tearing up. Twenty laps wasn’t a short distance, and running it all at once was exhausting. Was this supposed to be punishment? Their coach was running with them, taking the hit together.

Seven laps. Eight laps… As the distance stretched on, their steps grew heavier. Sweat crept down from their foreheads.

“Breathe steadily! Maintain endurance! Pick up the pace!”

Coach Qiu’s voice rang out, calm and firm, with a steady rhythm. Everyone refocused. They fought to regulate their breathing, making it smooth and natural, and gradually picked up speed.

Their legs ached with exhaustion. Sweat stuck their shirts to their skin, only to be pierced by slivers of wind sliding through the gaps. Their vision blurred. How long had it been? How many laps were left?

“Hold on a bit longer.”

Even the air felt thin.

Everyone clenched their teeth and kept pace. When they finally reached the eighteenth lap, Coach Qiu suddenly roared from within the group—

“Tell me—are you tired!”

The wind roared past their ears. Everyone was on the brink of breathlessness, but their feet didn’t stop. Pushing through the last of their strength, they shouted back with hoarse voices, “Tired!”

It was rough and strained, but carried a raw intensity.

“Does it hurt!”

“It hurts!”

“Tell me,” Coach Qiu’s voice trembled slightly, “after losing that game, are you satisfied!”

Every player’s eyes flew open. All the sweat and regret churned together and surged into a wave of fury. The rhythm of this collective momentum pushed toward its peak.

“Not satisfied!”

“Louder, are you satisfied?!”

Sparks flew from the crowd: “Not! Satis! Fied!”

“The next game—” Coach Qiu shouted at the top of his lungs, “do you still want to be that pathetic!”

“No!”

“Do you want to fight back!”

“Yes!”

His breathing had fully synchronized with the team’s now. “Then say it louder!”

“Qinghuo, let’s go!!”

That roar, fueled by raw blood and heat, reverberated across the gym. It echoed through every corner and struck deep in their chests. It was the sound of youth, unrelenting and burning with resolve.

When the twenty laps were finally over, everyone was drenched in sweat, red to the neck, backs soaked through, but they felt a rush of clarity unlike anything they had ever known.

A group of tall boys with soaking shirts collapsed around the gym, leaning on walls and benches, gulping water, catching their breath. And right then, Coach Qiu stood at the center of the crowd, a gentle smile on his face.

“That’s more like it,” he said. “To me, you’re the best players there are.”

Xu Fanming stopped moving. His eyes suddenly felt hot and sore. He Jiang closed his water bottle and glanced over, gaze softening. Zhu Xuyao’s nose had turned red. He shouted toward the coach, “Old Qiu, we’ve been waiting for you forever!!”

That one line cracked open everything they had been holding back. The team surged forward, crowding around him, pouring out the longing they had kept inside. Over the past few months, they had been through so much. The thrill of victory, the sting of defeat… and now, their coach had finally returned. It felt like a drifting sail had found its harbor at last, a place where it could finally rest.

“Old Qiu, we missed you so bad!”

“Coach, you disappeared on us and didn’t even leave a message…”

“We thought you’d ditched us for good!”

At first, Xu Fanming hadn’t really understood why everyone was so attached to this coach. But now, something inside him began to stir.

It was just as he had sensed from the start. For a basketball team, the coach really did mean everything.

After the noise settled down, Coach Qiu waved off the players who had thrown themselves at him, smiling as he said, “Alright, enough fooling around. Time to get serious. This is the first time I’ve seen all of you this semester, isn’t it?”

“Yeah! Coach, what was the deal with that work trip?”

“We thought they transferred you somewhere else!”

Everyone started talking over each other again. Coach Qiu cleared his throat and explained, “I left in a hurry and didn’t have time to explain properly. I only had time to call Fang Ruihan.”

“Back in the summer, I signed up for a training program taught by coaches from the national team, the same kind of program Coach Yang went to before.”

Xu Fanming blinked. So the two coaches really were close.

“My flight was at the end of July. I landed in Shanghai on August 1. The training lasted three and a half months. I came back a few days early, but still didn’t make it in time for the game.” Coach Qiu gave a bitter smile. “I haven’t been sleeping well these past few days either. I got off the plane today, dropped my luggage at home, and came straight back to campus to meet with you all.”

Only then did the team notice the faint stubble on his chin, the dark circles under his eyes, and how drained he looked.

Fang Ruihan was the first to start clapping. “A warm welcome. Coach is back with us!”

The gym burst into applause.

“Welcome back, Coach!”

Coach Qiu’s eyes curved as he smiled, joining in and clapping with them. “Thanks, everyone.”

After the applause faded, his eyes turned toward the unfamiliar faces on the team. “Looks like we’ve got quite a few new players.”

“Yeah, they’re all new additions to the team,” Fang Ruihan said as he stepped forward to introduce them one by one. “This is He Jiang, our center. Next to him is Xu Fanming, small forward. Over here is Wen Qin, shooting guard…”

Coach Qiu gave a quick glance around to match faces to names, then nodded. “Got it.”

“I’ve already heard a lot about you from Fang Ruihan over the phone,” he said, pointing at He Jiang with a small smile. “You’re the MVP from the high school league, right?”

He Jiang gave a calm nod.

“And you’re Xu Fanming, the ‘overbearing’ small forward with an aggressive playing style. And… the shooting guard personally brought in by Fang Ruihan, Wen Qin, who’s got real talent in his shooting game.” Coach Qiu smiled again and summed it up. “Not bad. This year, Qinghuo has gained quite a bit of promising new blood.”

Xu Fanming scratched his head, face flushing red.

“But for now, let’s set aside the newcomers.” As he spoke, Coach Qiu suddenly stood up and patted the blackboard behind him. “Post everyone’s scoring records and individual stats. We’re starting the summary for the points series.”