Chapter 8
Country I was a traditional powerhouse in men’s volleyball.
Most European teams played with a simple, brutal strategy: win the battle above the net with height and strength.
As a former national player from Country I, Coach Garry upheld this European philosophy—
An absolute obsession with physical ability: higher, stronger…
Garry was tall, with an approachable demeanor, as if he had come to make friends. He greeted them in broken Chinese, “Ni hao!”
Beside him, Assistant Coach Hou, wearing thick-framed glasses, nodded warmly, “Hello, everyone. My surname is Hou. If you need anything regarding logistics, you can come to me. I’ll usually be at Coach Garry’s side as his translator.”
Hou pulled out an A4 sheet from his bag and handed it to Coach Luo:
“Coach Luo, this is the training list Garry compiled based on everyone’s physical data.”
Height, weight, body fat percentage, wingspan, vertical jump, spike reach, block reach…
Compared to volleyball fundamentals, Garry valued these figures far more. Ning Zhou lowered his eyes. He understood very well—his name would not be on that list.
Coach Luo spoke, “The players whose names I read will train with Assistant Coach Garry for the next two weeks. The rest will follow Assistant Coach Ning.”
The announcement of the list gripped the hearts of all the players present…
As in Ning Zhou’s memory, nothing had changed: Yu Bai was the first name on the list, marked as Garry’s top prospect.
“Yu Bai, Shao Qiu, Nie Feiang…”
The players chosen by Garry lined up separately. The height gap between the two groups was obvious at a glance. Ning Zhou, left with the others, heard the disheartened murmurs around him, “Ha… it’s over. After all these years of hard work, we still can’t beat the disadvantage of height…”
“Does being left here mean there’s no hope?”
“Garry was hired at great expense by the national team—of course the best prospects will go to him. Just look, most of the star players from the first squad were picked by him!”
“But even the first team’s captain, outside hitter Du Jun, wasn’t chosen!”
“Du Jun had knee surgery. Garry won’t want to use a ticking time bomb like that…”
Amidst the sighs, Ning Zhou’s calm tone cut through like an anomaly, “I think you’re misunderstanding something…”
Several downcast players looked at him instinctively. Ning Zhou gave a small smile, “I’m not saying this because I’m Assistant Coach Ning Xu’s son. As a coach, he won’t lose to anyone so easily.”
“But…”
Du Jun straightened his back, his deep voice carrying a sense of conviction, “Ning Zhou is right. Assistant Coach Ning Xu was part of China’s golden generation in men’s volleyball. We need to trust the coaching staff’s decisions.”
With Du Jun’s captain-like authority, the players trusted him and stopped complaining. The two groups still did warm-ups together before training.
As Ning Zhou finished his run and stretches, he reflected on the differences between the two assistant coaches: Ning Xu emphasized tactics and speed; Garry emphasized height and strength. Their training philosophies represented two very different schools of thought in men’s volleyball…
Neither philosophy could be said to be inherently superior. But in his previous life, after the grand training camp, the final national team roster had consisted almost entirely of Garry’s picks.
The difference in philosophy had already begun to build an invisible wall between the two groups of players…
“Hahaha! Look at Yu Bai! This is the only time you’ll ever see him make such a face!”
Nie Feiang’s loud voice snapped Ning Zhou out of his thoughts. Startled, Ning Zhou looked over. Yu Bai was standing nearby, copying his shoulder-stretching motions, his expression twisted in pain at the pull.
Ning Zhou: …
So, such people existed in the world—able to topple walls and dissolve barriers with just one small push…
The heaviness dissipated. Ning Zhou gave a helpless smile and helped Yu Bai move his stiff shoulder, “Take it easy. Adjust your stretches to your own flexibility…”
His voice trailed off as he suddenly realized, “Wait, what are you doing here? We’re not even training on the same court!”
Yu Bai laced his fingers together and said matter-of-factly, “Just because we’re split for training doesn’t mean you won’t help me tape my fingers anymore, right?”
“?” Ning Zhou was dumbfounded.
“Last time I slowed down the demonstration—ten fingers, ten times, every motion exactly the same!”
Yu Bai lowered his head, staring calmly at the floor without a shred of shame, “Didn’t learn it.”
“…?”
The whistle blew, signaling them to line up. Ning Zhou pressed his lips together, then looked skyward in defeat, “Give me the bandages.”
…
His hands moved fast. Before training began, he had already finished tending to this troublesome “ancestor.” Relieved, Ning Zhou jogged back to Assistant Coach Ning Xu’s side and found his assigned spot. Next to him stood the enthusiastic player with the eye-catching streak of yellow hair.
“What a coincidence! I’m Xu Zichang, an outside hitter.”
The boy’s clear eyes sparkled with familiarity, “Remember me? I’m one of the founding members of your ‘fan club’! The other is Nie Feiang.”
“…Sorry that this is how I remember you. Your hairstyle’s cool, though.”
“Right?!”
Xu Zichang proudly flicked the yellow lock of hair, “It was dyed green at first, but the coaches convinced me to bleach it into this color. You should’ve seen the green—it was super eye-catching!”
Ning Zhou studied his hair for a few seconds, “The coaches were right.”
He remembered the name “Xu Zichang.” In his past life, after training with Ning Xu’s group, Xu Zichang never made it into the final roster—the national team had no trace of him…
“Zhou Zhou—Zhou Zhou—”
Hearing the shout, Ning Zhou poked his head out from the line—Across a few players, Ning Yang cupped his hands like a megaphone, his ears sticking out in the same shape:
“Zhou Zhou! We’ve been put in the same group!”
Ning Zhou couldn’t help but smile with squinted eyes. He waved, just about to respond, when a stern voice cut him off, “No talking in formation!”
Du Jun, standing next to Xu Zichang, radiated righteousness as he pressed a medicated patch onto his wrist while maintaining order. Ning Zhou fell silent, only blinking at Ning Yang a few times before obediently standing still…
The assistant coach in charge of this group, Ning Xu, gave a few short words of encouragement before getting straight to the point, “Next, we’ll begin group training. Seven people in each line form one group.
Whatever the drill, it must be completed as a group. You must become the people who know each other best on the court, in the shortest possible time!”
“Yes, sir!”
In Ning Zhou’s group, there were several familiar faces: libero Ning Yang, outside hitter Xu Zichang, and Du Jun…
Running through the drill again, Ning Zhou handled it with ease. During spiking practice, he only needed a few test sets with each hitter before fully adapting to their tempo.
“Whoa! Ning Zhou, your sets are perfect!”
Xu Zichang was 1.90m tall, with only average vertical. Back in the national league, he’d been on a weaker team, where the setter wasn’t half as skilled as Ning Zhou. The sets Ning Zhou delivered fit him perfectly, almost exactly at his hitting point. The contact felt so smooth that Xu Zichang shouted with joy, “Did everyone see that! My powerful smash! Wuhu~”
Ning Zhou: …
The dyed streak of blond in Xu Zichang’s hair matched his wild personality. No wonder he got along with Nie Feiang…
But serious Du Jun was right behind him in line. One dark look from him, and Xu Zichang quickly stopped showing off and went back to the end of the line.
When setting for Du Jun, Ning Zhou added more force, sending the ball right toward the antenna.
If blockers had been up, that set would’ve been perfectly placed between the outside blocker’s hand and the antenna, giving the hitter more options. Du Jun, with his flexible wrist, hammered a sharp line shot just inside the sideline.
“Nice hit!” Ning Zhou praised. “Need me to adjust the set?”
“No…”
Du Jun was a bit surprised, replaying the feel in his mind—He and Xu Zichang were both outside hitters, yet Ning Zhou’s sets to them were different. This one was better suited for a seasoned hitter like him to attack tricky angles.
Not only were Ning Zhou’s fundamentals solid enough to change set placement precisely each time, but he was also skilled at observing hitter types. This young setter was even more outstanding than Du Jun had expected…
Du Jun patted Ning Zhou on the shoulder, speaking earnestly, “Great set!”
A faint scent of medicated patches and pain spray drifted over. Ning Zhou froze for a second, then smiled warmly: “Alright, I’ll keep sending it that way.”
Du Jun nodded and stepped aside for the next hitter…
Since Ning Yang was a libero, he didn’t need to practice spiking, but because Ning Xu required training as a group, Ning Yang went to the other side of the net to practice defending against heavy spikes.
Picking up the last ball, he jogged back and handed it to Ning Zhou, “Zhou Zhou, I’ve figured it out—your passive skill is attracting hitters!”
“Don’t talk nonsense.” Ning Zhou tossed up the next ball while answering, “That’s just how setters communicate with hitters.”
Leaning lazily against the pole at the end of the net, Ning Yang said, “That’s why I call it a passive skill—because the person with it never notices!”
Seeing he wasn’t going to fetch balls anymore, Ning Zhou grabbed one from the basket instead, “Stop teasing. What was going on with you the first week of training camp?”
Ning Yang gave an awkward grin: “Caught a cold…”
“That excuse might fool others, but not me!” Ning Zhou turned, eyes glancing lightly at him. “Which game had you hooked for an entire week this time?”
Ning Yang suddenly brightened, pounding the pole in excitement, “The new domestic release is insane! From the first second I started playing, I knew—I had to beat it without sleep!”
Ning Zhou pressed his lips together and sighed deeply: “Don’t tell me you stayed up seven nights straight. If you collapse, who’s going to cover passing for me?”
“Relax, my body’s top-notch! Honestly, I’m just craving ice cream…”
Propping one hand on the pole, Ning Yang sulked: “Stupid cafeteria doesn’t even have popsicles. I want to sneak out for some so bad…”
Ning Zhou popped up a ball for a jump set, casually replying, “Wanna go tonight?”
“That’d be amazi—” Ning Yang’s grin froze, his jaw dropping. “Wh-what did you just say?”
“Did all that gaming give you tinnitus?” Ning Zhou teased lightly. “After training, let’s sneak out for ice cream. Deal?”
Like he’d been struck by lightning, Ning Yang’s palm slipped down the pole’s padding, throwing off his balance—he fell straight to the ground…
But instinct kicked in. As a libero, he rolled smoothly, bouncing right back up, “Zhou Zhou! Did something evil possess you?!”
The outburst drew stares from nearby players. Ning Zhou stiffened his expression, “You trying to announce to the whole world that we’re sneaking out?”
“Uh, no…”
Ning Yang clamped a hand over his mouth to stop another shout. His muffled voice slipped out through his fingers, “Something’s off about you. Normally you’d stay behind for extra reps whenever you had time. Why would you suggest going for ice cream?”
He dropped his hand, suspicion written all over his face, “And just now, you kept talking with people. Usually when you’re immersed in volleyball, you turn into a mute…”
“Zhou Zhou, what happened? Why have you changed?”
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