After Leaving the Sports Circle, I Became a Cooking God (Completed BL)

Chapter 52: Su Bai's Promise and Gamble

Translator: dapotatursRelease Date: 09/04/2023

After this practice match, the American athletes were assigned to other activities, and the students from the sports school were guided to other training areas for observation and learning. Soon, the training field was left with only the seven athletes competing in the 400m race, Su Bai, and Wang Ting.

Although the competition had ended, there was a palpable heaviness in the atmosphere among the athletes. Even the usually cheerful Qiu Wen felt a bit down after the two practice matches.

Among all the athletes on the field, perhaps only Zhang Ziyi had experienced this discomforting emotion multiple times. However, even he had experienced it alone on the international stage. In such an environment, few people knew him, a Chinese sprinter, and the fact that East Asian sprinters were less talented was generally recognized internationally. Added to that were factors like competing in foreign countries and their impact on performance.

Zhang Ziyi, who always took competitions seriously and responsibly, suddenly realized after this practice match that he had been harboring many self-consoling and self-unaware thoughts.

Qiu Wen's dejection stemmed from his feeling of being too impulsive. He had forgotten the steady progress he had made over the past few months...

As for Li Junhao, Guo Dun, Lin Chuang, Zhou Xu, and Zhang Chang, this recent practice match was like a heavy slap to their faces, leaving them with no place to hide.

Looking at Su Bai, who stood aside with an expression that seemed unsurprised, they felt as if Su Bai's gaze was carving the word - failure - into their foreheads.

Truly... an embarrassing experience.

But it also made them fully realize that not only were they unable to compare to the world's top athletes, even when compared to athletes of world-class caliber, there was a profound gap between them.

In the past, they had comfortably remained on the side of the divide. Although they knew there was a gap, they assumed they lacked the ability to bridge it. Eventually, they even considered that divide as their protective barrier.

Among all of them, Li Junhao was in the worst state. During the practice match, he had run with a burning anger against Su Bai, putting his all into the race. However, this all-out effort, followed by the feedback they received, made this outcome particularly hard to bear.

It was as if every word Su Bai had spoken before was turning into boulders, shattering his strong yet fragile self-esteem once again.

On the training field, amidst this atmosphere, silence settled in. No one spoke for a long time.

Observing the scene, Wang Ting stood nearby, a bit anxious. He wanted to break the heavy atmosphere and lift the spirits of the athletes, but he wasn't the main coach for the 400m event. He couldn't speak casually while Su Bai was present and hadn't yet spoken. Doing so might disrupt Su Bai's original plan.

It wasn't until the oppressive silence had reached its peak that Su Bai, who had been standing with his arms crossed in front of everyone, gently opened his mouth.

"What's this? Feeling defeated already? Then why didn't you feel defeated in past competitions?" Su Bai's light words were like salt being rubbed into the wounds of these athletes.

"You!"

Li Junhao, who had originally been clenching his fist with his head lowered, suddenly raised his head and glared at Su Bai, his eyes filled with fury.

Zhang Ziyi's mood wasn't great either, but he still waved to restrain Li Junhao, attempting to defuse the one-sided tension between Li Junhao and Su Bai.