Chapter Sixty: Restless Heat, Sleepless Night

On a large round table, an array of dishes was laid out: stir-fried bean sprouts, braised fish, lychee pork, mapo tofu, chicken with fish-fragrant sauce, cola chicken wings, sweet and sour potato slices, stir-fried shredded beef, fish head tofu soup, and winter melon meatball soup.

"Shishi, how did you manage to prepare such a feast so quickly?" Zhu Di gaped in astonishment, while the other team members were practically drooling.

Li Shishi darted over to Geng Haoshi, wrapping both hands around his arm, her large, watery eyes gazing up at him. "Senior, aren’t I the perfect example of a virtuous woman?"

Watching Li Shishi look at Geng Haoshi with such tenderness, Zhu Di called out to the rest of the team, "Looks like our little Geng’s heart is already full of love. Guess the rest of us will have to take care of these dishes ourselves."

"No way!" Li Shishi protested. "I made all this for my dear senior!"

She pulled Geng Haoshi to the table, clinging to his arm with one hand while using the other to pick up food with her chopsticks and serve him.

...

"Ah—so full!" After a lavish lunch and another sumptuous dinner, the team members patted their bellies in satisfaction.

"Where is everyone!"

A thunderous shout, powerful enough to shake the heavens, jolted the team from their relaxed daze in the kitchen dining area.

The devil coach had returned! Not daring to slack off, the players dashed from the kitchen back to the basketball court.

They stood in a neat row, backs straight, facing Yu Manman.

"It's already 7:20! Are you all looking to get kicked off the team?"

No one dared utter a word in the face of Yu Manman’s scolding.

"Pretty sister, the seniors just finished dinner," Li Shishi quickly offered an explanation.

"You don’t need to defend them," Yu Manman replied, though there was no intent to reprimand Li Shishi. "Today, for Shishi’s sake, I’ll let you off... but from now on, aside from mandatory classes, you must strictly adhere to the daily schedule I set for you."

With that, Yu Manman unfurled the scroll she’d been holding.

The team thought: Whoa! A scroll? Is this some kind of legendary martial arts manual?

As the scroll opened, they soon felt trapped. At the very top, in the elegant, flowing style reminiscent of the calligraphy sage Wang Xizhi, were the words: "School Basketball Team Daily Schedule".

Geng Haoshi thought, Figures! She clearly had this prepared in advance. Her earlier intimidation was just a prelude to introducing this so-called schedule.

Not giving them any chance to object, Yu Manman pointed at the scroll. "Here are the details of your new daily routine. As long as you’re on the basketball team, you must follow this schedule to the letter!"

"Did everyone hear me?"

There was no time to read the scroll. They had only one answer: "Yes!"

Yu Manman nodded, satisfied, and handed the scroll to Meng Lang. "Hang it by the kitchen door."

"Before you sleep tonight, everyone must read it carefully several times... Now, resume training!"

Following the individualized daily plans Yu Manman had set, the team resumed their training.

Geng Haoshi, as usual, had the heaviest training load: 1,000 rapid passes, 1,000 quick punches, 200 fifty-meter sprints, 2,000 shots, 1,000 quick arm swings, and 200 dribble runs up and down the court.

After more than half a month of daily tasks and the supervision of 9527 during the first intermediate-level challenge, Geng Haoshi’s physical abilities had improved and strengthened dramatically.

At first, it took him the full three hours from seven to ten, completing the training utterly exhausted. But now, he could finish in just two hours.

At 9:16, Geng Haoshi completed his final set of dribble runs, ball in hand.

"Ah—" He let out a deep breath, having finished his training for the day, then strapped a lead weight to each calf.

After a few more deep breaths, he exploded from one baseline to the other.

In his mind, 9527’s voice sounded: "Master, your speed this time was 8.6 meters per second."

Geng Haoshi thought: Looks like I need to push even harder to complete the second intermediate challenge!

PS: The second intermediate challenge is "Within one month, achieve a sprint speed of over 9 meters per second over 28 meters (the length from baseline to baseline on a basketball court)."

So Geng Haoshi kept sprinting from one end of the court to the other, again and again without stopping.

The rest of the team finished their daily routines in about two and a half hours, then each took a ball and began shooting practice, one after another.

Taking turns shooting, the waiting time was actually their way of resting—a subtle form of slacking off.

Yu Manman, seated on the coach’s bench, observed it all. She thought: Geng is the newest member, yet he works the hardest and trains the most... That’s one of the main reasons I chose him as my wager.

Before long, it was already ten o’clock.

"Gather up!"

At Yu Manman’s command, the players lined up neatly.

"For next June’s National College Basketball League, starting tomorrow, I’ll be giving you all even more ‘thorough’ training. Looking forward to it?"

Sweat broke out on the team’s faces.

"The super player you met today from the club? I used to be his coach too."

"When he started, aside from being 185 centimeters tall, he had almost no athletic talent—poor fitness, poor stamina, slow speed, sluggish movements, and slow reactions."

"But under my training, he went from a sports idiot to the superstar you saw today."

"And what does that tell you?" Yu Manman swept her gaze over the team.

"Obviously, it means I’m a world-class coach!"

The team could only sweat in silence.

"So, no matter your current abilities, as long as you follow my training regimen, you too can become superstars—and maybe own your own Lamborghini one day."

Clearly, the team was deeply impressed by that super player’s Lamborghini.

"Alright, go wash up and get some sleep. Training starts at six again tomorrow."

After washing up, the team returned to their rooms. But lying in their comfortable beds, none of them could fall asleep...