Almighty Coach

Dai Li suddenly got tense when he found out that Academician Yang was Sijie Yang’s father. He is here to blame me, Dai Li thought to himself. He was nervous, but he got himself to relax and play it cool.

Dai Li did not say anything, deciding to wait for them to make the first move. But to his surprise, Academician Yang began the conversation, saying, "Coach Li, nice to meet you. I am Lin Yang."

This was a unique introduction. Usually when two strangers met each other for the first time, they would introduce themselves by saying, "My name is ..." Academician Yang had instead said "I am..." Only well-known people used this to introduce themselves.

But Dai Li did not notice this. When he heard the name "Lin Yang," he became shocked, so much so that he even shook a bit.

"Lin Yang? The scientist? The one who won the Nobel Prize?" Dai Li asked in surprise.

Lin Yang nodded. He got that surprised look a lot.

This is the actual Lin Yang. No wonder I thought he looked familiar. I saw his photo several years ago. He is older, that’s why I didn’t recognize him right away, Dai Li thought.

Lin Yang was a topnotch scientist who studied biology. He was so talented that he became a professor and had his own lab before he was thirty. When he was thirty-five, his achievements in his field made him eligible to be nominated for a Nobel Prize. To no one’s surprise, he won the Nobel Prize in physiology and medicine at the age of forty-two. It had been a very significant accomplishment when it had happened.

Lin Yang was involved in several important science programs, such as the Human Genome Project. His experimental results had saved millions of people’s lives; he was considered a god by pharmaceuticals companies. Some companies even wanted to offer funding to Lin Yang, but it was impossible to find him.

Dai Li still remembered that when he had been in primary school, Lin Yang was in the Chinese textbook, and was admired by all the students. Not every scientist was written about in textbooks. Lin Yang’s work had become a bible to people, meaning he did not need to do interviews to stay relevant.

Sijie Yang’s father is Lin Yang! Dai Li suddenly remembered that Sijie Yang had said that his father was always right. Before, Dai Li had thought Sijie Yang had said that because he was afraid of his father; now he completely understood what Sijie Yang had meant. It made so much sense. Sijie Yang’s father was Lin Yang, the famous scientist!

Ten years ago, when Lin Yang had just won the Nobel Prize, he had been regarded as a legend. At the time, the economic development of the country had just entered the fast lane, and people were moving up in lifestyle. On the other hand, people’s spiritual lives were not satisfactory, which made people bored. The academic world desperately needed to catch up.

It was during this time that Lin Yang won his Nobel Prize. Naturally, he became an idol. People were so convinced by him and his work, that no matter what he said, people would assume it was the truth. If Lin Yang had said, "Sweet tofu tastes better than savoury tofu," millions of people would have come out in agreement. Cooks, gourmets, folklorists, critics, and even other scientists would stand with Lin Yang in an attempt to prove he was right.

People believed in scientists’ theories and decisions, especially a scientist who had received a Nobel Prize at such a young age. People thought highly of him and assumed he was always right. This was common for people back then.

Dai Li had still been a child when Lin Yang had received the Nobel Prize, yet even he had been able to tell how great Lin Yang was, as there had been plenty of news about him in the newspaper and on television everyday. He would be even more famous had all this had happened now, with the internet being as big as it is. Even if Lin Yang made a live show for his pet dog online now, it would, without a doubt, have millions of views, and attract dozens of fans.

Great scientists are always right; that sounds correct. Lin Yang wants his son to be a sprinter, and the fact is that Sijie Yang does have a gift for sprinting. He is so good at it. The only problem is that this is not what Sijie Yang is interested in, Dai Li thought silently.

As he was thinking about all this, Lin Yang said, "Coach Li, relax. I am not here to blame you. I just want to know more about Sijie Yang."

Lin Yang spoke in a calm manner, while Professor Fang was much more straightforward. He said, "Sijie Yang had been practicing sprinting all these years, yet he signed an application sheet to quit the team the day before yesterday."

Professor Fang looked at Dai Li with a serious look, then continued, "I overheard that the day Sijie Yang decided to quit was exactly the fifth day you had been here. Am I right?"

Professor Fang was questioning Dai Li. Sijie Yang had been trained every day. Why would he want to quit as soon as Dai Li arrived? Obviously Professor Fang had determined that Dai Li was the one to blame.

Dai Li thought about it, and figured it was best to just explain the situation, so he said, "Sijie Yang is talented and I have faith in him. I thought he was going to be a great sprinter and I had intended to help him do that, but that was not what he wanted."

"He doesn’t like sprinting?" Lin Yang interrupted suddenly.

Dai Li looked at Lin Yang in surprise. He suddenly realized that Lin Yang probably knew nothing about his son’s dream of being a photographer.

"Sijie Yang said he hates sprinting, and doesn’t want to be an athlete." Dai Li spread his hands and added, "That’s what he said to me."

"This is not possible!" Lin Yang shook his head. He looked calm. "As his father, I am pretty sure he enjoys sports."

"I didn’t see that in our daily training," Dai Li responded immediately, "Sijie Yang never practices energetically. To be honest, he was passive, and never had a goal when he was practicing. He was doing it without trying his best, as if he were a robot."

Dai Li turned around and said to Lin Yang, "Academician Yang, you must have a lot of teaching experience and know a lot about active and passive learning. They are completely different. Nobody can become a successful scientist if they study passively. This applies to sports training as well. If the athlete is not motivated, there will be no results, and they will not become an excellent athlete."

Lin Yang was thinking about what Dai Li had just said. He frowned as he thought.

Professor Fang asked, "Maybe there is something wrong with your coaching, and Sijie Yang found it difficult to adjust to? That’s probably why the training didn’t go well."

Dai Li did not want to be blamed for what was happening, so he refuted Professor Yang, saying, "That is not true. I make plans carefully and scientifically. Everyone else can adapt to that."

"I think it depends," Professor Fang said, "Other athletes can adapt to your plan, but Sijie Yang can’t. As a consequence, he would definitely doubt himself, and think he was not capable of being an athlete. That was probably why he quit."

Dai Li’s face turned green. It was obvious that Professor Fang wanted to put the responsibility on him, and blame him for the situation.