After enduring the grueling individual training, Qin Chunxiao gained recognition within the team.
Those who can survive the intense training are true men.
Qin Chunxiao, who was accustomed to being pummeled by balls traveling at an average speed of 130 km/h, asked Chen Aiguo, “So, should I still be a setter?”
Chen Aiguo replied, “Yes, you will work closely with Li Ling in the future. If you two cooperate well, you might even make it to the April 2nd tournament.”
The second setter’s primary responsibility is to connect the team’s offense and distribute the ball to others.
If a team has only one setter and five attackers, it’s referred to as a “five-one” formation. If there are two setters, it becomes a “four-two” formation.
In other words, Chen Aiguo not only highly regards Qin Chunxiao’s jumping ability but also appreciates his intelligence…
However, upon learning about Qin Chunxiao’s impressive vertical reach, the team was astonished.
When Qin Chunxiao was 15 years old, his touch height was 3.45 meters, and his effective spike height was 3.35 meters. As an adult, his touch height increased to 3.55 meters, with a spike height of 3.43 meters.
Having such height advantage, a person who is only 1.8 meters tall can touch 3.55 meters, surpassing his own height.
According to the Volleyball Association’s national team training list and the summary table of physical data for male volleyball players in 2023, height data ranging from 3.3 meters to 3.6 meters is common among national teams.
Thus, achieving a touch height of 3.45 meters at the age of 15 is highly valuable. Considering that Qin Chunxiao is still growing, he will undoubtedly become even better at jumping in the future. It would be a waste if he were shorter.
In Asia, a touch height of 3.6 meters is considered top-level. The average height of the Japanese men’s volleyball team is lower than that of the Chinese team. Finding a player who can jump 3.6 meters is more challenging for the Chinese side.
There are two “quasi-beasts” with a height of 3.7 meters in Asia, and both are Chinese players. However, in Qin Chunxiao’s memory, the first one was on the verge of retirement due to injuries, and the second one was born in 2004. At the age of 12, he was in sixth grade in his hometown in Province L when he got into an accident on a plane. The young boy was still preparing for the World Youth Championship with his teammates from the Chinese national youth team.
In short, it’s not just Chen Aiguo who believes in Qin Chunxiao. All the coaches and teammates agree that assigning him as a libero would be a waste.
Qin Chunxiao decided to prioritize practicing as a second setter, and the team adjusted his training accordingly. The focus shifted to passing, with less emphasis on spiking and blocking, but the overall training workload remained substantial.
Chen Aiguo was a highly responsible coach. Knowing that Qin Chunxiao didn’t live in the provincial team’s dormitory, he would call him at six o’clock every morning to remind him to attend training. It was a habit he had even when Qin Chunxiao was in the provincial team, going to the boys’ dormitory to wake them up, displaying the same concern as a father.
What Lao Chen didn’t know was that Qin Chunxiao would wake up at 4:30 a.m. every day. He didn’t attend evening self-study sessions since he had already completed high school once. With his strong academic abilities, attending regular classes during the day, completing homework on time, and going to bed early were sufficient.
Nowadays, Qin Chunxiao enjoyed the advantage of living in G City, as he would have a good breakfast every day at 4:30 a.m., and training sessions were also extended accordingly.
Here’s where the advantage of being associated with the basketball team came into play. Captain Li Yan was a kind-hearted person. When he learned that Qin Chunxiao had become his younger brother’s teammate, he would help him out when Qin Chunxiao was busy studying and had no time to eat. He even offered to lend him the study notes from the second and third year of high school.
Li Yan said, “Based on my experience, if you don’t want your studies to fall behind, you can preview upcoming lessons in advance. That way, when you come across those topics in class, it will be much easier for you to understand.”
In the future, Li Yan would become a diligent scholar who would secure admission to Wujiaochang Medical College on his own merits.
Aside from the fringe benefits of being part of the provincial team, Lao Chen also efficiently purchased insurance for Qin Chunxiao. Unlike many modern-day bosses who are reluctant to provide employee benefits like insurance and housing funds, the G team led by Lao Chen may only offer average allowances in the country, but they never default on players’ benefits. It’s similar to playing games; why would high-level players join their guild if there were no benefits?
Qin Chunxiao, who had fallen from the highest level, wholeheartedly joined the provincial G guild.
His days were filled with a busy schedule, and Qin Chunxiao excelled in the training routine. After a day of training, he happily wore the provincial team uniform and went to visit Uncle Gao’s shop.
Uncle Gao was a die-hard volleyball fan. The TV in his shop broadcasted volleyball matches every day. When he saw Qin Chunxiao playing beach volleyball, even though he was a sprinter at the time, Uncle Gao gave him a bag of volleyballs as a gift.
Qin Chunxiao wanted to reciprocate the kindness.
With a cheerful jingle, the boy entered the store briskly and said, “Uncle Gao, I’ve come to see you.”
Since there was no one else in the store, Uncle Gao came over with a bag of table tennis balls. He was taken aback when he saw Qin Chunxiao wearing the volleyball team uniform and exclaimed, “Wow! Why are you wearing this?”
Qin Chunxiao chuckled, took off his coat, turned around, and pointed to the number on his back, saying, “I joined the team as a floor player, and the head coach of the provincial team noticed me. He allowed me to join the provincial youth team.”
His current jersey number is 18.
Uncle Gao showed joy and exclaimed, “Hey, I know you are hardworking and talented. I didn’t expect this, I didn’t expect this…” He repeated several times and looked at Qin Chunxiao curiously.
“What position are you playing?”
In fact, judging by Qin Chunxiao’s height, Uncle Gao guessed that apart from the libero position where height doesn’t matter, Chunxiao couldn’t play any other positions.
Qin Chunxiao replied, “Second setter.”
Uncle Gao responded, “Oh!”
“Then you will only be on the bench for a short time?”
Qin Chunxiao stepped forward to help Uncle Gao with the bag while saying, “No, the other setters are not capable enough to keep me on the bench, so it’s about the same if I replace them.”
This kid is quite confident, Uncle Gao couldn’t help but say, “How long have you been in the team? You said you didn’t have a coach two months ago. It’s only been two months. How did you become a starter?”
Qin Chunxiao showed some shyness and said, “It’s because of the support from my teammates. They forced me to compete within the team. After I defeated the strongest setter other than myself, everyone else was convinced.”
Uncle Gao laughed and said, “Pfft! Tell me what happened.”
Qin Chunxiao sat down and told Uncle Gao in a concise manner how he secured his position as the starting setter.
Li Ling was the one who initiated it.
Half a month ago, Li Ling challenged Qin Chunxiao. He deliberately approached Qin Chunxiao, lowered his voice, and said, “Hey, let’s have a competition, and the winner will take the second setter position.”
The positions on the volleyball court are as follows, from 1 to 6:
4 3 2
5 6 1
The second position is near the net, on the right side. Li Ling felt that if he gave up this position to a shorter player, he would feel embarrassed when facing his old opponents in competitions.
Qin Chunxiao took a few steps back, looked around, glanced at the coach sitting on the sidelines, pondered for a few seconds, and said to Li Ling, “We need to establish our positions.”
He rolled up his sleeves, as if preparing for a physical confrontation with Li Ling, making the big man look cautious. Li Ling said, “What are you doing? I don’t want to fight! Strength and volleyball are two different things!”
Qin Chunxiao picked up a ball and said, “Do I look like I want to fight you? Look at how scared you are.”
After getting to know Li Ling, he knew that these two were just fooling around. Li Ling was usually lively and talkative, often annoying with his remarks. Although he provoked opponents, he would show weakness when someone challenged him personally.
In the end, Qin Chunxiao rushed over with a water pipe from the side of the road and drove the people away.
Lao Chen was called over by Qin Chunxiao and divided the main players of the provincial youth team into two groups. Li Ling and libero Zhou Ziming were on one team, while the main attacker Mo Lin and secondary attacker Liu Kairui joined Qin Chunxiao’s team. These guys had good coordination and a height disadvantage.
After the teams were divided, Chen Aiguo said, “If you want to change teams, let me know, and I will make adjustments.”
The players had no problem with this allocation. Qin Chunxiao being too short, it might not be effective to have two powerful attackers alongside him. On the other hand, Li Ling has offensive ability and has a libero to receive the ball. Combining offense and defense gives them a great advantage.
Uncle Gao was excited and asked, “And then?”
Gao Depi, who was standing in the dark at some point, thought to himself, what else can be done? This person has put others on the bench, so he must have won.
Qin Chunxiao replied, “Then Li Ling was so frustrated that he cried.”
Uncle Gao asked, “Crying?”
Qin Chunxiao felt embarrassed and said, “I just outplayed them.”
For instance, making it appear like a pass but actually performing a self-dunk, making it look like a block but redirecting the ball to the attacker, utilizing fake moves and timing differences to deceive opponents, and other similar tactics are all routine maneuvers on the field.
In the international arena, experienced players who have mastered these skills are abundant. Qin Chunxiao has not been fooled by them since he was 16 years old. Li Ling’s contemptuous smile only further fueled Qin Chunxiao’s determination, enabling him to exploit more flaws in the opponent’s attacks.
After the game ended, Li Ling looked at the 2-0 score and fell into a long silence.
The 25-15 score in the first game could be attributed to carelessness, but the 25-12 score in the second game left no room for excuses.
He was completely outplayed in every aspect by this man. His passing accuracy and tactical awareness were inferior, and his previous provocations had become a joke. When Li Ling recalled Qin Chunxiao’s playful attitude during their match, anger surged within him.
Li Ling clenched his fists, sniffed, and held back his tears. He said, “I… I lost. From now on, you will start at No. 2, and I will sit on the bench, damn it!”
Reluctantly, he clenched his fists and yelled, making several people on his team feel sorrowful.
“Li Ling, don’t be like this!”
“It’s because we didn’t perform well. Why don’t we have another match?”
“Come on, Qin Chunxiao hasn’t been on good terms with anyone before, but now he’s like this. We can still beat him.”
A group of young players tried to console and discuss with Li Ling, while Qin Chunxiao remained expressionless.
He asked a question, “Is there a possibility that even though I’m a left-handed player who performs well in the second position, I could also excel in the fourth position?”
Left-handed players have a different ball rotation when spiking, and they can also pass effectively in the second or fourth positions. As long as they establish good coordination with their teammates, the G provincial youth team can take advantage of the four-two tactics.
Lao Chen may not be as knowledgeable as the top coaches, but as a coach, he should still consider these fundamental issues.
Li Ling was confused and asked, “Huh?”
…
Qin Chunxiao chatted happily with Uncle Gao but quickly left with his bag. Uncle Gao stood up and said, “Are you leaving now? We won’t have a meal together… Oh, I forgot, you’re an athlete, so you can’t eat out casually.”
Qin Chunxiao shook his head and replied, “I’ve already eaten, and now I’m in a hurry to go somewhere else.”
Uncle Gao asked, “Where are you going? I can ask my nephew to give you a ride.”
Qin Chunxiao replied, “No need, I’m just going to attend a new album launch event.”
He hurriedly left, and Gao Depi entered the room with one hand on crutches, carrying a few boxes of meals in the other hand. He arrived just in time to see Qin Chunxiao’s departing figure. The back of Qin Chunxiao’s coat displayed prominent words such as “XX Bank warmly sponsors Province G” and so on.
“Uncle, is he from the Province G youth team? Do you know him?” Gao Depi asked.
Uncle Gao let out a quiet sigh and said, “Yes, I know him. Just a little fanboy.”
After enduring the grueling individual training, Qin Chunxiao gained recognition within the team.
Those who can survive the intense training are true men.
Qin Chunxiao, who was accustomed to being pummeled by balls traveling at an average speed of 130 km/h, asked Chen Aiguo, “So, should I still be a setter?”
Chen Aiguo replied, “Yes, you will work closely with Li Ling in the future. If you two cooperate well, you might even make it to the April 2nd tournament.”
The second setter’s primary responsibility is to connect the team’s offense and distribute the ball to others.
If a team has only one setter and five attackers, it’s referred to as a “five-one” formation. If there are two setters, it becomes a “four-two” formation.
In other words, Chen Aiguo not only highly regards Qin Chunxiao’s jumping ability but also appreciates his intelligence…
However, upon learning about Qin Chunxiao’s impressive vertical reach, the team was astonished.
When Qin Chunxiao was 15 years old, his touch height was 3.45 meters, and his effective spike height was 3.35 meters. As an adult, his touch height increased to 3.55 meters, with a spike height of 3.43 meters.
Having such height advantage, a person who is only 1.8 meters tall can touch 3.55 meters, surpassing his own height.
According to the Volleyball Association’s national team training list and the summary table of physical data for male volleyball players in 2023, height data ranging from 3.3 meters to 3.6 meters is common among national teams.
Thus, achieving a touch height of 3.45 meters at the age of 15 is highly valuable. Considering that Qin Chunxiao is still growing, he will undoubtedly become even better at jumping in the future. It would be a waste if he were shorter.
In Asia, a touch height of 3.6 meters is considered top-level. The average height of the Japanese men’s volleyball team is lower than that of the Chinese team. Finding a player who can jump 3.6 meters is more challenging for the Chinese side.
There are two “quasi-beasts” with a height of 3.7 meters in Asia, and both are Chinese players. However, in Qin Chunxiao’s memory, the first one was on the verge of retirement due to injuries, and the second one was born in 2004. At the age of 12, he was in sixth grade in his hometown in Province L when he got into an accident on a plane. The young boy was still preparing for the World Youth Championship with his teammates from the Chinese national youth team.
In short, it’s not just Chen Aiguo who believes in Qin Chunxiao. All the coaches and teammates agree that assigning him as a libero would be a waste.
Qin Chunxiao decided to prioritize practicing as a second setter, and the team adjusted his training accordingly. The focus shifted to passing, with less emphasis on spiking and blocking, but the overall training workload remained substantial.
Chen Aiguo was a highly responsible coach. Knowing that Qin Chunxiao didn’t live in the provincial team’s dormitory, he would call him at six o’clock every morning to remind him to attend training. It was a habit he had even when Qin Chunxiao was in the provincial team, going to the boys’ dormitory to wake them up, displaying the same concern as a father.
What Lao Chen didn’t know was that Qin Chunxiao would wake up at 4:30 a.m. every day. He didn’t attend evening self-study sessions since he had already completed high school once. With his strong academic abilities, attending regular classes during the day, completing homework on time, and going to bed early were sufficient.
Nowadays, Qin Chunxiao enjoyed the advantage of living in G City, as he would have a good breakfast every day at 4:30 a.m., and training sessions were also extended accordingly.
Here’s where the advantage of being associated with the basketball team came into play. Captain Li Yan was a kind-hearted person. When he learned that Qin Chunxiao had become his younger brother’s teammate, he would help him out when Qin Chunxiao was busy studying and had no time to eat. He even offered to lend him the study notes from the second and third year of high school.
Li Yan said, “Based on my experience, if you don’t want your studies to fall behind, you can preview upcoming lessons in advance. That way, when you come across those topics in class, it will be much easier for you to understand.”
In the future, Li Yan would become a diligent scholar who would secure admission to Wujiaochang Medical College on his own merits.
Aside from the fringe benefits of being part of the provincial team, Lao Chen also efficiently purchased insurance for Qin Chunxiao. Unlike many modern-day bosses who are reluctant to provide employee benefits like insurance and housing funds, the G team led by Lao Chen may only offer average allowances in the country, but they never default on players’ benefits. It’s similar to playing games; why would high-level players join their guild if there were no benefits?
Qin Chunxiao, who had fallen from the highest level, wholeheartedly joined the provincial G guild.
His days were filled with a busy schedule, and Qin Chunxiao excelled in the training routine. After a day of training, he happily wore the provincial team uniform and went to visit Uncle Gao’s shop.
Uncle Gao was a die-hard volleyball fan. The TV in his shop broadcasted volleyball matches every day. When he saw Qin Chunxiao playing beach volleyball, even though he was a sprinter at the time, Uncle Gao gave him a bag of volleyballs as a gift.
Qin Chunxiao wanted to reciprocate the kindness.
With a cheerful jingle, the boy entered the store briskly and said, “Uncle Gao, I’ve come to see you.”
Since there was no one else in the store, Uncle Gao came over with a bag of table tennis balls. He was taken aback when he saw Qin Chunxiao wearing the volleyball team uniform and exclaimed, “Wow! Why are you wearing this?”
Qin Chunxiao chuckled, took off his coat, turned around, and pointed to the number on his back, saying, “I joined the team as a floor player, and the head coach of the provincial team noticed me. He allowed me to join the provincial youth team.”
His current jersey number is 18.
Uncle Gao showed joy and exclaimed, “Hey, I know you are hardworking and talented. I didn’t expect this, I didn’t expect this…” He repeated several times and looked at Qin Chunxiao curiously.
“What position are you playing?”
In fact, judging by Qin Chunxiao’s height, Uncle Gao guessed that apart from the libero position where height doesn’t matter, Chunxiao couldn’t play any other positions.
Qin Chunxiao replied, “Second setter.”
Uncle Gao responded, “Oh!”
“Then you will only be on the bench for a short time?”
Qin Chunxiao stepped forward to help Uncle Gao with the bag while saying, “No, the other setters are not capable enough to keep me on the bench, so it’s about the same if I replace them.”
This kid is quite confident, Uncle Gao couldn’t help but say, “How long have you been in the team? You said you didn’t have a coach two months ago. It’s only been two months. How did you become a starter?”
Qin Chunxiao showed some shyness and said, “It’s because of the support from my teammates. They forced me to compete within the team. After I defeated the strongest setter other than myself, everyone else was convinced.”
Uncle Gao laughed and said, “Pfft! Tell me what happened.”
Qin Chunxiao sat down and told Uncle Gao in a concise manner how he secured his position as the starting setter.
Li Ling was the one who initiated it.
Half a month ago, Li Ling challenged Qin Chunxiao. He deliberately approached Qin Chunxiao, lowered his voice, and said, “Hey, let’s have a competition, and the winner will take the second setter position.”
The positions on the volleyball court are as follows, from 1 to 6:
4 3 2
5 6 1
The second position is near the net, on the right side. Li Ling felt that if he gave up this position to a shorter player, he would feel embarrassed when facing his old opponents in competitions.
Qin Chunxiao took a few steps back, looked around, glanced at the coach sitting on the sidelines, pondered for a few seconds, and said to Li Ling, “We need to establish our positions.”
He rolled up his sleeves, as if preparing for a physical confrontation with Li Ling, making the big man look cautious. Li Ling said, “What are you doing? I don’t want to fight! Strength and volleyball are two different things!”
Qin Chunxiao picked up a ball and said, “Do I look like I want to fight you? Look at how scared you are.”
After getting to know Li Ling, he knew that these two were just fooling around. Li Ling was usually lively and talkative, often annoying with his remarks. Although he provoked opponents, he would show weakness when someone challenged him personally.
In the end, Qin Chunxiao rushed over with a water pipe from the side of the road and drove the people away.
Lao Chen was called over by Qin Chunxiao and divided the main players of the provincial youth team into two groups. Li Ling and libero Zhou Ziming were on one team, while the main attacker Mo Lin and secondary attacker Liu Kairui joined Qin Chunxiao’s team. These guys had good coordination and a height disadvantage.
After the teams were divided, Chen Aiguo said, “If you want to change teams, let me know, and I will make adjustments.”
The players had no problem with this allocation. Qin Chunxiao being too short, it might not be effective to have two powerful attackers alongside him. On the other hand, Li Ling has offensive ability and has a libero to receive the ball. Combining offense and defense gives them a great advantage.
Uncle Gao was excited and asked, “And then?”
Gao Depi, who was standing in the dark at some point, thought to himself, what else can be done? This person has put others on the bench, so he must have won.
Qin Chunxiao replied, “Then Li Ling was so frustrated that he cried.”
Uncle Gao asked, “Crying?”
Qin Chunxiao felt embarrassed and said, “I just outplayed them.”
For instance, making it appear like a pass but actually performing a self-dunk, making it look like a block but redirecting the ball to the attacker, utilizing fake moves and timing differences to deceive opponents, and other similar tactics are all routine maneuvers on the field.
In the international arena, experienced players who have mastered these skills are abundant. Qin Chunxiao has not been fooled by them since he was 16 years old. Li Ling’s contemptuous smile only further fueled Qin Chunxiao’s determination, enabling him to exploit more flaws in the opponent’s attacks.
After the game ended, Li Ling looked at the 2-0 score and fell into a long silence.
The 25-15 score in the first game could be attributed to carelessness, but the 25-12 score in the second game left no room for excuses.
He was completely outplayed in every aspect by this man. His passing accuracy and tactical awareness were inferior, and his previous provocations had become a joke. When Li Ling recalled Qin Chunxiao’s playful attitude during their match, anger surged within him.
Li Ling clenched his fists, sniffed, and held back his tears. He said, “I… I lost. From now on, you will start at No. 2, and I will sit on the bench, damn it!”
Reluctantly, he clenched his fists and yelled, making several people on his team feel sorrowful.
“Li Ling, don’t be like this!”
“It’s because we didn’t perform well. Why don’t we have another match?”
“Come on, Qin Chunxiao hasn’t been on good terms with anyone before, but now he’s like this. We can still beat him.”
A group of young players tried to console and discuss with Li Ling, while Qin Chunxiao remained expressionless.
He asked a question, “Is there a possibility that even though I’m a left-handed player who performs well in the second position, I could also excel in the fourth position?”
Left-handed players have a different ball rotation when spiking, and they can also pass effectively in the second or fourth positions. As long as they establish good coordination with their teammates, the G provincial youth team can take advantage of the four-two tactics.
Lao Chen may not be as knowledgeable as the top coaches, but as a coach, he should still consider these fundamental issues.
Li Ling was confused and asked, “Huh?”
…
Qin Chunxiao chatted happily with Uncle Gao but quickly left with his bag. Uncle Gao stood up and said, “Are you leaving now? We won’t have a meal together… Oh, I forgot, you’re an athlete, so you can’t eat out casually.”
Qin Chunxiao shook his head and replied, “I’ve already eaten, and now I’m in a hurry to go somewhere else.”
Uncle Gao asked, “Where are you going? I can ask my nephew to give you a ride.”
Qin Chunxiao replied, “No need, I’m just going to attend a new album launch event.”
He hurriedly left, and Gao Depi entered the room with one hand on crutches, carrying a few boxes of meals in the other hand. He arrived just in time to see Qin Chunxiao’s departing figure. The back of Qin Chunxiao’s coat displayed prominent words such as “XX Bank warmly sponsors Province G” and so on.
“Uncle, is he from the Province G youth team? Do you know him?” Gao Depi asked.
Uncle Gao let out a quiet sigh and said, “Yes, I know him. Just a little fanboy.”
