Translator: dapotaturs
Release Date: 08/27/2023
The state of athletic competition is a comprehensive state that athletes enter into to achieve optimal performance. It is closely related to various factors such as an athlete's mental state during competition, physical condition, training history over a period of time, and their skill level.
For coaches, before the start of a competitive season with clear goals and events, they develop an annual training plan for athletes based on their training history and their assessment of the athletes' current condition. The aim is to bring the athletes' competitive state to its peak during major events.
The competitive state is not permanent; just like how regular people cannot maintain a state of concentration indefinitely, athletes' competitive states can also fluctuate. Some athletes struggle to regain their peak competitive state after a period of decline, making it difficult to replicate their best performance.
For example, consider the only domestic athlete, Fang Yu, who broke the 10-second barrier in the 100 meters a couple of years ago during a world athletics challenge. He achieved a remarkable time of under 10 seconds, entering the 9-second range. However, his performance declined after that, and he struggled to regain his best competitive state. Over the next couple of years, he failed to break the 10-second barrier again. The "Asian Miracle" that once thrilled the continent became a fleeting phenomenon. Some even started to doubt whether an Asian athlete could ever achieve a sub-10-second 100-meter sprint again.
As Su Bai looked at the "buff" effects displayed under the names of Wang Shen, Cui Luoheng, and Qiu Wen, he noticed that these buffs had countdown timers similar to the "Primary Associated User Duration." At the moment, the effect of eating food and the effect of associating with primary users appeared to be the same.
Su Bai wasn't sure whether there would be food buffs that could last for a longer time or if these buffs could stack with other training-related buffs. Since he had only acquired the system recently, there were still many aspects he hadn't fully grasped.
Unaware of Su Bai's thoughts, Qiu Wen, Wang Shen, and Cui Luoheng focused on finishing their fish soup and noodles, leaving nothing behind.
On the slightly chilly night of spring, savoring a warm and fragrant bowl of tofu and fresh fish soup was a wonderful experience. Whether it was Qiu Wen, Wang Shen, or Cui Luoheng, all three were fully satisfied. Qiu Wen even tried to use his advantage as a roommate to extract more soup from Su Bai, but the unyielding Su Bai did not give in to his request.
After this night's supper, the next day, Su Bai arrived at the third-floor kitchen early in the morning and began his tasks according to Sun Xiangdong's instructions. Over the next week, Su Bai had become proficient in the kitchen. Sun Xiangdong began entrusting him with the preparation of about half of the nutritional meals, gradually earning Su Bai the nickname of the "Third-Floor Kitchen God" and spreading his reputation throughout the S Province team.
Even Zhao Heping had heard of this widely spread name, and of course, it was Qiu Wen, who shared a dormitory with Su Bai, that spread the name of Su Bai to him.
In the past week, Qiu Wen's training state had improved, and his overall competitive state seemed to have exceeded expectations in the eyes of Zhao Heping. So, Zhao Heping had a separate chat with Qiu Wen to understand if there were any additional factors contributing to his improved state. This was a routine part of a coach's job—to have a thorough understanding of the athletes they were responsible for.
Qiu Wen himself felt that his performance had been good during this period, whether it was training or anything else. As an athlete who needed to have precise control over his body, he sensed the improvement in his state.
"I haven't been doing anything special these days," Qiu Wen scratched his head, then remembered the delicious food he had enjoyed throughout the week. His eyes lit up as he spoke, "Oh, by the way, I've been eating the meals cooked by Xiaobai all this time! And believe it or not, after eating the food he prepares, I feel so much more energetic! Just the thought of having three meals a day prepared by him... I feel like I can handle even more intense training!"
Qiu Wen's response left Zhao Heping momentarily stunned, and then he frowned. "What nonsense are you talking about?"
Coaches were well aware of the nutritional plans provided by the team cafeteria and were involved in the planning. In recent years, research and experience from various disciplines had shown that nutrition was indeed a critical aspect for athletes. However, the team had been under the guidance of the team nutritionist Sun Xiangdong for so many years; how could there suddenly be such an effect in just a week?
And if it was claimed that the effect was due to the food Su Bai prepared, it sounded too far-fetched. If this was heard by outsiders, they might think Su Bai was adding something inappropriate to the meals!
"Oh come on, Coach, I'm not making things up..." Qiu Wen scratched his cheek, trying to sound serious, but Zhao Heping didn't pay attention to his words.
Over the next couple of days, similar conversations occurred not only between Zhao Heping and Qiu Wen but also between Zhou Wen, the coach of the hurdles group, and Cui Luoheng. Zhou Wen had noticed an unusual improvement in Cui Luoheng's state during this period, and even his temper seemed less volatile.
It wasn't just Cui Luoheng; Wang Shen had also caught the attention of his coach, receiving extra care and attention.
During the weekly meeting of the coaching staff in the track and field team of the S Province, one coach raised the topic of certain athletes showing exceptional form in the past week. Soon, coaches from various disciplines—sprints, hurdles, high jump, long jump, and more—joined the discussion, mentioning that some of their athletes had improved in their competitive state recently.
While this was a positive development, when a significant proportion of athletes improved their performance within the same period, it became a source of confusion and uncertainty for the coaching staff.
Thus, during the meeting, the coaching staff collectively reviewed the training records of athletes for the past week and compiled a list of all the athletes who had shown improvement.Once the list was compiled, the coaching staff took a look at it and thought, "Wow! These are all the key players in the team!"
For the coaching staff, the initial reaction upon seeing this list wasn't surprise, but rather a sense of alarm.
After all, the outdoor competition season was about to begin, and the track and field team from S Province hadn't performed well last year. This year, they were determined to make a mark!
If these key team members had simply improved their state, that would have been acceptable. However, any other factors coming into play could be a heavy blow for the entire track and field team of S Province.
The coaching staff quickly focused on identifying commonalities among these athletes to understand what might have contributed to their collective improvement. As Zhao Heping looked at the list, his eyebrows furrowed— he remembered what Qiu Wen had told him.
"I've been eating food cooked by Xiaobai, and my overall state has improved!"
And at this moment, others also began recalling this statement. Soon, more coaches mentioned the name of "Third-Floor Kitchen God" Su Bai, which was becoming well-known throughout the athletics team.
As soon as the topic of the kitchen was brought up, the expressions of the coaching staff and the head coach worsened—kitchens in different provincial teams were specially set up to ensure the dietary safety of the athletes. If athletes were claiming an improvement in their state after dining at their own cafeteria...
Considering a certain possibility, the faces of the coaching staff turned somewhat grim.
The head coach even called over an assistant coach, instructing them to inform all athletes who had dined on the third floor to immediately undergo a medical examination at the team doctor's office.
Athletes are highly concerned about their physical condition, so undergoing a routine medical examination wasn't considered unusual. However, in the meeting room of the team's sports facility, where coaching staff members were awaiting the athletes' test results, each member's expression was far from pleasant.
"This Su Bai... wasn't he a member of our team? He should be well aware of food safety concerns!"
Amid the agonizing wait for the test results, a coach who knew Su Bai couldn't help but speak up.
Zhao Heping's expression wasn't great either, but he still believed in Su Bai's character: "I personally raised Su Bai, and he has strong feelings for our team. I don't believe he would engage in any prohibited activities."
"But this situation didn't occur before Su Bai started working in the third-floor cafeteria. If it wasn't Su Bai, what could have caused this effect?"
Zhao Heping took a deep breath. "These kids all call Su Bai 'Third-Floor Kitchen God.' We didn't pay much attention to it before, but maybe the quality of their diet could indeed impact the athletes' training state?"
This statement was somewhat speculative even to Zhao Heping himself. However, he still wanted to believe in Su Bai, so he stood firm in his support.
After Zhao Heping spoke, the coaching staff members exchanged glances. Some coaches who were friendly with Zhao Heping discreetly signaled him not to give others an opportunity to jump to conclusions.
For a moment, silence enveloped the meeting room. The atmosphere grew tense, and the originally planned topics for the meeting were momentarily set aside. It wasn't until nearly two hours later that the assistant coach who had left earlier returned, carrying the temporary test reports provided directly by the team doctor.
Seated at the head, the head coach asked directly, "How is it?"
The assistant coach returned in a bit of a hurry, but there was no trace of worry on his face. After catching his breath, he earnestly reported, "All tests have been completed, and there's no issue!"
With that statement, all the coaches in the room let out a sigh of relief, and the previously tense atmosphere in the meeting room gradually eased.
However, someone raised the initial doubt again, "But if there's no issue, why have more than half of the athletes who dine on the third floor experienced a performance improvement?"
Now that there was a sense of relaxation in the room, someone finally made a joke, "Maybe it's Su Bai's exquisite cooking. Eating well might make the athletes supercharged!"
This comment elicited a light-hearted laughter from the surrounding coaches.
Someone even proposed, "Why not go to the third-floor cafeteria and see for ourselves?"
"Hey, that's a good idea. Let's go together and see just how amazing this 'Third-Floor Kitchen God' really is!"
With this suggestion, the coaches who had been in the meeting began to stand up one by one. As a group, they made their way towards the direction of the third-floor cafeteria.
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