44 Marlon

Duan Nanzhou’s serving posture alone made the table tennis players present realize that she was no amateur; she was, at the very least, someone who understood the sport well and had studied it in depth.

"Holy crap!"

That was everyone’s immediate reaction. They were so startled that their eyes followed the back-and-forth trajectory of the ball, moving in unison as if they had rehearsed it.

While the spectators were already immensely shocked, Xu Xin, the person directly involved, was the most astounded of all. In fact, he barely had time to process his shock—he almost felt as though he had been thrust back into an international tournament, his entire field of vision consumed solely by how to return the incoming ball.

In that fleeting moment, Duan Nanzhou felt as though she had returned to her past life, experiencing once again that exhilarating, full-hearted immersion on the court, which was nothing short of pure enjoyment.

Duan Nanzhou was having the time of her life, but the consequence was that "Big Python" opposite her was suffering miserably. He didn't want to keep returning the shots, yet his professional pride as an athlete forbade him from giving up—especially since he was losing to someone outside the professional circuit. How utterly humiliating!

Seeing the look of agony on Xu Xin's face, Duan Nanzhou smiled with satisfaction. That would teach him to provoke her, and to boot, provoke her right in her former area of expertise. Who could possibly let that slide?

With a final decisive kill shot, Duan Nanzhou successfully brought the game to an end, leaving Xu Xin standing across the net looking utterly defeated and questioning the meaning of life.

The spectators nearby broke into stunned applause, staring at Duan Nanzhou as if she were some kind of monster.

"Nanzhou, I never would've guessed!" Liu Guoliang’s surprise grew the more he looked at her. He had initially thought Journalist Duan possessed a profound understanding of table tennis through her interview research, which was why he had coaxed her over for a professional sparring session.

Never did he expect her table tennis skills to be phenomenal, easily surpassing quite a few members of the national team's first and second squads.

As a coach, Liu Guoliang had long since honed a discerning pair of sharp eyes. While he shared the initial shock of the athletes around him, he was far more struck by Duan Nanzhou’s exceptional strategic thinking and formidable playing style. They had struck gold, hadn't they?

As for Ma Long, his shock was undoubtedly the deepest. At that moment, he felt as though he was seeing his girlfriend in an entirely new light. He had never imagined she possessed such a side to her—she looked utterly, breathtakingly cool!

Before he could even figure out what to say and step forward, however, he was shoved aside by Coach Liu, who eagerly marched to the front.

Ma Long, having been pushed away: ???

"Nanzhou, let me play a match with you," Liu Guoliang said straightforwardly.

"Sure thing, Coach Liu!" Duan Nanzhou’s craving for table tennis had been thoroughly awakened by now, so she agreed with a bright smile.

The surrounding spectators silently retreated to their original spots, ready to continue watching, while Xu Xin—who had just stepped down—walked over to his good buddy Ma Long and gave him a thumbs-up to express his awe and praise.

Which of the national team’s core players hadn't trained under Liu Guoliang? The process could only be described as horrific, leaving them battered and bruised from relentless drills.

Yet right now, they were witnessing Duan Nanzhou match Liu Guoliang stroke for stroke, virtually neck-and-neck, and at times even gaining the upper hand. They couldn't help but feel a surge of excitement.

"Nanzhou, go for it!" These words slipped out unintentionally from Liu Shiwen and Ding Ning, quickly echoed by Xu Xin standing nearby.

As the rally progressed, Liu Guoliang realized that Duan Nanzhou was deliberately refraining from ending the match too quickly. Furthermore, she was extremely familiar with his playing style—she had clearly analyzed and figured out how to counter it. Right now, she was probably sparing his dignity by not defeating him outright.

Ultimately, Liu Guoliang engineered an intentional error to conclude the game. Fearing that things would spiral out of hand if they kept playing and she had no intention of wrapping it up from her end, he had to take matters into his own hands.

"Nanzhou, your skills are on par with our team members! Have you practiced table tennis before? Which provincial team were you on?" Liu Guoliang still found it hard to believe that a complete civilian possessed such caliber, yet even if she had been on a provincial team, surely a talent of this magnitude wouldn't have escaped his notice!

"You flatter me, Coach Liu. I've never trained professionally; I just played it as a hobby," Duan Nanzhou replied, maintaining that she truly hadn't played much in this lifetime, speaking absolute truth (with an innocent expression).

"Then..." Liu Guoliang patted Duan Nanzhou’s shoulder, fell silent for a few seconds in deep thought, and continued, "How about joining our team to guide and coach everyone in the future?"

Liu Guoliang figured that since Duan Nanzhou had never revealed this side of herself before, it meant she had no desire to pursue table tennis as a career. Besides, her own career was already developing quite successfully. So, even though he desperately wanted her to join the team, he supposed it was out of the question. Especially given various practical realities, recruiting an adult who had never undergone formal team training into the national squad was probably an impossible feat.

After mulling it over until the end, he figured that since Duan Nanzhou got along quite well with the athletes on the team, she could at least drop by to help them analyze matches and offer some guidance, right?

"You're too kind, I'm just an amateur hobbyist," Duan Nanzhou replied with a professional smile. Act as their coach? Has he lost his mind?

Faced with this proposition, Duan Nanzhou employed every evasive tactic in the book to avoid giving a direct answer. If not for Ma Long and the sudden provocation from Xu Xin today, she had had no intention whatsoever of letting slip that she knew how to play.

In the end, Liu Guoliang had to retreat in defeat. No matter what he said, there was simply no swaying her, forcing him to appeal to Ma Long in the hope that, as a family member, he could secure some perks for the team.

And Ma Long, acting as the devoted boyfriend: he pretended to gaze up at the ceiling, remaining blissfully ignorant of everything.

Liu Guoliang: This young couple—each one more exasperating than the last! (Stomps foot)

Watching Liu Guoliang storm off in frustration, Duan Nanzhou silently gave her boyfriend a mental thumbs-up. Ma Long, who unconditionally sided with his girlfriend, was just so cool!

"Holy crap, Nanzhou..."

"You're a beast, Nanzhou..."

"I want to play a match with you too..."

The moment Liu Guoliang left, the spectators who had remained silent all this time swarmed over instantly. They were utterly shocked and deeply curious, genuinely longing to play a game against Duan Nanzhou to see what it felt like.

Xu Xin, who had already experienced it firsthand: The feeling of utter defeat...

In the end, all of them played a round against Duan Nanzhou before leaving in blissful satisfaction. At the same time, fueled by the big mouths of several players—most notably Ma Lin and Wang Hao—Duan Nanzhou’s legendary status began to spread rapidly throughout the entire team.

Especially the myth of her being a sports journalist whose table tennis prowess surpassed that of many professional athletes grew more and more miraculous with every retelling within the squad.

Meanwhile, Duan Nanzhou looked at the undisguised astonishment lingering on her boyfriend’s face and arched an eyebrow with a hint of triumph.

"Well! Didn't I tell you I was good?"

"Zhouzhou..." Ma Long didn't know how to articulate his amazement, but every movement of his limbs betrayed his utter shock. "You are simply too incredible!"

"Do you believe my tactical analyses for you now?" This had been Duan Nanzhou’s goal all along. She couldn't bear to watch her little Ma continue to suffer setbacks and miss out on the glory that rightfully belonged to him. Even though he would eventually become a hexagonal warrior and play for a long time, the younger Ma still harbored many regrets.

"I've always believed you! I just never expected my girlfriend to be this overwhelmingly strong!" Ma Long had always trusted his girlfriend unconditionally, and this time he felt once again that he had struck gold in winning her heart.

Duan Nanzhou was thoroughly pleased with her adorable, "obedient" little Ma. And thus, Duan Nanzhou—the coach who used to strike terror into the hearts of the national table tennis team—was about to log back on!

In the days that followed, Ma Long came to know a different side of his girlfriend: serious and rigorous in her work. When analyzing techniques and providing guidance for him, she was stern to an absolute fault.

Occasionally, when Ma Long wanted to act spoiled or cute, he was driven away by a severe glare from his girlfriend, a look that seemed to say, *"I am seriously discussing technique with you right now; what on earth are you doing? Trying to flirt with me?"*

Ma Long: Feeling deeply aggrieved.

However, the moment Coach Duan logged off and Girlfriend Duan logged back in, she transformed right back into Ma Long’s darling sweetheart, showering him with the utmost care and affection.

Witnessing his girlfriend seamlessly switch back and forth between her work and off-duty modes, Ma Long felt a mild sense of shock, as though his Nanzhou possessed two entirely different personalities.

Naturally, whenever Duan Nanzhou was coaching and analyzing games for her boyfriend, there was never a shortage of busybody old acquaintances lingering around. At first, they just wanted to eavesdrop on what Duan Nanzhou was telling Ma Long.

Later, upon discovering that her analysis and guidance were genuinely god-tier, they began intentionally or unintentionally prompting her to break down their games as well.

And so Duan Nanzhou—who had previously rejected Liu Guoliang with righteous resolve—turned a blind eye to her own words, ultimately offering her insights and conducting joint analyses for everyone.

Duan Nanzhou, destined in both lifetimes to be unable to escape the destiny of a coach, sighed in silent resignation: *I suppose I was just born to be a workhorse.*

The national table tennis team, inheriting the same fate: *Just give up, Nanzhou. You can't escape it, you're bound to us now!*