On the evening of August 20, the national table tennis coaching staff held a meeting overnight to discuss the "strategic handicap".

On the morning of August 21, Wang Liqin received a notice that he must lose in the semifinals tomorrow afternoon!

On August 21, the Chinese table tennis team won two gold medals in a row, and in the morning Wang Lan/Zhang Yiling defeated South Korean opponent Lee Eunshi/Shi Eunmei 4:0, winning the first table tennis gold medal for the Chinese team and clearing the haze for the Chinese army. In the afternoon, Ma Lin/Chen Qi defeated Hong Kong's Li Jing/Gao Lize in the men's doubles final to win the second gold medal of the Chinese table tennis team.

Seeing that his teammates had gained one by one, Wang Liqin's pain increased exponentially. In particular, Marin's victory made him even more stimulated. Before Ye Hao's rise, Chinese men's table tennis was in the so-called "King of Horses era", and Wang Liqin and Ma Lin were neck and neck. Wang Liqin, who had already won the men's doubles gold medal at the last Sydney Olympics, had a psychological advantage over Marin. And now, although Marin lost early in the singles competition, but now he has finally come to his heart's content, and the gold medal is in hand. Looking back at myself, I fell into darkness.

"Why didn't I have a chance to compete for an Olympic gold medal?" His mind kept asking rhetorically.

Can't figure it out!

However, since the leaders above have made a "decision" on his behalf, Wang Liqin is helpless and has no choice but to obey.

This is Chinese sports!

This is the so-called system!

Fairness and justice, competitive sportsmanship, and the Olympic spirit are all invincible to the so-called "leadership instructions".

Wang Liqin pressed his eyes in despair, buried his head in the quilt, and couldn't help but burst into his eyes. The boy has tears and doesn't flick, but he hasn't reached the sad place!

While everyone in the Chinese table tennis team was celebrating the double gold medal in one day, there was a person who hid silently in the room, choked up and speechless......

The next day, August 22, is the date of the table tennis women's singles final, as well as the men's singles semifinals. Wang Liqin seemed to have forgotten his sadness and appeared in front of everyone normally. It's just that the whole person is missing something, the most important thing - spirit!

At breakfast time, Ye Hao came a little late, and he was also greatly stimulated last night, looking at his teammates' Olympic gold medals, his heart was full of desire. The opponent in the semi-finals, Wang Liqin, is not an easy role to solve, and Ye Hao is not completely sure of defeating his teammates. In the same room, without the guidance of the coach, Ye Hao could only think hard about tactics by himself, and this thought came late at night.

Holding the food, Ye Hao walked towards Wang Liqin, who was sitting alone, although he was about to meet in the semi-finals, he didn't have any intention of avoiding suspicion, "The game depends on its ability, and winning or losing still depends on strength." This is Ye Hao's idea.

"Brother Dali, good morning." Ye Hao greeted the other party as always, but did not get any response. Ye Hao looked at the other party a little strangely, only to find that Wang Liqin didn't seem to notice his arrival and was distracted. After sitting down, Ye Hao waved his palm in front of Wang Liqin's eyes a few times, which made the other party come back to his senses.

"Brother Dali, why do you want to be so engrossed? Are you thinking about the tactics of the afternoon game? Ye Hao asked casually.

"Alas", Wang Liqin sighed, "What else do I have to think about, anyway, I will lose!" ”

Listening to Wang Liqin's answer, Ye Hao felt very strange, "This doesn't look like his style!" Why did you lose confidence before you even played? Ye Hao couldn't help but look at the other party again and observed carefully.

At this look, Ye Hao found a slight abnormality, Wang Liqin looked haggard, his beard was sloppy, and his eyes were blank, which was completely different from his previous neat, handsome, and energetic appearance. "Is something going on?" This question lingered in Ye Hao's heart.

After breakfast, Ye Hao wandered around and did not return to the room.

"Sister Ling, how are the preparations for the finals in the evening?" Lu met Zhang Yiling, a fellow senior sister, and Ye Hao asked with concern.

"No problem, I'm sure!" Zhang Yiling looked confident.

"Haha, I think so too. Come on! This women's singles gold medal belongs to you. Ye Hao said with a smile. You put on a cold look, and the North Korean player will definitely be shocked by your domineering spirit, maybe he will be cowardly before the fight and admit defeat in advance! ”

In fact, as Ye Hao said, when Zhang Yiling shook hands with her opponent before the finals in the evening, she found that her opponent Jin Xiangmei's palms were cold......

"It's a pity that my opponents are too strong, the semi-finals are the big brother Wang Liqin, if you can enter the finals, it is estimated that the opponent will be Liu Chengmin, they are not soft persimmons, and they will not take the initiative to surrender and admit defeat." Ye Hao thought in his heart.

"Throw in the towel? No, I seem to be missing something important. Ye Hao was a little scratchy.

"Why do you feel that Wang Liqin is a little wrong today?" "I also think it's a little weird, it's going to be a game in the afternoon." Kong Linghui and Wang Hao, who were passing by, were talking.

"That's right! Wang Liqin! He was very strange early this morning, obviously it was the semifinals in the afternoon, but he looked weak, isn't this the state of admitting defeat? Ye Hao finally figured out what was wrong.

"Is it a handicap?"

In his previous life, as an amateur of table tennis, Ye Hao knew a lot about the rumors and rumors of national table tennis. In the 01 World Table Tennis Championships, Zhang Yiling gave the ball to Wang Lan, and cried bitterly after the game; In the 04 Athens Olympics, Wang Liqin conceded the ball to Wang Hao, and finally regretted it for life.

"Whatever it is, wait to lie down and win?"

This thought flashed through Ye Hao's heart.

"Nope! Do I need to win by such disgraceful means? I want to win this game with dignity and win this game openly! Ye Hao made up his mind.

In front of Wang Liqin's room.

"Knock knock", Ye Hao was knocking on the door.

"Hey, why is Ye Hao you, is there something wrong?" Wang Liqin opened the door and looked surprised.

"Can I enter?" Ye Hao asked.

"Uh, yes." After hesitating for a moment, Wang Liqin still let go of his body, let Ye Hao into the house, and then closed the door again.

After entering the house, Ye Hao did not hesitate and asked straight to the point: "Are you going to release water and handlie the ball in the semifinals in the afternoon?" ”

"You, how do you know?" Wang Liqin looked very surprised, he didn't expect Ye Hao to know about it, because when he was talked, he was told that for the sake of secrecy, he was the only one who knew about it.

"That's the real thing." Ye Hao's face sank, and he didn't feel good in his heart. What athlete does not aspire to win, especially in the Olympic arena, it is undoubtedly an extremely cruel thing to let a top athlete voluntarily give up the competition.

"You and I are fighting in the light, how?" Ye Hao's gaze looked directly at Wang Liqin, and his eyes were full of war.

Looking at Ye Hao's firm expression, Wang Liqin fell silent.

Seeing this, Ye Hao knew that the other party had concerns. "Are you worried about offending the leader, I can go and explain this to the coaching staff."

"Forget it, the interests of the country are greater than everything, even if I am a little wronged, I ......" Wang Liqin's voice was a little choked.

"Don't you have confidence in yourself and feel like you can't win if you make it to the final? Or do you think you can't beat me in the first place, so you admit defeat by pushing the boat down the river? Ye Hao used the agitation method.

"I ......"

"How many beats can there be in life? How many Olympics can we compete in in our lifetime? Maybe if you lose this opportunity, you won't have a chance to reach the final of the Olympic Men's Singles again! Ye Hao has been sparing no effort to persuade Wang Liqin.

"It's for you, but it's for myself! I don't want to be poked in the back by someone saying that I won the Olympic title because I handicaped the ball, and it would fade my gold medal! ”

"Good! I agree! Wang Liqin suddenly spoke, he looked up at Ye Hao, his eyes were full of desire, the desire for the championship and the Olympic gold medal.

"Okay, it's a deal!" The big stone in Ye Hao's heart fell to the ground.