Chapter 25: Published in a Provincial Journal—The Gaze of a Slacker from Below (First Update—Votes Appreciated)

Eleven seconds?

It really is eleven seconds...

If he can maintain this steady progress, making it into the provincial team is well within reach. The key is that he has been training for less than two months. This guy... he’s a genius.

Did Ning Debao hit the jackpot?

Suddenly, Gou Laozhi felt a tinge of envy. Such talent is hard to come by. With so many cities in Guangdong Province, how many athletes make it to the provincial team each year? Those who do are provincial-level prodigies, essentially invincible at the city level.

Even Ning Debao was taken aback. Although she had anticipated that Su Shen would be fast, breaking the 11-second barrier in one go was simply too rapid. It seemed Yang Yongqiang had truly recommended a remarkable talent.

Zhou Bing found it hard to believe. He had run with full effort and still lost. Although his previous sub-11-second run of 10.99 had been aided by luck and wind speed, he had technically broken the barrier. But this guy?

It was said that less than two months ago, he had only managed a record-breaking 11.18 seconds at the Xiangshan City Middle School Games. And now, in just a month and a half, he had surged down to the 11-second mark. Did he think this speed was as common as cabbages? Improvements should naturally become harder and slower at this level.

In that instant, Zhou Bing finally understood. People are truly different. This boy, just over 1.7 meters tall and from the same rural background, would likely become a provincial-level prodigy just like his older brother, Zhou Tao. That was the caliber of talent found at the very top of the city sports school.

As for himself... Zhou Bing felt a bit crushed.

Yet, Su Shen seemed to understand this sentiment perfectly. He walked over and said, "Your talent is actually fine; it’s your training that lacks a scientific approach. If you switch to our coach’s methods, breaking 11 seconds will come very quickly."

This kid was actually helping her recruit? Ning Debao was left between laughter and tears. Since the sports school reforms, students had more autonomy, and head coaches could be changed. However, this was ultimately Zhou Bing’s decision; if he wanted to join, he was welcome, and if not, it didn't matter. After all, a city-level sports school was still a bit too low-tier.

...

"Xiao Tian, it seems you were right. Scientific training really is the future. I can’t even imagine this rate of progress. If I had stuck to my original plan, I wouldn't have had any confidence in getting you to 11 seconds in under two months." Ning Debao was excited. Su Shen’s performance today gave her even more confidence in his "scientific sports theory." She immediately began arranging a scientific training system for the female student, Chen Juan, striving to help her achieve a breakthrough as well.

Since it was a scientific system, it was no longer just a matter of raw talent. Mass production and overall improvement were the true strengths of the "scientific sports system." Under Su Shen’s guidance, Ning Debao was standing at the forefront of a new wave.

The next day, a somewhat embarrassed Zhou Bing was brought over by Ning Debao. He just wanted to figure out one thing: where exactly had he lost? Was he really capable of breaking 11 seconds soon? Once you have breached that 11-second mark, you yearn for that realm more and more; you no longer want to stand still. That feeling is simply too agonizing.

Su Shen was surprised by how quickly Zhou Bing arrived, but on second thought, it made sense. For these sports school students, their results were their lifeline. If he couldn't improve after staying with Gou Laozhi, why remain? Even if he was just looking for an excuse to come over and test the waters, hoping this female coach and college student really had some "secret techniques," it was worth a shot.

At this moment, no one would ever guess that this was all guided by Su Shen; naturally, Zhou Bing’s assumption was that this was primarily Ning Debao’s credit. In this era, many head coaches still guarded their own "exclusive experience" and "insider tips." Before the full arrival of the information age, obtaining the most effective knowledge was no easy feat.

Gou Laozhi’s face must have been green with envy. But since the student wanted to leave, there was nothing he could do. He let Zhou Bing go over to take a look, thinking that if it turned out to be just Su Shen’s natural talent, he could hurry back without wasting time. That logic wasn't wrong, and Zhou Bing readily agreed.

Just then, the research article on the "Six-Second Law," co-authored by Ning Debao and Su Shen, was finally published. It wasn't a top-tier journal, and there wasn't an abundance of sports expertise emerging in the country, so publishing it was no issue. *China Sports World* was not a prestigious publication compared to the likes of *China Sports Magazine* or *Sports Science*, but it had the advantage of fast review and publication speeds—a place many used to "pad" their resumes.

However, it had its downsides: its influence was minimal, and few people would read it. Sports projects were mostly conducted in isolation. But for Ning Debao, it was still a cause for celebration, especially for a sixteen-year-old like Zhou Bing. Seeing his teacher publish a research article in a sports journal was quite... shocking. Instantly, Ning Debao’s image in his mind grew ten times taller. He had never heard of Gou Laozhi publishing any research papers, and combined with Ning Debao’s college degree, his attitude became much more respectful.

If the Su Shen from his past life had heard this, his reaction would likely have been similar to Zhou Bing’s. Believe me, high-achieving scholars are respected everywhere in China. But now, he could calmly say, "Coach Ning, let's continue our research, deepen it, and collect more data. It would be best to get into a national-level journal first. If we do some in-depth research in the future, getting into an SCI-indexed journal isn't impossible."

"You're right. The influence of a provincial journal is limited, and sports is a niche within a niche. We should treat this as a stepping stone and set our sights on national journals in the future; it's easier to reach core journals from there." Ning Debao discussed this with Su Shen in all seriousness. To Zhou Bing, this was completely different from his previous training under Gou Laozhi.

Moreover... Su Shen was half a year younger than him, yet he was discussing papers and research with a college-educated coach. This was what Zhou Bing found most incredible. Leaning in to listen, he realized he recognized the words, but when put together, he couldn't grasp the meaning at all.

Furthermore, he discovered that Su Shen’s English was exceptional. In 2004, finding a sports school student with great English was rarer than finding a pearl on a beach. This was the benefit of Su Shen’s intensive English training since his arrival. Combined with this being one of the best ages to learn a language, his progress had been leaps and bounds.

Seeing the two talking with no room for him to interject, Zhou Bing could only turn to the somewhat introverted Chen Juan and ask, "Is Su... is Su Shen always this... knowledgeable?"

Though introverted, Chen Juan had grown close to Su Shen and said while stretching, "Look at the signature under the article."

Zhou Bing looked down, his jaw nearly hitting the floor. The article in *China Sports World* clearly bore the name: Su Shen.

This nearly shattered the soul of the academically struggling Zhou Bing. A top student in a sports school?

Zhou Bing had been a bit unconvinced at first, but now he was genuinely impressed. There was no help for it—there was a gap in their intellect, wasn't there? If someone is smarter than you, it's only natural to lose.

Su Shen had never expected that in Zhou Bing’s eyes, he had become the image of a super-scholar at a sports school. Zhou Bing hadn't felt much on his first day, but his brain and intellect had received a crushing blow. Yet, it was precisely because of this that his initial disdain for Ning Debao completely vanished.

There was no way around it; if you can publish in a provincial journal, you are the real deal—certainly better than his old coach, Gou Laozhi. Boys who play sports are just that simple and straightforward.