TGDS Chapter 70.2

The Good Dad System (Arc 9) Chapter 70.2: Run, Boy! (14)

“How could that be!” Xiao Liu laughed and patted Pei Naochun twice, “You don’t have to be so modest, my photos are just average too.” He was afraid that the other party would think he was hiding something, so he handed the camera over and showed him the photos he had just taken and had not yet screened.

… Pei Naochun didn’t want to talk, he wanted to jump into the sea.

Being a giant in theory but a dwarf in reality, he suffered a huge blow today. He was standing in almost the same position, choosing almost the same angle, using almost the same posture, and using almost the same camera. Well, the camera he used was much better than that of reporter Liu, but how could there be such a big difference between these two similar cameras put together?

He thought of the photos he had just seen on the screen and was speechless – some athletes ran out of afterimages and their expressions could not be seen at all, some of his sons only showed a foot, a hand, and half of his face, and some were photos of other athletes… He finally got a few photos, and one of them was of Pei Xiangdong, and it was really hard to describe.

When an athlete runs, the flesh on his face will move to some extent, and it can’t be said that he is controlling his expression. That’s enough to say. Yes, he took photos of his son that made it look like time has passed, he looked five years older, or he had a ferocious expression, and his face was blocked in various ways.

Let’s look at Xiao Liu’s photo. It was clearly taken from above. Except for some blurry ones, most of them are very clear. The person is in the middle, and you can see the slender hands and feet, the tense muscles and body in motion, and the focused expression.

“I’m used to editing photos first, haha.” He knew his smile was very awkward, but he couldn’t bring out such a photo, could he? “Next time we meet, I’ll give it to you.”

“Okay.” Xiao Liu agreed. He knew that some photography enthusiasts would not show the original photos to others. The next group was about to start, and he was ready to continue filming. He didn’t notice that Pei Naochun next to him breathed a sigh of relief, with a look of having escaped death.

The broadcast on the sidelines was already announcing the results. The last page of the conference handbook contained records of previous events. Xiao Liu picked it up with great interest and listened attentively.

“200m preliminaries, third group, fourth lane, Pei Xiangdong: 22.04 seconds…”

“Broken!” Xiao Liu opened his eyes wide with excitement. The previous record was set in 2002 at 22.56 seconds, which barely passed the national second-level athlete line. From this, we can know that the track and field level of Province C is indeed not very good. But today, Pei Xiangdong raised his result by one level in the preliminary round. According to past years’ experience, he will definitely be able to improve it in the final!

“Brother, you really didn’t scare me! This kid can really run!” Xiao Liu praised him and decided to continue observing him in the next 400-meter preliminaries. If he breaks another record, he will definitely give this kid a small spot to report on. Maybe he is a future star.

“Of course, how could I lie to you? He has always been excellent.” Pei Naochun felt proud of it.

“No, I have to go downstairs to film the semi-finals for better results.” Xiao Liu remembered something and extended an invitation, “How about I ask the organizers to help you get a spot? It’s just a few games, and there won’t be much media coverage. I think they’ll agree.”

“…Okay!” Pei Naochun hesitated for a moment, then agreed. How could one give up so easily? He would try again, perhaps he could overcome his original body’s flaws. Yes, until this moment, he still firmly believed that this must be the original body’s fault. The ugly photos had nothing to do with him.

…

The C Province Games were grand yet brief. Like most sports meets, they were divided into groups and venues, with staggered competitions, lasting a week before finally coming to a close. Whether it was the provincial team or the overall field, Coach Wang’s athletes were unrivaled. Pei Xiangdong won gold in both the 400m and 200m, breaking three records. In the 400m, his performance reached master class. Furthermore, in the 4x100m, he and Li Zhengping significantly raised the team’s performance, also achieving a record-breaking performance and taking home the gold medal. Coach Wang had been smug for the past two days, occasionally checking in on the two coaches next door, the Tianbe and badminton coaches. Li Zhengping privately joked with Pei Xiangdong that he suspected someone would one day put a sack over the coaches and knock them unconscious.

Pei Xiangdong also received a lot of attention because of this. Of course, this was in the industry. Xiao Liu did not brag. After he won the championship, he used half a page to do an exclusive interview with Pei Xiangdong. He wrote two or three thousand words, elaborating on the boy’s current impressive achievements and unlimited development possibilities in the future. Pei Naochun went to the newspaper office specially and bought about a hundred copies, just waiting to go home and send them out to relatives and friends.

As the sun sets, busyness and leisure coexist in this city. There are many buses parked outside the venue. At a glance, it is difficult to find your own bus. These are all here to pick up the players to go back to school or home. The provincial team also specially chartered one such bus.

Li Zhengping pointed at Pei Xiangdong with trembling fingers: “Liar! You cheated!” His face was full of grief and anger. Coach Wang just came over and said that he would give Pei Xiangdong two days off because the other party’s father was coming and he needed some time to accompany his own father. He didn’t take it seriously and followed him, wanting to take a look at his good brother’s father and leave, but he encountered a cruel blow.

Pei Xiangdong shrugged and smiled slyly: “I didn’t force you to bet.” He pointed at his father standing there, “Do you want me to take you to confirm who he was photographing?”

“Do we need confirmation?” Li Zhengping was hurt and indignant. “This is a father-son scam! Collective fraud! Too much, too much!”

“Didn’t you propose the bet yourself?”

“That’s right.” Li Zhengping said mischievously, deliberately making the gesture of holding one’s heart like Xizi. “My heart aches so much. My crystal heart has been trampled upon by my good brother.”

“So you want to default on your debt?” Pei Xiangdong raised his eyebrows.

“That’s not the case.” Li Zhengping looked awkward. In the distance, the bully coach Wang was already shouting at people. He had no choice but to walk backwards and reluctantly pulled a face: “Boss, we’ll do push-ups when you come back!”

“Okay.” Pei Xiangdong laughed so hard that he fell forward and backward. He waved goodbye to his friend and trotted to his father. He was carrying a heavy bag on his back. Inside were not only clothes, but also medals and certificates carefully packed in red boxes. The materials were solid and the boxes were very heavy.

After a few days of competition, all the interactions between the father and son were while watching each other from a distance. This was also a special requirement from Coach Wang. They were required to learn to focus during the game and try not to make special arrangements no matter what the situation was. So until today, Pei Naochun and Pei Xiangdong finally had time to spend together.

“Dad, I… I won a prize!” Pei Xiangdong stood there, with a smile and excitement on his face, blurted out, and then stood there, the expression on his face switching between anticipation and hesitation. Others probably wouldn’t understand that for him, it was a difficult thing just to tell his father about his achievements so excitedly.

“Dad saw it.” Pei Naochun reached out and patted his son’s shoulder. “You are the best. I always believed you could do it! You did it!”

Pei Xiangdong looked at his father, his smile growing wider. He nodded and walked forward sheepishly. There happened to be a small stone on the road, which he kicked to the corner. “No, it’s just that there weren’t any particularly strong athletes participating in the Provincial Games, so I look really good.” He seemed modest, but in fact, every little feeler was trying to send a signal – praise me more! Quickly.

Pei Naochun successfully received the signal: “How can you say that? There are many excellent contestants today, but none of them can compare to you. You broke the provincial record in the preliminaries, semifinals, and finals! Those records were set many years ago, which fully proves that you are now extremely outstanding! No one can compare to you!”

“But… I’m also quite worried. You know, Dad, Coach Wang said that I might go to the national team after the national and world competitions next year. By then, there will be many masters, not just these few people from the province!” He lowered his head. If he had a tail, it would have started wagging long ago. Only his red ears revealed that he was so happy that he wanted to take off.

“How can you say that! How long have you been training? Only a month in total, and you’ve already achieved such results. Not only Coach Wang, but the reporters I met at the games these past two days also said that you have unlimited potential! And you’ve always been someone who gets stronger when facing a strong opponent. If you really meet an opponent, you will push yourself to move forward!” Pei Naochun praised sincerely, “Besides, no matter what your results are, you’re already Daddy’s pride!”

These words hit Pei Xiangdong’s heart. He walked quickly, leaving only his back to his father. He laughed for too long and his face almost cramped. He quickly reached out and rubbed his face roughly. Fortunately, he was not seen.

“Dad, do you think I can really step onto the world stage in the future?”

“Of course!” Pei Naochun said firmly, “Dad will always believe in you, and you have to believe in yourself too.”

“Great!” Pei Xiangdong leaped for joy, but his voice didn’t betray it at all. Was he being too childish? But just being praised like that made him happy for a very long time, even happier than winning a gold medal or making the provincial team. “By the way, Dad, are you busy at the hospital?”

“I’m not busy anymore.” Thinking of this, Pei Naochun quickly explained, “I’ve discussed this with the hospital. I’ll be teaching more students and doing more academic research in the future. I won’t have to see patients for that long, so I can take a few days off a month.”

This was also a compromise he came up with. In his original life, he had been studying medicine until he was old. Even because of his son, he was learning about cutting-edge medicine every day until he retired and was bedridden. His understanding of the subject was at least thirty or forty years ahead of what it is now. A County is one of the best economies in the country. A County Hospital has always wanted to develop upward and has started to introduce talents a long time ago. He wants to publish more papers and train more students. Pei Naochun has now begun to transform, so that if he competes with his son in the future, it will not delay his work in the hospital.

“By the way, Dad, when did you learn to take pictures?” Pei Xiangdong suddenly remembered something, his expression full of curiosity. “I remember that the only camera at home was the one with film that I had when I was a child.”

“I taught myself. The internet is so well-developed nowadays, you can search for anything. Don’t worry!”

Pei Xiangdong felt very happy, because he knew that his father bought the camera and learned photography techniques just to take pictures of him: “Dad, let’s go back and take a look at the photos you took later?” He was looking forward to it. He must look very handsome, powerful and majestic in the photos taken by his father, right?

Pei Naochun felt like his filming career had taken a serious hit. He just mumbled “hmm” and didn’t continue. It’s okay, don’t panic. He always managed to divert his son’s attention. “As for the photos, I’ll show them to you later. This is a gift from Dad.”

“Gift? Then I’ll wait and see later.” Pei Xiangdong was very much looking forward to it.

Of course, many years later, he only regretted that he didn’t check his father’s camera at this time and deleted all kinds of black histories of himself – this gift is really “surprising”!

…

In 2012, at the London Olympics, Pei Xiangdong won bronze medals in the 200m and 400m events, and finished seventh in the 100m race.

In 2016, at the Rio de Janeiro Olympics, Pei Xiangdong won the 100m bronze medal, the 200m gold medal, the 400m gold medal, and the team won the 4x100m bronze medal.

With the rise of Pei Xiangdong, his teammate Li Zhengping and senior national team members in the sprint event, this event has received a lot of attention, especially Pei Xiangdong, who has repeatedly set records and won the gold medal that had been monopolized. Shortly after the game, the National Television Sports Channel specially produced a documentary for him, which was broadcast in two parts.