August 23rd, 4:30 PM. The second Group A match of the day: China versus Serbia and Montenegro.
At 11:00 AM, the match between Spain and New Zealand had already concluded.
New Zealand, also on the brink of elimination, exploded with incredible fighting spirit.
They lost 84-88, by a mere four-point margin, to Spain, the top team in the group.
The men’s basketball team’s hopes of advancing from the group stage had increased a little more.
But in reality, the situation remained unchanged: if they didn’t beat Serbia and Montenegro, advancing was out of the question.
For this game, Chen Yu didn’t even go to the front rows. He stood at the highest point of the stands, leaning against the railing as he watched the entire match.
"Hold on! This is the final push!"
Su Jun, who had spotted Chen Yu midway through and rushed over, stood beside him, gripping the railing with both hands. He stared intently at the court below, muttering nonstop as if chanting a prayer.
Only 3.2 seconds remained on the clock.
Serbia and Montenegro was down 63-65. After missing a jump shot, they committed a tactical foul on Du Feng.
Harris immediately called a timeout, gathering the players to nervously lay out his strategy.
If these two free throws went in, it would seal the game.
After the timeout, Du Feng withstood the pressure and sank both free throws.
"Beautiful!"
Su Jun was so excited he leaped into the air, waving his fists and roaring.
Chen Yu gave Du Feng a second look.
’The young man came off the bench today and played pretty well.’
’With those last two free throws, between "South Du Feng" and "North Mo Ke," he’s definitely come out on top today.’
"Dr. Chen, we won! We’re through to the next round! We’re in the quarterfinals!"
Su Jun’s voice trembled with excitement as he spoke.
"Yeah, we’re through. It wasn’t easy," Chen Yu nodded.
They were down by double digits at one point but clawed their way back.
It was all thanks to Yao Ming. He really played the full 40 minutes, no breaks whatsoever.
Most importantly, Chen Yu hadn’t helped.
Chen Yu had rejected Li Yuanwei’s request.
It wasn’t because of the money.
Helping them would have been a trivial matter for Chen Yu.
But after some thought, he still decided to refuse.
In Chen Yu’s mind, whether the men’s basketball team won or lost, advanced or was eliminated, it wouldn’t affect the grand scheme of things.
Besides, sometimes, a real loss isn’t necessarily a bad thing.
Only when the tide recedes do some problems get exposed.
Chen Yu still believed in the old saying: you can’t build something new without destroying the old. Only a crushing defeat could forge the determination to change.
Still, these guys didn’t give him a reason to look down on them. In the end, they had fought and won.
A clean, hard-fought victory!
"Oh, right, Dr. Chen, how is Liu Xiang? Is he in good shape?"
Su Jun, who had taken a moment to calm down, suddenly remembered Liu Xiang and asked anxiously.
Tomorrow morning was the first round of the 110-meter hurdles.
"What do you think?"
Chen Yu smiled. His trip to Athens, to the Olympics, had only one primary objective: Liu Xiang.
Liu Xiang had been preparing for tomorrow for a very, very long time.
"I’m off."
Chen Yu waved, cast one last glance at the basketball players celebrating wildly on the court, and turned to leave.
After leaving the arena, Chen Yu took a car to a restaurant in the city.
He had arranged to have dinner with Liu Xiang.
By the time he arrived, Liu Xiang and Sun Haiping were already there.
In the bustling restaurant, no one recognized Liu Xiang. He sat quietly, looking around, until he spotted Chen Yu and quickly raised a hand to wave him over.
Once Chen Yu was seated, Liu Xiang said with a troubled expression, "Dr. Chen, maybe we should just go back. I can’t eat any of this stuff anyway."
As part of his training regimen, his diet had been extremely strict these past few days.
On the way over, he had asked the driver; this was supposedly the most famous restaurant in Greece. Their traditional moussaka was said to be the best in the country.
Unfortunately, he didn’t dare eat it now.
Chen Yu adjusted his silverware and smiled. "You can’t eat it, but that doesn’t mean we can’t. Besides, who said this dinner was for you?"
Liu Xiang paused, subconsciously assuming Chen Yu had invited other guests.
Just then, Chen Yu noticed a couple walking in through the restaurant’s entrance.
Guided by his assistant, they also spotted Chen Yu’s party.
"Liu Xiang!"
Sun Haiping, sitting beside Chen Yu, saw them too. He gasped and quickly nudged Liu Xiang.
Liu Xiang turned around, looking puzzled. When he saw who it was, his eyes widened in an instant.
It was his parents!
"Dad? How are you guys here? Didn’t you say you couldn’t get time off from work, that you weren’t coming? No, oh my god, you guys..."
Liu Xiang looked at his parents, who were right in front of him, and as he spoke, his emotions suddenly gave way.
Liu Xiang’s mother gripped his hand tightly, her own eyes welling up uncontrollably. "Silly child, what are you crying for?" she murmured.
Liu Xiang’s father blinked, steadying his own emotions, before quickly shaking hands with Chen Yu and Sun Haiping.
"Dr. Chen, thank you."
Father Liu looked at his son, then turned back to Chen Yu and said a heartfelt thank you.
They hadn’t originally planned on coming.
Relatives and their superiors had all told them not to come to Athens. If Liu Xiang won gold, a camera crew would be sent to their home for a live interview and so on.
But then Chen Yu had called. In the end, it was a single sentence from him that made them change their minds.
Chen Yu had said, "Liu Xiang needs you."
And so, the couple came.
After welcoming them to sit, Chen Yu signaled for the waiter to bring the food.
Liu Xiang couldn’t eat.
His mother saw this, and her heart ached for him even more.
"We’re here to see our son, this is a happy occasion. Why are you crying? The boy is preparing for his event, of course he can’t eat just anything," Father Liu reminded her.
Liu Xiang nodded and quickly explained, "Mom, I’m not hungry. You two, please eat. This is the best restaurant in Athens, the food must be delicious."
He gazed at his mother, as if he had a million things he wanted to say.
Chen Yu took note of this and didn’t let dinner drag on. Once Father Liu had finished eating, Chen Yu put down his cutlery and said, "Liu Xiang, Athens is quite beautiful at night. Why don’t you take your parents for a walk? I’ll arrange a car for you. Just be back at the hotel by ten. You still have your event tomorrow."
Liu Xiang nodded eagerly.
With so many people around in the restaurant, there were some things he was too embarrassed to say.
"Dr. Chen, thank you."
The family of three stood up. Father Liu thanked him once more before they departed.
As he watched the three of them leave, Sun Haiping also said his thanks. "Dr. Chen," he added, "it seems you thought of this a long time ago."
’Arranging visas, planning the trip abroad... this couldn’t have been a spur-of-the-moment decision.’
Over the past few days, Sun Haiping had also keenly sensed that Liu Xiang was under immense psychological pressure.
Physically, Liu Xiang was fully prepared, but mentally, it was impossible to avoid some turbulence.
After all, he was shouldering the expectations of so many people. The closer it got to the event, the greater the pressure became.
At a time like this, being able to see his parents was incredibly important.
Chen Yu smiled. "I’ve done everything I can. The final result is up to him."
It wasn’t just Liu Xiang’s parents; Chen Yu had also invited Bolt’s parents and family to Athens.
Chen Yu felt that even if they won gold, they would much rather share that joy with their families.
「Morning of August 24th, Athens Olympic Stadium.」
The 110-meter hurdles event began at 8:30 AM.
The track temperature was 27 degrees Celsius, with a tailwind of 1.5 m/s.
Liu Xiang was in the third heat of the first round. The only noteworthy competitor in his group was Charles Allen from Canada.
However, his personal best was only 13.11 seconds, nowhere near enough to pose a threat to Liu Xiang.
"Relax. Don’t get arrogant, but don’t be careless either. Just run with a clear head and focus on conserving your energy. The main goal today is to get a feel for the race," Sun Haiping said in the warm-up area, holding onto Liu Xiang as he gave his final instructions.
Feng Shuyong and the others were all there.
With China’s dominant events like diving, weightlifting, and table tennis concluding, the Chinese delegation’s gold medal count had stalled, as if it had been welded in place.
The upcoming track and field events were not China’s strong suit at all.
So at this juncture, the significance of a potential gold medal from Liu Xiang was self-evident.
Liu Xiang nodded slightly, his expression relaxed.
The arrival of his parents and their conversation had greatly alleviated his internal tension and pressure.
He no longer had any worries holding him back. There was only one goal: win the gold!
"No."
At this moment, however, Chen Yu interrupted Sun Haiping. He said to Liu Xiang in a low, firm voice, "Don’t think about this being a preliminary heat or needing to conserve energy. Run with everything you have. Treat it like it’s the final."
The moment he said this, everyone present—Sun Haiping, Feng Shuyong, and the others—was startled.
Peaking too early was not a good thing.
Liu Xiang was stunned as well. He looked from Chen Yu to Sun Haiping, completely bewildered.
Sun Haiping snapped out of it and said hurriedly, "Dr. Chen, shouldn’t we reconsider this?"
Feng Shuyong was also anxious.
’Who runs a preliminary heat like it’s the final? What if he peaks too soon and it affects his performance in the finals?’
But these words had come from Chen Yu.
Liu Xiang was a special case. What events he competed in, how he prepared, and what strategy he ultimately ran with—Sun Haiping was not the final decision-maker. It was fair to say that Chen Yu called the shots.
And Chen Yu was even more exceptional. Even Feng Shuyong didn’t dare to ignore his words.
Chen Yu looked at Liu Xiang and said, "First round, second round, semifinals, final. You’ll run a total of four races."
"And you need to understand something. You’re not just trying to find your rhythm to go for the gold medal. You’re trying to find your rhythm to break the world record, to shatter the limits of human potential!"
"So, from the very beginning, you don’t need to worry about your opponents. Your only opponent is yourself."
Chen Yu pointed at Liu Xiang’s chest and continued, "Therefore, from the very start, you have to push yourself. Bring out your absolute best form, and surpass yourself again and again, until you’ve surpassed the limits of humanity."
For nearly two years, Chen Yu had poured an incredible amount of energy into Liu Xiang.
And from the very beginning, Chen Yu had told Liu Xiang that he was doing all this because he wanted to see him shatter the limits of human potential.
If it were just for a gold medal, Chen Yu wouldn’t have needed to do any of this.
Chen Yu understood the worries of Sun Haiping and the others perfectly.
They were afraid he would peak too early and it would affect the final.
But the problem of peaking early, to put it bluntly, was just the fear of burning out due to a packed race schedule.
’But I’m watching over him! So, for every single race, Liu Xiang can be in his best physical condition and compete without holding anything back. All he has to do is surpass himself!’
Seeing that Liu Xiang was still a bit dazed, Chen Yu placed both hands on his shoulders and said with a grin, "What? Don’t you want to give the world a little surprise?"
"Like, say, breaking the Olympic record in the very first heat!"
Liu Xiang had broken the Olympic record before in Osaka.
But that didn’t count as an *official* Olympic record.
Sun Haiping, Feng Shuyong, and everyone else present were stunned.
’Breaking the Olympic record in a preliminary heat? That would be unprecedented!’
Chen Yu ignored them, his eyes still fixed on Liu Xiang.
’If he doesn’t even have this much confidence, how can he ever break the limits of humanity!’
After a long moment, Liu Xiang processed his words and nodded forcefully.
An inexplicable surge of heroic ambition welled up in his heart.
’That’s right,’ he thought. ’I’ll give the world a little surprise!’

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