Phillip returned to the locker room, tired from the whole day's training. Gritting his teeth due to the pain, he took off the artificial limb and found that his knee had swollen where it joined the artificial limb.
It hurts so much! Rubbing the swollen part, he suddenly began to miss Dai Li.
When Dai Li was there, Dai Li would give him several minutes of massage after the training ended, and his pain and swelling were quickly relieved. But now, the swelling and pain tortured him every minute, and they didn't leave even after a whole day's rest.
The training made his legs hurt, and he placed last every time he went to a race. Under such circumstances, Phillip couldn't find any motivation to go on. He was beginning to hate being an athlete.
Steven came into the locker room looking happy and excited.
"Good news, Barron! There is a sponsor in Oakland interested in you. I'll go to Oakland tomorrow to meet him," Steven said.
"Another sponsor, then." There was nothing happy on Phillip's face.
Steven had often told him that there was a new sponsor interested in him. But after that, Phillip never heard anything else about these sponsors.
Feeling Phillip's listlessness, Steven said, "Don't worry, Barron. I'll make a deal with the sponsor this time."
Looking disconsolate, Phillip heaved a sigh and then said, "Did I make a stupid choice when I left Coach Li?"
"How can that be? The AP training center is much bigger than Dai Li's training center. Here we have more kinds of equipment, the coaching team is more professional, and the training philosophy is the most advanced—" Steven immediately said.
"But my performance declined," Phillip interrupted, shaking his head. "I know the training in the AP Training Center is really professional. Their coaching team has made me a very good training plan. I didn't see any problem with their training, but I can feel clearly that I am slower than before!"
"Barron, you aren't in your best shape, that's all. Don't overstress yourself. Relax, you will get your best performance back," Steven said.
"No. It has nothing to do with my shape." Phillip shook his head very seriously. "When coached by Coach Li, I ran very smoothly. Sometimes I didn't even notice that I have artificial limbs, as if they were completely integrated with my body. But now, that feeling has escaped me. Especially when I am in a match, the artificial limbs are so heavy that they are a burden for me. It is so hard to run for even one step."
"Barron, is it that your artificial limbs are too old? Maybe we should go to Iceland and get the company to make another pair of limbs for you. Maybe they now have even more advanced technology to make firmer and lighter limbs," Steven said.
"The artificial limbs?" Phillip shook his head. "When I bought them, the company promised that these artificial limbs would last for two or three decades. The strength of carbon fiber bundles is much higher than steel. They won't deform under continuous pressure. What's more, even if it is due to the artificial limbs, I cannot change them in a short time."
"Why?" Steven asked.
"They are customized. Everyone's requirements for artificial limbs are different, as everyone is different in terms of figure and bone structure. This kind of artificial limb can never be mass produced. It takes several months to make them, as they need to craft carbon fiber nanotubes."
After a short pause, Phillip continued, "When the artificial limbs are made, they need installation and commissioning so that the user can get comfortable with them. It took me one year to get used to this set and walk like a normal person. Do you think I have that much time now to get a new set of artificial limbs and adapt to them?"
Then Phillip sighed. "I regret it now. I should have stayed with Coach Li for my training. Losing 5% of my income is really nothing. It would be much better than this, at least."
…
With a stack of printed paper in his hand, David Mills said eloquently, "Dear directors, the Los Angeles Center has allocated many extra training resources to Barron Phillip, and has assigned him the best training team. We've also made him a perfect training plan, which I am holding in my hand now. Before I came here, I visited Laurence, Dell, and Gunelius. Those three consultants all endorsed this plan. Here are their signatures."
Mills held up the papers to show three illegible signatures.
Laurence, Dell, and Gunelius were all top coaches in America and had all worked for the AP Training Center. They became senior consultants of the AP Training Center after retirement. They were all of high level coaching performance, experience, and qualifications, which were sufficient to convince the directors.
As expected, a lot of them were mollified when Mills mentioned the three senior consultants. Even the directors of the board did not dare to disagree with the consultants. It was not likely to find Mills's fault in the plan.
"Mills, if the plan is okay, why has Phillip's performance gotten worse? Is there any problem with your execution of the plan?" a director asked.
"There is no problem at all with our execution. The coaches are all trained by headquarters, and passed the examination of headquarters," Mills said.
The director didn't pursue this question any further. Or it might seem that he was blaming headquarters.
"Mills, as the head of the Los Angeles center, what do you think is the reason for the deterioration of Phillip's performance?" another director asked.
Mills cleared his throat and said, "I think it's all his own fault that his performance declined. Maybe he has not done his best during training so that the training is not effective. Or, he might have visited the night clubs too often, so he was not in good shape."
"Mills, you mean you want to blame Phillip? You want our client to be held responsible for this?" The director who asked the question seemed a little annoyed.
"Is there any better explanation? Or do you really believe that our training is not so good as that of the Chinese?" David Mills said, not feeling any guilt.
Silence prevailed in the meeting room. The directors realized that blaming Phillip was not a bad option.
"Gentlemen, there has been someone in the media saying we are not as good as the training center of that Coach Li. Other training centers are waiting to see us in trouble! What we need to do now is to suppress the negative press. And the best way to do that, obviously, is to clear the responsibility off of ourselves."
Shrugging with his hands outstretched, Mills then said, "Phillip has only himself to blame for the decline of his performance. It is not that our training is not working, or the Chinese coach is better than us. We, the AP Training Center, is still the best physical training center in America. What do you think?"
"I agree with Mills," the director said. "We have to agree with Mills, for the reputation of the AP Training Center."
"Yet this may not be the truth!" someone said.
"Truth or not, is it really that important?" the director asked. "The key is, this is the truth that we need!"