Almighty Coach

As Dai Li held it, the envelope full of money suddenly became as heavy as a thousand kilograms in his hand.

What’s going on here? Why does somebody give me such an amount of money? What did Feng Zhu’s father say just now? Did he mention the national team?

Dai Li’s brain was in a daze, shocked.

"Mr.Zhu, did you say you wanted Feng Zhu to be in the national team? What’s going on here?" asked Dai Li.

"Coach Li, I heard that you have some relationship in the national team, and thus, have some power in the team. You have the capacity to send my son there, so please help us..." said Feng Zhu’s father.

"I have relationships?" Dai Li suddenly laughed. "Mr. Zhu, I think there must be some misunderstanding. I’m just an ordinary coach from Yuzhou, which is a very little city, so how can I have any relationships in the national team?"

"Coach Li, please don’t be so modest!" Feng Zhu’s father pointed at the envelope, and said, "I know this is definitely not enough, and you must need more money to request national team leaders. Please feel free to tell me how much you need, and I will bring you more tomorrow."

"Don’t get me wrong, Mr. Zhu. You misunderstand me. I don’t have such an ability, to send an athlete to the national team." Dai Li waved his hands to deny this at once, then asked, "Wait, where did you hear that I know somebody in the national team?"

"It’s widespread knowledge in the ping-pong team." Feng Zhu’s father replied. "They say that you know a lot of people in Huajing, many of whom are officers, and who have power in the General Administration of Sports."

"That is nonsense!" Dai Li laughed with self-deprecating humor. "If I did have such an ability, I wouldn’t stay here any longer, but would have already been coaching in the national team myself."

"Weren’t you a member of the national team?" Feng Zhu’s father asked. "The rumor goes that you came back to the provincial team, just for the experiences of being grassroots, and that you have a promotion promised you upon your return to the capital."

Impressed about that scenario! But shouldn’t I be informed in advance, as the lead actor of this imaginary playact? Dai Li was shocked.

"Mr. Zhu, there must be some misunderstanding, I think," Dai Li thought things over, and then explained, "It’s true that I was a member of the national athletic team, instead of the ping-pong team. If you want a position for him in the track and field team, I’d like to recommend him, but ping-pong is really far beyond my reach!"

As he said so, he handed the envelope with the money back to Feng Zhu’s father. However, the father believed that the reason he refused the request was for the insufficient amount of the money in the envelope, so he continued to argue, "Coach Li, it’s just my regards. I know you will need much more than this. I can surely give you more, and I can promise that tomorrow!"

"No no no no!!! I don’t mean that. It’s really out of my capability!" Li passed the envelope back to Feng Zhu’s father, once again.

"I see, I see!" Feng Zhu’s father, now enlightened, finally took his leave.

...

Dai Li was taking the whole thing as a misunderstanding, resulting from someone’s making up stories, but what was beyond his expectation, was that another envelope was found lying on the ground at just the moment when he opened his door! Obviously, the envelope was from the crack of the door, and had been waiting there for him to return home.

Dai Li opened the envelope, and this time, no money was found in it, but a it was a bank card, instead. There was also a note, which read: "Coach Dai Li, please kindly accept this", with six numbers following that, which were apparently combined to form the password code of this card. The name of the gift sender was Feng Zhu’s father.

No, not this again! Dai Li felt helpless, but he was also annoyed. He looked out at the walkway, but couldn’t find Feng Zhu’s father anywhere.

As an athlete, he doesn’t focus on training to improve himself, but always is thinking about dishonest methods. Alright then, let me go find Feng Zhu and give this money back to him directly, and rebuke him as well!

Thinking about this, Dai Li took the envelope with him, then walked towards the athletes’ dorm. As a coach, Dai Li lived in a single dorm, while Feng Zhu, who was an athlete, lived in a double room.

After Dai Li arrived at the athletes’ dorm and inquired about Feng Zhu’s room number, then he directly walked there. As he knocked at the door, someone immediately opened it.

"Coach Li, why have you come here?" The guy who opened the door was also in the ping-pong team, so he recognized Dai Li.

"Is Feng Zhu here?" Dai Li asked in a threatening manner.

"You are here for Feng Zhu? He hasn’t come back yet," Feng Zhu’s roommate replied.

"It’s half past eight, so why he is not here? Is he in the cyber bar? Or, maybe is he out having fun?" Dai Li frowned his eyebrows disapprovingly.

Automaticity was the required quality that professional athletes must possess. Strict work-rest schedule was a part of that. Usually, athletes should end their days and go to rest no later than ten o’clock, as if they stayed up late, they wouldn’t get enough rest, which would surely affect their next day’s training. As such, many athletes went to bed at around nine o’clock.

And if you added time for bathing, athletes should return to the dorm at around eight every night. Without special cases, if an athlete didn’t return to the dorm until after eight thirty, that individual was obviously not being very self-disciplined.

Hearing Dai Li’s doubt, Feng Zhu’s roommate immediately explained, "Don’t get me wrong, Coach Li, I can guarantee that he is not out having fun! He must be in the training room, practicing with the equipment! Every night, he takes extra practice there, and won’t come back until nine o’clock. Would you like to wait inside? I will call him back now."

"No, thank you." Dai Li waved his hand. "The training room is not far from here, so I will go look for him there."

...

’He takes extra training every night’? it sounds like Feng Zhu is a hardworking athlete. Why such a person preferred to go to the national team through dishonest ways, makes no sense... This is really out of my expectation.

Dai Li wondered these things, while walking to the training room.

The light in the training room was on, and a moving figure could been seen from afar. Dai Li went through the gate, seeing at a glance that Feng Zhu was indeed practicing on the equipment, sweating profusely.

He is indeed here. Dai Li looked at sweat pouring down from Feng Zhu’s face, which added a little sense of admiration in his heart for the player.

Coaches often referred hard-working athletes. Previously, Dai Li felt that Feng Zhu didn’t train seriously, but only wanted to find an easy pass to the national team. But now, it looked like he was not such a kind of lazy player.

There might still be some reason! Dai Li thought. He felt it would be better not to make a rough, snap judgement.

At this moment, Feng Zhu saw Dai Li walking in from the gate. He stopped practicing at once.

"Coach Li!" Feng Zhu called, as he got down from the equipment.

Dai Li took out the envelope from his pocket, then handed it to Feng Zhu with a cold face. Feng Zhu received the envelope, glanced at Dai Li cautiously, then asked tentatively, "Coach Li, is this not enough?"

Dai Li was almost angered to laugh, as he spat out, "You think so?" Dai Li’s voice was extremely cold, he continued, "Your father is muddled, so are you muddled, too? Do you think national team selection is just a children’s game? Do you think you can pay for admission?"

"I..." Feng Zhu struggled with his words, saying, "I just wanted to try. They all say that you have some relationship in the national team."

"Huh, even if I did know somebody, I would not help you, or rather say, I wouldn’t help you because of your money." Dai Li took a deep breath, then continued, "Don’t forget who you are. You are an athlete, so if you do want to be in the national team, use your own power, rather than someone else’s!"

"I’m sorry," Feng Zhu said, as he lowered his head. "I didn’t want to do this, but I was afraid I won’t have another chance. I’m 20 years old, if I can’t be selected to the national team, I will never be in the future."

As far as ping-pong national team selection, a 20-year-old was indeed an old athlete. In the national ping-pong team, many famous athletes that were remembered by the public, all joined in the team at around age fourteen to fifteen.

Those who were selected after such an age were regarded as old athletes. To the national team, athletes above 20 years old were probably not regarded as being able to be cultivated much anymore. Thus, first-tier athletes, without good conditions, would often even retire at around age twenty-six to twenty-seven.

Therefore, Feng Zhu the 20-year-old athlete, while he might still be a new star in other sports, in ping-pong,which was filled with young talents, he would not get the ticket to the national team, due to his age. However, Dai Li didn’t show sympathy to Feng Zhu as he said, "This is not a good enough reason to be dishonest. What you have done not only insulted me, but also yourself as well. You put your athlete identity to shame."

"I’m sorry," Feng Zhu apologized again. Clearly, he knew he was wrong.

"To be honest, your ability is at the top in our provincial team. Even though you couldn’t be in the national team, you can still prove yourself in competitions. You can still be a good athlete. Although not being in the national team means that you can’t participate in international competitions, you can go to domestic games. Domestic ping-pong games are more fierce and more challenging than international games. In addition, you can also choose club races, and there shouldn’t be any problem for you to fight in Table Tennis Super League as the No.1 in the provincial team!" said Dai Li.

"Coach Li, you don’t understand. To be in the national team is my dream, and it is also the dream of three generations in my family!" Feng Zhu’s tone became excited, as he said, "Actually, my family is a well-known ping-pong family. My grandfather used to be a ping-pong player, when he was young. He was a soldier, and represented the army in participating in the First National Games."

"The First National Games? He is a such a senior player!" said Dai Li.

Dai Li learned of this at school, so he knew that the First National Games meant a lot. It was not exaggerating to say that the First National Games set the foundation of the domestic sports business.

Various domestic sport systems were developed right after that game. Without the First National Games, the national sport business might still be like the Indians, having fun in playing cricket, but making no achievements on international competitions.

Feng Zhu continued, "In that era, there was no concept of one being a professional athlete, nor did they have professional coaches. My grandfather played ping-pong so well, that he was sent by the army to the National Games. After the games ended, although my grandfather didn’t win any medals, he received an invitation from the national ping-pong team."

He continued, "But at that time, my grandfather was in active service, so he refused to be in the national team, which became his main regret in life, for two years later, after the National Games, in the 26th World Table Tennis Competition, our national team won the gold for the first time, a gold for men’s group competition."

Dai Li nodded. Although it happened half a century ago, the first World Table Tennis Group Competition gold medal was the great honor that was worth remembering forever, and it was the first time the national team first kissed the Swaythling Cup. That moment would always be remembered, and be a source of great pride to every national team athlete.

But Feng Zhu’s grandfather had missed it...

Dai Li felt that, if he was Feng Zhu’s grandfather, he would also regret that forever. Feng Zhu continued, "Not being in the national team is forever a knot in my grandfather’s heart. Later, he cultivated my father for the honor. My father went to amateur sport school at seven, and learned to play ping-pong. He joined in the City Youth Team at nine, and went on to the City Sport Team at twelve. He became a member in our Provincial Sport Team at fourteen. My family all thought that my father was surely going to be selected into the national team."

"But right before the national team came here, my father got Phthisis. Although he was finally cured, he had some sequela in breathing. Once he over-exercised, he would have aerothorax. Hence, his career ended there."

Phthisis was called consumption in the ancient times, and for thousands of years, it was a serious and fatal infectious disease. Throughout history, a lot of famous people died of consumption.

Since the nineteen-fifties, anti-tuberculosis medicines were discovered gradually, thus, the epidemicity of Phthisis was finally under control. In that country, once it became the nineteen-eighties, the disease finally had a more stable cure.

In that era, the morbidity rate of domestic Phthisis was more than 710/100,000. Every year, there were more than 300,000 who people died of Phthisis, so it was not a big surprise for Feng Zhu’s father to contract it.

Phthisis was an infectious chronic disease, so even in modern times with developed medical treatment, after being cured, phthisis still caused calcification in a patient’s lungs, which affected the respiratory system. Also, in the past, when medical techniques were not as well-developed, more sequela existed.

Such as the past relating to Feng Zhu’s father, who had been suffering from sequela of Phthisis. He would have aerothorax after over-exercised, which meant that he would never be allowed to become an athlete again. The other athletes could have a big meal in the canteen to regain energy, but his way of regaining energy was to be in the hospital uptaking oxygen. In such a sad scenario, no training team dared receive him, let alone allow him to join in the national team.