110 Part-time Commentator

◎The young female soldier, with eyes like the bright moon, bright eyes and white teeth.◎

October 13, 1998.

This World Cup will be held in Zhejiang Province, very close to Jianghuai.

Before the national table tennis team set off together, Qin Xiaoba called Zhu Qi.

"I'll come see you after I finish the game!"

"Come to Jianghuai?" Zhu Qi glanced at the calendar on the wall. After every match, she was exhausted, both physically and mentally. No one wanted to miss a minute of rest, and she wanted to rush back to the national team dormitory and sleep for a day and a night. If she moved to another place, she would have to travel back and forth, which would be tiring.

"Yeah, it would be boring to just lie down there. I haven't been home for a long time anyway, and I miss my parents and my uncle and aunt."

"Did the coach agree?"

"Brother Xiaofeng approved it and gave me two days off."

Zhu Qi calculated the time and felt that he was almost recovered, so he could return to the national team with Qin Xiaoba.

"Alright then. This is your third time participating in the World Championship. You made it to the quarterfinals last time, so this time you have to strive for the semifinals. Have you fixed that problem I told you about with your forehand hook return? Also, the problem with your quick attack and twist on serve return, and the problem with your forehand placement rate in the men's doubles match last time..."

"I know, I know. I've been practicing for the past two months!" Qin Xiaoba said quickly, afraid his sister would start nagging him again. "Just watch the competition later. It'll definitely surprise you! Hehe."

"Don't give me that. Just don't make it past the quarterfinals. Otherwise, don't come back. Your father will kill you."

After that, he asked some more questions about Zhu Qi's recovery and hung up the phone.

Zhu Qi had four follow-up examinations in the past two months, and the results were all very good.

I took off my crutches and tried to walk two weeks after the operation. In less than 30 days, I could basically walk normally. I just felt a little soreness in my ligaments when running, but everything else was normal.

During this period, she would "report" to the provincial team at a fixed time every day. He Qianlu knew that she couldn't sit still at home, so he accompanied her in training for a few days.

Zhu Qi's spare board was badly worn out from playing in competitions for too long, so it was definitely not as good as his main and backup boards, but he had to make do with them for now.

Because Zhu Qi kept complaining about the spare board not being useful, her uncle asked her why she didn't prepare more. But in reality, athletes only have a limited amount of time to adapt to the board. Zhu Qi responded with a simple analogy: "It's like having three boyfriends. It takes a month to develop a relationship with one, and a month to develop a relationship with the other. That wastes two months of my time combined, and I have to divide my time evenly between them, otherwise they'll fight. The more boyfriends I have, the more my energy is divided."

My uncle understood immediately.

When Zhu Qi appeared in the Jianghuai Provincial Team, although he had already dropped all his information on the Bayi Team, he was still a player from the Jianghuai Provincial Team. Many kids in the team were extremely excited and surrounded Zhu Qi, chattering about many gossips about the game.

"I heard, Sister Baobao, that you had a fight with a transvestite this time. Is that transvestite really a woman?"

"Are the World Games gold medals pure gold? How much would they cost if recycled?"

"I heard that the singles champion of the World Games will be allocated a house by the government. Will Sister Baobao settle in the capital in the future?"

"Does the Bayi team have to go to military training every year? What do you do during military training?"

The young, lively and childish children made Zhu Qi suddenly feel like he was back to his life before he was fifteen.

Although He Qianlu has always held Zhu Qi to the high standards of a national team player, his training level is still not comparable to that of the national team.

With the provincial team, they only had to practice twice a day, and since kids have poor concentration, at least half an hour of that hour and a half was spent joking and playing around. And unless the players were demanding of themselves, there was no competition pressure, so they would just hang around Zhu Qi and ask him questions.

The quality of the balls used by these children is not high, but they are still good enough to serve as sparring partners for Zhu Qi's rehabilitation training.

Zhu Qi would occasionally give these younger sisters and brothers some difficult stress balls, and then he would find it very interesting to watch these young children scratching their heads.

He Qianlu stood nearby, watching Zhu Qi teasing the children. He felt a mix of nostalgia and emotion. "Ever since Xiao Lingdang joined the national team, the remaining kids have been quite mixed in terms of skill. We haven't found any particularly promising prospects yet. If these kids can train well now, it would be great if they could get into a good university by the time they're 18."

Zhu Qi understands: "Outsiders often think that the national team has a rapid turnover, with new players coming and going all the time. But in reality, it's not easy to train a player who can make the national team."

"Yeah." He Qianlu glanced down at Zhu Qi's foot and asked, "How is it? Is it recovering well? Can he play in the National Table Tennis Championships?"

"Of course." Zhu Qi picked up the water cup next to him and took a gulp.

It was getting dark outside, and her uncle came to pick her up after finishing his last round of customer service at 6 p.m.

Originally, Zhu Qi hadn't intended to let his uncle work so hard, but his uncle had gotten used to driving a taxi over the years and found it interesting to chat with customers every day. Zhu Qi thought about it and decided it was fine. As long as he didn't work as hard as before, it would be nice to go out for fun and earn some living expenses.

When Zhu Qi came to the provincial team, in addition to doing rehabilitation training with the children, he also wanted to do some business with He Qianlu.

"You want to sell a racket?" He Qianlu was stunned after hearing Zhu Qi talk about his grand plan.

It was indeed He Qianlu who was in charge of making Zhu Qi's racket, from selecting the wood to finding a factory to make it custom-made, but he also asked He Qianlu's former friends to add a production process to other rackets.

If we want to produce and sell it in large quantities...that would be a huge workload.

It is possible to do it, but He Qianlu has to take care of all the kids in the provincial team every day, so he doesn't have the time.

"My aunt studied management in college and has more free time. I told her about it and she was very supportive. As long as there is a factory that can produce in batches, I will rent a store to my aunt. The store doesn't need to be too big, and she will mainly be responsible for stocking the goods. I will be the living signboard of the rackets, and they will definitely sell like hotcakes." Zhu Qi is very confident.

And most importantly, after Zhu Qi had rested for two months, he went out and found that many Internet cafes had sprung up on major streets.

She also took advantage of the two months she was at home to install a broadband network cable for the house, and bought a big/small/small computer that looked very high-end now but was very old in Zhu Qi's eyes, and then taught her uncles how to use the keyboard at home.

Although the internet speed is very slow and the computer is not easy to use, it is enough for my uncle and aunt to use.

At first, my uncle found it too troublesome and couldn’t learn it.

Zhu Qi told him that as long as he learned how to type on the keyboard and had a broadband connection so he could send messages for free, his uncles and others would be willing to try new things.

The past two years have seen explosive growth in the development of electronic information.

After the millennium, e-commerce is about to usher in an era of vigorous development and innovation.

Zhu Qi wanted to take advantage of the fact that others hadn't yet sensed the e-commerce opportunity and make her racket famous. When e-commerce boomed, she would be among the first to reap the benefits.

After listening to Zhu Qi's detailed analysis, He Qianlu felt that there was a chance.

If nothing else, it’s the same exclusive racket used in the Grand Slams.

This name sounds very attractive.

"I'll pay, you guys do the work, and we'll split the profits in half." Zhu Qi patted He Qianlu's shoulder. "Okay? My partner? Okay."

Zhu Qi's self-questioning and self-answering amused He Qianlu. He put out his cigarette, took out a piece of paper, and began to calculate the cost price, selling price, and labor costs. When they both felt that the calculations were almost complete, He Qianlu suddenly asked, "Since we want to create a 'brand', it should at least have a name, right?"

"A simple and memorable name is enough, but the weight of the grip for boys and girls is different. If we're going to make it, we have to cater to everyone, and divide the rackets into men's and women's rackets. The women's racket will be called Suzaku, and the men's racket will be called Tianlang. We'll also make one penhold and one horizontal racket, with more horizontal rackets and fewer penhold rackets. When I make a set, I'll give it to the people assigned to the national team to try out, and then adjust the weight accordingly." Zhu Qi believes that naming is a small matter; the most important thing is to make the rackets well-known. "But the price can't be too high. Domestic products must be affordable, durable, and sell in large quantities."

He Qianlu thought it made sense and nodded.

The rackets used by the players of the national team are basically high-end composite fiber carbon boards imported from abroad. They have relatively balanced performance and are not picky about who uses them.

Zhu Qi's racket is actually made of imported fiber materials, so the sound every time he hits the ball is particularly crisp, just like the feeling of two pebbles hitting each other.

This kind of fiber material may have to be imported, but the rackets made from it will definitely be cheaper than those sold abroad.

Wood can be selected domestically. The cost price of the tennis racket that He Qianlu made for Zhu Qi is about 80 yuan.

In this era, it can be considered very high.

But in fact, imported rackets sold in China cost about 500 yuan each, which is equivalent to an average family's monthly salary.

If we can make a national team-level racket in China that is comparable to imported rackets in all aspects, it can be about 80-120 cheaper than imported rackets.

For a high-intensity player like Zhu Qi, the bat generally needs a new one every two years. However, if a provincial team player uses it, the bat's lifespan will be significantly extended. Not to mention amateurs, who can easily use it for seven or eight years.

Very good, if you are going to do it, then do it in a big way. Start a price war and squeeze them out!

Zhu Qi simply waved his hand and approved the cost price of 500 tennis rackets, a total of 40,000 yuan, and asked He Qianlu to start making them first.

"You are really good. Aren't you afraid of losing this racket?" He Qianlu felt that Zhu Qi had really grown up now. He wanted to be an entrepreneur at such a young age.

Think about myself when I was 21... I didn't have these money-making ideas.

"It won't be a loss." Zhu Qi has a good understanding of the rackets she has used for so many years. Previously, Ah Shui even said that he wanted He Qianlu to customize two rackets like his own for her to use, because everyone knows that the rackets selected by Zhu Qi are easy to use. Coupled with her "celebrity effect", Zhu Qi is very confident in her first business venture. But she also didn't want to put pressure on He Qianlu, so she said: "Anyway, there is nothing to do with the money in hand. As long as the income and expenditure are balanced, it's not a loss."

After finishing his chat with He Qianlu, Zhu Qi was about to go to the door to see if his uncle had arrived when an old acquaintance suddenly appeared from the provincial team.

CCTV reporter Sen Qiaobei came uninvited and started greeting He Qianlu as soon as he came in.

"Dear CCTV reporter, what advice do you have for us?" Although He Qianlu has retired from the industry, he still keeps in touch with many reporters. He also knows that Sen Qiaobei is currently in charge of the commentary of the table tennis section, but as a provincial team coach, he has never had any interaction with CCTV reporters.

However, the other party was obviously not looking for him.

After a few pleasantries between Sen Qiaobei and He Qianlu, they looked at Zhu Qi standing next to them and said with a smile, "To be honest, I came to Jianghuai Province specifically for you."

"Me?" Zhu Qi asked in confusion.

"I heard you were back at the provincial team for treatment due to a foot injury, so I thought you might not be participating in this year's World Cup. The higher-ups suggested I invite you to be the commentator for this year's World Cup. They felt that in the past, it was mostly laymen like us who provided commentary, and we weren't able to cover many of the details. If a professional national player like you could sit right by and explain things in plain language, it would help many first-time table tennis fans understand more quickly."

Sen Qiaobei explained with a smile, adding, "Of course, we have our own selfish motives. After all, you're a new Grand Slam winner, and you're incredibly popular right now. If we could have you on screen commentating on the matches, it would also boost our ratings. In that case, you'd be our channel's off-field assistant, and your salary would be negotiable."

He traveled all the way to Jianghuai and brought a lot of video equipment with him. It was obvious that he was determined to cooperate with Zhu Qi.

Zhu Qi understood and nodded: "Okay."

Although it is called salary, Zhu Qi is actually just an hourly worker.

It is estimated that payment will be made based on the number of matches. The income of national athletes in the sports circle, except for personal businesses such as selling racquets, will be shared with the national team in proportion.

But Zhu Qi didn't care how much money he was given.

I have to watch the game anyway.

She has worked as a coach, an assistant coach, and in logistics. She even worked part-time as a team doctor's assistant for a while at the club, but she has never been a commentator.

Very fresh.

/

The commentary venue was borrowed from the local TV station in Jianghuai Province, and a separate broadcasting room was set up for Sen Qiaobei and Zhu Qi.

Normal people will look pale when they are on camera. In order to make Zhu Qi look better in front of the camera, Sen Qiaobei found a young lady to do Zhu Qi's makeup individually.

"Come, look up, okay. I'll put some powder on you, close your eyes——"

Zhu Qi was obedient, sitting on a stool like a doll, letting herself be manipulated. She did whatever the makeup artist said, silently praying that with the makeup techniques of this era... well, I hope she doesn't end up with two big red dots on her face.

When everything was ready and the makeup artist brought the mirror over, Zhu Qi realized that he had really underestimated CCTV's aesthetic taste.

Zhu Qi has never worn makeup and she is not very interested in these things.

But now, looking at herself in the mirror, she didn't seem to be wearing any particularly heavy makeup, yet she felt strangely refreshed and in better spirits. There seemed to be a light layer of nude eyeshadow on her eyes, and a little eyeliner to widen the corners. When she blinked, Zhu Qi felt like she almost didn't recognize herself.

"So beautiful!" the makeup artist complimented sincerely. "You look so delicate and fresh. When I saw you on TV before, I thought your face was small, but now it really is as big as a palm."

After saying that, the makeup artist sister put her palm in front of Zhu Qi for comparison.

Zhu Qi wanted to scratch her face, but the makeup artist stopped her: "Don't touch it, I just put some powder on you, and it will be wiped off if you touch it. Many people are not used to makeup for the first time. Just bear with it for now, and I will wipe it off for you after the explanation is over."

Zhu Qi could only nod, enduring the feeling of something foreign on his face.

Athletes don't usually use skincare products, as they're all rubbed off with sweat. Plus, Zhu Qi likes to shower twice a day, so she's lucky to have time to blow-dry her hair. At most, she'll slather on some oil and then head to the gym with a face like that.

But these athletes don’t really have any skin problems, and I’ve never heard of anything like acne or closed comedones.

Facts have proved that exercise is the best medical beauty.

Everything is ready.

Zhu Qi, wearing a military uniform with a bar and a star on his shoulder and a five-year service medal on his chest, looked energetic as he sat behind a white table.

The young female soldier has eyes like the bright moon and bright white teeth.

The clear and snow-white skin is covered with a light layer of powder, but you can still see that the underlying skin is smooth and fair, which is very pretty.

Four words came to mind for everyone who saw Zhu Qi.

heroic and dashing.

"Don't be nervous. I'll be in charge of the main broadcast, and you just need to follow along and say a few words to analyze the game." Sen Qiaobei said to her with a smile, sitting upright at the long white table with a professional demeanor, flipping through the documents in his hand.

Zhu Qi felt that she was already twenty-one years old, so why did some people still treat her as a fifteen or sixteen-year-old child?

“I’m not nervous,” she said.

There are only three cameras in the room, what’s that?

At the press conference in Moscow, dozens of cameras were pointed at him, but Zhu Qi did not show any signs of fear.

Besides.

Table tennis field!

This is her territory!

After the director made an "OK" gesture outside the mirror, Sen Qiaobei also returned a gesture, and then the director began to gesture "three", "two", and "one".

The moment he put down his finger, a huge screen in front of Zhu Qi showed the live broadcast of the World Cup.

There are many matches going on at the same time, but Zhu Qi and Sen Qiaobei are mainly responsible for the games on the Chinese team's side, so the first game is the 32-to-16 match between Maomao and a female player from Kazakhstan.

There was no suspense during the game, and Maomao was leading all the way.

But Zhu Qi felt that since he was paid by CCTV, he should play a certain role, so he opened up and started chatting.

"Based on my many years of experience playing against Maomao, if the opponent hits her with a long straight forehand ball next, Maomao will definitely hit her back - and look, this ball was hit back by Maomao."

"Maomao is the best forehand player in the league after all. How could he let go of such a good opportunity? He didn't want to hit the forehand simply because he wanted to give his opponent a chance to score. It wouldn't look good if the score was 11-0."

"Oh, let's see what you can do. Try to hit her with a push block again? The next ball will suddenly hit your little triangle... Good shot, um, very beautiful."

Zhu Qi seemed to be able to predict the future and could always judge the cat's next move one second in advance.

Is this the tacit understanding between teammates who have lived under the same roof for six years?

Sen Qiaobei had originally thought that he would take the initiative to guide this young girl who was giving a commentary for the first time, but Zhu Qi sat down next to him, and like an old monk in meditation, he delivered a bunch of very down-to-earth comments in a very calm tone.

Whether it is "good shot" or "beautiful", the speed and tone are no different from normal speaking.

A calm person, a calm enthusiasm.

After a game, Zhu Qi took the lead and let Sen Qiaobei become the supporting actor.

The cat in the picture also quickly advanced with a big score of [4:0].

During the intermission, the audience outside the screen should watch some commercials for a while, and the makeup artists quickly ran in to touch up the makeup of the two commentators.

"This little girl is amazing." The staff outside all praised her.

Zhu Qi heard a few words of praise about himself and was a little curious: "Did I speak well just now?"

Sen Qiaobei laughed a few times and nodded repeatedly. "It's quite good at this level. Professional matters should be left to professionals. I really hope you can do me the honor of doing a one-on-one interview with you later."

Very good, then Zhu Qi will be relieved.

If she grasps this scale, she will know how to have the conversation.

The women's table tennis team played very smoothly. Over the years, Ren Xinhua focused on improving the overall level of the players and set up many unusual training methods.

The players on the team also clearly felt that their level had improved.

But in fact, there is a very important phenomenon in the women's team at present, that is, the top players are too high and the bottom players are too immature.

The new batch of Sasa and Youyou have too few opportunities to play in major competitions and cannot perform well.

In fact, Zhu Qi can also understand the intention of the national table tennis team to recruit "foreign students", which is to allow these newly selected young players to have more opportunities to compete with foreign teams.

My mind wandered for a moment, and the scene switched to the men's doubles match.

Sen Qiaobei, speaking briskly, introduced the players before the match. "Now competing in men's doubles zone D are the Hong Kong team and Chinese team players Song Linzhou and Qin Shang. Song Linzhou is also the silver medalist in men's singles at this World Games. The commentator we've invited this time is also an absolute key player on the current national women's team, Zhu Qi, winner of three gold medals in women's singles, mixed doubles, and mixed team at this World Games. Song Linzhou is also your old partner. What do you think is the current level of strength gap between the Chinese team men's team and the Hong Kong team?"

Zhu Qi thought for a moment and answered very honestly, "I think the Hong Kong team's current table tennis system is still stuck in the technical style of the Chinese Taipei team from the 1980s, just like many of the outsourced teams from Europe and the United States. The quality of the Hong Kong team's players' boards is okay, but from a systematic perspective, there's still a certain gap between them and the Chinese Taipei team."

In fact, Zhu Qi's words were not very polite.

The general meaning is that the Hong Kong team's table tennis level is basically about ten years behind the Chinese team.

Zhu Qi had just finished speaking when he suddenly realized that one of the brothers in the picture was sitting next to him at this moment.

However, Sen Qiaobei seemed very positive and humbly asked Zhu Qi: "If we follow the training standards of the Chinese team, what should the Hong Kong team's players do to make up for the past ten years?"

Zhu Qi knew that his brother might want to hear his opinion and then pass it on to his younger brother for improvement.

This aspect is more inclined to professional guidance, and she really needs to grasp this scale well.

After much deliberation, Zhu Qi summarized it simply: "When we play basketball, the moment the first ball is hit, my mind is already calculating the calculation process for the third ball. To put it simply, many foreign players now like to knock out their opponents with a single punch, but we are more adept at using 'combination punches'. If the first ball doesn't kill me, I have a 99% chance of scoring from you. As long as the ball gets off the ground, they will be defeated in a stalemate."

"Being able to predict the third ball requires a very high level of predictive ability and spatial awareness, right?" Mori Qiaobei asked curiously. "In many matches against your opponents, you've used this technique to spin and hit the ball the moment it hits you. You also demonstrated this 'spin shot' against Zaihara Kaori in the Moscow Women's Singles. Is this based on your ability to predict the ball's spin?"

Zhu Qi nodded: "That's right."

Sen Qiaobei felt a little emotional. It turned out that sports still required talent.

Zhu Qi actually had a good impression of her younger brother, Mori Qiaobei. She was always kind to players who competed with her strength. Especially after learning that Mori Yunan had completely abandoned his pen-blade system and switched completely to a horizontal racket, and that he had made some progress, she occasionally followed Mori Yunan's matches.

"I felt that Mori Yunan had a tenacity when we played in the mixed doubles match. I heard that he used to play with a penhold racket, and it was very difficult for him to 'dismantle his own skills' and rebuild his technique. This kind of competitive spirit is actually very suitable for some outsourced players to learn from..." She didn't mean to mention Jamie, absolutely not.

"...but reshaping the technique is equivalent to practicing from scratch, which means that Mori Yunan only started to 'learn' again when he was fifteen or sixteen years old, and now he is competing with a group of national players who started at the age of five or six. This is a very difficult thing for an athlete. But judging from his performance in the World Games, Mori Yunan has indeed achieved what ordinary people cannot. If it were me... I'm afraid I couldn't do this." Zhu Qi said this with a sigh.

In my previous life, I started my "enlightenment" at the age of fifteen, and by the time I was 25, I was basically unrivaled except for the national team.

Why didn't I push forward again at that time?

Zhu Qi can't remember the reason, but now he thinks that if he had participated in some world competitions at that time, he might not have achieved the same success as he has now.

Sen Qiaobei smiled and said, "You are recognized as a talented player. If it were you, you would definitely be able to do it too."

"Many people say I'm a gifted athlete, but in reality, 'talent' is a shackle for athletes. Many people think they're not naturally gifted, so they can only achieve what they can, and if they fall short, they'll never be able to improve. Some people think they're naturally gifted, that simply playing will allow them to make the national team and achieve good results, and so they start to slack off in training.

Talent is something you can't really measure. Because I played so well, many people think I'm a gifted player. But many people may not know the hard work I put in, the dedication of four training sessions a day, the countless competitions I've participated in year after year, and even the time I wrote a self-criticism for playing streetball while on the provincial team. People only see the glamorous athletes on the podium, but never the blood and sweat they put in behind the scenes.

As for talent, I can clearly say that as long as you can make the national team, even if you are talented, you will be eliminated from the provincial team because those without talent will be eliminated. So don't underestimate yourself. Your future should be in your own hands. Don't listen to others' comments about talent or lack thereof. Write your own destiny. Let others judge you. I will stand firm.

Zhu Qi's words were very thought-provoking. Sen Qiaobei nodded repeatedly and fell into deep thought.

But Sen Qiaobei knew that if his younger brother could hear Zhu Qi's evaluation of him, he would be very happy.

Zhu Qi seemed to have completely forgotten about Mori Yunan. Although Sen Qiaobei reminded and hinted at him many times, Zhu Qi still lightly skipped over the key points.

That’s right.

After all, that happened more than ten years ago.

【Author’s words】

I suddenly found out that this book has almost 10,000 collections! I am so happy. I didn’t expect so many sisters would like Baobao~ I will give everyone a red envelope when it reaches 10,000 collections~ [Red Heart]