126 Future Development

Even if any of you accepted her, she wouldn't listen to you.

When Huang Jiajia and the others arrived, staff from the national team's logistics department went to the train station to pick them up.

The coaches were the main guests at the welcoming ceremony, and the captains of the men's and women's teams were also waiting at the gate. Ah Shui insisted on joining in the fun, and pulled Zhu Qi to wait beside them.

After the people arrived, Maomao and Daxiong, as captains, first presented flowers to express their welcome to the four foreign players.

Then the head coach came over one by one and briefly talked about the future prospects.

Perhaps because they were going to Beijing for two years of intensive training, these four "international students" hired a separate oral teacher to teach them how to speak Chinese before they came. But I don't know if they can understand what Ren Xinhua said.

When they were still in Moscow, Zhu Qi felt that Huang Jiajia's Mandarin was becoming more and more standard. She had a great talent for languages ​​and estimated that after staying in Beijing for two years, she would be able to speak fluent Beijing dialect.

"Let me tell you, ever since I started using the Baobaoga racket, the guys on the team have been asking me to bring them a few more. I told them to wait until I 'graduated' from Chaojing."

Zhu Qi had brought her a few rackets for the National Table Tennis Tournament. It had only been less than two weeks, so it was impossible for her to adapt to the rackets so quickly. Zhu Qi knew Huang Jiajia was trying to give her confidence, so she happily accepted them.

Following behind Huang Jiajia is Lulu, a Pakistani girl wearing a veil.

She is three years younger than Zhu Qi and is only 18 years old this year.

When she saw Zhu Qi, Lulu put her palms together, lowered her head slightly, touched her forehead with her fingertips, and said in her still somewhat broken Chinese, "Hello."

The African guy on the men's team is the same age as Lulu, and he just turned eighteen this year. His name is Kalubu Oluwa, which is transliterated as Karibu Oluwa.

After a brief encounter, a few people prepared to hold a short collective meeting in the afternoon, just like when Zhu Qi first joined the national team, so that everyone could meet together.

Huang Jiajia had already chatted with him on the way here and knew a little about Caribou's story. She told Zhu Qi, "Caribou started playing tennis at the age of thirteen. After five years of playing, he was able to break into the top 64 in the world rankings and compete in the National Table Tennis Championships. He's a very talented player."

"Huh? Thirteen?" Ah Shui counted on his fingers. He'd originally thought he'd be incredibly happy to win a bronze medal at the National Table Tennis Championships, his first top-three finish in the three major tournaments. But after hearing this person's story, he suddenly realized his meager skills weren't a big deal.

Maomao also looked back at the tall and broad black man who was communicating with Big Bear. Although he looked very strong, he spoke word by word, with Chinese words popping out. Maomao could actually feel that this guy was a little nervous from his dark face.

Zhu Qi could understand.

Tanzania is too poor.

Many people there struggle to even eat, let alone exercise. All the laborers are busy farming and making money. For a country like that, there's no need for sports.

It’s very similar to when New China was just founded.

At that time, World War II had just ended and the country was in ruins. Then, we encountered two □□ in succession...

But fortunately, everything is over now.

Big gathering in the afternoon.

Ren Xinhua specially asked the four foreign players to stand in the first row and solemnly introduced them: "...We will live under the same roof for the next two years. I hope we can get along harmoniously and help each other. Although you have different skin colors and hair colors, from today on, you are all players of the Chinese team..."

Qin Xiaoba gently nudged Song Linzhou next to him with his elbow: "Brother Ling, are they going to play in the Asian and World competitions with me too?"

Song Linzhou's expression remained unchanged as he quietly replied, "Probably. Maybe we'll even play men's doubles later."

"If we win the men's doubles, should we raise our national flag or theirs?" Qin Xiaoba asked again.

"Normally, the two flags should be raised side by side," Zhu Qi whispered, standing next to the men's team. "But they'll only be here for two years, probably around the time of the FIFA World Cup next year. They'll only play in the Asian Cup and the Asian Championships. And I'm not sure if Heige and Lulu will be able to participate."

The children finished their discussion secretly, and Ren Xinhua also finished speaking, and then they were assigned coaches and instructors.

Huang Jiajia and Lulu also lived on the seventh floor with Zhu Qi and the others. It just so happened that the room next door had never been occupied. It had been used as a tool room by Zhu Qi and the others, where they kept many personal belongings and used it for showing off their tennis rackets.

Now that everything has been cleaned up, it still seems a bit empty inside.

After Huang Jiajia pulled all her things into the room, she helped Lulu pack her things.

As a believer of the □□ religion, Lulu also has her own personal habits. Except for training, she always wears a headscarf on her head.

As the team leader, Maomao was also very enthusiastic and often ran to the next door to ask if there was anything he could help with. He also taught Lulu how to use the washing machine on the rooftop and how to use the various cards. He also took Lulu to the logistics room to collect rubbers.

Seeing that the paint on Lulu's racket had peeled off, Zhu Qi gave her a piece of the racket he brought from home.

Lulu felt a little embarrassed and kept chasing Zhu Qi, asking him with gestures and gestures if the racket was very expensive.

Zhu Qi kept waving her hands and saying it was okay. The next day, Huang Jiajia told her that Lulu prayed for Zhu Qi every night.

After hearing this, Zhu Qi was at a loss whether to laugh or cry. Well... then accept the blessing.

What Zhu Qi didn't expect was that Lulu could actually read some simple Chinese characters and would order her food by looking at the inscriptions on the tabletop. She explained that her father was an architect in Pakistan, and that China had previously provided aid for many buildings in Pakistan. She learned some Chinese characters and Chinese from her father and the Chinese architects.

But the cultural differences did open Zhu Qi's eyes.

At lunch, the girls sat together, their curiosity growing about the two new teammates. They watched as Lulu sprinkled a layer of black pepper and green cumin powder on the white yogurt, then stirred and savored it with relish.

A Shui and Huang Jiajia were curious and scooped a spoonful as well, but they choked and were speechless for a long time.

"My throat is on fire, cough cough cough..." Huang Jiajia's face turned red.

Ah Shui danced with joy: "Water, water, water——"

Zhu Qi: "Two greedy girls."

Before coming here, Lulu was a little worried that she wouldn't be able to fit in here. But after arriving, she found that everyone here was very friendly to outsiders and not xenophobic at all.

She also began discussing her training in Pakistan, a small country like Tanzania that doesn't prioritize sports. And most importantly, she's a girl. In the religiously strict Greater Middle East, the restrictions on women are so severe that Ashui and Maomao couldn't imagine.

When Lulu was fifteen, she was not allowed to participate in competitions outside because many people in the country believed that her competing outside without a headscarf would set a "bad" example for many women in the country.

Fortunately, Lulu's family is very supportive, her father has many Chinese friends and is relatively open-minded.

"Well, since you're here with us, we will take good care of you! Don't worry! Practice hard! Achieve good results, and those gossips won't dare to say anything about you after you return home!" A Shui's comfort was more direct. Lulu might not have understood, but she kept smiling happily.

Lulu also particularly likes going to the auditorium because all the gold medals ever won by the Chinese team are hung in the entrance corridor.

The corridor shimmering with golden light made her feel surrounded by honor.

As for the team building that Ren Xinhua mentioned, after the arrival of the four "international students", he took the entire national team to Badaling and experienced the feeling of "one is not a true man if he has not been to the Great Wall, and once he arrives he sweats all over the place".

The appearance of new players in the team has added some fun to the boring training life.

The national team also hired a separate Chinese teacher for them, who taught them for an hour every night from 8 to 9 pm in the auxiliary hall.

Because Mori Yunan of the Hong Kong team is a member of the Beijing team, he does not need to play.

There were no major competitions in the following year, so the men's and women's teams temporarily put aside their mixed doubles training and focused on their respective individual events.

During their previous match in Moscow, Zhu Qi had noticed that Lulu's batting form wasn't quite right. Correcting some of the details meant starting over with the most basic swing. Fortunately, perhaps because she grew up in poverty, Lulu was resilient and willing to practice.

Huang Jiajia, a pure chopper, had been eliminated early in two consecutive tournaments. She realized that chopping was no longer effective and wouldn't allow her to take control of the match. She also didn't want to constantly play behind the men in mixed doubles, so her main purpose this time was to learn how to loop the ball from the national women's team.

Zhu Qi is the best in the loop ball system, so Huang Jiajia also likes to follow Zhu Qi and observe his training and ball-pulling process.

Zhu Qi also wanted to see how Huang Jiajia sliced ​​the ball. In her entire technical system, slicing the ball was a relatively weak point. If she wanted to max out her skills in all aspects, she had to learn it well.

The coaches stood on the second floor, watching the players on the first floor find their own partners and start practicing.

Countless small balls were flying back and forth on the table. No one was talking or running around. Everyone was staring at the ping-pong ball in front of them, concentrating their attention.

"Very good, let's practice like this." Ren Xinhua originally thought that after participating in the three major competitions and achieving some results, some of the kids in the team might slack off, but now it seems that there is no such phenomenon.

In fact, Ren Xinhua also has some selfish motives of his own.

The four foreign players recruited this time actually all have unique skills. They can serve as sparring partners for other players in the national team and help their own players improve.

There is no need to mention Huang Jiajia and Mori Yunan.

Pakistan's Lulu has a very good touch and is a player who is very good at long-range operations, especially her long ball, which is fast and accurate.

Heige, a member of the men's team, has incredible arm strength, even though he only started playing at age thirteen. His handwork is entirely based on brute force, devoid of any skill. With systematic training, his skills will surely reach new heights. It all depends on Heige's own talent; if he works hard enough, he might even become the men's table tennis team's greatest competitor.

Ren Xinhua was very satisfied. He watched the children training for a while and then prepared to go back to the coaching room to write a report.

However, various problems always arise where there are many people.

The players now seem to be following the rules and proceeding according to the normal training plan, but there are some minor fluctuations among the coaches.

There are only a few absolute main players in the team now, and many veteran coaches find it very difficult to train new players to compete with them.

Therefore, some coaches have set their sights on the players who have already formed their own players, but it is not easy to move the three main players into their own hands. But... what if?

So, a few coaches began to keep an eye on the coaches of the three main players and tried to put pressure on Ren Xinhua.

"Why does Xiao Xu always ask for leave to go back to his hometown recently? Is there something going on at home?" A coach pretended to be curious and asked in front of Ren Xinhua.

"That's right. Baobao is such a worry-free kid. She knows how to train all by herself. No one has to worry about her. I heard that many male team players like to ask her for advice on Sundays."

"Xiao Xu is not young anymore, his family must have a lot of things to worry about..."

Ren Xinhua listened and understood, but pretended not to understand and asked, "Her mother is sick, so she took sick leave to go home and take care of her. She will be back tomorrow. What do you want to say?"

"Hey, we don't mean anything else. We just think Coach Xu is getting old, and her family must be worried. I often heard her talking to them on the phone before, and they were urging her to go back for blind dates."

"Of course, you're already in your thirties," a straightforward coach bluntly suggested to Ren Xinhua. "I think some things should be planned early."

Ren Xinhua was so angry that he laughed: "What's your plan?"

"I'll definitely need to take wedding leave to get married. If I have children in the future, that means I won't be able to work for at least three years. What if the World Games or the National Table Tennis Championships happen during that time? The players under her..."

Chang Hongxia couldn't stand it any longer and slammed her hand on the table: "You are all veteran coaches after all, why are you worrying about other people's private affairs?"

"We are also considering the future development of the country..." Several others echoed.

Chang Hongxia said sarcastically, "Oh, that's true. You guys are so lucky, you guys don't have to go through confinement. I've worked so hard to take care of my kids for six years, and now they've matured in every way. They can win gold medals as soon as they compete. Some people watch with envy, eager to see them leave so they can claim the players they've trained as their own."

"What are you talking about..."

"Alright!" Ren Xinhua growled softly, and the room fell silent. "Just focus on your own players and don't worry about what others are doing. Besides, Zhu Qi has her own ideas, and you all know that. If she doesn't have a coach she particularly approves of, she won't listen to you, even if any of you hire her."

Several coaches whose concerns were touched lowered their heads silently. Chang Hongxia hummed softly and also fell silent.

Just at this moment, the other protagonist of the whole incident pushed open the door.

Zhu Qi walked in with a report in his hand and stopped in front of Ren Xinhua: "Maomao is watching the players training and asked me to give this to you."

"Okay, put it here."

Zhu Qi put down his things and prepared to leave. In fact, Zhu Qi had heard almost everything the coaches were discussing just now while standing outside the door.

In fact, A Shui had told her before that Xu Dong’s family seemed to be urging him to get married. Zhu Qi hadn’t heard Xu Dong talk about this matter for a while, so she thought it was over. Unexpectedly... she still underestimated the Chinese style of urging marriage.

【Author’s words】

This yogurt with cumin actually tastes pretty good, mainly because I have a strong taste. If you like mustard and spicy food, you can try it. Don't use sweet yogurt, just use the old yogurt.