Eye of the Storm (Part 5)

Zhou Zeyi thought to himself, "These are going to be a very difficult time."

Over the past few decades, Coach Huang has been like a vast, all-encompassing net, tightly covering everyone's heads. Of course, he has not brought light and brilliance; everyone knows that this is dictatorship and darkness, and that it is so powerful that it is difficult to resist.

She remembers when she first arrived in Beijing, she was dragged to a dinner party where many young people like her, who had come from the provincial teams, sat together, filled with longing and confusion about the future, listening to the adults' grand talk, and dreaming that they too could become the rising stars they talked about.

The people at the dinner table were people they could only look up to: officials from the General Administration of Sport, officials from the Ministry of Sports, various celebrities and well-known figures in the industry, and many retired athletes they admired. These people, amidst the extravagance and debauchery, clinked glasses and praised the popular players, elevating their naive hearts to a new level.

Then, the next second, after their anticipation reached its peak, Coach Huang looked at them with a smile and placed a contract in front of each of them.

No one would scrutinize the contract; those verbose words were superfluous. Everyone signed their names decisively because Coach Huang said it was an unchanging rule over the years, and every young athlete would accept such a contract as a form of recognition.

Who would refuse such recognition?

Therefore, the words that are deliberately reduced in size in the contract are deliberately ignored.

"20% deduction for failure to cooperate with commercial activities," "20% deduction for unsatisfactory training attendance," "60% of competition prize money will be used for team support and overall management," "All matters concerning athletes will be handled and considered by the team"...

This is a contract of servitude, and many people are trapped in place by this thin piece of paper, exploited, oppressed, and then abandoned.

Later, when Zhou Zeyu grew up, she realized that something was wrong. She privately asked her retired teammates, and the answer she got was the same: the previous generation, the generation before that, all went through the same thing.

Zhou Zeyu was young and impetuous, so of course she wouldn't give up so easily. She wanted justice and spared no effort in seeking righteousness, but in the end she accomplished nothing.

They colluded with people in finance, human resources, and other departments, forming a long and solid chain of interests. When she filed her complaint, these chains tightened even more, with people shifting blame or destroying evidence. Under such ridiculous unity, she was bound to achieve nothing.

Not long after this incident, someone came to talk to her, the implication being that she should not cause any trouble, accompanied by threats of suspension and expulsion from the team.

This approach was certainly effective, especially for someone as inexperienced as her. Who would want to be expelled? She was confused at the time, so she could only convince herself that everyone had gone through this, so she should just bear with it and that it would be okay.

It's okay, it's okay. What does it matter if we suffer a little hardship and injustice in order to realize our dreams?

She didn't know if Coach Huang had read any psychology books, otherwise why could he always so easily understand everyone's thoughts? They were of different ages, had different personalities, and varying abilities, but their desires were all the same.

To achieve one's dream, enduring some hardship is something that can be tolerated.

It is precisely because of this reality that he can so comfortably use everyone and treat everyone as a commodity, because he is determined that no one can suddenly tear open this veil in such an airtight environment.

With such confidence, his appetite will only grow larger and larger until everyone becomes a stepping stone on his path to accumulating wealth and power.

Potential athletes from rural backgrounds were deliberately suppressed. In competitions where they were clearly ahead, they were criticized for reasons such as "incorrect technique" and "poor mental quality," while those with connections were selected with the green light all the way and even had their own venues and coaches to train them, enjoying great prestige.

The irrational allocation of resources has always existed, and bribery has become a common practice. After all, no one would turn down money, and after paying enough money, what you get in return is naturally better things than others: newer rackets, more spacious courts, and even better training meals.

The seemingly legitimate "team management" plan becomes the best opportunity to openly suppress dissent, using the power accumulated in their hands to cover up their misdeeds. Over time, even the sparse voices of doubt disappear, and those who remain are all unscrupulous people. Birds of a feather flock together, and people will only fall into a deeper vicious cycle.

So it really is rotten.

Looking back on these years, Zhou Zeyu felt like it was a real nightmare. She thought she was dreaming, but she would suddenly wake up. And whenever she was on the verge of waking up, she would be suddenly knocked unconscious.

This is actually the norm, but of course, some people have tried to resist it.

Just as when she looked up again, she suddenly realized that in places she hadn't noticed before, this all-encompassing black cloth already had scattered holes. These holes were hidden and tiny, yet they still existed, marking the presence of those who came before.

It was these seemingly insignificant efforts, when combined, that were able to topple this towering tree.

Zhou Zeyu sometimes feels fortunate that together they seized the best time of the past few decades.

When Coach Huang's rule was at its zenith, it was very difficult to shake his foundation. Those interest groups protected each other, and their power bases were intertwined and linked together. She and others' meager strength was simply nothing; they were like a mantis trying to stop a chariot.

However, now, with unbelievable financial difficulties, the divisions within the team have intensified to the point that no one can ignore them. The most important material that holds this tree together has collapsed. With the entire team driven by profit, who will sit back and watch their interests slip away?

Perhaps, to some extent, Zhou Zeyu should even thank Coach Huang for his stupidity. It was precisely because of his incompetence and muddle-headedness that he handed over such a huge handle against him.

Such a large team, with so many brilliant achievements and a long tradition of excellence, has suddenly encountered financial difficulties. The corruption involved has reached a level that cannot be ignored.

Moreover, it has already damaged the interests of many more people.

If it weren't for this, Zhou Zeyi couldn't have imagined why so many reports and accusations had gone unanswered before, but this time the investigation into Coach Huang was so swift, as if someone had been waiting for this letter of complaint.

It was just an inspection, nothing much, since he was still the head coach of the team, and his title and rank remained unchanged. But without a doubt, many things had changed.

When the tree falls, the monkeys scatter—this is an age-old truth. However, this truth is even more cruel today, because even before the tree falls, the monkeys scatter and flee. The deeper the bond between them, the faster they will betray each other before the tree collapses.

Is it gratifying? Of course, but it's not enough.

What Zhou Zeyu wanted to do was to completely expose to the world all the little things that he had deliberately covered up.

They embezzled athletes' prize money and team funds, implied that athletes needed bribes to stay on the team, openly priced each position on the team, and even secretly deducted subsidies meant for athletes' nutritional expenses.

They went to great lengths to create a facade, repeatedly filming micro-expressions of "impoverished children being grateful," manipulating the media to portray themselves as successful people who are not interested in fame or fortune and are dedicated to charity, and using various variety shows and interviews to establish themselves as the central figure in the team.

They disregard the spirit of sports and competition, allocating competition slots to predetermined individuals and using various despicable and dirty means to influence the performance of other athletes, including occupying venues, interfering with the competition from outside the field, replacing athletes with second-rate teams, and even deliberately delaying the treatment of athletes' illnesses.

They single-mindedly exploit athletes, excessively commercialize them, and act recklessly under the influence of public opinion, easily achieving complete control over the athletes and then quickly discarding them once they are no longer of use.

...

These are just a few examples from the countless examples in her 8,000-word document.

Zhou Zeyu couldn't remember what she was feeling when she sat in front of the computer typing. She seemed lost and numb. She looked at the words that appeared on the screen as her fingers flew across the keyboard and felt confused.

Why did it get so rotten?

When she was young, this land was a spiritual paradise that she could only dream of. It was world-class, a gathering place for talents from all over the world, and filled with the illusion of a bright future, which so clearly attracted her when she was still an unknown person.

In the dimly lit little stadium, she longed to come to Beijing, to prove herself, to shine. At that time, she thought it was the place to realize her dreams.

Unfortunately, no, this is the place that destroys dreams.

What she needs to do now is destroy the person who destroyed her in the first place.

But as she watched Coach Huang leave, she suddenly felt a strange sadness, not for him, but for herself.

Those in power never seemed to care about the fate of these people. A casual choice could easily change her life. But even at the very end, even though villains in movies repent at the end, Zhou Zeyu still couldn't get even the slightest bit of apology.

Yes, life is never like a movie. Villains rarely realize they are villains, perhaps because they don't care, perhaps because they don't mind, or perhaps simply because they have changed the fate of too many people. Before leaving, he did not admit that he had made a mistake.

Fortunately, Zhou Zeyi wasn't someone who blindly sought to let go of the past, and she firmly believed that whether or not he apologized proved nothing, and of course, it wouldn't change anything either; he would still be finished as usual.

Because he brought this on himself.