14. Choose a coach first
◎【Xiu】Brother Lu asked me to follow you.◎
After hearing that the female player who had just won the World Cup and immediately joined the national team chose me as her head coach.
Xu Dong stood there in a daze.
"Me?" Xu Dong pointed at himself.
Xu Dong, who retired due to injury two years ago and had planned to study abroad, was suddenly rehired by the national team as a coach half a year ago.
At this time, the lineup of the national team has basically been finalized.
All the good seedlings were picked up by other coaches, so she could only pick new players from the second national team and then train them herself.
The five girls Xu Dong had were newly selected from the National Second Team and had yet to achieve any results. Currently, they were only serving as sparring partners within the team. According to regulations, one absolute starting roster spot was vacant.
Jiang Foye had just returned to the national team when he came to find her and sighed, "Yes, it's you. She specifically asked you to lead her."
"I've only been on the coaching staff for six months," Xu Dong said, somewhat incredulously. "I thought she would choose a coach like Lao Cun or Dami, someone with extensive experience and who has coached players to Grand Slams."
"Who knows what she's thinking? It's probably He Qianlu's idea... Forget it, Old Ren has agreed. If you take her with you, you'd better be more careful. That kid is just like her master, a thorn in the side. If you can't control her, tell me. Now Old Ren has taken her all the way to the national team. You can go and meet her." Jiang Foye didn't know what his mentality was now.
On the one hand, the kid is indeed a talent and will definitely be a strong force in the national team.
But judging from his personality, he will definitely cause chaos in the national team.
Capable, but difficult to manage.
This is the coach's biggest headache.
It is useful to use it, but a pity to throw it away.
Xu Dong put on his coaching uniform in a daze and walked towards the door.
From a distance, she saw a fifteen-year-old girl standing at the door. She looked short and thin, wearing a new national team jacket. The red color of the jacket made her look fresh and energetic.
The girl was carrying a light yellow table tennis box. The edges and corners looked quite worn, probably from frequent competitions. There was also a bulging sports bag piled on the suitcase next to her.
Zhu Qi stared blankly at the tall building standing in front of him, his eyes filled with a calmness that did not belong to his age.
ah.
The building is so tall.
The playground is so big.
The landscaping is really well done.
There are also pear trees, Podocarpus, Nandina domestica, cherry trees, grape vines... Can you grow fruits here?
To be honest, if Zhu Qi hadn't seen the towering buildings of the Table Tennis and Badminton Management Center, he would have thought this was a beautiful park.
Opposite the gate is a rockery fountain with several white pigeons flying around on it. Further in is a pond with an arch bridge, and behind the narrow river are several paved roads.
Zhu Qi could even see someone driving in the distance.
The national team is indeed rich and powerful.
She also knew that once she entered Tiantan East Road, unless she was going to compete outside, it would be a pure boarding stay and she would never be able to leave.
"Hello, I'm Xu Dong." She walked over and patted the girl's shoulder.
None of Xu Dong's players participated in the World Cup, so Xu Dong did not go to the Macau Palace, but just watched the live broadcast on the national team's TV.
This little girl is even younger than she looks on TV.
Zhu Qi had been reminded by He Qianlu, so he politely greeted him, "Hello, Coach Xu."
"Your nickname is Baobao, right? I'll call you that from now on. People on the national team don't like to use your full name; it's a mouthful. Here, here's your dorm key. It's on the seventh floor of Building A, and you'll share a dorm with Maomao."
Xu Dong pulled her suitcase and led Zhu Qi to the accommodation building like a tour guide.
On the way from the main gate to the dormitory building, Xu Dong gave her a brief tour of the overall structure.
In fact, it is similar to the provincial team, but the area is three times that of the provincial team.
There are only a few areas where they operate.
Dormitory building, training hall①, canteen, playground.
There are also some additional places, such as a library, an auditorium for group meetings, a logistics department for distributing various consumable supplies, and a medical room.
"Previously, the training hall and the General Administration were separate, so it took a twenty-minute walk every day to get to training. But considering that athletes tend to wander off, and considering the expansion two years ago, the General Administration allocated an old indoor basketball court for the table tennis team to use as a training hall. Oh, and the dormitories were also renovated. Previously, the table tennis and badminton teams were separated into two buildings, with men and women living in mixed-gender rooms on separate floors. The men's team lived on a single floor, and the women's team lived on a double floor. Then...something happened, and the men and women were separated...You really came at the right time. The dormitories and the gym are all new."
Some things?
Zhu Qi's mind was as clear as a mirror.
It's just premature love.
"The first and second floors of the accommodations are for the national team's second-tier players, twelve to a room. The third and fourth floors are for the sparring partners who have just been promoted from the second-tier team to the first-tier team, seven or eight to a room. The fourth and fifth floors are for the main players, four to a room. The seventh floor is for the absolute main players, each with a small private room," Xu Dong said with a smile. "After joining the national team, competition is everywhere, and you can feel it from the floor you stay on. It's just sports. The better you play, the higher the floor you stay, but you're the first one to go straight to the seventh floor after joining the national team."
Xu Dong seemed to have a good temper and even joked with her.
He Qianlu didn't talk much about himself as the future head coach. He just asked Zhu Qi to train well in the national team. He could ignore others but had to listen to Ren Xinhua and Xu Dong.
So Zhu Qi followed Xu Dong obediently and acted like a "good boy".
The sunlight passed through the clouds and entered the dormitory, making even the dust particles floating in the air dance.
There is a small elevator installed in the dormitory building, and only three people can stand after squeezing in.
The interior was a little old, and the iron sheets had fallen off due to decay, covering the surroundings like white ringworm.
There was a bit of creaking noise when the elevator was rising, but fortunately the elevator did not shake and was very stable.
Zhu Qi and Xu Dong, plus one suitcase, completely filled it up.
When passing by the first floor, several female team members who looked about the same age as Zhu Qi poked their heads out of their dormitories. Several little heads were crowded together, talking a lot.
"Is it? Is it?"
"Yes, yes! That's the guy!"
"I'm really on the national team, straight into the first team, that's great."
"I think they're living on the seventh floor. It's so cool!"
"The seventh floor has its own rooftop balcony. I'm so envious."
"Go away, stop looking. Instead of taking a lunch break, go to training and see how noisy you all are." Xu Dong turned around and shouted, and those little heads immediately shrank back one by one.
Xu Dong smiled and said to Zhu Qi, "Everyone is very curious about you. These kids are actually around your age. They often talked about you before you came. Maybe they will even regard you as their idol in the future."
Zhu Qi also smiled but said nothing.
The elevator creaked upwards, and Xu Dong continued, "Maomao is Zu Tianjiao. She's one of Coach Cun's soldiers, four years older than you. Normally, three people live in one suite, but the women's team lost a lot of players last year, so there aren't many current star players. Maomao's shoulder injury recurred during the World Championships, and she needs to change the dressing every day. She doesn't want to disturb others, so she's living alone for now. Next door to you are Chang Hongxia and Ding Shushu, both veterans of the women's table tennis team."
The little girl followed behind him quietly, so quietly that Xu Dong almost forgot that there was someone following him.
The two stopped on the seventh floor. Xu Dong took her into the corridor, turned right and walked to the innermost room, then handed the luggage to Zhu Qi.
"Mao Mao is receiving treatment in the infirmary now. There's no one inside."
Zhu Qi took out the key and opened the door.
What catches the eye is a very small living room, which is more like an entrance hall than a living room. After putting a table and a shoe cabinet, there is basically no room for anything else.
There are two doors on the right wall and a door on the left wall that is ajar. Someone has already moved in, and it should be the cat Xu Dong mentioned.
"You can live here. This room has better sunlight. You can grow taller by getting more sun exposure." Xu Dong opened the door on the right wall and turned sideways to let Zhu Qi visit.
Zhu Qi took a look and saw that the space inside was not big, with a bed, a wardrobe, and an arm-length table.
The table is divided into three layers, and there are several partitions at the bottom, which seem to be places for shoes and socks.
The room smells of sunshine and looks like it hasn't been lived in for a long time, but it's well ventilated and will definitely look good after some tidying up.
Zhu Qi expressed his satisfaction.
Although small, it has everything you need and is definitely enough for one person to live in.
Seeing the little girl's happy expression, Xu Dong helped her pull the suitcase in.
"Put your suitcase here first, and I'll take you to familiarize yourself with the environment."
As soon as Zhu Qi stepped out of his small single room, he heard the men's howling songs coming from the building next door. Xu Dong closed the window and said with a smile, "The men's dormitory is in the building next door, and they are usually more noisy. If there is any noise, you can find Chang Hongxia, she is the captain of the women's team."
Zhu Qi nodded and asked, "What should I do this afternoon?"
What she meant was whether she could go for training.
Xu Dong understood and smiled. "Don't worry. Today is your first day here, so you need to get used to the new environment. Training starts tomorrow. Change into your team uniform first, and I'll take you to get some daily necessities later. We'll have a team meeting this afternoon, so go over there and meet all the team members."
The girl tugged at her ball bag and pulled out her new uniform.
My aunt washed the clothes at home. It's still quite hot in the south in autumn, so my aunt was afraid the clothes wouldn't dry, so she put them next to the stove to dry for a while. She often put some roasted oranges and pears in the stove, and the clothes would have a pleasant fruity smell when they were dried.
Her name was on the back of the dress.
Zhu Qi
handsome!
Watching Zhu Qi change into her clothes, the slightly larger T-shirt hanging on her somewhat thin shoulders, Xu Dong pinched the flesh on her arms and exclaimed, "You're so thin, but you have great explosive power. It's rare to find players with such good physical fitness."
“I mainly play spin.”
Xu Dong smiled: "That's right, your ball spins a lot. It's very similar to..."
...that person.
After the girl changed her clothes, Xu Dong couldn't help but ask, "By the way, I want to ask you. Why did you choose me to be your coach?"
Zhu Qi straightened his clothes and looked at her: "Brother Lu asked me to follow you."
That's right.
That's the person.
What a thousand roads.
Xu Dong's hands were shaking slightly.
【Author’s words】
① In reality, the national team's accommodations are separate from their training facilities. They live in the administration center, and it takes them over 20 minutes to walk to the training facility every day. That's why many people used to take photos of them going to and from training. For this post, I've set them all up in one place because I don't want to tire my daughter out running around (laugh.jpg). Wouldn't it be nice to use that time to practice? [Bao Bao: nods vigorously]. By the way, this setting is necessary for many plot points later on.
Then~ tomorrow is the Lantern Festival~ I'll take a day off~ to save up for the V chapter. After the V chapter, I'll have four consecutive days of big fat chapters! 30,000 words! Then I'll start a steady double update, with occasional triple updates~ The goal is to keep updating until the end! [Set a flag]
Happy Lantern Festival everyone! Have you ever had solid glutinous rice balls? If you haven't, you must try them! [Serious.jpg] [Smirk.jpg] [Dancing.jpg]
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