185 Extra (1)
◎The athlete's lifelong pursuit was fulfilled at this moment.◎
After the national table tennis team returned home, the welcoming ceremonies at the airport became grander and grander.
After the last battle of Moscow, Zhu Qi felt that it was exaggerated enough.
As soon as we landed, the mayor of Chaojing came with a group of people to give us flowers and certificates.
The General Administration of Sports also held a major commendation meeting.
The national table tennis team sat in the C position, and then a representative was asked to speak in public.
Ren Xinhua asked Zhu Qi to take over the job.
Zhu Qiting actually disliked giving these kind of presentations, which were mostly filled with official jargon. Reading a manuscript in public was torture for her. This kind of work should be left to the Red Book...
But Ren Xinhua said that Zhu Qi can speak freely within the prescribed scope. After all, he is the player with the most honors in the entire table tennis world, which is motivating.
Zhu Qi simply wrote a draft, and after Ren Xinhua reviewed it and confirmed that there were no problems, he began to speak at the commendation meeting.
"...Our national table tennis team has achieved numerous honors since its founding, and I've personally contributed to this success. Many people have asked us why we've won so many gold medals. I can sum it up in one word: 'grabbing.'"
“…race against time, race against your opponents, race against yourself.”
“Strive for opportunities with time, for points with your opponents, and for golden moments with yourself.”
"When I won my first gold medal at the Macau World Cup, I said, 'I don't have an idol because I will surpass everyone in history.' Now, I hope someone emerges in the future who can surpass me. Otherwise, I won't be able to trust you with my flagpole."
The audience applauded loudly and for a long time...
/
After the two World Games that were watched by the whole country, Zhu Qi's name became known throughout the entire Chinese region and almost became known to everyone.
After the World Games, I could wear a hat or something and not be recognized. But now, hats and masks are useless. If I look at someone for more than three seconds, they'll scream.
"Who's the table tennis player! From the national team! It's Zhu Qi!!!"
Then, people who could hear the sound within a thousand meters would immediately come up to kiss him, surrounding Zhu Qi tightly.
Usually in this situation, Zhu Qi would call Qin Xiaoba and ask him to come and rescue him.
Qin Xiaoba dragged Zhu Qi out of the crowd and quickly took her back to the national team on his bicycle. He then shook his head in the training hall and said, "My sister's popularity is really shocking. I think some aunts are going to ask her to come home for dinner."
Ah Shui sat on the pool table and said with a smile, "Doesn't that mean you won't be able to go out often in the future?"
Zhu Qi sighed. Who said it wasn’t?
The last time I called my uncle, she said that there were often outsiders walking around in the village, and many of them took photos in front of her house.
I don’t know what’s so good about taking pictures of a small earthen house in a three-sided courtyard.
Originally, Zhu Qi thought that people nowadays were not so keen on chasing stars, and most of them were fans limited to the World Games. It should be much better after this period.
But Zhu Qi was really overthinking it.
The whole craze lasted until she retired, and even 20 or 30 years later, many fans still did some digging, compiling the video footage and CCTV documentaries of her joining the national team at the age of 15 into a collection and posting it on the barrage video website as electronic pickles.
After returning from Riyadh, Zhu Qi carefully counted and found she'd participated in three group interviews and six individual interviews. Zhu Qi, Maomao, and A Shui had even taken two weeks off to Russia to attend Edgar Snow's retirement ceremony. Upon their return, they discovered the coaching staff had accepted a slew of invitations for them to appear on television.
Maomao felt that this was a bit unreasonable. The three of them hadn't practiced for more than a week in three months. They couldn't let down their guard just after winning the honor, so they discussed with Foye to cancel a few games or directly invite him to the national team for an interview.
Originally, Maomao planned to submit a report to apply for retirement after returning to China, but a global sensation happened that year.
That is when a virus that made the whole world wear masks began to spread everywhere.
I originally came to Incheon just to play in an open tournament, but ended up being stuck in Korea for over 400 days and couldn't go back.
In addition, since Ren Xinhua had surgery, there were only three coaches available to lead the team this time, so Fo Ye, Chang Hongxia and Shi Ge were asked to come, and the other coaches stayed in the national team to accompany other players in training.
The three main players of the women's team have been staying in a Korean hotel for more than 400 days. All the daily necessities they brought with them at the beginning have been used up. Fortunately, Jin Lili can help in Korea and often takes them out to buy some necessities such as shampoo and toothpaste.
Zhu Qi felt that fate was truly wonderful.
Maomao postponed her retirement for a year due to SARS, and also caught up with the Incheon World Table Tennis Championships which started early on her 30th birthday. She won her first "Miriam" Cup in her life from her teammate Zhu Qi with a big score of [4:3], unlocking the second Grand Slam of the Chinese women's table tennis team.
On the "Miriam" cup holder, the cat's name is next to Zhu Qi.
Because this National Table Tennis Championships starts a year earlier, the next one will be held four years later, which means that the trophy will belong to China for 12 consecutive years.
Normally, the "Miriam" Cup would be carried back in a suitcase, but due to limited conditions in Incheon at the time, Maomao had to carry the half-human-high trophy back by herself the entire way.
When the three of them went out and were waiting for the bus, A Shui started to make a fuss about wanting to buy some water, so Maomao could only wait on the bench on the platform and let Zhu Qi accompany A Shui.
The three of them were very lively and had traveled to many places side by side during their 11 years with the national team.
I have been to almost 70% of the world's places.
They also accompanied each other through the first half of their lives, from girls to young women to women.
When coming out of the store, Zhu Qi just saw the cat with its back to him and facing the sunset.
The crimson afterglow sprinkled on the cat's body. She also looked very tired. She was wearing an athlete's jersey neatly. When she raised her head slightly, she saw the vast sky and the stars dotted with colorful clouds.
Accompanying her was a silver holy grail that was as tall as her shoulders.
It was also the last piece of the puzzle for the Grand Slam that she almost thought she would never be able to achieve in her lifetime.
Maomao raised his hand and touched his name engraved on the Holy Grail.
The athlete's lifelong pursuit was fulfilled at this moment.
She has no regrets either.
/
After finally returning home, the young players of the national team have made great progress.
I heard that during the city-wide curfew, the team played several round-robin matches.
Sasa, Youyou and Xiaolingling ranked in the top three.
Zhu Qi reached out and touched Xiao Lingling's shoulder, and found that the muscle layer was much thicker than when she left, and the sound of pulling the ball was much harder.
The senior sister expressed her satisfaction.
Maomao also formally submitted his application for retirement.
Originally, Ren Xinhua planned to hold a retirement ceremony for Maomao, just like the one for Little Snow, and invite many teammates who had played against him from all over the world to come to Beijing.
But Maomao was a bit shy and didn't like such a grand banquet, so he declined.
After all, no athlete before her had ever held a retirement ceremony, and Maomao didn't want to be an exception.
After Maomao retired, Ren Xinhua gave Maomao a three-month home leave, allowing Maomao to return to his hometown to reunite with his family and take a paid rest. Three months later, he returned to the national team to enter the coaching staff information and work permit.
Ah Shui watched Maomao packing his things and sat at the door and sighed, "You're gone just like that. I really can't bear to see you go. No one will wake me up anymore..."
Maomao pulled up the last suitcase and said with a smile, "You are now the most important member of the first echelon of the women's team. Zuo Zuo, You You, and Xiao Lingdang will also be moving to the seventh floor soon. As an old senior, you won't let me wake you up every day, right? Besides, it's not like I won't be back..."
"Even if you come back, you will live in the coach's dormitory with Sister Xia and Coach Xu. In the future, I will have to go around three buildings to see you, alas." A Shui pouted.
Zhu Qi teased, "Then you should also work hard and move into the coach's dormitory in the future."
"Oh, I'm not interested in being a coach. I'm exhausted from being an athlete for so many years. If I retire—" Ah Shui held his face in his hands and began to daydream. "The first thing I'll do is travel. I want to travel around and see the beautiful mountains and rivers of my motherland!"
"After all these years of traveling around, haven't you had enough?"
"That's different. I always go with the main group. I've never gone out just for fun."
When the two of them sent Maomao off from Tiantan East Road, they looked at the scenery that had grown up here along the way.
Zhu Qi recalled his first day with the national team, when Xu Dong showed him around and helped him familiarize himself with his position. Later, as a guide, he often took young players who had just been promoted from provincial teams to visit the national team.
The pear tree at the entrance of Tiantan East Road also bloomed eleven times.
Perhaps her roots have long been planted here.
When she thought that one day in the future Zhu Qi would leave here, she felt a pang of heartache.
So it is because of this that Maomao rejected the high-paying job offered by Chongqing Province and chose to stay in the national team as a coach.
Before getting in the car, Maomao said to them both, "I'll be back as soon as possible."
Zhu Qi and A Shui nodded.
After taking just two steps, Maomao turned back, took Zhu Qi's hand and squeezed it slightly, then left without saying anything.
Ah Shui didn't understand: "Why did Maomao seem hesitant to speak just now?"
Zhu Qi knew: "She wanted me to take good care of the team."
Maomao has retired, and the women's team is missing a captain.
As the player with the most honors, the longest experience and the strongest control, Zhu Qi naturally became the next captain designated by the coaching staff.
Zhu Qi felt that she definitely could not be as attentive as Maomao, even taking care of food, clothing and other expenses. She did not have much patience and scolded four young players until they cried just one week after becoming the captain.
But soon, everyone adapted to Zhu Qi's management style.
That is an iron fist, an iron fist and a heart of stone.
But as long as they train hard and improve their skills, Zhu Qi will make allowances for some small details in life - such as shoes left in disarray, water bottles thrown away, clothes not put away, etc.
Ah Shui had long been accustomed to Zhu Qi's strict approach to himself and those around him, so he occasionally helped Zhu Qi educate the younger players. Sometimes, because the younger players were afraid of Zhu Qi, they would first ask Ah Shui for leave, and Ah Shui would then pass it on to Zhu Qi. Although Zhu Qi might not approve it, at least it saved them the trouble of being scolded.
Fang·Executive Vice Captain·Miao: "The style of Baobao leading the team is indeed different from when Maomao led the team. Maomao is like the kind chairman, and Baobao is like the strict chairman. You just have to get used to it."
Qin Xiaoba understood too well the pressure from her sister. After the captain of the women's team retired, Daxiong had also thought about submitting his retirement application, but now the male coaching staff of the national table tennis team is already saturated.
In addition, Daxiong also wants to raise his military rank. If he returns to his hometown, he will not have this opportunity, so he will temporarily stay in the national table tennis team and semi-retire like Chang Hongxia did in the past, only playing domestic competitions and not foreign competitions, and by the way, continue to serve as the captain of the men's team.
Some people have already completed this journey.
Some people are still continuing.
The men's team sent in a group of young players a few years ago, and when the absolute main players of the team were trapped in Incheon, several talented kids emerged.
Their names are also very interesting. One has the surname Jin and is called Jinzi, and the other has the word "yin" in her name and is called Yinzi. They are just 19 years old this year and both are from the Chaojing team.
When Big Bear is not playing in a game, he will train these young players individually.
Being a coach is completely different from being an athlete. In the past, I only had to focus on myself, but when coaching newcomers, I have to consider many aspects.
For example, you need to observe the strengths and weaknesses of others, and then develop training plans and scoring items based on their characteristics.
After playing in competitions for so many years, it is very easy for Daxiong to carry a racket to the court and start playing as soon as he is told to.
But it is very difficult to teach others how to fight. Daxiong really needs to go to Zhu Qi for advice.
Zhu Qi's answer was simple: "If you don't know how to coach a player, just play a game with him and do everything you can to beat him. After you win, you'll definitely know where it's easier to score, and then you can work back on your opponent's weaknesses and improve them. The same goes for strengths..."
After listening to this, Big Bear suddenly understood and nodded repeatedly: "Yes, you still have a way."
/
There are major personnel changes in the women's team, but relatively little impact on the men's team, with the absolute main players still training normally.
Song Linzhou even continued to train at the same time, place, and time as usual.
A young player on the men's team, seeing how Song Linzhou would get two sets of jerseys soaked every day before returning from practice, joked, "Brother Ling, you said you've also achieved a Grand Slam now. Myna can also take over now. If I had received this honor at your age, I would have retired long ago."
Song Linzhou smiled and didn't respond.
Qin Xiaoba came over and yelled at the young player, "Go away, what do you know? Brother Ling said he would play with me all the way to Los Angeles."
The young player said with a playful smile: "Come on, Brother Ling is not here to accompany you."
"Stop talking nonsense! Go get the ball! Watch out or I'll punish you later!"
Qin Xiaoba hooked the other person's neck and pulled him away.
Song Linzhou sat next to the pool table, sweat dripping down his forehead. He raised his hand and wiped the sweat from his forehead with his shoulder sleeve, and his eyes felt a little moist.
Not far away, the man with his back to him was leaning against the table and giving a lecture.
"Don't give low balls, add quality! Lengthen!" -
Everyone in the national table tennis team has started to train hard again.
As usual, Zhu Qi appeared in the training hall at the designated time and place, looking around at all the players running around the table.
The entire training hall was so quiet that the only sounds were the sound of the ball hitting the ground and the friction of shoes rolling over the floor.
No one dared to speak.
Just after New Year's Day in 2004, the national team, having won six gold medals at two consecutive World Games, received funding approval from the General Administration of Sport to purchase a large number of treadmills and indoor exercise equipment. With a decisive gesture, Ren Xinhua expanded the training hall and converted the annex into an indoor fitness center.
When the cat came back, the indoor training room had already been set up.
Six treadmills, four stationary bicycles, more than twenty dumbbells, and five free squat racks—all high-end imported brands—were piled up in the annex hall, creating a curious spectacle for the national table tennis team.
Maomao first gave the snacks he brought from Chongyu to A Shui, then stood at the door of the gym to observe. There was still a smell of formaldehyde inside, and they said it would take a month to dissipate before anyone could enter, so others could only lie at the door and watch.
"Hey, this is what Chairman Ren ordered after she came back from a three-day inspection of the Hong Kong team. She said they have all these things over there." Ah Shui held a bag of snacks, his mouth full of oil. "If you ask me, how about a few more pool tables? There are a dozen kids from the National Second Team, and I heard from them that they don't have enough pool tables anymore..."
Maomao laughed and said, "Chairman Ren thought you were being lazy by not jogging in the morning when it rained, so he prepared everything indoors so that we wouldn't be delayed by anything that rained."
Ren Xinhua was actually considering retirement, but several of the team's coaches were also reaching retirement age. Especially since Foye's granddaughter had just been born, and he had just celebrated his 54th birthday, his family was urging him to return home to help raise her. Xu Dong became pregnant last year, and because of her special contribution to the country, having coached a double Grand Slam champion, she was granted two years of guaranteed maternity and childcare leave, and she wasn't due to return to the team until the end of 2005.
It wouldn't be a big deal if too many experienced coaches left the team at once.
After much deliberation, Ren Xinhua promoted Shi Ge to be his deputy head coach, and then temporarily handed over the players in Xu Dong's team to Maomao for management during Xu Dong's vacation.
It is said to be management, but in fact it is just for cats to practice.
After all, a player of Zhu Qi's rank doesn't need Mao Mao to take care of anything.
As for Xiao Lingdang and others, Zhu Qi can also help Maomao watch the training.
Before Ah Shui could transition from being a cat to being a coach, he found that Zhu Qi had already adapted to his former roommate becoming his acting coach.
For Zhu Qi, the two of them were just like when Maomao was an athlete, patrolling and inspecting in the training hall.
The only thing that has changed is that when everyone calls the captain, they are calling Zhu Qi instead of Maomao.
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