143 Heart to the Distance
◎You defeated those people, you are a female general.◎
During the week in North Korea, Maomao was not quite used to communicating with the opposing head coach at first. He felt that he was not at that level yet. As the captain, there was still a level between him and the coaches.
But Zhu Qi comforted her: "Just treat them as coaches of the national team. We should communicate with them the same way we communicate with coaches in the national team."
The coaches of the national women's team have been marginalized in the past two years. Ever since Maomao became the captain of the women's team, she has been the oldest, most experienced and most honored player among the girls.
And I can get along better with the players.
In addition, they are all girls, and the national team has only two female coaches except Ren Xinhua, and the rest are male coaches.
It’s better if the head coaches are female, like Zhu Qi and A Shui, as they can discuss many private topics with their head coaches.
For example, if you feel unwell during menstruation and want to go to work an hour later, or if you have gastrointestinal problems and want to cover your stomach with a hot water bottle, etc.
Some male coaches were not able to enter and leave the female dormitory at any time. When Chang Hongxia was there, she served as the bridge of communication.
Now Maomao is almost half a coach in the team, taking on some of the work that both the coach and the captain can do.
Maomao is the type who wants to do everything by herself. Basically, she will help with anything she can solve by herself and will not pass it on to the coaches.
Once, two girls in the team argued over a trivial matter until one in the morning, and Maomao also ran over to act as a peacemaker, talking and mediating the conflict.
Every time seeing Maomao so tired, A Shui sometimes couldn't bear it and told Maomao not to worry so much and just leave the work to the coaches.
But although the cat agreed, it still did what it had to do.
Zhu Qi thought the cat was so energetic that it was scary.
What the female team captain did was really class-style.
If it were Zhu Qi, he would have just called them both out for a run on the playground, and when they were back to normal and no longer bickering, they could go back to bed. Having this much free time to argue suggests they're not training enough.
But this also led to many female players trusting Maomao more, treating Maomao as someone on the same level as the coach, and even often complaining about their head coach in front of Maomao.
Because they all know that cats are not gossipy people and will only help themselves solve problems.
Over time, until now, the coaches no longer treat Maomao as a player when communicating with her. Sometimes they would discuss the various arrangements for the training plan together. Even Maomao's own head coach, Coach Cun, basically never worried about her training problems.
Zhu Qi's words served as a reminder to Maomao.
Yes.
She didn't feel awkward even though she was the coach of the national team.
Not to mention coaches from other countries.
After that, Maomao quickly adapted to the way of communicating with the North Korean team coaches, and the content of their conversations was actually more inclined towards various future developments.
For example, the North Korean team is currently facing some issues with transitioning from the old to the new. This time, Xi Lingen suffered a wrist injury and was unable to participate in the World Cup. The other girls on the team are still a little timid about the competition, and so on.
When Maomao heard this, he thought that this situation had also occurred in the national team, and it seemed that everyone was facing similar problems. Then he suggested to the coach of the North Korean team that they use the game as a training session.
The North Korean team does not often go out to compete, but it can compete within the country and organize a competition similar to the Chinese Games to give more young players opportunities to play.
After all, some players train well at home, but their shortcomings are easily exposed once they go out, so they need to undergo desensitization training in this regard.
Maomao had a very pleasant chat with the coaches of the North Korean team, so much so that many young players of the North Korean team thought Maomao was the coach of the national team when they saw Maomao.
A Shui practiced reverse shot techniques with the North Korean coach and had a lot of fun.
Although I am still a little unfamiliar with it, at least I have mastered the training techniques.
The North Korean coach also knew that it would be impossible for Ah Shui to achieve quick success in just 7 days, so he simply summarized the training methods.
After all, it is better to teach a man to fish than to give him a fish.
Zhu Qi also feels very relaxed. Every day, many simple and innocent young players surround her and ask all kinds of interesting questions.
North Koreans have almost no contact with the outside world, and these children have no experience in competing abroad. They learn a lot of things from their predecessors who have been abroad.
Now that there are finally "guests" from outside coming to my house, I really want to know what's going on outside.
What surprised Zhu Qi was that Chinese was widely spoken in Pyongyang, and she heard that they also had special language courses.
These athletes did not completely abandon academic studies to concentrate on training like the national team, but instead adopted a model of academic studies in the morning and training in the afternoon.
But it is certain that the coaches of the North Korean team also greeted the players, and the questions they asked were basically about the situations that Zhu Qi encountered during the game.
For example, the most classic one is the battle between Zhu Qi and Jamie to establish their authority.
All athletes who were eager to change their gender to squeeze into the women's track were discouraged.
With her personal charm, she made almost all the female athletes in the world present at the time cheer for her.
A North Korean girl said to Zhu Qi, "When I was very young, my father took me to the beach and pointed to the United States and told me that the worst people in the world lived there. You defeated those people. You, like Captain Xi Lingen, are both female generals."
The title "General" has a very sacred and special meaning in North Korea, and is almost equivalent to the highest praise for a person.
Zhu Qi felt his cheeks getting hot, especially when he was stared at by a pair of clear eyes from behind.
Another girl, who looked like a devoted fan of Xi Ling'en, retorted, "The captain is the female general, and contestant Zhu Qi is... a Valkyrie. That's what the Chinese newspapers say!"
Zhu Qi was at a loss for words: "It's all the same, all the same..."
In general.
During the seven days in North Korea, the three of them had a lot of fun.
Zhu Qi hasn't communicated with children of this age for a long time.
Ever since I joined the national team, all I think about every day is training and competition.
Every year, I have to spend a month participating in the military training of the Bayi Team. After dedicating myself to the country, I have almost no personal time.
If I think about it carefully, the time I spent with the provincial team was actually the easiest.
Although life was a bit tight during that period, they only had to train twice a day, and He Qianlu could also provide protection for them. He would often take Qin Xiaoba out to play basketball, and then they would find some food stalls nearby to eat and visit some tourist attractions.
Anyway, each has its own advantages and disadvantages.
A Shui trained with the North Korean team coach for a few days and got a few blisters on his fingers. After applying the North Korean team's gel, a layer of skin grew back the next day.
Ah Shui was still amazed and asked Zhu Qi, "North Korean medicinal herbs seem to be very effective. Last time you fought Jamie, your eyelids were all open. The team doctor said it would take at least three days to heal, but I used their patch and it healed the next day. Their stuff is so effective, why don't they introduce it to us?"
"This is a complicated issue," Zhu Qi explained. "North Korea is still closed to the outside world. We can offer some small assistance from time to time, but we can't engage in overt diplomatic relations with them. After all, we need to develop our business in secret..."
A Shui seemed to understand but not quite.
Maomao had been communicating with the North Korean team coach for nearly a week and had a slight understanding of the team's current development. As she packed her bags to return to the national team, she said, "I heard Xi Ling'en's wrist isn't in good condition. It took a long time to get treatment."
"Is it the same foot injury that Baobao suffered back then?" Ah Shui lay on the upper bunk, looking down at the two people sleeping on the lower bunk.
Maomao said, "It's not exactly the same. Baobao's wrist was just torn, so it can be sewn up. But Xi Ling'en's wrist was completely torn, and the surgery he had at Chaojing Hospital was a reconstruction. The recovery period is expected to be very long, and... I don't know if everything will be compromised after recovery."
Ah Shui suddenly felt that Zhu Qi was right to let her practice playing with her right hand. As a fake left-handed player, the strength of her left hand could never keep up, and it was a special playing style.
When A Shui first joined the national team, she knew that she would have almost no room to play in individual events in the future.
My idea at that time was very simple. It would be great if I could go to the World Games with the main team as a sparring partner.
As age increases, the number of games increases.
There will be some damage on the body to a greater or lesser extent.
But now, if I practice a few times with my right hand, it can help share some of the burden with my left hand.
On the last day in Korea, Xi Lingen got up early and invited Zhu Qi and others to visit his new home.
It is said that because Xi Lingen won the silver medal in the women's singles at the Moscow World Games, which met North Korea's standard for "special contribution to the country", Xi Lingen was given a very beautiful two-story overlooking house in the eastern district of Pyongyang.
The decoration of the whole room looks very ordinary. The tables, chairs, benches, mattresses and photo frames on the wall are all made of mahogany, which looks very party-like.
"Wow!" As soon as Ah Shui entered the house, he was amazed to see the room full of Chinese-style furniture.
After being used to seeing Western-style villas, Chinese-style furniture now actually has a very luxurious and heavy feeling.
Xi Ling'en brought a cup of tea to the three of them. The four girls sat on the sofa and chatted face to face: "If the Chinese team wins the championship, will there be a house reward?"
Maomao smiled and said, "Yes, but it's not this big, probably only about 40 square meters. Only half the size of your house... well, that's about the same."
Zhu Qi continued, "And we only have the right to use it, not the right to sell it. In other words, the house belongs to the state, but we can live in it. But if we die in the future, the state will reclaim it."
Xi Ling'en suddenly understood what he heard.
Ah Shui asked curiously, "Aren't you like this?"
"This place belongs to me now. I can sell it in the future or pass it on to my next generation," Xi Ling'en said with a smile, but he was also curious. "But you all live in the national team, so you don't need this house anymore, right? So what should we do with it? Isn't it a waste to just leave it there?"
"We can rent it out." Although Ah Shui comes from a wealthy family, she is not as spoiled as a rich girl, nor is she obsessed with money.
She can make money by playing in competitions, and the Shanghai Provincial Government has arranged subsequent work for her, so she will continue to stay in the Shanghai sports community to promote table tennis.
So A Shui never took care of her house in Chaojing. She always rented it out and collected 300 yuan in rent every month as a landlady.
Xi Ling'en seemed to understand, but he wasn't quite sure. North Koreans had no idea about renting a house.
The people here fully implement all aspects of China's policies from the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s. They eat from a big pot and live in houses allocated by their work units.
Farmers have their own residential land, workers live in staff housing, and politicians also live together. Basically, they see each other every day.
This trip to North Korea was perfect.
The North Korean team held a farewell banquet for Zhu Qi and the others, and then Maomao made a final speech, expressing his wishes for the future promotion of table tennis relations between the two countries and for the North Korean team. That was the end of it.
Xi Ling'en also followed him all the way to the train station.
Before boarding the train, Zhu Qi looked at Xi Lingen standing in the crowd. She was wearing the same furry round hat as them and a red woolen coat, which made her skin look fair and translucent.
During the time in North Korea, Zhu Qi felt that Xi Lingen had a special joy and excitement, and no matter what he saw, he wanted to hold their hands and share it with them.
In fact, this is also a girl of the same age as Zhu Qi, who is only 23 years old.
I have been staying in this country and have very few opportunities to go out. The few times I go out for competitions, I come back as soon as the games are over.
From the age of 15, when he was still a child, he shouldered the honor of the entire country.
Zhu Qi thought that Xi Ling'en might be even stronger than she was. After all, she had lived a lifetime longer and had experienced much more than Xi Ling'en.
"Goodbye!" Xi Ling'en stood at the bottom of the platform and waved to Zhu Qi and the others who had already boarded the train.
Zhu Qi and the others also waved to Xi Ling'en from behind the window.
"Long live the China-North Korea friendship!"
Waves of sound came from outside the window, accompanied by the sound of wheels rolling over the tracks. Zhu Qi looked at the country that was gradually moving away, feeling very nostalgic.
I don’t know when I will be able to come to this place next time.
At this moment, Zhu Qi felt that everyone was a villager in the global village.
Then, say hello to the Americans in your heart.
Maomao communicated with the head coach of the North Korean team for a week, and Zhu Qi chatted with the North Korean players while practicing for a week.
A Shui came here for a week of intensive training. From the moment he got on the train to the private car sent by the coaching staff to pick him up at the airport, A Shui fell asleep as soon as he got on the car. After getting off the car and waking up for a while, he got on the next car and continued to sleep.
I slept until I returned to the national team and went to my own dormitory.
"Ah - my bed!" Ah Shui flew into his room, and the first thing he did was to make the bed.
They covered the bed with a layer of bedding before they left. Even though no one had lived there for a while, there was still no dust on the sheets.
Zhu Qi guessed that it was most likely Coach Xu who came to help them clean every day.
After lying on the bed for a while and resting enough, the next thing they did was to call their families.
Before leaving for North Korea, Zhu Qi told his uncle and his family he would be out of contact for a week because he couldn't bring his phone with him. Now that he's back, he definitely wants to call back to let them know he's safe.
As a result, Zhu Qi and Maomao were sitting on their beds, talking on the phone, when they suddenly heard a very loud noise coming from A Shui's room next door.
It seems like something fell.
Maomao was the first to come out and went to check what was going on: "What's wrong? Why did you drop your bag?"
A Shui didn't say anything. Zhu Qi felt that the atmosphere was not right, so he followed him. He saw clothes scattered on the ground at A Shui's feet and the suitcase fell directly off the table.
Ah Shui's face turned pale as he heard a woman crying on the phone.
"Miaomiao, I'm divorced from your father..."
【Author’s words】
A Shui begins to awaken!
My friend once ran a marathon in North Korea and said that most people with higher education can speak Chinese, and some can barely speak it but can understand it. On the other hand, English is rarely spoken, and people only practice it deliberately when their jobs require it.
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