Almighty Coach

In the studio, 27 gold medals were placed in three rows and then hung around Dai Li’s neck. Dai Li’s lips were stretched out, and he smiled joyfully.

“Coach Li, endure it a little longer. It will be over soon,” the photographer said, trying to comfort him. At the same time, he took a picture.

The weight of an Olympic gold medal was 500 grams, which was one jin. The weight of 27 gold medals was 27 jin. When hung on the neck, it was equivalent to the weight of the shackles that prisoners wore in ancient times.

When the photography session was finally over, Dai Li let out a long sigh of relief.

The photo would be used as the cover of Time Magazine. If it were not a renowned media group like Time, Dai Li might not have agreed to come and take such pictures.

Although the Olympics were over, the Olympics were still a hot topic. For example, the 27 gold medals the American track and field team won had become a popular talking point for the American people.

There were only 47 gold medals in the Olympic track and field competition, and the American team took 27 of them. This kind of record, such dominance, had been unthinkable.

In a poll, Dai Li was deservedly named the best coach of the Olympic Games. Although it was not an official award, so there were no trophies or prize money, it represented the public’s recognition.

Dai Li’s training center became even more famous and Dai Li began to consider whether to open two more branches and expand his influence.

…

Just after the Olympics ended, there were also various meetings held in China on the topic of Olympic Games. This meeting was about giving commendation to individuals with achievements and summarizing the different events.

Nearly 100 people had to squeeze into a conference room that was not too big. The main persons in charge of the provincial sports bureau, in addition to the leadership of the Sports General Administration, sat at the large oval conference table in the middle of the room. As for the others, they sat in chairs that were around the room.

The position in the middle of the conference table was empty. Even the head of the Sports General Administration did not sit in it. There were still more leaders who had not arrived.

After a while, the door opened, and the leader appeared in front of everyone. Everyone looked and saw their superior. In the next second, everyone in the conference room stood up.

“Everyone sit!” The leader waved his hand mildly at the crowd. He then sat in the vacant position.

The meeting started very quickly. The heads of several provincial sports bureaus began to give their report. The athletes in these provinces all had outstanding performances in the Olympics. To put it bluntly, they were the “big medal provinces” of the Olympic Games. Giving them a chance to provide a report was, firstly, to introduce their respective experiences and let everyone exchange experiences and learn. Second, it was to let them show their faces in front of their boss, and it was a chance to make a good first impression.

Finally, it was Director Li of the Sports Bureau of Hanbei Province’s turn to give a report.

Director Li was usually quite talkative, but he appeared to be quite constrained. He sat upright and reported very clearly on the information in his hands, fearing that the leaders might not be able to hear clearly.

“In addition to this, my province has also paid great attention to the construction of a coaching echelon. In the past few years, the province has trained many excellent coaches…”

When Director Li said this, the leader turned his head slightly. His gaze landed directly on Director Li.

In this kind of reporting meeting, everyone reported the same thing. It could be said that it was similar to New Year’s greetings. Everyone’s New Year’s greetings were “Happy New Year.” The first time it was said by someone it appeared “festive,” but the more people said it, the duller it became.

The construction of the “coach echelon” that Director Li mentioned was not mentioned in the previous reports. This was something new and the leader immediately became interested.

Director Li observed the leader’s reaction while he reported. Observing was a basic reporting skill. When he saw the leader looking at him, Director Li felt happy. He knew that this topic had caught the attention of the leader.

Reporting work was a form of knowledge. It was not a matter of simply just reading according to the manuscript. It was also necessary to know how to save time for the leader. If the leader did not like to listen to a certain section, then one should simply report on a few key points. It was only necessary to make things clear. If it were something that the leader was interested in, it was smart to talk about it in detail.

Director Li was aware of this. He was well prepared before he came. He decided what could be said in a more detailed way and what could be stated more simply. Having said that, if Director Li had not been able to do this, he would not have been able to be in his position.

Director Li felt that the leader wanted to understand this topic in depth, so he changed his tone of voice and immediately began a detailed report. A few people around him cast an envious look at Director Li. Being able to attract the attention of the leader in charge of sports and giving the leader a chance to recognize their ability to work was an opportunity everyone looked forward to.

Director Li kept reading his report and came to the “detailed results” of the construction of the coach echelon in Hanbei Province.

“For example, Dai Li, the head coach of the American National Track and Field Team, represents the excellent coaches trained by the province. As a Chinese coach, being able to become the head coach of the national team in the United States, the world’s best in track and field, represents outstanding ability. In this Olympic Games, Dai Li led the American track and field team to their best result in history with 27 gold medals…”

Director Li said this without flinching. The only thing he did not say was that the 27 gold medals of the United States were all due to the hard work of the Sports Bureau of Hanbei Province.

“This old Li is really good at exaggerating! He even roped in the gold medals of the American team.”

“It was already very cheeky of us to take credit for our national team’s gold medal. This old Li is cheekier than us. He is even taking credit for the American team’s gold medal!”

A few people next to him looked at Director Li’s situation with some contempt, but Director Li pretended not to see any of them. The words had already left his mouth and there was no way of taking them back!

However, the leader who sat in the middle gave a cough and interrupted Director Li. “I would like to ask a question. I have heard of this Dai Li. It is said that he is very famous in the United States. Is he a Chinese American? I thought he was a second or third-generation Chinese born in the United States. But he is from Hanbei?”

Director Li nodded immediately. “Dai Li was born in Yuzhou City in Hanbei Province. He has not yet changed his nationality to American. His household registration is still in our Hanbei. My comrades at my bureau have personally confirmed this with him.”

“Oh? He is not an American. This means Dai Li is one of our own coaches!” After hearing the news, a satisfied look flashed in the leader’s eyes.

Director Li continued. “After Dai Li graduated from university, he entered our Hanbei Province Sports Bureau. He was personally recruited by Director Zhongyi Xu who was a first-tier coach in our bureau at that time. He allowed him to come to our training team to act as a coach.”

Director Li then turned around and looked back at the chair behind him. Zhongyi Xu, who was sitting there, hurriedly stood up and gave a slight bow to the leader.

The leader nodded to Zhongyi Xu. He took note of his name. For Zhongyi Xu, this was a big moment.

Director Li continued to report. “When Dai Li was working for the training team of our bureau, we focused on training him. Our bureau sent him to the national team several times to learn and, when the bureau had the opportunity to go abroad to learn, we let Dai Li participate.

“Later, Dai Li left our Hanbei Province Sports Bureau after he accepted the recruitment offer from the national team. Our provincial training team, in addition to providing excellent athletes to the national team, is also responsible for providing excellent coaches to the national team,” Director Li said, showing a kind of expression that inspired awe.

The leader gave Director Li an approving glance. He did not inquire more about how Dai Li eventually went abroad. In his opinion, it was understandable that exceptional talents would want to travel. Numerous people had gone abroad in the past few years. After all, those developed countries could provide better benefits. In contrast, those that couldn’t go out were those who were not talented, and the developed countries were not interested in taking them in.

However, the leader cared more about Dai Li’s nationality. As long as Dai Li still retained his Chinese citizenship, it was enough to be used as promotional material. To coach the world’s best, the U.S. National Track and Field team, was a very astounding feat.

Moreover, this had happened before in China. For example, in volleyball, a Chinese coach had gone to coach foreign teams and had done very well. This had also been widely discussed in the Chinese media.

As the leader thought of this, he asked, “Why didn’t we see any Olympic news report about coach Dai Li? I’ve only learned of it and heard the name when I saw a report by American media. We didn’t report on our own coach? Instead, we let foreigners publicize him. Our comrades who are responsible for reporting on the Olympics did not do a good job. They need to work harder!”

What the leader said was neither too serious nor too casual, but in the back, a deputy director of China Central Television broke out in cold sweat.

In this kind of open conference, being told they were “not working hard enough” by a leader of this level was undoubtedly a criticism.

…

“What is wrong with you? You missed such important material. This was a dereliction of duty!” The deputy director sat in the back of the car while on the way to the station. He had made a call to criticize and educate the person on the other side.

A few minutes later, the person who had just been criticized and schooled said into a phone, “Did we send people to Rio de Janeiro to see the sights? How did a living person not see this? Did they not see the 27 gold medals? It’s track and field. It’s the biggest event in the Olympics! This was malfeasance!”

The “dereliction of duty” mentioned above had become “malfeasance,” a more serious offense.

Chief Editor Zhao, who had just been scolded, hung up the phone. He didn’t understand why the leader was furious because of this matter. He used such a word as “malfeasance.” Something must be wrong.

Chief Editor Zhao had been working for many years. He had climbed the corporate ladder. He had accumulated some connections. He immediately inquired about the situation. He quickly learned from a friend from the PR department that the deputy director of the station was criticized by their superiors during a meeting.

Chief Editor Zhao suddenly understood the importance of the matter. He knew that it was necessary to come up with a remedy as soon as possible. Even if it could not completely fix the situation, he should convey the right attitude. If he made a mistake and he didn’t convey the right attitude, then his career would go down the drain.

Chief Editor Zhao immediately called and found several reporters who were responsible for the track and field events during the Olympic Games.

…

Liu Wei did not know why Chief Editor Zhao suddenly contacted her. She and Chief Editor Zhao were divided by several layers of bureaucracy. Most of the reporters in China Central Television might not even be able to reach Chief Editor Zhao’s position after working for a lifetime.

When Liu Wei went to the office of Chief Editor Zhao and saw several of her colleagues, she started guessing why they were there.

They are all colleagues who participated in the reporting of the Olympic track and field competition. Is it about the report on the Olympic track and field competition? What went wrong?

Liu Wei thought with a guilty conscience as she and the other colleagues went into the office of Chief Editor Zhao. When she saw the livid expression of Chief Editor Zhao, she knew that it wasn’t good.

“When you reported on the Olympic track and field events, did you notice the head coach of the American team, Dai Li?” asked Chief Editor Zhao.

Several people nodded at the same time, but they did not understand what Zhao was getting at.

“Then did you guys know that this Coach Li of the American team is Chinese?” Chief Editor Zhao continued to ask.

“Yes!”

“Yes!”

“Yes!”

Several people said in unison.

“Yes? Then why didn’t any of you get an exclusive interview with him? Even if you couldn’t do an exclusive interview, you could’ve interviewed him a few times. It shouldn’t be a difficult thing to do, right? A Chinese man is the head coach of the American track and field team. Do you guys think this isn’t newsworthy? This year’s American team set a record with 27 gold medals. Do you think that such an achievement is not worth reporting at all? As reporters who go overseas to report, do you guys not have any sensitivity to the news?” Chief Editor Zhao asked angrily.

Zhao’s furious tone stunned a few people.

Finally, a mosquito-like female voice whispered, “Chief Editor, during the Olympics, I had an exclusive interview with coach Li very early on.”

It was Liu Wei who spoke.

“What did you say? You did an interview? Why didn’t I see it?” Chief Editor Zhao stared down Liu Wei.

“I sent back the interview with Coach Li, but our director refused to broadcast it,” Liu Wei continued to whisper.

“Why didn’t he allow it to be broadcast?” When Chief Editor Zhao heard this news, he became very calm. He looked at Liu Wei and said, “Are you Little Liu? Don’t be nervous. Speak slowly. Tell me clearly, why was the exclusive interview done not broadcast?”

“It was because our director said that it was necessary to be harmonious, so I did not broadcast this interview,” Liu Wei replied.

“Harmonious? Well, was there any unharmonious content in the interview? Did Dai Li say anything inappropriate?” Chief Editor Zhao asked.

“No, he didn’t.” Liu Wei shook her head.

“Was it because Dai Li did something inappropriate?”

“Not at all,” Liu Wei shook her head again.

“Then what was unharmonious?” Chief Editor Zhao continued to ask.

“Our director said that there was a piece of information about Coach Li’s resignation after being transferred. If it were broadcast it might offend some people. Offend those who transferred him at that time,” Liu Wei answered honestly.

“Offend someone? The China Central Television afraid of offending people!” The anger in Chief Editor Zhao’s heart rushed to his head.

“I was scolded because you were afraid of offending people. You got to be the good guy, while I was blamed. The deputy director was criticized by his superiors because of this! It only made things worse!”

Chief Editor Zhao screamed at the director who wanted “harmony” in his head. He had already sentenced him with “the death penalty” in his mind.

After a while, Chief Editor Zhao asked, “Does the exclusive interview still exists?”

“It should still exist. I sent it back last time, so it should be in our system,” Liu Wei nodded.

“Go, go to the editing studio. I want to have this interview now. If it doesn’t violate any of our guidelines, I will broadcast it tonight!” Chief Editor Zhao stood up.