Wan Zonghua took the photo from Xiao Yun’s hand.
After confirming that the person in the photo was indeed the young master in the park.
He let out a deep sigh and rubbed his temples.
"Chairman Wan, the young master’s situation has already made it to the trending searches on Douyin. He can’t hide anymore, and now is a perfect time to find him!"
"Where is he now?"
"Futian District People’s Hospital!"
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Futian District People’s Hospital.
Evening.
Seven o’clock sharp.
Wang Ye woke up.
Just as he was reaching for the water cup by his bed to moisten his throat.
He suddenly noticed a stranger sitting on the bed next to him.
The man had stubble on his cheeks, somewhat messy hair, dark eyes, and slightly sunken cheeks, yet he exuded a very commanding presence. To describe him, he was like a wild lion.
"Hello, Wang Ye, my name is Jiang Yuan, and I’m a coach for the national team."
The man who introduced himself as Jiang Yuan stood up and extended his hand.
He seemed to want to shake hands with Wang Ye.
After Wang Ye finished drinking his water, he slowly reached out and shook hands with him.
"Coach Jiang, did you come here specifically to find me?"
"Yes." Jiang Yuan sat back on the bed and continued, "I watched your competition. Your moves are perfect and your technique is advanced, more advanced than anyone else. The only flaw is, you don’t know how to compete."
Wang Ye nodded slightly.
Jiang Yuan was right. He indeed had little experience with marathon competitions. His margin for error and performance effectiveness were far less than that of the regulars in the national team. His experience in preventing accidents and managing stamina was far inferior to those seasoned professionals. The fact that he achieved such results was purely due to his solid skills.
Seeing Wang Ye in a daze, Jiang Yuan added:
"Wang Ye, I think you can guess why I’m here. I want to recruit you to join the national team and serve the country. Your skill must be used to win a gold medal at the Olympics, otherwise, it would be too wasteful. As for the treatment in the national team, you would receive a monthly stipend of 20,000, plus room and board, and we can provide you with a better training environment and resources."
"The treatment is quite good." Wang Ye nodded. A monthly stipend of 20,000 is indeed decent, higher than the salaries of most workers in first-tier cities, but it’s not even one percent of breaking a record.
Thinking of this, Wang Ye continued to ask, "If I join the national team, what would I need to do?"
"After joining the team, you would need to follow our requirements to train and participate in various international competitions. But I suppose that won’t be a difficult task for you." Jiang Yuan confidently grinned, "You can break world records, reach such a level; surely you’ve trained a lot at home. Now it’s just a matter of changing the place where you train."
After hearing this.
Wang Ye bowed his head and pondered for a moment.
From the beginning, he had no ambition to be in the national team.
Joining the national team wouldn’t bring him much higher training efficiency.
Instead, it would restrict his various skill training.
After all, Wang Ye depended on the system, and the coach’s guidance, changes in the environment, resource enhancements, etc., didn’t hold any actual meaning for him.
Additionally, joining the national team wouldn’t earn him any more money. It would merely provide him with a more stable income, a long-term trickle of income.
Other than that, it would at most add a title of being an in-system athlete.
With that in mind, Wang Ye said, "Sorry, but I don’t want to join the team for the time being. Please go back."
"What?" Jiang Yuan showed a look of surprise.
Then, he turned his head, lit a cigarette, looked at the gradually darkening sunset, and cursed under his breath, "Damn it, I waited all afternoon just to hear you say that?"
"I’m sorry, I still prefer freedom," Wang Ye explained.
After finishing his cigarette, Jiang Yuan shook his head, "Alright. I won’t force it. Let me give you my contact information. If you’re ever interested, just call me. The national team will always welcome you."
After leaving a small note with his phone number, Jiang Yuan left the ward with his hands in his pockets.
Wang Ye put the note in his pocket,
and was about to get up to find the front desk nurse to handle the discharge procedures.
Suddenly.
Two people entered through the door.
They were a middle-aged man around fifty with grizzled hair and a rather youthful-looking young man.
As soon as they entered, they introduced themselves:
"Hello, Master Wang, I’m Wan Zonghua, and this is Liu Yun. We are the heads of the Shenzhen Tai Chi Association."
"Tai Chi?" Wang Ye twitched the corner of his mouth.
He had just broken the marathon world record today, so he could barely understand why the national team came looking for him.
But why were people from the Tai Chi Association also joining the fray?
Wan Zonghua explained, "Young master, we earnestly invite you to join our association."
Next to him, Xiao Yun chimed in, "Young master, we’ve been looking for you for days. If you hadn’t won the marathon championship today, we might still be searching for your whereabouts!"
"That’s right. Our association’s masters were astounded by your Tai Chi stance after seeing it and would very much like to meet you, which is why we personally came to recruit you," Wan Zonghua added.
"Looking for me?" Wang Ye was a bit taken aback.
He had never posted a Tai Chi video online, nor participated in any Tai Chi competitions.
He only practiced once in Lizhi Park at most.
Did the Tai Chi Association folks really search for him just because he practiced once?
"You’ve gone through so much trouble... but I have no intention of joining the association. Please go back. I need to be discharged and go home to rest," Wang Ye waved his hand, not wanting to go through too much fuss with these people.
"Please wait, young master." Wan Zonghua stopped him and continued, "If you join the association, I can offer you a stipend of five thousand yuan a month. That’s a benefit even our association’s masters don’t have!"
Wang Ye let out a chuckle, "Benefit? Do you know the identity of the man who just walked out?"
"What identity?" Wan Zonghua was startled.
"He’s a national team coach, offering me a stipend of twenty thousand a month," Wang Ye said with a grin. "But I didn’t accept."
"What, twenty thousand?!" Xiao Yun’s face froze.
"Twenty thousand..."
Wan Zonghua’s eyes dimmed immediately. He couldn’t compete with the national team in terms of benefits.
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