Almighty Coach

Xiaochun Gao stood at the gate of the Hanbei track and field team feeling excited.

Xiaochun Gao had used to work for the Provincial Politics and Law Committee, but had always felt he didn’t get what he deserved after all those years of hard working. He had done a lot of things, but he had never gotten his boss’s appreciation, or a promotion.

When the Discipline Inspection Dispute Group was established, Xiaochun Gao was transferred from his original work unit to this group.

After Xiaochun Gao came to the group, he was eager to achieve something big and impress his boss. However, it was not easy to find big tasks. Xiaochun Gao had stayed with the Discipline Inspection Dispute Group for over a month and had gone to check things on a daily basis, but still couldn’t find a big case.

But two days ago, someone had reported that there was something shady going on in the selection process of the provincial track and field team, saying some athletes had bribed their coach to get positions on teams for the National Games, especially the relay team.

This wasn’t really a big case, but because someone had reported it, the Discipline Inspection Dispute Group was on call. It ended up in Xiaochun Gao’s hands.

As soon as Xiaochun Gao had taken over this job, he had begun dreaming of achieving something big.

This thing seems like a simple shady deal in the selection process, but will there be any deep reason behind it? Although Dai Li is the only one being reported, will this be something common across the track and field team? You can’t take part in matches if you don’t buy your coach gifts? Or maybe this isn’t a single case on the track and field team, but all the sports teams in Hanbei Province work this way? Maybe this also involves the Provincial Sports Bureau. If the Provincial Sports Bureau has corruption problems, will there be anyone benefiting from it? I remember the provincial sports lottery sold over ten billion yuan last year? Even taking ⅕ of it for sports funding would be two billion! Oh my god, a two billion yuan case. If I solve this, I will be so famous!

Thinking of this, Xiaochun Gao couldn’t help smiling. Xiaochun Gao was an imaginative person. Even a small selection could make him connect it to a big case that involved billions of yuan.

...

Weidong Chu had been waiting in the reception area for a while. After they met each other, they had a brief introduction, then went straight to the point.

"Coach Chu, it was reported to us that the selection on the track and field team is rigged," Xiaochun Gao said.

"Director Gao, we are very serious about the selection. We have our evidence and standards." Weidong Chu paused, then continued, "I reckon the reason we got reported is because someone wasn’t selected, and he was not happy about it. He probably made things up and reported it as revenge."

Xiaochun Gao smiled. He wasn’t surprised to hear Weidong Chu’s words. According to his previous experiences, those who were corrupted had plenty of excuses for themselves.

Knowing this, Xiaochun Gao continued, "This report mentioned an exact name."

"Who is that?" Weidong Chu asked immediately. He didn’t know that.

"Coach Dai Li of the relay team. That is why I hope to call and ask him some questions." Xiaochun Gao made his request brief and direct.

"No problem, Director Gao. Just bear with me. I will call Coach Li here." Weidong Chu signaled to someone next to him. "Call Coach Li and tell him to come here."

Weidong Chu poured a cup of tea for Xiaochun Gao, then continued, "Director Gao, you said before that there was a shady deal behind the selection of the athletes. Were you referring to the relay team?"

"You are the person in charge of the track and field team. I will just tell you the truth." Xiaochun Gao put down the tea cup and said, "It was the relay team that had been reported."

"Hehe..." Weidong Chu heaved a sigh of relief.

Weidong Chu might not have been that confidence when it came to other teams playing dodgy when selecting team members, but when it came to the relay team, he was 100% certain that everything was neat and fair.

It was not easy and smooth when they had begun assembling the relay team. Coaches like Guodong Li and Baojun Sha were having some problems and they were not copying with each other, while athletes like Tingshan Suan and Kun Shen even told on them directly. Finally, they had to let the athletes volunteer to join the team. They ended up setting zero restrictions, and anyone could sign up for it. They would literally thank God just to have five athletes on the relay team.

Weidong Chu said, "Director Gao, I can assure you that we didn’t have a so-called ’shady’ deal going on for the selection for the relay team."

"Coach Chu, you have such strong confidence in your team members?" Xiaochun Chu shook his head. "From what I heard, athletes could only join the relay team after they bought Coach Li presents and gave him money."

"Presents and money?" Weidong Chu laughed. He continued, "We almost had to beg the athletes to join the relay team when we raised the idea, but no one was willing to be part of it, so we asked them to volunteer. In a way we didn’t even select them for the relay team; they signed up for it voluntarily."

"The athletes signed up voluntarily!" Xiaochun Gao opened his eyes wide, looking embarrassed.

If it had been a selection, there were chances that a shady deal existed, as the coach was the one who would have made the final judgement. This was kind of like the first day of school when the children were trying to become the class monitor; the teacher has the right to decide. But it was a completely different story when athletes volunteered to sign up.

"Even though the athletes sign up themselves, there is still a chance there was some shady play. This kind of thing happens all the time," Xiaochun Gao said resentfully. He didn’t want to just give it up. He still wished to find and solve a big case. Leaving with nothing was the last thing he wanted to do.

Weidong Chu recalled his memory and said, "I remember when we put up the signing up notice, not many people came to sign up. There were only about seven or eight people I think. Coach Li then selected five of them. This was not like a civil service exam where only one person could be selected to the personnel system out of thousands of candidates. Choosing five out of seven is not an easy job to do in itself, and it is impossible to be shady about it."

Xiaochun Gao was obviously upset after hearing what Weidong Chu said.

Dai Li arrived at the reception area.

"Coach Chu, I’m here." Dai Li said.

"Dai Li, come here. Let me introduce you to Director Gao. He is from our provincial Discipline Inspection Dispute Group. Director Gao, this is Coach Dai Li from our team." Weidong Chu introduced the two of them to each other.

So this is the Dai Li who was reported! He is so young. He’s probably inexperienced. I could make him tell me everything if I scare him. Xiaochun Gao felt there was a good chance he could achieve something big.