Almighty Coach

In the small meeting room, everyone sat in silence.

"We withdrew from the match to defend Coach Gu against the injustice. Why did they treat Coach Gu unjustly?" Shuang Pang, who was the youngest among the athletes, broke the silence.

"Shuang Pang, don’t tell tales! This is the flat management, which is not against Coach Gu deliberately," said an old coach who was sitting next to the athletes.

"Is this the flat management? I’ve searched this term on the internet. Flat management is implemented to reduce the administrative levels. But after this flat management in our team, none of the high-level management staff is reduced; none of the executive coaches are reduced; the coaches of the men’s team and the women’s team are still there. Only Coach Gu is ’reduced.’ Isn’t it against Coach Gu deliberately?" Shuang Pang said indignantly.

"Even so, you shouldn’t have withdrawn from the match. You should express your appeal rationally instead of taking this extreme action. Don’t forget you are athletes of our country! You should attach most importance to the honor of our country," the old coach continued to say.

"Coach Gu’s contribution is greater than ours. What did he get out of it? An Irish promotion? What were they thinking? Kill the donkey the moment it leaves the millstone, right?" Anshan Wang, who usually remained silent, suddenly said.

Everyone in the meeting room dropped into silence again, for all of them knew Zhizhong Gu’s contribution to the National Table Tennis Team very well. When considering contribution, none of them could compare with Zhizhong Gu.

"I also feel you are too impetuous," Dai Li said. "I know you are defending Coach Gu, and you hope Coach Gu can come back. However, have you ever thought about how your behavior will do harm to Coach Gu instead of helping him!"

Dai Li paused a bit, then he said, "Someone doesn’t want Coach Gu to go on coaching the national team, because he is competent and admired by all of us. But your withdrawal will make those people more afraid of Coach Gu; therefore, they will not dare to give any real power to Coach Gu. You think your collective withdrawal looks as if you are expressing your support for Coach Gu or defending him against the injustice, but in fact you are jeopardizing Coach Gu’s future career."

After Dai Li’s reminder, all the athletes realized their rashness.

Just as Dai Li said, after this collective withdrawal, everyone knew Zhizhong Gu was enjoying immense popularity and support in the National Table Tennis Team, which would make the high-level management more afraid of him. They worried that they couldn’t control the National Table Tennis Team. Someone thought Zhizhong Gu set up a small clique in the team to go against the high-level management.

In this circumstance, Zhizhong Gu wouldn’t be allowed to do any substantive work for a while. Nobody would dare to put him in a position with real powers, so he might have to do some leisure work till his retirement.

Athletes like Anshan Wang who had been engaged in the sports industry for years knew this truth very well. Therefore, after Dai Li’s reminder, reality suddenly dawned on them.

"Sorry, we are wrong! We are harming Coach Gu." Anshan Wang lowered his head.

"Let me call Coach Gu now and tell him we didn’t do it deliberately," Shuang Pang said.

"Don’t contact Coach Gu now!" Dai Li stopped Shuang Pang immediately, then he said, "If you call Coach Gu now, it will be more difficult for him to get away from this issue."

"Then what should we do now?" Shuang Pang asked.

"You should admit your mistake first!" Dai Li shook his head ruefully. "I suggest we could undertake the responsibility of the withdrawal, and try our best to make a clean break with Coach Gu, which might be helpful for him."

"We will definitely be punished, right?" Shuang Pang asked timidly.

"You will be punished in all likelihood." Dai Li nodded, then he looked at other executive coaches in the meeting room, and said, "I suggest we undertake the responsibility in the name of the National Table Tennis Team, and make an apology to the public. Let’s face the consequence of this withdrawal together. What say you?"

"Coach Li, you didn’t participate in this withdrawal, which was a decision made by us. We shall receive any possible punishments!" Pengfei Cui said courageously.

"Pengfei, what Coach Li means is that the law can’t be enforced when everyone is an offender," Anshan Wang said. He had now been restored to reason completely.

Dai Li nodded. "Right, that’s what I want to say. We admit the mistake and undertake the responsibility in the name of the national team. I hope this will mitigate the punishment to each individual. Moreover, if the team is to undertake the responsibility, normally the principal of the team would bear much of the blame. But now Coach Gu has been transferred, and we don’t have a principal in the team; therefore, if we are lucky, we might be able to minimize the consequence of this issue."

...

It had been three days since the withdrawal. The National Table Tennis Team admitted its mistake and apologized to the public. It seemed the issue had been quieted down.

The General Administration of Sports asked the Table Tennis Association to investigate the withdrawal strictly, but it didn’t mention any punishment. Also, the coaches who would be put in charge of the men’s team and the women’s team were not decided.

Maybe the withdrawal made the high level management more cautious in the reform. Everyone knew the reform was supposed to solve problems instead of creating more problems.

Some in the national team thought Dai Li’s trick had worked; other people thought it was just the calm before the storm. The management level was still preparing punishments, or the management level planned to settle the accounts when people had forgotten this issue.

The daily work of the national team progressed without change. However, the sense of anxiety and loss still permeated the team. Without Coach Gu to lead them, no one knew how the National Table Tennis Team would develop.

One day, Dai Li got a call from Zhizhong Gu after dinner.

"Li, I’ve heard your suggestion of undertaking the responsibility in the name of the national team. Thank you," Zhizhong Gu said.

"If I had known in advance of their plan to withdraw, I would have stopped them. Did this issue cause any trouble for you?" Dai Li asked.

"In my current situation, should I be afraid of more trouble? A lot of lice don’t bite." Zhizhong Gu paused a bit, then said, "But I owe you an apology, for I might have brought trouble on you."

Dai Li frowned and asked, "Is this issue still not over? Is the management level still planning to give punishment?"

"The punishment is inevitable. The collective withdrawal is a big issue, which has to be answered for. The key is the degree of punishment," Zhizhong Gu said.

"Will someone be fired?" Dai Li asked immediately.

"It can’t be that serious. A short-term suspension is unavoidable." Zhizhong Gu continued to say, "I don’t worry about the athletes. The veteran players like Anshan Wang and Pengfei Cui have gained enough fame and wealth in these years under my leadership, which are enough for the rest of their lives, even if their career lives as athletes were to end now. Also, they also accumulated a lot of injuries in their bodies; it’s time for them to have a good break and rehabilitation."

"As for the young athletes like Shuang Pang, they are the hope of the National Table Tennis Team in the future, and they are expected to accomplish great things, no matter who the future coach of the team will be. Therefore, if there is any punishment for them, it will not be very heavy. Instead of them, I am worrying about you the most."

"Me? Why?" Dai Li asked in confusion.

"When I was the head coach, I promoted several executive coaches into the core management team, including you. So you might be targeted by being treated unjustly or being marginalized for a long time." As Zhizhong Gu spoke, he let out a long sigh. "Compared to the other coaches, you are the youngest, and you also don’t have the history of being a table tennis player. Therefore, what worries me is that they will get rid of you to scare the rest of the coaches."

"I don’t think they will come for me... No matter who will be the next coach of the team, the team will still need me. Don’t you believe in my competence?" Dai Li said with a smile.

"Your competence is indeed the best. I could say you are the best physical trainer I’ve met. However, I recruited you into the team, so they will treat you as an ally of mine. I wouldn’t worry about you if the withdrawal hadn’t happened, but now the situation is different. The management level will not allow something like this to reoccur. So it is highly possible for the team to be purged," Zhizhong Gu said.

Dai Li fell silent. If Zhizhong Gu was warning him of this, then it was very likely to occur. Although Zhizhong Gu had been demoted, his relationship network was still there. He must have heard some news before calling Dai Li.

It was not hard to understand what had happened. As an old saying goes, each sovereign maintains his own courtiers. The new boss would eagerly replace all previous underlings with his trusted followers, while the followers of the previous boss would be purged.

Moreover, the collective withdrawal had strengthened their determination to get rid of Zhizhong Gu’s followers. Those people were apparently deemed dispensable and given priority to be eliminated.

In the National Table Tennis Team, a young and junior physical trainer without the background of an athlete was obviously the best object for elimination.

...

Two days later.

"Li, I’ve just received a notification. You are required to go to the HR Department of the Table Tennis Association at 10 a.m. tomorrow. They want to talk with you."

Dai Li nodded silently. He had already been prepared for that.

If it’s doomed to come, it will come eventually...