Chapter 51: An Iron Bowl

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

To apply for “civil servant” positions in public institutions, individuals had to take recruitment tests. There were some companies and positions that didn’t require test scores for people with special skills, however. When public universities, public hospitals, or scientific research institutions were seeking high-level workers, academic-based manpower, or academic leaders, they would help organize personnel, while also offering housing, arrange job for the workers’ spouses, transferring children to another school, etc.

Coaching also required special talent. Every year the provincial sport team would offer test-free recruitment to new talent. Moreover, the sports team belonged to the Provincial Sport Bureau, which was a provincial institution. Working as a coach for the team was obviously superior to county-level sport teams.

When Coach Xu had said that he was capable of interfering with the sports team’s recruitment procedures, he was not bragging. Maybe to some people being a sports coach held no value in the real world. In actuality, however, it was the opposite. Especially when one became a chief coach, he or she could take charge of a lot of things alone, and have much more power than the average person thought. Think about coaches from national teams—they lived in big houses, drove expensive cars, and enjoyed a lot of benefits.

Coach Xu was the chief coach of the provincial swimming team, and he had even helped Feifei Yu grow into the world champion. Around the nation there were only a few world champions, and on average there was only one world record holder across several provinces, which was quite low. Therefore, Coach Xu was at the top among all the coaches in the Hanbei Province, making him very respectable and powerful.

Coach Xu may not have been powerful enough to directly get a formally organized personnel, but he could recommend talent to superiors. If it was some other coach’s recommendation, it might have been disregarded, but Coach Xu’s words were quite powerful. He had coached the world’s top swimmers, which had proved his knack for spotting talent. His recommendation was weighed heavily.

Social status mattered. Take online novels, for example: if a newbie’s work could receive a famous author’s recommendation, then both readers and other authors would think highly of them; if the referrer was not known by many people, then his recommendation would probably be useless.

…

Coach Xu knew that if Dai Li hadn’t offered his help, Feifei Yu would probably have been destroyed. To pay Li back, he tried his best to work things out. He used his reputation to his advantage. Soon after that, Coach Xu heard great news—his recommendation was valued highly by a sub-administration vice-director of the Sport Bureau. The next day, Coach Xu want to meet this vice-director.

“Xu, you know I trust you. But this Dai Li, he is so young! His resume shows that he just graduated last year!” said the vice-director.

“Director, don’t you worry about that. I took time to recommend him because he is still very young and worth cultivating. Just like with Feifei, I recruited her when she was only five, then at fourteen she won her first world championship.” Xu paused for a second, then continued, “According to what I have heard, Dai Li was not employed through normal procedure, he was introduced into the sport university by Coach Yuejin Chen. You know if Chen likes him then he must be a good one.”

The vice-director nodded in affirmation. He also knew Coach Chen pretty well. If Chen had taken note of Li’s ability and had brought him here to Qingcheng City, coupled with Xu’s recommendation, then it proved that Li was a competent person.

The vice-director remained silent for several seconds, then asked Xu, ” I saw on Li’s resume that his special talent is to help “maintain weight,” what does that mean?”

“It’s ‘helping athletes maintain weight.'” Coach Xu hesitated for a few seconds, then leaned towards the vice-director and said, “Director, there is something that I must report. Did you hear a few days ago that Feifei was going to be fired by the national team?”

“Yes, I heard that. It was gossip, wasn’t it? You were the one who held the news publication,” said the vice-director.

Coach Xu lowered his voice. “Actually, not all of the gossip was wrong. Part of it was true.”

“What do you mean?” the vice-president frowned.

“The part about her weight was true. Feifei Yu did weigh 70 kg at that time, and nobody could help. But it was this Dai Li who helped her lose 15kg! That was why we dared to let Feifei do the weighing on the spot. Li is very good at maintaining athletes’ weight.” Xu leaned forward again, saying, “Until I spoke to the national team’s chief coach, Donglai Huo, I did not know that the swimming training center was having a meeting at the same time as I was. Their main discussion was about whether they should fire Feifei or not!”

“How could things be that serious!” The vice-director swallowed. “Feifei is the golden brand of our province, and is the only world record keeper in the entire province. She is not even 20. If she is fired, her future will be destroyed.”

Coach Xu said, “Luckily we had Dai Li. He helped Feifei lose weight successfully. Otherwise we would have been in big trouble. Coach Huo from the national team asked me about what kind of methods we used to lose weight, I didn’t tell him. I don’t want Li to join the national team.”

Coach Xu was pretending that Li was so popular that if the provincial sports team didn’t recruit him, then the national team would grab him.

The vice-president seemed to feel the tension. He said, “So many professional coaches on the national team have tried to help Feifei lose weight, but failed to do so. How amazing that this young man did it! He must be competent, and worth further cultivation. We do have places for new employees this year. How about this—I keep his resume, and I will discuss with the other leaders on Monday’s party committee meeting. I will let you know the result then.”

Hearing this, Coach Xu felt sureness. Once Li’s recruitment was mentioned on the party committee meeting, then there would be an 80% probability that Li would get the job.

…

Dai Li was lying in bed reading online novels on his phone when suddenly his phone rang.

“It’s Coach Xu.” Li immediately answered the phone call.

“My little brother, here is good news! You are all set! Authorized personnel! Next Monday, bring your person ID and student card, and come register at the Provincial Department of Sports!” said Coach Xu.

“That’s great! Thank you so much, Coach Xu!” Li jumped out of his bed. “Authorized personnel” really inspired him.

Xu continued from the other end of the phone, “They gave you the personnel of ‘physical training coach,’ which means you could be allocated to any team. But I trust you. You will be fine wherever you are!”