Literary Master 1983

Chapter 159 Telephone Connection
Samaranch has always been a person friendly to China. Later, he worked hard for China's bid for the Olympic Games and was awarded the title of "old friend of the Chinese people."

The report was hosted by Cen Chuan, deputy director of the sports department of CCTV. He was also the writer of the news in Renren Daily. He learned that Yu Qie was available and invited Yu Qie himself. Yu Qie was mentioned several times by Xu Haifeng. He also knew English and was very suitable for this kind of international program.

Yu Qie therefore connected with his book fan, who was a few years older than him, by phone.

Cen Chuan himself is in Los Angeles, and he serves as Samaranch's Chinese translator.

"Mr. Samaranch, what kind of help do you think this gold medal will bring to China's Olympic cause and what kind of status will it have?"

Samaranch's gray eyes showed a smile, and he said slowly:
"China has a population of one billion, accounting for one fourth of the world's population. It is also a country with a long history and splendid culture... If China cannot win gold medals in certain sports events, I think it is also a denial of our work, because this is not China's fault in the first place, but the fault of our Olympic Committee, which claimed to be the unity of the world's people after World War II!"

Cen Chuan then introduced: "Dear audience, in 1978, Mr. Samaranch went to Yanjing to discuss the possibility of China's participation in the Olympic Games. He stayed in Yanjing for a total of six days. He was not keen on visiting the scenic spots of the ancient capital of Yanjing. Instead, he attended intensive meetings, discussed and listened. After he returned to the IOC, he tried hard to persuade other IOC members and resolved some historical issues - China was able to rejoin the Olympic family with full justification."

Samaranch said: "It is my honor and my duty."

"Xu Haifeng?" Cen Chuan asked, "You have become a hero of the motherland. What do you want to tell the country at this moment? They are waiting for your words."

Xu Haifeng said excitedly: "I have lived up to the trust and mission. I hope the Chinese team can achieve better results in the future and I hope the motherland can prosper even more!"

"During those 20 minutes, you paused and practiced with an empty gun. What were you thinking about?"

"I wasn't really thinking about anything. I was just looking at the target. When I finished all these things, I realized that I had done something big! I thought no one would pay attention to me!"

"Teacher Yu Qie must have different ideas. He has accepted many interviews, but this is probably the first time he has been invited to an interview because his reader won a gold medal..."

Yu Qie laughed out loud: "I hope there will be more times like this, so that I can write books and biographies for my readers in the future! A writer's mission is to change the world, and this task often requires the help of one's readers, because I am only one person and cannot be in two places at once."

Cen Chuan asked Samaranch: "Are there people like Yu Che in foreign countries? Actually, you don't know that Yu Che is a very famous young writer in our country. He likes to exercise. He is a real person who lives up to the saying 'civilize the spirit and brutalize the body'."

After a brief thought, Samaranch gave several names: "Wisdom and sports are not contradictory. The founder of the modern Olympic Games is Mr. Coubertin, who was a famous poet when he was young. There is a Finnish female writer Alay Tinne, who won the Finnish National Literature Award and also won the Olympic art championship. The Olympic Games also have the Paralympic Games - the Olympic motto of higher, faster, stronger will embrace everyone equally."

"Teacher Yu Qie, what do you think of this sentence? Are there other people in our literary world besides you (who also love sports)?"

Yu Qie did know some people, but he couldn't bring any of them to the table.

His teacher Ma Shi Tu is good at practicing health-preserving boxing, his friend Cha Haisheng likes to practice qigong, and the goat of contemporary literary world, Ba Lao, is a otaku who doesn't exercise.

Oh, there is another very famous figure in the Yenching literary world, Shi Tiesheng.

Yu Qie said: "Shi Tiesheng likes sports very much. He wrote "My Distant Qingping Bay". He was an athlete when he was young. Although it is not convenient for him to exercise now, he still pays attention to active sports stars. I heard that he is a fan of Carl Lewis, the track and field star of this Olympic Games!"

"Carl Lewis? He's a big star in track and field. He's among the world's top athletes in the 200-meter dash, 100-meter dash, long jump and other events!" Cen Chuan was quite surprised. Shi Tiesheng was a well-known figure to him, but he never expected that he would be such a person.

The idol of Chinese disabled writers is the American black man Scud.

It's a bit of a hell of a joke, and a bit touching.

84 was indeed a great year for the sports world. Carl Lewis, the king of track and field, won four gold medals in this Olympics. He also participated in the NBA draft and was selected by an unknown team. He and an NBA third pick almost formed an NBA double gun. The team was the Chicago Bulls and the third pick was Jordan.

Finally, Cen Chuan asked Xu Haifeng how he felt about the first gold medal in history. This gold medal was not only the first gold medal for China, but also the first gold medal for the Los Angeles Olympics.

Xu Haifeng said: "I will follow the example of Yu Qie, who donated the bamboo curtain to the Military Museum after returning from Laoshan. I will donate the gold medal to the Sports Museum..."

Yu Qie said, "Wait, the bamboo curtain is not mine. I was just responsible for helping a little soldier carry it down."

Xu Haifeng blinked and smiled, "The gold medal is not mine either. I am just keeping it for Shiwanwanren temporarily."

With such emotional intelligence, no wonder he was so successful as a coach later on!
Everyone laughed.

Because the satellite used for this Olympics was rented from New Zealand and its live broadcast resources were limited, this live broadcast could only be recorded. After returning to China, the video tape would be played back.

The program has come to an end. Cen Chuan and Samaranch ended the phone call together.

Cen Chuan said enthusiastically: "The sound of wind, rain and reading is pleasant to the ears. Family affairs, national affairs and world affairs are all of concern to you! Whether it is sports or your cultural pursuits, they will not affect your love for a strong body. When you are busy working and studying, please look up from time to time to see the outside world. It is very big and beautiful."

Samaranch, a Spaniard, used the simplest English words possible to say: "Let us repeat the Olympic spirit once again: higher, faster, stronger. Goodbye, Chinese friends!"

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Xu Haifeng's victory also had a relatively large impact in the United States. At that time, China and the Western camp were in a close period, and the American press did not mind reporting on the true, kind and beautiful side of the Chinese people.

Although this kind of news reporting sometimes still seems patronizing.

Time Magazine is one of the three major mainstream newspapers in the United States, and is particularly praised for its serious news and current affairs. Its reports are based in the United States and look to the world. They tirelessly conduct in-depth analysis of some international events, introduce some small countries or regions with the same size as Oregon or Montana to American readers, and use charts, pinyin and other methods to try to make American readers understand the conclusions they want to express.

Sometimes, just a cover can also convey the profound meaning of news.

In April of that year, the leader of that country visited China and the cover of Time magazine was:

"The New Face of China - What Will Reagan See?" Under the headline, a young Chinese man in a military coat stood on the Great Wall, holding a bottle of Coca-Cola in his hand, smiling brightly at the camera.

This cover means so much.

In August, Time magazine reported on interesting events that happened in the first few days of the Los Angeles Olympics. The Chinese, who participated in the Olympics for the first time, achieved relatively good results, which surprised many people.

So in this issue of Time magazine, there was also a commentary on China, and the cover showed Xu Haifeng accepting Samaranch's gold medal. Because the podium Xu Haifeng stood on was high and Samaranch himself was relatively short, the effect displayed on the cover became:

A thin and old white American man was standing on tiptoe to hand the gold medal to the young and strong yellow athlete.

"Gold medal, gold medal again! The battle between the dragon and the elephant has ended in the Olympics."

(End of this chapter)