Chapter 28

Liu Xiao, who was in the country, held the phone and listened carefully to the voice of Yang Zhongyi, who was in the Philippines, on the other end of the line.

"Go! Go! Zhang Guan, go!"

Yang Zhongyi's Chinese cheers mixed with the chaotic foreign languages sounded particularly clear. Liu Xiao could even feel the surging passion on the other side of the phone.

"From the sound, the competition is intense!" Liu Xiao muttered to himself.

"Ah! Injured! Ahhh! Crossing the finish line! Champion! Champion! We won! We won!" Yang Zhongyi's almost roaring shouts were deafening, transmitted through the microphone to Liu Xiao's ears.

Liu Xiao suddenly stood up and shouted into the microphone, "Senior Brother? Who got injured? Who crossed the finish line? Who is the champion? We won? Could it be that we won the championship? Who?"

On the other side of the phone, however, there was no response from Yang Zhongyi, only his excited shouts.

Yang Zhongyi needed to vent his emotions, and he was indeed doing so. Yesterday, the Philippine media had portrayed Zhang Guan and the entire national team as shameless clowns. At this moment, Yang Zhongyi could finally look at Ramos, the Filipino journalists, and tell them who the real clowns were!

"Senior Brother, don't get so excited, listen to me first, tell me who won..." Liu Xiao continued to call out to Yang Zhongyi.

The other side of the phone suddenly fell silent, making Liu Xiao feel very uncomfortable. He wondered if Yang Zhongyi had shouted so hard that he had lost his breath. But after a second, an even louder shout came through:

"9.99 seconds! 9.99 seconds! 9.99 seconds! Ran under 10 seconds! Broke the record! We broke the record! The first in Asia!"

"What? Broke the Asian record? What's going on? Senior Brother? Senior Brother?" Liu Xiao was even more surprised this time, eager to talk to Yang Zhongyi.

Yang Zhongyi, however, was still shouting.

"The first in Asia, broke the record! The flying man... the flying man Zhang Guan! The first in Asia Zhang Guan!"

Liu Xiao's body suddenly trembled, almost dropping the phone. He stared blankly at the computer screen, which displayed a report questioning the black curtain of the sports authority, muttering to himself, "Senior Brother said Zhang Guan broke the Asian record, how is that possible? If it's true, then this report is a huge blunder."

...

At this moment, in the Rizal Memorial Stadium, everyone's eyes were fixed on the timing board.

9.99 seconds. If this result was correct, it would be a new Asian record, and the creator of this record would be Zhang Guan, who was the first to cross the finish line.

The Asian record was originally 10.00 seconds, set by Japanese sprinter Hideo Ito in 1998. The closest to this record were Chao Yuanxuan's 10.02 seconds and Miki Horiguchi's 10.03 seconds.

Since 1998, the Asian record had not changed. Some racists in the international community even claimed that the limit for Asians was 10.00 seconds, and that Asians could never run under 10 seconds. Today, if this result was confirmed, Zhang Guan would become the first Asian to run under 10 seconds, which would have special significance for all Asians and even the world.

In the media area, Ramos suddenly shouted, "Wind speed, it must be wind speed! European scholars have said that Asians cannot run under 10 seconds."

The other journalists glared at Ramos with disdain. The media area included journalists from Japan, South Korea, Southeast Asian countries, and Central Asian countries. All of East Asia, the Indochinese Peninsula, and the Malay Archipelago were predominantly Asian. Additionally, Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, and Kyrgyzstan in Central Asia also had a large number of Asians. In the media area, except for journalists from West and South Asia, almost everyone was Asian. Ramos's self-deprecation was one thing, but the people of Japan and South Korea were quite arrogant, and his words offended them all.

"The wind speed is 0.6 meters per second, this result is valid. It seems we are witnessing the birth of a new Asian record," said a Korean journalist, who glanced at the Japanese journalists next to him with a sense of satisfaction.

At the finish line, Zhang Guan had already received the system's notification. He had successfully broken the Asian record and gained two skill points.

"Now I have a total of four skill points. If I save two more, I can complete the task. Gaining honor also gives skill points, and the 100-meter champion at the Asian Athletics Championships should be considered an honor, so I will definitely get skill points. Maybe after the award ceremony, I can complete this task," Zhang Guan thought happily.

He then looked at the 9.99 seconds on the scoreboard and smiled contentedly.

"This time it's 9.99 seconds. Next time, if I run 9.98 seconds and break the Asian record again, I can get two more skill points. Then 9.97, then 9.96... Skill points really do need to be earned through effort."

"What are you smiling about?" Shen Bao walked up from behind and draped a national flag over Zhang Guan.

"National flag? Where did you get the national flag, Brother Shen?" Zhang Guan asked.

Before Shen Bao could answer, Chen Jian also walked over with a national flag and said, "Old Shen always brings a national flag when he goes abroad to compete. When he wins a gold medal, he can wrap himself in the flag and walk around the field. But he never had the chance to use it, so this time it's your turn!"

Shen Bao smiled awkwardly. Waving the national flag on the field was every athlete's dream, especially after the competition, when it was the champion's moment. Only the champion had the right to walk around the field with the flag, enjoying the cheers of the audience. Although Shen Bao had always dreamed of it, he had never achieved it!

Thinking of this, Zhang Guan grabbed Shen Bao and said, "Brother Shen, let's do it together!"

"Okay!" Shen Bao hesitated for a moment and agreed. The three of them, wrapped in two national flags, slowly jogged around the track, savoring the glory of the victors!

...

Standing on the award platform, listening to the majestic national anthem, and watching the national flag waving in the center, Zhang Guan suddenly felt an indescribable emotion. It was a sense of pride, honor, and emotion, something hard to put into words. Although there were no thunderous cheers or rousing choruses, it surpassed a thousand words, instantly transforming into boundless motivation, spreading throughout Zhang Guan's body.

"This feeling is so good!" Zhang Guan found that he liked this feeling just by standing here for the first time, not just because of the championship and honor, but also because of the indomitable spirit deep in his bones.

After the award ceremony, Zhang Guan walked down from the platform, looked at the gold medal around his neck, and instinctively bit it.

"No need to bite it, it's not gold, it's copper, with a layer of gold plating," Chen Jian said from the side.

"Copper?" Zhang Guan was somewhat annoyed, "How stingy, it's just copper, not even as valuable as a silver medal."

"The silver medal is also copper, but with a layer of silver plating," Chen Jian waved his own copper medal and continued, "The Asian Athletics Championships are not of high enough level, and the Philippines is very poor, so they use copper and then plate it with gold or silver. If it were the Olympics, the silver medal would be made of real silver, and the gold medal... would also be made of pure silver, then plated with gold. But every edition is different, depending on how much the host country is willing to spend. Sometimes, if the host country is not willing to spend, the Olympic gold medal will have more copper and less silver. If the host country is willing to spend, the gold medal will have more silver and less copper, with a bit of gold. Want pure gold? Go to the Golden League and get a gold bar!"

...

At the Sports Authority.

Yang Kechang was busy and flustered. His attempt to clarify the situation had no effect and instead made things worse. The rapid spread of information on the internet was evident in this situation. In this era, the internet lacked standards and norms, and the lack of ethics in online media was particularly evident. With the help of trolls, Yang Kechang felt as if he were being roasted over a fire.

Outside the Sports Authority, several media reporters were waiting, hoping to interview Yang Kechang. Beijing reporters were always arrogant and hard to deal with, and the online public opinion had made these reporters smell a conspiracy, so they naturally flocked to the scene.

Yang Kechang frowned anxiously and asked a subordinate, "Have you made contact? What did the Athletics Association say?"

The subordinate immediately replied, "The Athletics Association still says the same thing. The national team is competing in the Philippines, and Director Ma is leading the team, so they need to verify with Director Ma to know the truth. They are preparing to report back to Director Ma. I just called again, but the line was busy."

"Then call again!" Yang Kechang said irritably.

At that moment, the phone rang. The subordinate saw the caller ID and it was from the Athletics Association.

"Director, it's the Athletics Association, they have called back," the subordinate said.

"I'll take it myself!" Yang Kechang picked up the phone and scolded, "What's going on with your Athletics Association..."

Yang Kechang's voice suddenly stopped, and he changed his tone, "Broke the Asian record? Don't get so excited, tell me slowly, what event, who broke the Asian record?"

"..." The phone began to explain.

"What? Men's 100-meter sprint? Zhang Guan? Zhang Guan broke the Asian record? I didn't hear wrong! Confirm it for me, is it really Zhang Guan?" Yang Kechang's tone suddenly became urgent, and he quickly took out paper and pen to write down the information.

After a moment, Yang Kechang put down the paper and pen and the phone, leaned back in his chair, and took a deep breath. His face showed a mix of seriousness and disbelief. He ran to the computer, entered a URL, and opened an English website, which was the official website of the Asian Athletics Championships, where the latest information was posted. Yang Kechang quickly clicked on the latest news and confirmed the information from the phone.

"Director, what's wrong?" the subordinate asked.

"Ha... It's this Zhang Guan, he broke the men's 100-meter sprint Asian record, 9.99 seconds, just now!" Yang Kechang said, pointing to the computer screen.

"So he didn't get into the national team through backdoor channels?" the subordinate asked in surprise.

Yang Kechang looked at his subordinate with a hint of helplessness. Even his subordinate thought Zhang Guan had gotten into the national team through backdoor channels, so it was no wonder the media and the public thought the same.

Then Yang Kechang suddenly laughed, jumped up from his chair, and said, "Let's go see those reporters. They've been making my life miserable these past few days. Now it's my turn to turn the tables on them."

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Next week, the editor gave us a recommendation spot, the first recommendation spot for this book. I hope everyone will support it, give more recommendations, and make the book's performance better. Thank you. Thanks to the readers Baidu 360 Guard, 130503143013024, and Loli Green Town for their support.

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