Chapter 40

In mid-March, the 2004 Top Ten Laureus Champions Awards were announced. Although it's called "Laureus," this award is not the same as the international Laureus Award. Its predecessor was the domestic Top Ten Athletes Selection. Although Zhang Guan made it to the shortlist, he was ultimately not selected after the voting. After all, Zhang Guan's experience was still too shallow, and those who were finally selected were all excellent athletes who had been in their sports for many years and had won many honors.

At the end of March, the national team began a closed training session.

This training session was not held at a single location. Since the full list of Olympic participants had not yet been confirmed, the training was conducted based on proximity. For example, Liu Fei trained at the Xinzheng Training Base, while Zhang Guan went to the National Sports Center Training Base.

This large-scale training session involved not only athletes but also top domestic coaches. All expenses for the training, including food, accommodation, venues, equipment, medical care, and relocation, were covered by the Athletics Management Center. The sports equipment was also provided by the center. Additionally, coaches of track and field events could bring 1-2 training partners, with their expenses also covered by the center.

For many young athletes, being a training partner for the national team was a rare and valuable opportunity. They could meet the best athletes and coaches in the country and experience the highest level of training, which was a great chance for self-improvement.

Track and field training is an extremely monotonous affair. Unlike team sports like basketball and football, which have tactical explanations and team coordination training, or individual sports like table tennis and badminton, which have tactical training, track and field is all about being faster, higher, farther, and stronger. Especially in the 100-meter sprint, there is almost no strategy or team coordination, so the training is just repetitive, over and over again. It's simple but a different kind of torture.

From the initial excitement to later boredom, then to hatred, and finally to numbness, Zhang Guan spent three months in this repetitive cycle. The training only ended after the National Track and Field Championships and the Athens Olympic Trials in late May.

Zhang Guan returned to his hometown in early June, enjoying his last holiday before the Olympics. According to the schedule, the Athens Olympic Delegation Formation Ceremony would be held in July, followed by the Olympic Oath Ceremony, athlete training, and then the journey to Athens.

...

This time back home, Zhang Guan's most important task was to prepare as much Euro currency as possible. For this, he took the property deed of the house awarded by the provincial sports center and went to the bank's credit center. He had just turned 18 this year, so he was eligible for a loan.

Zhang Guan walked into the credit center of the Bank of China, and the clerk behind the counter glanced at him but ignored him.

At this time, personal loans were mainly for student aid and housing loans. Student aid loans were usually only a few thousand yuan, and many county credit cooperatives could handle them. Housing loans, due to the relatively low housing prices and high down payments, could amount to only a few hundred thousand yuan at most.

This bank's credit center usually handled large corporate loans, so when Zhang Guan walked in, the clerk immediately knew he wasn't a businessman and thus ignored him. The amount of money for student aid and housing loans was too small for the clerks to care about.

Helpless, Zhang Guan sat down at one of the counters, but the credit clerk continued to type on the keyboard, completely ignoring him.

"I want to take out a loan," Zhang Guan said.

The man still didn't look up and said, "For student aid, you need a certificate from your school, and you can go to a credit cooperative or the Agricultural Bank."

"I'm not here for a student aid loan. I want to..."

Before Zhang Guan could finish, he was interrupted.

"For a housing loan, you also need a certificate," the man said, looking up impatiently. He found Zhang Guan somewhat familiar but couldn't recognize him.

"I want a mortgage loan," Zhang Guan said, taking out the property deed. "I want to use this house as collateral for a loan."

The clerk looked at Zhang Guan curiously. It was rare for someone to use a house as collateral for a personal loan, even for an experienced clerk like him.

He took the property deed, opened it, and looked at the address. "Sports Hall Residential Area, this is a civil servant neighborhood. The location is good, and the facilities are complete. This is a nice house. The name on the deed is Zhang Guan. Is that you?"

"Yes, it's me," Zhang Guan said, handing over his ID card.

Zhang Guan was still using a first-generation ID card. Although the photo wasn't as clear as a second-generation ID, it was taken last year, so it wasn't much different from his current appearance. The clerk looked at the photo and then at Zhang Guan, his face showing surprise.

"Zhang Guan! You're Zhang Guan?" the clerk asked loudly.

Zhang Guan nodded.

"The record-breaker Zhang Guan! The sprinter Zhang Guan!" The clerk's voice was like a thunderclap, and all the other clerks in the hall looked over.

"It's really Zhang Guan!"

"Can you sign for me?"

"Do you have a camera? Let's take a photo together!"

All the clerks gathered around.

In the country, Zhang Guan's fame wasn't as high as Liu Fei's. After all, Liu Fei had been winning international honors since 2000, while Zhang Guan's most notable achievement was winning the Asian Track and Field Championships last year. The domestic media had reported on that event quite low-key, and many people didn't even know about it. If not for Zhang Guan breaking the Asian 100-meter record, he might have been forgotten.

But this city was Zhang Guan's hometown, so he was quite well-known. The local media had given maximum coverage to his breaking the Asian 100-meter record, and although most people didn't recognize him, almost everyone knew his name.

"What are you all doing during working hours!" a voice came from the side, and the credit center manager, Mr. Wu, walked in.

Seeing Mr. Wu, everyone returned to their positions. Someone had already informed Mr. Wu about Zhang Guan's arrival. He walked up to Zhang Guan, extended his hand, and said, "Hello, I'm the manager of the credit department. My name is Wu."

"Hello, Manager Wu," Zhang Guan stood up and shook hands with Mr. Wu.

"Mr. Zhang, would you like to discuss this in a private room?" Mr. Wu smiled professionally and led Zhang Guan to the VIP service center.

After they were seated, a staff member brought tea. Mr. Wu invited Zhang Guan to have some tea before getting to the point. "I heard you want to apply for a personal mortgage loan?"

"Yes, I want to use this house as collateral," Zhang Guan said, taking out the property deed.

Mr. Wu took the deed, glanced at it, thought for a few seconds, and then said, "The value of this house needs to be assessed by our professionals, but I estimate that a loan of 300,000 yuan should be no problem with this house as collateral."

"Is there any other way to get a larger loan?" Zhang Guan asked.

"There are definitely ways," Mr. Wu said. "How much do you need?"

"More is better," Zhang Guan replied.

Mr. Wu nodded. "I can give you a loan of one million yuan."

"One million? But this house isn't worth that much!" Zhang Guan said.

"The house can secure a loan of 300,000 yuan, and the assessment should be around that. However, since you are a well-known athlete who has broken the Asian record, we can give you a larger loan. However, with my authority, I can only approve up to one million yuan. If you need more, it would require approval from the branch manager. Additionally, if you can find a suitable guarantor, you can get a larger loan." Mr. Wu added, "Actually, I'm a fan of yours."

Zhang Guan thought for a moment. "One million it is, but I want it all in Euros. Is that possible?"

"Euros? I see, you're going to the Olympics!" Mr. Wu immediately connected it to the Athens Olympics in two months.

"Yes, I want to buy something big while I'm there," Zhang Guan gave a reasonable reason.

A one-million-yuan big purchase, Mr. Wu thought, must be a car. He guessed that the state might be giving some preferential policies to athletes participating in the Athens Olympics, like tax-free imports, and Zhang Guan wanted to take advantage of it.

However, Mr. Wu didn't pry into the client's privacy, so he immediately processed the loan for Zhang Guan and helped him open a foreign currency account, depositing the converted Euros.

The Euro had just been officially launched, and at the exchange rate at the time, one million yuan only converted to about 90,000 Euros.

After that, Zhang Guan withdrew the prize money from several competitions and converted it all to Euros, adding up to about 20,000 Euros.

Zhang Guan then asked his parents for some money. Although his family wasn't wealthy, his parents had a good income and had saved several hundred thousand yuan over the years. Since Zhang Guan was representing the country at the Athens Olympics, his parents considered it a great honor and didn't want him to lose face abroad, so they gave him 30,000 Euros.

In total, Zhang Guan's bank card now had 150,000 Euros.

...

After that, Zhang Guan returned to the provincial sports center. Due to Coach Chen's departure, the track and field team temporarily assigned him another coach. Although this new coach was not as experienced or skilled as Coach Chen, he could manage for a few days.

Zhang Guan also requested to learn English. As the top athlete in the provincial team, his request was immediately granted. A teaching assistant from the university's sports department was found to teach him English for two hours every evening after dinner.

In his previous life, Zhang Guan had studied English hard for his postgraduate entrance exam, although he didn't pass, he still had a good foundation. His mother was an English teacher, so his English was quite good. Other athletes in the system had been training since childhood and had no time to study, so Zhang Guan's English was much better.

Zhang Guan didn't set high standards for himself; he just wanted to be able to have basic conversations in daily life.

After staying in the provincial capital for a month, Zhang Guan returned to the capital. The fourth leg of the National Track and Field Grand Prix was about to start at the Beijing Sports University.

---

Today's third chapter is here. The book has its first patron, Loli Green Town. I never expected to have a patron during the new book period, so I am very grateful to Loli Green Town for the support. Thank you to Xin Wei Xue for the golden eggs and donations. Thank you to gigiliu5277, Zhang Dao Yi, Teame, Wuru Shuchong, Shuyou 151028122651876, Baidu 360 Weishi, and Ji Ming for the donations. In the new year, I will strive to update more to repay everyone's love and support. Please continue to support me. Finally, wish everyone a happy New Year!

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