[Short track speed skating] From academic master to Winter Olympic champion

The World Championships actually went very smoothly, and Meng Yuqiao also won the men's 500m gold medal.

The teammates laughed and joked with him, saying that after returning, he could hold a press conference and retire with honor.

Gu Ran put his arms around his shoulders from behind, and put his whole body weight on him: "What are your plans after retiring?"

Meng Yuqiao had already finished his postgraduate study a few years ago, and his major was physical education. It was impossible for him to continue his studies: "Let's find a class."

Chi Lang was overjoyed when he heard that he was looking for a class to work in: "Are you going to the factory to make screws?"

Meng Yuqiao glanced at him coldly: "Punching screws is also a technical job, can you do it?"

Chi Lang waved his hand: "I definitely can't."

Gu Ran said: "You don't know this or that, you can only perform on the street."

"Purchasing?" Lin Jiaxi asked, "What kind of art can he sell?"

Gu Ran patted Meng Yuqiao's chest twice: "The chest is broken."

Chi Lang lifted up the sleeves of his T-shirt and showed everyone his well-developed biceps, indicating that he could really do this.

Gao Ziyi returned to the previous question: "So, what exactly does Da Qiao plan to do after he retires?"

Meng Yuqiao thought for a while: "I major in physical education, and I have been an athlete for more than ten years. It seems that I have nothing else to do besides being a coach."

Gao Ziyi smiled and said, "Actually, I also think the same way."

Gu Ran's eyes lit up, and a miraculous effect suddenly occurred: "From then on, Brother Xiao Gao and Sister Qiao can jointly open an ice sports club."

Meng Yuqiao asked him, "Are you coming?"

Gu Ran said very proudly: "Then I must be one of the shareholders, and I only contribute money but do nothing."

Lin Jiaxi said: "Count me in, but I have to finish my studies after I retire."

Gu Ran said: "I remember that Jiaxi studied economics and management, which happened to be a professional counterpart."

Chi Lang hurried over to join in the fun: "Then why am I selling art? I'll work for you."

Meng Yuqiao said, "Okay, we still need a cleaning job."

Chi Lang raised his chin: "Cleaning is cleaning, five insurances and one gold guarantee food and housing."

"You think beautiful!"

Everyone chatted and laughed, and arranged their life after retirement. They started an ice sports club together, and changed from teammates to partners.

Just thinking about it, several people feel that life after retirement is also full of hope.Lin Jiaxi said: "If we open a club together, we don't even need to advertise."

"That's not it," Chi Lang said while leaning against the table, "Even Uncle Cleaning is an Olympic champion."

Lin Jiaxi said: "Let Xiaoran be in charge of recruiting students, I am not afraid that there will be no students."

Gu Ran leaned on Meng Yuqiao's shoulder, smiling brows and eyes crooked: "I'm only responsible for the money, not for the effort."

Gao Ziyi patted his head: "You don't have to do anything, but you have to be our spokesperson."

"That's fine."

After the World Championships, they began to have a holiday.

Meng Yuqiao formally submitted an application for retirement to the Winter Management Center, and it was quickly approved.After all, he also participated in the three Winter Olympics and won several Olympic gold medals. The leader originally wanted to hold a retirement ceremony for him, but Meng Yuqiao refused.

The coaching staff and his teammates prepared a retirement ceremony for him in private. Everyone ate, drank, and chatted about the past.

In addition to the five of them, there are some small players in the team.Over the years, there have been many people coming and going from the national team, but there are only a few of them, and they have been together for more than ten years. It goes without saying how deep their feelings are.

Before leaving, Meng Yuqiao said, "I take what I said before seriously."

Gao Ziyi helped him carry the suitcase downstairs: "The one from the club?"

Meng Yuqiao nodded: "I'll go home for a while to be with my parents. Then I'll go back to Beijing and start looking for a place."

Gu Ran smiled and said, "Of course it's true, should I call you the registered capital first?"

Meng Yuqiao raised her eyebrows: "Okay."

"Tell me the number, and I'll pass it on to you right away."

Lin Jiaxi said, "Wait for me to go up and get my bank card."

This holiday is very long, Gu Ran has to go back to school, and the others also have to go home, but they will come back, Meng Yuqiao will not.

Gao Ziyi's family conditions are better now. A few years ago, he bought a house in the provincial capital of J province and took his family over from his hometown.After the holiday, he did not stay at the training base, but went home to accompany his family.

When Gu Ran participated in the Winter Olympics for the first time, Gu Changfeng rented a suite in Beijing for work, and later bought a house altogether, and his family stayed in Beijing.

Others have holidays, but Gu Ran doesn't. There are still a lot of things waiting for him at school.He can only take advantage of the weekend to go home for a meal and chat with his parents.

"Xiaoran, Xiaoran!" Xu Mei called out twice, but her son didn't agree. Turning around, he saw that he was sitting on the sofa, staring at the TV, wondering what he was thinking.

An advertisement was broadcasting on the TV, and Gu Ran happened to be filming it himself. He must have changed the channel in normal times, but today he sat there motionless.

He is in a daze.

Gu Changfeng came out of the study and stroked his son's head: "Mom is calling you, didn't you hear?"

Only then did Gu Ran come back to her senses: "No... I was thinking about something."

Gu Changfeng asked casually, "What do you think?"

Gu Ran shook her head: "The literature has not been checked, the paper has not been written, the data has not been counted, and the experiment has to be continued..."

Xu Mei asked him: "You should graduate next year, right?"

Gu Ran showed a wry smile: "I won't be able to graduate in a while."

Gu Changfeng has always been very optimistic: "It doesn't matter, you just study, your father can afford you."

Gu Ran suddenly said: "How about... I will stop studying and come back to work for you, Mr. Gu."

Gu Changfeng and Xu Mei looked at each other and asked, "Are you... are you kidding, or are you telling the truth?"

Gu Ran put a chopstick of potato shreds in her mouth, chewed for a long time before swallowing: "Really."

Gu Changfeng said: "Okay, then you don't even have a doctoral degree, so your salary can only be calculated as if you were hired for a master's degree."

Hearing what his father said, Gu Ran's mood suddenly improved: "I'm a master's and doctoral student, and I don't even have a master's degree if I can't graduate."

Gu Changfeng hissed, rather embarrassed: "Undergraduates, then you can only start as an ordinary employee. Seeing that you graduated from a prestigious school, how about five thousand monthly salary, five insurances and one housing fund?"

Gu Ran lowered her head to eat: "I choose to continue studying."

After dinner, Gu Ran will go back to school.It took Xu Mei a long time to see her son, so she was naturally reluctant to let him go: "Why don't you stay at home tonight and go back to school tomorrow morning."

Gu Ran picked up her coat and went to the door to change her shoes: "I'm going to see my tutor tomorrow morning, I'm afraid I won't have time, so I'll go back first."

Gu Changfeng handed him the car keys: "It's so late, you should drive back."

Gu Ran didn't answer: "It's not far away, I can just scan a shared bicycle."

Gu Ran was riding a bicycle to school, when a girl galloped past him, and when she got in front of him, she turned her head and looked at him, as if she recognized him, but she didn't.So she looked back again.

Gu Ran couldn't help reminding her: "Watch the road."

There happened to be a red light ahead, and the two stopped one after the other.The girl asked cautiously: "Are you... Gu Ran?"

Gu Ran adjusted her glasses, and said without changing her face: "No, you admitted your mistake."

The girl glanced at the billboard at the bus stop next to her, and then at him: "You are Gu Ran!"

Gu Ran reminded her again: "The light is green."

So, that night, he was on the hot search again.The photo was very blurry, not even a frontal view.Under the dim street lights, the back of a boy riding a bicycle, his coat was blown up by the wind, revealing the white T-shirt inside.

"This way, he should go back to school."

"So, Olympic champions have the same transportation as us."

"This way, all the bus station billboards are him. I'm curious, what does it feel like when he passes by."

"This back view...I also believe that he is 18 years old."

"Let's not talk about his back, he doesn't look like 27 years old even by his face."

"He is either in the national team or in school. Whether it is career or studies, he is doing well. He has never really entered the society, nor has he experienced the polishing of life. He always maintains that youthful feeling."

"Hopefully he can keep it forever."

During the team's holiday period, Gu Ran spent all his time in the laboratory, from morning to night every day, there were almost no recreational activities for him.

Wei Yuening patted him on the shoulder: "The weather is so good, let's go for a walk tomorrow. Take a proper rest and combine work and rest."

Gu Ran shook her head: "I just came back from Hungary, and now I just want to stay in the laboratory, I don't want to go anywhere."

Wei Yuening smiled and said, "Then...wouldn't it be a disappointment to the great spring?"

"Alas..." Gu Ran sighed, "There's nothing I can do about it, I can only live up to it."

On the other side, Yan An poked his head over and asked, "Given your current status, why are you hanging out with us in the laboratory?"

Gu Ran asked back: "Then what should I do?"

Yan An really put down the work in hand and carefully planned for him: "First of all, you should retire bravely, so that you can stand on the altar forever. Then find an easy and fast-paying job, hang out in the entertainment industry, go to the On a variety show or something."

Gu Ran smiled and said, "Have you heard of a few athletes who retired bravely?"

He thought for a while, and answered the question himself: "In my heart, Zidane is the only one who can truly retreat in a hurry."

Wei Yuening smiled and said, "Isn't your requirement for the rapid retreat a little higher, and you must reach the height of Zidane?"

Gu Ran said: "If you don't reach a certain height, it's nothing to retire bravely. An Olympic cycle is four years. During these four years, you must maintain a competitive state, stay healthy, and maintain a very high level of competition. Indeed, some of them chose to retire shortly after winning the Olympic gold medal. .But what is the reason behind it, only they know.”

Yan An shrugged: "Well, after all, you are the insider, and you know more than us."

Gu Ran picked up the cup and took a sip of water, and finally concluded his statement: "Zidane's second time coaching Real Madrid ended up having an unhappy breakup. After all, he is still a mortal, and he didn't really retreat bravely."

During the vacation, Gu Ran also answered a phone call from Jiang Yan, asking him to go over for dinner.

When Gu Ran went, he only saw Jiang Yan and Cheng Lan, but he didn't see Cheng Sen.

Gu Ran casually asked, "Is Director Cheng not here?"

Jiang Yan said, "I happened to have something to do today, so I went out."

Gu Ran casually smiled and said, "I guess I'm going on a blind date."

Cheng Sen was 41 and hadn't married yet, but Jiang Yan and Cheng Lan were so worried that they often arranged blind dates for him.

Fortunately, he only takes a 20-day break from his job throughout the year, otherwise he would be bored to death by his parents.

Jiang Yan didn't answer his words, let him sit casually, and went to the kitchen to cook by himself.

Cheng Lan pulled Gu Ran to sit on the sofa: "You are not young anymore, when you are old enough to talk about marriage, it is time to think about personal issues."

Gu Ran smiled obediently: "Director Cheng is not in a hurry, and neither am I."

"He is a negative teaching material, what are you going to learn from him?" Cheng Lan stuffed an orange into Gu Ran's hand, "He looks ugly and is not liked by others. You are different, such a spirited young man, there are many girls on the Internet. The children like you and call you husband."

Gu Ran had just peeled the orange peel and hadn't eaten it yet. He almost died laughing when he heard Cheng Lan's last sentence: "They're just kidding, teacher, don't take it seriously."

"I know this is a joke for you young people. Doesn't it mean that you attract girls?"

Gu Ran looked bitter and bitter: "I'm almost unable to graduate now, so I don't have the heart to think about it."

Jiang Yan came out of the kitchen and said with a serious face: "Why can't you graduate? You are so smart, you just need to learn from childhood."

Gu Ran waved her hand: "That's different, learning is learning, scientific research is scientific research."

Cheng Lan asked, "What's the difference?"

Gu Ran said: "Study means that you can see the results as long as you put in the effort, but scientific research is not. Scientific research takes time to develop, but half of my mind is now on training."

Jiang Yan poked his head out from the kitchen: "I don't understand those things, why don't you retire early and study at ease. Anyway, you have won so many gold medals, it's time to give others a chance."

Gu Ran smiled and said, "I've thought about it. Director Cheng said that he wants me to persist for another two years and lead a new team."

Jiang Yan's voice came from the kitchen: "What do you care about him? It's his job and responsibility to train the new generation of athletes, not yours. You have to ask yourself, at this age, do you want Starting a new stage of life, I still want to continue your achievements in the short track.”

"I have to remind you that you will be 31 years old at the next Winter Olympics."

"Master," Gu Ran walked to the door of the kitchen, "I thought you would..."

"Do you think I will persuade you to continue practicing short track and stick to one more Winter Olympics?"

Gu Ran nodded.

Jiang Yan was planning to burn oil and stir-fry: "You have already achieved the grand slam, there is no honor that you have not won. Although I am your first coach, I have watched you step by step for so many years, and I regard you as myself Treat me like a child, and I just want you to do what you want."

"You've never complained about studying in front of me before..."

Gu Ran interrupted him: "I'm not complaining now, I just need time."

"Then make time for it and do what you want to do."

Gu Ran leaned on the door frame, neither saying yes nor no.

The vacation passed quickly, and Gu Ran wished he could live in the laboratory every day, but the projects he was working on did not make any progress.

"It's getting late, go back and rest." Wei Yuening patted Gu Ran's shoulder.

Only then did Gu Ran look away from the monitor, and he took a look around, and everyone was almost gone: "Where's Yan An?"

Wei Yuening said, "I didn't come over in the afternoon."

When the two returned to the dormitory, the lights were off, and they thought Yan An hadn't come back.When I opened the door, I found a shadow sitting at the door of the balcony, hugging a guitar and humming a melody softly.

Gu Ran turned on the light, but the other party didn't look back.He and Wei Yuening looked at each other, feeling that something was wrong.

Gu Ran asked, "You haven't been sitting here all afternoon, have you?"

Yan An turned around and smiled at them both: "I... made a difficult decision."

Gu Ran frowned and motioned for him to continue.

This decision was indeed very difficult, and Yan An had to build up his mind for a while before saying: "I plan to drop out of school."

"!!!"

Gu Ran blurted out: "Are you okay?"

"Really." Yan An shrugged his shoulders, "I think I'm wasting my time now."

"You have been studying for a Ph. D. for two years, and now you say you want to drop out?"

Some time ago, the classmate who was chatting with him in the laboratory suddenly said today that he was going to drop out of school.Gu Ran felt that this world was simply too magical.

But in fact, some of the PhDs in their research institute drop out every year, and there are also many who are not as good as unemployed.

Yan An nodded: "That's right."

Wei Yuening asked, "Why?"

Yan An shrugged: "Not everyone is suitable for scientific research, quitting now is to stop losses in time."

"Then how do you explain it to your family?"

Yan An shrugged: "I discussed it with them two days ago, and they respect my choice."

Gu Ran still felt incredible, but what Yan An said to him next shocked him even more.