Chapter 289 Opening Ceremony
At night, when Li Yi returned to the dormitory, the first thing he did was not to wash up and rest, but to pick up his mobile phone and make a call.

The person on the call was Chen Shuyuan, then chairman of Shanghai SIPG Group.

When the call was connected, it was not Li Yi who spoke first, but Chen Shuyuan: "Coach Li, Jiang Yuan should have met up with you guys by now, how was the joint training going?"

Li Yi sat on the bed, still wearing the jersey he wore this morning: "The practice was pretty good. Jiang Yuan is really good. Players of this level are a blessing for Chinese football. And... Mr. Chen, you don't have to be like this. Just call me Xiao Li."

"How about that?"

Chen Shuyuan's voice immediately became higher: "You are the head coach of the National Olympic Men's Football Team. Coach Li is Coach Li, and the title cannot be changed."

"It's all thanks to Mr. Chen, it's all thanks to Mr. Chen"

"Okay, Xiao Li, how far do you think this Olympic team can go? We are grouped together with Germany and Mexico. This grouping doesn't seem very good..."

Chen Shuyuan felt a little nervous. Obviously, since he was the one who pushed Li Yi to the top, Li Yi's performance as the leader of the team was very important to him.

"Mr. Chen, you can rest assured. The gap between the national first team and the national team is huge, but in the U23 age group, we still have a great chance. Didn't you watch the U23 Asian Cup before? South Korea and Japan were both popular teams, but they still lost to us, didn't they?"

Li Yi was right. In the U23 age range, many players' physical fitness and skills have not reached their peak. There is a gap, but it is definitely not as big as that of the first team.

"That's good, that's good... Xiao Li, you must work hard. The higher-ups have also expressed their opinion. If you can win a medal in football for the first time, even if it's a bronze medal, your position as the head coach of the national team will be very stable."

Chen Shuyuan spoke in a very soft voice, but with an indescribable majesty, which felt like that of a superior speaking to an inferior, or an elder speaking to a younger person.

Putting aside other things, the better the results in this Olympics, the greater help it will bring to Li Yi.

"Boss Chen, this is all to pave the way for you!"

Li Yi flattered him: "If you ask me, we will definitely have no problem entering the knockout stage. Jiang Yuan is even better than I thought. A player of this level is very impressive in the Olympics. However... medals are a bit difficult. Teams like Portugal, Brazil, and South Korea are all very strong."

Speaking of Jiang Yuan, Chen Shuyuan suddenly remembered something and asked, "How is your relationship with Jiang Yuan?"

"Don't worry, I have a good relationship with him. I usually call him Xiaoyuan. And he is a very low-key person, unlike other stars who like to act like a big shot. He respects me a lot."

"That's good. You must not touch Jiang Yuan. The fan group behind him is very scary. Li Yi, let me say this first. You must not quarrel with Jiang Yuan. If you have a bad relationship with Jiang Yuan, I can't protect you. No one can protect you."

Jiang Yuan's existence is a double sword for Chen Shuyuan and Li Yi, because Jiang Yuan has led to the rise of 16 national Olympic teams, indirectly helping Chen Shuyuan and Li Yi to speed up their plans.

If the 16 national Olympic teams can achieve better results, it will not be difficult for either of them to become the head coach of the national team and the chairman of the Football Association.

But there is also a problem. Jiang Yuan is a time bomb because his attitude will affect the decision-making of the upper level.

If Li Yi and Chen Shuyuan want to move forward, they must hold Jiang Yuan's hand tightly, just like real brothers.

"Mr. Chen, I understand everything."

As Chen Shuyuan hung up the phone, Li Yi threw his phone on the bed sheets.

At this time, Li Yi lived in a small single room with only a bed and a small window, but he could feel that he had a future!
……

On the other side, Jiang Yuan sat at the table and wrote down the problems that occurred in today's training with a neutral pen.

Jiang Yuan really likes to write things down on paper, glance over them and then go to sleep. It is a way to summarize and consolidate the results of his training today.

Immediately, Jiang Yuan's cell phone rang. He picked it up and saw that the person who sent him the message was Fu Bo.

Although the former National Olympic Team coach withdrew from the group chat, he still retained the players' WeChat accounts.

By the way, this was the first time Fu Bo had a private chat with Jiang Yuan after the U23 Asian Cup.

But it was not a big deal, just some simple inquiries about each other's well-being. Fu Bo asked Jiang Yuan how he got along with the new coach. After thinking about it, Jiang Yuan gave a relatively fair evaluation.

【good】

Afterwards, Jiang Yuan told Fu Bo about being blocked by fans this morning, but Fu Bo suddenly stopped talking.

[Coach Fu, are you still here? Why aren't you talking? ]

Jiang Yuan urged him a bit before Fu Bo replied.

[Don’t you have a special car? And where are your security personnel? Didn’t the Football Association say they wanted to borrow Wanda’s security personnel? ]

My grass?

Looking at the message sent by Fu Bo, Jiang Yuan took a deep breath.

It turns out that it was not that the Football Association did not consider the problem of fans gathering. The top leaders were smart, but there seemed to be some problems in the middle link of execution.

The boy who blows the wind has started to exert his strength!
……

新华社8月2日13点12分电（记者梁晓声、贺鹏飞）：距离里约奥运会开始还有3天时间，中国代表团运动员将在北京时间8月3日抵达位于巴西里约的奥运村，此次中国代表团共计739人，其中参赛运动员444人，是中国代表团境外参加奥运会规模最大的一届。

The People's Daily's front page headline: Highlights of the Chinese team at the Rio Olympics. Chinese women's volleyball team, Chinese men's basketball team... Chinese men's football team. According to reports from foreign social software, the terms related to Chinese men's football team were searched 765 million times in the UK and 89 times in Portugal, making it the most watched sport in China.

Time passed quickly. On the afternoon of August 8, the National Olympic Team first flew to the capital to gather with other Olympic athletes at the Great Hall of the People for a meeting, and finally flew together to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

On the plane, many people asked Jiang Yuan for his WeChat ID, including Su Bingtian, Ma Long, Fu Yuanhui, Yi Jianlian... There were players from all kinds of sports, and there were even some sports that Jiang Yuan had never even seen. He was truly ignorant.

Less than two hours after the plane took off, Jiang Yuan had at least 2 new WeChat friends, and he hasn’t added all of them yet.

"Jiang Yuan, I want WeChat too!"

In the back row, a girl hurried over. Jiang Yuan recognized her immediately: "Ge Manqi?"

"you know me?"

Ge Manqi's eyes were wide open. She was holding the seat with one hand and taking out her cell phone with the other.

"Of course I know you. Are you a 100-meter runner?"

Whether in China or abroad, sprinters are generally very popular. This is because this sport is very entertaining, especially the visual stimulation. Sprint races are definitely top 1 in track and field events. Therefore, Jiang Yuan also knows quite a few sprinters, and Ge Manqi is one of them.

“Yes, but I am participating in the 4×100 this time.”

Ge Manqi explained that China had a total of two places in the women's 2 meters, but she did not get them.

"That's pretty awesome!"

Jiang Yuan gave a heartfelt compliment. Ma Long, who was sitting on Jiang Yuan's left hand, poked his head out and said, "Jiang Yuan, I watched a football match and they all said you run very fast. So who is faster, you or Ge Manqi?"

Hmm, good question!
Jiang Yuan looked at Ge Manqi: "How far can you run?"

Ge Manqi thought for a moment and then replied: "The best time this year was 11 seconds!"

Ma Long reminded from the side: "The fourth Chinese female athlete to run under 11 seconds"

"Ha ha"

Jiang Yuan nodded: "Sister Qi, you are very powerful, but to be honest, you can't outrun me"

"real or fake?"

The conversation between the two people immediately attracted everyone around them. They were all athletes from Olympic events. Except for the table tennis team who liked football more, the other athletes knew relatively little about football.

Ge Manqi ran the 11m in 48 seconds, which is an impressive result. There are not many male athletes who can run faster than him.

"Oh, no, why don't you believe it?"

Jiang Yuan spread his hands and said, "11 seconds is fine, I'll just run it casually. I'm not lying to you guys!"

"I do not believe"

Ge Manqi shook her head: "When I was training in Fujian, I ran against a football player from the provincial team once, and I was four body lengths ahead of him."

4 body lengths are approximately 1 meter. Based on this, the male football player competing with Ge Manqi in the -meter race should be at level .

but……

Su Bingtian, who was sitting in the front, turned around and looked at Ge Manqi next to Jiang Yuan jokingly: "Xiaoqi, let me remind you that the one in front of you is not from the provincial team."

“That’s not right…”

Ge Manqi still didn't believe it. After all, at the age of 19, people are still proud.

So she ran to the back and pulled Liang Xiaojing over: "Jiang Yuan, who is better between you and this 11?"

"11 seconds..."

hiss--

Jiang Yuan frowned, "Maybe it's about the same, because I measured it half a year ago, and it was 11 seconds by hand. If we really compare, I probably can't beat Sister Jing, but I've grown taller recently, so it's hard to say."

Ge Manqi looked at Liang Xiaojing, then looked at Jiang Yuan: "I think you are definitely not as fast as Sister Jing"

"I don't care, we can run one at the end of the game."

……

本次里约奥运会的奥运村位于巴西西南部的巴哈，这里一共有31栋住宅和超过3600套住房，中国代表团全部住在17栋，其中国足的球员们分布在17栋的第15层、16层。

Jiang Yuan and Wu Lei still lived together, two people in one room. However, before entering their room, the two of them had to go to the lobby on the first floor to collect a Samsung mobile phone.

Samsung Group is one of the major sponsors of this Olympics, and every athlete must accept the mobile phone they give away.

Good news, cell phones are not mandatory.

However, after entering the room, Jiang Yuan and Wu Lei were stunned.

The shower curtain in the bathroom was half detached, the toilet had no lid, and the most disgusting thing was that there was a palm-sized spider on the air conditioner, the kind that could make your scalp tingle just from a distance.

"I wipe..."

Wu Lei took a step back and looked at Jiang Yuan beside him: "Brother Yuan, what should we do?"

"It shouldn't be"

Jiang Yuan ran to Wang Dalei's room next door and took a look.

Wow, they all have similar configurations. Wang Dalei and Liu Binbin's room lacks a pillow, and the toilet has a lid, but it's broken and can't be flushed.

Soon, the Chinese delegation’s group was filled with complaints from athletes in various events.

"I'll find a cleaning company to take care of it, and then we'll see how it goes."

Jiang Yuan took out his cell phone and searched on Google for cleaning companies with good reviews in Brazil, preparing to deal with this place first.

Wu Lei opened the window and heard a series of noises coming from outside.

"FUCK YOU!"

"What's this!!"

"Oh my god!"

Apparently, it's not just Chinese athletes who are unhappy with the environment here.

Wu Lei put his hands on the windowsill and looked down: "I feel like someone is going to move out"

"It depends on the situation." Jiang Yuan had already sat down on the bed: "Let's see what they say. If they say we can move out, then we'll move out."

That is true, but Jiang Yuan thinks it is not very realistic because there are more than 700 athletes and coaches in China. If they all stay in hotels, it will be a considerable expense.

"Okay, just stay here for now."

Wu Lei pulled the bed sheet. Fortunately, the bed sheet and pillow were all new, so it wouldn't feel too disgusting to live there.

Crunch!

The door was pushed open, and Zhang Yuning waved outside: "Brother Yuan, Brother Lei, Brother Tie asked us to go down and take a group photo!"

……

当地时间8月5日晚上8时，北京时间8月6日早上7时。

"China Media Group, China Media Group, you are now watching the opening ceremony of the 2016 Rio Olympic Games"

Under the CCTV camera, Rio's Maracanã Stadium was brightly lit, and the 82 seats were filled with sports enthusiasts from all over the world.

[Fuck, watching from the front row! ]

【China, go go go!!!】

[I want to see Jiang Yuan. When will Jiang Yuan come out? ]

[Don't be impatient, the athletes will enter after the performance. The athletes are waiting backstage now.]

[Where has the torch been delivered? Can I run a little bit up there, too?]

[I heard there is Gisele Bundchen]

[Where is Durant, Durant! Irving, give Irving a shot, please! ]

[People are saying on the internet that the Brazilian Olympic Village is rubbish. The toilet in Jiang Yuan's room seems to have no lid? ]

[It’s not my place anyway]

[Don’t mention it, this Olympics really has a lot to watch, the US men’s basketball team and the Chinese men’s football team are all big names]

[Ah? Isn't the Chinese men's football team bad? Why is it a highlight?]

[Can the above person please go online? The Chinese men's football team ranks third in the value of the Olympic Games, second only to Brazil and Germany. What do you think? ]

The camera turned to the venue, where Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff delivered an opening speech, the national flag was raised and the national anthem was played.

Backstage, Jiang Yuan was with the athletes of the Chinese delegation. The order of appearance was arranged according to the Portuguese order. China was the 45th to appear, but there were cultural performances by Brazil before the athletes appeared, so there was still early.

“It’s so fucking hot.”

Jiang Yuan grabbed his clothes to cool his stomach. The host Brazil was also talented. There were thousands of athletes in such a small space backstage, and it was as if the air conditioner was not on.

On the side, Su Bingtian, with sweat all over his forehead, sat on the ground and motioned Jiang Yuan to sit down as well: "The ground is very cool!"

"Makes sense"

Jiang Yuan was just about to sit down when two people walked over from the far end.

"Hey guy!"

Bolt stretched out his dark hand to Jiang Yuan. Both of their hands were covered with calluses from gripping the barbell, and there was a special feeling of tenderness when touching them.

"Usain!"

Jiang Yuan took the initiative to hug Bolt. The 100-meter world record holder had an exaggerated figure. The green long sleeves could not cover the muscles on his arms at all. And his back, Bolt's entire back was an inward-concave arch, just like a cheetah.

And there is Neymar next to him. This guy is always smiling and looks like a gangster, but he is very friendly.

"I was looking for Junior specifically"

Bolt pointed at Neymar and explained to Jiang Yuan: "I like football very much and I like to meet friends who like football. Then Junior told me that you also participated in this game!"

"You like football too?"

Jiang Yuan shrugged, and Bolt took out his phone. They added a WhatsApp friend: "I am a fan of Real Madrid and Manchester United."

Jiang Yuan immediately gave his judgment: "Then you must like Ronaldo"

"Hahaha, is it so obvious?"

Bolt laughed heartily, with no sense of restraint in his expression or demeanor.

"certainly"

Neymar raised his hand and put it on Bolt's shoulder with difficulty: "Of course it's obvious. By the way, Jiang, Usain told me that he wants to play football after he retires from the 100-meter race. Where do you think he is suitable for?"

"Play football after retirement?"

Jiang Yuan looked at Bolt in front of him, and saw that guy's expression seemed to be serious. So Jiang Yuan gave his advice: "Usain, you can go anywhere, but don't come to Chelsea."

"Oh why?"

"Because of you I'm not the fastest at Chelsea anymore"

"Hahahaha!"

Usain grabbed Jiang Yuan's shoulders and pulled the Chelsea star towards him. There was a big height difference between the two. Jiang Yuan's shoulders could only touch Bolt's arms. "Jiang, when are you playing? I will go to watch your game with John (Blake)"

It can be seen that Bolt is really interested in football. Taking advantage of the opportunity of the Olympics, he took the initiative to get to know two stars, Neymar and Jiang Yuan, which also indirectly led to the first meeting between Jiang Yuan and Neymar.

"Jiang, good luck to China!"

Bolt and Neymar patted Jiang Yuan on the shoulder, and Jiang Yuan immediately said that he would go to watch the 100-meter final in person.

"The group stage hasn't even started yet, why are you talking about the finals?"

Bolt reminded.

Jiang Yuan curled his lips indifferently: "Usain, the group stage means nothing to you, right?"

"Hahaha"

Although Jiang Yuan was telling the truth, Bolt was still very happy after hearing it. He immediately showed his arm muscles to Jiang Yuan, which made Su Bingtian tremble next to him.

"River!"

Neymar and Jiang Yuan hugged each other again: "Come on China, I look forward to playing with you!"

Jiang Yuan responded immediately: "Come on Brazil, but we are in different zones. If we want to meet, we have to meet in the semi-finals at least, or even the finals."

Jiang Yuan spoke more tactfully. What he meant was that with the current strength of the Chinese Olympic Team, it was only a small probability event for them to enter the semi-finals, after all, there were too many strong teams.

Neymar looked around at the Chinese men's football players and didn't recognize any of them, but it didn't matter: "China will make it to the semi-finals, believe me!"

The two added each other on WhatsApp, and at this moment, an Italian athlete next to them suddenly shouted, and Jiang Yuan and Neymar hurriedly looked towards the stage.

Brazilian supermodel Gisele Bundchen, dressed in gorgeous clothes, walked out slowly under the spotlight. With every step Gisele Bundchen took forward, the stage lights would follow. The entire venue was dim, and the only thing that could be seen was the face and figure of this Brazilian supermodel.

And of course, her bright, glowing slit skirt.

"Woo, this guy is so tall!"

Jiang Yuan exclaimed, he was 1 meters tall, but Gisele Bundchen at the far end seemed to be taller than him.

"Haha, you like it, right?"

Neymar winked at Jiang Yuan and said, "There are many models in Brazil. I can introduce them to you. Or if you like Gisele, that's fine too, because we've shot endorsements together before. I have her WhatsApp account."

"what?"

Jiang Yuan was stunned for a moment: "Giselle should have a husband, right?"

Neymar showed an indifferent attitude: "What's the big deal? Believe me, Gisele definitely likes you more than her husband!"

As he spoke, Neymar had already taken out his cell phone and was ready to send Jiang Yuan Gisele Bundchen's business card, but Jiang Yuan refused.

"Junior, if she's not married, it's fine. But if she's married, forget it. It will be troublesome then."

"Come on, Jiang, we are very open here, she can divorce and go with you!"

Neymar looked like an experienced person, which made Jiang Yuan speechless: "Ok, let's not talk about this topic anymore, okay? Let's watch the show. You guys did a great job!"

"Row"

Neymar also looked towards the stage, and reminded Jiang Yuan: "If you like any of the models above, just tell me, I basically have their contact information."

Bull... awesome!
It’s true that although Brazil is stingy, the performance at the opening ceremony was still very good. Gisele Bundchen’s 100m catwalk directly brought the atmosphere of the Maracanã Stadium to a climax, and there was also a samba dance performance by Brazilian youth afterwards.

“Can you dance that?”

Jiang Yuan pointed at the dancers who were beating drums and twisting their waists on the stage, and looked at Neymar beside them.

“Of course, all Brazilians do!”

Neymar said as a matter of course, and Bolt, who came out from Gisele Bundchen's catwalk, said: "I can do this too!"

"Your thing is not called Samba"

Neymar corrected.

"Then I can learn it and dance it in front of the reporters when I win the gold medal in a few days."

When I get the gold medal in two days.

Wow, I guess Bolt is the only one who can perform so easily in the Olympics, right?
Neymar pointed at Bolt behind him and said to Jiang Yuan: "We are here to compete for the gold medal, he is here to receive the gold medal, this is different"

“Hey, do you know my dream?”

“My dream is to play for the Jamaican football team one day!”

Jiang Yuan's eyes widened: "You are so good at the 100-meter dash, do you still need to play football?"

"Sprinting is work, football is life. I want to play in the Premier League even after I retire!"

The music at the scene was very loud, and Bolt danced to the song. Athletes have a very strong sense of music, and a world record holder like Bolt was even more exaggerated. Every step he took was precisely on the beat, as if he had heard the song before.

The camera was focused on the stadium, where Brazilian marathon star De Lima, as the last torchbearer, slowly walked up the steps, stood on the top step of the torch stand, and successfully lit the torch. The torch was gradually lifted up by the mechanical device, forming a beautiful shape in the air, and integrated with the sacred flame bowl.

"boom!"

“Rio”

“2016 Olympic Games!!!”

……

(End of this chapter)