Chapter Sixty: Sharing a World

Regarding Coach Wang Lei’s first night away from the training base since he took up his post, most people there maintained an attitude of tolerance and understanding. A young man and woman alone together, sparks flying, romance blooming—these things, in the eyes of today’s youth, are no different from eating a meal, simply a natural need. What’s more, Wang Lei and the new volleyball star had grown up together, so nobody thought much of it.

In fact, many people at the training base already knew that Wang Lei’s girlfriend was Ma Dongmei. After all, Wang Lei and Ma Dongmei had made their relationship public on Xunbo, and Ma Dongmei occasionally promoted Wang Lei’s songs and works as well.

The Lunar New Year was fast approaching, and most other teams at the base had already gone on holiday. The provincial youth team would also start their break on February 1st. In 2016, the Lunar New Year fell on February 7th, and the holiday would last until February 14th.

The Republic had strict regulations regarding the Spring Festival holiday. Except for certain key sectors and essential services that could stagger their time off, every other profession was required to give at least ten days of holiday during the festival.

Back in the late 1980s, athletes in the Republic didn’t have regulated holidays. It wasn’t until a tragedy occurred that the authorities instituted reforms and established a specialized oversight body. This body eventually evolved into the athlete management department now overseen by Li Weihong.

In those days, in Xijing City, three female gymnasts under the age of fifteen, long subjected to training pressures and harsh treatment from their coaches, were still forced to train on New Year’s Day. After training, the three poor girls committed suicide in their dormitory. The local sports administration even tried to cover up the incident, but a staff member at the venue, unable to bear the weight on his conscience, came forward and exposed the truth. The scandal caused an uproar, leading to a massive shake-up throughout the Republic’s sports administration. Hundreds of officials were dismissed and held accountable for misconduct and corruption.

Since then, the Republic placed special emphasis on athletes’ psychological well-being. Nearly every major training center was equipped with a dedicated psychological counselor, and athletes’ treatment was reformed. Salaries for professional athletes were managed and distributed through accounts set up by the sports administration—Li Weihong’s department. Athlete qualification reviews were also reformed so that abusing the athlete’s status for personal gain became impossible; every two years, professional athletes must undergo qualification reviews.

Wang Lei’s provincial youth team, however, didn’t qualify as professional athletes, so their subsidies came from Wang Lei and the provincial sports administration. Nevertheless, other benefits were still on par with those of professionals—no one wanted any trouble, after all.

Ma Dongmei had planned to stay until the holiday and return to the capital with Wang Lei. Her mother had called countless times to urge her home, but Ma Dongmei ignored her. She’d previously lied, saying she was doing extra training with her team, but someone must have ratted her out; now, she simply refused to answer her mother’s calls.

After a night with Wang Lei at a hotel, Ma Dongmei accompanied him to the gym. She didn’t want to delay his training because of her, and she was also eager to see her “Brother Lei” in his role as coach.

When the group of young players saw Ma Dongmei again, they jokingly greeted her as “sister-in-law,” which made her feel shy yet excited. She greeted her boyfriend’s players warmly, even calling out most of them by name, which delighted the young men.

Wang Lei had previously introduced everyone on the team to Ma Dongmei via video, and she had made a point to remember their names. She knew that a man’s reputation mattered most outside the home. Even someone as formidable as her own mother would always preserve her father’s dignity in public; Ma Dongmei had learned this well and knew she needed to earn respect for her boyfriend.

To Ma Dongmei, the training itself seemed tedious, but as a professional athlete, she understood that such monotonous foundational drills were the backbone of the sport. The biggest difference between professional and amateur athletes lay in this very aspect. Amateurs might have extraordinary talent or skills, but when it came to the basics, they could never match the pros.

After spending the whole day watching Wang Lei train his team, Ma Dongmei invited the players out for a meal, showing her support for Wang Lei through her actions.

A hearty feast won over these young men, who, though possibly older than Ma Dongmei herself, had previously treated her with a certain distance out of respect for Wang Lei. After the meal, everyone felt she was truly one of them.

When Ma Dongmei entered Wang Lei’s single dorm room for the first time, she’d expected the usual mess of a bachelor’s quarters. To her surprise, Wang Lei had kept it neat and orderly, which made her all the happier—she had always worried about his daily life.

“Brother Lei, have you written any new songs lately? Hehe, let me hear one if you have.”

“Not at all. I’ve been so busy lately, there’s been no time to write. But I am working on a new story. I’ve just started it. Want to take a look?”

Hearing this, Ma Dongmei grew excited. One “Goodbye Mr. Loser” had already made her overjoyed; now that her Brother Lei had a new story, of course she wanted to be the first to see it.

She opened Wang Lei’s computer and found the document, already over fifty thousand words long, and began reading intently.

“Huh? Azeroth? What’s that? Is this a novel?”

It wasn’t the urban story Ma Dongmei had expected, but rather a title she’d never heard before.

“Yes, it’s a novel. Azeroth is a world—a world filled with wondrous beasts and magic.”

“Hmm, I don’t really get it, but it sounds grand. Are you planning to write a long novel?” Ma Dongmei was a bit disappointed, but since it was her Brother Lei’s passion, she had to support him.

Wang Lei indeed wanted to embark on a bold creative venture. In his previous life on Earth, he had been an unusual kind of Warcraft player. While others played the game for gear and reputation, Wang Lei, a homebody, was more interested in the story of the world itself.

Over more than a decade, he had never missed a single version of World of Warcraft, but he spent most of his time exploring the world, leveling countless alternate characters, never once achieving top-tier gear for any of them. He simply wanted to learn the story of this vast world.

To portray such a grand world was an immense challenge, but Wang Lei had no intention of completing it in one stroke. He loved World of Warcraft, and hoped to share its stories with even more people in this world.