IBABS Chapter 49

It wasn’t until the day before departure that Su Zhe learned that Kuangbiao Group had once again sponsored the national track and field team’s uniforms. Although they still followed the traditional red, white, and yellow color scheme of the national team, who knew how many brain cells their genius designers had burned through? Somehow, the final color-blocked athletic wear actually looked somewhat fashionable. The design team must have really given it their all.

When the track and field team arrived at the airport in their national uniforms, sports channels, various sports media outlets, and reporters from major newspapers had already been waiting for quite some time. Most surprisingly, mixed among them was a “Pear” public account that typically only covered entertainment news.

Zhuo Siming was an intern reporter for the Pear public account. As a newcomer at what people called the “King of Gossip” news agency, he naturally didn’t have much presence.

His daily assignments were usually all kinds of grueling tasks, like staking out in front of a building for more than ten hours. During these stakeouts, only he and another female intern reporter would take turns. Despite being exhausted, hungry, and desperately needing the restroom, they didn’t dare take their eyes off for a second, afraid they might miss their target.

Or, like today, because of some nonexistent tip, he and another intern cameraman, Wei Guan, had been shipped off to the massive B City Airport to wait for some “top-tier” news.

Needless to say, this tip was obviously as fake as it could get. Currently, in the entertainment circle, there were only a handful of stars who could be called “top-tier”: Shao Xingchen, Qiu Zhenhao, Wei Zinuo, Lu Fan, Huo Yi… All in all, you could count them on one hand.

How many people were keeping tabs on these five celebrities’ schedules?

Even as an intern entertainment reporter, Zhuo Siming could recite their schedules for the next month backward. Did any of them have plans to pass through B City Airport today?

Not a single one!

And in the massive B City Airport, without knowing whether the person was taking a domestic or international flight, without knowing which gate they’d be using… sending just the two of them, could they really stumble upon news like a blind cat catching a dead mouse?

It was obvious that the higher-ups at the news agency weren’t interested in this false tip and had casually assigned it to the small-time interns.

To put a positive spin on it, maybe they were being sent for experience, and who knows, they might bump into some minor news story, which would be better than nothing?

Zhuo Siming was quick-witted. After walking around the airport with Wei Guan and seeing that not even a familiar scalper selling celebrity itineraries was present, he knew there wasn’t much hope at B City Airport today.

While wandering aimlessly through the airport, Zhuo Siming noticed a group of sports reporters waiting for the national track and field team.

Wei Guan, the intern cameraman who had come to the airport with Zhuo Siming, was a sports enthusiast. He’d been watching plenty of recent livestreams about the track team and the “Fitness Bar” video series on Weibo.

Now, seeing these sports reporters, Wei Guan suddenly remembered what day it was—the day the national track and field team would set out for the World Championships in Country D.

This event would normally have nothing to do with the entertainment circle, but this time was different! Among the national team members heading to Country D, one of them had actually come from the entertainment industry!

A former boy band idol member who had been trending on hot searches several times in the past few months!

Wei Guan immediately shared this idea with Zhuo Siming.

Zhuo Siming hesitated. “Would that work? Us, an entertainment gossip outlet, going to interview the national track and field team?” Just saying those words out loud gave Zhuo Siming a sense of absurd unreality.

“Why wouldn’t it work? Former boy band member, supporting actor in Director Liu Zhengyan’s drama ‘Chasing the Light,’ turns out to be an active member of the national track and field team, representing the country at the World Championships in Country D! And don’t you remember those memes of Su Zhe that went viral after that incident with Shao Xingchen? We could post a new comparison of the real person versus the memes, add some fresh airport photos – Shocking: This is what the viral meme star actually looks like!”

Hearing Wei Guan’s pitch, Zhuo Siming felt tempted.

Before leaving the entertainment industry, Su Zhe had been so unremarkable that even gossip reporters like him barely remembered him. But after his retirement, he genuinely trended on hot searches several times. His co-starring role with Shao Xingchen in “Chasing the Light” also attracted a lot of attention, and his personal relationship with Shao Xingchen seemed pretty good too.

For today’s airport assignment, he was indeed a worthy interview subject… but then Zhuo Siming immediately remembered that incident from a few days ago – a member of “The Third” who, jealous of Su Zhe, had hired internet trolls to smear him. The result? Official media stepped in to shut it down, and the celebrity was now shelved by their company, bearing the accusation of slandering a national athlete.

Wei Guan tried to persuade him. “We’re not trying to create some big news story. We obviously can’t afford to mess with a national team athlete. Positive news shouldn’t be a problem, right? Our reporting angle is unique. It might even get selected!”

As intern reporters, getting articles published, earning fees, and securing permanent positions were what mattered most.

Sports reporters and athletes typically maintained good relationships. The track team was naturally happy to accommodate the media, providing them with material to promote their events and increase public interest in their sport.

Zheng Wensheng, the director of the Competition Department of the Track and Field Administration Center, was the team leader for this trip and naturally prioritized interviews with sports reporters.

Zhuo Siming and Wei Guan followed behind these sports reporters, collecting some news material – since they were writing about the national track and field team’s departure, this material was essential.

But during the limited free interview time that followed, the two of them made quite a splash.

When Zhuo Siming held his recorder up to Su Zhe, he instinctively asked with an entertainment industry mindset. “Su Zhe, your popularity is on the rise again with frequent appearances on hot search lists. Have you considered returning to the entertainment industry?”

This question instantly caused all the sports reporters at the scene to turn around in shock. The national team members accompanying Su Zhe looked at the young reporter with surprise, and Su Yinsheng, who was also with the team, widened his eyes upon hearing the question, as if wishing he could make the reporter disappear on the spot.

Even Wei Guan, Zhuo Siming’s companion, didn’t expect the young reporter to open with such an explosive question…

Wei Guan opened his mouth, wanting to ask Zhuo Siming what he was thinking, asking an obviously promising athlete if he wanted to return to entertainment on the day he was representing the national team.

The Track and Field Administration Center’s leader had just finished his interview, for goodness’ sake…

While everyone around them seemed frozen, Su Zhe paused for a moment, then smiled and answered, “No.”

Zhuo Siming, apparently oblivious to the stares around him, continued, “What’s your reason for not considering a return to entertainment?”

Unfazed by the persistent young reporter, Su Zhe continued to smile. “I love running. In the past, I might not have seen clearly, but for now, I don’t want to stop moving forward.”

This brief free interview, because of Zhuo Siming’s explosive question, led other reporters to simply film the interaction between Zhuo Siming and Su Zhe instead, significantly shortening the interview time for the other media outlets.

Predictably, this group of reporters would soon produce a series of news stories along the lines of “Entertainment reporter asks Su Zhe if he’s willing to return to the entertainment industry” and “National track team member Su Zhe candidly states he has no intention of returning to showbiz.”

After watching the national team members head to the check-in counter, some sports media reporters gave Zhuo Siming a thumbs up, likely praising his boldness.

As the reporters dispersed to urgently write their articles, Wei Guan couldn’t help but say, “Zhuo Siming… your question was just… wow.”

Contrary to his companion’s surprise, Zhuo Siming remained completely calm. “You were right earlier. Our reporting needs a unique angle to make the editor-in-chief reluctant to pass over our article. To achieve that, I couldn’t possibly ask ordinary, irrelevant questions.”

Wei Guan was stunned by Zhuo Siming’s response. Suddenly, his perception of this skinny reporter with black-framed glasses completely changed.

He never would have guessed that this unassuming, skinny reporter was someone with quick thinking.

He had the guts to immediately think of that question, and the courage to ask it at a national team’s departure event.

Thinking about this, Wei Guan couldn’t help but feel that this fellow intern reporter might become quite formidable in the future.

To avoid the effects of a lengthy journey on the athletes’ competitive condition, the Track and Field Administration Center had booked a direct flight with Country D’s airline for the national team members.

After a 9-hour journey, they safely arrived at their destination at 4 PM, Country D time.

As a wealthy West Asian country passionate about sports, Country D was enthusiastic about hosting various sporting events. Before this Track and Field World Championships, Country D had already hosted the Asian Championships, Asian Games, Asian Cup, and other major events, and had even secured the rights to host the World Cup thanks to its strong financial resources.

Out of their love for sports, Country D took great care in accommodating athletes from various countries.

A year before the World Championships opened, Country D had already renovated the Athletes’ Village built during the Asian Games to provide the best possible living environment for athletes from all countries.

Before the national team’s official arrival at this World Championships, the Track and Field Administration Center had already sent a medical team to Building 8 of the Athletes’ Village where the Chinese team would be staying. Various rehabilitation equipment had been transported to Country D’s Athletes’ Village in advance to provide the best logistical support for the athletes even in Country D.

From the moment the plane landed, Country D’s reception staff warmly escorted the Chinese team members to luxury buses that had been waiting nearby, taking the athletes from the capital’s most famous Flower Ocean Boulevard to the Athletes’ Village where they would be staying.
Sitting on the luxury bus, Su Zhe finally took out his phone after seeing the beautiful scenery outside the window. He snapped more than ten photos of the Flower Ocean Avenue, and during the downtime on the bus, he carefully selected a few and, after a long absence, updated his Weibo account.

During the previous closed training period, with every day packed full of training, Su Zhe’s Weibo had long been without any selfies or casual photos.

[Good morning everyone, I’m about to train.]
[Good night everyone, my training is over.]

These two sentences had frequently appeared on Su Zhe’s Weibo over the past month. Eventually, many of his “Philosophers¹” simply began using Su Zhe’s daily greeting posts to check in for their own mornings and nights.

Seeing their idol update with a new professional selfie and casual shots, the “Philosophers” below didn’t immediately rush to swoon over the photos. Instead, they were laughing in the comments of Su Zhe’s Weibo, congratulating him on trending once again.

Shortly after, a photo with strong journalistic quality was upvoted to the top of the comments – in the image, a young entertainment reporter was holding a recording pen while questioning him. Su Zhe looked slightly surprised, while the surrounding journalists uniformly turned shocked expressions toward the young reporter’s position. Behind him, his father Su Yinsheng glared with obvious anger bubbling inside.

Along with the photo, a comment was also upvoted: [This is incredible! The guy who took this photo is truly an artist. It has both news value and visual impact. This frozen moment could inspire an 800-word essay. A genuine talent without question!]

The person who took this photo was naturally Wei Guan, the intern cameraman partnered with Zhuo Siming.

Photography and videography were skills Wei Guan had always taken pride in. But even so, when reviewing the news photo, he was still shocked by his own exceptional performance this time.

[He chose the path of champions, a path without the entertainment circle — After retreating from the entertainment industry, Su Zhe’s journey of defying all odds, from sports newcomer to national team member, can his miracle continue?] This report, along with a set of photos taken by Wei Guan, sparked a debate between two deputy editors after being sent back to the Pear Public Account’s editorial team.

One of them thought the report’s unique angle would certainly attract widespread audience attention, potentially reaching over 100,000 views or even going viral.

The other argued that Su Zhe now had nothing to do with the entertainment circle, making reports about him meaningless.

Eventually, this controversial article was sent to the chief editor, who quickly approved it. It was featured as the headline of Pear Gossip, the most famous account in the Pear public account matrix. The cover was a collage of Su Zhe wearing the national team uniform alongside his infamous meme-worthy embarrassing photo.

It must be said that the chief editor deserved the title, with both a sharp eye and decisive choices worthy of praise.

Within just one hour after publication, the gossip post rapidly reached over 200,000 views, and the number was still climbing.

Many pure gossip followers might have had some impression of the “Fitness Bar” short videos series and were aware of the World Championships’ popularity, but most people weren’t clear about the ins and outs of Su Zhe becoming an athlete and achieving his current success.

Zhuo Siming’s article gave a concise summary of Su Zhe’s journey in the entertainment industry over the past two years, concluding with the comment – he once had the potential to soar in the entertainment circle, but ultimately became just another ordinary sacrifice of an entertainment company.

Afterward, Zhuo Siming spent a lot of time and effort to summarizing Su Zhe’s series of achievements since entering the sports world, offering a more intuitive description of Su Zhe’s current sports accomplishments.

[In the National Athletics Team, the only athlete to qualify for the men’s 100-meter sprint at the Country D World Athletics Championships (a world-class top athletics event); in national athletics history, the only athlete to simultaneously qualify for both the men’s 100-meter sprint and 110-meter hurdles; replacing national treasure athlete Chen Zhi, he’s holding up the national track and field relay team, becoming a core member of the squad.]

Zhuo Siming even created a table listing Su Zhe’s achievements, including “Athletes who have run under 10.10 seconds in the country to date” and “Current active athletes’ personal best rankings in 110-meter hurdles.”

The level of professionalism was such that even the sports reporters at the airport today couldn’t find much fault.

The rapid popularity of this article was beyond the interesting aspect of Su Zhe crossing over from entertainment to sports. It was largely due to the shock value that Su Zhe’s actual achievements listed in the news brought to gossip followers.

[Damn… I feel like I’ve become someone who can only say ‘damn’…]

[The meme subject is actually this amazing? I was wrong… I’m totally unworthy of using his meme…]

[??? So the scandal back then was actually him being screwed over by his company??? I remember this guy from when I first watched Youth Idols. I noticed him because he was incredibly good-looking, but then got annoyed with all that publicity stunt marketing and stopped following him…]

[Although I knew he had crossed over to the sports world before… I never imagined he was this incredible…]

[Ahhh! I’ve been watching those “Fitness Bar” short videos recently and secretly admiring his looks for a long time, and he turns out to be the original person from that meme I’ve been using to mock people??? My worldview feels shattered for a moment QAQ]

Not only were the entertainment circle’s gossip followers drawn out by this article, eagerly discussing Su Zhe, but the straight guys in the sports circle also only understood what Su Zhe had actually done during his two years in the entertainment circle after reading this piece.

Pear Public Account’s intern entertainment reporter Zhuo Siming became famous overnight. Even the sports reporters at the airport that day were impressed by him. After reading his article, they found the content wasn’t just attention-seeking and developed quite a favorable impression of him.

Many sports influencers reposted the article. “He chose the path of champions, a path without the entertainment circle” along with the only two questions Su Zhe had directly answered in the interview became the focus of everyone’s discussion.

[Su Zhe’s path to becoming a champion has only just begun.]

This perspective became everyone’s definite expectation, while also drawing more attention to the upcoming Country D World Athletics Championships.

How far could he go on this path to victory in this grand event?

On the day the national track and field team arrived in Country D, there was no training scheduled for the athletes. However, everyone had their own practice habits. Most team members chose to complete their simple exercises before going to sleep to adjust to the time difference.

Su Zhe had been training at high intensity for quite some time. Even after an entire day of exhausting travel, his body was still clamoring for activity.

So, after a short rest, seeing the sun set and the scorching heat that made going outside impossible gradually subsiding, Su Zhe began circling within the Athlete’s Village to complete his daily 10-kilometer routine.

With less than a week before the competition, besides the Chinese team, quite a few teams from other countries had already arrived early.

While running his laps, Su Zhe occasionally encountered athletes from other countries also running. In most cases, they would exchange smiles and then continue focusing on their own runs.

But as they say, in a big forest you’ll find all kinds of birds. Among athletes, there are positive, strong individuals, but inevitably also some awful characters who harbor an inexplicable sense of superiority toward athletes from other countries.

As Su Zhe ran past a flower bed, a Black athlete who was also passing by snickered at him.

“Tsk, little weakling, are you really a competitor in this championship? Your running posture looks just like a little girl’s.”

These clearly insulting words made Su Zhe slightly furrow his brows. To his right, the athlete showed no intention of leaving but continued to mock him. “Hey, you weakling, are you from the Chinese team? Your athlete Chen is injured, so is there anyone left who can participate in the 100-meter race?”

The grating mockery finally made Su Zhe stop and turn to directly face this guy wearing the Garling national team uniform.

“I think you should have learned about mutual respect among athletes.”

The athlete’s face showed an even heavier expression of mockery. “Respect? I only respect opponents stronger than me. Weaklings like you aren’t worthy of my respect. I heard your country has an athlete named Su participating in this competition? Go back and tell him that Bellman from Garling, Andrew’s good brother, will crush his self-esteem on the 100-meter track.”

Andrew’s good brother?

After this athlete Bellman mentioned Andrew’s name, Su Zhe finally understood why he was randomly trash-talking.

Andrew had been suppressed by him in the last Asian Championship, ultimately only achieving a time of 10.13 seconds, missing the World Championships qualification. As a host country athlete from Country D, this was perhaps humiliating enough.

So this Bellman and Andrew must be good friends who had once come from the same country.

“Hey, did you hear me? Pass my words on to that Su in your team! I’ll let him know what real speed is!” The man named Bellman obviously had no patience.

Under his urging, Su Zhe revealed an amused smile. “Alright, then I’ll see you on the track.” After a pause, he added, “I am the Su you’re talking about.”

Under Bellman’s astonished gaze, Su Zhe turned and continued with his unfinished 10-kilometer task, unbothered by the snickers coming from behind.

In just 5 days, he would be competing against the world’s finest athletes on this world-class stage!

Thinking of this, Su Zhe felt the blood in his body beginning to boil.

Under everyone’s anticipation, on October 2nd, the Country D World Athletics Championships officially began as scheduled.