It was already 5:30 in the afternoon when we left the field management center. Director Ma originally wanted to treat him to dinner, but Zhang Guan declined. The conversation with Dayao made Zhang Guan deeply moved, and he also wanted to go earlier. Go back and arrange your recent schedule.
But things went counterproductive and Zhang Guan was stuck on the road.
It was the rush hour after get off work, and the roads were crowded with vehicles going home. The commercial vehicle Zhang Guan was riding in was struggling to move among the traffic. As the sky grew dark, Zhang Guan slowly lost his patience. He looked around and asked the driver: "According to this situation, there will be at least thirty or forty minutes of traffic jam. There are still three intersections left from here to the community. I'd better walk back."
The capital is a place where Zhang Guan spends a lot of time on weekdays, so he bought a house in the capital a long time ago as his temporary home here.
Putting on a hat and a mask to disguise himself, Zhang Guan got out of the car and blended into the crowd of people rushing back to their nests on the roadside.
The recent cold spell has brought the lowest temperature in the capital to zero degrees. You can already see people wrapping themselves in down jackets. In the cold wind, scarves, hats and bulky coats are indispensable; under the haze, everyone Various colorful masks kept dangling in front of Zhang Guan's eyes. Zhang Guan, who is over 1.9 meters tall, stands out among the crowd. However, as the sky gets dark, even if someone passes by, they will not notice that the big man wearing a mask next to him is Zhang Guan.
The lights at the subway station entrance were bright and dazzling. Zhang Guan obviously didn't want to be noticed, so he deliberately stayed away from the subway entrance. However, the crowd rushing towards the subway station entrance couldn't help but push Zhang Guan near the subway entrance.
A ragged beggar was leaning near the subway entrance, sitting on a woven bag. Zhang Guan wanted to walk over quickly, but the objects placed in front of the beggar attracted his attention.
A stainless steel bowl, with some paper and pen of a few cents in it, which should be alms from well-wishers; a shabby white cloth with crooked black writing on it, which should be the beggar's description of his misfortune; a swarthy man The round object was placed on the edge of the white cloth, not attracting attention. However, Zhang Guan stopped and looked at the dark round object, because he had already seen that the dark round object was a medal. .
Zhang Guan has won dozens of various medals, mostly gold medals, so he is relatively sensitive to medals. Others will not notice such things, but Zhang Guan can tell them immediately.
"Why are there still people begging with medals?" Zhang Guan stopped and walked over driven by curiosity.
From the stained white cloth, Zhang Guan learned the origin of the beggar. His name is Ma Dexing. He comes from the northwest. He was once a triathlete and won a bronze medal in the Jiayu Triathlon. After an injury during training, he had to undergo surgery. However, the operation failed, causing lifelong damage to his left foot. Disabled and had to retire. However, the recovery from his foot injury cost him no money to continue, and his family also borrowed a large sum of money. Apart from being an athlete, he had no other skills. As a disabled person, he could not engage in physical labor, so he had to live here begging.
"Could he be a liar?" Zhang Guan bent down, picked up the medal and looked at it, confirming that it was indeed genuine.
Zhang Guan even touched the medals from the Jiayu Triathlon with his own hands, because someone from the national team had participated in that competition and had achieved results. At that time, Zhang Guan had also seen the workmanship and quality of the medals taken back by his teammates. They are all the same as the beggar's.
"My left foot is injured, what a poor man!" Zhang Guan couldn't help but think of Dayao, who had just spoken to him. He also had an injury to his left foot. This made Zhang Guan feel a sense of compassion in his heart. He took the money from his wallet. He took out two hundred dollar bills and handed them to the beggar.
"Thank you, thank you!" The beggar bowed gratefully, and when he raised his head again to see the appearance of the almsgiver, Zhang Guan had already left quickly.
Walking among the endless flow of people, Zhang Guan felt inexplicably heavy in his heart.
Ma Dexing is not the first athlete to retire and end up on the streets, and he will never be the last. Ma Dexing's situation is miserable, but it is definitely not the worst. There will definitely be other athletes who retire due to injuries, who will be more miserable than Ma Dexing. awful. Injuries caused by improper training and untimely treatment leave many athletes with lifelong disabilities. After they retire, if they have achieved impressive results, they can still live a worry-free life, but if their performance as athletes is mediocre, they may only get tens of thousands of severance pay, and they will have to deal with injuries for the rest of their lives. spent in pain.
For many athletes who are disabled due to injuries, medical expenses of tens or hundreds of thousands can change their lives. However, in many cases, hundreds of thousands is an astronomical sum for them. They may not be able to save this amount of money during their ten-year career as athletes.
Zhang Guan suddenly felt that it might be more meaningful to help these retired athletes who suffered sports injuries and faced life difficulties than to directly give a large sum of money to those sports associations.
The sky had turned completely dark, and the north wind was blowing. Under the dim street lights, the cold feeling made Zhang Guan feel a hint of frightening despair.
"Fortunately, we're almost home!" Zhang Guan raised his head. In front of him was the community where he lived. The dazzling lights at the entrance of the community were particularly conspicuous under the night sky. A security guard wearing a green military coat stood at the door, carefully watching the people entering the community. Everyone will always make night walkers feel a strong sense of security.
"There is darkness and cold wind around, but home is right in front of you. This is hope! Hope is actually so simple..." Zhang Guan listened to the footsteps, and he had already made a decision in his heart.
"A charity fund should be established to help retired athletes who have encountered difficulties. Money may not be able to repair their injured bodies, but at least it can give them hope in life!"
…
"Establish another charity fund?" He Yiming's eyes widened. He did not understand Zhang Guan's intention.
"Yes, I want to use a sum of money to help retired athletes who encounter difficulties. I have already thought of the name of the fund, and it will be called the Hope Fund!" Zhang Guan said.
"It's a good idea, but do you know how many professional athletes in our country retire every year?" He Yiming asked.
Zhang Guan shook his head, looking confused.
"Then do you know our country's current athlete protection system?" He Yiming then asked.
Zhang Guan shook his head again, still looking confused.
"The Red Cross has a public welfare fund directly under it, which is also providing protection for retired athletes. You should know this, right?" He Yiming asked.
Zhang Guan shook his head for the third time, still looking confused.
"You really don't know anything!" He Yiming suddenly laughed.
PS: October is about to pass. I have been lazy for a month and have only updated 130,000 words this month. It’s a sin. In the coming November, I have to rise. I can’t be lazy anymore. I guarantee a minimum of 200,000 words. Words, words, words. By the way, it’s the last day at the end of this month. If you don’t vote, your monthly votes will be wasted. If you still have monthly votes, please vote for one. Thank you all!
(End of chapter)