Wang Yi swore outright, and the atmosphere inside the car instantly froze.
Gong Luming and the assistant coaches looked at one another but said nothing.
Sima Ming, who was driving, didn't dare utter a word.
After a moment of silence, Gong Luming said, "Some things aren't up to you or me to decide. So we'd better turn a blind eye."
Wang Yi shot back without a second thought, "Only if I'm blind."
The car drove on for several minutes in the unpleasant atmosphere. Wang Yi turned to Gong Luming and asked, "Director Gong, who was the person who wouldn't let Pang Bo join the National Team? Tell me, and I'll go argue with him!"
Gong Luming knew that if Wang Yi went looking for that person again, this would blow up.
He said to Wang Yi, "Wang Yi, calm down first. Once you've cooled off, we can talk this through."
"I'm perfectly calm right now. The reason basketball and soccer in China have never made any progress is that they've been ruined by scum like this. When I'm abroad, people often ask me, 'Out of your 1.4 billion people, you can't find eleven who can play soccer?' I usually snap back at them, but do you think it feels good? Who the hell wants to keep getting asked questions like that?"
"And you have to admit, not being able to find eleven people who can play soccer among 1.4 billion is our problem to begin with. You can fire back at them, but you can't refuse to face our own problems. Why haven't we been able to make progress in soccer and basketball, while our women's soccer and basketball teams are so strong? It's because we've never faced our problems head-on."
His words left the car silent once again.
In