Chapter 1879: The Idea of Going Abroad

The motorcade soon stopped outside a stadium in the western suburbs of the capital.

"Is this the place?"

Zhao Fusheng looked at Zheng Yao with some surprise.

He had originally thought the women's football team would be training at the National Stadium, but this was clearly a university campus.

"This is the site of Capital Sports University," Zheng Yao said with a wry smile. "The women's team is on a tight budget and has no dedicated training ground, so they have to borrow this place."

Zhao Fusheng frowned. "Let's go take a look."

The group walked inside. Along the way, looking at the old teaching buildings around, Zhao Fusheng's expression grew darker.

The environment here wasn't bad—after all, it was the campus of Capital Sports University.

But the problem was that as a training ground for a professional sports team, it was simply substandard.

Not to mention anything else, as he entered the stadium, Zhao Fusheng saw the uneven pitch, with patches of bare dirt showing through the grass, and his face turned grim.

"This is the situation for all levels of the women's football team right now."

Zheng Yao explained, "Even the national team is like this."

She knew Zhao Fusheng wanted to do something for women's football, so she told him the truth.

At that moment, a few people walked over.

"General Manager Zheng, welcome, welcome."

The man who approached was about forty, with a face full of wrinkles. Seeing Zheng Yao and her group, he broke into a bright smile. "Welcome, General Manager Zheng. You should have called ahead."

"This is Coach Zhu Qiang, the team leader of the women's football team."

Zheng Yao introduced him to Zhao Fusheng.

Then, to the middle-aged man, she said, "This is Mr. Zhao Fusheng, the chairman of our group."

"Chairman?"

Zhu Qiang was taken aback, looking at Zhao Fusheng with some surprise.

Obviously, he knew that Future Group was sponsoring the Chinese women's national football team, and he was even happy about it—everyone knew Future Group had money.

But he never expected that the chairman of Future Group, the legendary mysterious billionaire, would come in person.

"Um, Chairman, hello, hello." Zhu Qiang quickly said to Zhao Fusheng.

"Hey, Xiao Chen, go call the girls over to thank Chairman Zhao for the sponsorship." Zhu Qiang thought for a moment and then quickly instructed the person beside him.

Zhao Fusheng shook his head. "No need, let's continue watching their training."

"Alright, alright."

Zhu Qiang nodded repeatedly and personally began to introduce the players training on the field to Zhao Fusheng.

"Chairman Zhao, although our women's football girls are young, they are quite skilled. This time in the Asian Cup, despite several key players being injured, we still made it to the finals..."

Zhu Qiang introduced this to Zhao Fusheng very earnestly.

Zhao Fusheng glanced at Zhu Qiang, smiled, but said nothing.

On the way here, Zheng Yao had shown him Zhu Qiang's profile. This man actually had quite a network within the General Administration of Sport; if he wanted a promotion, he could at least secure a decent position.

But he had chosen to stay with the women's football team. Over the years, the team had changed several coaches, yet his position as team leader remained unshaken.

Although he couldn't offer much technical or tactical help to the women's team, in other aspects, without Zhu Qiang's efforts running back and forth, the girls might not even have found this training ground.

"Coach Zhu..."

"No, no, Chairman Zhao, just call me Old Zhu. I don't deserve the title of coach; I'm just the logistics manager for the women's team." Zhu Qiang waved his hand repeatedly, speaking with great politeness.

Clearly, he was very happy and took Zhao Fusheng's visit seriously.

"Alright, Old Zhu."

Zhao Fusheng smiled and asked Zhu Qiang, "What do you think? How will our women's team perform in this Olympics?"

"Well..."

Zhu Qiang glanced at Zhao Fusheng, hesitated, then said, "Do you want the truth, or polite words?"

"What's the truth? And what are the polite words?"

Zhao Fusheng laughed, finding the man quite interesting.

"The truth is, making it out of the group stage would be a success. The polite words are, this time, our goal is the semifinals!"

Zhu Qiang didn't waste words, saying it directly.

With a snicker, several people around Zhao Fusheng all burst out laughing.

Zhu Qiang laughed too and said to Zheng Yao and the others, "These few have been with me all along; they're not outsiders. The gentlemen brought by President Zheng must be elites of your company. I won't tell lies in front of honest people. With conditions like these, isn't it already good if the girls can make it out of the group stage?"

As he spoke, he pointed to the uneven playground: "A sports field with uneven turf. Training in such an environment, these kids really have it tough..."

Everyone fell silent. They could all see what the environment was like. Under such conditions, the women's football players on the field showed no hesitation at all, doing whatever training was required, even running on the dirt without a moment's pause.

To be honest, several people from Future Group felt a bit sorry for them.

Zhao Fusheng remained silent, just quietly watching the women's football girls sprinting across the field.

Most of them, after retiring, might not even have a stable job and could only return to their hometowns to live ordinary lives.

But for the honor of the nation and their love of football, these people did not hesitate to sweat it out here.

To be fair, Zhao Fusheng felt that compared to them, those idiots in the men's team who even needed naturalized players to qualify for the World Cup should really feel ashamed.

"What was the previous sponsorship fee used for?" Zhao Fusheng stopped and asked Zhu Qiang.

"As for the money, the Football Association didn't hold it back; they directly transferred it to our account. We used it to make up for the allowances and bonuses, rented this place, and kept the rest as operating funds."

Zhu Qiang didn't feel embarrassed either. The man was a sponsor, and now the only sponsor of the women's team. It was only natural for him to care about how his money was spent.

"Is it enough?"

Zhao Fusheng chuckled.

"Well, we make do." Zhu Qiang smiled. "We've been used to it for years. Women's football, you know—insufficient funds, so we just budget carefully."

He said it lightly, but Zhao Fusheng could detect a hint of helplessness.

It was a fact: in China, no matter the sport, men's events always received more attention than women's.

Of course, women's volleyball was an exception.

After all, their actual achievements spoke for themselves, and for historical reasons, the phrase 'women's volleyball spirit' alone was enough to draw attention.

But in football, even though the women's team had better results than the men's, they still got no attention.

To put it bluntly, the men's team's monthly budget could match the women's team's annual budget.

Comparisons are odious.

Over the years, Zhu Qiang had gone from initial anger to taking it for granted.

It had to be said, that was reality.

"Old Zhu, do you think it would be useful if the women's team went abroad for training and played practice matches against strong foreign teams?"

Zhao Fusheng suddenly asked.

Zhu Qiang was taken aback. "Of course, but why would they play us? They all demand appearance fees, and the travel costs—transport and accommodation alone—are a huge expense."

He paused and smiled bitterly. "We can't afford that. Do you think we haven't considered it before?"

In the end, it was a matter of money.

"A matter of money?"

Zhao Fusheng smiled slightly, then shrugged. "Then it's not a problem."

With that, he looked at Zheng Yao. "You handle the arrangements. We'll cover all the expenses."

"Huh?"

Both Zhu Qiang and Zheng Yao were stunned.

Zhao Fusheng smiled and looked at Zhu Qiang. "Old Zhu, go back and think about which national teams you want to play against."

He paused and continued, "Any issues with the head coach?"

"You don't know?"

Zhu Qiang looked at Zhao Fusheng with some surprise.

"Huh?"

Zhao Fusheng was a bit baffled.

Zhu Qiang shrugged. "Well, there's no head coach yet. The higher-ups haven't decided on a candidate."

"..."

Zhao Fusheng was momentarily speechless, staring at Zhu Qiang in astonishment. He really hadn't expected that.

After all, according to the documents, the Football Association was in the process of selecting a coach for the women's team.

But he hadn't expected it to take so long without finding a suitable candidate. It was truly exasperating.

"For now, I'm in charge of team matters, but something like going abroad for training still needs to be reported to the higher-ups." Zhu Qiang didn't mince words and honestly told Zhao Fusheng.

"Alright, I'll wait and see."

Zhao Fusheng smiled with satisfaction and said to Zhu Qiang.

"Don't worry, don't worry."

Zhu Qiang nodded repeatedly, unable to suppress the smile on his face.

This was simply fantastic news!

To be honest, he really hadn't expected the chairman of Future Group to be so generous.

The five hundred thousand sponsorship was one thing, but now he was even sponsoring the women's team to train abroad. Truly, the world of the rich was beyond the imagination of ordinary people.

"I have other matters, so I'll take my leave now." Zhao Fusheng smiled at Zhu Qiang.

"Go ahead, go ahead."

Zhu Qiang quickly nodded.

He wasn't stupid. The man was a big businessman. Showing up here today was already a statement of intent.

Moreover, Zhao Fusheng had already thrown out such a big cake earlier, and he was already satisfied.

Zhu Qiang felt he should quickly report today's events to the Football Association leaders. After all, there were still a few leaders in the association who cared about the development of women's football.

It was just that women's football had never been as valued by the higher-ups as men's football, so naturally, there wasn't much they could say.

Now that someone was willing to sponsor without the association spending a penny, he believed they wouldn't have any objections.