Cycling: Racing into the Headwind

The last to visit was Li Fuyu, the manager, owner, and coach of the Hengxiang Continental Team, who came in person.

Huang Chong’s first impression of him was that of a standard Shandong man—tall and sturdy, but with a refined and scholarly way of speaking.

In his past life, Huang Chong had looked up his profile. He had started as a Road Cyclist, served as the coach for the Shandong provincial team, and later founded the Hengxiang Continental Team.

His personal record was brilliant, with countless awards to his name, earning him the title of "the number one Road Cyclist in China."

He was a senior in the cycling world who had reached the European racing scene even earlier than Ji Cheng.

Li Fuyu had not only been teammates with seven-time Tour de France champion Armstrong and two-time Tour de France champion Contador, but he had also won a championship in a European Grand Prix road race.

He was also the decorated cyclist who secured China’s first-ever Olympic entry ticket in a road cycling event.

Of course, besides his glorious personal achievements, the Hengxiang Continental Team he founded was hailed as the "Whampoa Military Academy" of road cycling.

It had produced numerous famous road cyclists, such as Wang Meiyin, Ma Guangtong, Zhao Jingbiao, and more.

The current most versatile cyclist in the country, Lü Xianjing, was also discovered by him in Yunnan.

And Ma Binyan of the Guangdong Team was, in fact, currently on his team.

Of course, the most important point was that the Hengxiang Continental Team’s headquarters had moved from Shandong to Shanghai, while the headquarters of Huaxing and Li Ning Star were far away in the Capital.

This was actually quite important to Huang Chong.

As a Road Cyclist, he knew he’d have to travel all over the country—and even the world—for competitions, with hardly a day of peace and quiet.

But having the team based close to home still scored some emotional points, subjectively speaking.

Besides, he was only joining an Intercontinental Team as a stepping stone. He would stay for a season at most, so there was no need to make long-term plans or goals.

He had only two goals for joining an Intercontinental Team:

First, to use the team to register as a UCI cyclist (registration must be done through a team), officially connecting him with the Union Cycliste Internationale.

Second, to follow the team and participate in the major domestic UCI events.

In truth, all three teams could provide him with these two things.

As for training, aside from in-depth learning about race experience, tactics, and the like, he didn’t really need help improving his personal strength—he was someone with a cheat system, after all.

Of course, one thing worth mentioning was that even if he joined an Intercontinental Team, he would still be closely tied to his provincial team.

Later, if his abilities were outstanding enough, he could still be drafted into the National Team as a provincial team cyclist to represent the country in important international competitions.

He was a member of the Zhejiang Team. This was something that would never change unless he officially changed his place of household registration.

Right now, he was in Hangcheng, just a stone’s throw from Shanghai. Considering all these factors, and after an in-depth conversation with Coach Li Fuyu, Huang Chong discovered that Li Fuyu, like himself, truly saw road cycling as his life’s dream. Unquestionably, he was most inclined to join the Hengxiang Continental Team, headquartered in Shanghai.

Besides, even if he wasn’t with Huaxing, as long as his personal results were awesome enough, he would still be drafted into the National Team.

Ma Binyan was a perfect example.

He wasn’t a rider for the Huaxing Continental Team, but he was one of the core members of the National Team.

Of course, the conversations with the managers of the three Intercontinental Teams tonight were only preliminary talks. They wouldn’t lead directly to signing a contract.

For Huang Chong to sign with an Intercontinental Team, he couldn’t bypass Zhang Guowei of the provincial team.

He was a state-sponsored cyclist now. Many things had to go through official channels and required approval from above. He couldn’t just do whatever he pleased.

"The team you personally want to join the most is the Hengxiang Continental Team, right?"

Huang Chong didn’t exclude Chen Junyi from his discussions with the teams; in fact, he deliberately included her.

As a top student, her IQ was much higher than his.

He could handle talking about professional ambitions with the team managers himself, but when it came to documents like contracts, he planned to have Chen Junyi advise him.

Although these were all teams with excellent reputations, when it came to signing a contract, it paid to be cautious. You could never be too careful.

Huang Chong nodded. He trusted Chen Junyi completely and said frankly:

"Yes. The Hengxiang Team is headquartered in Shanghai, so it’s not only close to the provincial team, but also close to my home.

If Director Zhang or my parents need me for anything, it’ll be easier for me to come back.

Plus, you’re from Hangcheng too. Even though you might not be at the cycling management center after the New Year, as long as you’re still at the Provincial Sports Bureau, it’ll be convenient for me to ask you for advice and help in the future!

My foreign language skills are absolutely terrible. If I ever make it to the World Tour and have to race in Europe and live there for long periods, I’ll definitely have to come to you for help.

You’re a returnee who studied abroad; you already have a lot of experience living in other countries."

Every reason Huang Chong gave was, of course, very solid.

Although the last part about asking Chen Junyi for help could easily be done online—after all, in this day and age, who needs to consult someone in person?

A video call would solve everything.

But Chen Junyi felt very pleased hearing it.

She was genuinely happy to hear with her own ears that Huang Chong had even considered her as a personal factor when choosing a professional team.

It showed that he cared about her a lot.

In fact, having spent the last four months with Huang Chong, her impression of him was also excellent.

Although Huang Chong wasn’t the kind of genius-level top student with an off-the-charts IQ that she was used to seeing throughout her school years, he made up for it with his wonderful personality—sunny and easygoing.

He never lost his temper during training. Even with the most boring gym routines, he was meticulous and completed them exactly as she requested.

He even secretly put in extra training.

As a self-disciplined genius herself, Chen Junyi deeply admired this proactive and ambitious professional attitude.

A person’s IQ is innate; you’re born with what you have.

But a person’s character can be cultivated through habits over time.

Huang Chong might not be able to solve advanced math problems, but on a road bike, he possessed astonishing perseverance.

Most importantly, he never pretended to know something he didn’t.

When it came to daily training, he genuinely followed her instructions and deeply respected her opinions.

So, all these excellent qualities combined made Chen Junyi completely unconcerned about whether his intelligence was on the same level as hers.

Of course, Huang Chong was only average in terms of intelligence.

If one were to ask if he was a genius, the answer would be a definite yes.

For example, his monstrously powerful cardiorespiratory fitness destined him to become one of the world’s top endurance athletes.

"I haven’t decided if I’m moving to another department after the New Year. Actually, my work assignment in China was set for two years from the beginning. After that, I have to go back to the United Kingdom to continue my graduate studies."

Chen Junyi blinked at him, but she didn’t intend to tell Huang Chong too much about her personal work plans just yet.

She wanted to wait until after this competition, once she was back in Hangcheng, to go home and discuss her future work plans with her father.

And so, after the Women’s and Junior Women’s road races concluded on the fourth day of the Road Cycling Championships—with the Longjiang Team once again sweeping both gold medals—Chen Junyi returned to Hangcheng with the team. That very evening, she went home to talk to her father about her future work plans.

Her personal preference, of course, was to continue being Huang Chong’s Data Analyst and nutritionist.

After hearing his admission, she was even prepared to potentially act as his dedicated foreign language interpreter in the future—

But when her father, Chen Mingyuan, heard that she wanted to dedicate herself to a niche and unpopular sport like road cycling, he frowned and immediately tried to persuade her in a solemn, heartfelt tone:

"My dear daughter, don’t be rash. A sport like road cycling is just too obscure in our country.

I know you said that... what’s-his-name, Huang Chong, has improved quickly and won many championships in just a few months.

But our country is still a world away from the top international level in this sport.

You don’t understand. It’s not even guaranteed that we can secure a spot to compete in the Olympics for this event.

He might win championships domestically, but that’s just competing against local cyclists.

Do you really think he can grow to the level of a world-class cyclist?

Listen to your father. Finish up your work for the rest of the year and hurry back to the basketball or soccer divisions.

Those are the sports the state is focused on supporting and wants to develop quickly!

You’re a high-caliber talent who graduated from a sports science program in Birmingham! How can you pour all your passion and ambition into such a niche and insignificant sport?

Isn’t that like using a cannon to shoot a mosquito? You won’t even earn back the money your mother and I spent raising and educating you!"