On October 29, 2021, at the scene of the 20th Shanghai University Games, Olympic champion Xu Xin received the employment certificate from Cheng Danhong, secretary of the Party Committee of Shanghai University, and became a visiting professor at the School of Physical Education of Shanghai University.
Attending the appointment ceremony with Xu Xin was a familiar figure, Cao Yanhua, a legendary figure in the table tennis industry who has ascended to the world championship seven times and won a total of 56 gold medals.
Only to see Cao Yanhua on the rostrum dignified and generous, with a straight waist and outstanding temperament, not at all like a 60-year-old person.
Speaking of Cao Yanhua, in the 80s, she can be described as a well-known athlete, especially her love with Shi Zhihao, which has become a good story in the sports world.
Unfortunately, the couple did not come to the end, after 15 years of marriage they chose to divorce, and now, 22 years later, what happened to their respective lives?
In 1985, Cao Lihua, who had just won two World Championships, suddenly retired, a 22-year-old female athlete who had won seven World Table Tennis Championships, which puzzled everyone.
Li Furong, then deputy director of the Training Bureau of the State Sports Commission, commented on Cao Yanhua's retirement as "her retirement can be said to be a major loss to the Chinese table tennis team".
As for the reason for Cao Yanhua's retirement, there have always been two theories.
One is for physical reasons:
In 1980, Cao Yanhua won 7 open championships in a row, becoming a veritable "ping-pong sister" of the national team.
At the same time, a member of the team was found to have hepatitis B, and although the team member was very good, he was sent back to his home country.
Unfortunately, Cao Yanhua was also infected, but fortunately, her transaminases were not high and not very contagious, so she was continued to stay.
For safety reasons, the team arranged a separate dormitory for Cao Yanhua.
However, the intensity of table tennis training is high, and the physical fitness requirements are also high, and gradually, Cao Yanhua is a little overwhelmed, and he is often tired after a game.
In 1985, Cao Yanhua did not hesitate to retire after winning the women's singles and mixed doubles titles at the 38th World Table Tennis Championships.
The second reason is because of love:
This reason is also the one that the most popular families are most willing to believe.
In the national team, Cao Yanhua can be described as talented in terms of professionalism, but at the same time, her untamed in the team is also famous.
At that time, the national team had high requirements for athletes: no love, no strange clothes, no permed hair, no smoking........
But these regulations, Cao Yanhua almost stepped on the red line or hovered on the edge of the red line, head coach Zhou Lansun often like a father to persuade her bitterly, hoping that she would focus on the event.
But Cao Yanhua, who is in adolescence, where it is so easy to change, she not only smokes and burns her head, but also secretly talks about love with the team members.
For a while, her love with Shi Zhihao almost became an open secret in the team.
The two not only greeted me during training, but also many times, when others were still training hard, she and Shi Zhihao sneaked out on a date.
Once during normal training, Cao Yanhua disappeared, and the team members who played against her were in a hurry.
The coach thought that Cao Yanhua was in the dormitory, so he quickly asked another team member to take a look, but there was no one in the dormitory.
Worried that Cao Yan would have an accident, the coach quickly reported this situation to the coach in charge, and at the same time reported this situation, as well as the coach of the men's team Shi Zhihao.
Fortunately, the two finally returned at the end of training, which did not cause a wider range of adverse effects, but the fact that the two were in love was counted as hanging up in the team.
When the mind was on another person, how could Cao Yanhua's state be good.
In order to preserve Cao Yanhua's condition, the team returned Shi Zhihao to the Bayi team.
After Shi Zhihao left, Cao Yanhua lived up to expectations, and after winning 4 championships in a row, she chose to retire.
After retiring from the army, Cao Yanhua soon married Shi Zhihao.
The red star of table tennis in the 80s came to an end.
After getting married, Cao Yanhua and Shi Zhihao first went to Japan to study for a year.
At that time, the main way out after the retirement of outstanding players mostly chose to go abroad to play or go abroad as a coach, Cai Zhenhua was like this, and Shi Zhihao was no exception.
In 1987, the German Glenzao Table Tennis Club issued a coaching invitation to Shi Zhihao, and Cao Yanhua went with her husband, starting the happiest time in their marriage.
These two young people with hearts and minds, although they did not understand the language at the beginning, but their little life was full of taste.
They live in a large villa with a swimming pool, every morning, Cao Yanhua makes breakfast, and after the two of them have eaten breakfast together,
Shi Zhihao went to work, and Cao Lihua went to the supermarket to buy, and paid attention to the fun places nearby.
In the afternoon, Shi Zhihao left work, Cao Yanhua had already made dinner, and after the two of them ate dinner, they went to the language training class hand in hand.
On weekends, they drive to nearby attractions, and when they have a long vacation, the two drive further afield.
Glenella is hardly found on German maps, but that doesn't stop it from being a particularly livable town with blue skies, white clouds, and four distinct seasons.
There is no financial pressure, and there is a lover on the side, such a fairy day, but not everyone can bear it.
Cao Yanhua is such a person.
She began practicing table tennis at the age of 5, entered the national team at the age of 15, and then practiced day after day, busy and high pressure seemed to become the background of her life.
Now suddenly stopped, no pressure, no goal, long time, the whole person is not angry.
In addition, there was a deep sense of loss that hung over her.
In the small town of Glenzao, she is Mrs. Shi, not the champion Cao Yanhua in the table tennis arena,
Here, she is an ordinary housewife, no career, no flowers and applause, this gap, for anyone will be uncomfortable, let alone Cao Yanhua, who is just in her early twenties.
She felt she had to do something.
At the suggestion of a friend, Cao Yanhua opened a Chinese restaurant.
The chef in the town is not good, Cao Yanhua took matters into his own hands, using his own specialty dishes to make signature dishes, but he did not expect that the business was not bad.
When the restaurant gradually became larger, Cao Yanhua opened a trading company again, and she was an idle person.
In the past few years in Germany, Cao Yanhua's income was even higher than Shi Zhihao's, which Cao Yanhua did not expect, and Shi Zhihao did not expect.
But no matter how successful these undertakings are, for Cao Yanhua, they are just side hustles, and she still can't put down table tennis in her heart.
For Shi Zhihao, no matter how hard he tried to be excellent and respected, in the depths of his heart, he always felt that something was missing.
In the TV series "Heavenly Road", Rui Xiaodan has permanent residency in Germany, and her mother is also in Germany, but she gave up these favorable conditions and returned to China to become an ordinary policeman.
This kind of operation that does not conform to ordinary people is confusing to everyone.
Ding Yuanying commented that she is "a sick life", but also pointed out to the point that what you (Rui Xiaodan) want is a sense of belonging to mainstream society.
It is precisely this sense of belonging that is missing in the hearts of every overseas wanderer, and it is also something they cannot get in their lifetime, shi zhihao, Cao Yanhua is no exception.
In 1995, Shi Zhihao and Cao Yanhua returned to China to visit their relatives, and Cai Zhenhua, who was the head coach of the national team at the time, issued an invitation to Shi Zhihao to return to China to coach.
When Shi Zhihao and Cao Yanhua fell in love, Cai Zhenhua was still the transmitter of the love letter between the two, and in the face of the invitation of an old friend, Shi Zhihao did not hesitate to agree.
They returned to China together, but one in Beijing and one in Shanghai.
As soon as she returned to China, Cao Yanhua started her favorite table tennis career, and she opened a table tennis training school to cultivate good seedlings with table tennis talents.
With the vigorous development of the domestic economy, more and more parents are willing to invest in their children, and sports are no longer another way out for children with poor grades.
More and more parents realize that it is not a shameful thing for their children to engage in sports.
Cao Yanhua's school was soon set up, and she became busier and busier.
When she was too busy to get to the ground, she could only hand over her son Shi Zexi to her parents to help carry.
At the same time, she wanted someone to help her and lean on when she was tired.
She and Shi Zhihao talked several times, at that time, although Shi Zhihao coached in the national team, the results were not outstanding, she hoped that Shi Zhihao could come out of the national team and start a business together.
They all do the same thing, but the platforms are different.
If Shi Zhihao had not coached in Germany, he might have agreed, but it was in the experience of coaching in Germany that Shi Zhihao understood the importance of a sense of honor.
The sense of honor brought by the national team is comparable to that of a training institution.
He did not want to leave the national team, and at the same time, he also advised Cao Yanhua not to make himself too hard.
Different life pursuits are destined to be contradictory in the marriage of the two.
Each time they had a hard time meeting, they often ended in a quarrel, and neither of them could convince the other.
In the blink of an eye, his son Shi Zexi was about to go to elementary school, his father was not at home for many years, and his mother could not see him twice a week, which made his personality a little lonely.
In 2000, Cao Yanhua last talked to Shi Zhihao for a long time, and she had already thought about it, if this talk was not successful, the two would divorce.
After years of separation, both parties can not give each other emotional value, nor can they get support in their careers, what is the point of such a marriage to stay?
The result of the communication can be imagined, knowing that this is the result, Cao Yanhua still cried, and the next day, the two walked into the Civil Affairs Bureau together.
After the divorce, in order to take care of the emotions of their son and Shi Zhihao's parents, the couple chose to hide it.
Every weekend, Cao Yanhua still takes her son to see her grandparents as before, and when she is busy, she will also ask her grandparents to help pick up Shi Zexi.
In August 2000, the team members under shi zhihao's supervision achieved a good result of one gold and two silver at the Sydney Olympic Games, and Shi Zhihao finally breathed a sigh of relief.
After returning to China, he used the holiday to visit his son in Shanghai, in order not to let his son see the flaws, he "went home" as usual, when he arrived home, Cao Yanhua had already prepared dinner, and his son held his father's hand, not to mention how happy.
After the meal, Shi Zhihao played table tennis with his son and piled up logs.
Before going to bed, Szesi was particularly sensible, taking his father's hand to visit his new room, and then telling his father and mother: You two sleep in this room.
After listening to his son's words, Shi Zhihao couldn't help but look at Cao Yanhua and found that there was also heartache in the eyes of the other party, and at that moment, his heart was like a knife.
In 2003, Shi Zhihao's parents celebrated their 70th birthday together, and Cao Yanhua bought gifts early and helped Zhang Luohao hotel.
At the birthday party, Shi Zhihao's parents did not see anything unusual about their son and daughter-in-law, and the old man and his wife had a happy birthday.
Shi Zhihao is very grateful for Cao Yanhua's efforts, but he also knows that he and Cao Yanhua can be good friends, but it is difficult to be husband and wife.
In 2005, Shi Zhihao became the head coach of the Chinese women's team, and his career went up to a higher level, and the following year's World Table Tennis Championships, the Chinese women's team won the team championship, and Shi Zhihao's ability was finally best reflected.
Seeing the news of the women's team winning the championship on TV, Cao Yanhua and her son sent a congratulatory text message to Shi Zhihao.
In the 2007 World Table Tennis Championships, the Chinese women's team created brilliant again, winning three gold medals in women's singles, women's doubles and mixed doubles in one fell swoop, Cao Yanhua saw the news, and tears came out with excitement, and she couldn't help but call Shi Zhihao: Old Shi, good look.
Shi Zhihao's career has risen step by step, cao Yanhua is no exception, there is no psychology of wanting people to help, she has put her mind on work.
In addition to recruiting excellent coaches, she also looked around for talented trainees to realize her Olympic dream.
When Cao Yanhua retired, table tennis had not yet entered the Olympic competition, so the Olympic championship became an unattainable dream for her.
However, she believes that there will definitely be Olympic champions among her cadets.
In fact, this is also the case.
In 2001, Cao Yanhua recruited Tang Zhixian from the Jiangsu team, and together with Tang Zhixian, there was a teenager named Xu Xin.
Xu Xin began to learn to play at the age of 5, and the basic skills are very good, but the left-handed straight board playing style is already very backward in Cao Yanhua's view.
But Tang Zhixian was very optimistic about Xu Xin, and he said to Cao Yanhua: You see him play a game and then evaluate.
Xu Xin is different from other team members, he usually looks "lazy" when training, but he can always play beyond normal on the field, and Tang Zhixian also "found" Xu Xin on the field.
Sure enough, after Xu Xin played a game, Cao Yanhua changed her opinion.
Together with Tang Zhixian, she focused on cultivating Xu Xin, and Xu Xin made great progress with the help of the two teachers.
Two years later, Xu Xin joined the Shanghai team and soon emerged in the Shanghai team, winning the World Junior Table Tennis Challenge team, singles and doubles championships.
In 2006, at the age of 16, Xu Xin entered the national team and was received by coach Qin Zhijian.
At the 2016 Olympic Games in Brazil, Xu Xin and his teammates won the men's team championship, and Cao Yanhua's Olympic championship dream finally came true in the 26-year-old Xu Xin.
At the same time as the career has made a huge breakthrough, the low-key Cao Yanhua has also had a home emotionally.
This time, she did not look for anyone in the circle, but a very handsome outsider.
The husband outside the circle is very supportive of Cao Yanhua's career and is willing to be Cao Yanhua's assistant in his career, which makes Cao Yanhua very moved.
In the same way that Cao Yanhua's career and family are successful, Shi Zhihao also found the love of his life after the divorce, but he is still looking for not only insiders, but also his apprentices.
She is the table tennis player Li Nan.
On the eve of the 2004 Athens Olympics, the national team cleaned up three pairs of players who were in love:
Ma Lin and Bai Yang, Wang Hao and Fan Ying, Hou Yingchao and Li Nan, of which Ma Lin and Wang Hao stayed because they were seed players, and the other four people all returned to the provincial team.
Among them, the pair of Hou Yingchao and Li Nan later returned to the national team with their own strength, but their feelings also disappeared in this retreat.
After Li Nan returned to the national team, his head coach was Shi Zhihao.
After Shi Zhihao became a coach himself, he found that young athletes, especially female athletes, fell in love with too much of an impact on the performance of performance.
For a while, Zhang Yining and a boyfriend outside the circle fell into a hot love, usually trained very hard, since falling in love, every day to wait for 5:30 to take the bag away, unwilling to practice for one more minute.
Zhang Yining's situation was soon discovered by her supervisor coach, who immediately warned Zhang Yining:
If you go on like this, it may affect you to win the championship, and even affect your Olympic Games.
Fortunately, Zhang Yining was sober and quickly adjusted his state, and did not affect his grades because of falling in love.
Because of this, after Shi Zhihao became a coach, he paid great attention to the state of the players. If you find anything unusual, you will communicate with them in time.
At that time, Li Nan had just returned to the national team, and breaking up with Hou Yingchao made her mood depressed for a while, so Shi Zhihao paid more attention to her than other team members.
A coach like a father and a brother cares about himself in every detail, which makes Li Nan particularly moved.
Gradually, she liked to talk to Shi Zhihao about what she had in mind, and in her heart, Shi Zhihao, who was 22 years older than herself, was like her brother.
Knowing that Shi Zhihao has been single for many years, Li Nan will also take advantage of the gap in rest to help Shi Zhihao do what he can, such as cleaning up the house and washing clothes.
Over time, the two have a special affection for each other, but neither of them dares to confess.
Shi Zhihao has been divorced for many years, and he is very eager to have a person who knows warmth and heat around him, but he is too busy to have time and opportunities to contact the opposite sex.
For Li Nan, he has a heart but does not dare to act, one is that the other party is 22 years younger than himself, and the other is that if the two are in love, it means that Li Nan must leave the national team, which is unfair to others.
Also who did not dare to act was Li Nan.
In her opinion, Coach Shi is the head coach of the women's team, and she is just an ordinary player with less outstanding achievements, and the gap between the two is too big in social status.
But love sometimes can't stop it.
Once, when Beijing suddenly cooled down, Shi Zhihao accidentally caught a cold and was so dizzy that he could not walk, so he had to take temporary leave.
After Li Nan heard about it, he took advantage of the gap in the noon break to bring him a light meal and cold medicine, and told him to eat it quickly.
Shi Zhihao was so moved that the tears were about to fall.
This is the only time in the ten years since Shi Zhihao returned to China that he felt warmth from the opposite sex, and he couldn't help but say: Li Nan, thank you.
Li Nanguan smiled and said: "There is nothing to thank, as long as you are willing, I can take care of you every day."
Seeing Li Nan's warm eyes, Shi Zhihao finally plucked up the courage to say five words, and I couldn't ask for it.
In this way, the two established a relationship.
Worried about the bad impact, the second year of love, Li Nan chose to retire, and a year later, they held a wedding and soon had children.
Shi Zhihao named his daughter Shi Zenan, which shows how satisfied he is with Li Nan.
Different from Cao Yanhua's career type, Li Nan is a home-type woman, which is also an important reason why Shi Zhihao identified her.
From the beginning of pregnancy to the birth of the child, Li Nan almost did everything by herself, one person went to the obstetric examination, and one person dealt with various discomforts during pregnancy.
In 2012, in order not to affect Shi Zhihao's preparation for the London Olympic Games, Li Nan returned to Tianjin to give birth.
When his daughter was born, Shi Zhihao only stayed at home for three days, and then hurried back to the team three days later.
But for all this, Li Nan did not complain a word.
Perhaps, from the moment she married Shi Zhihao, she was ready to bear everything alone, and resolutely did not drag Shi Zhihao back.
Li Nan's efforts were not in vain, in the 2012 Olympic Games, the table tennis women's team won the women's singles and women's team championships.
After Shi Zhihao returned from London, he rushed to Tianjin to visit his wife and daughter as soon as possible.
Seeing his wife's haggard face and his daughter's pink little face, Shi Zhihao was both guilty and happy, and he secretly resolved to treat his wife well in the future.
In 2012, the 53-year-old Shi Zhihao handed over the Chinese women's table tennis to Kong Linghui, and the women's table tennis completed the replacement of the old and the new, and he finally retired on the spot.
No one expected that in 2014, because Guo Yue returned to the provincial team, Shi Zhihao was suddenly pushed to the cusp of the storm.
Guo Yue won the Olympic team championship twice and was just 26 years old when she was returned to the provincial team, so in the eyes of many people, it is because Shi Zhihao does not reuse her.
The reason why the public has this view is because Shi Zhihao, when he was the head coach of women's table tennis, said more than once that athletes should not only know about training, but also actively learn cultural knowledge.
And this sentence seems to refer specifically to Guo Yue.
Guo Yue began to play at the age of 6 and entered the provincial sports school at the age of 8, so he owes more money in terms of cultural knowledge.
Shi Zhihao believes that table tennis is a very technical sport, and team members need to have good understanding and analysis skills.
At this point, Guo Yue is obviously insufficient.
Sometimes guo yue can't understand some of the things that the coach says, which limits her further development.
This can also be understood as why Guo Yue was not the core player of the Olympic team in the two Olympic Games.
When the doubts from the outside world swept in, Shi Zhihao was so angry that he could not sleep at night.
Li Nan comforted him, you don't care what others say, you just have to be honest, time will prove everything.
Listening to his wife's words, Shi Zhihao decided not to pay attention to the gossip.
After returning to the provincial team, Guo Yue did not continue to work as a coach, but went to Tsinghua University to study finance, and became a white-collar beauty after graduation.
This result is probably something that many people have not expected.
After Shi Zhihao retired from his coaching position, he became the vice president of the Shanghai Institute of Sport, and his wife Li Nan was also a table tennis coach at the college.
He finally has time to spend time with his wife and can give his daughter more love.
Looking closely at the coaches of the national team, almost every successful coach has a solid rear behind it.
Cao Yanhua is not wrong to be serious about his career, but marrying Shi Zhihao, who is also career-oriented, this marriage is doomed not to go too far.
When she found her other half, she chose the other half that could match her career, which Shi Zhihao could not give him.
Similarly, Shi Zhihao married Li Nan, and it was also based on the same consideration that Cao Yanhua was very enterprising and could not teach her husband and children at home.
On the other hand, Li Nan was able to give Shi Zhihao the best care and care.
Today, 30-year-old Li Jersey also has his own small home, and he has long let go of the shadow of his parents' divorce when he was young.
However, instead of following the path of his parents' sports, he became a Japanese translator.
All of this seems to be the best arrangement.