Chapter 937: Olympic Bid

The little girl was playing happily when she was suddenly picked up. Her little mouth pouted, she struggled for a moment, and stretched out her little hand towards Jian Qiu.

"Mom... Mommy!"

Looking at the little girl's aggrieved little appearance, Gu Minglan reached out to hold her with a heart full of pain: "Come, Grandma will hold you."

Seeing that Mom didn't react, the little girl twisted her little body and reached towards Gu Minglan.

The old man helplessly handed the child to Gu Minglan, then said to Jian Qiu: "You must bring the child over often in the future; she's not familiar with me, and won't even let me hold her."

"Okay!" Jian Qiu agreed with a smile.

The old man checked the time and said to Zhou Andong: "Don't leave at noon; keep me company for a drink."

"Alright!" Zhou Andong nodded.

Because of the existence of the little one, the family could be considered harmonious, and laughter came from the room from time to time.

The old man sat on the sofa, picked up the remote control, and turned on the TV; it was just in time for the noon news.

It was talking about the application for the 2000 Olympic Games. At this time, the whole country was ready to celebrate, especially the capital, which was decorated with lanterns and colored streamers, waiting for the moment the result was announced.

Zhou Andong asked: "Grandpa, do you think our Olympic bid will be successful?"

The old man smiled slightly and said very affirmatively: "Yes!"

Zhou Andong hesitated for a moment, but still said: "I don't think so."

"Oh?" The old man didn't have any dissatisfaction; instead, he asked very seriously: "Tell me your reasons."

Reasons? Zhou Andong shook his head: "No reasons, I just feel that those Western countries won't let us apply successfully."

As early as 1974, the country proposed to bid for the Olympics and must successfully host the Olympic Games.

However, Western countries have been mocking China, believing that it is a pipe dream for a country like China, which is relatively backward in economic conditions and other aspects, to want to apply to host the Olympic Games.

Even the international sports organization excluded China and did not allow China to participate in applying for the hosting qualifications of any sports events. Facing the bullying of China internationally, the country's attitude was also very clear.

To take the first step in bidding for the Olympics, one must first achieve certain results in the Olympic Games to prove oneself. Until 1984, with the gunshot of Xu Haifeng, China finally achieved a breakthrough of '0' on the Olympic gold medal list.

It was precisely because of this breakthrough of '0' that the determination to bid for the Olympic Games became even stronger. China's first gold medal brought earth-shaking influence to the development of China's sports career later.

With reform and opening up, China's progress, whether in economy or technology, has gradually been recognized by the world.

Especially in 1990, it hosted the 11th Asian Games. For China, this was the first time hosting such a huge sports meeting. And the successful hosting of the Asian Games also added a bit of confidence to China's road to bidding for the Olympics.

In 1991, the preparatory work for bidding for the Olympic Games was in full swing, and the capital also publicly announced for the first time the idea of wanting to host the 2000 Olympic Games, and even specially established the Olympic Games Bidding Committee.

Everything was ready, just waiting for the international community to give the capital a chance. But who could have thought that this road to bidding for the Olympics would actually lose to a dark curtain.

At that time, Western countries publicly published reports stating that the capital should not host the Millennium Olympic Games. The whole report was full of arrogance and contempt, as well as questioning China's strength in hosting the Olympic Games.

But who could understand how urgent China's desire to bid for the Olympic Games was. To complete this dream, it had already paid too much effort.

Originally, after three rounds of fierce voting, China had been stepping on the head of its biggest opponent at the time, Sydney. As long as it continued to lead in the fourth round of voting, China could obtain the hosting rights for the 2000 Olympic Games.

But on September 24, 1993, in the early morning, the day the results were announced, countless Chinese people who were watching the Olympic bid in front of the TV shed tears.

With a difference of only two votes, it lost to Sydney, causing the Chinese people's Olympic dream to shatter. And at that time, all media, all cities, and all Chinese people were ready to celebrate, and in the end, this also became the world's joke.

Zhou Andong's words were very short, but the old man fell into deep thought because he had been paying attention to the Olympic bid, and he also knew that Western countries had been smearing China, wanting to prevent the capital's Olympic bid from succeeding.

But the country had been working hard and had a great chance of applying successfully, otherwise it wouldn't have carried out propaganda so early.

Zhou Andong and the old man's conversation was also being listened to by others.

Jian Yue said: "I think we will definitely succeed."

Zhou Andong smiled: "I also hope to succeed, but some people won't let us succeed."

In fact, it wasn't until 1999 that the reason for this failure in bidding for the Olympics was revealed. At that time, the Australian Olympic Committee publicly stated to the outside world that it had invited representatives from Kenya and Uganda to dinner the night before the vote.

It promised some 'benefits' to the two countries, and this benefit was on the grounds of sponsoring the construction of sports facilities in the two countries and did not involve bribery. In fact, this incident was planned by the United States and implemented by Australia.

The old man looked at Zhou Andong: "Do you mean that we will definitely fail this time?"

"I dare not be sure that we will fail!" Zhou Andong shook his head, "But we must also be mentally prepared for failure, and we must not celebrate with great fanfare before the results come out.

Those Western countries are just waiting to see our joke. Think about it, before there is a result, we celebrate nationwide like this; once we fail, will we become the world's joke?"

Gu Minglan said: "I think Dongzi's words are very right. Before the results are announced, it's better for us to be low-key, so as to avoid being laughed at by Western countries after failure."

"Will it really fail?" Jian Yue couldn't believe it; after all, the results of the previous voting had always been leading.

"Prevention is better than cure!"

Zhou Andong looked at the TV screen; many places in the capital had hung red lanterns and pulled up banners celebrating the success of the Olympic bid.

"In short, being low-key does no harm. After the results are announced, if we succeed, it won't be too late to celebrate."

The old man nodded and said: "This matter indeed needs to be considered carefully, and we must resolutely not give the West a chance to see our joke."

Zhou Andong laughed. As long as the old man attached importance to it, this matter shouldn't become the world's joke like in the previous life.

"I'm going out to make a phone call."

The old man said: "Go to my study to make it."

Zhou Andong was stunned. The phone in the old man's study wasn't something just anyone could touch. He was very tempted, but still refused.

"I've been in the room all morning; I'm going out for a stroll."

"I'm going too!" Jian Qiu stood up and followed Zhou Andong out, only asking after they left the room: "Who are you calling?"

"Zhang Shenghui and Wu Hongkang." Zhou Andong said with a smile: "There's a big business deal to make money; how could I forget old friends." ===== CHAPTER 938 =====