Chapter 31

At the FOG China Division League headquarters, Yu Sui submitted the documents for his, Puppy’s and Chen Huo’s cross-division transfer. He also organized all the documents for the formation of a new team. The procedure was cumbersome and after submitting the requirements, Yu Sui and Puppy sat down to wait.

When the senior officials at the headquarters heard the Yu Sui was there, they hurried out to chat with him. They gave him a very enthusiastic reception.

Yu Sui had come back to his home region. No matter what the sprayers said, the staff of the Chinese league gave him a very warm and sincere welcome. Although players weren’t limited to playing for a club within their native region, everyone still preferred local players to play in their local region, especially a player like Yu Sui.

The senior official gave Yu Sui the green light. He wasn’t very strict in the examination and approval of his application. Actually, he even asked him if he needed any help, saying that he could redeploy or lend the league’s staff to help in his new team. If their team was still missing players, the league was willing to contact the other teams for them to negotiate the transfer of players who wanted to transfer.

Old Qiao had already retired in the local region more than half a year ago. His hand injury had become serious, and there was no possibility of him coming back. Now Yu Sui, Chen Huo and Puppy were back. It seemed that they still lacked a striker. The senior official’s meaning was obvious. They were willing to help him find a strong and suitable striker.

The senior official was very proactive. “The qualifiers are just around the corner and you can’t play with just three people now, can you?”

To the side, Puppy said, “We’ve reached an agreement with NSN and one of their people will temporarily be transferring over.”

The senior official wasn’t expecting that and he was startled. “Uh... then we need to remind you that you are now a secondary team. If it’s not a full transfer but just a temporary transfer, you can only use players on the same level; which means that you can only have players from their secondary team for the temporary transfer.”

“It’s not someone from their secondary team.” Puppy said, “It’s one of their youth trainees, a good performer among NSN’s youth trainees. There aren’t a lot of opportunities for newcomers to get competition experience. NSN and the player himself expressed their wish to have him participate. They’ve come to an agreement that if he performs well in the qualifiers, he will have a place in their secondary team afterwards.”

“You... You’re helping NSN train their newcomer?” The senior official was stupefied. “Isn’t this too risky? In case, you fail in the qualifiers...”

Puppy shrugged, “Then this will be Whisper’s first time playing for a secondary league team.”

The senior official couldn’t help laughing, “That’s impossible... Even with a newcomer, the qualifiers are as good as won. But NSN will owe you a favor for training their newcomer for them.”

The senior official was still very curious, “After the temporary transfer, you’ll still have only three players. You’re still lacking a striker. You still haven’t chosen a good person? The qualifiers will end soon and the regular season will begin immediately. Time is still tight.”

Yu Sui paused. Without waiting for him to speak, Puppy said, “We already have our own secret weapon. But right now the other party is still within his contract period. It’s not convenient to announce it publicly just yet.”

Understanding dawned on the man’s face and he hurriedly said, “Well, that’s good. Then we’ll just wait and see. And finally, let me say it again. Whisper, welcome back.”

Yu Sui nodded. After receiving the approval documents, he left with Puppy.

The new base had been sorted out and Yu Sui and Puppy left the league headquarters to head there.

On the way, Yu Sui continued to close his eyes and rest. Puppy slowly took out his headphones to continue listening to crosstalk. For a while, no words were exchanged between them.

Half an hour later, Puppy took off his headphones, looked at the car’s ceiling and suddenly said, “Yu Sui, I’ve always wanted to ask you one thing... I wanted to ask two years ago, but I didn’t get the chance to before all that shit went down. After that, there was never a good time to ask. Now that we’re back, it should be okay to ask. I just want to know, you...”

Yu Sui said, still with his eyes closed, “I like him.”

Puppy wasn’t expecting Yu Sui to admit it so easily. He dazedly stroked his chest and sighed, “So angst-y.”

Yu Sui calmly said, “Back then, lots of things were a mess. But I’m really not so upset because of this, so you don’t have to feel sorry for me.”

Puppy asked again, “Does Shi Luo know?”

Yu Sui shook his head.

Puppy covered his chest again, “That’s just too cruel.”

Puppy had a clear understanding of the situation at that time. It was better that Shi Luo didn’t know but he still felt hurt for Yu Sui. “At that time, it might have been better if you’d just blurted it out and got it over with.”

Yu Sui said nothing.

Puppy turned to look at Yu Sui. “Why? Don’t you regret it?”

“No, I don’t regret it. I’m really glad,” Yu Sui said lightly. “At that time, I was too young. I encountered that situation&#k2026;and there were a lot of things I didn’t handle well enough. I was too impulsive, too extreme.”

Yu Sui’s tone was calm, “When I think about it, there wasn’t any need for it. Obviously it could have been handled a little more peacefully. I could have sat down with Ji Yanhan and talked about the contract over a cup of tea. The results would have been the same anyway, there was no need to make such a fuss about it that I landed myself in the hospital.”

“I know what you mean.” Puppy sighed. “In those days, everything was so chuunibyou. We’ve never been tempered by the realities of society. The first time we encountered something like that and it had to be that damned thing. Really... I’m a pacifist but back then, I wanted to go to hell with it all. I wanted him and I to just perish together. So stupid”

“But no.” Puppy was distracted. “What are you doing dragging Ji Yanhan into this conversation? Who’s asking about him? I was asking if you didn’t regret liking Shi Luo. Didn’t you regret not telling him?”

Yu Sui said, “I don’t regret it. I said so already.”

Puppy looked at Yu Sui closely, “You really don’t regret it?”

Yu Sui shook his head and said lightly, “Although it never amounted to anything, I’ve always cherished the few months I got to know him. Back then, he was... very good.”

There were a lot of details in those few months that were still hidden in Yu Sui’s memory. Two years ago, Yu Sui was tortured by those memories. He wished he could just forget about Shi Luo. But after so long, Yu Sui had matured and was willing to accept both the good and the bad that once was. “Shi Luo is my first love and the only person I have ever liked. Who would regret falling for his first love?”

Puppy had to agree and he nodded, “Then what about Shi Luo? Did he like you? It can’t be that...is he straight?!”

Yu Sui closed his eyes again and didn’t want to talk anymore, “I don’t know.”

Puppy put his hand to his chest once again. “FOG heartbreak drama... But if you’re already over him and you don’t like him anymore, I guess we can’t call it that. Hey, hey?”

Puppy pushed Yu Sui, “Do you not like him anymore? You were so calm just now, so that means you don’t like him anymore, right? Now that you’ve said everything, I feel a little better.”

Yu Sui ignored Puppy.

Puppy was helpless, “I can’t force you to talk if you don’t want to. Sigh...After a month, Shi Luo will be moving in. Why is it that when I think about the two of you living under the same roof, I’m worried but also kind of looking forward to it ... ”

Yu Sui coldly said, “There won’t be the kind of dog blood drama you’re thinking of. Just forget it.”

“I sure hope not. I’ve had enough of being tossed about.” Puppy slumped against the back of his seat. “Now I just want to be able to play peacefully for a few years and then retire at the end of my career. We’ve had a really close call. My reputation was almost in ruins. I thought I was gonna die in a strange land with my integrity in shambles...”

Yu Sui didn’t pay attention to Puppy anymore. Puppy continued on with his soliloquy for a while longer before he got bored. After thinking about it, he picked up his phone and typed something.

At the IAC base, Shi Luo’s mobile phone buzzed.

Shi Luo picked up his phone to take a look.

[Puppy]: [Care to reminisce?]

Shi Luo was startled.

A few hours ago, it had been Yu Sui who sent a voice message from Puppy’s number.

Then who was sending him this message now?

Yu Sui...wants to reminisce with him?

Shi Luo hesitated and did not reply. The other party sent another message.

[Puppy]: [Are you free to chat?]

Shi Luo held his phone and calmed down.

It wasn’t Yu Sui.

The other party typed quickly, [Puppy]: [I came back and didn’t even get a welcome dinner. That’s fine but I didn’t even get to see my old friends. In any case, we were teammates once so care to listen to me pour out my woes?]

Shi Luo typed, [Luo]: [Tell me.]

[Puppy]: [It wasn’t easy for me to come back. ]

[Puppy]: [Did you know? Within the first year after we left, of us three, only Yu Sui remained in Sacred Sword? ]

[Puppy]: [Chen Huo still managed to be a benchwarmer for a few months. I didn’t even make it to the bench. I only played two training games for Sacred Sword before I was put up for sale. After that, not even a month passed before I was transferred to another team in the European division.]

[Puppy]: [Do you know how colorful the team I went to was? There were a total of four people in one team from three different countries! One German, two Koreans and me. ]

[Puppy]: [The four of us played using sign language for half a year. ]

[Puppy]: [There was a time when we were matched against Sacred Sword and Yu Sui just cares so deeply for his former teammates. Do you know, how he showed his concern?]

[Puppy]: [During the interviews, Yu Sui had the host ask me if what they’d fed me to get me to shut up and just stick to gesturing!]

Shi Luo held the phone, he tried his best to hold back but he couldn’t endure and burst out laughing.

When Yu Sui was being poisonous, it really made people want to strangle him.

[Puppy]: [I really wanted to kill that guy. But we were cut off by the sound-proofed room. He wouldn’t come out and I couldn’t get in.]

[Puppy]: [It didn’t actually matter if you had different languages. So long as you all knew a few English words that was enough to play the game, even to compete. But that wasn’t enough for day-to-day conversations. My German teammate and I always thought those corncobs were secretly insulting us.]

[Puppy]: [As it turns out, they really were talking in their mother tongue and talking sh*t about us.]

[Puppy]: [They played like sh*t but still had the nerve to insults others. It was unbearable. The two corncobs were finally sold away and then two Germans came. OK, three Germans and me. Now, I became the only one secretly being insulted by these three. ]

[Puppy]: [Finally, finally, after another year, I crawled my way up to top three of the regular season. I was bought back because of my outstanding performance. Can you believe it? ]

[Luo]: ...

[Puppy]: [Chen Huo’s experience was about the same as mine. When we first arrived in Germany, because of language problems, we really couldn’t perform well. We were sold one after the other. After a year, we got used to the environment. Basic communication was no longer a problem. This god was bought back by Sacred Sword. The three masters were back. That’s when I really admired their team. ]

[Puppy]: [When we won the championship last year, with all three of us being in Sacred Sword, it wasn’t bad. But before that, Chen Huo and I were really tossed about. A lot of people don’t know that part of it and I think I need to talk about it. ]

[Puppy]: [Luo Luo, if you had come with us back then...]

Shi Luo looked down and said nothing.

If he’d gone to Europe with them back then, his situation would have been more miserable than Puppy’s.

[Puppy]: [There’s a lot about the past that can’t be explained clearly anymore. And I don’t really intend anything by this, I just want to tell you what I’d gone through this past two years. ]

[Puppy]: [There was a reason we had to leave you and Old Qiao behind.]

[Puppy]: [Afterwards, I heard a little about your family. I can understand why you were so against the idea. You had your reasons.]

[Puppy]: [No one has had it easy. We’re all going to be one team soon. So about the past...let’s let bygones be bygones. How about it? ]

[Puppy]: [I was just talking with Yu Sui and he shares my opinion, more or less. What happened in the past, we should just let it be. It doesn’t matter if it’s good or bad, let’s just all forget it. I can understand but there’s no need to bring up old scores. Who’s right, who’s wrong, none of that’s clear anymore anyway.]

[Puppy]: [We moved to the new base today. We’ll be waiting for you to move in.]

[Puppy]: [After you move in, let’s just forget everything that happened in the past, okay?]

Shi Luo looked at Puppy’s messages, coming in one after the other. Puppy must really have been suffocating in Europe.

Now that he’d caught someone who understood Chinese, he just couldn’t stop yapping.

Shi Luo re-read the chat log and typed out a reply.

[Luo]: [No.]

[Luo]: [What happened in the past, happened. I can’t pretend it didn’t.]

Shi Luo glanced coldly at the chat log. He threw the phone aside, and continued to watch the substitute’s practice game, ignoring Puppy.

Yu Sui and Puppy finally arrived at the new base. Puppy looked at the chat log and sighed, “An ill-fated relationship...”

Yu Sui frowned, “What’s wrong?”

“Look for yourself.” Puppy handed the phone to Yu Sui and got out of the car. He opened the trunk to take the suitcase. “I wanted to be a peacemaker for you two. But what can you do? Xiao Luo Luo’s upright and above flattery. He didn’t accept.”

Yu Sui quickly glanced through the chat record and whispered, “...you didn’t have to say any of that.”

“I thought that after two years, he’d be pretty chill about this. Maybe he could be like me and just turn a blind eye to it all and get along.” Puppy pushed the luggage into the new base. “I didn’t expect that after he’d experienced being tempered by society that he’d still hate evil like an enemy.”

Puppy shook his head. “It feels like this base isn’t going to get a moment’s peace after Shi Luo moves in.”

Yu Sui took his own suitcase and didn’t make conversation. Puppy said again, “Oh, yeah. Old Qiao told me yesterday that he has to wait two more days before he can come over. So the position of coach is temporarily vacant. The new manager, Zhou Huo will be coming over at about the same time.”

Yu Sui gave an ‘en’. Puppy was still a little amazed, “This Zhou Huo used to be NSN’s deputy manager, right? The one that despite all dissenting views helped you get Shi Luo into NSN? Back then, Shi Luo was being so difficult, NSN top management almost gave up on him. This guy said all along that Shi Luo’s commercial value was high so they grudgingly signed him.”

“Yes, we’ve known each other for a long time. We can trust him.” Yu Sui thought Puppy was suffering from post-traumatic stress and said, “But it doesn’t matter what his character is. Now I’m the boss, what are you afraid of? If it turns out he won’t do, then he’s fired.”

“I also know him, and I also know he’s not bad. I’m not scared.” Puppy quietly said, “I’m just reminding you, I heard he’s got quite the brains for operations and his gimmicks are unconventional...I heard that when Wawa joined NSN, he wasn’t popular at all. None of the sponsors wanted him to shoot their promotional videos. Do you know how Zhou Huo handled the entire thing?”

Puppy clicked his tongue. “He made a daily video of Wawa and Gu Gan interacting in the base. In the video, Gu Gan took such great care of the newcomer. The father-son feels were so moving, Wawa’s popularity instantly skyrocketed.”

Yu Sui didn’t think there was anything to this. “The newcomer wasn’t popular and they couldn’t cash in on his commercial value. As a manager, should he have sat by and done nothing? Players only care about competing, and the manager only cares about the operations of the team. This is what he should have done. So what?”n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

“No, I just want to say that unlike Zhao Feng who only pulls the players to make money, he doesn’t toss people about but he has a lot more of these little ideas.” Puppy looked Yu Sui up and down, “How do you think he’s going to handle this little situation between you and Shi Luo?”

Yu Sui’s eyes slightly moved but he said nothing.

That night, the new manager Zhou Huo cautiously sent Yu Sui a message.

“Whisper, after Evil moves in, would you team up with him to do an hour-long broadcast every day for this first month?”

“You don’t even need to be playing the game. The two of you just have to be in the same frame for the live broadcast.”