Chapter 86

After a few days, Yu Sui had a chat with Zhou Huo, Old Qiao and Puppy in private. He gave them the heads up that he would appearing in Shi Luo’s dorm from time to time. He asked everyone to pretend not to have seen him whenever they run into him; don’t make a big fuss and just pretend that nothing was happening.

Zhou Huo had been mentally prepared for a long time. He expressed how very happy he was to hear that. Puppy was totally indifferent. After confirming that Yu Sui wouldn’t be telling Chen Huo, he was very pleased.

Old Qiao didn’t care either. He could be considered as someone who had watched Yu Sui grow up. He was very satisfied with Yu Sui getting together with a top striker like Shi Luo. He just reminded Yu Sui to pay attention to his work and rest and to not to let it affect his subsequent training.

“There’s only one game left in the regular season. Don’t drop the ball. Did you see the points? Our final match against DDF today actually has a big impact.”

Their last regular season match was a home game. After an entire regular season, even iron-willed people would feel a decrease in their fighting spirit, especially when their last opponent was going to be a weak team with DDF. Old Qiao was worried that they wouldn’t perform well because they weren’t fired up enough. He reminded them, “Saint also played their last regular season game yesterday. Their points for this season has already been set.”

Shi Luo had watched the live broadcast of Saint’s last regular season game. He said, “They have the same overall points as us. Only one loss against NSN. If nothing unexpected happens...it will come down to the individual round points.”

According to league regulations, the playoff rankings were determined according to the overall points. NSN lost a few games before and was no longer in contention for first place. The team ranked in first place in the regular season would either be Saint or Free.

If Free, as expected, wins against DDF today, their overall points will be equal to Saint’s. In that kind of situation, in order to determine the rankings, the league will have to compare the game points of the two teams; they will have to add up the results of all the best of three matches of both teams. Whichever of the two teams lost the least number of rounds will be ranked first for the regular season.

“Being ranked no. 1 in the regular season is not considered an honor, but it is very beneficial for the subsequent playoffs. The playoffs are divided into 2 groups with first, fourth, fifth and eighth in group 1 and second, third, sixth and seventh in group 2. If we rank second, there’s a high probability that we’ll be going against NSN in the semi-final knockout round.” Old Qiao exchanged a loaded look with everyone, “NSN, Shi Luo’s old club, the club that took in our team members when we still hadn’t established our club a few months ago. All of us have a good relationship with Old Gu. None of us wants to play against them in the semi-finals, do we? If we win, it would mean that their dream of entering this year’s World Championships would be broken again and it would be broken by our own hands. If we lose...pah!”

Old Qiao slapped himself in the mouth and continued, “If we get no. 1 in the regular season, we definitely won’t be placed in the same bracket with either NSN or Saint. We won’t have to bear the psychological pressure of who will be eliminated or who will secure their spot before the finals.”

Puppy nodded, “I know the schedule very well. What I want to ask though is if we want to take first place in the regular season, is there any hope in the game points?”

“Yes.” Shi Luo glanced at the record of the two teams and immediately calculated the results. “If we get a 2-0 on today’s last regular season game, first place is ours. Saint has one more 2-1 win than we do.”

“It means that you can’t drop a single round for today’s match?” Chen Huo got up and jumped, moving his wrists around, “If we lose, we’ll have to play the knockout match against NSN. I don’t want to fight with Old Gu and Wawa...Wow, I’m suddenly super nervous! If we lose a game, only either us or NSN can only go play in the World Championships, right? Fuck, Old Gu hasn’t been able to play for a few years, right? He can’t miss out again this year!”

Zhou Huo had worked in NSN and he knew about Gu Gan’s situation very well. He said, “Gu Gan, a trainee from NSN’s youth training group. A talented player. He was transferred to the first team after playing in the youth training team for less than a season. It’s been five years since he went pro. He’s been able to keep his personal abilities at their peak, but he’s only been to the World Championship once...”

Zhou Huo said helplessly, “It’s not his fault...it’s also extremely unlucky. NSN always finds itself having a super weak point. It used to be the sniper and then the medic. They never seem to be able to get an evenly matched team of four. In recent years, many teams who are just missing one powerful striker have come to him with offers but Gu Gan...”

“Old Gu can’t leave.” Old Qiao shook his head. “Gu Gan was also unlucky. Back then, his batch of youth trainees was like a gathering of strikers. That year, basically all the newcomers were strikers and many of them were famous as broadcast anchors. Everyone was highly talented and everyone had no experience. Club executives definitely prefer more popular newcomers. Gu Gan sorted out his national server record and sent it to several clubs. No one responded. One team agreed and asked him to play for two months. He agreed even though they wouldn’t pay him a cent and they made him change his account all the time. He was young at the time and didn’t know what it meant at first. Later on, he realized he was being used as a training partner for free.”

“Not long after he left that shady workshop, only one sh*tty club told him that he’d passed their assessment. Gu Gan grabbed his suitcase and headed over there. His train hadn’t arrived yet when the club asked him if he was already on the way. If not, could he please go back?” Old Qiao curled his lips, “They didn’t even pay for his train ticket. Pieces of trash.”

“Turned out to be a good thing though. Within half a month, an old manager of NSN’s took the initiative to contact him and asked him to go join NSN’s youth training group. Knowing that he was underage, the old manager personally flew to Gu Gan’s hometown, signed a contract with his parents and brought Gu Gan with him to Shanghai.” Zhou Huo smiled, “As you know, NSN, from its owner to its management to its players, they’re all good-tempered and good-natured. They take special care of their younger players. Not only are underage players given an hour of naptime every day, they’re also given special meals within the club. They’re given two extra cans of milk and half a pound of fruit every day.”

Yu Sui nodded, “I’ve heard of that.”

If he hadn’t known that the culture at NSN was good, that their management team was gentle and easy to get along with, he wouldn’t have chosen NSN to send Shi Luo to back then.

Chen Huo hadn’t heard of this before. He said, surprised, “Underage team members get special meals every day? Just how freakin’ nice are they...Is this real or fake? Did they give these to you when you first joined them?”

The second half of what Chen Huo said was addressed to Shi Luo. Shi Luo nodded, “While you’re still underaged, they’ll prepare nutritious meals for you every day. In the morning and evening, they’ll give you an extra can of hot milk. But it’s not half a pound of fruit. It’s unlimited. As long as you can eat it, you can ask the Cleaning Auntie for more.”

Puppy was full of admiration. “Can’t believe there’s this unsullied club in this industry. How did they manage to maintain a conscience?”

Puppy couldn’t help but look at Yu Sui and Chen Huo, “What about us? What did our Boss Ji teach us when we were underage? Eat hard, drink hard and buy wealth management products... We’ve been taught the wrong values! Since we were young, we’ve been afflicted with great suffering! Think about it carefully. Compared to the warm teachings of their club, did our club teach us anything else other than to party hard?”

“It did teach us something else.” Yu Sui got up to pack his peripherals, and said unhurriedly, “Didn’t our old club have us undergo frustration education during the first year of our adulthood? He sent us to help Europe and to steel ourselves. You’ve heard of Wolf Education, right? That’s what we experienced.”

Shi Luo couldn’t help it and he let out a snort of laughter.

This period of their past was originally these peoples’ sore spots. Shi Luo seldom took the initiative to mention it and he would generally not engage when others mention it. But now when Yu Sui said this, Shi Luo really couldn’t help but want to laugh.

Zhou Huo and Old Qiao didn’t force themselves to hold back. They bowed their heads and laughed.

“Why?” Chen Huo couldn’t accept it. “Other clubs’ underaged players are cherished like little lambs while were subjected to Wolf Education? Why? Why must we be destined to be so unlucky? Me too! I want a nutritious meal! I also want to drink hot milk!”

“Don’t be disgusting. You made so much money when you were still a minor. Don’t tell me you couldn’t afford your own hot milk?” Old Qiao held back from laughing and cleared his throat. “At the time, whether it was Ji Yanhan or the manager or any of the other club executives, what would you have thought if they gave you a cup of hot milk before going to bed?”

Chen Huo imagined that scene for a moment. Instantly, the wind was knocked from his sails. “I would have thought the club might be about to talk to me about canceling my contract.”

Old Qiao looked at Puppy. Puppy scratched his arm. “Same. I would have thought the club finally wanted to kick me, this bastard, out of the team.”

Old Qiao skipped over Yu Sui and looked at Shi Luo. Shi Luo said lightly, “I would have thought that Ji Yanhan put in rat poison and that he was about to fight me head-on.”

There was another round of stifled laughter.

“Look, this group of ours is just destined to be unlucky.” Old Qiao smiled, “We just don’t have that kind of life.”

“That’s why NSN can raise a player who is as upright as Gu Gan, who can bring out a player who is as simple and optimistic as Wawa. We...we...” Zhou Huo looked around the room at his group of players, each more worrisome than the other. He barely managed to smile and say, “Our... our vitality is stronger than theirs!”

Yu Sui said thoughtfully, “If you really can’t find anything to boast about, you don’t need to force it.”

“We’re getting too off-track.” Old Qiao drank some water and continued, “Gu Gan had seen so many sh*tty clubs before that so of course, his feelings towards NSN that had warmly nurtured him like a son would be different. Although later on, his teammates have not always been that amazing and the team’s performance has not been particularly good, even when other strong teams have come to headhunt him, he declined them all politely...”

“Five years, the person who was once their young son is now the captain and NSN’s ever dependable eldest son.” Old Qiao whispered, “This year, Wawa performed well in the second half of the regular season. They really have a chance to make it to the World Championships this year. Gu Gan has waited for so many years. He has to take advantage of the fact that he’s still at his peak. He really should go once...”

“So the topic has gone back to the original starting point.” It was almost time. Puppy also got up to pack his peripherals. “Now our last regular season match determines whether NSN will play with us in the semifinals or with Saint. ”

Zhou Huo nodded. “It would be best if we could get a 2-0 win. Saint and NSN... If you guessed right before, then this year’s World Championships are particularly important to both of them... We all hope they could both go. It would be difficult to bear playing against either in an elimination match. It’d be better to push it to them. Sigh, just play against DDF. Getting a shutout against them is just a matter of minutes, right? It’s simple. I believe in you.”

“It originally was so simple!” Chen Huo collapsed, “If you hadn’t pulled this Touching China sh*t we definitely would have been able to get the win, no problem! Now, I feel so f*cking pressured?! If I lose a round, I’ll have to fight Old Gu and Wawa. I don’t want to!!!”

“Uh...” Old Qiao was embarrassed, “I was actually afraid that after playing a so many months, you’d turned apathetic. It’s not easy to get your spirits up fighting weaker teams. If you’re too relaxed, it’s easy to lose. I didn’t expect... was it too much?”

Yu Sui shook his head, “It had no effect on me.”

Puppy said with some difficulty, “I’m still fine.”

In proper order, everyone turned to look at Shi Luo. Shi Luo looked back at them. He wanted to follow along and say that he was indifferent. But when he thought that everyone here was his own people, he pretended to be muddled. Shi Luo lowered his head and rubbed between his brows. He said helplessly, “I also feel f*cking pressured. ... NSN was my old club. When I first went there, the Cleaning Aunt also cooked me nutritious meals for me and gave me hot milk. When I left the team, Captain Gu personally contacted people for me. This...”

“It’s my fault. It’s my fault.” Old Qiao was miserable. “I saw that you all didn’t seem very spirited. It’s okay. It’s okay. If you lose, it’s okay. It’s all the will of Heaven. Heaven’s will that we be the final villains.”

“It’s okay.” Shi Luo shook his head, “We still have half an hour before we need to play. I can adjust.”

Even without looking, Shi Luo could sense what Yu Sui was thinking. He said without needing to look up, “I don’t need you to help me...I can do it myself.”

Yu Sui looked at Shi Luo, who was doing some deep breathing and smiled. He nodded, “Okay.”

“What do you mean ‘okay’?” Chen Huo said angrily, “Come and help me! I’m just as stressed!”

Yu Sui didn’t even look up. “Go away.”

Shi Luo pulled over Chen Huo to discuss tactics on how to cooperate. The two strikers conversed in front of the window for half an hour. Their emotions gradually calmed down.

Two hours later, Free successfully finished up with a 2-0 win. At the same time, they secured their first place position for this season’s regular season. It also locked in Saint and NSN at second and third.

Playing against the middling to lower ranked team DDF, Shi Luo outperformed himself the entire way. He was no longer the least bit nervous. After the game, Shi Luo let out a long sigh, got up and took his peripherals.

Shi Luo, once again, slowed down a few steps. Yu Sui, as before, took his peripherals and waited to one side. Shi Luo used his arm to wipe away the beads of sweat on his forehead. He said in a low voice, “Waiting for me again...the sprayers will be cursing you again.”

“They can do whatever they want.” Yu Sui looked at Shi Luo, and whispered, “I’m going to ask for two tickets to Saint and NSN’s semifinals match. Let’s go see it live when the time comes.”

Shi Luo was taken aback. He said as he coiled the wire of his mouse, “We’ll watch it live? We’ll be sitting together? What if the fans see...?”

Yu Sui smiled, “If others want to watch, then let them watch.”

Several video cameras panned to the two of them but they couldn’t record what they said.

Shi Luo paused and then nodded, “Okay.”

The playoffs have officially started. In the semifinals, everyone has to rely on their own skills.

Translator’s note: This is what tear me apart about sports stories. I love all the team. They all deserve to win but there can only be one winner. =(