Chapter 55: The Quarterfinals (Part II); A Respectable Opponent
Storm called a taxi to send them back to the hotel.
The car was filled with a strange mixture of alcohol and cumin scents. Zuo Chi simply rolled down all the windows, letting the cool night air rush in and blow away the odors clinging to them.
“Coach, want some candy?”
He looked down to see two mint candies lying in Ning Luzhao’s palm. He took one.
“Where did this come from?” He didn’t remember any candy like this in the jar in their dorm.
“There was a bowl at the BBQ restaurant’s front desk. It was free, so I took two.”
Zuo Chi popped the candy in, speaking a bit muffledly: “Do you and storm know each other from before?”
“Yes. In the season I first started for VEX, I participated in a showmatch. It was my first time in that kind of setting, surrounded by established veterans. I wasn’t familiar with some of the procedures. During that showmatch, storm took quite good care of me.”
Manager Li added, “storm is a very righteous guy. In the past, even players he barely knew would ask him for money, and he’d lend it. That’s why his reputation is so good; everyone is willing to go whenever BLUE organizes a gathering… It’s a pity. Even the most brilliant veteran past his peak is now in a hurry to train a successor.”
“Having a successor is a good thing. It’s when you can’t find one that you really worry,” Wall laughed. “But for BLUE to ask for Coach Zuo’s help, I really didn’t expect that… I only told storm a couple of times privately that our Coach Zuo is incredibly good at training.”
“Zhuo-shen, do you think it’s possible that when I was drinking with storm today, I also mentioned Coach Zuo’s brilliant coaching career several times…” Fugui burped. “Coach Zuo, what are you eating? Did Ning-shen secretly give you something good again!”
Zuo Chi pressed his temples. “How long have I even been coaching? What ‘brilliant career’—”
“You have one, Coach Zuo. Today, many players were asking us about you.” Beyond spoke in a small, wary voice. “I suspect they want to headhunt you, so I kept my mouth shut.”
Zuo Chi: “…”
“When the Coach goes to BLUE, take me with you?” Ning Luzhao waved the remaining candy in front of Fugui’s eyes, then tore open the wrapper and popped it into his mouth. He ignored Fugui’s clenched fist and curled his lips. “Lest the Coach be kidnapped by BLUE.”
“I support that!!!”
“I want to go too!”
“Land will go with me; the rest of you stay at the hotel and train properly… The Quarterfinals haven’t even been played yet. Clear everything else from your minds.”
At the mention of the match, the cubs immediately became well-behaved.
Zuo Chi suddenly remembered something and sent a message to Manager Li.
[Zuo Chi: Any progress with Wu Yang’s parents? Our match is in two days; it’ll be a hassle if they come to the venue to cause a scene.]
[Manager Li: The court date is set. It’s actually on the day of the match. Shengxing Media’s lawyers are taking turns watching them. They’re staying in a run-down inn now and haven’t made a move. Maybe they got the summons and are scared.]
[Zuo Chi: We still need to be careful.]
[Manager Li: Don’t worry, I’ll keep following up. You and the players focus on the match; we’ll handle everything outside of it.]
After getting out of the car and returning to the hotel, Zuo Chi didn’t make the cubs continue training since they had drunk a bit of alcohol. He simply treated it as the usual pre-match half-day of relaxation and let them go back to their rooms to rest.
For the next two days, they trained during the day and went to the arena at night to watch the other teams’ matches.
In the arena, the flags of two more teams were taken down.
After the second knockout match ended, the flags of VEX and BLUE were moved to the very center by the staff—their match was tomorrow.
The official league poster had long been released in the livestream room as a preview.
[Preview for tomorrow: Spring Split Quarterfinals, VEX vs. BLUE.]
[New Fire Spreading vs. The Immortal Monument; who will continue to charge toward that ‘Throne’?]
Rustle—
The posters hanging outside the Haishi Esports Center fluttered loudly in the wind.
Long queues had already formed at several entrance gates. Even though the fans carrying banners and light boards hadn’t all taken their seats in the audience, the mountain-shaking and sea-roaring shouts from inside could already be heard.
“BLUE! Add oil!!! Charging for the championship together!!!”
“storm!!! Continuing the BLUE legend!!!”
“VEX! Dark horse! VEX! Dark horse!”
“Coach Zuo!!! We want to see VEX advance to the Top 4!!!”
Zuo Chi was walking toward the pantry in the backstage corridor. The arena’s soundproofing was excellent, but he could still hear the faint shouts of the fans in the corridor.
He looked up. “Whoa, someone’s even shouting my name.”
Manager Li, who was with him to refill the cubs’ water bottles, laughed. “After all, a coach as young as Coach Zuo is a first in the esports circle. It’s just that you stream too little and always let Land sub for you, otherwise, you’d be used to your popularity by now.”
Zuo Chi filled the bottles and used a napkin to dry a drop of water on one of the lids.
“If I remember correctly, the court should have already…”
“Yeah, the first instance is over. The lawyer just messaged me. We won, though only one of those two old fogies showed up. He still tried to cause a scene in court.”
“Only one showed up?”
“Yeah. Wu Yang’s mother—I don’t know if she was too scared to go or if she found a bit of conscience—didn’t show up. She’s still at that run-down inn. I don’t know if those two will appeal, but even if they appeal to the heavens, there’s no way Wu Yang will have to give them a million each.”
Manager Li carried the two bottles and scrolled through his phone, clicking his tongue. “The lawyer told me Wu Yang’s father was shouting outside the court that he’s going to post this online and expose us as an unscrupulous team.”
“He might actually go to some platform and post about it. Anyway, the cubs’ phones have been collected. No matter how loudly he shouts online, it won’t affect us—it’s just the online public opinion. I’ll have to trouble Manager Li and the lawyers to keep an eye on that.”
“We’ve prepared for both scenarios. The official clarification statement has been ready for a long time. Plus, we won the case today; even if that old fogey really posts online and distorts the truth, it can’t beat a court judgment.”
They were almost at the lounge, so they both stopped talking.
When they pushed the door open, among the red and black VEX uniforms was a blue and white BLUE uniform belonging to storm.
“Coach Zuo, I just came to visit and bring everyone some snacks.”
A large bag of snacks was on the table, and several cubs were already eating from bags of potato chips.
Coach Zuo pushed the fruit platter on the table over. “Some fruit. I don’t know if there’s anything you like. This watermelon is quite good and sweet; try some.”
storm used a toothpick to poke a few pieces and ate them. After a few more sentences of chatting, he stood up to leave. Zuo Chi walked him to the door. The smile on storm’s face suddenly faded slightly, and his expression became solemn.
“Coach Zuo, besides bringing snacks… I actually have something else.” He kept his voice very low.
Zuo Chi closed the lounge door and pointed toward the nearby pantry. “Talk over there?”
“Sure.”
“Is it urgent?”
“Quite urgent. Before I came to deliver the snacks, our team’s staff received a call on the team’s public landline. The person claimed to be VEX’s mid laner Wu Yang’s mother.”
Zuo Chi paused his steps. “…Thanks.”
Although storm hadn’t finished, he could roughly guess what Wu Yang’s mother wanted from BLUE.
For storm to come over and tell them this was clearly a huge help.
“There’s nothing to thank me for, Coach Zuo. When I asked for your help yesterday, didn’t you also agree immediately?” storm laughed. “So… that person really is Wu Yang’s mother?”
“She is. The first instance hearing just ended today.”
“The person on the phone said Wu Yang abuses his parents and won’t give them support. She said VEX not only doesn’t help her but even threatens her on Wu Yang’s behalf, making herself sound extremely pitiful. Then she told us she’s going to post this online to expose it, but she’s just an ordinary citizen and is afraid VEX will block the post as soon as it’s up. So, she wanted to ask for our help, specifically for us to arrange some public opinion experts to help her.”
“The staff member who took the call knew it was serious and messaged our manager, who told me—I’ll keep it a secret.”
Zuo Chi: “If they want to post to ‘expose’ us, even if BLUE refuses, they might find another team. Even if they don’t, they’ll post it themselves. It’s hard to keep this hidden… It’s better to be open about it. Regardless of the final result, thank you, and thank BLUE.”
If BLUE had agreed to help Wu Yang’s parents amplify the public opinion, even if the players here didn’t know, the outside world would have been in a storm by the time the match was over.
Furthermore, there were so many spectators at the venue. If any spectator saw the posts online and was misled, causing a scene in the arena during the mid-game breaks, shouting for VEX and Wu Yang to give an explanation, the players’ states would definitely be affected.
In that case, BLUE might have won this Quarterfinal match quite easily.
But BLUE didn’t do that.
They were a fair and upright team, a very respectable opponent.
“I’m a pretty good judge of character. I could tell at a glance that Wu Yang isn’t the type to abuse his parents. Besides, Coach Zuo and Land are both at VEX; you wouldn’t cover for him! Since VEX is prepared, I’m relieved… See you on the stage. Let’s have a drink together after it’s over!”
“See you on the stage.” Zuo Chi hesitated. “But I’m afraid I really can’t have a drink. I have a terrible tolerance for alcohol; it wouldn’t be good if I started acting drunk in front of you. Let Land drink in my place.”
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