Chapter 24: Wanting to Poach? The Coach Wants to Sell Me
[An Overview of Today’s Scrim Results…
VEX vs ZAP, Scrim score unknown.]
On days without matches, the greatest joy for fans in the esports circle was looking at the scrim results of various teams online.
Netizens who specifically waited for the results of these two teams stayed up until the early hours. When they saw this Weibo post, they immediately couldn’t hold it in.
[How can there be a situation where the scrim score is unknown? Today isn’t April Fool’s Day, is it?]
[Could it be that ZAP crashed? They couldn’t beat VEX, so they don’t dare announce the results?]
[The person above, stop being a joke. Would ZAP, who just won the championship, be unable to beat a third-rate team like VEX? Why don’t you say it’s VEX who got bloodily abused and were too ashamed, so they begged ZAP not to announce the score?]
[I had a fever in the middle of the night and went to the hospital for an IV. I met ZAP’s Every at the Second Hospital. Maybe the player felt unwell, so the scrim wasn’t finished.]
[Tell us the details?]
[Speaking of which, it was also very strange. The corner of Every’s mouth was swollen, and the ZAP side-laner’s forehead was black and blue. It felt like the two of them had a fight…]
[Are you saying the ZAP top-jungle duo is in discord? They had a fight during the scrim and went to the hospital? Lawyer’s letter warning. Smirking-face.jpg]
[I didn’t say that! If you don’t believe me, go urge the ZAP players to start a stream and see if their faces look like they’ve been beaten.]
[If the conflict is this intense, Every’s starting position really won’t be secure. I wonder who ZAP will choose after trialing so many junglers…]
“Hello… this is Zuo Chi.”
“Mm.”
“Mm.”
“Mm… Mm?! What did you say?!” Zuo Chi’s lazy tone, which usually carried a slight drawl, suddenly pitched up. The figure of the young man huddled in the bedding immediately did a “catapult start,” sitting bolt upright in bed.
The shout also woke Ning Luzhao in the next bed. Two gazes with sleepiness not yet fully faded collided.
Zuo Chi silently turned on the speakerphone, then said to the ZAP coach who had called early in the morning: “What did you just say? I didn’t hear clearly. Could you please say it again?”
“It’s like this, Coach Zuo. Didn’t we just have a scrim yesterday? Our coaching staff did a comprehensive evaluation after watching the recording… we think Land’s performance was exceptionally good. We were wondering if Land has any intention of being listed for transfer during this period? If so, would he consider coming to ZAP for a trial first?”
Zuo Chi ruffled his messy hair even more.
Good heavens. He had sought out ZAP for a scrim to “train his troops,” but ZAP wanted to poach his Little Jungler-god!
“About the transfer… I have to ask Land about his own intentions.”
“Understandable, understandable.” The ZAP coach sounded confident. “Then I’ll wait for Coach Zuo’s return call. We are very sincere. If the trial results are good, we are willing to pay a transfer fee of five million…”
Hanging up the phone, Zuo Chi rubbed his face with both hands.
He glanced at the time; it was only 8:00 AM. No wonder when he opened his eyes to the ringtone earlier, he felt like he was seeing his great-grandmother.
“Why didn’t the coach just refuse him?”
He was stunned for a moment, then turned to look at Ning Luzhao. The boy was already sitting at the edge of the bed. His light gray hair cast a few faint shadows on his jade-like face.
“After all, ZAP is a powerhouse team and just won the championship. Them looking for you for a trial is a good opportunity…”
Ning Luzhao’s brow furrowed slightly: “The coach wants to list me?”
Of course not! Never mind that ZAP was only offering five million; even fifteen million wouldn’t be enough to buy a player with a Golden Entry! Moreover, Ning Luzhao wasn’t just highly talented; he was also self-disciplined and hardworking. If Zuo Chi were an unscrupulous, black-hearted coach, he would definitely lock Ning Luzhao to their team as a “non-salable item.”
The problem was, the one wanting Ning Luzhao for a trial was a champion team.
If the other party transferred over and secured a starting spot, it would be “one step to the heavens.” He wouldn’t have to keep struggling at VEX while looking at an uncertain future.
Zuo Chi took a deep breath: “Whether to list you or not depends mostly on your own intentions… If you want to go to ZAP for a trial, I’ll try to convince Manager Li.”
Woken up by a phone call and now thinking about Ning Luzhao’s matter, he was in a complicated mood and couldn’t go back to sleep. He simply changed his clothes, washed up, and planned to go out for a walk to breathe some fresh air.
Opening the dorm door, he saw that the doors to the other two dorms were wide open. The cubs had actually all gotten out of bed.
“Why so early?”
They had all slept quite late last night. He had originally thought the players would barely make it to the training room on time today.
“Wu Yang and I discussed it yesterday; the two of us wanted to practice skill chaining together. When Beyond and Fugui heard, they also wanted to get to the training room early,” Wall replied.
The cubs following behind Wall all nodded.
“Go eat breakfast first. Fix yourselves up a bit. We aren’t training today; we’re going out.”
Fugui: “Going out? There are no matches to watch lately?”
“Not to watch matches. We’re going out for a day of relaxation—team building.”
The eyes of the cubs lit up.
Beyond whispered: “Coach Zuo… didn’t you say only if we won the scrim could we…”
“Everyone’s training attitude is good now. Keep it up and we’ll win eventually—you’ve worked hard training lately. Everyone go out and relax together. Where do you want to play? Have you decided?”
Zuo Chi encouraged them: “Speak up boldly. I’m really not being sarcastic; we are truly going out to play.”
Fugui was delighted: “Then I’ll speak boldly! First, go to the newly opened amusement park to ride the roller coaster, then go for hot pot at noon, go hiking in the afternoon, camp by the lake at dusk to enjoy the night view and have BBQ, and after finishing the BBQ, come back to the training room for a review!”
“Agreed!”
Zuo Chi laughed: “No problem—what are you all dazed for? Go pack the things you need for the outing.”
The cubs woke up as if from a dream and scattered in a flash.
Zuo Chi ate breakfast a bit slowly and arrived last. Only the front passenger seat was left in the team’s van.
Getting into the car, the cabin was chirping and bustling as if it were carrying a group of primary schoolers on a spring trip.
Zuo Chi looked at the back seats through the rearview mirror. Ning Luzhao was sitting in the outermost seat, partially hidden by the headrest, so his expression couldn’t be seen. However, Fugui leaned his head over and seemed to be saying something to Ning Luzhao.
Zuo Chi leaned back guiltily, trying to hear what the two were chatting about amidst the noise.
“Ning-god, your expression has been off since we left this morning… had a nightmare last night?”
“No.”
“Coach Zuo scolded you alone?”
“…No.”
“You hesitated! It definitely must be because of Coach Zuo! Oh, Coach Zuo’s words are directed at the matter, not the person. See, even though he scolded us hard yesterday, he took us out for team building to relax today. What does this mean? It means—”
“It’s not because of that.”
“Then what else could it be?” Fugui scratched his head in confusion, then suddenly winked. “I heard! The first time you met Coach Zuo, he was drunk and grabbed your pant leg, acting like a drunkard… did Coach Zuo have a little drink again yesterday…”
“No. It’s that the coach wants to sell me.”
Ning Luzhao’s voice was particularly low for that sentence, yet it happened to be heard very clearly.
Zuo Chi: “?”
Fugui: “?”
“Coach Zuo?! What did our Ning-god do wrong?! Why do you want to sell our Ning-god?!”
Translator’s Note:
- Seeing Great-grandmother (見太奶): A popular Chinese internet slang. It means you are so tired or shocked that you feel like you’re about to die and meet your ancestors.
- One Step to the Heavens (一步登天): An idiom meaning a sudden, massive leap in status or success.
- Team Building (團建): In Chinese corporate/team culture, this refers to organized group outings.
- Catapult Start (彈射起步): Describes someone waking up and sitting up instantly, like they’ve been launched.
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