Chapter 150: Doing Good is the Greatest Joy

Having been inspired by Lei Shenglin, Li Sishi paid more attention to the situation and started using her interest in football as an excuse to strike up conversations with the players.

Just then, a young player on the team was a fan of hers. He was so excited by Li Sishi's question that he couldn't contain himself and blurted out all about his team in a few words.

Lei Shenglin's return to Hong Kong from England was a sudden and unexpected arrival of a powerful figure. As a result, the veterans in the team felt that this "little sea turtle" did not understand the rules of Hong Kong football and had forcibly occupied the position of vice-captain. So, during the game, he played a passive game, focusing on showing off his personal skills and ignoring the team's performance.

With no one to carry the team, no matter how hard Lei Shenglin tried, Qizhi, the team that finished last in Group A this season, was ultimately relegated to Group B before the end of the season.

After the team was relegated, the veteran players jumped ship one after another, while Lei Shenglin, who refused to be poached by strong teams with high salaries, was directly promoted to captain. He also discussed the current countermeasures with the team's coaches, dug out a group of bench players to train as substitutes, and is looking for new players to join.

However, within the Gangcheng Football Club, "Qizhi" can only be considered a long-established second-tier team, far inferior to those well-known first-tier strong teams. It is difficult to recruit new players through ordinary means. Therefore, Lei Shenglin's recent activities in various secondary schools and sports activities are a "lucky break" hoping to find a hidden gem.

After hearing the story of how Lei Shenglin was already the captain of a team at such a young age, Li Sishi thought about it carefully and seemed to remember something.

It seems that in a past life, my cousin Zhou Huiguang was also spotted by a team captain who had a talent for sprinting and wanted to recruit him to try his hand at being a professional player. However, my uncle and aunt, who were traditional and conservative, could not accept Zhou Huiguang making football his profession, feeling that it was not stable enough. So in the end, nothing came of it.

Now, putting everything together, it's highly likely that the team captain who recruited my cousin back then is the young man right in front of me.

Li Sishi didn't know much about the football scene in Hong Kong. She only knew that the champion team of the First Division League could qualify for the Asian Football Confederation Cup. So, in terms of the division, the First Division League was definitely the highest level in terms of both overall level and player income.

However, a team's level isn't relatively fixed like a school's level; there's promotion and relegation every season. For example, Qizhi was relegated from League A to League B last season because the rule is that the bottom two teams in League A are relegated to League B, while the top two teams in League B are promoted.

Group A League.

In this sense, Qizhi's relegation actually gave my cousin an opportunity, allowing this somewhat talented but sometimes halfway-started newcomer a chance to participate and try. Although Qizhi has been relegated, as long as Qizhi finishes in the top two of the second division in the upcoming season, they can return to the first division.

Compared to the fierce competition for a spot on the track and field team with a group of athletically gifted students who have been practicing since childhood, the competition is obviously much less intense.

Just when I was wondering why the team had a new captain and new members, if my cousin joined the training now, he would easily fall for the old guard's tricks of bullying the newbies.

If he ultimately can't pursue a professional gaming career, his cousin will still be young when he retires, and it's not too late for him to switch careers. If all else fails, he can always get a job as her assistant...

Thinking of this, Li Sishi became even more concerned about Lei Shenglin's situation.

Lei Shenglin seemed to want to talk to her as well. As they took a step closer, he took the initiative to speak first: "Miss Li, I heard from Guangzai that you have a certain 'voice' at home."

People involved in sports tend to be more direct, and Lei Shenglin bluntly told Li Sishi that he highly regarded Zhou Huiguang's talent and hoped that Zhou Huiguang could join his team for training after graduating from preparatory school.

“I asked Guangzai before, and he personally expressed some interest, but he felt his family might not agree.” Lei Shenglin sighed, “I understand, this path is indeed quite risky for many parents…”

Remembering how Zhou Huiguang told him that he switched to sports to advance to pre-university studies thanks to his cousin's explanation and persuasion, Lei Shenglin said to Li Sishi with utmost seriousness, "Miss Li, please believe me, I'm telling you this with complete sincerity. Guangzai really has talent..."

“Just call me Ah May.” Li Sishi smiled and shook her head. “There’s no need to be so serious. Actually, I’ve been thinking about Guangzai’s situation lately. His grades aren’t as good as Changchang’s, so it’s a bit difficult for him to get into university through the normal process. That’s why my aunt and uncle and I are still discussing this issue.”

"But seeing you today has given me some new ideas." Li Sishi glanced at the two siblings who were playing around. "You should know that it was I who persuaded your uncle and aunt to let Guangzai train in sports to get into a good school, right?"

Lei Shenglin nodded.

“Compared to your uncle and aunt, young people like us are more adventurous, aren’t we?” Li Sishi smiled. “I also hope that Guangzai can make good use of his talent.”

It would be such a waste of his talent to let him go out into the workforce like this.

“Since you also have this idea, I will do my best to help persuade your uncle and aunt to agree to let Guangzai ‘try’ out a whole new world.”

In her previous life, Li Sishi might not have thought she could persuade her uncle and aunt, but this life was different: the fate of everyone in their family was gradually improving, and with the security of a property in Shanghai, her uncle and aunt didn't have to worry too much about money, and her cousins ​​didn't need to give up their hobbies and dreams for the sake of making a living.

The economic base determines the superstructure; this statement is indeed true.

After a pleasant conversation with Lei Shenglin, Li Sishi returned to her own stand to prepare for her departure when she suddenly noticed a pair of slightly resentful eyes beside her.

"What are you doing, jealous?" Amused by the look in her eyes that seemed to say, "Do you have another cat outside?", Li Sishi laughed teasingly.

Surprisingly, Ling Chen nodded directly, her tone tinged with grievance: "Yes."

When such a direct attack came at Li Sishi, she was caught off guard. After a few seconds of stunned silence, she shoved his shoulder in an annoyed expression and said, "Alright, we're about to leave, stop messing around with me!"

"That's my cousin's old neighbor. He came back from England to play football and wanted me to help persuade his family so that his cousin could try a professional football career!" After a few simple explanations, you could immediately see the jealous cat's expression turn from cloudy to sunny.

"Let's go! Let's go!" He put on his hat and sunglasses and called out to Li Sishi, who was packing.

"Cousin, you go with Leo. Guangzai and I will go with Shenglin's team, and let him learn more about the team!" Zhou Huichang probably said this with the idea of ​​pairing them up, but it was exactly what Li Sishi wanted to give the two siblings a chance.

"Okay, you can go with him." Li Sishi waved in that direction, then walked to Ling Chen's side and said, "You can go now."

Before she could finish speaking, Li Sishi felt her left hand being pulled.

"There are a lot of people on the road, so we don't get separated later." Ling Chen said seriously as he looked up ahead.

He seemed to take this reason as the "truth." When he encountered a group of Little Red Riding Hoods screaming and crowding around him on the street, he still coughed lightly and gave the same reason again: "It's not easy to get separated when there are many people holding hands."

Watching their own idol

This earnest attempt to cover up the truth only made things worse, and the little red hoodies let out a long, drawn-out "oh," an "oh" that was so full of twists and turns...

"Leo! Luckily I ran into you here, I have something to tell you!" The rich woman who bought all the refunds last time was waving happily as she walked over.

"Is there something wrong? I sometimes squeeze in some time to meet with fans in the early morning. I have some impression of this rich woman surnamed Yao, who is often one of the organizers. Moreover, she donated 600,000 yuan tonight's gala 'United Hearts for Public Welfare' and specifically requested to film a music video with him. So I assumed she came over because she had some ideas about the music video shoot this afternoon, and I immediately slowed down."

"I can't go to film the music video this afternoon, my husband at home is jealous..." As she said this, Yao Fupo couldn't help but glare at her wealthy husband who was walking behind her. "If it weren't for you, I wouldn't have had to spend another 200,000 to specifically request Ah May to replace me!"

Filming his new song's music video at dawn, what a show-off he could be!

Unfortunately, her husband is jealous, so she had no choice but to find a replacement she found pleasing to the eye—after all, she had already spent 600,000 yuan, and if she couldn't go up and show off, she had to make up for it!

Yesterday, while playing mahjong, she ran into a friend who liked the pairing of Shang Hanyou and Li Sishi. The two played a fierce game of mahjong for a hundred rounds without a clear winner. So this morning, she took her husband's card and came here to sign a new donation form, as a kind of "compensation" for not being able to film the music video...

"Ah May is not bad either. Didn't you praise her after watching her concert before... Seeing that things were going smoothly, the rich man didn't care about the extra 200,000 he donated. His words were full of pride.

Then he was pinched by the angry rich woman: "Don't be so smug. If I get a divorce now, I can still make it to the afternoon's filming!"

Li Sishi stared dumbfounded at the farce unfolding before her, while Ling Chen seemed completely unfazed: "Don't worry, they're just playing around. Everyone's seen it before."

Looking at the expressions of the little red-hatted children around her, who seemed used to the couple's bickering, Li Sishi turned her head with a wry smile: besides being surprised, she also remembered something from the past.

In Li Sishi's previous life, this wealthy woman forcefully overcame all obstacles and filmed a music video in the early morning. Because of this, she had several arguments with her jealous husband and became a laughing stock in the circle of wealthy wives.

Despite her popularity among fans, the fact that she got into arguments with her husband and was ridiculed by gossip magazines for being such a fan is a testament to her wealth.

She has a good relationship with her husband and mother-in-law; otherwise, she might have been pitied by the wealthy wives.

When Li Sishi heard about this, she outwardly gave a forced laugh as a formality, but inwardly she was quite envious of the couple: in the materialistic world of the wealthy, it was truly rare to find a couple whose union was not only based on mutual benefit but also on genuine love.

Unexpectedly, she witnessed this rumored couple, dubbed a "laughing stock," in person today—a rare example of true love within the wealthy family.

In addition, the wealthy woman spent another 200,000 yuan to specifically request her to perform. Although she was considered an extra, it didn't stop Li Sishi's impression of her from improving even more...

After walking all the way to the end of the million-mile walk, and receiving a certificate of appreciation from the staff encouraging her to complete the entire walk and thanking her for her donation, Li Sishi immediately went with Ling Chen to the pre-booked photography studio to prepare.

While the wealthy woman and the tycoon, a couple known for their financial power, were probably still entertaining guests, Li Sishi and Ling Chen quickly grabbed a bite to eat lunch.

"Your shooting task this time won't be too heavy, because the female lead is not originally in the entertainment industry, so the setting is just to make a few melancholy expressions..." Ling Chen probably did everything except sacrifice himself for charity, so he was very familiar with this kind of thing of working with a rich woman, and had already discussed the shooting arrangements with the MV director.

Li Sishi ate her boxed lunch while reading the script, nodding silently: This design, if it weren't for a few scenes where they were in the same frame, would probably look like the two people filmed separately and then edited together...

However, there's nothing that can be done about it. In general, male artists don't dare to do anything in this situation. The usual gestures of putting their arms around each other's waists and holding hands to show closeness when singing on stage with others are all off-limits. They can only try to give the wealthy women and men who donated encouraging looks to avoid making the atmosphere on stage too awkward.

☉

After lunch, the two began a simple rehearsal. Soon after, the "money power couple," who had finished their performance, also arrived at the photography studio hand in hand to check on the shooting progress.

Upon seeing them arrive, the director very attentively took the script and gave it to the two VIPs who had made the donations to review.

"Why is there so little interaction between Leo and Ah May?" The rich woman was very dissatisfied after reading the script. "I spent 800,000, shouldn't I at least get a kissing scene? Last year at Guanghua's event, adding 500,000 would have allowed Brother Sheng to kiss Sister Zhuang!"

The director was speechless for a moment: Putting aside the fact that Brother Jiasheng and Sister Zhuang are a couple, so it can't be counted like that, and in Guanghua's event, Sister Zhuang only kissed Brother Jiasheng's cheek at the end, which was almost like a cheek kiss.

But what the rich woman demanded was a passionate kiss against the backdrop of a love song...

Although he had a lot of complaints in his mind, he couldn't just say what he really wanted in front of the sponsor—so the director, feigning weakness, wiped his sweat and said with a forced smile, "Many children will be watching our show tonight, so this kind of filming wouldn't be suitable for broadcast. Therefore, we've tried to minimize the interaction between the male and female leads in the program..."

“I’ll add another 200,000, you can decide how to adjust it,” the wealthy man next to him suddenly said. “I’m not forcing you, I just want to do good deeds, doing good is the greatest joy.”

Unexpectedly, the sugar mommy had a sugar daddy behind her, and the director immediately changed his tune: "That's right, that's right. A love song background definitely needs some interaction between the male and female leads. How about I arrange for Leo and Ah May to have a heartfelt hug?"

"Since we've already had a tender hug, how about adding a loving gaze as well?" the rich woman continued to bargain.

The director nodded repeatedly: "No problem, I'll go talk to Leo and Ah May in a bit. They shouldn't refuse, after all—doing good is the greatest joy!"