Chapter 231: What a rubbish match they played in the qualifying rounds...

"How could I be such a sore loser!" Although it was an open secret in the industry that he was bad at cards but had a serious addiction to them, Rong Juezhang always had a mysterious confidence in his terrible card skills.

His rebuttal was so forceful that even Li Sishi, who hadn't intended to expose him, couldn't help but turn her head and give him a rather indescribable look that was neither a smile nor a frown.

"Why are you looking at me like that? Think back, when have I ever lost a hand and not paid out?!" he said, becoming quite self-righteous.

"Of course you gave the money, but you never seem to be entirely satisfied..." Li Sishi muttered softly.

As long as it's not for gambling, playing mahjong is similar to other forms of entertainment with friends, like karaoke or playing sports. A little bit of betting is harmless—and these people generally don't lack that little bit of money. So, Rong Juezhang's inability to accept defeat at mahjong is really just a matter of inexplicable confidence in his skills, coupled with constant setbacks from the harsh reality, leading him to refuse to face reality...

Of course, some people are devastated by setbacks, while others become more determined and resilient.

Clearly, Rong Juezhang, who repeatedly fought and failed but never gave up, is a typical example of the latter type of person...

"Don't even mention it, if you weren't his cousin and had to go to school, he would definitely be dragging you to play cards all the time, trying to retaliate with a numerical offensive..." Although most of the time he would only humiliate himself, if he could win back once or twice, he would brag about it for a long time, saying that he had won against so-and-so.

"Oh, by the way, didn't you beat him in a game of Nine Linked Rings before?" After asking, Lun Yongnan laughed even harder when Li Sishi nodded in agreement. He pointed at Rong Juezhang, "After the game, he was so angry he couldn't sleep all night. He called Danny in San Francisco to complain, and Danny laughed at him, saying he'd have a house full of children and grandchildren without even getting married—"

"Wow, he had nightmares about it that very night, and the next day he was so scared that he made another frantic call to San Francisco, accusing Danny of giving him a nightmare about a double marriage and nine babies..."

Before Li Sishi could react, Rong Juezhang, whose embarrassing story had been exposed, was already so angry that his oval face was almost puffed up like a bun. In order to prevent others from knowing about this, he deliberately went to this kid in San Francisco to "complain," because he was now living far away and no matter how much gossip he told him, it wouldn't get back to Hong Kong.

As it turned out, man proposes, God disposes; long-distance calls really do cause a lot of harm!

"So that's why you lifted my red veil on the anniversary celebration stage and then put it back on?" Li Sishi looked at Rong Juezhang speechlessly.

"Why are you making that face? What's so strange about a single person like me being afraid of this kind of dream?" Rong Juezhang retorted, hands on his hips, his tone both defiant and indignant.

"Okay, do whatever you like." Li Sishi waved her hand.

Indeed, for someone like Rong Juezhang, who has one foot in modern Western thinking, raising a dog would probably be easier than raising a person, let alone adding on the "feudal and old-fashioned double marriage" and the fact that she was having nine babies in one pregnancy, which even she found frightening...

"That's why I like you. You're just like me, just my type." Rong Juezhang put his arm around Li Sishi's shoulder, displaying the same intimate and close friendship as before.

"No, I still yearn for perfect love, unlike you who is so carefree and unburdened."

Although she hasn't made up her mind to enter the "grave" of marriage yet, Li Sishi still harbors hopeful fantasies.

Once she gets older and establishes herself in the industry, it's not impossible for her to start considering trying romance—her acting style is more about experiencing things firsthand, and without enough experience, she might sometimes encounter a certain type of bottleneck.

Seeing that it was almost time, Li Sishi called out to Rong Juezhang, "Let's continue, or we might not make it in time."

Rong Juezhang nodded upon hearing this, chatted with Lun Yongnan for a bit, and then returned to the recording studio with Li Sishi.

After recording a song until late at night and confirming that there were basically no problems and it was ready for delivery, Li Sishi began packing her belongings: "I'm leaving now, see you tomorrow."

"See you tomorrow." Rong Juezhang waved to her, then strolled over to the recording studio next door to continue the conversation he hadn't finished with Lun Yongnan and Li Dewen.

After packing her things, Li Sishi took a car home and rested for a while. The next morning, she drove out to pick up the person herself.

Li Jinhao drove his mother and Zhou Jiaxian directly to the Wangtuo Stadium, while Li Sishi went to Liaojie to pick up her uncle, aunt, and cousin. Then everyone gathered at the stadium entrance.

Although this was only a Group B match, it was considered a clash between the two strongest teams in Group B this year, and Qizhi had star player Lei Shenglin who had previously appeared on television. Therefore, the stadium was about 70% full.

It had a lively and bustling atmosphere.

The tickets held by Li Sishi and her group were rare VIP tickets. Since the VIP section of the Wantuo Stadium only has 50 seats, sitting here undoubtedly shielded them from the trouble of being recognized. The seats were also quite spacious and comfortable.

While waiting for the match to start, Lun Yongnan noticed that the elderly Mrs. Li had only a vague understanding of the rules. So, he took the initiative to become the commentator: "In league matches like this, a points system is usually used. You get 3 points for a win and 1 point for a draw. You see, that's the scoreboard over there. Right now, Qizhi is 2 points behind Xiangdao Club... Hmm, they're a bit behind."

As a veteran football fan, Lun Yongnan naturally had some impression of the Xiangdao Football Club: This team was quite an anomaly among Hong Kong's football clubs, its strength fluctuating between the First and Second Divisions. Basically, one year they'd win the promotion playoffs from the Second Division to get promoted to the First Division, only to be pushed back down to the Second Division by a First Division team the following year. This back-and-forth cycle earned them the nickname "Yo-Yo Team" among football fans.

...

But despite being a team that rises and falls, being able to reach the top of the standings among dozens of teams in Group B means that even if they are beaten back by strong teams in Group A, they are still the strongest team in Group B.

Although Qi Zhi had also retired from the top division, the team has undergone a major overhaul, and the new players have not yet fully integrated. They rely entirely on Lei Shenglin, a star player, who serves as both the core player and the commander. When Lun Yongnan praised Qi Zhi in front of Li Sishi, there was a bit of politeness involved.

Of course, it's not that Qizhi isn't strong enough. The main reason is that Qizhi is a typical "future strong team". They are currently in a transitional period of transformation and integration. If they transition well, they will definitely have the strength to compete for the A-League championship in the future.

However, if the transition is not good or is slow, it is easy to linger in a certain stage for too long, and then, like those young athletes who cannot get through the developmental stage, they miss the best opportunity for development and eventually become just an ordinary person.

Previously, Lun Yongnan had praised Qizhi's potential based on his impression, but after doing some research, he discovered that Qizhi hadn't had much luck in this year's competitions: they always drew strong teams from Group B in the draw. Although they managed to hold on, veteran striker Wan Yibo had to drop out of the starting lineup in the later stages of the competition due to a recurrence of an old injury and fatigue issues.

Therefore, Qizhi is currently using a three-forward lineup, with Li Sishi's cousin Zhou Huiguang, the only star player and captain Lei Shenglin, and the rather erratic Zhu Yu serving as the forwards in this match, forming a sharp attack against Xiangdao Club.

Xiangdao Football Club is currently two points ahead of Qizhi, so Xiangdao Football Club doesn't even need to win this match; a draw would be enough to secure their promotion. Qizhi, on the other hand, must win this match and take all three points to turn the tide and re-enter the top division this year.

Li Sishi, who also only had a vague understanding, listened to Lun Yongnan's explanation with a somewhat serious expression: she had originally thought that with Lei Shenglin's leadership and the efforts of a group of strong newcomers, Qizhi's advancement this year should be quite secure.

She never imagined that there were so many rules and intricacies in football that she was unaware of, which led her to underestimate other teams and overestimate Qizhi's current strength.

"Actually, it's not an overestimation of Qizhi; they still have a lot of potential. They were just unlucky this time, and one of their main players was also missing in the mid-to-late stages, so they had to redesign their formation and work on team cohesion. It's really quite impressive that they've managed to hold on until now," Li Dewen added.

Even if I'm unlucky this year and fail to advance, there's absolutely no problem next year.

"Sigh, who wants to wait until next year if they can make it this year?" Although Rong Juezhang wasn't as obsessed with football as Lun Yongnan and Li Dewen, he was still an ordinary fan who was quite interested in the sport. Hearing this, he couldn't help but feel a pang of regret, recalling his early years struggling in the entertainment industry.

Sometimes luck really is more important than ability.

The lively music gradually faded away, and both teams appeared on the green field. The first half of the match was about to begin.

"Are you kidding me? Sending a 'basketball team' to guard the core of the Qizhi team is going too far!" Upon seeing that Xiangdao Club had actually sent five people to mark Lei Shenglin and Rong Juezhang at the start of the game, Zhang immediately shouted out.

“Qizhi has recently been dubbed the ‘one-man team,’ which refers to the fact that the entire team is now relying on Lei Shenglin to carry them. Xiangdao Football Club has adopted a plan to defend and secure advancement, so they will definitely focus most of their efforts on Lei Shenglin, who is most likely to score,” Lun Yongnan explained.

At this moment, it wasn't just Li Sishi and her entourage in the VIP seats who saw the situation; fans in other positions also noticed the plans of the two teams, and the sound of the crowd began to murmur.

But it's clear that Qi Zhi has more supporters—although Qi Zhi's win rate is only one-third, his odds are high and many star players have bet on Qi Zhi to win in underground betting, so they are cheering him on very hard, almost as if they want to go down to the field to help Lei Shenglin block the attack.

Unfortunately, Ki-Chi's plan was to launch a desperate attack to score, leaving his backline wide open. Taking advantage of Ki-Chi's inability to get back to defense, the veterans of the Xiangdao Football Club seized an opportunity and, through a series of exceptional plays, managed to score a goal before Ki-Chi could launch his attack!

"Are you kidding me! How could they concede a goal like that, Qizhi?!" A fan who had bet on Qizhi to win immediately became furious when he saw the scoreboard clearly showing 1-0.

"What a piece of trash they're kicking!" someone started, and then others joined in the shouting.

"I can't stand it anymore! Excuse me, I'll tear it up!" Some even more impatient people tore up their tickets on the spot, stood up from their seats in a huff, and walked straight out.