Chapter 51: Layoffs Hit the Main Arteries
After the final of the Juxing Cup, the enthusiasm of the audience for this live streamer competition did not last long.
Firstly, the Streamer Cup receives less attention than the league;
Secondly, although yux and meng participated in the competition, for many viewers who only follow the league, their opponents were all unknown streamers.
After watching a 3-0 final, everyone will more or less feel a sense of "father beating son".
In contrast, the Contenders Cup, which will be held in May, is even more noteworthy.
The Contenders Cup has eight teams participating. As it is a cup competition, some teams will choose to field some or even all of their second-team players for experience, while those teams without a second team or those who want to maintain the performance of their first-team players will still choose to participate with their original lineup.
Based on past years' performance, even though the champions and runners-up of the Juxing Cup are considered top-tier streamers, they are still easily defeated by professional players from second-tier teams in the actual competition. The level of teamwork between the two sides is simply not on the same level, and a best-of-one match often ends with a one-sided, overwhelming victory within 20 minutes.
Therefore, even if they qualify for the group stage, they usually end up with zero points and are eliminated after the group stage.
But this year, things seem to be different.
—After being away from the training environment for five months, can Yux, who is widely recognized as the strongest player in the league, still lead a retired vice carry, an entertainment streamer, and a child who is not yet an adult, to perform at the same level as in the league in the cup competition?
The topic sparked a long and heated debate on various social media platforms and gaming forums (most of which consisted of personal attacks), ultimately concluding that the streamer cup was just a piece of cake, and winning even one match in a real tournament would be considered a victory.
Occasionally, a few weak voices would express, "What if we make it to the knockout stage?", but these were all dismissed as "the game fans have gone mad again."
These debates naturally spread to Nan Zhiyi's homepage.
In the past, he would have angrily picked up his alternate account, liked those comments supporting Yux, and then tried to report the other side's comments.
However, he was now very, more so than ever before, calm.
The Star Cup has ended, but the roeCN Spring Season playoffs have just begun.
The threshold of his house has been worn down by the influx of managers.
Although there is still a competition next month, Nan Zhiyi decided to give the team members a five-day short break.
So for those five days, the managers went crazy, refreshing his doorstep. To show their sincerity, they would personally visit him even to discuss a potential collaboration, offering a series of tempting conditions: high salary, no trial training, and the right to choose a contract. And they were all surprised to find that, besides Yux himself, Angel Yi was also living in his house.
Many players in the league have affiliated agencies that handle their signings, transfers, and endorsements, and keep an eye out for potential pitfalls in the contracts that clubs might include.
However, You Xin debuted with CG, and his original contract was personally reviewed by Attorney Leng. Now, he is unwilling to sign with a temporary agency and be subject to their control, so he has to personally handle the negotiation.
Aside from stating that he "won't go to teams that didn't make the playoffs," no further information has been released from You Xin's side. Therefore, of the six teams that secured playoff spots, the managers of the other five teams, excluding his former team CG, are all eager to try their luck.
On the 13th, in the first round of the playoffs, HYG faced off against FM, and FM was eliminated. At 10 AM on the 14th, FM's manager, Cube, appeared outside Nan Zhiyi's house.
On the 14th, CG faced off against AQ, and AQ was eliminated. The next day, AQ's manager, Lu, appeared outside Nan Zhiyi's house.
Nan Zhiyi: "…………"
On the third day, the manager of the WD team, who hadn't been eliminated yet, also showed up. He was almost stunned when he saw that it was Nan Zhiyi who opened the door.
When they sat down to discuss the matter in detail, the WD manager looked at Nan Zhiyi, who was sitting very naturally next to You Xin and playing on her phone, and asked the question that the previous two managers had failed to ask: "Uh, this lady... should she excuse herself for a moment?"
Upon hearing this, You Xin turned to Nan Zhiyi and asked, "Do you want to go upstairs?"
Nan Zhiyi: "I'm fine with anything." Actually, he still wanted to stay and listen, fearing that You Xin would be deceived by the manager's sweet talk.
You Xin hummed in agreement and turned to the manager, saying, "He's right here."
The manager couldn't help but show a slightly confused expression: "...?"
“If he feels it’s not appropriate, I won’t go,” You Xin said calmly.
The manager's eyes suddenly widened.
That evening, someone leaked the news, and a discussion thread suddenly appeared on the forum: "[I heard that all the managers are now fawning over Angel's intentions, because if he says he doesn't like a certain team, Yux won't go to that team?]"
Then the comments section was filled with criticism, with everyone believing that the CP fans were spreading false information through fake connections and muddying the waters.
...Only Nan Zhiyi knew that he actually received three different friend requests on WeChat that night. One of them, an anonymous person, sent a whole set of new couple outfits to his ROE account after the request was accepted.
"…………"
Is this really true?
On the morning of the fourth day, the family received an unexpected visitor.
After the doorbell rang, You Xin was the first to open the door.
He crossed his arms and looked down at Yang Lei, the short, stocky CG manager who was carrying a briefcase and wearing a suit, standing by the door. After a moment, he said rather rudely, "Come in. The shoe covers are on the shoe rack."
You Xin stepped back from the doorway and turned to Nan Zhiyi, who looked somewhat surprised, and said, "If you feel unwell, a little dizzy or nauseous, you can go upstairs to rest first."
Yang Lei bent down to put on his shoe covers, and when he looked up, he met Nan Zhiyi's gaze, who was staring at him with hostility from the living room: "…………"
"No need," Nan Zhiyi said finally. "I'll stay here."
A subtle feeling suddenly arose in Yang Lei's heart, and he couldn't help but scrutinize the two people in front of him. He had naturally heard the bizarre rumor, and as far as he knew, the source of the information was likely true.
—You Xin played in CG and the secondary league for a total of three years, and as the general manager of CG Eternal Division, he had no idea that the other party had such a good relationship with a streamer in private.
He clearly remembered that after Nan Zhiyi withdrew from youth training due to injury, the two of them didn't have much contact, right?
"Sit down." You Xin glanced at the sofa, and before he could go over, she sat down herself.
He cut to the chase: "Didn't you say we'd see each other in court? What, you've suddenly changed your mind and want to bring me back?"
Yang Lei sat down on the sofa, feeling a little awkward.
“I think there was some misunderstanding between us before,” he said, forcing himself to speak.
The so-called misunderstanding was actually because Boss Yan recently had a sudden whim to inspect the situation of the Eternal branch and found that the team that made it to the finals last year had almost failed to make it to the playoffs this year.
Then, he heard some rumors from somewhere that "Stone is the one who instigated the power struggle in the club," and he flew into a rage. He pointed at Yang Lei's nose and asked him, "What am I doing with the tens of millions of yuan budget I give you every year? Is this how you ruin my team?"
Finally, he said, "If you can't get back on track in the second half of the year, I don't think you're good to go."
Yang Lei was filled with despair. How could he have known that the youth training player who had performed just as well as Yux in the training matches would play such a terrible game in the official matches?
He held the power of life and death over the team, and it wasn't that he hadn't dismissed key players. Even when Nova, a former star player, disagreed with him and threatened to retire, didn't he find a decent replacement?
Who would have thought that this round of layoffs would hit the very heart of the team? When Yux was there, more than half of the conflicts within the team stemmed from him. But once he left, the entire CG team seemed to have lost its backbone and fell apart.
Otherwise, why would I come to the person I had a falling out with and beg them to come back?
However, the situation was better than Yang Lei had imagined. At least Yux was willing to meet with him. This meant that there was still a possibility of negotiation.
"Is that so?" You Xin said noncommittally. "Tell me about it."
"CG hopes you can return to the club, and everything that happened before can be wiped clean," Yang Lei said. "If you want, we can also cooperate in issuing a statement to clarify the previous misunderstandings."
You Xin raised his eyebrows: "I've covered the downsides. Now for the upsides."
Yang Lei: "…………"
Yang Lei: "What conditions do you want?"
You Xin touched his chin thoughtfully. He held up his hand and made a "five".
"Fifty million?!" Yang Lei almost jumped up from the sofa.
“Five thousand,” You Xin said, “for the whole year.”
Yang Lei choked on his words. Thankfully, it was just a small demand.
But You Xin seemed to have something else to say: "I want the highest say in the team."
Yang Lei glared at him, but then the image of his boss flying into a rage flashed through his mind. After a long while, he said dryly, "Okay."
Nan Zhiyi, who had been pretending to play on her phone while eavesdropping, suddenly couldn't concentrate on reading a single word.
Can you believe it? How did things suddenly turn into conditions? Do you really mean we have to go back?
CG's reputation for being untrustworthy is well-documented.
“One last thing,” You Xin said, “I want Zds out.”
Yang Lei: "...That's probably very difficult to do."
"Then there's nothing to talk about."
Yang Lei's expression immediately turned somewhat unpleasant.
“Yes, I know you and he don’t get along,” he said. “But he’s the best coach we can find right now. It’s mid-year, and if you fire him, where are we supposed to find a coach? Someone who couldn’t even find a job last winter?”
Yang Lei tried to make his tone sound more earnest: "After all, he made it to the finals last year, so even if his coaching level is bad, it can't be that bad."
"Really? I don't think so."
"..." Yang Lei was immediately at his wit's end. He had already experienced firsthand just how difficult Yux was a month ago. "Then tell me, what kind of coach do you want? Where am I supposed to find one for you?"
“You have a ready-made candidate right in front of you,” You Xin said.
Yang Lei looked at him suspiciously: "You're not going to talk about yourself, are you?"
“No,” You Xin said, “I’m talking about him.”
While pretending to be playing on her phone, Nan Zhiyi suddenly felt two pairs of eyes on her.
He couldn't keep up the act any longer. He looked up, dumbfounded, and asked, "What are you talking about? Me??"
"Hmm." You Xin's tone was ambiguous, whether he was joking or deliberately making things difficult for CG's manager. "I think Nan Zhiyi is a suitable candidate."
Yang Lei's expression looked as if You Xin had forced him to swallow a fly: "Yux, I know you may not be willing to negotiate with us, but you don't have to make things so difficult for us, do you?"
"Think about it carefully. Is CG your best option right now?" He couldn't help but raise his voice. "Where else can you go besides CG? Which team has a better roster than us right now? WD, are you satisfied with their support? NJ? The whole team is rookies, do they have the budget to buy you? HYG? Is there even a place for you there? Would they kick Milk out and let you go there?"
Nan Zhiyi couldn't listen anymore. He frowned, stood up from the sofa, said "I'm going to get some water," and hurried into the kitchen.
The sounds of their argument, or rather, Yang Lei's unilateral outburst, continued from the living room. It was unclear what sensitive nerve You Xin had touched that had triggered such a sudden hysteria in him.
Ten minutes later, when Nan Zhiyi returned, she had two cups of iced coffee in her hands.
He placed one cup in front of You Xin and handed the other to Yang Lei, saying with a smile, "This is coffee I just made. Please have a taste."
Yang Lei was taken aback, and felt a little flattered: "Thank you."
Is this considered a gesture of goodwill towards him?
His mood improved slightly, and he took a sip of his coffee. It was an iced Americano, initially bitter, but with a slightly sweet taste, like some kind of fruit juice had been added. Probably some new style popular with young people.
Yang Lei didn't really like the taste, but he drank most of it to show his sincerity. He thought to himself that Yux's personality was much better than his own; she was the kind of person he could easily manipulate at first glance. If only Yux were that easy to deal with.
He put down his cup and, trying to speak in a gentle tone, began to re-analyze the current situation in the league, mentioning several tempting offers regarding live streaming contracts and endorsements.
Throughout this time, You Xin sat opposite him, watching him without flinching.
"...Besides these, we'll have a new sponsor for the Summer Split. They're currently in talks, and they said if you're willing to return, they'll offer you some separate cooperation terms in addition to the team sponsorship." Yang Lei continued to speak at length.
Just as he was about to go on to explain the terms in more detail, he suddenly felt something... off about his body.
A few seconds later, Yang Lei clearly felt it.
His stomach suddenly... hurt terribly.
The words he had prepared were instantly forgotten. Yang Lei gritted his teeth, a sharp pain shooting through him, turning his face deathly pale.
He opened his mouth, and in that instant, he mustered all the shamelessness he had ever possessed, weakly asking, "...Um, Yux, I'm suddenly feeling a little unwell...Could I use your bathroom?"
You Xin looked at him with a somewhat curious expression.
"I'm sorry," she said, her voice icy cold. "Manager Yang, you know I have severe mysophobia."
Yang Lei stood up, trembling and ashen-faced: "Well then, let's stop here for today... We'll talk again next time."
"Okay. Turn right after you leave the residential area, and there's a public restroom about 500 meters away." You Xin politely pointed out the way for him, followed behind him, and opened the door for him. "Take care."
The door slammed shut behind Yang Lei.
You Xin turned around and found that Nan Zhiyi was trying her best to write "I'm innocent, don't look at me" on her face, pretending to be nonchalant as she looked left and right.
“I don’t seem to remember having a coffee machine at home,” he said.
"..." Nan Zhiyi withdrew his gaze. He had done something wrong and was so guilty that he almost tucked his ears in. "It's instant. I was afraid he wouldn't drink it if I told him."
You Xin: "You didn't add anything to his cup, did you?"
"It's nothing. It's just... prune juice." Nan Zhiyi touched his nose, a little embarrassed, and said, "He kept saying nasty things and wouldn't leave for ages. I found it so annoying... Anyway, it's just normal food. I took it from the refrigerator. It shouldn't count as poisoning, right?"
You Xin leaned against the shoe cabinet by the door, laughing so hard he couldn't straighten up for a long time.
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Author's Note: Xiao Yi even considered letting the bird bite people, but worried about her pet getting hurt, she decided to take matters into her own hands.
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