For Love of the Game

Zhou Ning did not expect that he would meet the manager of the Supper team in the hospital. This person has a bad reputation in the circle. He bribed referees, poached players from other teams, bought reporters to publish scandals about other players, and was even exposed to beating new players in the training camp. .

It can be said that he has done all the scandals except not messing around with female players.

Zhou Ning didn't know why he was staring at him, but it must be nothing good, he bowed his head and walked away as if he didn't see it.

"Zhou Ning! Zhou Ning!"

Zhou Ning walked so fast that he couldn't catch up, so he learned to be smart and yelled, "Deputy Zhou!"

Some passers-by looked at them, Zhou Ning had to stop, and said with a smile, "Manager Wang, it's you, I thought it was my illegitimate meal."

Manager Supper's facial expression twitched a little, thinking that he was indeed the team member brought out by Song Xueyang, and each one was more ghostly than the other.

"Deputy Zhou is so popular, it's right to be wary."

"You're welcome. Manager Wang, please check your body quickly. I have to go back to training. Goodbye."

Zhou Ning didn't want to stay any longer, so he turned around and left.

When Manager Wang saw that he was reticent, he lowered his face, "Deputy Zhou, since I've found this, do you think you can keep your father's affairs a secret? You'd better sit down with me and have a good talk."

Zhou Ning glanced at him coldly, "I don't think it's shameful for your parents to be sick. Haven't your parents been sick?"

Manager Wang walked over with a smile, "It's not shameful for parents to be sick. It's filial piety to support the elderly. Deputy Zhou has been unable to make ends meet in order to treat his father for so many years, and even borrowed usury loans. Tsk tsk, if your fans know No, don't feel bad to death."

These words precisely hit Zhou Ning's weakness.

Zhou Ning has never mentioned family matters to anyone in so many years. What he is most afraid of is being looked at in a different way. He hopes that he is excellent and happy in the eyes of others.

He got into the car with Manager Wang, and the two went to a coffee shop. The seats were separated by a screen, and the location was fairly hidden.

The waiter served two cups of coffee. Manager Wang seemed to be very relaxed and confident.

Seeing his appearance, Zhou Ning was annoyed, "What do you want to say?"

"Actually, it's nothing. I just asked Deputy Team Zhou to help me a little."

"Heh, can I have a little favor before the game?"

"Of course there is." Manager Wang hooked his finger at him, and Zhou Ning patiently moved closer, "Maple Moon and Supper are both top eight teams, and their strengths are actually similar. The two teams have also played against each other in previous years, and the winners and losers are evenly split."

"There are many surprises in the arena. It is not certain who wins or loses. Look at Rubik's Cube team. In what year has it not been crushed by Chen Xi? This year they didn't even enter the quarter-finals. Fengyue only played last year for so many years. We made it to the semi-finals, but we stopped at the quarter-finals in other years, so it’s okay to lose to Supper this year.”

Zhou Ning was stunned. He didn't expect Manager Wang to want him to play fake matches.

"Do you think Maple Moon might lose to Supper?"

Manager Wang snorted, "What's impossible? It's not like I haven't lost before. This year you have Shen Huai and we have Sun Yuan. Everyone is even."

Zhou Ning snorted coldly, "Is he worthy of being compared with Shen Huai?"

Manager Wang didn't like listening to it anymore, he spent a lot of money to recruit Sun Yuan, if he lost to the old team Fengyue in the first year, then Sun Yuan's popularity would definitely plummet.Whether it can reach the semi-finals this year is crucial for Supper.

He stretched out five fingers impatiently, "This number, is it enough to buy you three games? Your annual salary is only so much, enough to cover your dad's medical expenses for the second half of the year."

Zhou Ning was stunned, "Five...ten thousand?"

Manager Wang knocked on the table and leaned over, "Yes, 500 million, a deposit of 200 million, and I'll give you another 300 million after the matter is completed. The championship bonus of the national competition is only 150 million. Leaving aside the team's rake, the seven of you Even if you get it, it’s only 20 or [-], which is not even enough for your father’s monthly rent.”

"However, as long as you make a slight mistake in these three games..." He pushed over a check, "This is yours. Vice team Zhou is Fengyue's core stock. As long as you ask, Captain Song will definitely It'll make you play the full three games, right?"

Zhou Ning's hands clenched into fists under the table, "How about I say no?"

"It's okay." Manager Wang lazily leaned on the chair, "I don't force it, but your father's illness, I'm afraid you won't be able to take out the loan shark. I heard that you just accepted a high-priced endorsement a few days ago. If you At this time, the image is damaged, and the breach of contract fee may be quite a lot, right?"

"Don't worry, as long as you are a human being, there will be times when you don't perform well. It's just a game, and you can play again in August next year. You usually do your best for the team and no one will blame you. But if something happens at this juncture, you life would be a mess.”

"..."

After a while, Zhou Ning and Manager Wang left the coffee shop one after the other, and they walked in different directions when they went out.

Zhou Ning walked in a hurry, didn't notice that he was out of the door, so he walked out of the private room, he walked all the way to the oblique rear of the table where Zhou Ning had just sat, and stood behind the vase pretending to take pictures of the mural man's shoulders.

He spread his hand, "Here."

The man glared at him unhappily, "Are you crazy? It's none of your business for me to take pictures? What a bad luck!"

Guan He was unmoved, seeing the man about to leave, he pressed his shoulder heavily, "You know who I am, it's just a word from me that made you lose your job."

The man's shoulders trembled slightly, and after a while, he removed a memory card from the camera.

Guan He took the memory card and took the camera away, he just stuffed a business card in his pocket, "Send me your bank card number, I want this camera."

That night, the first match of the "City of Despair" national finals began, and the protagonists of this match were Xiaolang and Chenxi.

One is this year's defending champion, and the other is the goalkeeper of the top eight teams. This game really doesn't have much pressure on Xiaowolves.

Song Xueyang specially took them to the scene to watch the game in order to get everyone into the state as soon as possible.

After Zhou Ning came back from the afternoon, he was silent, and there was no expression on his face. Neither Shen Huai nor Song Xueyang asked, and they agreed to give Zhou Ning time to think.

季后赛BO5赛制，今晚的五场比赛顺序分别是两场2V2，1V1和6V6二连。

This order of competition is relatively favorable for Chenxi, because among all the modes, 2V2 is the weakest item of Xiaowolf, because Guan He himself has a habit of never playing 2V2.

Some people said that it was because Xiaowolves didn’t have anyone who could keep up with the team’s rhythm, and some said that Guan He didn’t want to be dragged down, but Guan He himself never explained the reason in front of reporters, because he refused to play 2V2, and the team took him No way, so the lineup of the Xiaowolf team is also the most fixed among all professional teams.

In the two 2V2 matches, Xiaolang dispatched a combination of ice mage epee and ice mage light sword respectively. The two games were tied with one win and one loss.

In the third 1V1 match, "Hei Lang", the elementalist of the Xiaolang team, opened the game. Hei Lang is a 1V1 player specially trained by the Xiaowolf team. He is the opposite of Guan He. He never plays 6V6, and basically always starts 1V1.

When Shi Yi was still in Xiaolang, he was fighting at Hei Lang's current position, Guan He valued him and even let him participate in team battles.

Later, he left the first team, and Heilang was also promoted to the main draft. Now he has won two national championships with the Xiaowolf team, which can be said to be very enviable.

Hai Xing was afraid that Shi Jing would be hurt, so he couldn't help comforting him, "I think Hei Lang is on the same level as you, so you don't need to regret it. It's their loss for Xiao Lang to lose you."

Shi Yi shook his head, "I don't regret it, Fengyue is a very good team, I like it here, I can fight side by side with everyone, no matter I win or lose, I don't regret it."

Hearing this, Hai Xing patted Shi Yi on the shoulder, "Good job! As expected of my little brother, just wait, we must defeat Xiaolang this year!"

Shen Huai's heart was moved, he thought that Zhou Ning would definitely consider it more carefully when he heard these words, but he turned his head and found that Zhou Ning was looking ahead with a stern face, as if he didn't hear the conversation between the two little guys at all.

Xiaolang's 1V1 defending player is Guan He. Guan He debuted for six years, and has very few 1V1 defending defeats. He is also the player with the most stable performance in China.

Chen Xi's player was not his opponent at all, and Guan He won this match without any suspense.

The next two 6V6 games were the team Chen Xi's best at, but it was a pity that the 6V6 of the Xiaolang team was even more famous, and the "Three Swordsmen" of world civilization had few opponents in fast-break team battles.

Chenxi's team battles are mainly based on auxiliary professions, black and white spells and holy lights are all available, although the output is slightly weak, the life-saving is top-notch in the circle.

Although He won the 6V6 level, he played very hard.

In the first round of the "City of Despair" national finals, Xiaolang advanced 3:1, while Team Chenxi was eliminated miserably.

After watching Xiaolang's game, everyone felt excited, and on the way they discussed going back to play a game at night.

Song Xueyang stopped immediately, "No, what time is it today? Rest early, tomorrow night will be our battlefield."

Hai Xing bargained, "Just one game, it won't take long, and I'm used to going to bed late, you let me go to bed so early, I can't fall asleep!"

"If you can't sleep, you have to squint."

Starfish's eyes fell on Shen Huai, "Shen Huai! Do you want to fight? Let's go to bed after a fight."

Shen Huai was a little funny seeing his energetic appearance, but he still said plainly, "We will fight tomorrow."

Starfish froze immediately, if Shen Huai didn't help him, he couldn't deal with Song Xueyang by himself.

"Hey, Zhou Ning!" Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Zhou Ning walking quietly, "Brother Ning, will you play with me? Let's solo!"

Zhou Ning walked forward quietly, he looked ahead, the emotions in his eyes were dim, and his slightly thin figure seemed to blend into the night.

"Zhou Ning?"

Zhou Jing whispered, "Brother?"

Fan Jingming asked, "Zhou Ning, are you okay? I think you are a little absent-minded tonight."

Zhou Ning recovered and looked at everyone, "Sorry, I'll go back first."

After speaking, he strode into the night.

Hai Xing was a little confused, "What's wrong with Zhou Ning?"

Shi Dao said, "Maybe it's because I was a little stimulated after watching tonight's game?"

Hai Xing nodded again and again, "Yes, it's possible."

Shen Huai and Song Xueyang looked at each other without speaking.

Everyone returned to the hotel to rest, and not long after entering the room, Song Xueyang received a multimedia message.

The sender was an out-of-town number, and the content was a photo. Zhou Ning and Manager Wang of the Supper team sat face to face at the coffee table, and Manager Wang handed him a check.

Shen Huai also saw this photo, Song Xueyang frowned slightly, and put away the phone.

Manager Wang has scouted people in Fengyue before, but this time is different. Now is not the transfer period. The entry list of each team has been fixed during the group stage, and the poaching will not be at this time.

Then, there is only one reason left to meet the enemy players before the game - to buy and win.

This matter is also easy to explain. Supper did not reach the semi-finals last year. If Sun Yuan was poached from Fengyue and then lost to Fengyue, it would be really shameful.

"What do you think of this?" Song Xueyang asked.

Shen Huai said calmly, "I believe in Zhou Ning."

Song Xueyang smiled slightly, "I believe it too."

The next night, the second match of the "City of Despair" national finals is about to begin. Tonight's participating teams are Fengyue and Supper. The two teams are of similar strength in previous years. This year, Supper poached Sun Yuan again. Netizens gloated and waited to see Fengyue kill the traitor.

When entering the arena, everyone passed by Supper's rest room, and there was a noisy quarrel inside. At the same time, the door of the lounge was knocked open with a "bang", and the force was so strong that it almost threw Shen Huai who was passing by the door.

Sun Yuan didn't expect that there were other people outside, let alone that it happened to be Fengyue's person.

When he came out, his face was very ugly, and he couldn't put on a good face when he saw Shen Huai, so he closed the door and left without saying a word.

Hai Xing was upset, "Can't you even say an apology?"

Shen Huai pressed his little head, "It's okay, don't quarrel with him."

Everyone entered the waiting room, Song Xueyang finally said the game strategy and entered the waiting room with everyone.

Zhou Ning took a wrong step and walked to Song Xueyang's side, "Fox, I want to play three games today."

Shen Huai heard it, but didn't speak.

Song Xueyang narrowed his eyes slightly, "Okay."

"Also, I want to start in 1V1."

"can."