Chapter 19
In front of the college entrance exams, all people were equal.
While rookie player Luo, endured humiliation and answered the language test, Yu Sui and Ji Yanhan were unable to break away from convention. They, like so many of the candidates’ parents, anxiously couldn’t bring themselves to leave the examination site. Instead, they endured the summer heat, waiting eagerly and anxiously outside, together with the candidate in spirit.
Of course, the two of them though, were inside the car. They lay the car seats flat, using the cushion as pillows with the air-conditioning at full blast and with drinks in hand. The summer heat couldn’t get at them inside.
Ji Yanhan took a sip of his cola and looked outside the window, feeling absolutely stupid. “Do we really have to wait here?”
“Of course.” Yu Sui lay down. He put on his sungla.s.ses and looked at his mobile phone. “What if that little b.a.s.t.a.r.d suddenly comes out and we’re not here?”
Ji Yanhan shook his head. “I was looking at the examination room instructions while I was waiting for you. It seems you can’t submit your paper even if you finish earlier …”
“There’s always a “what if” in every situation. What if he pretend to be ill?” Yu Sui lazily said, “If he really ran away, who would take the next three exams for him?”
After thinking awhile, Ji Yanhan agreed. He squinted as he took a look at Yu Sui’s phone interface. He moved closer and frowned. “Are you still taking selfies?”
“No.” Yu Sui took off his sungla.s.ses and directed a business smile to his phone. “There’s no training today so I thought I’d do an outdoor live broadcast for everyone. Ji Shen is also here too. Captain, say h.e.l.lo!”
Ji Yanhan: “…”
Ji Yanhan simply collapsed. “Can’t you read the mood? That little whelp is inside right now preparing to come out and chop you down. And you still felt like doing a live broadcast? What’s the difference between you and those who do live broadcasts of their family’s funeral arrangements?”
“What’s wrong with me doing a college entrance exam live broadcast?” Yu Sui urged. “Hurry up! I still have 20 hours of live broadcast this month. Today, I’m going to knock off at least 10 hours.”
Ji Yanhan was left with no choice but to go along with it. He reluctantly smiled and made a peace sign with Yu Sui. He greeted the fans and hurriedly put on his gla.s.ses, embarra.s.sed.
Yu Sui didn’t feel there was anything embarra.s.sing about this. Everyone here was bored. So what if he opened a live broadcast?
“What are we doing out here? Sending Luo to take the exam, yup, the college entrance exam.” Yu Sui stretched his legs, exuding a sense of healthy vitality, “The holy light of compulsory education shines equally on every student — including our e-sports players.”
“Of course, Luo is taking the exam willingly. Why wouldn’t he? The college entrance exam is such a good thing, of course, he wanted to take it. When he went into the venue, his face was radiating with grat.i.tude. He even gave us a deep bow.”
“Chop me down? You guys heard wrong. Ji Shen was joking. Luo is very grateful that his alma mater hadn’t given up on him and gave him this valuable opportunity to take the college entrance examination. He also cherishes this opportunity very much. It’s true. I’m not lying to you. Why don’t you believe me? ”
“Why are you all saying I haven’t spoken a word of truth?”
“I don’t know if he’ll do well on the exams or not…”
Yu Sui suddenly thought of something. He asked Ji Yanhan, “Can you have them hurry up a bit? Get them to quickly finalize Luo’s live broadcast contract? How about for his first live broadcast, he does a college entrance exam score reveal? It will be exciting and a nice surprise. ”
“A college entrance exam scores reveal…” Ji Yanhan looked at Yu Sui, at a loss for words. He might as well smash the pot since it’s already cracked. “Why don’t I have the publicity department fly over here now? They can shoot him through the entire process. Later, they can edit a college entrance examination doc.u.mentary. What do you think? Will Shi Luo smash up our base? ”
This really was possible. Yu Sui could only regretfully give up.
Yu Sui continued to tease the fans. He was a very talkative person. He didn’t need to interact with the chat. He could talk to the mobile phone without feeling the slightest bit awkward. He could happily amuse himself with talking for a long time. In the time they were waiting for Shi Luo to come out, at first, Yu Sui was in high spirits as he held the phone and chatted; then, he half-leaned, half-lay down as he gossiped idly with the viewers. And after another hour, Yu Sui gave an apologetic smile and said, “This won’t do. I didn’t eat this morning. I think my blood sugar’s a little low so that’s it for today.”
Yu Sui’s lips were pale. The fans too felt that he didn’t look quite right and so they asked him to quickly eat something. Yu Sui hurriedly closed the live broadcast.
Putting the mobile phone aside, Yu Sui quickly pushed open the car door and rushed to the side of the road to retch into a garbage can.
Ji Yanhan, who was in the car, took off his sungla.s.ses and took a bottle of mineral water as he too got off the car.
“The doctor told you already. You have to pay attention to rest. You probably hurt your stomach because you haven’t rested all night.” Ji Yanhan frowned. “How come you didn’t vomit out anything? Didn’t you eat anything at all this morning?”
Yu Sui rinsed his mouth and rubbed his cramping stomach. He gave a pained smile. “Eat? I didn’t dare to delay even a second and we still almost got here late.”
“That’s why I said before that you should just take a plane or the high-speed rail. But you insisted on driving over here.” Ji Yanhan couldn’t understand. “Who could stand driving the whole night after having playing just played in a match?”
Yu Sui drank a couple mouthfuls of water. “If we took the plane … He’d know what was going on as soon as he saw the destination on the ticket. You think he’d go with me then? I wouldn’t be able to catch him if he tried to run at the airport. It’d be even more troublesome.”
Ji Yanhan frowned. “Aren’t you a little too nice to him?”
Yu Sui wiped the water from his chin with the back of his hand. “He’s a devil of my own making … Let’s not talk about this anymore.”
Ji Yanhan was helpless. He said, “Then what should we do about you? Should we buy some medicine for you around here? What medicine should I buy? Is indigo woad root ok?”
“Indigo woad root can’t do s.h.i.t…” Yu Sui said, half-dead, “It’s no use taking medicine. Just give me a cup of hot water.”
Ji Yanhan said, “Okay, you get in the car first. I’ll get you something hot for you at the convenience store.”
Yu Zheng nodded and got into the car, mineral water bottle in hand.
Not long after, Ji Yanhan brought some hot soup from a convenience store and got in the car. “They didn’t have much so you’ll just have to make do with drinking a bit of this.”
Yu Sui wasn’t picky. He drank the soup slowly and said much more easily, “Much better.”
Ji Yanhan looked at Yu Sui, and after a moment, said, “How about you slowly retire, and then …”
Yu Sui felt a headache coming on. “Here we go again. Who doesn’t have any stomach problems? We’ve had it checked before. It’s just a small problem. Do you have to go that far?”
Ji Yanhan continued, “It’s okay to be unwilling to manage the club. These can all be learned slowly. When I first formed the team, I was completely blind to everything. Later, when I started the company, I was caught even more unprepared. Fortunately, Minmin and her father were there to help. … Let’s not talk about this. Every time I mention it, you don’t listen. Some things haven’t been explained clearly. I’m not asking you to work as my a.s.sistant. ”
“Isn’t it your birthday next month?” Ji Yanhan smiled generously. “How about I give you the entire FS Club was your birthday present?”
Yu Sui didn’t even have to think. “I don’t want it.”
Ji Yanhan sat in his seat, paralyzed with exhaustion. “I’m not kidding. I’m giving it to you. I really don’t want to manage it anymore. I’d feel distressed giving it someone else. It would be better if I left it to you.”
Yu Sui shook his head: “It’s impossible. There are a lot of good managers out there. Look for one yourself.”
Ji Yanhan was left with no choice. “Why are you so stubborn about this? Did you close the broadcast already?”
Yu Sui glanced at his phone and nodded. “It’s closed.”
Ji Yanhan talked more freely. “You can only play pro for a few years. You’re not worrying about it now. You feel like you can play for another ten years. I thought so too back then. But what was the result? OK, fine. Even if you could play for another ten years. ”
Ji Yanhan looked at Yu Sui with a serious expression on his face. “What will you do in ten years? Have you thought about it? Good timing. We both have a lot of time these next two days. Tell me what you think.”
Yu Sui looked at Ji Yanhan like he’d gone crazy. “Have you been attending too many meetings lately? Really, the last person who talked to me like this was my high school counselor …”
“I’m pa.s.sing on to you my precious life experiences right now!” Ji Yanhan was helpless, “I’m not older than you by eight years for nothing, okay? If there’s something you didn’t think of, I can think it over for you. You shouldn’t just think about training and competing all day long. You have to plan for your own future. ”
Yu Sui said indifferently, “I’ve already thought about it.”
Ji Yanhan said, “Then you tell me about it.”
Yu Sui smiled and said nothing.
Ji Yanhan said angrily, “You just can’t recognize others’ good intentions!”
Yu Sui smiled, “Okay, Sister Minmin has always disliked me because of the penalty fee from back then. After two long years, she’s finally a little happy with me. Please stop trying to ruin our hard earned friendship, alright? It’s unlucky enough for her that she’s fallen for you, standing by you for so many years. Don’t do anything unnecessary. ”
Ji Yanhan was left with no choice and could only set aside this matter once again.
During their conversation, more and more people gradually gathered outside. Yu Sui looked out the window of the car and his eyes brightened, “Are they coming out soon? Come on, come on. We have to be there to welcome him.”
Ji Yanhan sighed and followed Yu Sui out of the car. He opened the back compartment and took out two bunches of flowers.
Yu Sui took one of the flowers from Ji Yanhan. He frowned, and cautiously expressed his doubts. “This type of hydrangea seems to be used on a specific occasion …”
Ji Yanhan looked uncertainly at the flower in his hand. “Is that right? I don’t understand things like these. Didn’t you tell me to buy the most expensive one? It’s that expensive! One bunch for two thousand yuan!”
“It’s fine.” Yu Sui himself wasn’t quite sure himself. “Maybe I guessed wrong. Hold it tight.”
Yu Sui and Ji Yanhan stood side by side. Five minutes later, Shi Luo, surrounded by a vicious aura, walked out of the examination site. He was like the sun-shooting Houyi, like a warrior coming out of purgatory, his body emanating monstrous raging fires.
Yu Sui faintly sucked in a breath. He handed the bride’s hand bouquet to Shi Luo. He appeased him quietly, “We have no experience with this kind of thing. I think the other parents are holding up sunflowers to symbolize besting the exam in one take… You’ll just have to make do with these.”
Ji Yanhan also handed the bride’s bouquet in his hand to Shi Luo. “Tomorrow, we will also hold sunflowers.”
Shi Luo was so angry that he couldn’t speak. He even thought of turning right back around and going back to the exam room.
“Let’s go get something to eat. You can take a noon break.” Yu Sui urged Shi Luo to get in the car. “It’s too hot out here.”
Shi Luo was flushed with anger. He stiffly got in the car. He sat by himself and closed himself off, refusing to talk to Yu Sui.
“Hey… what’s with this? You think I didn’t earn as much as you do when I took the exam?” Yu Sui held back from smiling. “But unlike you, I never told them my annual salary was in the millions and I still took the exam.”
Shi Luo ignored Yu Sui.
“Are you really angry?” Yu Sui smiled. “Or are you angry because we weren’t holding sunflowers for you?”
Shi Luo was so angry he was about to let out steam and he still didn’t speak.
However, this just reminded Yu Sui of something. Yu Sui said, “Or we could hold up a banner for you this afternoon. Is there still time?”
Ji Yanhan, who was driving, tilted his head and asked, “A banner? What would we write on it? ‘A warm welcome for FS subst.i.tute player Luo to the exam venue’?”
“Why do you have to emphasize ‘subst.i.tute player’?” Yu Sui shook his head. “Forget it, a big banner would be too ostentatious. Did you bring any of the staff with you? Let’s just hold up some hand signs. Having a small group of supporters should be fine.”
Ji Yanhan was still more concerned about the content. “What would we write on the signs?”
Yu Sui thought for a moment: “Take the test one time, get happiness for a lifetime.”
Shi Luo: “…”
Ji Yanhan readily followed good advice. “That can work. But it would be best if we come out with something a bit different.”
“That’s easy.” Yu Sui put on his sungla.s.ses and leaned back against his seat. “This test’s my b*tch, this will go off without a hitch.”
Shi Luo: “…”
Yu Sui came up with another one, “Test and write, get life right.”
Yu Sui was simply bursting with ideas. “One’s exam story, the whole team’s glory.”
“Yu … Sui …” Shi Luo finally spoke, and he was practically grinding his teeth. “One more word and … I’ll jump out of this car …”
Yu Sui got a stomachache with how hard he tried to stop himself from laughing. He waved and gestured for Shi Luo to take a quick rest.
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Translator’s note:
I had to get creative with Yu Sui’s suggestions for the content of the hand signs. In Chinese they sound great, very rhythmic and it just wouldn’t convey the same feel if I just translated them literally. Please forgive my weak rhyming sense. orz