The publicity post of the national team’s official Weibo had only been posted for less than half an hour and it had already been sent to the hot search by fans.
There were so many fans of Pei Feng that there were tens of thousands of comments lining up to greet his master.
Pei Feng started from scratch and climbed all the way to his current position using strength. The name of the ‘strongest streamer in the game’ was widely circulated. In addition, he was handsome and humorous. His die-hard fans were all over the Internet.
After Pei Feng became famous, he publicly stated many times in interviews that ‘In fact, my skills were taught to me by my master, Wing. The person I admire the most is my master.’ His bio on the Internet even had ‘ACE-Wing’s only disciple’. Therefore, his fans had their own filters about the name ‘Wing.’
Fred was so powerful. His master must be more powerful, right? Some new fans who didn’t know much about the past of ACE ran to the Internet to search for Jiang Shaoyu’s name and were quickly impressed by Wing’s style.
Leading a grassroots team all the way to win the A-grade League’s championship. This legendary experience was worthy of the master!
The national team might be saved if he was the coach?
For a time, there were countless netizens leaving messages to welcome his return under Jiang Shaoyu’s Weibo.
OF course, some people rushed over and sneered. “Why did he come back after a few years of retirement? Did he come to the national team to misappropriate money?”
“The ACE fans are really good at whitewashing him. He retired back then. Such an irresponsible captain is now the coach of the national team?”
“The national team: in danger.”
Jiang Shaoyu’s fans were very strong in fighting. Perhaps it was due to their ancestor’s sharp tongue but they refuted it one by one. “You can be re-employed after retirement. Who says you can’t come back after retirement?”
“What do you mean by irresponsible? He arranged for ACE well before retiring. The disbandment of ACE was obviously due to the boss!”
“The members of ACE have never blamed their captain. It is truly heartbreaking.”
“Dangerous? It is really dangerous. The requirements of God Yu are so strict. The players of the next national team will be in danger :)”
The anti-fans: ???
This was the coach with the most fans they had ever seen. It couldn’t be helped so they slipped away.
Let’s see how your next national team can do!
The club managers in the circle watched Coach Jiang’s Weibo and were almost stunned.
Unexpectedly, a person who retired for five years would have such great influence on the e-sports circle. There were too many fans. It even brought out many editing masters and artists who retreated from the circle and no longer paid attention to e-sports when ACE disbanded.
God Wing’s wonderful highlights video, chibi profile pictures, etc. started to fill the super talk area.
This ancestor was worthy of being an ancestor.
No wonder the league invited him back. Wasn’t this relying on the influence of God Wing to completely rectify the national team?
On this night, many people were destined to lose sleep.
In the dormitory of the TNG Club, Shu Chen saw the publicity post and couldn’t help staring in a wide-eyed manner. Brother Yu? Was it really him? The former captain of ACE, Wing, who treated him like a younger brother, was really back?
Shu Chen recalled the memories of ACE and there was a sour feeling from his nose.
After Brother Yu left, the other members of ACE did well. Ye Zi, Xiao Zhou and Lao Lin each became the pillars of their teams while Xiao Pei was a top streamer. Only he, ACE’s medic, was the most inconspicuous team member and his current situation was the most embarrassing.
He had been a substitute for a year and was put on the cold bench by TNG’s coaching staff. He was preparing to retire…
He embarrassed ACE and was too ashamed to contact Brother Yu.
Shu Chen sat in front of the computer in a daze when his phone lit up. It was a new friend application.
There was a puppy avatar and the verification information said: Wing.
Shu Chen’s fingertips trembled and he immediately pressed to accept it.
A voice message came from the other side. “Xiao Chen, I’ve been busy the past few days and haven’t found time to find you. I heard about your situation. Don’t be sad. I’ll investigate it clearly and find justice for you.”
The voice in his ear was clear and calm. It wasn’t much different from what he remembered.
Shu Chen’s eyes were sour and he choked up as he replied, “Brother Yu, you are finally back!”
Jiang Shaoyu heard his crying voice and felt a bit distressed. He sent a few ‘hug emojis.’
Shu Chen had severe social fear and had the softest personality in the ACE team. He would seriously play the game every day and rarely speak. He would blush when someone teased him and he didn’t even dare to look at people. Ye Zi often joked that Xiao Chen was like an intelligent robot who could play games.
He would hide behind Jiang Shaoyu every time ACE attended an event.
He was an orphan and was very timid since he was young. However, he had a very high talent for e-sports. Jiang Shaoyu had always taken care of him, treating him as a younger brother. The other members of ACE had all written self-criticisms. Shu Chen was the only one who hadn’t written one, which showed how satisfied Jiang Shaoyu was with Shu Chen’s performance.
In the past during the league’s late stage, the major clubs frantically targeted Wing. Many times, they used tactics of 3V1 or even 5V1 to kill Wing first. It was Shu Chen who braved the rain of bullets. Regardless of his own sacrifice, he saved Jiang Shaoyu again and again, giving Jiang Shaoyu the opportunity to reverse the situation.
He was an obscure medic with the most deaths in the league, but he was also ACE’s strongest backer.
His presence meant everyone in ACE could have two lives.
Just because he was socially afraid and easy to bully, he suffered from the TNG Club’s ruthless suppression and sat on the cold bench for a whole year?
When did e-sports become a field where ‘the one who is popular is the one who plays’?
Jiang Shaoyu had long been aware of this matter. Soon, the coach of the national team would go to inspect the major clubs.
TNG would be the first stop.
He wanted to see how TNG’s coaching staff recommended players.
—
On this new year’s day, the e-sports circle was very lively.
After the senior management of the major clubs learned the news that God Wing was the head coach of the national team, they held emergency meetings to think about response strategies. For example, was there any use in throwing money at him? How much sponsorship fees were needed? Who should they recommend next? This head coach didn’t seem easy to mess with. Perhaps they should wait and see what happened next?
During the short three day New Year’s holiday, Jiang Shaoyu and Qi Heng met to discuss the detailed plan for the Rising Stars Cup.
It wasn’t that easy to hold a national event. The publicity plan, event prize money, competition venue, staff and referee team had to be considered thoroughly. This was the first time that Jiang Shaoyu had held a private event in the name of the ‘national team’ and it couldn’t be messed up.
Jiang Shaoyu had checked the prize money for all the domestic competitions. At present, the highest domestic prize money was the A-grade League. The champion team got 30 million yuan + 10% of the sales of the champion limited skin. This was followed by the B-grade League where the winner got 5 million.
For private events and business-sponsored cups, the prize money was 500,000 or less.
Jiang Shaoyu said, “The championship prize of the Rising Stars Cup will be one million. It can’t be too shabby.”
Qi Heng’s eyes widened. “However, the Rising Stars Cup is an individual competition, not a team competition. A one million prize money for an individual competition has never been seen before! In a large domestic cup competition, the reward for the winning five person team is only 500,000 right?”
Jiang Shaoyu explained, “I want to make the Rising Stars Cup into a signature event. In the future, excellent seedlings can be selected through this event and a national youth training camp established. Players with outstanding comprehensive strength can be trained, sent to major clubs to play in the A-grade League or sent abroad to play in intercontinental competitions and world invitational competitions. This way, a steady stream of new generation reserve players for the national team will be trained.”
Qi Heng: “……”
A national youth training camp?
A national youth training camp personally taught by the national team’s coach, Jiang Shaoyu?
In this way, the teenagers who hadn’t undergone club training could thrive under Jiang Shaoyu’s teachings! In the future, the national team would no longer have to worry about a temporary deficit in manpower or resources. Talented newcomers would continue to join and the reserve force would be endless. How could the national team not produce any results?
Jiang Shaoyu said seriously, “If we want to completely change the status quo of the national team, we must start from changing the foundation. The foundation of the national team is the talented children who are blank pieces of paper. They are the future of the national team.”
Once the Rising Stars Cup became the signature event for the national team to select new talents, it would attract more talented children to participate in the competition. They would stand out in this fair and just event and the new generation of reserve players for the national team would continue to grow.
The rich experience of the older generation of players, the sharpness and courage of the middle generation of players and the unlimited potential of the new generation of youth trainees… such a ‘gradient’ talent training plan would allow for the smooth transition of national team players. There would no longer be a power gap and they would become a real e-sports powerhouse.
Qi Heng was full of confidence about the future.
The two of them finalized the plan and the final plan for the Rising Stars Cup Grand Prix was submitted to the league for review.
The competition time was set for February. This was because Jiang Shaoyu took into account that many students would have winter vacation in February. It was just in time to participate in the competition. After the Spring Festival, the preliminary round and quarter-finals would be held as an online competition. Then the finals would be arranged to be played on-site at the Imperial Capital’s E-sports Center.
The venue rental, game server coordination and referee team arrangements, etc. were all handed over to the tournament committee on the league side. Jiang Shaoyu would personally go to the finals as the chief referee to welcome the first batch of young players who would emerge from the Rising Stars Cup.
Everything went smoothly and orderly.
This year’s Spring Festival happened to be held on January 20th and the national team’s E-sports Park was officially closed on January 15th. After a whole year of work, everyone should have a few days off. Jiang Shaoyu didn’t arrange any tasks during the holiday so that everyone could relax. The national team’s base soon became empty.
Before Yu Mingxiang left, she went to see Jiang Shaoyu in his dormitory on the fourth floor. She asked, “Ah Yu, where are you going to celebrate the New Year this year? Aren’t you going to leave?”
Jiang Shaoyu told her, “Sister Yu, you go first. I will leave last. I’ll be staying in the capital for the Spring Festival.”
Yu Mingxiang looked at Jiang Shaoyu and hesitated.
Jiang Shaoyu never mentioned his family and after returning to China, no family members came to visit him. In fact, everyone in ACE had doubts in their hearts when he retired very suddenly… why did he retire?
However, Jiang Shaoyu had a type of proud personality that gave off the air of ‘I don’t want to say it so don’t ask questions.’ He only said that it was for ‘personal reasons’ and didn’t elaborate. He clearly said it was a matter of privacy so no one dared to ask.
Yu Mingxiang hesitated for a moment. “Then I’ll go first? Happy New Year to you in advance.”
“Yes, Sister Yu. Happy New Year.”
Yu Mingxiang left and Jiang Shaoyu remained at the base.
He looked at the empty base before turning around to pat his puppy’s head. “Doudou, there are only the two of us left. This year, let’s celebrate the Spring Festival together. What do you want to eat for your New Year’s Eve meal?”
Jiang Shaoyu opened his black eyes and barked twice while wagging his tail vigorously at Jiang Shaoyu.
Jiang Shaoyu said gently, “I understand. Your favorite meat and bones. I will go and buy it.”
There was a notification from WeChat as he was chatting. Jiang Shaoyu picked up his phone on the table and glanced at it.
It was Fred who sent it: Master, is the national team on holiday?
Jiang Shaoyu: Yes, it just went on holiday today.
Pei Feng had been busy with the termination of his contract in the past few days and he had just returned to the capital. He saw his master’s reply and immediately asked: Where will Master spend the Spring Festival this year?
Jiang Shaoyu: I will just stay in the capital.
Pei Feng: My parents think that the winter here is too cold so they traveled abroad. They let me spend the Spring Festival by myself.
Pei Feng: Can Master take me in [Dog lying on the ground.jpg].
Jiang Shaoyu: “……”
Pei Feng cheekily continued to send messages: Master~~
Pei Feng: Please take me in~~
Jiang Shaoyu saw the continuous coquettish messages sent by this person and said helplessly: I don’t have a home in the capital. How can I take you in?
Pei Feng: Then I’ll take you in!
Pei Feng: I’m at the gate of the national team’s base and I came by car. Master, pack some luggage and go to my house for the new year. I am waiting for you at the gate.
Jiang Shaoyu: “……?”
Why did he come to the gate of the base again?
His apprentice was resolute when acting and came to the gate every time. Jiang Shaoyu didn’t even have the chance to refuse.
Yet looking at the empty E-sports Park, Jiang Shaoyu suddenly felt that it was boring for one person and one dog to stay here for the new year. Pei Feng was also alone so their master and apprentice could be companions to each other. It was good to spend the Spring Festival together.
Jiang Shaoyu thought of this and turned around to pack a few change of clothes. He put the inhibitors into the bottom of the suitcase and also took his laptop. Then he held Doudou and headed to the gate of the national team.
He went out and saw a cool black off-road vehicle parked there.
The driver rolled down the window and waved to him with a big smile. “Master, over here.”
Jiang Shaoyu dragged his luggage to the car. Pei Feng immediately got out of the car, helped him lift his suitcase into the trunk and glanced curiously at the dig in Jiang Shaoyu’s arms. He reached out and touched the puppy’s head, asking, “Is this the puppy raised by Master? It is the same as your WeChat avatar.”
“Yes, his name is Doudou.”
Pei Feng held the puppy’s paw and greeted him. “Hello Doudou, my name is Pei Feng.”
Jiang Doudou: “Bark bark!”
“Doudou is really smart. I will take you in for the new year.”
Jiang Doudou: “Bark!”
Jiang Shaoyu: “………”
Why did he feel like he had two gods? One was a big clingy dog and the other one was a lively puppy.