Chapter 168 (1)
Tong Yao could swear that ZGDX had truly made good use of their ten days of break. They had fully recuperated, rested well, went out touring, seriously played skirmishes, and watched videos of the other groups’ competition matches– –Since every point earned in every match of the world competition was important, all the strong teams had finally brought out the strategies they had been hiding during their regional competitions. In those ten days, Tong Yao’s little notebook was almost filled with notes from watching those videos.
……
On the afternoon of Oct. 12, US time, ZGDX had just finished a skirmish with G4 from the European region. All the players had decided to rest well tonight, no more skirmishes, and face the second round of group matches tomorrow in the best condition possible– –It was a good decision, but it was bound to have problems when these busy bodies suddenly had nothing to do in the evening.
Then someone, Tong Yao couldn’t remember who that was, suggested that they go to the other teams to borrow some instant noodles and Lao Gan Ma[1] since they were all tired of eating western food for so many days.
— –That was the first mistake they made that night.
After eating steak, fries, and pasta for ten days, the entire team was intrigued by the suggestion. They went as a group to the YQCB and CK training rooms. Yet, these two teams who had promised to help each other out with ZGDX before they left China wouldn’t even open the training room doors after they learned of the purpose of ZGDX’s visit. The three teams started shouting at each other with the door between them– —
Captain of YQCB, Liangsheng: “We just brought with us one bottle of hot pepper sauce which was made for us by our housekeeper! If you guys take that away, it would be like killing us! You can find Lao Gan Ma in the supermarkets, go buy it yourselves!”
YQCB mid, Ai Jia: “I only brought with me Lao Tan Pickled Cabbage and Beef Flavored Noodles[2]!”
Tong Yao: “I love Lao Tan Pickled Cabbage and Beef Flavored Noodles!”
YQCB mid, Ai Jia: “To hell with it! You can’t have it! I won’t give it to you! It’s so precious that I would break the noodle cake in half and save the soup for breakfast to dip the bread in!”
Tong Yao: “Go to hell!”
YQCB mid, Ai Jia: “Watch your manners!”
ZGDX then went to CK’s training room. Not only did CK’s players refused to share their food with ZGDX, they even started to sneer at ZGDX players– —
CK’s support, Old Wang, was also a chubby guy. He was blocking the door like a small hill: “Why ask us for food! Damn, isn’t your team an all Chinese team! An all Chinese team has gone abroad without taking Lao Gan Ma with them? ! Who are you trying to fool!”
CK’s ad, Butterfly, was a Korean. He came to the door to see what was going on. He said in Mandarin with a Xinjiang accent: “What do they want? Hot pepper sauce? Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha, don’t have it! Won’t give it to you!”
Lu Sicheng reached over to pat Tong Yao’s shoulder and pointed at the door. He mouthed: “Yang god.” Tong Yao turned to stare at him: “You would abandon your own girlfriend just to trick him to get a bite?”
Lu Sicheng was quite at ease: “You said it yourself, just to trick him. Trade nothing for something. I’m here. It’s alright.”
The indomitable man who had told her that he would “let her spend 9.50 if he only had 10 and save the 0.50 to buy a bun so she won’t go hungry” had now been subdued by a jar of Lao Gan Ma. Tong Yao stepped on his foot with force, then turned around to slap CK’s door: “Let Yang god come out to negotiate with me!”
There was commotion inside CK’s training room. Old Wang was shouting: “Hold Yang god down, don’t let him commit treason with the enemy.” Tong Yao could hear the noise of a chair being flipped over and the roar of laughter from Butterfly…… Moments later, Old Wang spoke: “Our Yang god has said that he refused to negotiate with you– –We have heard that the day after the group match was over, you had said that you wish we would lose more matches so we would be placed second in the second round and you guys can go straight to the semi-finals. He’s quite angry about that!”
Tong Yao was stunned: “Damn, we have a traitor in our team!”
As all the players were looking at each other rather annoyingly, Little Fatty giggled while scratching his head: “Hehehe, it’s me. I asked Come Good Luck whether he could lose a few matches so they would get second in the group, so we can go to the semi-finals.”
Everyone: “……”
What a brainless teammate Little Fatty was!
[1]: 老干妈 (lǎo gàn mā), literally means “old godmother,” is the name of an internationally popular brand of hot pepper sauce.
[2]: The Chinese is 老壇酸菜牛肉面 (lǎo tán suāncài niúròu miàn). Lao Tan Pickled Cabbage is the name of a famous type of pickled cabbage and a popular flavor for instant noodles.
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