CH 2

Yu Mingxiang was a female beta with long hair and a kind and gentle smile. The first impression she gave off was that she was a little sister who was very good to get along with.

However, this gentleness was just her appearance. She was actually very powerful and was clever and eloquent. It could be said that when ACE started as a grassroots team, it was with her help that they got the sponsorship of many wealthy backers.

Jiang Shaoyu called her Sister Yu and always regarded her as a sister.

However, in the past, he retired in a hurry and didn’t have time to say goodbye. After arriving in California, his WeChat, Q account and phone number were all replaced with new ones and he completely cut off contact with his past friends.

Where did Yu Mingxiang find his new number abroad?

Jiang Shaoyu didn’t investigate deeply and calmly typed a reply: [I don’t know about Xiao Pei’s situation. As his master, I taught him everything I could teach him. He is an adult and his actions are his own business. I don’t have the right to interfere.]

Yu Mingxiang sent a sad emoji: [Then you don’t care about Lao Lin retiring?]

Jiang Shaoyu: [E-sports players always have to retire. At his age, it is almost time to rest.]

[What about Xiao Chen? Previously, the two of you had such a good relationship and you regarded him as a younger brother. He was hidden by the coach and sat on the cold bench for a whole year. Don’t you think it is a pity? There is also Ye Zi, who was suspended for half a year.]

These familiar names made Jiang Shaoyu feel a bit confused for a while.

He thought of the scene where he suddenly left the team and several people cried together and his heart seemed tightly gripped by a pair of hands. Intense pain came from his chest.

Lao Lin, Ye Zi, Xiao Chen, Xiao Zhou…

There was also his apprentice Pei Feng, whom he taught with his own hands.

He always felt guilty toward these people.

He formed the ACE team and all the team members were personally recruited by him.

In the S3 season, they started from a poor grassroots team that didn’t even have a coach. Jiang Shaoyu was the captain and the coach. Yu Mingxiang converted a spare apartment into a training room and put a few computers in it. The teenagers practiced in such a difficult environment and went to the next bedroom to sleep every day when they were tired.

The bedrooms had bunk beds and were simply furnished. There was only one bathroom in the entire apartment and there was a queue to wash their face and go to the toilet.

It was a tough time but it was also a happy time.

The group of teenagers started from the National City League all the way to the B-grade League. They won the B-grade League championship and then won the top A-grade Professional League.

Yu Mingxiang struggled to gain the sponsorship of a financial backer and they finally gained their own base.

He still remembered the excited and bright smiles on everyone’s faces the day they moved into the spacious and bright training room.

Lao Lin was choked up. “We’re not a third-rate miscellaneous group any longer! We have our own base. There will be no need to sleep on bunk beds in the future and everyone will have a separate bedroom. The conditions are really good!”

Ye Zi said with a smile, “This is just the beginning. Our goal is to be the champion this year. The moment we win the championship, we will be players of the championship team and our treatment will become better and better in the future.”

Xiao Chen had a shy personality. He stood behind Jiang Shaoyu with a red face and whispered, “Brother Yu, there has never been an example in the history of the league where a team from the B-grade League directly won the championship. Can we do it?”

Everyone looked back at Jiang Shaoyu.

Jiang Shaoyu remembered declaring very firmly, “Of course we can.”

He was confident and the players believed in him.

The five people who came from the B-grade League were what netizens called the ‘miscellaneous group.’ They were surrounded by so many professional teams from regular clubs. How could they win the A-grade Professional League?

However, they did so.

That year’s ACE was overwhelming.

In the face of the countless old and powerful teams in the league, they didn’t feel any fear at all. They used innovative and changeable tactics, their tacit cooperation and the hard work that didn’t fear death in order to create a bloody road in the professional league surrounded by strong enemies!

During that time, they were always accompanied by deafening gunshots and explosions, the passion and blood on the field and laughter and sweat off the field…

The scene of the five of them hugging each other and crying with excitement as they finally got to the championship stage often reappeared in Jiang Shaoyu’s dream. This short year had become his most precious memory from childhood to adulthood.

Contrary to everyone’s expectations, ACE won the S3 championship.

Jiang Shaoyu won the MVP of the year, the most valuable professional player, and was called ‘Sniper God’ by netizens.

It was a pity that this person who created a miracle inexplicably announced his retirement after winning the championship.

After he left, the investors wanted to sell ACE to make a lot of money. Yu Mingxiang tried to think of various ways to save it. However, she was just a girl and she failed to fight against capital.

ACE eventually disbanded and the players went their separate ways.

The team was short-lived in the history of the league and left only a legend.

Later, many netizens regretted it. Was it because the name ‘ACE’ was unlucky that it ended so tragically?

After all, ACE in e-sports meant ‘group annihilation.’

In an interview that year, Jiang Shaoyu once said that the name of the ACE team was to let the opponents go home. He liked to hear the sound effect of the system ‘ACE’.

Yet in the end, the team fell apart and disappeared completely.

Memories flashed quickly in his mind. Jiang Shaoyu stared at the message on his phone and was silent for a long time.

Yu Mingxiang was really powerful. She used just a few sentences to evoke the guilt buried deep in his heart.

He brought these people into the e-sports circle but didn’t find a good home for them. His teammates had been too young that year. Their captain suddenly left and gave up. The team members were at a loss and didn’t know what to do. Add the capital behind them fueling the flames and… they signed with the wrong team and their talent was buried. It was really a pity.

Jiang Shaoyu took a deep breath and typed a question: [Sister Yu, you suddenly mentioned Ye Zi and Xiao Chen. Is it because you gained a sponsorship and want to reorganize the ACE team? You want me to go back and be a coach for it?]

Yu Mingxiang: [It isn’t to recognize ACE.]

Yu Mingxiang: [We would like to invite you to coach the national team.]

Jiang Shaoyu: [……]

National team? Was she joking?

Jiang Shaoyu thought he had read it incorrectly and looked down at it again.

Yu Mingxiang’s message did mention the words ‘national team.’

Yu Mingxiang saw the ellipsis sent by Jiang Shaoyu and simply made a phone call.

Jiang Shaoyu answered the phone and heard a familiar, gentle female voice. Her voice was clearly choked up. “Ah Yu, I just finished attending a meeting at the league’s headquarters. There is no way other than asking you for help. The national team was eliminated in the first round of the World Series and the results were very poor. Coach Zhang resigned on the spot and there is no coach left in China who can take over the coaching task for the next season.”

“We originally planned to hire a foreigner and let Coach Celtic from the North American Division take over as the head coach. Then he asked for an annual salary of 80 million yuan, which is far beyond our budget. Netizens also heard that we want to hire a foreigner and they scolded us onto the hot search. Is there no one in China? We can’t even find an e-sports coach and have to bend our knees to ask for help from abroad?”

“If the results are good, the foreign media will definitely say that this is the credit of the foreign coach. If the results aren’t good, they will say that the players in the China region are too bad to lead them.”

“The national team has changed five coaches in a row for the past five years. The previous coaches were scolded and don’t want to lead the team again. New coaches don’t dare to pick up this type of hot potato. We thought about it and decided to invite you. You might not have any experience coaching the national team but you were the coach of the ACE team and brought out the strongest dark horse team in the history of the league. We believe in your ability to lead the team.”

“Ah Yu, please think about it. Many people are waiting for you to come back.”

Jiang Shaoyu listened to her choked voice and frowned. He didn’t know how to answer for a moment.

The current national team was in a really difficult situation.

Yu Mingxiang spoke nicely on the surface but it was actually the same as ‘smashing a pot to pieces just because it is cracked.’ (Writing it off as hopeless and acting recklessly)

In any case, they couldn’t find a better coach in China. In addition, they would be scolded if they invited a foreign aid. The salary of the foreign aid was also very high and the language barrier made it difficult to communicate. It was better to invite the retired ‘legend’ to fight.

Returning home?

Go back to that long-lost arena as a coach?

Jiang Shaoyu looked at the depressing scenery outside the window with mixed feelings in his heart.

He had been gone for five years. The teenagers who once called him ‘Brother Yu’ were now the pillars of the major teams, unlucky enough to be hidden, suspended from playing or even ready to retire.

The national team had bad people mixed in with good people.

If he took over as the coach, he would be under unprecedented pressure—from netizens, players, leaders of the e-sports industry and major clubs. All types of problems would have to be overcome by him.

He had no experience in coaching regular club teams in China. He was young and inexperienced, which would make it difficult to convince the public.

He would be scolded even worse if the results weren’t good.

Nevertheless, he wasn’t afraid of being scolded. In the past when he retired, the domestic keyboard warriors sent him to the hot search for three days in a row. They scolded him bloody but he was indifferent.

The national team was eliminated in the first round of the World Championship and didn’t enter the quarter-finals. This was already extremely bad and it couldn’t get worse. If he became the coach and took the time to re-train the tacit cooperation, couldn’t they at least get past the group stage?

Besides, listening to Yu Mingxiang, Ye Zi was suspended, Xiao Chen was hidden, Lao Lin was going to retire and Pei Feng actually didn’t become a professional player?

He left in a hurry and left these people alone. In the end, he owed them an explanation.

He could no longer escape.

Jiang Shaoyu thought of this and finally made up his mind. He said decisively, “I can be the coach but I have two conditions. Go and discuss it with the leaders to see if they will agree.”

Yu Mingxiang’s voice trembled with excitement. “Say it. What are the conditions? We will try to cooperate as much as possible!”

Jiang Shaoyu explained calmly, “First, if I become the national team’s coach then I will have the final say on the selection method and final list of the new members of the national team. Secondly, the usual training, formation of members during the game, the people who will play in the starting lineup and who will sit on the bench are all up for me to decide. I hope the leaders don’t interfere too much.”

Yu Mingxiang was stunned. To sum it up simply, the conditions proposed by Jiang Shaoyu could be summed up as ‘laymen should not guide the expert.’ He would be unable to exert his skills once the leaders pointed fingers at his coaching style.

It was very important to avoid external interference from the source and obtain the real ‘right to speak as the coach.’

It seemed that Jiang Shaoyu was really serious!

Yu Mingxiang hurriedly replied, “I understand what you mean and I will convey it. In fact, the leaders of the e-sports league have also changed. the new vice-chairman appreciates you very much and your request should have no problems!”

Jiang Shaoyu asked in a confused manner, “Sister Yu, are you working in the national team now?”

Yu Mingxiang laughed. “That’s right. I am the internal affairs supervisor of the next national team and the general manager of international competitions. Once you become the coach of the national team, we can fight side by side again!”

Jiang Shaoyu heard her excited voice and remembered the past when he and Yu Mingxiang led the ACE team to fight on all sides. He couldn’t help his tone becoming milder. “I still have some things to deal with here. Once I handle it, I will return to China as soon as possible. We will talk more when we meet.”

“Okay, I will wait for you to come back!”

Jiang Shaoyu hung up the call and let out a breath. He rubbed his fingers against his mobile phone in a thoughtful manner.

The coach of the national team?

It was a hell difficulty.

He didn’t know how many people in the country still remembered his name?