Chapter 83

The answer was without suspense.

For Su Xing, the most attractive thing was the all-Chinese team, especially an all-Chinese team with the ability to compete for the championship.

Others might not know,

but for Su Xing, he had experienced the trajectory of player-viewer-professional player. He knew the LPL was no longer in the era that extremely needed a world championship.

IG in S8, PFX in S9—these two championships were enough to make most LPL viewers feel satisfied, not to mention that EDG also won a world championship later in S11.

In this situation, even if they won another world championship, what could it do? The viewers had already seen three teams win championships; winning another one later wouldn't cause too many ripples.

But the all-Chinese team is different.

From S3 until now, it's not that there haven't been so-called all-Chinese teams, but the problem is that in the end, the all-Chinese team is like a curse.

Except for the S8 Asian Games, there hasn't been a single all-Chinese team that could achieve results in world-class events, especially in the mid-lane position, which makes viewers feel even more uncomfortable as each generation is worse than the last.

Ten years ago, maybe someone thought the LPL would definitely win a championship, but no one would have thought that even ten years later, the runner-up is still a record that domestic mid-lane players find hard to break.

godv, Xiaohu, Left Hand—these three people can be said to be worse than the last. Even the fleeting Black Angel could only tie with the S3 50/50 in S10.

If there is anything that can stir the viewers' emotions again, it must be an all-Chinese team winning the championship, especially when the entire LPL can't even scrape together a capable Chinese mid-laner at the moment.

"Welcome to TES."

Hearing Su Xing's answer, Guo Hao also breathed a sigh of relief. Sure enough, he knew that the all-Chinese team was a trump card that any professional player with a dream couldn't refuse.

As long as Su Xing still had a dream, then the current TES was inevitably his best choice, bar none.

"The all-Chinese team isn't that good..."

Lan Lianhua was a bit unwilling to give up and continued, "RNG in S8 was also fierce, but in the end, wasn't the outcome extremely miserable? In this day and age, you really can't see a future for an all-Chinese team."

As a manager in the esports industry, Lan Lianhua knew very well that the only way for the LPL to have a future is for an all-Chinese team to win the championship, but the problem is that an all-Chinese team winning the championship is itself unrealistic.

Dream?

Isn't winning the championship a dream?

"Maybe I'm stronger than Xiaohu."

Su Xing was silent for a few seconds and said slowly, "Although no one will ever think they have too many championships, the reason a dream is a dream is that it is rarer than anything else. If you don't pursue the dream of an all-Chinese team winning the championship when you have the ability, then what is the point of talking about an all-Chinese team three or five years later when this hero is completely dead?"

"I think so too."

Guo Hao was a bit emotional and said, "As a person, either don't do it, or do the hardest thing."

Lan Lianhua: What can he do in this situation?

He had no way either. He couldn't say he would KTV the two Koreans on the team just to sign a Su Xing; that wasn't realistic either.

"Before you guys talk, I have an obligation to remind you of one thing."

Just at this moment, Gao Wen reminded, "If you guys really reach an agreement in the end, then the first thing you need to solve is Su Xing's Old Man Cup contract with Huya."

Now it's just that the salary stage has been initially agreed upon, but the specific aspects of the contract still need to be discussed. After all, a 100-million contract isn't something you can just sign and get; there will inevitably be extremely detailed clauses that need to be looked at one by one.

If in the end Su Xing and TES really reach an agreement and the contract is signed, then logically, they should immediately announce his joining TES. Otherwise, once the transfer period ends, it will be too late to handle the procedures.

But the problem is, if Su Xing really goes to TES, then what about his schedule in the Old Man Cup?

Because according to the process, the LPL Summer Split starts first, and then about a week later, it's the Old Man Cup finals. In this process, Su Xing either announces he won't play or continues to play.

If he announces he won't play, then who will bear the losses caused to Huya during this period? If he announces he will continue to play in the Old Man Cup, then TES and the Belle Group behind them won't agree either. After all, having spent 100 million to sign a player, naturally, the sooner they announce it, the better.

Although her relationship with Su Xing is good, when it involves company contracts, she can't make too many concessions, so this problem must be solved.

Hearing this, Guo Hao also fell into thought. This problem was a bit tricky.

"Ah, this..."

Su Xing was a bit surprised. After thinking for a few seconds, he said, "Since I promised Huya I would play in the Old Man Cup at the beginning, my personal thought is to play to the end."

Mainly because he and Uzi and the others had been working together for almost half a month, and this time it was Huya who found him to play in the Old Man Cup first, and only then did TES have the idea of wanting to sign him. If he gave up the Old Man Cup just to sign with TES as soon as possible, it would seem a bit... too much.

Plus, with his relationship with Gao Wen, he couldn't disregard her feelings for his own sake.

"I see..."

Guo Hao paused for a moment and said, "I might need to go back and have a meeting with the investors; I can't make the decision."

After all, this period is when Su Xing's traffic is most concentrated, and TES naturally also hopes to sign Su Xing during this stage to achieve the result of maximizing revenue.

"Mm, sorry to trouble you, Brother Hao."

Su Xing smiled and said, "Just don't be a dove."

"Mm, I understand."

Guo Hao nodded and said, "How about this: if possible, we and Huya might release some wind in advance. That is, not announcing you joined on the spot, but we need to shape some atmosphere to increase popularity. What do you think?"

"Sure, I have no problem."

Su Xing thought for a moment and continued, "If you guys pass this proposal in the meeting, I can personally accept it. Then for the next step of contract negotiation, I will fully hand it over to Huya to handle."

"OK, I hope we go smoothly later."

Guo Hao was also swift and decisive, preparing to go back and discuss it with the investors again. Since Su Xing had already agreed to join TES, the subsequent things would be much easier to handle.

"Mm, keep in touch."

This negotiation didn't take more than an hour, but Su Xing and TES had already reached a verbal agreement. After sending Guo Hao away, Su Xing didn't leave immediately but returned to Gao Wen's office, and the two started chatting.

"To be honest, you agreeing to a comeback is still quite surprising."

Gao Wen looked at Su Xing and smiled, "What, moved by 100 million?"

"100 million, saying I'm not moved would be hypocritical."

Su Xing laughed dumbly and said, "Actually, the main reason is that this matter was exposed today. If I choose to go back after playing the Old Man Cup, life will no longer be peaceful. Once some things attract attention and public opinion, it goes against my original intention."

"Also true."

Gao Wen was silent for a moment and said, "If you sign, actually, relying on your current traffic, you have the opportunity to earn 100 million without having to come back to play matches again."

"You also want me to sell goods?"

Su Xing smiled and shook his head, "That doesn't suit me. The main thing is that I feel the current LPL has no competitiveness. Secondly, I have to admit that Guo Hao's all-Chinese team is indeed full of great temptation."

He didn't know if this current TES was the strongest all-Chinese team in history, but from his perspective, the championship potential of this TES lineup is indeed the strongest all-Chinese team in history, bar none.

One must know that the LPL has only had three championship teams in total, and it's not easy for TES to scrape together the three championship players from these three teams.

Most importantly, this team needs a powerful mid-laner. In a sense, it can be considered a two-way rush.

"Indeed."

Gao Wen nodded and said, "Playing matches at TES also has no pressure. If you win, someone will try their best to flatter you; if you lose, someone will help you share the pressure from the fans. It's quite good."

Although Su Xing agreeing to return to the competitive scene surprised her, from the result, TES is indeed his best choice, bar none.

"You'll have to work hard during this time."

Su Xing smiled and said, "Leave the contract matters to you; I don't trust others."

"Fine, small problem."

Gao Wen didn't refuse, because even if Su Xing signs with TES, he will still stay at Huya to stream in the end. Plus, with her and Su Xing's relationship, there's nothing inappropriate about helping him handle the contract.

"Then I'm leaving. Let's keep in touch if anything comes up."

Su Xing then left Huya. At the same time, after Guo Hao rushed back to TES overnight, he immediately told the investors about Su Xing's situation. However, because they had reached a preliminary verbal agreement with Su Xing, they didn't give an answer immediately but said they needed to hold a meeting within the Belle Group to make a final decision.

And Su Xing was like nothing happened. Even after having a 100-million contract, his life didn't change much compared to before.

Playing ranked games during the day, streaming at night, playing training matches or group queues with Uzi and the others.

Several days passed in a flash.

Soon, Guo Hao brought back the answer: they agreed to Su Xing's approach, but the premise was that Su Xing needed to sign the contract as soon as possible to avoid long delays.

Su Xing could understand this point, so with Huya's assistance, he quickly signed the contract with TES. The 100-million salary would be distributed in three stages. After Su Xing signed, 40 million would be immediately issued to his bank card, and then a contract payment of 30 million would be issued every four months.

And what Su Xing had to do, besides the duty of playing matches, was to cooperate with the Belle Group to participate in some commercial activities and some brand promotion filming.

Su Xing had nothing to say about this. After all, TES couldn't really pay 100 million to sign him just to play matches. Some off-field things that should be cooperated with would have to be cooperated with.

At the same time, under TES's instruction, some wind gradually spread in the industry, saying that Su Xing had decided to make a comeback at TES, that he was the highest-paid professional player in LOL history, and so on—all sorts of news were flying everywhere.

However, what was intriguing was that neither Su Xing nor TES directly admitted to this matter. Anyway, they would just release some wind from time to time to whet the players' appetites.

Throughout the process, Su Xing, as the person involved, still didn't reveal any wind in the livestream. Anyway, whether to believe it or not was the viewers' own business.

A week later, the LPL Summer Split official matches also started. On the Old Man Cup side, Su Xing and Uzi and the others also successively entered the offline matches in the Old Man Cup schedule. However, everyone felt that there was actually no suspense about the champion of this Old Man Cup.

Not to mention Uzi and the others, just with this ID in the mid-lane, how could the Old Man Cup be lost?

As for TES's Summer Split, because the Summer Split started the Global BP mode, and because the opponents in the previous groups had varying levels, TES, which had been beaten up by G2 at MSI, chose to go all out.

They won both the first and second matches of the new season perfectly.

At this time, some people began to question that Xiao Nai You's performance was already very good, and it was completely impossible that they needed to change the price to sign an old-man-level player like Su Xing.

A few days later, the offline matches of the Old Man Cup also ended one after another, and the two teams in the Old Man Cup finals were Su Xing's team and Ning's team.

This result was not surprising to most viewers of this Huya Old Man Cup. After all, according to their thinking as viewers, the duel between these two teams should be full of popularity.

On one side is Su Xing and Uzi and the others, on the other side is TheShy and Ning and the others. From the moment the selection results appeared that year, the finals circle was destined.

Huya didn't let go of this opportunity either. Even though the LPL Summer Split had already started, the viewers had no interest in the current LPL at all. The total viewers for a day's matches were not even half of Su Xing's livestream.

Even the match data and viewer numbers for teams like BLG and TES were far inferior to Su Xing, who just occasionally played games, occasionally commentated, and occasionally played training matches with friends.

Gradually, Huya also started to leak a little bit more, and in just a few days, it raised the viewers' emotions again.

"Where did Su Xing go?"

Along with a signing video released by TES's official Weibo that couldn't see the person clearly, one was Guo Hao holding a pair of sneakers, and the other person had their original face covered by a black shadow.

However, this prank didn't hide for long. Soon, it was discovered by interested people through comparison that it really did look a bit like Su Xing.

The height was exactly the same, the hairstyle was exactly the same. People who didn't know would think these two were twin brothers... "Don't ask where the streamer went. Do you believe the streamer is going to play in the NBA?"

As for Su Xing, when facing one repeated question after another during the livestream, he also smiled and said, "Don't ask anymore. Even if you ask, the streamer doesn't know. Just wait for the announcement."

The current livestream has an average of over a million concurrent viewers every day. If everyone asks once, Su Xing can't hold up.

Finally, there was no other way, so he could only add a striking red line on the desktop. It must be said that this way, there were fewer people asking what he was going to do in the Summer Split.

"Don't ask, if you ask, it's going to the NBA this summer."

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 84 =====