The retirement ceremony began at ten in the morning on the sports field.
When Su Yu and the others arrived at the scene, the program was in its preparation phase.
A total of eight athletes were retiring this time, all of whom had won world championships and were awarded honorary medals by the officials.
Generally speaking, after retiring, athletes would receive support from the officials for a better life, sometimes including resources from film, television, or variety shows.
Especially for some famous athletes, after retiring, they would enter variety shows, and their popularity would be higher than that of ordinary celebrities.
Therefore, inviting people from the entertainment industry to participate in such retirement ceremonies was also to increase their attention.
Whether by design or by coincidence, Su Yu and his group's seats were arranged next to Mo Yan and his disciple.
When Su Yu and the others arrived, Mo Yan and his disciple had already taken their seats.
"Teacher Mo Yan looks very well," Su Yu greeted Mo Yan next to him after he and Lin Yanyu sat down.
"I can't be upset because of those unimportant people," Mo Yan replied with a smile.
"Indeed, but we can't let some people get too smug either," Su Yu agreed with Mo Yan.
Speaking of which, Mo Yan's current situation had some similarities with the athlete Zhou Xiang.
After all, Mo Yan had been supporting the Chinese music scene by himself for so many years.
At this age, he made an insignificant decision and was then chased and bitten like a mad dog by a group of moral exemplars.
"Su Yu, you mean..." Shen Jinghong, sitting beside him, suddenly became overjoyed when he heard Su Yu's suggestive words.
"Old Shen, we've played games together so many times, and you're considered our friend. Don't worry, Liu Yi won't be smug for too long," Lin Yanyu said loyally, leaning her small head over.
Hearing this, Shen Jinghong's gloomy expression vanished.
However, he didn't ask further. After all, as a contestant on the show, even though he was eliminated, he still knew the rules.
Moreover, hearing Lin Yanyu and Su Yu actively help him, he suddenly felt a warmth in his heart.
Shen Jinghong didn't have many friends and didn't communicate much with Su Yu and the others. However, he could tell that Su Yu and the people from his singer group genuinely treated him as a friend, and they would often play games together when they had time.
The game "PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds" was almost complete, and Abin said they planned to launch the non-deletion internal test next month.
This was because Su Yu and the others had been interviewed while playing the game before.
Many netizens already knew about this game and were very much looking forward to it.
Therefore, under such circumstances, Abin was confident that they could skip the closed beta and directly start the non-deletion internal test.
"Thank you," Shen Jinghong said gratefully.
"Teacher Mo Yan has taken such good care of me, so it's only right for me to do what I can," Su Yu shook his head.
Mo Yan did not respond. The light in his eyes showed emotion, and he opened his mouth but ultimately did not continue the conversation on this topic.
Perhaps it was a sudden realization about his understanding friend Su Yu, Mo Yan opened up.
"Life has been quite exciting. I've had peaks and valleys. Looking back on this period, I realize that apart from Jinghong, I seem to have nothing."
Mo Yan's melancholy was not caused by the trolls.
It was because he considered Su Yu his confidant.
He had two confidants in his life: the first was Lin Chaoyang, and the second was Su Yu.
So, he talked about his feelings with Su Yu.
"Teacher Mo Yan's achievements are already very high," Su Yu said with a smile.
For some reason, he could feel the loneliness in Mo Yan's heart.
It was as if his efforts over the years had no one to share them with, no one to cheer for him. When he finally crossed the hills of life, he found himself over fifty, a loneliness and helplessness that could only be understood at that age.
"Achievements are something you pursue when you are young. When you are old, you just want someone to talk to, even if it's just drinking tea or playing chess, it's better than those days of constant struggle. If you desire too much in life, it will be very tiring, especially when you reach the end, it's easy to end up with nothing," Mo Yan said with a sigh.
He was like an old senior who had stood at the peak for too long, having seen through too much of life. Su Yu's appearance was like seeing a rival.
My path is not lonely!
It was this mentality.
That's why he took such good care of Su Yu. He wanted this young man to take fewer of the hills he had taken in his youth, so he provided as much reputational support as he could. Even if people called him the number one fan of Yu, he didn't care.
Because he never treated Su Yu as a junior, but as a confidant.
"I have gained quite a lot," Su Yu nodded and said with a smile.
"That's good," Mo Yan couldn't help but smile.
Lin Yanyu and Shen Jinghong listened blankly.
So they gained something?
Why didn't we understand?
Su Yu had already found a song that might help Mo Yan find people who could relate to his experiences.
This might help the current negative sentiment be drowned out by positive voices.
...
The athlete retirement ceremony had begun.
It was a very official manner, looking quite inspiring.
Each athlete would give a retirement speech.
Many people were also in tears at the scene.
And when Zhou Xiang went up, the cheers from the audience were much weaker.
However, this did not affect his smiling face at his retirement.
"Hello everyone, I am Zhou Xiang, and I am very happy to have the opportunity to say goodbye to you all today..."
He choked up several times but maintained a smile on his face.
A sunny, positive smile.
At this moment, the emotional Lin Yanyu was leaning on Su Yu's shoulder, wiping away tears.
Although she was a girl, she knew Zhou Xiang's story.
Heroes should not be treated like this.
Many fans watching the live broadcast were the same as her.
"Zhou Xiang ran too fast, and the national average quality couldn't keep up with his pace."
"The moment he proved that Asians could beat black people in a straight race, he would forever be the greatest Chinese athlete in my heart!"
"Those damn experts online are still spreading rumors."
"It's no use, Teacher Mo Yan is the same. Those trolls now attack anyone."
And at this moment, those viewers saw Su Yu in the audience through the camera.
They were instantly stunned, not expecting to see Su Yu at such an event.
"Holy crap, go get help! We found this kid!"
"I'm speechless, this Ting Yu is always appearing out of nowhere and doesn't even post a Weibo when attending events."
"By the way, doesn't Ting Yu have a topic for fan stories to write songs? Let's go to Weibo and spread Zhou Xiang's story, see if he'll write a song for Zhou Xiang!"
"This can be done, but Ting Yu probably wouldn't dare. Who would dare to say anything good about Zhou Xiang now? Wouldn't he be blasted to death?"
"Joke, do the trolls have the same fighting power as Ting Yu's fans?"
"Hahaha, that's true. Now only Ting Yu dares to speak for Zhou Xiang..."
In the entertainment industry, when Mo Yan was in a public opinion crisis.
Only Ting Yu was not afraid of public opinion. Not to mention his fans' fighting power, which made trolls wary of him.
Just with his number of fans, one spit could drown the trolls.
...