Chapter 55 Barbecue

Nighttime, in a barbecue restaurant.

Jiang Xiao held long chopsticks in his hand, staring at the golden, sizzling, oily barbecue in the grill.

Across from him, two teachers sat together, both watching Jiang Xiao. One with doting mixed with a hint of playfulness, the other with admiration tinged with a hint of appreciation.

Jiang Xiao couldn't help but pick up a piece of grilled meat with his chopsticks, examining it before flipping it over and placing it back on the grill. He looked up at the two of them and said, "So, you two are getting along pretty well, huh?"

"Hehe, yes, we have to thank you. Even when you're away at university, you still think about your teachers," Hai Tianqing said, looking at Jiang Xiao with a beaming smile.

"Hmph." Fang Xingyun snorted with a teasing expression, "Now you say that, but back then, I was the one who chased you to Bei'jiang. It was freezing cold, makes me a little chilly just thinking about it now."

Oh ho? There were some twists and turns in the storyline after these two met?

People always show different sides of themselves in front of different people. For example, Fang Xingyun, who was usually gentle, generous, and patient with her students, now had a rare hint of girlishness in front of Hai Tianqing.

"Uh..." Hai Tianqing's face flushed with embarrassment as he turned to look at Fang Xingyun.

Fang Xingyun rolled her eyes at Hai Tianqing, picked up the communal chopsticks, and placed a piece of grilled meat on Jiang Xiao's plate.

"Wow." Jiang Xiao's saliva was practically drooling as he quickly picked up the meat, swallowed it in two or three bites, and continued to stare at the grilled meat in the grill.

Fang Xingyun continued to grill meat for Jiang Xiao, while Hai Tianqing looked at Fang Xingyun with a dazed expression, unable to utter a single word for a long time.

For a moment, the world seemed to quiet down, leaving only the sizzling sound of the barbecue.

After Jiang Xiao ate the second piece of grilled meat that Fang Xingyun had put on his plate, he realized that something was wrong. How long had it been since anyone had spoken?

Hai Tianqing, what are you doing? Can't you talk? Can't you coax her? Can't you liven up the atmosphere?

As a man in his thirties, do I still need to teach you how to pick up girls?

If I don't give you a push, you won't realize how outstanding you are!

While dipping the meat in sauce, Jiang Xiao softly hummed, "Candlelight illuminates dinner, but can't illuminate the answer, love isn't a warm invitation to dinner..."

Hai Tianqing: "..."

Hearing this, Fang Xingyun couldn't help but roll her eyes at Jiang Xiao, and casually placed a slice of grilled potato on his plate.

Jiang Xiao had a satisfying meal, but Hai Tianqing didn't seem to be in the right state of mind. The topic of conversation then shifted to the competition, and Jiang Xiao thought that a forced marriage was not sweet, so he should wait a few years for the two teachers' love progress bar to increase.

Who would have thought that while Fang Xingyun was going to pay the bill, Hai Tianqing suddenly leaned forward, lowered his voice, and said, "I want to propose to Teacher Fang."

Jiang Xiao was immediately dumbfounded.

No wonder Hai Tianqing had been so dazed and silly all along, so he was secretly plotting something!?

Jiang Xiao said, "Have you thought this through?"

Hai Tianqing changed his dazed appearance from dinner and said very firmly, "Yes."

Jiang Xiao nodded and said, "Then I wish you well. Are you telling me this specifically because...?"

Hai Tianqing propped his chin with one hand and said, "I think the moment you win the championship would be a good opportunity."

Jiang Xiao: ???

Tch... easy for you to say, you have so much confidence in me? If I don't win the world championship, you won't even propose?

Hai Tianqing continued, "In that kind of atmosphere, she should be happier."

Jiang Xiao thought for a while and said, "Proposing and confessing are the same, they both establish a new relationship. They should be the bugle call of final victory, not the charge horn to launch an attack."

Hai Tianqing was stunned for a moment, not expecting Jiang Xiao to say something like that.

After pondering for a while, Hai Tianqing said, "I've been with Teacher Fang for more than half a year, and we both understand each other's feelings. I'm sure the time is ripe."

Jiang Xiao nodded and said, "You want to propose in front of the whole world? How romantic."

Jiang Xiao thought hatefully in his heart: Oh you! Oh die you! Oh you face! In the future, whatever message you send, I'll reply with an "Oh."

Hai Tianqing smiled and said, "It is indeed very romantic, but that's really too ostentatious. I understand her, she definitely won't like it. Moreover, if you really succeed, that's your moment. I think... well, I think the locker room would be good."

Jiang Xiao nodded thoughtfully.

Hai Tianqing looked at Fang Xingyun walking back in the distance and said quietly, "In any case, I will propose to her when your World Cup journey ends."

Jiang Xiao saw Hai Tianqing's gaze towards the distance and responded quietly, "Then... I wish us both success."

Hai Tianqing withdrew his gaze, looked at Jiang Xiao in front of him, and nodded with a smile.

......

On July 3rd, Jiang Xiao, under the guidance of the analyst, witnessed the defeat of the Di'du Star Warriors team. In the loser's bracket, the Di'du Star Warriors team ranked sixth in the World Cup with a record of one win and one loss.

This result was already very good, and the domestic evaluation of Di'du Star Warrior University was also acceptable.

Of course, there were also many trolls who cursed Di'du Star Warriors for not achieving better results. They targeted every match, and harshly criticized the mistakes and reactions of the four players. But these comments were nothing. The position of Di'du Star Warriors was very wonderful. They had entered the top eight in the world and locked in sixth place in the World Cup.

Moreover, they had Mo'du Star Warriors at the bottom, and the Xiang'nan Military Academy team was also vying for the championship, so... Di'du Star Warriors endured very little "firepower."

The ranking of the individual competition was a bit interesting. Since the ranking was from 7th to 11th, after one lucky person was given a bye and directly entered the next round, the ranking of the tenth and eleventh places came out, but the ranking of the top three was not yet determined.

There were bye slots for five-person competitions, but there was no longer a bye selection for the three people competing for first place. The World Cup directly started a points race.

The problem was... after the three people played one round, their scores were the same, and their records were all one win and one loss.

Under normal circumstances, when the scores are the same, there can be additional judging criteria, such as the length of the match, the amount of damage caused to the enemy, the amount of self-damage, and so on.

But the World Cup did not do this. Winning is winning, and losing is losing. Since the scores are the same, then they are the same. Let's replay the match!

The three people had three chances. If the scores of the three contestants were still the same after the next two rounds, the organizing committee would use other methods to judge who was higher and who was lower.

This was not a replay of the 652nd, 651st, and 650th places. That kind of ranking could not enter the points system. The number of people signing up for the World Cup was so large, and the number of matches was so large, and you had to end all the World Cup events within 40 days, so the points race could only be started after the seventh or eighth round, leaving time for more important people.

Now, the World Cup was coming to an end, and there were very few matches left, and they were all extremely important. Leaving aside the honor, it was also particularly appealing to the audience. This was a replay of the top ten in the world! 7th, 8th, 9th!

People all over the world liked to watch it, so let's do it again!

This also reminded the players who entered the top six that after the next round, if there were no accidents, the three winners would compete for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd places, and the three losers would compete for 4th, 5th, and 6th places.

You must have the strength, and you must win two games in the group to get the highest ranking, otherwise... replay! Keep broadcasting! It's best to broadcast all three rounds...

After the third round, let the judges decide the ranking...

Jiang Xiao was not surprised by this. The rules of the past World Cups were the same. The closer you get to the final decisive battle, the more difficult it is to move forward.

But what made Jiang Xiao a little unhappy was that because of the replay of 7th, 8th, and 9th places, Jiang Xiao had two extra days of rest out of thin air...

It would be fine if it was really rest, but the problem was that for these two extra days, Jiang Xiao had to follow the analysts for another "sprint for the college entrance examination."

Since entering the top 100 in the World Cup and having a ranking, Jiang Xiao had been playing a match every five days after the loser's bracket also needed to compete.

Jiang Xiao was already familiar with this rhythm, and the final ranking system used when the competition was coming to an end did disrupt Jiang Xiao's rhythm.

Of course, this was also fair. Jiang Xiao was feeling uncomfortable, and the other players who entered the top six were not doing any better. They were all suffering in pain...

As for the team competition system, it was very clear, and the straightforward 4-into-2 competition proceeded smoothly.

Jiang Xiao was also fortunate enough to witness history.

In the 4-into-2 round, the Xiang'nan Military Academy encountered the strangely styled Ya'ge team.

The soldiers of the Xiang'nan Military Academy, with their extremely perfect defense system, painstakingly set up their formation, endured the harassment, and were beaten by the elusive assassins for 13 minutes. With the order of the Xiang'nan support, golden waves spread out.

Shield, Agility, and Magic, a set of defensive counterattacks, actually created a wave-like rhythm, directly taking away two Agility and one Support from the opponent. The only remaining Ya'ge Agile Warrior, whose whereabouts were unknown, had to reveal himself when he saw that his teammates were seriously injured, took the initiative to admit defeat, and requested the help of medical Star Warriors.

That afternoon, the battle between the Kingdom of Bei'lu and Gu'ai began. This battle between electricity and sand really shocked people's eyes.

The two sides fought fiercely, killing each other inextricably. In the sand, the defenses of the Gu'ai Pharaohs were infinitely improved, their perception was greatly enhanced, and their agility was also more flexible.

The Gods of Bei'lu finally met their opponents. It was no exaggeration to say that the Gods of Bei'lu met opponents who restrained them more!

This group of sand players really didn't flinch when playing with lightning...

The picture of this game was earth-shattering.

The sky exploded, and the ground exploded!

The sand exploded, and the lightning exploded!

The sky was full of electric currents, and the ground was covered with yellow sand...

In front of the audience seats, the defense shields jointly activated by dozens of Star Warriors made a dull thumping sound and shook constantly, which was really frightening.

The audience and commentators at the scene probably regretted it so much that their intestines were turning green. They all regretted coming to the scene to watch the game. It was too damn exciting!

The players were fighting desperately on the field, and the audience didn't have to do anything. As long as you were sitting in the audience, you were risking your life!

Gu'ai's lineup was 1 Shield, 2 Magic, and 1 Support. And Bei'lu's lineup was the standard 1 Shield, 1 Agility, 1 Magic, and 1 Support.

In the end, the Gu'ai Pharaohs, who were "fighting at home," were promoted to "Pharaoh Kings" and won the game.

The output and control level of the two magic classes in Gu'ai in this level of battle were completely displayed in front of everyone, and they also told everyone what the core position of the magic class was.

In the end, the final will be held between the Hua Xia team and the Gu'ai team.

This group of Gods of Bei'lu, who were blown up by European fans, were finally NAI-ed out of the final circle and went to compete with the Ya'ge assassins for third and fourth place...

After the individual competition replay ranking was finally settled, Jiang Xiao also received the roster for the eighth round.

After the second group was drawn on the big screen, Hou Mingming clenched his fists tightly as he watched the old man unfold the paper in his hand. The Red Star Flag was impressively listed.

World Cup Individual Competition Eighth Round: Nippon · Saito Nobuyuki vs Hua Xia · Jiang Xiaopi!