Yu Xiao's family was very dissatisfied with the fact that he did not continue his studies but participated in WCG. He had been training during the holidays before and it did not affect other things. But after the new school year started, Yu Xiao still wanted to stay in Beijing to compete, and his family was not happy about that.
"What are you thinking? You don't want to go to school anymore, and you don't want a diploma? Then what are you going to do after you come out? Without a diploma, what else can you do if you don't play games?"
"Look at Cheng Ran, he's the top scorer in science, but he doesn't do anything as messy as you..."
"Cheng Ran supports you?... Even if Cheng Ran supports you, it won't work..."
Yu Xiao stayed in Beijing to continue playing games. When school started in Chengdu, he had to take a break from school, which meant that his studies would be interrupted and it would be difficult for Yu Xiao to get his degree certificate. There was a lot of controversy over this matter, so Yu Xiao's parents called Cheng Ran and asked him to persuade Yu Xiao to go back to school.
Entrusted by Yu Xiao's parents, Cheng Ran could only contact Yu Xiao again and ask him to reconsider. If he was affected by the failed relationship, then there was no need to do so, as it would be tantamount to escape.
As a result, Yu Xiao's reply on the phone was quite eloquent. "My aunt is in Chengdu. You know, she lives over there in Funan River. My aunt came from the mountains and seas. My mother used to tell me about my aunt's deeds, how she came out to fight on her own, how her family was unfortunate, but fortunately she had my sister, who raised my sister, and how frugality was not easy. When my sister got married that year, she burst into tears. Everyone knows how difficult it was for her. Later, when my sister had a child, she helped take care of the child. I went to see them and saw my aunt with white hair running after her toddler. Suddenly, I felt that it seemed that life is just such a cycle. You are young and strong, find a stable job, then get married and have children, and focus on your children. Half a lifetime has passed in a flash, and your children's children are born, and then you continue to help take care of the children... When I thought of this, I suddenly felt very scared... It seemed that I also saw my life now, what it will be like in a few years or decades..."
"I'm not like you, Cheng Ran. You have your own goals, you know what you want to do, you suddenly woke up in middle school, now even if you are not in Tsinghua or Peking University, you are in USTC, I know you will succeed in your studies, and you will make your own career...
But I am different. I have self-knowledge. My greatest self-knowledge is that I understand that I don’t have any career that I am naturally passionate about, and it is highly likely that I will not be able to find one in the future. If I graduate in the future, I will definitely look for a job step by step like everyone else. I may just be an office worker, working from nine to five, and become one of the many people who squeeze into the bus every morning.
Otherwise, I could listen to my mom and take the civil service exam. Maybe my family has connections that can help me get an easy job as a clerk or something, and start a semi-retired life in the office with a cup of tea and a newspaper...
But Cheng Ran, just living like this... I can't breathe when I think about it, I don't want to live this kind of life. I have a talent for playing games, I can do it, now the term e-sports has been proposed, I have caught up, and I can even go out to play games and win glory for my country. Now everyone looks at computer games as if they are a flood or a beast, someone has to tell them that games can also be a kind of intellectual competition, and it is people like me who can change this impression and view..."
"It's really... a very childish thing to say." Cheng Ran thought for a moment and said, "But... it's also very sincere. But your parents asked me to advise you, so don't think that I'm leading you into a trap. If you say something like 'I support you', your parents will hate me."
"You're not afraid. We're brothers for life, so why don't you take the blame? Just tell them that if I can't find a job in the future because I don't have a degree, you can just open a back door for me. Can you give me a position in Tianxing Dojo... I can be a network administrator, and as a boss, you're afraid that your brothers will have nothing to eat..."
Cheng Ran sighed, "This is not something I can decide. Your father has already planned to go to your place to look for you. I will only reveal this little bit. You can decide for yourself..."
"Damn it... I'm dead this time..."
Yu Xiao's father finally went to Beijing to find him. Three days later, Yu Xiao's father, who was tasked with summoning Yu Xiao's mother and all the relatives and friends who had heard about this, back to Chengdu with his luggage.
one person.
Facing the tearful questioning of Yu Xiao's mother, Yu Xiao's father, who had two drinks with the coach and the boss of the game company, visited Yu Xiao's accommodation and Internet cafe, and finally left Yu Xiao 1,000 yuan, and took the train back to Chengdu with the farewell of the boss of the game company, persuaded her, "The child has finally grown up. I went back to see that it was quite formal. They also paid them a full-time salary of 2,000 yuan per month... His technical level is very good. The coach said that he has a flexible mind and is one of the three most likely to go to Korea. People are very optimistic about him. He will come back after the finals in a while, and he can continue his classes at that time. He can go back to Korea when he goes to the competition..."
Yu Xiao's mother became anxious again. She realized that no matter who she went to, she should not go to her own man who was easier to talk to than her own son. Her son was like a stubborn cow that was hard to pull back, but this man next to him would follow the rope of the cow and be dragged into the ditch. "It sounds good, but it's intermittent. What's the point of studying? Can you learn anything? Can you pass the exam? If you can't pass the exam, the school won't give you a diploma, and your youth will be wasted!"
Yu Xiao's father coughed and said, "Well, we can still think of a way in the middle. The University of Electronic Science and Technology of China and Fulong have a good relationship... When the time comes, we can use our connections to smooth things over. I believe that a diploma can still be obtained..."
Yu Xiao's mother stopped crying and looked at her husband who had probably already made up his mind. She rolled her eyes and asked, "Really?!"
…
Everyone has been paying attention to Yu Xiao's situation since then. In October, he advanced to the top 16.
The official website of the Asian League lists a lot of photos of the players, including Yu Xiao’s photo and name. The artistic photo with his arms folded looks quite handsome.
The title is "Eight City Legions Battle for Hegemony in the Imperial City!"
Now in the interstellar section of the University of Electronic Science and Technology forum where Yu Xiao is, everyone knows Yu Xiao, nicknamed "skykill", and he is called the man who wants to fuck the sky.
Sometimes Cheng Ran would think, "Tsk tsk, look at this nickname, it's totally different from Yu Xiao in his daily life. Only in the game can Yu Xiao transform into such a demon king-level existence."
Liu Ying even called and said with a smile, "I saw Yu Xiao's photo..." In the QQ group chat set up among friends, Yao Beibei would also tag Yu Xiao with the link to the official website, saying "You have a bright future..." Yu Xiao would joke with Yao Beibei in their free time, and the people around them would try to stop them, and they were all having fun.
But overall, there is still a sense of expectation, such as seeing Yu Xiao reach the quarterfinals or the semifinals on the official website. That is almost the limit of imagination, and no one has thought much about the future, after all, Yu Xiao has never been a person who can carry a heavy weight since he was a child.
But in the end, Yu Xiao also made it to the quarterfinals. The promotion of the Asian League official website was not so attentive. After all, it was not a big company at that time, and human resources were limited. They only released this one news report.
In November, the battle for the Imperial City came to an end, and Xie Feibai called, because before this period began, Yu Xiao had been in contact with Cheng Ran to report his status, and the two sometimes discussed techniques, tactics and strategies. Although Cheng Ran had two souls, to be honest, he didn't play games much. When he was in college, he didn't have the conditions, and naturally he couldn't have a free and full college life like ordinary people. Now that Yu Xiao is at the level of the national team, all the tactics of the prophets are of no use. The average number of games he plays every day is jaw-dropping for normal people. He has practiced and encountered all kinds of tactics and strategies, but the problem is to guess the opponent's thinking in the real game.
It should have been the end of the competition, but it was Xie Feibai who called, "Only the top three in overall strength in the Chinese finals are eligible to go to South Korea to participate in the StarCraft competition. Yu Xiao is fourth, so it seems he can't go to South Korea."
After this matter was made public, a group of people who knew Yu Xiao and paid attention to her felt sorry.
Everyone tried to comfort him in the QQ group, but Yu Xiao didn't respond. No one answered the phone.
In the end, he only answered Cheng Ran's call. Yu Xiao said that he did not regret it. Really, he was able to meet all the great players he had heard of before, and in the end they could compete together. This was like a dream. In the end, they were not able to go on, but isn't that the case for most people
Being one of the top four is already very impressive. Even though no one may know the names of these top four players in a few years, at least this experience is very meaningful, just like knowing you, Cheng Ran, and I can brag about it for the rest of my life.
…
When Yu Xiao was packing up and preparing to go home, his coach asked him to stay a few more days because the visas to Korea had not been fully processed, just to be on the safe side. In the end, something went wrong. The third player had a visa problem and it was too late to reissue it. Yu Xiao was substituted in and qualified to go to Korea.
Seoul, South Korea will bring together more than 400 contestants from 37 countries and regions.
Yu Xiao became one of them.
In mid-December, Cheng Ran took a leave of absence from HKUST and went to South Korea with Cheng Qi as representatives of Lianzhong, and Xie Feibai also went with them.
The Chinese team did not have an advantage in the individual competition of the StarCraft event in Seoul, and it was unlikely to win the championship. When everyone arrived at the event, they found out that WCG also had a StarCraft doubles event, and they quickly signed up Yu Xiao and another player named "Adi". The two had cooperated with each other in Beijing and had considerable experience. They were the most suitable people for the 22 events.
In the individual interstellar events, the Chinese team suffered successive defeats, and their best results were all ranked low. Yu Xiao lost when playing against an American player "DHLII", and the American player was later defeated in the quarterfinals.
However, the 2V2 project was unexpectedly stalemate.
He struggled all the way to the finals at the top of the pyramid.
Originally, Lianzhong was going to send Vice President Ren Qi to this event, but because Cheng Ran wanted to go and support Yu Xiao, Cheng Qi also went along.
The group arrived. From Cheng Ran's perspective, the WCG venue in Seoul was certainly not comparable to the later era. This era was really a bit rudimentary. However, the tense, dazzling, and enthusiastic atmosphere was the same no matter which period.
Cheng Qi refused the organizers' special treatment, such as being the guest of honor for certain events or giving a speech before the opening. This was the home of Samsung and the South Korean government, and the Chinese co-organizers were just trying to gain popularity, just like the Asia League Games under Lianzhong, which was responsible for the expenses of the Chinese competition. Samsung Electronics covered all the expenses of the Seoul competition, the board and lodging of the players, and was very wealthy. This was the global marketing that Samsung needed to enter the world market as an international giant at that time, which was different from Fulong's strategy of building large-scale projects in various places.
Cheng Qi, who did not participate in any commercial activities, just wandered around the venues casually with Cheng Ran and Xie Feibai during those two days, watched the Chinese team compete in four events, ate Korean snacks that did not suit their taste, and arrived on the day of Yu Xiao's competition.
In the StarCraft 2v2 finals, the Chinese team represented by Yu Xiao "Skykill" and "Adi" played against two famous world-class players "Kimoren" and "Fish Eyes" from the German team.
It was a fierce match, and the two sides were evenly matched at 2-2.
After all, the venue is not big, but the thousands of spectators on the scene are already excited, and countless people are cheering and shouting for this intense competition.
When the fight became most intense, Cheng Ran also got up from his seat and started punching together with Xie Feibai and Cheng Qi. They couldn't lose their momentum.
The game ended in a draw and the Chinese team won the championship.
At that moment, the whole audience burst into applause.
Seeing Yu Xiao and his teammates almost exhausted in their seats, Cheng Ran took off his headphones and looked at the applause and cheers from all directions. It was obvious that they were still in a daze with blank faces.
Chinese team champion.
Yu Xiao won the first WCG StarCraft doubles championship!
Yu Xiao took a photo in front of the podium. It was taken by Cheng Ran. It was a photo of two people standing in front of the host desk, with the background of "THE1stWORLD..." behind them. The two people held a five-star red flag on the left and right. Yu Xiao stood there with his legs crossed, very domineering, but the posture was not very elegant. His other hand held a corner of the national flag, his shoulders hunched, and he tried to raise his arm. Later, according to Yu Xiao, his mind was blank, and he had not yet recovered from the news of winning the championship.
The prize money was 6,000 US dollars. Yu Xiao split it in half, and got 3,000, 25,000 RMB.
After returning to China, Yu Xiao was treated like a hero. CCTV-5 Sports Channel has begun to pay attention to e-sports. Soon, Channel 5 will broadcast a special program about e-sports at around 5 or 6 p.m., which means that at that time, people will be able to watch StarCraft and various competition commentaries on TV just like watching live broadcasts in later generations. CCTV-5 interviewed Yu Xiao.
Local newspapers in Chengdu reported Yu Xiao's deeds, neighbors used his deeds to encourage their children, and relatives and friends praised him everywhere. Even in Fulong compound, everyone gave a thumbs up when talking about Yu Xiao. The villain who had stopped studying and played games suddenly became a positive character.
After the interview, Yu Xiao found Cheng Ran. The boy looked so proud that he couldn't hide it. "I'm twenty years old. Do you remember the bet we made when we were little?"
Cheng Ran was stunned. "What bet?"
"It's a bet about who will be more successful and famous when we're 20 years old..." The boy made a "Yeah!" gesture to him with a teasing look on his face, "Now it seems like I'm one step ahead, buddy."
Cheng Ran didn't know whether to laugh or cry, "Get lost, you are so capable, military station!"
Cheng Ran looked like he was talking about the buildings that the Terrans built for the Marines in the StarCraft game. But this sentence was paraphrased into "Stand aside!" which only two people could understand.
Yu Xiao laughed and pointed, "Base!" This refers to the game's headquarters building.
The two of them sang in unison and made jokes, just like they were teenagers.
But Yu Xiao never expected that he had said this too early.
Spring 2002.
Something extraordinary happened.
A message about a breakthrough in a major domestic research field.
It shocked all sectors of Chinese society.
HKUST Hi-Tech Building, Chip R&D Center.
Chen Yue’s “National Core No. 1”… came out of nowhere!
(Happy New Year! 19 years have passed, and I will spend the 20th year with you. This year, I hope you and I can create more surprises.)