Chapter 197 The Ball's Tale

"Hey, stop."

Xu Qinglang pushed open the bookstore door and shouted at the tattooed man who had just finished coughing in front.

The tattooed man was stunned for a moment, turned sideways, still with a cigarette in his mouth, looked at Xu Qinglang, with a lustful and playful look in his eyes, and said:

"Buddy, I wanted to say it just now, you look really good, did you get it back from Thailand?"

"..." Xu Qinglang.

"Buddy, what's the matter? You're not here to get back the hundred yuan, are you? Let me tell you, your boss personally said it was on the house, don't even think about getting it from me. You guys are in business, you have to be honest, right?"

The tattooed man had an "I'm awesome" vibe.

"It's nothing, just came out to say good night to you."

Xu Qinglang naturally shook his head, turned around, and returned to the bookstore, leaving without a trace.

Good night?

The tattooed man was stunned for a moment, wondering if this man had taken a fancy to him?

He was very upright,

But this man is so beautiful,

It seems excusable to bend occasionally, right?

Isn't a real man supposed to be able to bend and stretch?

The tattooed man kept adding drama to himself, unaware that his cheap talk had cost him a lifeline.

Zhou Ze saw Xu Qinglang come back quickly after going out, and was a little surprised and asked:

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing." Xu Qinglang walked behind the bar and made himself a cocktail, "Too lazy to save him."

"Oh."

Zhou Ze responded and didn't say anything.

They weren't relatives or friends, he would help you if he liked you, it was just a small effort.

It was excusable to turn a blind eye if he didn't like you.

In fact, the original Lao Xu was still a very positive person. He once advised Zhou Ze to help people, and Zhou Ze was very annoyed with him at that time.

Now, Xu Qinglang had not only been turned into a salted fish state by Zhou Ze in his lifestyle, but even in this respect he had been brought to a more indifferent state.

Perhaps it was because he had seen too many wandering souls and their tragic stories. When you see too much of anything, you become numb to it.

The Tongcheng Zhiyun team was two goals behind in the first half of the game, which led to a sharp decrease in the number of spectators here. Most people were just watching the excitement, supporting their hometown team out of instinctive preference, but seeing that they were two goals behind in the first half, and it was a low-level league team playing against a Chinese Super League team, everyone felt there was no hope and didn't want to watch anymore.

However, two middle-aged men sitting next to Zhou Ze watched with great interest. One was wearing a red shirt, sitting there watching, without saying a word from beginning to end.

One was leaning on a crutch, holding a briefcase in his hand, leaning on the side of the bar.

These two people were actually not very old, only in their forties.

"No hope, no hope."

The middle-aged man with the crutch sighed regretfully.

The two young people next to him glared at him unhappily, obviously feeling that at this time you could not watch, but it was annoying to sing the blues here.

The middle-aged man was not angry, and continued to drink the cocktail in his hand. This was a 98-yuan cocktail. The middle-aged man specifically asked about the price after entering, and felt that ordering ice water could not recover the cost. Ordering this could basically be worth the minimum consumption, so it was not a loss.

In fact, he was a thrifty person. It was really a bit surprising that such a person would be willing to walk into a black shop with a minimum consumption of one hundred.

He didn't even know why, when he was passing by here on a business trip, he happened to see the game being broadcast inside, and he walked in and sat down as if possessed.

"Only two behind, it's not that bad," Zhou Ze said.

Boss Zhou was not a fan, but he watched the first half of the game. In fact, the two teams were playing back and forth, but the Tongcheng team was unlucky and conceded two goals to the Chinese Super League team. In fact, the opportunities were equal.

"It's different, it's different." The middle-aged man took a sip of wine and explained like a commentator: "In fact, Chinese Super League teams will inevitably be a little uncomfortable when playing against China League Two teams at the beginning.

"Because according to the Football Association's regulations, there can be no foreign players in China League Two, only Chinese players, but there are foreign players in the Chinese Super League, and in recent years, more and more capital tycoons have entered the Chinese Super League, and the foreign players they buy are getting stronger and stronger. Even big-name stars in their prime can be bought.

"Therefore, Chinese Super League teams are heavily dependent on foreign players, whether in games or in training. Now, suddenly removing foreign players to play games is a bit uncomfortable. China League Two teams don't have foreign players, so they play the same way they usually do, and can cooperate better.

"Therefore, the first half is the key to an upset. And through one half, Chinese Super League teams can also adapt to the rhythm without foreign players. In addition, the strength of the Chinese players in the Chinese Super League teams is much higher than that of the China League Two teams. They tend to play better in the second half than in the first half.

"Now the problem comes, the China League Two team actually lost two goals in the first half, which was the best opportunity. They will have even less chance in the second half. Moreover, this Chinese Super League team is the defending champion of the last FA Cup. They will not take it lightly."

The middle-aged man's analysis only got Zhou Ze's silent nod. He suddenly felt a little unfulfilled and continued: "Boss, believe me, this game is over, these young people are just making a fuss."

Zhou Ze was noncommittal. Coincidentally, Xu Qinglang had just made himself a glass of wine, and Zhou Ze conveniently pushed it to the middle-aged man.

The middle-aged man happily accepted it and didn't stand on ceremony.

Perhaps he had drunk a little too much, the middle-aged man occasionally hammered his lame leg with his hand.

"Used to be an athlete?" Zhou Ze asked.

"Ah, uh." The middle-aged man showed a look of reminiscence, "I used to play football too, but I wasn't as famous as Fan Da General and the others. I was just a small substitute, and the team I was on wasn't very big either. That team is gone now."

"What a pity."

"There's nothing to regret, just bad luck." The middle-aged man pointed to the wine glass and said, "Boss, if you give me this order for free, I'll tell you a secret in the football circle."

"It's free."

"Refreshing." The middle-aged man sighed and said, "I didn't catch up with the good times. Back then, in the early 2000s, the football circle was chaotic and dark. It's not like now. As you know, these big bosses are all here to do football. They have a lot of money and are stupid, and the treatment is good. They can easily earn hundreds of thousands or millions."

Zhou Ze nodded, indicating that he was listening.

At this time, the second half of the game had also begun. The few viewers in the bookstore were still watching, and most people had checked out and left during the intermission.

"It wasn't that we couldn't do it at that time, it was from top to bottom, it was all like this. Not to mention the big bosses above, even the club manager and the head coach played like this. What could you do as a small player?

"Actually, my level was not enough to play in the Jia A League at the time, but the general manager kept me and paid me. I knew what the purpose was."

"That's how you became lame?" Zhou Ze asked.

The middle-aged man nodded, "Haha, boss, don't get me wrong, I wasn't beaten lame for refusing to play a fixed match, I was also depressed to death.

"I remember that game, we played a mid-to-lower-tier team. In fact, this kind of game is the easiest to fix, because everyone is mid-to-lower-tier, and it's normal for any result to come out. The outside world wouldn't think it was too surprising, unlike those who are competing for the championship or the AFC Champions League qualification, which are watched by many eyes.

"In that game, the bookmaker sent me a notice, asking me to guarantee a loss.

"Let me tell you, bookmakers generally don't buy off too many people in the team, maybe one here and one there, at most two. Especially if they buy off the defense line, it's easy to handle. Leaking a goal or letting one go is too easy. It's impossible for everyone from top to bottom to be a bookmaker's person. First, the cost is high, and second, if there are too many people, it's easy for rumors to leak out and cause problems.

"In that game, coincidentally, our team's foreign players performed too well, as if they had been injected with chicken blood, and scored two goals in the first ten minutes.

"Bookmakers generally don't dare to buy off foreign players. Foreign players can be replaced at any time. What if they casually reveal something to the media after they return to their country?

"Unlike us locals, our roots and circles are all in the country. It's also convenient for bookmakers to control us and not worry about us causing any problems.

"In that game, I kept leaking people and gave away a penalty. Finally, in the 80th minute, I let the opponent score three goals and let them overtake us. I was really exhausted.

"Before the end of the game, I, as a defensive midfielder, simply ran to the front to be a striker, anyway, I didn't want to defend anymore.

"Who knew that coincidentally, our backcourt made a big kick, and the ball actually passed through the opponent's defense line and landed in front of me.

"I was stunned at the time, but the ball was in front of you, you couldn't just not kick it, that would be too fake. Then I symbolically kicked it, deliberately kicking it off. The ball speed was very slow, and it was a shot that the goalkeeper could stop with his feet.

"But damn it, the opponent's goalkeeper seemed too nervous and actually fell down. Then my shot, which even my grandma could save, actually went in like this.

"When I saw the ball slowly rolling into the goal line, I was desperate.

"After the game, the bookmaker's people found me and beat my leg lame. Heh, I'm not a star player. Of course, the star players at that time also played fixed matches. Didn't a few of them go in too? But if I had some fame, they wouldn't dare to do this to me. Who told me that I was just a small substitute in a small team at that time? This leg is the price, because my goal cost the bookmaker tens of millions. Tens of millions at that time was worth a lot."

At this time, there was a burst of cheers from the young people in front.

Zhou Ze looked at the screen. It was the Tongcheng team who had pulled back a goal and were now 1-2 behind.

"Yo, can they still score one?" The middle-aged man was a little surprised.

Less than three minutes later,

There was another burst of cheers,

Tied!

The score was tied!

The middle-aged man stood up abruptly, his face full of disbelief.

"Is it a fixed match?" Zhou Ze asked.

"No, it shouldn't be, and it can't be. That Chinese Super League team can't possibly want to lose. It's backed by a large group and doesn't care about the money from gambling."

At this time, several young people in the bookstore kept shouting, "Come on, come on, score another one," and so on.

Then,

Before the end of the game,

The Tongcheng team actually scored another goal, overtaking the score, and finally eliminated the Chinese Super League team that was two levels higher than them, creating a miracle and a big upset.

The middle-aged man pursed his lips, smiled at Zhou Ze, and then limped out of the bookstore with his crutch.

Zhou Ze gave him a free pass, so he didn't pay.

The game was over, and everyone else in the bookstore had left, but the man in the red shirt was still sitting there. Throughout the game, he didn't cheer or speak, just sat there watching intently.

"Hey, it's time to hit the road." Zhou Ze reached out and patted the other person's shoulder. "I let you watch a game to pass the time before going to the Yellow Springs. That's not bad to you, right?"

The red-shirted man was stunned for a moment, nodded, and then looked at Zhou Ze, his lips moved a few times, and said, "The goalkeeper that the cripple was talking about earlier was me."

Zhou Ze was a little surprised when he heard this.

"That year, I and another small bookmaker were doing anti-bookmaking, black eating black. At the beginning, I sent the opponent's foreign players in for two goals, but who knew that that guy could send them in even better, and he just sent them in for the overtake.

"Heh,

"In the end, his shot was too slow and too soft. I had no choice but to pretend to fall down and let the ball in."

"Are you guys playing a game or playing Infernal Affairs?" Zhou Ze was a little speechless, and then asked, "How did you die?"

"Died in a car accident." The red-shirted man shook his head helplessly. "I retired more than ten years ago. A while ago, on the way to drive, there were elementary school students playing football by the roadside near a flowerpot. A ball just flew to my side and hit my car window, scaring me. I turned the steering wheel in the wrong direction and entered the wrong lane,

"Then there was a car accident.

"Actually, it was a small car accident. The opposite minibus was driving very slowly, really very slowly, not fast at all;

"I just hit my head a little. I was sent to the hospital and at first it was nothing.

"Then I died inexplicably in the hospital the day before I was about to be discharged, from a concussion.

"Tell me,

"Isn't it funny?"