Chapter 1 A Special Day

May 20, 2016, was no ordinary day for Jiang Xiao.

Today was the final of the National High School League, the day of reckoning.

Since Jiang Xiao and the others arrived in Chang'an City at the beginning of May, the weather had been consistently fair and sunny.

But today, Chang'an City was covered in dark clouds, threatening rain.

Jiang Xiao got up at 6:30 in the morning, not feeling particularly energetic. His Blessing could heal his physical condition, but it couldn't alleviate his mental fatigue.

He had been away for more than half a month, fighting for more than half a month. After one last fight, it was time to go home.

In mid-May in Chang'an City, the temperature was already quite high.

The dark clouds loomed, without a hint of wind. Both physically and mentally, it felt stuffy and oppressive.

Yesterday, fully armed and accompanied by Hai Tianqing, Jiang Xiao had slipped out of the hotel and found a barber shop to get a clean, refreshing buzz cut. This was the wisest thing Jiang Xiao thought he had done.

Now, Jiang Xiao was running his hand over his buzz cut, enduring the sweltering heat in the stadium. Only this short haircut could bring Jiang Xiao a sense of mental refreshment.

Finally, the host finished introducing the competition process, and the simple opening ceremony came to an end. Jiang Xiao and the others could return to the locker room to rest, a veritable "holy land" with air conditioning.

The weather couldn't dampen the enthusiasm of the audience. Today, there would be a total of four matches.

The rankings of the top eight would be finalized today.

Each match could last no more than 20 minutes. It was now 8:30 in the morning, which meant that no matter what happened in the first three matches, the match between Jiangbin No. 1 High School and Capital No. 32 High School would start promptly at 10:00.

For these children who were good at seizing opportunities, 20 minutes was indeed a bit long.

Any small mistake could lead to the complete collapse of one team.

These awakened children were trained for battle. Seizing opportunities and turning advantages into victories were their strengths.

The first match lasted less than 300 seconds before a winner was decided.

The official rules stated that the next match would begin at 8:55, and the twenty-minute interval exhausted the cheerleaders on site.

The sponsors were very happy, and advertisements played on TVs and computers.

...

In the休息室 (xiūxīshì, rest area), Xia Yan sat on a bench, fiddling with the wooden giant blade in her hand. After two matches, although she had contributed to the team, her weaknesses had also been exposed to everyone.

In both matches, Xia Yan had been "killed" by the enemy's agile warrior (敏战, mǐnzhàn) in a sneak attack, and the problem was that Xia Yan herself was also an agile warrior, which made Xia Yan's online evaluation not high.

Success is king, failure is an outlaw; this is the truth everywhere.

Since ancient times, there is no first in literature, but no second in martial arts.

If it were a singing and dancing competition or a writing competition, people might have major disputes over the ranking.

But for the contest of awakened ones, if you can't do it, you can't do it. No matter how much you brag, if you lose, you lose.

Being defeated twice in a row by players of the same profession caused the public's rating of Xia Yan's A level to drop all the way to B+.

The Chinese people are really enthusiastic about rankings. After each game, hundreds of thousands of viewers will evaluate the performance of the children.

In the first game of the preliminary round, Han Jiangxue's evaluation was still A+, and after two games, Han Jiangxue was already at the top of the list, far ahead of a group of talented young people, rushing straight to S+.

It is lonely at the top, which is what Han Jiangxue is experiencing.

Among the nearly a thousand contestants in this competition, only Nanyue Yuan Qinghua can compare with her, and his evaluation is fixed at S-.

Star River Stage overlord is no joke.

What is more interesting is that Jiang Xiao's evaluation has soared from B to A+, completely the opposite of Xia Yan's fate.

People watched as a low-qualified young man with nine star slots conquered various people time and time again, step by step to the top of the world.

In the end, he stood on the stage of the finals as the only support of the Jiangbin No. 1 High School team. This surprised most people and amazed some viewers.

During this period when Xia Yan and Li Weiyi were gradually cursed by netizens as "slackers," Jiang Xiao rose strongly. Even if he was beside the overlord Han Jiangxue, he was not at all at a disadvantage. This was enough to see Jiang Xiao's true strength.

People who were aware of this later finally realized: Yes, you can question the number of star slots of Jiang Xiao, despise his low qualification, low growth, and low potential, but you must not question his immediate combat effectiveness at this time!

"The No. 1 Support Below Star River" was said from the mouth of the host Ye Xunyang and was finally recognized by the people of the whole country.

The eyes of the masses are discerning, and they are considered the most authoritative institution.

Ye Xunyang already had her own program on CCTV, and the ratings were not low. Relying on the popularity of the National Competition, the ratings soared.

After the semi-finals, Ye Xunyang reviewed the two matches of Jiangbin No. 1 High School vs. Da Wan Middle School and Jiangbin No. 1 High School vs. Jinmen Nankai in the program.

Interestingly, whether it was the quarter-finals or the semi-finals, every time at the last moment, the support position was the decisive role!

In the quarter-finals against Yuan Qinghua, Jiang Xiao led the team to victory with a smile on his face.

In the semi-finals against Liu Yang, the host Ye Xunyang led everyone to carefully watch the interaction between Jiang Xiao and Han Jiangxue at the last moment of the game.

In the program, Ye Xunyang praised Jiang Xiao's choice. On the surface, the commander of Jiangbin No. 1 High School was undoubtedly Han Jiangxue.

But in fact, at the most critical moment, the support position was the real leader.

This was obviously a dual-core team, but Han Jiangxue's brilliance was too strong, covering up the brilliance of others.

At this point, through the comprehensive review of the quarter-finals and semi-finals, Ye Xunyang sincerely praised "The No. 1 Support Below Star River," which was recognized by the majority of the audience.

Yes,

Jiang Xiao's hardware facilities were not enough, and he was even so inferior that he dared not show his star map, for fear of being publicly executed by the people of the world.

However, his software facilities were beyond the reach of ordinary people. He was calm and composed, and not flustered in the face of danger; he had quick wit and was good at responding; he did not hesitate to sacrifice himself to achieve the team, and he could be called brave and resourceful.

What is the demeanor of a great general?

This seemingly absurd and ridiculous support position is the best interpretation of this word.

Ye Xunyang highly praised Jiang Xiao. After all, she was a CCTV host and a public figure, and she paid great attention to her words and phrases. The words that came out of her mouth were mostly commendatory.

The online evaluation of Jiang Xiao was not so well-behaved. For Jiang Xiao's actions, netizens praised, scolded, and ridiculed him. For example, they called Jiang Xiao "actor," "the essence of a show精 (xì jīng, show spirit)," "scheming婊 (biǎo, bitch)," and so on...

This was what happened during the three days when Jiang Xiao was disconnected from the Internet. The team did not know these things, but everyone clearly felt that Xia Yan was under great pressure.

She should not have heard any rumors, so the pressure should be from herself.

Jiang Xiao walked over, raised the giant blade with one hand, sat next to Xia Yan, and put the giant blade on his lap.

Xia Yan remained unmoved, just stroking the wooden giant blade over and over again.

Some people, who dominate in their own territory, are the same in the National Competition.

However, some people, who are unparalleled at home, perform mediocrely when they come to the National Competition.

Xia Yan obviously belonged to the latter. Looking at Han Jiangxue, and then looking at herself, Xia Yan felt a great gap and pressure.

It turned out that a top student got 100 points because the total score of the test paper was only 100 points. And she got 99 points because her level was only 99 points.

These days, Xia Yan was not happy. Only when Han Jiangxue absorbed a star with dual skills did Xia Yan sincerely feel happy for Han Jiangxue.

Since then, Xia Yan had become more and more depressed.

Unlike the calm and generous Li Weiyi, Xia Yan's temperament was a bit impetuous. She really didn't want to be left too far behind by Han Jiangxue.

The two were childhood friends and indeed had a deep friendship, but if this continued, she would not even have the qualification to be on the same team as Han Jiangxue. Fortunately, she was promoted to the peak of the Nebula stage a few days ago, otherwise, she would be in a worse mood.

Poor performance in the competition, unable to keep up with the pace of friends, etc... Many troubles weighed on her heart, making this crazy Xia Husky completely quiet.

Han Jiangxue saw it in her eyes and remembered it in her heart. For several days, her comfort had not achieved the desired effect, which made Han Jiangxue helpless and not know what to do.

"Beep beep beep! Da Wan Middle School wins!" The referee's whistle in the TV pulled everyone's thoughts back.

Jiang Xiao gently bumped Xia Yan's shoulder and said, "After Jinmen Nankai Middle School and Haisu Normal University Affiliated Middle School compete for 3rd and 4th place, it will be our turn."

Xia Yan: "Okay."

Jiang Xiao scratched his head helplessly: "It's the most troublesome to make a woman happy."

Xia Yan turned her head, raised her eyebrows slightly: "So?"

Jiang Xiao smiled and said, "So... can you become a man?"

Xia Yan: ???

Jiang Xiao put his arm around Xia Yan's shoulder and said, "Remember! You are a man! A man should have the momentum to swallow mountains and rivers, and must have lofty aspirations. How can you be sentimental and short of heroic spirit?"

Xia Yan: "......"

How did I suddenly become a man?

"Cheer up!" Jiang Xiao patted Xia Yan's shoulder heavily: "Win! You and I drink and eat meat. Lose! You and I reorganize our troops and start all over again!"

The corners of Xia Yan's mouth twitched awkwardly and said, "Thank you."

Jiang Xiao put his arm around Xia Yan's shoulder and said politely: "Good brother, a lifetime!"

Xia Yan finally couldn't help it, and pushed Jiang Xiao away with her shoulder. Her face, which was as calm as water, finally had some smile, and she scolded with a smile: "Who wants to be with you for a lifetime?"

Jiang Xiao thought, it doesn't take a lifetime, a blanket is enough.

You and I meet during the golden autumn wind and jade dew, and tomorrow we will go our separate ways.

Isn't it beautiful to only go for the body and not the heart?

Damn, I am really a little渣奶 (zhā nǎi, scumbag).