Chapter 173 Sweet and Not Bitter

The students participating in the national team trials were under unified management.

While they couldn't control what time people woke up and washed, there were clear requirements for meal times.

At 7:20 a.m., Jiang Xiao finished washing up and followed Zhao Wenlong out of the room to the restaurant on the west side of the hotel's first floor for breakfast.

Jiang Xiao ate breakfast in this restaurant every day. Compared to the previous hustle and bustle, now there were only a few figures in the large restaurant.

After all, only 16 contestants and their accompanying teachers remained in the hotel. If there were no surprises, only 10 contestants would remain after today.

Jiang Xiao grabbed a plate and, at the front of the buffet, took a piece of jujube cake, a potato cake, a steamer of xiaolongbao (small steamed buns), two boiled eggs, one cold and one hot side dish, and then happily ladled a bowl of soybean milk.

Fang Xingyun and Hou Mingming weren't there, probably because they had already eaten or hadn't gotten up yet.

However, Jiang Xiao saw a familiar figure and walked over with his plate, "You can really eat, huh?"

Xing Yan looked up, crumbs of egg yolk still on his mouth. His mouth was full of food, so he didn't choose to speak, but just "hmph"-ed.

Jiang Xiao looked at the pile of eggshells in front of him and couldn't help but feel his scalp tingle!

Confirmed!

Chicken terminator!

This man had eaten so many unhatched chicks!

"Aren't you being too cruel?" Jiang Xiao looked at the pile of eggshells and continued, "Don't you know you're supposed to dip eggs in sauce?"

Xing Yan: "......"

Next to him, Zhao Wenlong also sat down at the table with his plate. Jiang Xiao felt his scalp tingle again at the sight of the retired cadre's life.

On Zhao Wenlong's plate were two pastries, a fried egg, a plate of greens... and he was holding his own cup of clear tea...

Please respect your Star Warrior profession! You exercise so much every day, and you only eat this much?

Look at Xing Yan! Now that's a real man! Look at that empty bowl of braised pork rice, look at that empty steamer basket of buns!

You, Zhao Wenlong... Eh?

A graceful figure suddenly sat down next to Jiang Xiao.

Oh? Isn't this Tree Goddess?

Jiang Xiao curiously glanced at her. Guys like Jiang Xiao and Xing Yan were more reluctant to sit close together, so the three people at the table were sitting very far apart. Xin Ai'an was petite, so she didn't take up much space, and Jiang Xiao didn't say anything.

The key was that if a girl sat here, it probably wouldn't be good for Jiang Xiao to move away with his plate.

"If we meet in the top eight, just go through the motions, and I'll concede," Xin Ai'an said, stirring the beef noodles in front of her, which looked very red and spicy, with her delicate white chopsticks.

"Oh," Jiang Xiao thought for a moment and agreed, "Okay."

When he thought of Xin Ai'an, all that came to Jiang Xiao's mind was green, which didn't match the red beef noodles she was eating.

Xin Ai'an turned to look at Zhao Wenlong, a look of inquiry on her face.

Zhao Wenlong nodded very cooperatively, "Got it."

Xin Ai'an smiled politely, then lowered her head to eat her noodles.

Crack, crack.

Next to them, the ignored Xing Yan crushed another boiled egg...

After that, the quartet didn't communicate much. Jiang Xiao finished breakfast, went back to his room to rest for a while, and went downstairs at 7:50 to gather with the team and take a bus to the People's Stadium.

Today's protagonists weren't the top eight, although the top eight also had their matches, the losers' bracket battles were the highlight of the day.

Among the eight players in the losers' bracket, the top two would be selected as substitutes to enter the national team's ten-man roster, and everything would be revealed today.

The starting eight had obviously been determined, but the ranking matches still had to continue. Xin Ai'an's words at breakfast clearly showed that she didn't want to fight hard. After all, she had already secured a starting position, and she didn't care about her ranking in the team.

If there were no surprises, some people probably had the same idea as Xin Ai'an. They didn't care about these so-called rankings.

But without exception, all eight of them cared about winning or losing.

After all, they were Star Warriors, and they were the eight who had fought their way out of the entire country. It was impossible for them not to have a strong desire to win.

Maybe before the match, they thought about following the competition rules, going through the motions, and completing the selection process, but once they really started fighting, they would probably get fired up.

The students took their seats one by one under the guidance of their respective leading teachers, and then that six-year-old child pouted his little mouth and was brought up again...

It was worth mentioning that after entering the top eight, the numbers of the top eight players were changed, numbered from 1 to 8 in order of advancement.

The bottom eight didn't change their numbers, and they would compete for the numbers 9 and 10.

Jiang Xiao and the others became "warm-up" students instead. After the staff's introduction, everyone also learned about today's competition process:

The winners' bracket would first determine the top four, and then the losers' bracket would determine the top four.

The winners' bracket would determine the top two, and then the losers' bracket would determine the top two.

When it came to this point, the national team's ten-man roster was basically determined, but both the winners' bracket and the losers' bracket had their own championship and runner-up battles. The top seed in the winners' bracket would receive the title of captain of the national team, and the top seed in the losers' bracket would receive the number 9.

The only thing that was really meaningful was the title of "national team captain." The numbers 2-10 were the same.

If you took the captaincy, your identity would be different. It wasn't to say that there would be much more resource allocation, but at least all kinds of interviews and exposure for the team would be difficult to bypass the national team captain.

This would be a huge promotion for your school and even your hometown, and it would further increase your personal and school influence.

Imagine that among a group of big shots from the imperial capital and the magic capital, a Da Cang Star Warrior suddenly emerged as the national team captain of this year's individual competition. The reaction of the people could be imagined.

Xin Ai'an's idea was probably not something that Southwest Star Warrior University would be very happy about, so Xin Ai'an also said that she would go through the motions and then concede.

Jiang Xiao was different. He could mess around as he pleased. Hou Mingming and Zhao Wenlong would hold up the sky if it fell. Jiang Xiao couldn't be blamed for not getting the captaincy.

"Number 1!" The staff member took the ping-pong ball from the child's hand, twisted it open, and announced loudly.

Xie Yan raised his right hand high, clenched into a fist, the black fist band taut.

Jiang Xiao rested his elbow on his knee, clasped his hands together, supported his chin on his fist, and prayed in a low voice, "Zhao Wenlong! Zhao Wenlong! Zhao Wenlong!"

Zhao Wenlong: ???

Hou Mingming's mouth curled up slightly. In fact, many people present hoped to see this match. One black and one white, two masters of fist and foot, it would be quite exciting to watch them fight!

The staff member took the ping-pong ball from the child's hand, twisted it open, and raised it high, "Number 3!"

Jiang Xiao: ???

"Haha!" Zhao Wenlong couldn't help but laugh out loud. Jiang Xiao was the third to advance, and his current number was three.

Jiang Xiao was dumbfounded.

Did I jinx myself?

Hou Mingming on the side was unhappy. She had been fighting since the round of 32, but she still hadn't met Jiang Xiao?

"Damn it," Hou Mingming shook his hand hard, looking unhappy.

Jiang Xiao's mood improved a lot when he saw this scene. He stood up, raised his right hand, indicating that he had no objection.

The staff signaled the child to continue drawing ping-pong balls. Jiang Xiao lowered his head, looked at the extremely dissatisfied Hou Mingming, put his hand on Hou Mingming's shoulder, and muttered softly:

"Wanting something you can't get, what can you do about life?"

Hou Mingming looked up at Jiang Xiao's ugly face and couldn't help but take a deep breath to calm the emotions surging in her heart.

Speaking of which, why does this kid's speech have a rhythm?

Is this a lyric?

"You get into the top four for me!" Hou Mingming said in a cold voice.

Jiang Xiao sat down and grinned, "That's easier said than done. Xie Yan is frighteningly strong! I can't beat him."

Hou Mingming's body trembled slightly, her fists clenched tightly, and she squeezed out a word from between her teeth: "Cry!"

"You're so unreasonable," Jiang Xiao leisurely crossed his legs, "I'm a steel man, with a strong will and a firm heart. How can I cry casually?"

"Jiang! Xiao! Pi!" Hou Mingming turned to look at Jiang Xiao and squeezed out a sentence from between her teeth.

"Number 2!" The staff member's voice came from below.

Hou Mingming could only stand up and raise her right hand, but she kept looking down at Jiang Xiao, her face covered in frost.

"Well, eighth place is pretty good, I'm satisfied~"

Jiang Xiao said, leaning back comfortably, and even reached out and patted the giant blade on his right side, as if coaxing a baby to sleep, "You must be tired too. In life, don't always strive to be first. Occasionally, stop and look at the scenery around you, admire the weeds and wildflowers at your feet..."

Admiring weeds and wildflowers is the most annoying thing...

"Pfft..." Zhao Wenlong couldn't stand such serious flirting. He really couldn't help but laugh out loud.

"Number 6!"

Zhao Wenlong: ???

Number 6 was Zhao Wenlong's number.

Internal battle in the Imperial Capital Star Warrior!

Hou Mingming and Zhao Wenlong met again!

Hou Mingming immediately turned her spearhead towards Zhao Wenlong.

Okay, this is also a very powerful opponent. It's acceptable to fight Zhao Wenlong if she can't fight Jiang Xiao.

"Number 4!"

Yu Jin stood up.

"Versus Number 8!"

Wu Xiaojing raised her right hand high.

Tsk tsk, another set of love and hatred~

The remaining two automatically became opponents, Fan Ren against Xin Ai'an at number 7 against number 5.

Staff member: "Please first group of contestants on stage!"

Jiang Xiao picked up his giant blade and stood up, quickly leaving this place of right and wrong. Facts had proved that where there was Hou Mingming, there was Jiang Xiao's place of right and wrong.

Over there, the silent Xie Yan also walked onto the stage.

"Both contestants, get ready!" the referee shouted loudly.

A huge fist constellation instantly bloomed on Xie Yan's body, and black flames were burning fiercely on the tightly clenched fist.

Jiang Xiao was stunned for a moment. Was he showing his attitude?

Was this silent beast going to do his best and treat it as a normal match? Did he want the captain's position?

"Jiang Xiaopi! Get serious! Get into the top four!" Hou Mingming stood up from the audience and shouted angrily.

"Well..." Jiang Xiao grinned. He didn't want to be the captain, and he didn't want to become a little crybaby...

"Start!" the referee shouted loudly.

At the command, Xie Yan's body suddenly tilted, obviously dodging the blessing. Moreover, he seemed to realize that he would be silenced, so he didn't ignite the black flame on his body.

But to Xie Yan's slight surprise, Jiang Xiao didn't attack.

Xie Yan frowned slightly and said, very rarely, his voice a little gloomy: "If you don't fight, then concede."

"It's impossible to concede, it's impossible to concede in this lifetime," Jiang Xiao said.

Since the other party was so serious, was this a rare sparring opportunity? This was a master of fist and foot, wasn't it?

Jiang Xiao thought for a moment, his hand-to-hand combat hadn't been upgraded for a long time, and had been stuck on Silver 9. If he fought a life-and-death battle with a master, would he take it a step further?

Anyway, the outcome didn't matter. If he could pass the hurdle of the Gold rank in this battle, wouldn't that be a big profit?

After all, regular sparring was different from a life-and-death battle. According to Xie Yan's state, it should be able to stimulate his fist and foot advancement, right?

Thinking of this, Jiang Xiao beckoned to Xie Yan: "Come."

Xie Yan raised his eyebrows slightly, ignited a raging black fire on his body, and rushed over quickly.

"Oh, that won't do. I only eat sweets, not bitter things," Jiang Xiao muttered in his mouth. As he watched Xie Yan getting closer, Jiang Xiao threw out a Silence.

It directly extinguished the black flame on Xie Yan's body.

Xie Yan's face was solemn as he looked at Jiang Xiao, who was motionless, not crying, not blessing. This... Xie Yan seemed to realize something. Was this kid going to compete with him in skills? Ban star techniques?

To everyone's surprise, Xie Yan, who should have had his qi and blood surging and in pain from the Silence, actually had a slight smile on his lips?

Xie Yan clenched his fists, walked out of the Silence domain, but didn't use any more star techniques. He just swayed his body from side to side, his figure erratic, quickly approaching Jiang Xiao.

Jiang Xiao's next reaction surprised everyone. He saw Jiang Xiao slam the giant blade into the ground and put on a standard fighting stance, rushing up!

Fighting fists and feet with a master? This kid is... going all out?

Slam the giant blade, add Silence!

Win fourth, lose eighth?