Chapter 136: Old Rivals (Part I)

"Coach Liu, we meet again. You look like you're in high spirits."

This was the first time Wang Lei and Liu Sicheng had seen each other since the preliminary rounds in the first half of the year, but the situation felt incredibly awkward. To begin with, Liu Sicheng was utterly dejected; he would rather have faced the coach of the "Dream Team," the world's top-ranked basketball squad, than see Wang Lei standing before him again.

Losing to the "Dream Team" by a hundred points was expected, but losing to Wang Lei’s team once had become an indelible humiliation for Liu Sicheng.

Ever since his team was defeated by the Xinjiang Youth Team led by Wang Lei during the qualifiers—a loss that allowed their opponents to step over them and claim the top spot in the Northern Division—Liu Sicheng had been mired in a slump. For him, losing to anyone was fine, but losing to that bastard Wang Lei was simply unacceptable.

There is no such thing as love or hatred without a reason, but Liu Sicheng was a stubborn man. From the moment he first met Wang Lei, he felt the kid was cocky and shady, not a good person. This poor first impression severely tainted their subsequent interactions. Even when Wang Lei displayed exceptional talent in training and games, Liu Sicheng, the head coach at the time, still treated him poorly. The misunderstanding between them grew deeper—or perhaps it wasn't a misunderstanding at all, just a fundamental clash between two incompatible personalities.

When Wang Lei was embroiled in the Ma Dongmei scandal a few days ago, some capital-based media outlets stepped forward to smear his character and coaching ability. In reality, this was orchestrated by Liu Sicheng through his connections. Beyond that, Liu Sicheng had personally joined the fray, repeatedly exposing Wang Lei’s supposed past misdeeds on social media platforms like Xunbo, while publicly declaring that Wang Lei was the most unethical player he had ever coached.

Liu Sicheng, acting as an instigator, had originally thought that even if this didn't cost Wang Lei his job, it would at least keep him in turmoil for a while, perhaps even causing him and his team to lose focus and get eliminated.

However, to Liu Sicheng's surprise, not only did Wang Lei and his team withstand the pressure and eliminate another dark horse, the Fujian Youth Team, but the Central Daily also came out to support Ma Dongmei.

Had it ended there, Liu Sicheng might have felt some regret, but he certainly wouldn't have been so depressed. He had actually been looking forward to facing Wang Lei and his team again to wash away his past shame. But just then, he received word from an influential friend telling him to delete those defamatory remarks about Wang Lei immediately.

His friend had been very explicit, pointing out that Ma Dongmei’s grandfather was Ma Zhanshan, and warning Liu Sicheng not to act foolishly in the future.

This news left Liu Sicheng deeply frustrated. He couldn't help but curse Wang Lei’s "dumb luck" for having such a keen eye to find a girlfriend like that. At the same time, he felt a sense of grievance: why would the granddaughter of a founding father of the nation play volleyball? Wouldn't it be better to just stay home and be a "princess"?

Liu Sicheng actually knew that Ma Dongmei’s mother was Li Weihong. He wasn't afraid of Li Weihong—after all, he didn't report to her—but when it came to Ma Zhanshan, Liu Sicheng had to be careful. The man’s fierce reputation was known to the entire nation.

Seeing Wang Lei again now, one could imagine Liu Sicheng’s state of mind. He had deleted all his posts and even wiped his comment history on Xunbo before the match even started.

"Fine, all good. I hope we can have a brilliant game."

Liu Sicheng didn't dare say much more and brushed Wang Lei off. Compared to their previous encounter, he now regarded Wang Lei as a peer.

For the Capital Youth Team, playing in Jinghai City was essentially a home game. The less-than-an-hour drive between the two cities was, for most, the difference between the suburbs and the city center. Consequently, this highly anticipated semi-final drew many fans from the capital.

Although most of these fans came to support the Capital Youth Team, quite a few were there for Wang Lei. Following the massive success of the movie *Goodbye Mr. Loser*, Wang Lei’s popularity had soared. After all, he was a "native son" who grew up in the capital—he was one of their own.

Zhang Laopao, dressed in a black leather jacket, exuded the aura of a veteran rocker under the bright arena lights. With his new album selling like hotcakes, he was considered by many to be the face of rock and roll. His presence attracted numerous cameras and mobile phone lenses.

Compared to Zhang Laopao’s leather-clad, sunglass-wearing rock persona, Ma Pingdong, sitting beside him, appeared exceptionally low-key. If not for the old folding fan in his hand, it would have been difficult for him to attract any attention.

Ma Pingdong was delighted that his son-in-law had risked being vilified to protect his daughter. Now that his son-in-law’s team had reached a critical match, he naturally had to show his support. Zhang Laopao, however, had ulterior motives; he was already thinking about how to get Wang Lei to write more songs.

Having faced each other once before, neither Wang Lei nor his team felt particularly nervous. After so many matches, they had grown significantly. They were now full of confidence, eagerly awaiting the start of the game.

"Hello, audience members. This is CCTV-5. Today, we are broadcasting the semi-final of the National Games Youth Basketball Tournament, featuring the Capital Youth Team against the Xinjiang Youth Team."

"This year marks the first time the Youth Division has been included in the National Games, a crucial part of the national strategy for basketball development. While our university leagues are thriving, it is difficult for young players to find a good competitive platform outside of them. You could say that this restructuring of the National Games is a pioneering move."

As the tournament reached the semi-finals, it began to receive significant attention. Previously, only two matches had been recorded for broadcast after the knockout stages began, but now, CCTV would be broadcasting the remaining semi-finals and the final live.

"Because this is a newly established event, many provincial and municipal teams are newly formed. However, there are no shortage of familiar faces, such as Coach Liu Sicheng of the Capital Youth Team and their star player, Tao Zheyong. Coach Liu can be considered a top-tier figure in capital youth training; he has spent years on the front lines, cultivating many stars we are all familiar with. Furthermore, the head coach of their opponent today, the Xinjiang Youth Team, is none other than Coach Liu’s former student, Wang Lei."

"As for Coach Wang Lei, I’m sure everyone is very familiar with him. This young coach, not yet thirty, is multi-talented. Personally, I count myself among his fans."

Although it was a CCTV broadcast, the match was scheduled for 2:00 PM—not exactly prime time—and the host was a younger anchor, as it was only a youth-level event without any major superstar draws.

The young anchor’s commentary was relatively relaxed, and it was clear to many listeners that he held a favorable view of both Wang Lei and his team.