novelODS Chapter 6 Li Jing
Chapter 6 Li Jing
night.
After completing the basic physical tests, Li Jing went straight back.
After packing his luggage, Li Jing was finally settled.
In the bedroom on the second floor.
Li Jing filled the bathtub with hot water.
The bathtub was small, and the water was too hot.
Li Jing shrank back inside, leaving only his head and right hand holding the phone showing.
As for what the left hand is doing, that's none of your business.
People often feel insecure when they are naked and will subconsciously protect their genitals.
According to Li Jing's observation, this was not a habit of his alone. When he was in the dormitory, everyone seemed to do this, covering their little brother with their hands when they slept.
The bathroom exhaust fan whirred, and the window was ajar, letting in the cold air from outside, which mingled with the steam rising from the hot water.
The nights in Madrid in January are almost too quiet.
There was none of the overwhelming chirping of insects typical of the suburbs of São Paulo, nor the samba music that the neighbors played in the middle of the night.
This is probably what is meant by loneliness in a bustling city.
The sound of water dripping from the faucet.
Li Jing finally had time to check the trending topics of the past two days.
After all, he was present at the trending topics these past two days.
Almost as soon as he opened the sports section, he saw the source and recognized it at a glance—Marca, Marca.
The translated title is: [Messi responds to the "Li Jing incident": I don't know this person at all]
Li Jing clicked in.
It's a video of a post-match press conference; Barcelona had just finished a league match.
The reporter shoved the microphone in front of Messi and asked directly:
"What do you think about a young player from the Brazilian league publicly calling you a 'sewer rat' and a 'steroid-fueled dwarf'?"
Li Jing's lips twitched when he saw this.
My liking for journalism has quietly decreased a bit.
In the video, Messi is seen with his head down, remaining silent for about two seconds.
Then he replied in a voice that never rises in pitch.
"I don't know this person at all."
Six characters.
After saying that, he bent down, unscrewed the cap of a mineral water bottle, took a sip, and waited for the next question.
There was no anger, no retaliation, and no superfluous facial expressions.
Li Jing stared at his phone screen for several seconds.
Li Jing scrolled down again.
FC Barcelona also issued an official statement, even more concise than Messi's.
"The club will not respond to inappropriate remarks made by irrelevant individuals."
Li Jing placed her phone face down on the edge of the bathtub.
As a former football media professional, he had guessed that this would be the response.
Ignoring it is the highest level of handling.
If he retaliates, public opinion will split into two camps arguing, and Li Jing will actually gain more attention.
But the fact that he "didn't know him" immediately relegated him to the position of "not worth mentioning".
It has to be said that these clubs that have managed to survive in the new era are quite understanding in terms of public relations.
If that country's leader had understood the principle of not responding back then, perhaps he wouldn't have ended up in such a terrible situation.
Li Jing swiped the screen twice more.
The trending topics on social media have become—
#LiJingWho
#WhoIsLiJing
Messi fans worldwide have made this hashtag a trending topic on Twitter.
It means: Who is this person?
Li Jing was somewhat relieved that she hadn't made her social media accounts public.
The comments section below is practically a slaughterhouse.
"A nobody who crawled out of Brazil's bottom-tier league is not worthy of mentioning Messi's name."
"A dwarf on steroids? This dwarf has scored over 700 goals, how many do you have?"
"I suggest this Chinese guy go play table tennis."
There are also some comments that Li Jing is reluctant to translate.
His lips twitched.
In his previous life, when he was a football commentator, he never touched on the fan wars between Messi and Ronaldo.
That's one of the most dangerous deep waters on the internet. Messi's fans are among the most dedicated fans of all football stars, highly organized, efficient, and spread across every corner of the world with internet access.
These people were able to wipe an unknown keyboard warrior off social media, but now they're focusing all their firepower on themselves.
Things I would never have touched in my past life, I'm now deliberately going to provoke in this life.
I'm really not a professional.
The water temperature started to drop.
Li Jing's thoughts drifted away from the media frenzy surrounding Messi's fans and wandered in another direction.
recording.
With some free time in the evening, Li Jing finally had time to start thinking about this problem.
He still hasn't figured it out.
There were four people in Zubizarreta's office at the time.
He himself, Neymar, Zubizarreta, and one of Zubizarreta's assistants.
He went through the three people in his mind.
Zubizarreta himself?
Not too possible.
His own rage and loss of control were also fully captured in the recording.
"Security! Get this guy out of here!" — A Barcelona sporting director hysterically yelling for security in his office; if this scene got out, it would damage his professional image.
That assistant?
Li Jing searched through his memory but had almost no recollection of that person.
A Spanish man in his thirties stood in the corner of the office the entire time without saying a word.
And then there's Neymar.
The two actually have a good relationship. Although it's not the sibling-like relationship that the media portrays, it's not bad either...
Can't figure it out.
Li Jing sighed, leaned her head back against the bathtub wall, and stared at the ceiling.
Steam condenses on the surface of the tile, forming a water droplet that slowly slides down the seam.
recording.
It's another recording.
In his past life, he was also ruined by recordings.
When this thought popped into Li Jing's head, he froze for a moment.
He didn't notice that the water temperature had already dropped to slightly cool.
I think I was also troubled by a voice recorder before.
At that time, he was playing for a Chinese Super League club. He was 23 years old and had just been nominated for the Golden Boy award. He was the starting attacking midfielder for the U23 national team, and all the media outlets, big and small, were calling him "China's rising star."
The club wants to renew the contract.
He still remembers the contract.
A six-year contract with a 30% annual salary increase.
It looks like a lot, but actually none of them are being distributed!
And not only did they not issue it, they also hid a huge trap: an additional clause tucked away on page seventeen—
"If a player transfers to an overseas club during the contract period, the player is required to pay an additional 70% of the transfer fee to the original club as compensation for the player's development."
Seventy percent.
This means that even if a European team offers ten million euros, he still needs to secure an additional seven million for the club.
No European team would accept such a condition and pay him that extra money.
This is an astronomical figure that he himself cannot afford.
The sole purpose of this clause is to lock him out of the country.
He refused to sign.
At the negotiating table, the club's vice president sat opposite him, legs crossed, and said with a grin, "Little Li, you're doing so well here. High salary, lots of exposure, and a place on the national team. Why go to Europe? You can't speak the language, the food doesn't suit your taste, and you're sent back before you even get a chance to sit on the bench. How embarrassing!"
He said a lot at the time.
Some of the things said were indeed very unpleasant to hear.
He was furious!
Because he knew that the people sitting opposite him didn't care about the professional careers of these youth training players.
What they care about is how much oil can be extracted from a piece of meat.
Then those words were recorded.
Taking things out of context. Editing and splicing. Leaking to the media.
"Li Jing verbally abused the club's management during the negotiations."
"Li Jing threatened to boycott training."
"Li Jing refused to serve his country."
The titles are getting more and more outrageous. The real context has been completely cut out, leaving only the most offensive words.
Public opinion has completely turned upside down.
The "domestic rising star" has turned into an "ungrateful wretch".
The sponsor withdrew, and the national team no longer calls up its players.
No one dared to touch him in the transfer market—not because no foreign teams had inquired, but because the conditions offered by domestic clubs were prohibitive for everyone.
23 is old.
His professional career is over.
Later, he switched to commentary.
Although the project was very successful, people treated the Golden Boy nomination as a joke.
But only Li Jing himself knows what he felt inside as he sat in the studio watching others play football, saying "good shot" and "what a pity".
The water in the bathtub had gone cold.
Two lifetimes, two recordings.
In my past life, I was deliberately recorded and used as a weapon.
Who knows how it got leaked in this lifetime?
Fate is a fucking funny thing.
Does he hate it?
hatred.
But what he hated wasn't the recording itself. The recording was just a tool.
(Edited)
This isn't about money.
So he figured something out a long time ago.
Like Yao Ming—use your fame, status, and influence to get into the core of the system and dig out the rotten stuff yourself.
Yao Ming can be the chairman of the Chinese Basketball Association because he is Yao Ming.
He played in the NBA for nine years, and the whole world knows him. That level of public influence makes anyone who wants to mess with him think twice.
He needs the same level of influence.
No, even bigger.
(Edited)
In fact, he was not short of money after his rebirth.
He didn't have a genuine desire for the championship.
He doesn't crave the championship, but he needs it.
Water gushed down my body.
He grabbed a towel and wrapped it around himself, then stepped barefoot onto the cold floor tiles and out of the bathroom.
In the living room, the phone lit up again.
Raiola's brief message: [Tomorrow morning at 9:00, training ground. Don't be late. Make a good impression on Simeone.]
Li Jing replied with an "okay".
Then he put his phone down again.
recording.
Who recorded the audio?
That assistant? Neymar?
Something's not right. But he has no way of investigating.
Let's put it aside for now.
There are more important things to do tomorrow.
Simeone's training session.
The curtains weren't fully drawn, and a thin ray of light leaked in through the gap, casting a shadow on the ceiling.
Goodnight, see you in my dreams.
Chinese Football Association, wcnm!
-
At the same time.
A studio apartment of about 80 square meters in downtown Madrid.
Yang Fengying sat on the living room carpet, wearing a tight-fitting nightgown that accentuated her large breasts in a sexy and alluring way.
The coffee table was covered with three newspapers in different languages.
The laptop was on, with four windows on the screen—Twitter trending topics, Marca's comment section, Barcelona's official Twitter account, and her own notepad document.
She has been busy with these things ever since she dropped Li Jing off at his place in the afternoon.
"Messi is the best player in the world."
A person who became known worldwide for insulting Messi told her to her face that Messi was the best player in the world.
What's the point of writing this?!
They'll just say they made it all up!
I need the news!
I need breaking news!!!
Yang Fengying was dissatisfied!
My fingers hovered over the keyboard and suddenly froze.
recording?
Yes, shouldn't we check who else was present at the time?
She smelled something bigger.
Yang Fengying worked in the media industry for four years.
She knew all too well how the recording was leaked.
A private conversation was simultaneously reported by major global sports media outlets within hours, spreading across Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube.
The speed and scope of this spread cannot be explained by someone accidentally sending the file to the wrong group.
There are people pulling the strings behind the scenes.
Moreover, the force of the pusher is considerable.
She opened a Notepad document and typed a line at the top:
[Recording Leak Incident - Source Tracing]
The following are some questions:
1. On which platform did the recording first appear? When did it appear?
2. Who were the initial media outlets? What is their connection with Barcelona?
3. What is the audio quality of the recording and are there any signs of editing?
Yang Fengying was somewhat excited. She adjusted the position of the two mounds on her chest, then changed to a more comfortable position and began to look up the information one by one.
……