Chapter 10 — Smoke Rises, The Bugle Sounds
"Ah! It hurts!"
"Take it easy, Dr. Rebecca."
"Pat Rice, I hate you!"
Slap!
Dr. Rebecca Randall smacked Xia Qi on the back with no patience and mock-scolded:
"What are you howling about? This is a normal check-up."
She sighed and continued teasing: "You say this hurts, that hurts, yet the scans show nothing. If it weren't for George (City's physio) vouching for you I'd think you liked me and were just looking for a chance to be alone with me."
"This is a psychological issue — what does Pat Rice have to do with it? Why hate him?"
Xia Qi flushed at her words; only he knew Pat Rice really had to take the blame for this one.
Half an hour less training and he wouldn't be like this.
He was in so much pain he couldn't even be bothered to look up what "regional legend" meant.
That damned system and that merciless tormentor — they were the culprits! Unforgivable!
"Dr. Rebecca, please hand my medical report to the big boss quickly. Don't let this affect my training tomorrow. I'll rest here for a while. You're right — it's a psychological issue; ignoring me is the best treatment."
"Xia, I know you Chinese often face unfair treatment, but not all Brits are like that.
You should go out more and meet people. Do you like blondes or dark-haired girls? I have a niece with long black hair like yours — interested in meeting her?"
"Heh…"
Rebecca Randall turned in the report. Xia Qi clenched his teeth against the pain and opened the regional-legend explanation.
[In the football world, there are always a few prodigious talents who leave their understanding of the game on the pitch through unique moves, forming legendary actions exclusive to them.
For example: the Ice Prince turn, Maldini's tackle-to-retain…
Detected: host has regional-legend level at Colney. Unlocking exclusive-move design.
Host currently has Legend Points: 78
Legend Points: 1,000,000 to unlock Regional Legend.
Regional-Legend exclusive-move design:
A: Xia Qi Cut-In: When the host's first touch to cut inside occurs, all defensive actions are waived for one second.
B: Xia Qi Shoulder Drop: When the host drops shoulder and hips, a charm aura causes opponents' misjudgment rate to increase by 20%.
C: Xia Qi Thunder Shot: Spend 500 Legend Points to fire a worldie at 200 km/h. (Guaranteed on target)
Legend Points: 100,000,000 to unlock Global Legend.
Global-Legend exclusive-move design:
A: …
B: …
C: …
These Legend Points are pretty tasty. Xia Qi used to hate the little "Legend +1" sound; now he wished it would ring forever.
Colney has too few people — if this were in the city center it would be perfect.]
…
After a short interlude, Arsenal's preparation continued smoothly.
After three days of fitness preservation, Arsène Wenger finally ordered the new lineup to gel.
The squad staged real, full-contact training matches.
Xia Qi was placed in the B group. In one-click auto mode he debuted perfectly and won his teammates' respect.
Football is actually less complicated than society; it doesn't care about background, social ties, or education — if you have quality on the pitch you'll gain respect.
Xia Qi's actual ability wasn't stellar yet, but auto-play let him earn respect.
Arsenal started to funnel resources to him: Xia Qi got his own medical team, nutritionist, and trainer.
These were the perks once reserved for the heir Jack Wilshere — after Wilshere's injury they all moved to Xia Qi.
This made Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain a bit jealous and sparked thoughts of leaving.
Time passed.
Wenger took the team back home; Arsenal played warm-up matches against French giants Paris Saint-Germain and Monaco.
Xia Qi came on as a substitute in one and started the other, performing well in both.
Arsenal fans got to know Xia Qi in these two matches.
Influenced by the legend concept, they nicknamed him the "Little Ice Prince."
Because Arsenal's club legend was Dennis Bergkamp, the Ice Prince; Xia Qi was breaking that mold.
There was a sense of legacy — and the aloof CEO face Xia Qi wore while auto-playing looked ice-cold like Bergkamp.
So "Little Ice Prince" caught on.
Actually Xia Qi didn't much like that nickname. Men never like being called small — they prefer others to be small.
He joked he'd rather be called the "Ice Cream Prince."
But, considering the occasional Legend +1 ping, he reluctantly accepted it.
Small can still be great — O'Neal is a Hall of Famer after all!
Being linked with a legend like Bergkamp was a bonus for Xia Qi.
After two matches his Legend Points rose to 20,000, and in the following days they increased by roughly five hundred daily.
Starting from 78, Xia Qi marveled at Arsenal's massive fanbase.
He believed once official matches began and he played, his regional legend would light up quickly.
He only feared Wenger might, like Mancini, refuse to give him chances.
Time flew to August 15.
The English Community Shield, the appetiser before the Premier League, was staged at Villa Park.
Xia Qi's old club Manchester City came from behind to beat Chelsea 3–2.
Roberto Mancini added another trophy to his cabinet, becoming one of the season's hottest managers and reviving the "Manchester two giants" topic.
In a poll about "Who would be the biggest spoiler of Ferguson's perfect retirement," Mancini-led City topped the list, with Liverpool and Chelsea following.
Arsenal were not well regarded — some even thought Tottenham and Everton looked stronger.
That was the view of the British media and some Arsenal fans for the coming season.
Yet Arsenal started the 2012–2013 campaign despite low expectations.
On August 18, 2012, Arsenal opened the new season at home against Sunderland — and Xia Qi's worst fear happened.
He wasn't in the matchday squad. Wenger gave him five home tickets to invite his parents to watch instead.
Xia Qi's parents learned their son wouldn't play and couldn't drop everything to come. The noodle shop had lost Manchester City customers and business needed rebuilding.
So Xia Qi reluctantly invited Alice's whole family.
A soporific match began; even Alice's hoarse cheering couldn't wake Arsenal.
They were held to a 0–0 draw by lowly Sunderland.
Luckily in that round the big six were all affected by the European Championship and performed poorly.
Everton beat Manchester United 1–0 — on the pitch the winners, but off it the Times reported Sir Alex Ferguson had his eye on Moyes, hoping he might replace him as United boss.
This round also saw slips from Tottenham and Liverpool.
Newcastle 2–1 Tottenham
West Bromwich Albion 3–0 Liverpool.
Both Blues took wins.
Manchester City won 3–2 at home over Southampton, Chelsea beat Wigan 2–0 away.
After the first-round draw, Xia Qi didn't notice any change in the dressing-room atmosphere — things carried on as usual.
Soon the second round arrived and Xia Qi again failed to make the squad.
Arsenal visited Stoke; Xia Qi watched at home — another 0–0.
Two matches, two 0–0 draws, two points. On the table Arsenal were ahead of local rivals Tottenham and historic power Liverpool.
Tottenham and Liverpool had one point in two matches but had scored twice; Arsenal had none.
The after-effect of van Persie's departure was being disinterred and criticized by the media.
They accused Wenger of being blind and the forwards brought in during the window of being inadequate.
"This season Arsenal has no striker!" they cried.
John, the London Daily reporter who interviewed Xia Qi, offered a different view:
All Premier League teams suffered from the Euros, Arsenal's symptoms were just more severe. Once past this transition, Podolski or Giroud could surprise.
If so, why not give an unaffected player a chance during the transition?
For example: the Little Ice Prince — Xia Qi.
The little-Bergkamp's ability had already been proven in preseason friendlies; he could shoulder responsibility. Why hide him?
His words resonated with many Arsenal fans.
If you're going to have zero, why not give a young player a chance?
Using Xia Qi or not stirred controversy inside Arsenal.
Wenger wanted to wait for a win before introducing Xia Qi so there'd be less pressure.
But Pat Rice disagreed.
"You don't understand Xia Qi. Look at Cristiano Ronaldo — adversity is the key to a genius's growth.
Trusting him is true care…"
On Thursday Xia Qi finally made the matchday squad for the away game at Liverpool.
Xia Qi excitedly told his parents and the Mike family.
They were all delighted and said they would definitely watch the live broadcast.
(END CHAPTER)
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