Chapter 15: Ye Qui Retires

"So what did Old Cat say?" Xie Zedong asked.

"He said that he is willing to, but only if we can give him full plan for the structure of our club once we enter the pro league." Ma Xuegang said.

"I'll draw one up over the next few days." Xie Zedong said, making a note on his phone.

"Can you send me a copy too." Qin Kun said "Something like that will go a long way to getting my father to maybe sponsor us some time in the future."

The three of them were sitting in a restaurant. They had gathered to discuss the formation of a team for the challenger league. The restaurant was one which Qin Kun's family frequented.

"So have any of you heard from Tan Zexian, yet?" Xie Zedong asked.

"Igor would know." Ma Xuegang said. "He said he would meet us here after he is done with work."

"Could he not just send us a message?" Qin Kun asked.

"I'm wondering that too." Ma Xuegang said. "Maybe he just forgot he could. Where does he work anyway?"

"I believe he is preforming tonight at this restaurant" Qin Kun said.

"Wait, he is a musician?"

"Sort of. He does several small jobs. He mostly only plays songs he likes, but plays them well. My father likes the passion that come out when he plays."

"So how late does he finish?" Xie Zedong asked.

"Not sure. If we took a pamphlet we would have had a schedule to check, and even that is not fixed." Qin Kun said.

At that moment three men stopped next to their table. It was Igor and Tan Zexian with a third man. This man was shorter than the others.

"Hello. Good to see you all." Igor said as he began shaking the hands of the people by the table. "I'll leave introductions to Tan Zexian. I need to get going." With that he walked away.

After greeting everyone Tan Zexian introduced the man with him.

"This is Qian Zemin. He plays an Elementalist and is often in the same party as Geng Lei and I. He's a decent player and usually on call for Samsara's Guild."

Qian Zemin greeted everyone around the table.

For the next hour, they discussed various things. The longest discussion was how to get Geng Lei to join. Though Tan Zexian would not normally try to convince her to do anything she did not want to do, he believed she could make a good tactician, and really wanted her to join.

The discussion continued until Igor returned after preforming.

"Did you guys see the news?" Igor said as he sat down.

"No. What news?" Ma Xuegang asked.

"Ye Qui has retired."

"What? When?" Qin Kun said, nearly spilling his drink.

"Excellent Era announced it; there is a tribute video and all." Igor said. Fishing out his phone from his pocket, he showed them the article and videos covering the occurrence.

"I wonder what brought this on?" Ma Xuegang asked. "Not like his condition was slipping."

"But he did not use Dragon Raises its Head in years." Igor said. "That is a complicated thing to do. His skill might be slipping. And Excellent Era has not been doing so well."

"I would say he has not had the opportunity to use in recent times." Qin Kun countered. "All the people he has been fighting for years have rough ideas on how to counter it, and the newer generation is not at his skill level to require him to use it."

"Too true, but why retire then? And halfway." Igor said. This left the other thinking for a moment.

"Maybe there is trouble in the team." Qian Zemin said "The Vice Captain is always focusing on himself and not so much on the team. So there teamwork is suffering."

"But why then should Ye Qui quit? Why not just replace the problematic person?"

"Something with management?" Ma Xuegang said.

"Maybe. But wouldn't they just sell him to another team?" Igor said.

"But what about Su Mucheng? The two of them are practically inseparable."

"That is true. She would immediately just cancel her contract." Qin Kun said.

"What if she friend zoned him?" Xie Zedong asked.

"That is ridiculous. Why would anyone be affected by something like that?" Ma Xuegang said. No one replied to her, but she got her answer from the face of the single men around the table.

"And on that note I should get going. Family should have gathered by now." Xie Zedong said.

"I think I'll be going too." Ma Xuegang said.

"The same here." Qin Kun said. "I'll cover the bill."

All of them thanked Qin Kun. After the bill was settled they walked out.

Igor, Tan Zexian, and Qian Zemin started walking down the street in the direction of where they lived, while the rest were able to get rides home. As they walked they talked and made jokes, mostly about Glory. Finally the topic turned to Geng Lei.

"So still no idea on how to get her into our team?" Igor asked.

"Some ideas on speeches I could give." Tan Zexian said.

"Why not tell her about Ye Qui. Motivate her with the idea that there is an opening for a new tactician." Qian Zemin suggested.

"Well she is quite proud about her command skills. I'll try, but not sure if that is going to work. And I don't want to chase her off. I need something that can convince her once off." Tan Zexian said

"Well why don't both of you encourage her. Maybe if more friends tell her she might be more open to joining." Igor said.

"The biggest thing now is that she is worried about job opportunities." Tan Zexian said. "She tends to think long term."

"Maybe we can hear if Qin Kun's family can help?"

"Maybe. But who knows if that is going to work."

"Talking about work, what do you guys do anyways?" Qian Zemin asked.

"I'm a carpenter." Tan Zexian said.

"Musician and odd jobs." Igor said.

"Odd jobs." Qian Zemin and Tan Zexian said at the same time.

"I technically don't have fixed job. But if one is willing to look around, you always find something to earn money with." Igor said. "And what do you do?"

"I manage a floor of telecom salesman." Qian Zemin said.

"Find a new job, please."