Chapter 714: Trade
Besides the news of Xiao Shiqin transferring to Excellent Era, no other details were revealed because the transfer period hadn’t begun yet at that time. Leaking Xiao Shiqing’s transfer was already violating the rules. If they said too much, the Alliance might penalize them..
As a result, no one else besides the higher ups in the Club knew about the concrete details of the transfer up until three days ago, where everyone in the Club was notified that Xiao Shiqin’s transfer wasn’t a purchase, but a trade. Unfortunately, Liu Hao and He Ming had become the bargaining chips. They knew that their departure was a foregone conclusion. Ttraded players had practically no authority over the matter. It was entirely different from a purchase.
In a purchase, the Club and player would talk about breaking off the player’s current contract and then discuss the player’s contract with the new Club. During this process, the player’s willingness was conclusive. If the player refused to transfer, the Club could not do anything about it.
But this problem didn’t exist when trading players. When two Clubs traded players, they could directly trade contracts and continue fulfilling the obligations written in the contracts. The Alliance permitted it with the requirement that the new Club must carry out all of the clauses according to the original contract. During this process, the player had no power besides renouncing his or her current contract and returning to a free agent. In that case, the player would forcefully cancel the trade. However, breaking off the contract would naturally require the player to play the appropriate compensation written in the contract. The Club could also inform the Alliance and apply for other penalizations. The gains definitely didn’t make up for the losses.
Although these were the rules, the majority of Clubs would discuss their intentions with their players even for trades. If the Club was too forceful, wouldn’t it make their other players worry? But for this time’s transfer, Excellent Era didn’t give Liu Hao or He Ming any heads up, showing their decisiveness and determination for this transfer.
Liu Hao and He Ming were naturally furious after being told last minute to pack up their belongings and leave.
Liu Hao understood that this was their boss destroying the bridge after crossing the river.
Liu Hao could be considered as being on the frontlines in the battle to forcefully kick Ye Qiu out of the team. How could the Club not know of him performing sinister deeds up and down the line? He would even intentionally let the Club see his dirty work at times. The Club kept silence though and in these sorts of situations, silence indicated their support. The Club couldn’t openly order him to kick Ye Qiu out. There would be a lot of rumors in that case.
Liu Hao understood all of this, which was why he became he even more resolute in his actions. However, now he understood the Club’s cunning. Even though he helped the Club with their dirty task, there was nothing he could say if they kicked him out after the task was finished. What could he do? Take credit for kicking Ye Qiu out? The Club would simply refuse to admit it. He couldn’t just say "you understand" to clear up the issue.
He couldn’t draw outside support either. He couldn’t tell the public: after the Club is finished using you, they’ll throw you aside!
The public will ask: how did they use you?
You answer: I helped the team kick Ye Qiu out!
The Club would interrupt: When did we let you kick Ye Qiu out? You brute. To think Ye Qiu retired because of you. We have such poor eyes. We actually raised up such a thankless wretch......
The whole truth would become clear and he would take all the blame. From then on, his name would be slandered, and the fans would find him despicable. How could he continue staying in the scene?
Liu Hao wasn’t stupid. He could only grind his teeth and endure it. Perhaps in the future, after he retired, he may be able to tell everyone of Club Excellent Era’s despicableness, but he had to consider his future as a pro player right now.
Thunderclap... even with Xiao Shiqin, the team had no hopes for the championship title. Liu Hao didn’t want to waste his youth with this kind of team. A player could only be transferred once during the transfer window. Therefore, he could not transfer from Thunderclap to another team this summer. He would need to wait for the next half of the season for the winter transfer period before acting.
This was Liu Hao’s plan for the future. While reflecting over his future for the past three days, he would also think of the scene, when Ye Qiu’s retirement had been announced and his departure from the team. Seven months had passed since then and now he had been forcefully sent away by Excellent Era.
If it were Ye Qiu in his position right now, would Ye Qiu choose to break off his contract and freely walk out from the entrance?
He definitely would......
He didn’t know why, but Liu Hao was certain. But what about him? Break off his contract? That was just something he and He Ming had privately discussed out of pure anger. During this moment of anger, even he could feel that he was an ass in a lion’s skin. Yes, he didn’t have the courage nor the confidence in a life and death struggle.
In the end, he could only submit to his humiliation. After packing up his belongings and sending them to Team Thunderclap, he and He Ming planned on leaving today to Team Thunderclap.
The final moment before their departure, Liu Hao saw the fans welcoming Xiao Shiqin outside the entrance. The scene only made him more sullen.
Even now, Excellent Era still hadn’t announced the details of Xiao Shiqin’s transfer to the public. They would perhaps announce it once Xiao Shiqin officially joined. But by then, Liu Hao and He Ming would have already left to a new team. They couldn’t even enjoy a send off ceremony. They had a lot of fans in Excellent Era!
"Let’s go?" He Ming quietly said. He didn’t feel any better than Liu Hao. However, Liu Hao had been Excellent Era’s vice-captain and a senior member of the team. That drop in status felt by Liu Hao wasn’t something He Ming could understand.
Liu Hao nodded his head. His gaze moved away from the crowd of fans as he gave one last look at the place he had lived in ever since he had joined the competitive scene. At last, he and He Ming walked out of the room.
The corridor outside of their room was bustling with noise. The employees of the Club were scurrying back and forth. The boss had ran over to the Club early in the morning to inspect everything, so the employees couldn’t help but be prepared ahead of time. They traveled back and forth past Liu Hao and He Ming. None of them stopped to say anything to them.
They might not know about their transfer. But in any case, that wasn’t the main event of today.
When the two passed by the practice room, they saw a large banner inside welcoming Xiao Shiqin and felt the urge to burn it. Excellent Era’s boss, Tao Xuan, was also inside personally watching over the employees arrange everything. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the two standing outside the door. Tao Xuan turned around and walked over. He extended his right hand with a smile on his face, but it was hard to say why exactly he was smiling.
When the boss walked over, many of the surrounding people tensed up. When they saw the two standing outside the door, they understood. Then, they saw the boss shake He Ming’s hand: "You’re going to leave? I must thank you two for your contributions to the club!"
His words couldn’t be anymore fake, but the boss was personally speaking. The employees behind Tao Xuan couldn’t help but feel moved.
Should he let out some tears? Liu Hao looked in disdain at those workers. Once Tao Xuan shook He Ming’s hand, he naturally extended his hands towards Liu Hao, who extended his hands out subconsciously, while thinking about what he should say to sour Tao Xuan’s good mood. He didn’t want to be thought of as sa fool.
At this moment, a loud noise suddenly came from the practice room. Something heavy had fallen to the ground. Tao Xuan turned around to look and his expression immediately changed.
"What’s going on? Please be more careful. Is everyone okay? Is the dropped item broken? It’s still early. There’s no need to be in a rush. Slowly does it." Tao Xuan said, while walking over to check what had happened. Liu Hao’s hand was still extended. In the end, he still looked like a fool.
After Tao Xuan handled the accident, would he still come back and shake his hand? No one knew, but Liu Hao didn’t have the face to continue waiting there with his hand extended. His expression pale, he said "Let’s go" and turned around to leave.
Liu Hao and He Ming walked over to the elevator and were unexpectedly blocked by two security guards.
"Vice-captain Liu and Little He." The two security guards politely greeted, but the next few words that came out of one of the security guard’s mouth infuriated them: "Manager Cui instructed us to accompany you two out."
"What’s that supposed to mean? Do you think we’d steal from the Club or bring explosives with us or something? Would you like to search us before leaving?" The two had endured a lot these past days. How could they have any patience? Liu Hao had even been cold-shouldered just earlier. This time, he finally blew up and roared loudly.
"You misunderstand." The security guard hastily said, "We’re bringing you through the side door. There’s a lot of people at the main entrance. You might not be able to get out, especially since you two are very popular in the Club!"
The two listened to his explanation and suddenly understood. However, the reason they weren’t permitted to leave through the main entrance wasn’t only because of that single reason. The main entrance was surrounded by a huge crowd of the team’s fans. If the two wanted to leave, it indeed wouldn’t be easy. Under normal circumstances, the two would definitely ask to go through the side door. But today wasn’t normal! The two really wanted to walk through the front entrance, patiently give signatures to their fans, and tell them of their departure. The fans were here to welcome Xiao Shiqin, but the two wanted to make these fans to send them off.
The Club still hadn’t announced the details of the transfer. Were they waiting for some reason? If the two leaked the information early, the Club’s plan be affected.
As a result, the Club arranged two security guards to send them off through the side door. Protecting them was certainly a justifiable reason, but that wasn’t the main reason. The Club knew that if they walked through the crowd, the atmosphere would change. It was better to take precautions and keep an eye on them!
"Ha ha. That’s not a problem. It’s not like we’ve never experienced how passionate our fans are. We can take it. Don’t worry about it." Liu Hao spoke coldly.
"It’s better if you listen to us! Otherwise, it’ll make things difficult for everybody!" The security guard urged.
"Difficult? What’s so difficult about it? This is our own matter. Could it be that if we don’t listen, you’ll tie us up and throw us out?" Liu Hao continued. If the two were forced out of the side entrance, it could certainly turn into a scandal.
"Of course not. If you two insist, then please go ahead!" The security guards let them through the elevator.