Chapter 518: 0516 I have my way
When Bentley’s mayor and Lynch walked out of the tunnel together, the entire stadium was filled with cheerful laughter. He actually heard the sounds outside, including the slightly sarcastic commentary and that last fart noise.
However, he didn’t show any discomfort. Instead, he laughed cheerily, as poise and stature dictate whether a person has a broad mind. As a mayor, he has no need to get upset with a few commentators.
If he were to get angry over these slightly sarcastic yet not malicious jokes to the point of wanting to do something about it, his stature would probably be no better than that, and he would soon retire due to high blood pressure.
Long-term anger raises one’s blood pressure continuously, eventually becoming a lifelong problem.
Commentator A: "Who’s that young man beside him, his child or nephew or something?"
Commentator C: "Seems like it’s Lynch. You know, the youth leader. The media loves reporting news related to him this year."
Commentator B suddenly interjected, "Because he’s also very rich. Rich people always find ways to make you feel they’re right..." He paused for a moment, "This topic is heavy. I’m almost forgetting that I should actually be on their side. We’re getting paid, right, mates?"
The timely rescue and self-deprecation brought the slightly off-kilter trend back on track. The other two in the commentary box breathed a sigh of relief as one of them almost messed it up.
As a Federation citizen, everyone knows that in this world, you can offend anyone, including the President. You can point at his nose and call him an incompetent fool, and the Judge won’t arrest you for speaking the truth.
But if you dare to slander or even falsely accuse those capitalists, wealthy people, a smirk from them can have a bunch of Lawyers play a game called "Spot the Mistake" with you.
Even if your car’s wheel is slightly askew when parked, these people can take you to court. Although winning most cases isn’t difficult, the expensive lawyer fees can ruin anyone.
Targeting Lynch is a very wrong move, especially now that he’s so popular. The media wouldn’t randomly bestow the title of "youth leader" to just anyone. Even if Lynch gave them a lot of money, he still has to accomplish certain things.
Luckily, Commentator B quickly realized, Lynch isn’t the kind of person he can casually trash-talk. Politicians might not deal with them to maintain their image, but capitalists couldn’t care less.
After he saved the situation, he looked at Commentator C, "I remember you studied lip-reading, didn’t I?"
Some old fans in the stadium burst into louder laughter, making many people look baffled at those laughing out loud, unable to grasp what’s so funny.
This matter is known only to real fans. Any confrontational sports will highlight opposing sides. Rugby, such a fiercely colliding sport, is no exception. Players are often seen talking on the field, but no one knows what they say.
To achieve better commentary and entertainment, Commentator C learned lip-reading and applied it practically.
Initially, players didn’t realize this. They would curse unscrupulously on the field, and Commentator C would translate mercilessly, paired with a seemingly proper Commentator A and an acerbic yet entertaining Commentator B, maximizing the commentary’s entertainment value.
It’s said that the Professional Rugby League and United Transport Association even awarded them some medal in recognition of their outstanding contribution to purifying the stadium’s uncivilized phenomenon—since Commentator C mastered lip-reading, opportunities to curse decreased significantly, which can be seen as another kind of achievement.
Commentator C knew this was an opportunity to divert. By lip-reading Lynch and seemingly "decoding" for everyone, in reality, it naturally placed them on Lynch’s side.
It’s like two people facing each other, one saying, "xxx you’re a fool!" and an onlooker repeating it. This third party practically stands on the speaker’s side.
This is a confusing stance especially suited to the current situation. Commentator C was also very smart, understanding their intent almost instantly, "Of course, Mr. Lynch is saying, ’I heard you gave away a lot of free tickets.’"
The on-site controller was very apt, giving a close-up of Benlit’s mayor, whose face showed a brief confusion before he smiled, waved, and invited Lynch to sit down.
The stadium erupted once again with laughter. People realized then that some uncomprehending audience members around them came in with complimentary tickets, no wonder they sat there like fools.
Commentator B breathed a sigh of relief, promptly giving a thumbs up to Commentator C, and continued to play to his strength, "You should artificially censor those words, beep-beep-beep like that, you shouldn’t have told the truth!"
Commentator C sincerely apologized, "Sorry, I finished too quickly!"
Before the match started, the entire stadium resembled a stage for these three’s stand-up comedy. Lynch found it quite amusing too, "These three are interesting. If they host a dedicated talk show, it should be fun. I like their sharpness and sarcasm."
Benlit’s mayor chuckled lightly, unconcerned. The Federation has various language programs, including different kinds of talk shows, whether indecent, sophisticated, current affairs, political, or entertainment... In short, many similar programs, and they’ve all pretty much stabilized.
Furthermore, each year many outstanding programs emerge. These three aren’t necessarily better than the rest.
Of course, this might be a bias. Who told them to talk about him just now?
"Benlit people aren’t particularly passionate about sports. It’s a bit embarrassing to say. Even though I’m the mayor here, I still feel far from the fashion circle." Instead of answering Lynch’s question, he addressed the previous one about the extra tickets.
"I hope to reinstate people’s proper conduct in certain issues by increasing investment in sports. I’m quite ashamed, never thinking about how to solve this until now, when I have some ideas..."
He is ashamed that Benlit is renowned as the Federation’s queer city. Some exaggerate that half of the Federation’s queers are gathered in Benlit.
The cause of this is actually the fashion circle.
The fashion circle has many women, and women are the mainstream of this circle. Whether men like it or not, people prefer to see beautiful girls walking the runway, not rough men.
This results in more female celebrities than male ones in the fashion circle, where feminism is most rampant, leaving men at the bottom in an awkward position to serve the middle-level women, except for top-tier men who can still dominate everything.
After all, men and women almost belong to two different species. To survive well here, some men find a reason for themselves, label themselves as "gay."
More feminine dressing, more feminine personality, everything mimicking women. Some truly resemble women more than women, making this a place with blurred gender lines, attracting certain people and turning it into the "queer capital."
The desire for change always exists, but how to do it is cumbersome. Completely negating the fashion culture developed over decades or centuries might turn this city barren quickly.
The mayor thought of the rising sports over the past two years, filled with masculinity and male strength, which could inspire locals to yearn for masculinity, thereby clarifying blurred gender boundaries.
Whether his idea could succeed, no one knows. But there’s no harm in trying.
To attract those uninterested in sports to the stadium, the mayor distributed extra tickets to places like bars where queers gather and informed these operators through certain channels.
If they don’t distribute all the tickets, the only outcome awaiting them is closure.
If anyone knew about this, they might apply for a world record for this match, like "most queers gathered at a public event" or "largest number of queers watching a professional rugby preseason game simultaneously." Surely, no one could compete with this.
With the referee’s whistle, the match officially started. From the beginning, people could see the Interstellar Club, which is Lynch’s club, completely suppressing the opponents, causing the opposing players to call for a substitution within ten minutes of kickoff.
Taking advantage of the substitution, the opposing players consulted their coach slightly, asking if the coach owed the other team’s coach money, resulting in these people being so reckless!
Mutual forces act on each other. When one person knocks another flying, they also have to endure some impact, so they all thought the opponents were crazy. Do they not care for their bodies at all?
Understand that this is a professional arena. Staying in a match longer means earning more money!
Once the match resumed, there was still no change in the situation, with Interstellar Club firmly holding onto the initiative.
Insiders might find this match rather dull, but outsiders thought it was damn entertaining. Some queers even stripped off their shirts in this frigid winter to wave and catch the athletes’ attention on the field.
Perhaps this might have a certain curative effect on the local queer issue.
Once people get involved, the match proceeds very quickly. After the referee blew the final whistle, everyone celebrated wildly, no matter if they understood what they watched or not!