2024-07-09
Translation of original Chinese article by zhigao
On the rare cool afternoon of June 15th, the first 80-point tractor card competition was successfully held at the pavilion in Tamaques Park. The event was made possible by the generous sponsorship of the Westfield Chinese Association, which provided medals, food, and drinks. The atmosphere was filled with joy and laughter as participants enjoyed the afternoon together.
The competition results were as follows:
- First place: Mumu & Robert (foreign mercenaries, participated in the first game), XY (local emerging talents, participated in the second game)
- Second place: JF & Jade (foreign mercenaries)
- Third place: Zhang Yue & Shi Bin
The result of the competition was somewhat unexpected. Woodwood and his team clinching the championship indicates their strength, although it’s fair to say that his success was largely due to luck. You might not be aware, but our tractor group boasts several top players, such as Yong Yi (who has since moved away), Andy Liu, and Zhang Yue. On the morning of the competition, our card king Andy Liu suddenly found an excuse to withdraw, leaving his original partner Woodwood in a difficult spot and posing a challenge for the group.
Despite this setback, Woodwood’s merit shone through. As a representative of the Chinese Association and the event’s primary sponsor, it was crucial to support him. In desperation, I had to reshuffle the teams and find strong partners for Woodwood. On a positive note, Robert generously offered additional sponsorship. Kudos to him for his support.
Of course, there were some moments of discord. For instance, Zhang Yue and Shi Bin, with their youthful energy, took advantage of my partner Fu Wei being distracted by a company conference call to score a major win against us. Even worse, they kept us pinned on 2, a tactic that was so outrageous that they need to be publicly condemned. When Fu Wei had to leave unexpectedly, Zhang Yue’s wife Lin stepped in for him. She also acted unethically by teaming up against me 3-on-1, which was highly inappropriate.
I was wary of these rebellious plots that my ruthless opponents would execute to win. To level the playing field, I made a private agreement with Qiang Lei, a spectator, who was supposed to tell me my opponent’s cards. Throughout the competition, I kept looking at her for signals. However, unexpectedly, Shi Bin, a fellow Beijinger, convinced her to backstab us. She pretended not to see any of the cards, completely disregarding the agreed-upon strategy. This was a blatant disrespect of our group’s ethics, even worse than Zhang Yue and the others. By the way, Zhang Yue, you better know that if it weren’t for your partner, you would have ended up leaving with nothing.
Compared to them, Jing Fen, Jade, and Peilin were much more sportsmanlike. The game between our groups that day was played with 8 decks of cards. After the 7th round of the second game, we were still stuck in 3rd place and couldn’t advance. At a pivotal moment, Jing Fen and the others made a critical mistake. Combined with Peilin’s bravery, we capitalized on the mistake and finally moved up to 2nd place. Although Peilin and I have high standards for card playing and are great at keeping a low profile, it was still frustrating to be stuck in 3rd place for so long.
In fact, the most low-key person is Chairman Qiu, the elder statesman of the tractor group. Every time he plays, he is a magnet for all the useless cards. Our card group needs more members with his spirit of sacrifice. After the competition, he even suggested recycling the medals to save money, but I didn’t agree. After all, this was Woodwood’s crowning moment, his first gold medal, and it deserved to be cherished.
In addition to Andy, the other card players who couldn’t make it were Weiming, Ten Years, JB, Sarah, and Duoduo. Specifically, Weiming and Woodwood make a good team. They defeated Ten Years and me in the Chinese School warm-up match, and also narrowly beat Zhang Yue and me. Weiming even boasted that they were the best doubles team in Westfield. However, upon careful review, I discovered the pair’s weakness: they always found various excuses to leave early, never playing for more than 2.5 hours. It’s like they lose their effectiveness over time (or maybe the pill does). So, if a match lasts 4 hours or longer, they are likely to become vulnerable in the second half.
I would like to thank everyone for participating, and we look forward to more exciting events next time!
