After shaking hands with Sun Meng after the match, Weng Pei went to the Qingbei team area, hesitated for a while, and then found Sun Meng and said, "I'm sorry. I wanted to apologize to you in person for causing your injury."

Sun Meng was taken aback. "It was my own fault for not controlling my posture properly. It's not your fault."

Weng Pei stared at Sun Meng's ambiguous smile and asked, "Are you laughing at me?"

“No, no,” Sun Meng’s smile faded slightly but reached her eyes, “It’s just that you are not quite the way I imagined you to be.”

Weng Pei's eyes darted around, and she turned to Lu Yu with a frown and a sour face. "What did she say? Did you hear it from Lu Yu? How could she—"

Before Weng Pei could finish speaking, Chu Feiyu suddenly appeared in front of her, her eyes filled with hostility, and asked, "What are you doing here, you who never come here unless you have a reason?"

"You won the game, and you're already getting a temper?" Weng Pei retorted.

Chu Feiyu crossed her arms, deliberately adopting a lazy posture, but stopped answering.

Weng Pei raised an eyebrow. "I admit, your defense in this game was quite intimidating."

Hearing the clearly softened tone coming from Weng Pei's mouth, Chu Feiyu was quite incredulous. "Well, I accept your apology." As if remembering something, Chu Feiyu's tone softened even more. "Thank you for not holding back and pointing out my problems."

Weng Pei chuckled, "No, no, I really am holding back. Call me 'sister' from now on, and I'll teach you some more."

Chu Feiyu blushed at Weng Pei's teasing words and looked ready to throw another tantrum.

Lu Yu had just returned from the post-match interview area and quickly stopped the two of them. "Why do you have to bicker the moment you meet?"

Weng Pei stopped arguing with Chu Feiyu and asked Lu Yu, "Are you going back to Qingbei City today?"

"The flight is tomorrow at noon." Lu Yu looked puzzled, waiting for Weng Pei to continue.

Weng Pei glanced at the commentary booth in the distance and said, "It's just... I'd like to invite you all to dinner with Sister Yan and Coach Feng."

Lu Yu nodded without hesitation, "Okay, I have no problem."

"It's near our training base, so... shall we set off together later?" Weng Pei asked tentatively.

Lu Yu readily agreed, "Then see you at the stadium entrance in a bit."

A figure wearing a white jersey with blue trim and the number six jumped out from the field. Lu Yu leaped over the low advertising fence and walked towards the stands.

The originally loud and chaotic celebrations suddenly subsided, turning into suppressed and excited gasps.

Lu Yu took two big strides and stood in front of Jiao Yuyin.

Handsome men and beautiful women gaze at each other with captivating eyes.

"I'm having dinner with Xiao Pei and the others. You'll have to take care of your own dinner."

Jiao Yuyin nodded, "Okay, go ahead, I'll have Qin Meng with me for dinner."

Qin Meng, standing to the side, looked up at the sky and said, "I want to ask Sun Meng out..."

"..."

Feng Xu, Weng Pei, Luo Yan, and Lu Yu sat around the simple round table.

Several dishes of fish and shrimp prepared in various ways were laid out on the table, accompanied by light and refreshing Jiangnan side dishes, filling the private room with the aroma of fish and rice.

Weng Pei stubbornly poured four cups of flower tea and poured them into each cup. "I never do formalities or say polite words. Today, I just feel that it has been a long time since we last met, and since we happen to be in Jiang City, I'll treat you to a meal and catch up."

Luo Yan sat up and reached for Weng Pei's porcelain cup, her tone light, "It's been a long time since we've gotten together, I have to thank Xiao Pei."

The four people clinked glasses and drank tea.

Lu Yu sipped the warm tea, still feeling a little nervous.

"What are you thanking me for?" Weng Pei asked as she finished her tea and sat down.

"Thanks for organizing this." Luo Yan rolled her eyes at Weng Pei.

"I thought Xie and Lu Yu had reconciled." Weng Pei said whatever came to mind, blurting out her words without thinking.

Luo Yan reached out and tapped Weng Pei on the head.

Feng Xu glanced at Lu Yu but remained silent.

A slightly awkward atmosphere seemed to linger among the four of them.

Lu Yu pretended to be relaxed and continued, "Xiao Pei's temper has improved."

"After being trained by you, even the biggest temper has been tempered—"

"If you're organizing this gathering, stop being so overbearing," Feng Xu interrupted Weng Pei's unrestrained remarks.

“Coach, she’s right. Actually…” Lu Yu frankly brought up the past, “I’ve been thinking about this opportunity for a long time, hoping to say sorry in person. When we were at our most promising, I dragged down the whole team. Now that the coach is no longer coaching and Sister Yan is injured, I really don’t have the face to appear in front of you again.”

Luo Yan propped her head up and said, "Let's not talk about those old, trivial things. Nobody's blaming you. Let's eat, okay?"

"Don't hide it, I'm going to bring this up, Lu Yu. So you've let them down, but what about me?" Weng Pei stirred the spoon in the porcelain bowl, making a clinking sound.

Lu Yu listened to his heartfelt words for a long time and knew that he had already been forgiven, but it seemed that the knot in his heart was hard to untie. Speaking it out would seem pretentious, and keeping it to himself would make him feel ashamed to reminisce.

She was glad Weng Pei brought it up, giving her a chance to apologize. She smiled calmly, "I'm sorry too..."

Weng Pei snorted, "I don't want to hear an apology. The reason I organized this gathering today is also to get to the bottom of things. Why did you play so badly back then? Although your physical fitness was already declining before the Olympics, it shouldn't have been to the point where you couldn't even dribble the ball past half-court. After the Olympics, you just disappeared. To be honest, I once suspected that you were really like what people online were saying, deliberately throwing matches in order to earn a high salary in European and American leagues."

"No!" Lu Yu's answer was firm and resolute.

“I know it’s not true. After all, you were depressed for two years afterward and couldn’t even play in the domestic league, let alone overseas competitions. So, I don’t understand. I don’t believe you would lose your ability to dribble because you’re nervous.”

Before a single bite of food was touched, the table was already set up for an interrogation.