Chapter 38 Just sneakily call them out...
After the morning training session, Nan Zhiyi and You Xin had to head to the competition venue early in the afternoon. This year's organizers had made the Streamer Cup a very formal event, even filming a short promotional video before the competition started, and all the team captains who qualified for the offline finals were invited to participate.
Besides, the organizers clearly also had their eye on the popular player yux. According to Song Meng, he also received an invitation, but he declined, as he had been retired for a long time and didn't want to make such a high-profile appearance.
You Xin didn't drive; the two took a taxi to the venue. Compared to the magnificent main stadium, this venue was much smaller, with fewer than 500 seats, but the backstage lounge was quite spacious.
You Xin was taken to the dressing room first, while Nan Zhiyi went to the lounge to wait. Their schedule was later than usual, and when they arrived, the lounge was already full of people waiting to be filmed.
Nan Zhiyi immediately spotted Song Shi, Bei Jing, and Xiao Lingdang, as well as Qiu Cheng, who was sitting with them and chatting happily.
The laughter inside abruptly stopped as soon as he appeared at the door.
Qiu Cheng's smile clearly froze on his face.
He looked at Nan Zhiyi for a long while, then suddenly stood up from the sofa.
Since moving away, Nan Zhiyi has not seen Qiu Cheng again. During this time, Qiu Cheng called and sent her many messages, asking her to "meet and chat when you have time," but she declined each time, citing that she was "too busy with training."
It wouldn't exactly be a lie, since he was genuinely very busy. Aside from the competition, dealing with You Xin alone was already quite a challenge for him.
Right now, he really had no interest in chatting with Qiu Cheng. He glanced to the side, deftly avoided him, and sat down on another sofa.
However, not long after I sat down, the annoying tail still followed.
Qiu Cheng walked over to him but didn't sit down. He lowered his head and said in a low voice, "Xiao Yi, can I talk to you?"
Nan Zhiyi looked up at him and noticed that Qiu Cheng wasn't wearing makeup like the others. He looked even more haggard than the last time she saw him, with dark circles under his eyes. She casually asked, "Are you here to film today too?"
“I’m not here to film. Our team leader is Song Shi… I came here specifically to see you. You’ve been ignoring me.” Qiu Cheng hurriedly explained, “Xiao Yi, I know I did something wrong. I’m really sorry. Can you listen to me for a couple of words? Just a couple.”
He looked very anxious, as if he was about to cry. Nan Zhiyi paused for two seconds: "Okay, what do you want to say?"
Qiu Cheng seemed relieved. He stood still, saying, "You already know about what happened to our guild, right?"
Nan Zhiyi remained silent, which was taken as tacit agreement.
“I knew it would turn out like this… Let me explain. I did know about this from the beginning, but I didn’t expect them to treat you so badly. Tangyuan only said he was going to make a video about you and told me not to tell you. I thought it was just a prank video, like the ones we filmed before,” Qiu Cheng said hurriedly. “I really don’t know the specifics, but it was wrong of me not to tell you. I’m no longer in contact with him…”
Qiu Cheng has participated in many of Nan Zhiyi's past videos, sometimes playing the victim, and sometimes joining him in persecuting passersby. Qiu Cheng has attracted a lot of traffic through these collaborative content.
Now, although the account "Angel's Intent" has hardly updated any videos recently, it is obvious to everyone that "non-cooperative videos" and "zero interaction and avoidance" are two different things.
Moreover, the online competitions a while ago were all broadcast live. As soon as Nan Zhiyi turned on his camera, his fans immediately noticed that he had moved to a new house and most likely changed his roommates as well.
Adding to the recent series of controversies, although neither of them explicitly stated it, almost everyone guessed that "Angel's Will" and "Lord Qiu" must have had a conflict.
Many of his fans unfollowed Qiu Cheng, and some of the more radical ones even spammed his live stream with insults. A significant number of Qiu Cheng's fans are opportunists; once they realized they were in the wrong, they immediately slunk away, leaving Qiu Cheng alone to be insulted and humiliated.
Nan Zhiyi heard from several of her streamer friends that Qiu Cheng seemed to be in particularly bad shape lately. Apart from the Juxing Cup, which he had already planned to participate in, he never streamed or showed up at all.
He stared at Qiu Cheng for a moment: "What do you want me to do? During the next competition, tell everyone that there is no conflict between us?"
The match on the 6th was between Angels and Songshi, the team Qiu Cheng played against.
Qiu Cheng was taken aback for a moment, then a relaxed smile appeared on his face: "If you'd like..."
"Then let's quit the guild."
Qiu Cheng seemed to realize what Nan Zhiyi had said after a moment, looked at him blankly, and instinctively said, "This is not..."
“Look,” Nan Zhiyi said softly, “we really have nothing left to say to each other.”
He stood up from the sofa and walked towards the dressing room.
Qiu Cheng immediately became anxious: "Be careful!"
He ran a few steps to catch up with him and grabbed his wrist: "Xiao Yi, can you please not force me? I can't just quit the guild like that, you understand? If I quit the guild now, I'll really have nothing left!"
Nan Zhiyi tried to shake off his hand, but Qiu Cheng gripped him tightly, like a vise holding his wrist: "Let go of me first."
"Let me explain..."
Nan Zhiyi sighed inwardly.
“Since you’re unwilling to give up anything, it means you’re not truly remorseful. Only you know what you’re really afraid of.” He looked at Qiu Cheng. “Let go.”
Qiu Cheng: "I..."
"—Are you unable to understand human speech?"
The door to the dressing room had opened at some point, and You Xin stood there with her arms crossed, her face extremely grim.
He had only finished half of his makeup, and it was obvious that he had come out after hearing some noise. Several staff members were peeking out from behind him, but dared not approach.
Qiu Cheng suddenly released his grip.
You Xin took another step closer to him, pressing him aggressively, "The child died and you know to nurse now, the person is gone and you're starting to apologize. If you keep pestering me like this, are you going to kneel down here next? You won't let him leave until he forgives you today?"
"Hey Qiu, you should know your place. Do you genuinely think you're wrong, or have you suddenly realized your traffic is dwindling and you can't make any money anymore? You know perfectly well that without Nan Zhiyi's help, you're just a useless piece of trash. These days, there aren't many people as despicable as you."
Qiu Cheng's face paled even more than You Xin's, who had just applied foundation, as he was looked down at by You Xin. He instinctively took a step back, but You Xin had already given him a look of disgust, turned around, and left.
Nan Zhiyi immediately felt a sense of foreboding, knowing that this ancestor was definitely angry.
He glanced at You Xin's retreating figure, hesitated for a moment, then turned back to Qiu Cheng in front of him without chasing after him: "You..."
Nan Zhiyi paused, noticing Qiu Cheng staring at the spot where You Xin had left with an intensely resentful look he had never seen before.
“…It was him, wasn’t it?” After a long pause, Qiu Cheng said in a hoarse voice, “He told you something about me, telling you to stay away from me. And then you chose him.”
Nan Zhiyi: "?" What is this all about?
"He's hated me from the very beginning!" Qiu Cheng suddenly burst out, and everyone else in the lounge turned to look at him. "From the very beginning... that first time, when you invited us to play a three-player match, he deliberately gave us a hard time and left, and then he came to challenge me to a solo match to deliberately put me down! It started from that moment! I don't even know what I did wrong!"
Nan Zhiyi: "???"
He was completely baffled: "What are you talking about? What do you mean by three-player solo?"
"Is he that important to you? You argued and broke up with him, but you still voted for him and watched his games every day. Now that you've made up, you listen to everything he says?!" Qiu Cheng shouted loudly, ignoring everyone. The staff members who were eavesdropping nearby immediately showed interesting expressions. "And what about me? I've known you for so many years. What am I to you? Is he more important than a friend you've known since childhood?"
Nan Zhiyi took a deep breath, his face finally turning cold: "Qiu Cheng, take a good look at what you're doing now. What do you think your aunt will think of you?"
“You said I’m your friend,” he said. “Did she ever teach you to trample on your friends and use them as tools to gain attention?”
This sentence seemed to break down Qiu Cheng's last psychological defense.
His face turned pale and then red. He opened his mouth, but couldn't say anything. In the end, he walked towards the door of the lounge without looking back, his whole body trembling as he opened the door.
With a "bang," the room fell silent again.
Nan Zhiyi stood there for a few seconds.
He had a mental rating scale for his friends. Everyone was above the passing grade, some a little higher, some a little lower, and some exceptionally high. He would secretly add or subtract points from them in his mind, treating them as usual on ordinary days, but once any of them's score dropped below the passing grade, he knew it was time to leave.
The moment Xiaoyu told him that Qiu Cheng was one of the instigators, his score had already plummeted to rock bottom.
"Um... Angel's Will?" A staff member asked timidly from behind. She carefully nudged his shoulder. "Why don't you come in first? We're almost done here."
Nan Zhiyi turned around. He had already regained his usual amiable demeanor and smiled at her, saying, "Then I'll trouble you."
-
"Hey... don't frown."
"Relax, relax."
As soon as Nan Zhiyi entered, she saw two makeup artists circling around You Xin, one applying makeup to his face and the other tidying up his long hair at the back of his head.
He tiptoed in, went around to the front, and saw that You Xin was indeed sitting with his eyes closed and a sullen face, looking as if everyone around him owed him eight million.
Nan Zhiyi felt like laughing for some reason, so he cleared his throat. You Xin immediately opened his eyes.
The makeup artist's hand trembled: "Oh dear, little imp, don't move!"
You Xin had no choice but to close his eyes again. "He's gone?" he said in a harsh tone.
"I just chased him away," Nan Zhiyi whispered to him. "Don't be angry."
You Xin simply gave an "Oh".
The two makeup artists glanced at him simultaneously, and Nan Zhiyi quickly made a "shh" gesture. They exchanged a look, understanding each other perfectly, and crossed their index fingers to make an "X," indicating that they would definitely not say anything carelessly after leaving here today.
Nan Zhiyi coughed awkwardly. His gaze fell on the makeup artist's hands, and suddenly an idea struck him: "This hairstyle suits you very well today."
Although it doesn't look much different from before.
"No, no, don't open your eyes!" the makeup artist who was applying his eye makeup said warily.
You Xin's eyelids twitched very slightly.
After a long pause, he said, "...Is that so?"
"Really!" Nan Zhiyi praised enthusiastically, "It suits you perfectly, you look great! You look especially handsome!"
You Xin's expression finally relaxed.
Five minutes later, You Xin finished. Nan Zhiyi didn't rush to start; she waved to him, signaling him to come over.
The two entered the empty restroom one after the other. Nan Zhiyi noticed You Xin fiddling with the hem of her clothes repeatedly, even though there wasn't actually a single wrinkle there, and a thought stirred in her heart.
He first looked around furtively to make sure no one was nearby, and then, as if he had made up his mind, he suddenly took a step forward.
Caught off guard, You Xin felt a warm body press against him, lingering briefly before quickly separating. His thoughts froze at that moment, even his pupils stopped trembling.
Nan Zhiyi hugged him.
After stepping back, Nan Zhiyi realized that her behavior just now was a bit stupid. She had secretly called someone out just to hug them...
His ears turned slightly red, and he touched his nose a little embarrassedly: "Um, I feel like you're not feeling too well, um... would this make you feel better?"
silence.
After a long while, as if a puppet had been dotted with eyes, the expression in You Xin's eyes suddenly became vivid again.
He looked up, his expression returning from its daze: "Yes. I'm much better, thank you."
Nan Zhiyi finally breathed a sigh of relief.
"You and Qiu Cheng..." He continued, hesitating for a moment, thinking about his words, "He said you had a solo match with him before, back when you were still in school, and that you hated him back then... Is that true? I don't remember that at all?"
"I don't know what he's talking about," You Xin insisted.
Nan Zhiyi immediately believed her: "I knew it! You weren't even that familiar with him back then... He acted like you had done something to him."
You Xin remained indifferent for a long time before finally speaking: "I have no opinion about him. I don't even know him."
She lowered her eyes again: "I'm not angry. I just scolded him to help you vent your anger."
"I know you're doing this for my own good." Nan Zhiyi's gaze fell on him, and she noticed that his collar was disheveled at some point, so she habitually reached out to straighten it for him. "Never mind him—go and film, see you later."
He smiled, waved, and left first. You Xin stood there, her gaze following his retreating figure all the way to a corner where he could no longer be seen.
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Author's note: Staff: We get gossip even at work?
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