Chapter 66
Chapter Sixty-Six
Although Xu Ziyan wasn't one to gossip, he still felt extremely conflicted after learning about Bai Ke and Bai Chen's situation. During the past two days of training, he kept glancing at Bai Chen, intentionally or unintentionally.
He thought he was well hidden, but he still couldn't escape Xie Wei's eyes.
After the training match, Yu Guangxiu and Jiang Yuxin repeatedly told the team members to rest well and maintain their form before letting them return to their dormitories ahead of time.
Bai Chen was tidying up his peripherals when he caught Xie Wei looking at him thoughtfully out of the corner of his eye. He turned his head and asked with a puzzled expression, "What's wrong?"
Xie Wei said, "What happened between you and Yan... and Ice recently? I've noticed he's been paying a lot of attention to you lately."
Bai Chen looked at his childhood friend, who was deeply in love and jealous of everyone around him, with an expression that suggested he was an idiot, and said rather speechlessly, "What could I possibly have to do with him?"
After saying that, he quickly realized the reason and said calmly, "KK probably said something to him."
Xie Wei, who had been enjoying success in love lately and was overflowing with affection and concern, asked with great interest, "KK? What happened to him?"
Bai Chen recalled how, a few days ago, the young man he had always treated like a younger brother stood before him and uttered "I like you" word by word. A wave of irritation and frustration washed over him. He had no intention of discussing this with Xie Wei, only saying, "You're going through a rebellious phase, aren't you?"
"This rebellious phase has come at just the right time." Xie Wei chuckled, not asking any further questions, and simply said, "My mom asked me to tell you to remember to come home after the competition, saying that Aunt Bai can't get through to you on the phone... How strange, has your rebellious phase started too?"
Bai Chen sighed, a hint of weariness appearing between his brows: "I don't want to answer; they want me to go home and go on blind dates."
Xie Wei understood, but... "It's just a blind date, didn't you already prepare yourself mentally? Why are you so resistant now?"
They were both heirs chosen by their families long ago, so they were naturally prepared for this. After all, the Xie and Bai families were wealthy and influential families with deep roots, and they didn't force marriages. If someone had someone they liked, they could bring them home to meet their family, and their family would agree.
If Xu Ziyan hadn't appeared, Xie Wei would probably be in the same situation as Bai Chen right now.
Bai Chen said, "I just don't want to answer anymore. They keep urging me, it's annoying."
Xie Wei rarely saw him like this, and looked him over with great interest before concluding, "He's definitely going through a rebellious phase."
—
The following afternoon at 2 PM, the TWG team members set off on time for the competition venue.
Today was different from the past. In the first game, the two attackers who started were Shen Xiao and Yuan Shaofeng, while Bai Chen was the one sitting in the rest room.
The YNG roster remains largely unchanged, consisting of Medic Clear, Sniper KK, Assault Bye, and Mumu.
As it was the final, the venue was more than twice the size of the previous competitions, and it was packed with people. At a glance, there were glow sticks and support signs of various colors, making it look like a concert.
In the first game, a coin toss gave YNG the right to choose sides first, and they chose to attack first without hesitation.
Before the match, Yu Guangzhou repeatedly emphasized that in today's game, they must defend against Clear and Bye's flanking maneuver of attacking the medical team from behind.
Shen Xiao sighed, "We've always been the ones flanking others while they defend against us. Now the tables have turned, and it's finally Ice's turn to get taken down."
Xu Ziyan said quietly, "You seem quite happy."
"How could that be? Absolutely not." Shen Xiaoyi said righteously, "I have a lot of teammates who love me, so don't let me go later."
Perhaps because of the interview incident that happened during the last fight with KW, this time the host was no longer a beautiful Omega in a dress, but a Beta in a suit and tie.
Yuan Shaofeng saw the host on the screen in the lounge and exclaimed in surprise, "Huh? Isn't this the UNC sniper from before?"
“He changed careers after retiring.” Jiang Yuxin glanced at the screen. “He had gained a lot of fans because of his looks when he was still active. After retiring, he changed careers and signed with UNC’s entertainment company as a host and live commentator.”
After saying that, he clicked his tongue and shook his head, seemingly very envious, saying, "Look at others, they're still contributing to the team even after retiring."
Xie Wei leaned back on the sofa and chuckled, "Don't worry, I'll definitely shine brighter than him after I retire."
That's true. As soon as Xie Wei retired, he went straight into the family business and became the big boss of TWG. The value he created is incomparable to that of an artist.
"Pah, pah, pah," Jiang Yuxin spat three times. "Thank you, God. It's still a long way from your retirement. Our team still needs you."
Xie Wei's previous broadcast somewhat alleviated the public opinion brought about by the interview, but he did not change his denial or say who the other person was. As a result, the number of fans who went to Jiang Yuxin's Weibo to ask for the truth has increased exponentially in the past few days, and his private messages have been flooded every day, almost driving him crazy.
However, this also means the team is popular, which is better than being ignored. If Xie Wei really retires, TWG's popularity will definitely drop significantly. Jiang Yuxin feels that this situation is worse than receiving three thousand insulting private messages, which makes him lose his hair.
Before long, a staff member knocked on the door to inform him to prepare for the performance. Since Bai Chen was not going to perform, he did not move, but simply sat on the sofa with his arms crossed, looking at the screen in front of him, seemingly lost in thought.
The coaches of the teams that came out earlier were required to appear as well, so only Jiang Yuxin and Bai Chen were left in the rest room.
Xu Ziyan, who hadn't said much until now, suddenly said, "Manager Jiang, could you come over here for a moment? I have something I want to talk to you about."
Did Ice want to talk to me about something?
Jiang Yuxin was startled, then immediately tensed up: Could something else have happened again?
So he hurriedly stood up and said, "Okay, I'm coming."
Shen Xiao asked curiously, "What could Ice possibly need to see the manager about?"
Yuan Shaofeng scratched his head: "I don't know."
Xie Wei glanced discreetly at the corner of the back corridor, his sharp eyes catching a familiar figure. He immediately understood Xu Ziyan's intention. He smiled, said nothing, and watched as Xu Ziyan pulled Jiang Yuxin out the door.
As soon as the TWG members walked away, the figure hiding in the corner quickly jogged and pushed open the door to enter the lounge.
The figure was none other than Bai Ke.
Seeing Bai Ke successfully enter the lounge, Xu Ziyan breathed a sigh of relief. He used a pre-prepared excuse to stall Jiang Yuxin for a while until his phone vibrated twice in his pocket before letting the bewildered Jiang Yuxin go back.
He took out his phone, but before he could check the messages, he heard a low voice ask from the side: "KK is gone?"
Xu Ziyan was startled and almost dropped his phone. He turned to Xie Wei and said with an embarrassed smile, "Captain."
Xie Wei glanced at him indifferently: "Let's go, it's almost time."
Seeing that Xie Wei didn't press the matter, Xu Ziyan breathed a sigh of relief and quickly followed after her.
During a break while walking, he read the message Bai Ke had sent.
[KK: I gave it to him.]
[KK: Thank you, Ice.]
It's impossible to tell whether the meeting was good or bad from these two sentences, but that's all Xu Ziyan could do.
He wasn't actually someone who liked to interfere in other people's relationships. The reason he helped KK was more because he felt that KK was just too similar to himself, rather than because of the friendship between good friends.
If it weren't for that accident, he would probably be like KK now, leaving TWG in disgrace due to being ostracized by the youth training coach. He would have been unwilling to give up and joined another team. Even if everything went smoothly, at that time, he would not be standing next to Xie Wei, but on the opposite side of Xie Wei.
At that point, it was practically impossible for me to join TWG.
He sighed softly, turned off the screen, and put away his phone.
The most important thing right now is the competition.
Since it was the finals, the contestants' introductions were longer than usual. After everyone was seated, there were pre-match interviews and trash talk.
The two trash-talking people on YNG's side are Mumu and Bai Ke, while on TWG's side it's Shen Xiao and Xie Wei.
Xu Ziyan was focused on adjusting his peripherals when he turned his head and saw Yuan Shaofeng unconsciously typing on the keyboard, looking very excited and agitated.
Even with the noise-canceling headphones still on, the cheers from the audience and Xie Wei's smiling voice on the big screen could be clearly heard: "...I hope YNG is well prepared today and doesn't give me too many kills, I can't get them all."
The barrage of provocative trash talk elicited screams from the audience.
Immediately afterwards, the character on the screen changed to Bai Ke.
The instant Bai Ke's voice appeared, Xu Ziyan noticed that Yuan Shaofeng was typing even faster.
He paused for a moment, then suddenly realized that Bai Ke wasn't the only one with mixed feelings in this match; Yuan Shaofeng did too.
But on the field, getting rid of your personal emotions is the most important thing.
Xu Ziyan wanted to remind Yuan Shaofeng, but didn't know how to bring it up. He could only silently prepare himself to take extra care of Yuan Shaofeng during the competition.
His fears proved true in the following matches.
The map is set as Ellie Park. YNG goes first.
In the first round, Yuan Shaofeng made frequent mistakes and his revolver hit rate was extremely low. Without his front-line firepower cover, Shen Xiao did not dare to advance rashly. Although Xie Wei was in excellent form, he could not withstand YNG's fierce offensive.
YNG escorted the target smoothly all the way, almost pushing him to the finish line.
The screen went gray again. Yuan Shaofeng let out a deep breath and said, "I'm sorry, this is my fault."
Xie Wei's expression didn't change much. He took down Clear with a single shot and calmly said, "We'll review the game when we get back to the team. The match isn't over yet."
Shen Xiao said, "It's normal for newcomers to be nervous, don't take it to heart. Now, just focus on defending the last point."
Xu Ziyan also comforted him, saying, "Don't think too much, just focus on the present."
Yuan Shaofeng closed his eyes and gripped the mouse tightly again.
When he rushed out of the point again, he had recovered a lot. Although YNG still managed to push the car to the point with their early advantage, TWG's "stubborn resistance" meant that when they finally pushed the car to the point, they only had five minutes left for the third round's attack.
Back in the lounge, Yu Guangzhou nodded to Yuan Shaofeng: "You know how well you played this game. Go back and train more."
Yuan Shaofeng should be correct.
In the second game, TWG made a roster change, with Yuan being replaced by Chen.
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