Chapter 22
Chapter Twenty-Two
The interview ended with the awards ceremony. Bathed in applause and cheers, Xu Ziyan gracefully stepped off the stage, holding her trophy.
Walking back to the lounge, he was pleasantly surprised to find that the team members had also arrived.
Shen Xiao already had a good impression of this Omega newcomer, and greeted him with a smile: "Congratulations on first place! Wow, you are truly a force to be reckoned with. It has been several years since a medical player has won the Rookie Cup."
Xu Ziyan smiled and said, "Thank you."
Shen Xiao blinked: "Add me on Line? Let's duo queue sometime."
Qu Qingyue chuckled and mercilessly exposed him, saying, "Ice, you mustn't be fooled by this person. He's just a bastard who likes to deceive children."
Shen Xiao immediately put on a hurt expression: "Ququ, it really hurts me to hear you say that."
Xu Ziyan, the "little friend," smiled but didn't say anything.
Qu Qingyue observed his reaction, then her mind raced, and she suddenly asked, "By the way, in your interview just now, you said you're a big fan of the captain, is that true?"
Xu Ziyan was startled, unsure of her intention in asking the question, but he remembered his promise to Xie Wei, smiled, and said frankly, "Yes, I joined TWG because I admire the captain."
Seeing that he seemed perfectly normal, Qu Qingyue's suspicions dissipated considerably. She smiled to herself, realizing she had been overthinking things, then turned back and said with a smile, "Captain, did you hear that? Our rookie cup champion is a huge fan of yours, so how about a little fan service?"
Behind them, Xie Wei, who was talking to Lu Donglou about team matters, turned her head and glanced at him upon hearing this.
Among the crowd, Omega, dressed in his team uniform and holding a trophy, happened to be looking at them. Under the corridor lights, the young man had soft black hair, bright eyes, and fair skin. He was both well-behaved and handsome.
And this beautiful Omega still had his own mark on the back of his neck.
Xie Wei smiled and said, "I saw your moves. You're very good. Keep up the good work."
Xu Ziyan nervously tightened her grip on the trophy, trying her best to act as if she were meeting Xie Wei for the first time, and politely said, "Thank you, Captain! I will definitely continue to work hard."
Xie Wei raised an eyebrow.
Even though he had requested this attitude himself, seeing Xu Ziyan's distant demeanor at this moment, a sense of displeasure inexplicably rose in his heart.
After realizing what he had done, he couldn't help but chuckle.
Just then, other media outlets came over for an interview. Xu Ziyan said a brief goodbye to the team members and left in a hurry.
Shen Xiao nudged Qu Qingyue and joked, "They say the new generation surpasses the old, and it's true! Not only is she beautiful, but her skills are also so sharp. So, what's your opinion of this 'older generation'?"
Qu Qingyue's smile faltered for a moment, then she quickly recovered: "What kind of evaluation could there be? But you, seeing so many newcomers making surprise attacks in the competition, don't you feel any sense of crisis?"
Shen Xiao didn't take it to heart at all. After saying a few words, he changed the subject.
Bai Chen, who had been silent the whole time, noticed Qu Qingyue's subtle change in expression, pursed his lips, but said nothing.
--
After finally finishing the interview, Xu Ziyan returned to his van with his peripherals. Lu Donglou helped him put the trophy away and asked, "Ice, do you want to open a Weibo account? It'll be easier for the team's promotions and building popularity later."
After saying that, he remembered hearing when he was auditing the class that Xu Ziyan didn't have a Weibo account, so he quickly added, "Of course, cursing, insulting, and arguing with people are absolutely forbidden."
Xu Ziyan chuckled: "I definitely know that. I'll register a new one when I get back tonight."
“Hmm.” Lu Donglou paused, a hint of hesitation in his expression, as if he was struggling with something. Finally, he gritted his teeth and said, “Ice, I have a question for you. Tell me the truth.”
Xu Ziyan looked at him.
Lu Donglou lowered his voice: "You mentioned before that you had an Alpha partner, is that person Xie Wei?"
Xu Ziyan was completely taken aback by his words, her mind went blank for a moment, and she opened her mouth: "No..."
"Alright," Lu Donglou actually knew the truth of the matter. "I just want to say that if you don't plan to make this public, then keep it a secret. Everyone in our team knows your abilities, but there are many people with ulterior motives. If this gets out, who knows what they'll say about you."
Xu Ziyan gave a somewhat helpless smile. He wasn't lying; he and Xie Wei really weren't lovers. But explaining this would require going through a whole bunch of details, which was too troublesome, so he simply nodded and agreed.
Seeing how easy he was to talk to, Lu Donglou felt much more at ease. In his many years of teaching, he had seen many rebellious teenagers. This age is when so-called "love freaks" are most likely to emerge, feeling that the person in front of them is the one for life, so they insist on going public, and there are quite a few who are willing to die for love.
Players like Xu Ziyan, who are smart, willing to listen to advice, and have excellent skills, are rare. Such people usually go further.
Lu Donglou smiled and patted him on the shoulder: "Get some rest when you get back. I'll give you a day off tomorrow. You've worked hard these past few days."
Xu Ziyan said, "Thank you, Coach."
Back in his dorm, he closed the door, collapsed onto the soft bed, and let out a heavy sigh, feeling much lighter the weight that had been weighing on his mind these past few days.
Looking back, I realize how incredible I've been these past few months.
Unfortunately, no matter how incredible it may seem, it will eventually come to an end.
He touched the teeth marks on the back of his neck and found that they were almost imperceptible. The temporary mark would likely disappear completely by tomorrow.
My relationship with Xie Wei will be back to square one.
...I'm so reluctant to part with it.
Xu Ziyan patted his forehead, deciding to relax for a while tomorrow, sleep in, and watch a movie in his dorm room. Just as he was about to get up to wash up, there was a knock on the door.
Who would come at this time?
A name flashed in his mind, and Xu Ziyan practically jumped out of bed and rushed to the door, opening it.
Xie Wei's hand was still raised in mid-air when he saw Xu Ziyan and laughed, "You're too quick."
Xu Ziyan realized he had been too eager and gave an awkward laugh: "Captain, is there something you need?"
Xie Wei noticed his embarrassment and suddenly felt like teasing him, so she deliberately said, "Can't I come over if there's nothing wrong? Aren't you happy to see me?"
"No, no!" Xu Ziyan quickly shook her head. "Of course you're welcome. Um, please come in."
"Alright, I was just teasing you," Xie Wei said with a smile. "I'm not going in, I just came to deliver something to you, here you go."
He took a small white box out of his pocket and placed it in Xu Ziyan's hand. Xu Ziyan looked closely and realized it was a limited-edition Bluetooth headset from a certain brand.
He had wanted these headphones for a long time. Xu Ziyan had casually mentioned them when he was chatting with Xie Wei during training one night, and he didn't expect Xie Wei to remember them and even buy them for him.
He hurriedly said, "This is too expensive, I can't accept it."
Xie Wei said, "There's no question of whether I can accept it or not. I bought it as a gift for you in the first place. Didn't you say you liked it before? Don't you like it now?"
Since things had been said this far, Xu Ziyan stopped refusing and happily accepted it: "I like it, I like it, thank you, Captain."
Xie Wei said, "Don't thank me. You thank me every day, it's like you're giving me a friend card." As he spoke, he raised his wrist to check the time, "Alright, you should get some rest, my training match is about to start."
The first team's new season starts earlier than the second team's, so the first team's players have already begun preparing for the new season earlier.
Xu Ziyan nodded and said, "Okay, goodbye."
Xie Wei smiled and said, "Goodbye."
After closing the door again, Xu Ziyan walked into the bathroom to wash up, feeling dizzy. Lying on the bed, he looked at the headphone case in his hand, feeling as if he were flying in the sky, even more elated than when he received the trophy.
Xie Wei never concealed her pheromones in front of him, and the scent of lemon and mint still lingered around him. Xu Ziyan rolled around on the bed, covering his face with great reluctance.
What should I do? I feel like I'm liking Xie Wei more and more.
There was no way around it; Xie Wei's attitude towards him was just too gentle and special—the companionship when he was marked, the guidance during training, and the meticulous attention to detail in remembering even the casual remarks he made. All of this gave Xu Ziyan the illusion that they were mutually in love.
If only that were true.
Xu Ziyan carefully placed the headphones on the bedside table, picked up his phone, and found that the members of the second team had all sent him messages congratulating him on winning the championship. He replied to each of them, then went to Weibo and registered a new Weibo account.
[TWG-Ice: Hi everyone, I'm Ice.]
Xu Ziyan sent the new ID to Lu Donglou. When he switched back, he found that he had a new follower. He didn't pay much attention to it, assuming it was a zombie follower, and casually glanced at it.
In the latest fan list, TWG-Shining's ID is prominently displayed, and the label next to it has changed from "following" to "mutual following".
Xu Ziyan's heart immediately burst into joy.
However, when he refreshed the page again, he found that TWG's official Weibo account, as well as members of the first and second teams, had appeared in his follower list, not long after Xie Wei had started following them.
Xu Ziyan immediately realized that this attention was not because Xie Wei cared about him, but because the team was about to officially announce his name, so the other members of the team were giving him attention to create hype in advance.
Sure enough, not long after, TWG's official Weibo account posted a message welcoming Ice, the champion of this year's Rookie Cup, to officially join TWG's second team as a medic.
Xu Ziyan couldn't help but laugh at his own previous self-delusion. He tapped his finger and forwarded the Weibo post.
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