Chapter 28 The next morning, just as dawn was breaking…
The next morning, just as dawn was breaking, Zhao Zhinian's phone alarm had barely vibrated once when she quickly turned it off before it could "shout" out.
This afternoon she was to fly to Beijing with the team. She had returned late yesterday, and Zhou Zekai's sudden arrival had disrupted many of her original plans. She quietly got out of bed and began doing her final pre-departure checks. Fortunately, most of her luggage had already been checked in, and she didn't have much carry-on luggage.
However, she wouldn't be back for a while after this trip. Remembering her habit of stocking up on food, Zhao Zhinian turned around and went into the kitchen, intending to clean out the easily expired food in the refrigerator to prevent it from "sacrificing itself" during this period.
She tried to be as quiet as possible and keep the noise down, but the sounds from the kitchen still disturbed the light-sleeping "uninvited guest" in the guest room.
The door was gently pushed open, and Zhou Zekai stood in the doorway, rubbing his sleepy eyes. As the league's recognized "face," his hair has always been an important part of his image, longer than many players with almost buzz cuts, and usually meticulously styled by stylists for both matches and events. But at this moment, his hair was completely "rebellious," with a few strands sticking up unruly. Paired with the obviously ill-fitting oversized T-shirt that Zhao Zhinian had rummaged through her closet to find last night, his usual sharp edge as a shooting king was completely washed away. He looked like a large feline that had just woken up, but a frizzy one at that, leaving only a soft, boy-next-door vibe.
"Did I wake you up?" Zhao Zhinian stopped what she was doing. She was preparing breakfast and suggested apologetically, "It's still early, why don't you sleep a little longer?"
Zhou Zekai shook his head, his voice still hoarse and sticky from just waking up: "I'm awake." Though he said he was awake, his body betrayed him; drowsiness made him instinctively want to raise his hand to rub his eyes again.
"Then go wash up first." Zhao Zhinian looked at him, couldn't help but smile, pointed to the top of her head, and whispered, "Um... my hair is a bit frizzy."
Zhou Zekai was stunned for a moment, then realized what was happening, and the tips of his ears began to turn red at a visible speed. He frantically tried to tame his unruly hair with his hands, but after a few tries, it was to little avail. He could only give a soft "hmm" and turn around to walk quickly towards the bathroom, his back view revealing the embarrassment of "image collapse" in front of the person he liked.
Seeing his rare moment of embarrassment, Zhao Zhinian's smile deepened, and she lowered her head to continue her work.
After a while, Zhou Zekai came out, but his hair was still not very neat. He tried for a long time in the bathroom, but still couldn't save his appearance. He could only give up and accept it.
The table was already laden with food: steaming noodles, golden fried eggs, crispy fried ham, toasted bread, vegetable salad, and cold dishes... a fusion of Chinese and Western breakfast.
Looking at the overly lavish breakfast, Zhou Zekai looked at Zhao Zhinian with a questioning look in his eyes: Do the two of us need to eat this much?
Zhao Zhinian awkwardly rubbed her nose and explained, "Well... I'm going to Beijing this afternoon, and some of the ingredients are prone to spoiling, and some might expire, so let's try to use them up and not waste them." She clasped her hands together in a "please" gesture, "Of course, it's okay if we can't finish them all, good luck!"
Zhou Zekai nodded knowingly and sat down to eat his breakfast quietly. After a few bites, he seemed to suddenly remember something, looked up, and said seriously, "I'll take you." He was referring to the airport trip that afternoon.
Zhao Zhinian paused in her chopsticks, looking up at him: "Don't you have training this afternoon?"
"I'm taking a break today," Zhou Zekai replied.
Zhao Zhinian shook her head again: "No need. Lin Shuang, who is the official Weibo account manager of Yizhan, we've already agreed that she will pick me up. Lou and the others might come too, and we'll go to the airport together." She paused, implying, "If you go, it'll be too crowded and not good."
Zhou Zekai's fingers tightened slightly as he gripped the chopsticks. He lowered his head, his voice muffled, filled with obvious grievance: "I... can't be seen by others?"
Zhao Zhinian's heart softened at his straightforward grievance, and she found it a little funny. She put down her bowl and looked at him helplessly: "You clearly know the reason, and you did it on purpose, right? As a Glory God, you can't be willful. Besides, you just gave Yizhan a 10-0 victory yesterday. If they saw you now, their feelings would be complicated."
Looking at his still-hanging head, which seemed particularly dejected, like a large dog soaked by the rain, Zhao Zhinian knew he was probably doing it on purpose, but she still softened and compromised, saying, "How about this, if you're really free this afternoon, we can have lunch together. I'll use this time to empty the last of the food in the fridge. After lunch, you can go back to the Reincarnation Base, and I'll go to the airport with Lin Shuang and the others, okay?"
Although Zhou Zekai was somewhat dissatisfied that he couldn't personally see her off at the airport, he was still happy to stay an extra morning. After weighing his options, he decided to accept the situation and obediently nodded in agreement: "Okay."
After breakfast, the two cleaned up the dishes together. Zhao Zhinian told Zhou Zekai to go play Glory in the living room for a while, while she continued to rummage through the refrigerator, thinking about the lunch menu in order to "clear out the stock".
As noon approached, Zhao Zhinian put on an apron and began preparing lunch in the kitchen, while Zhou Zekai sat quietly on the computer, logged into Glory, and naturally used Zhao Zhinian's account card to practice in the arena. However, his skill level was more like crushing noobs than practicing.
When the doorbell rang, Zhao Zhinian was still in the kitchen "fighting" with a stubborn piece of frozen meat. She wiped her hands, wondering who it could be at this hour. Looking through the peephole, she gasped: standing outside was Lin Shuang, along with two members of the Righteous Slash team, Zhong Yeli and Wen Kebei.
Were they here to pick her up? No way, there's still plenty of time before departure. Zhao Zhinian quickly opened the door, her face filled with astonishment: "You...why are you here?"
"Oh, the address is right!" Lin Shuang waved her phone, her tone a mix of helplessness and amusement. "Didn't you see all those messages I sent you? You were complaining to me about having a lot of leftover food in the fridge and being worried about wasting it! I was thinking of coming over to help you out, since I'm a fantastic cook. But then I ran into those two downstairs..." She pointed to Zhong Yeli and Wen Kebei beside her, "They were so shameless, insisting on trying my cooking, so they just came along for a free meal! Uninvited guests, shouldn't we be minding our privacy?"
Actually, it would be nice if Lin Shuang and Zhong Yeli came over for a girls' get-together; Zhao Zhinian definitely wouldn't mind. It's just that Wen Kebei's presence seems a bit out of place. Lin Shuang was about to explain when Wen Kebei interrupted with a grin, "Our food is absolutely amazing, I guarantee it..."
His words abruptly stopped when his gaze passed over Zhao Zhinian and fell upon Zhou Zekai, who emerged from the room looking slightly puzzled after hearing the commotion.
Zhou Zekai came out as soon as he heard the door open. As the others were talking, he had already walked to Zhao Zhinian's side, looked in the direction of the door, and asked Zhao Zhinian softly, "Who is it?"
Wen Kebei stood rooted to the spot, his mouth still half-open, his eyes wide open, as if he had seen the Glory Wild Map BOSS spawn in his own guild's warehouse.
Immediately afterwards, he gasped sharply, his hand trembled, and almost reflexively slammed the door shut again!
Lin Shuang and Zhong Yeli, who were outside the door, were bewildered by the sudden closing of the door.
"Wen Kebei, what's wrong with you!" Lin Shuang shouted in dissatisfaction, not having noticed Zhou Zekai inside, as Wen Kebei blocked her way.
Zhao Zhinian was also startled and quickly opened the door. The three outside had already exchanged information. Zhong Yeli pointed tremblingly into the room, his face showing a look of disbelief, and he almost questioned, "Zhou...Zhou...Captain Zhou?"
Zhao Zhinian had previously given Lin Shuang her home address, inviting her to stay for a while, but Lin Shuang felt it was more convenient to stay in a hotel and didn't want to bother her. She gave Lin Shuang her address again last night when they were in a taxi; Lin Shuang insisted on taking her home and promised to pick her up today to go to the airport together. However, Zhao Zhinian was busy cleaning the refrigerator and hadn't checked her phone, so she didn't expect Lin Shuang to come over with someone.
Her mind raced as she quickly explained, her voice tinged with panic: "I'm heading to Beijing this afternoon, and Captain Zhou... he's going that way anyway, so he's dropping me off." She deliberately used the polite title "Captain Zhou" to try and distance herself from him, while simultaneously giving Zhou Zekai frantic winks, her eyes practically screaming, "Please cooperate, please!"
Upon hearing this distant form of address, Zhou Zekai's brow furrowed almost imperceptibly. With the arrival of Yizhan's men, he reverted to being "Captain Zhou." However, sensing the pleading look in Zhao Zhinian's eyes, he obediently nodded, tacitly acknowledging the form of address. Yet, his tightly pursed lips and slightly stiff expression silently conveyed his displeasure.
The three people outside the door exchanged a knowing look that seemed to ask, "Do you believe that?"
The three glanced at Zhao Zhinian, whose gaze was wandering, then at Zhou Zekai's obviously mismatched and ill-fitting T-shirt, and his still-untamed, somewhat messy hair… The credibility of this story was pitifully low. So early in the morning, the captain of Samsara, deliberately "on the way" to preside over Yizhan's residence to "see him off"? And wearing ill-fitting clothes? His hair "rebelliously" looking like he'd just woken up?
However, the dignity of adults lies in seeing through things but not saying anything. Since the other party has said so, they can only try their best to cooperate in the performance.
"Oh, I see! Hello, Captain Zhou!" Lin Shuang was the first to react, and she nodded repeatedly with a professional smile on her face.
"Captain Zhou is really... thoughtful." Zhong Yeli twitched the corner of his mouth, trying his best to make his expression look natural and polite, but what he was thinking was: "I'm too embarrassed to call him out on this excuse."
Wen Kebei, with an expression that said, "I understand, but I'm deeply shocked," mechanically nodded and said, "Goodbye, goodbye. May our friendship endure forever, and may we build a harmonious alliance..."
Seeing that the group was so "sensible" and didn't pry, Zhao Zhinian secretly breathed a sigh of relief and quickly stepped aside to invite the three "movie stars" at the door in: "Come in, don't stand at the door."
As a result, the once spacious living room instantly turned into a large, silent, and awkward scene.
Zhou Zekai, Zhong Yeli, and Wen Kebei sat awkwardly on the living room sofa. Zhou Zekai sat upright on the single sofa, his eyes slightly lowered, as if studying the pattern of the carpet, automatically switching into a taciturn "interview mode." Zhong Yeli and Wen Kebei sat side by side on the long sofa, their posture more proper than ever before, their expressions serious as if attending an important meeting at their own company.
After the group entered, Zhao Zhinian, who was already busy in the kitchen, couldn't very well put down her spatula. Lin Shuang, who had come to help, tactfully said, "I'll go help Zhinian," and slipped into the kitchen, closing the sliding door behind her, leaving the silent battlefield to the three professional players in the living room.
Although Zhong Yeli wanted to help in the kitchen, Lin Shuang stopped her, saying that the kitchen was crowded. Wen Kebei also pitifully begged her not to leave him alone. In addition, she really didn't have any cooking skills, so she could only sit there feeling uncomfortable.
The living room fell into a deathly silence, with only the ticking of the wall clock standing out clearly.
Wen Kebei felt the atmosphere was suffocating. He cleared his throat, trying to break the deadlock, and said dryly, "Um... Captain Zhou, the weather is nice today."
Zhou Zekai raised his eyelids, glanced at him, then turned his gaze to the window, nodded, and uttered a single syllable: "Mm."
Zhong Yeli nudged Wen Kebei with her elbow, signaling him to change the subject. Wen Kebei racked his brains and tried again: "Captain Zhou, you must be quite busy with training lately, right?"
Zhou Zekai turned his gaze back to Wen Kebei's face, his words still concise and to the point: "Not bad."
"..."
The topic was dropped again.
Wen Kebei inwardly groaned: This is even more exhausting than being tortured by reincarnation! Gun King, please say a few more words! This conversation is unbearable! I beg Huang Shaotian to possess me! I pray that heaven will grant me the power of "eloquence"!
Zhong Yeli couldn't stand it anymore and took over the conversation, trying to make her tone sound more natural: "Reincarnation is still performing strongly this season. The champion team is different. Yesterday they beat us 10-0..." As soon as she finished speaking, she wanted to bite her tongue. This topic was... it was like rubbing salt into her wounds.
This time, Zhou Zekai didn't even bother with an "um," only giving a very slight nod in response. The "keep away" barrier around him seemed even thicker.
Just as Wen Kebei and Zhong Yeli were about to be overwhelmed by the awkwardness and began to use their eyes to pass the buck on the responsibility of "who will come up with a topic of conversation," Zhou Zekai suddenly took the initiative to speak.
His voice wasn't loud, but it instantly attracted the attention of the two people in the living room who were exchanging glances.
"Yizhan..." He paused, seemingly choosing his words carefully, then looked calmly at the two Yizhan team members, "This afternoon, to the airport?"
Wen Kebei and Zhong Yeli were both taken aback, not expecting Zhou Zekai to suddenly ask this question.
"Ah, right, the team leader has arranged a bus, we'll go together then," Zhong Yeli replied.
Zhou Zekai nodded and remained silent. His question earlier seemed to have been merely to confirm Zhao Zhinian's itinerary. Now that he had received the answer, he returned to his human-shaped silent mode.
This brief, seemingly unrelated interaction left Wen Kebei and Zhong Yeli looking at each other in bewilderment. They exchanged a puzzled glance, trying to decipher the deeper meaning behind this sudden display of concern.
However, Zhou Zekai has already returned to standby mode, as if he is surrounded by an invisible "do not disturb" barrier.
Wen Kebei and Zhong Yeli stared at each other silently for a full five seconds before simultaneously raising their water glasses in unison.
"Drink more hot water." The two planned to use this universally applicable social phrase to ease the subtle awkwardness in the air.
An almost frozen awkwardness filled the living room, as if even the air had forgotten to move. The two in the kitchen, however, were much more harmonious, moving closer to Zhao Zhinian with eyes as bright as if they'd discovered a trending topic: "Seeing...you off...huh?"
Lin Shuang deliberately dragged out her words, each one laced with amusement and disbelief, “Still calling him ‘Captain Zhou’? He’s practically living at home. Calling him that so formally is too much. Captain Zhou would be heartbroken if he heard that.”
Zhao Zhinian's face flushed, but she forced herself to remain calm as she stirred the food in the pot, stubbornly saying, "I'm just here to see you off, don't overthink it."
"I'm just imagining things? I'm in media operations, and I've seen countless people..." Lin Shuang took a step closer, lowered her voice, pointed to her bright eyes first, then tapped her temple, "I'm not blind, and I'm not stupid."
She gestured towards the living room with her chin: "The captain of Samsara, the face of the league, the gun king Zhou Zekai! Early in the morning, wearing an obviously ill-fitting T-shirt, showing up at your house with his hair all messed up like it had just been ruffled... and you're telling me this is a 'sending him off'? If this gets out, even if the e-sports weekly dares to publish it as you say, would the vast number of Glory fans believe it?"
Zhao Zhinian was speechless after being rebuked, and could only mutter softly, "The situation is rather complicated..."
"How complicated is it?" Lin Shuang nudged her with a mischievous grin, and seeing Zhao Zhinian's conflicted expression, Lin Shuang said seriously, "Relax, I know what's important. With Zhou's popularity, we really need to be careful. Unless you're planning to officially announce it, it's not good for anyone to expose it now." She patted Zhao Zhinian's shoulder, her tone earnest and reliable: "I have sharp eyes and a clear mind, but my biggest advantage is that I keep my mouth shut. I'll see what I should see, and I won't ask what I shouldn't ask. Don't worry, I'll definitely keep it a secret."
These thoughtful words warmed Zhao Zhinian's heart, but the thought of this relationship, which was not yet confirmed and already needed to be kept secret, brought a slight bitterness to her heart. However, she had promised Zhou Zekai that she wouldn't dwell on these things too much, so Zhao Zhinian quickly adjusted her mood and said to Lin Shuang, "Thank you."
"Don't mention it!" Lin Shuang rolled up her sleeves briskly. "Let's hurry up, those three outside are probably going to dig a three-bedroom apartment with a rooftop garden out of your living room with their toes!"
Their laughter temporarily dispelled the awkwardness from before. Zhao Zhinian's overseas study experience had indeed honed her culinary skills, and Lin Shuang wasn't boasting either; her cooking was truly exceptional. With their combined efforts, lunch was quickly prepared.
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A message from the author: Happy Mid-Autumn Festival everyone!
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