Chapter 58 The Spring Festival holiday still feels short for ordinary people…
The Spring Festival holiday may seem short to ordinary people, but it passes in the blink of an eye for professional athletes with busy schedules.
On the league schedule, the battle resumes on the tenth day of the first lunar month. Naturally, the teams cannot allow their players to relax until the last minute. This year's holiday cycle is already quite generous, but the entire team must gather on the seventh day of the first lunar month to engage in recovery training.
Moreover, Glory had just raised its level cap to 75 before the Lunar New Year, making the silver weapon upgrades for each team's core characters an urgent matter. The Samsara Club's technical department didn't even get a proper rest during the Spring Festival; several core technical staff members were working day and night to tackle the upgrade of their ace character, One Shot Through the Clouds, to its silver weapon.
According to the team's plan, in the first match after the New Year, the new weapon, "One Shot Through the Clouds: Frostbreaker," will make its debut at level 75. The stability and combat effectiveness of the new weapon are crucial to the team's start, and Zhou Zekai, as the user, naturally cannot be careless and must quickly engage in high-intensity adaptive training.
The holiday passed by so quickly that it was difficult to even see her.
In the first few days, Zhou Zekai was able to calm himself down by imagining and planning their future together and their brief time together in the game.
He knew that Zhao Zhinian would inevitably have to spend time with her father, whom she hadn't seen in a long time, and he shouldn't disturb her rashly; besides, he also had some family gatherings that he had to attend, and no matter how taciturn he was, he would always have to be there. So he completed these "tasks" step by step, maintaining intermittent contact with Zhao Zhinian in between: listening to her complain about the awkwardness of visiting distant relatives she hadn't seen for many years, sharing the sumptuous New Year's Eve dinner that the father and daughter had carefully prepared, and hearing someone secretly setting off firecrackers while staying up late on New Year's Eve.
But as the holiday days passed, the flickering flame of "expectation" in Zhou Zekai's heart began to waver precariously in the face of anxious winds.
He began to worry: would they really not be able to see each other at all during this holiday?
Even when they play dungeons, farm monsters, and do quests together in Honor of Kings, sharp-eyed players still notice them, further solidifying his "status." He becomes the subject of online discussions, teased by professional players, jeered by teammates, and repeatedly warned by his manager. But this virtual interaction can never replace the real world, especially now that the two are in the same city.
Two days before the Lunar New Year, Zhao Zhinian accompanied her father on a busy trip visiting relatives and friends. On New Year's Eve and New Year's Day, two days for family reunions, each family was preoccupied with its own customs and internal gatherings, making it inconvenient to meet outside. Finally, after the New Year, Zhao's father stopped taking Zhao Zhinian on visits and instead hosted a banquet at home for returning relatives and friends. Zhao Zhinian remained the indispensable "protagonist," firmly tied to the home.
Hearing Zhao Zhinian say with a hint of apology that another relative was coming to visit today and he couldn't go out, Zhou Zekai could only hide his disappointment and say understandingly, "It's okay."
Seeing that his message was brief and his tone betrayed his sadness, Zhao Zhinian softened and comforted him, "You rarely get a break, so spend more time with your aunt and uncle. They must miss you terribly."
She paused, then added with a smile, "Did a lot of kids come to your house? Will they line up to play Honor of Kings with you and ask for your autograph?"
Finally, Zhao Zhinian gently comforted her, "It's okay, we... have a long future ahead of us."
"Mm," Zhou Zekai replied, but in his heart, he silently lowered his expectations again and again.
He couldn't help but pull out the schedule after the New Year again, his eyes lingering on the matches between Samsara and Yizhan, Tiny Herb, and Royal Wind.
Fortunately, if Zhao Zhinian doesn't have any other work conflicts, they should be able to meet at work soon. She also mentioned that she'll have more activities in Shanghai after the New Year, so they'll eventually be able to see each other.
There is ample time.
Zhou Zekai silently repeated these four words in his heart, trying to soothe his current longing with a "hypothetical" future.
With only two days left of the holiday, Mr. Zhao seemed to have finally exhausted all his necessary social engagements and was no longer planning any new family gatherings.
Zhao Zhinian immediately began planning her short "free time". She specially arranged her gathering with Lin An'an's best friend on the first day and took the initiative to inform her father: "Dad, I have made an appointment with Lin An'an to go out for a meal and chat tomorrow."
Mr. Zhao naturally knew that Lin An'an was his daughter's friend of many years. He raised his eyes, glanced at Zhao Zhinian, and nodded without saying anything.
On the fifth day of the Lunar New Year, the sun shone brightly, a rare treat. Zhao Zhinian and Lin An'an had lunch at a restaurant, then moved to a nicely decorated coffee shop. The floor-to-ceiling windows shone with the warm winter sun, while the aroma of coffee filled the air, accompanied by soft, cheerful music. Having spent little time together this past year, they had so much to talk about, sharing their current situations.
However, Lin An'an naturally wouldn't let go of the topic of "Zhou Zekai," her eyes shining as she demanded a "detailed account, no hiding anything." After hearing about the farcical incident of Zhao's father suddenly returning to China and bumping into Zhou Zekai while delivering food, and the tragic situation that the two hadn't seen each other at all during the entire Spring Festival holiday, Lin An'an couldn't help but sigh: "So, you really didn't see each other even once during this year's Spring Festival?"
Lin An'an sipped her juice and exclaimed, "Uncle, you came back at just the right time. Did you come back specifically to be the Queen Mother of the West and draw the Milky Way?"
Her eyes lit up with a mischievous smile. "Hey, why don't you send him a message now and ask him to come out? Just say I have to leave suddenly, to create an opportunity for you two? I don't mind being your tool, you can use my name to go on a date."
Zhao Zhinian smiled and gave her a reproachful look: "Come on! I came out today specifically to keep you company. I'm completely focused on you. Your position is irreplaceable, okay?" She then added: "Besides... we made plans to go to the movies tomorrow."
"Oh! Finally going on a date?" Lin An'an smiled and gently nudged her with her shoulder. "The standard for newlyweds during the Spring Festival: dinner and a movie. That's great, that's great. Simplicity is the sweetest thing."
As she spoke, Lin An'an leaned closer, lowered her voice, and her eyes gleamed with cunning: "But aren't you afraid of being recognized by Reincarnation fans on the streets of Shanghai? There are so many people at the movie theater, this is Zhou Zekai's home turf!"
Zhao Zhinian smiled and responded frankly, "We've talked about this before. Actually, even if we're recognized, what does it matter? Dating isn't illegal. The way we are now is pretty much like having our cards on the table. But we don't plan to officially announce it. We'll definitely avoid each other at work and try not to affect our work. We don't want to be too closely associated, but we also don't want to be restricted by it. We'll just treat each other as we would in private."
"Yes, yes, as long as you've discussed it and decided." Lin An'an naturally supported their decision, but still teased, "I just don't know if your uncle will be satisfied with your movie buddy for tomorrow."
Sure enough, the next day, when Zhao Zhinian was all ready to go out, her father, who had been watching TV in the living room, casually asked, "Are you going to be with Lin An'an again today?"
Zhao Zhinian paused, looking at her father. His expression clearly showed that he knew perfectly well what was going on, yet he still insisted on asking. She felt a little helpless, but knew she had to get past this, so she had no choice but to honestly confess: "No... it was with another high school classmate you know."
Mr. Zhao snorted and glanced at her sideways: "Why are you so hesitant? Is his name something you can't show to others?"
Zhao Zhinian immediately put on a sweet smile, took a few steps closer, and said in a slightly coquettish tone, "It's just... I was afraid you wouldn't want me to mention him."
"Knowing I don't want to, you still insist on seeing me?" Zhao's father raised an eyebrow.
“It’s not that I ‘have to’…” Zhao Zhinian carefully chose her words: “It’s just that I’ve been busy visiting relatives these past few days, and now that I finally have some free time, I just… casually meet up with them.”
"Just a casual meeting?" Zhao's father repeated the phrase, his gaze sharp. "What? Can't he even wait a few days? He's already in such a hurry to call you out?"
"Oh, Dad!" Zhao Zhinian drawled, clinging to her father's arm with a hint of coquettishness. "He'll be going back to the club for training on the seventh day of the Lunar New Year. He'll be extremely busy during the season. They're the champions from last year, and he's the captain, so he can't afford to be distracted. I'll be going back to Beijing soon too, and I'll be even busier this year... It'll be really hard to see each other again."
She paused, lowered her eyelashes, and added in a barely audible voice, "And... he really has been waiting for me for quite a while."
This statement is a double entendre, and carries a profound meaning.
Upon hearing his daughter mention "waiting for quite a long time," Mr. Zhao immediately understood the deeper meaning behind her words: this referred to Zhou Zekai's repeated confessions after she returned to China, which she had not immediately accepted, and also alluded to the unfulfilled youthful feelings she had experienced in high school many years ago.
The thought of that kid daring to confess his feelings in high school rekindled Zhao's father's displeasure. He hadn't been able to help but frown when his daughter confessed that night, expressing his disapproval: "He seemed like a quiet and steady child, but I never expected him to be thinking about dating at such a young age. He doesn't need a high level of education to be an esports player, but what about you? Don't you need to focus on your studies too?"
Zhao Zhinian knew this was her father's unresolved issue, but she never wanted to deliberately hide it from her closest relatives. Seeing her father's displeasure, she immediately went along with it, putting on the most innocent and obedient expression.
“Yes, yes, puppy love is definitely wrong!” She blinked, her tone as sincere as could be: “So I ignored him at the time, and he didn’t bother me again afterward.”
As she spoke, she tilted her head slightly, smiling with a look of wanting praise: "Look, how well did I handle it?"
Mr. Zhao was speechless for a moment, watching his daughter's playful antics. His daughter wasn't wrong; nothing had really come of it back then. But then he thought, who knows if she hadn't agreed then because she was about to go abroad and her future was uncertain? And now, after returning home and spending so much time together, hadn't his daughter already fallen for him?
He waved his hand, with a hint of helplessness that he'd rather not see it: "Alright, alright, stop joking around here and let's go."
Although his tone was dismissive, he still added, "Remember to come back soon."
"Okay! Thank you, Dad!" Zhao Zhinian felt like she had been granted a pardon, and a smile instantly bloomed on her face. Like a light butterfly, she quickly slipped out of the house.
The streets on the sixth day of the Lunar New Year were still immersed in the afterglow of the Spring Festival, filled with festive red, and the faces of pedestrians were filled with holiday joy. Zhao Zhinian walked quickly towards the top floor of the mall, and in the distance, that familiar figure came into view: Zhou Zekai, wearing a black down jacket, mask and hat, stood quietly by the pillar at the entrance of the top-floor cinema.
He arrived half an hour early, choosing a spot where he could see her at a glance, yet wouldn't attract too much attention. Even so, his tall figure and slightly mysterious attire still drew frequent glances from passersby.
"Have you been waiting long?" Zhao Zhinian quickly took two steps to stand in front of him, slightly out of breath, and looked up at him.
Zhou Zekai shook his head, his gaze lingering on her face for a moment before he naturally reached out and took the handbag from her shoulder. His voice sounded a little muffled through his mask: "Just arrived."
The two picked up their tickets and rushed into the theater just as the movie was about to start. The cinema was packed during the Spring Festival holiday. Under the dim lights, the two carefully made their way through the almost full theater and finally sat down in a corner seat in the last row.
Zhou Zekai looked at Zhao Zhinian sitting quietly beside him, and the longing he had felt for her over the past few days finally came to fruition. He quietly reached out and gently took her hand, which was resting on her knee.
Zhao Zhinian paused for a moment, then interlocked her fingers with his, turned her head and smiled at him. Her crescent-shaped eyes were filled with tiny sparkles, as if to say, "I'm sorry to have kept you waiting."
They chose a recently highly-rated commercial comedy. Laughter filled the dimly lit screening room. Zhou Zekai, however, was somewhat absent-minded. It wasn't that he wasn't looking forward to the movie, but rather that most of his attention was focused on the people around him, while his mind was replaying the "love lessons" within the Samsara Team.
Especially Fang Minghua's "personal experience lesson," this married man, speaking with the air of someone who's been there, passionately imparted his experience to him last night: "Xiao Zhou, let me tell you, the atmosphere is the most important thing when you go on a movie date with a girl for the first time! In a movie theater, in the dark, sitting side by side... when the opportunity is right, you must seize it! Back in the day, my wife and I..."
Those words scrolled through his mind like bullet comments, making him inexplicably nervous. His palms were slightly sweaty, and he sat up straighter than usual, as if he were completing an important tactical deployment.
Zhao Zhinian was engrossed in watching. Perhaps out of professional habit as a commentator, whenever she saw an interesting scene, she would subconsciously lean slightly towards Zhou Zekai, lower her voice, and whisper in his ear, sharing her thoughts or comments on the plot with a smile.
As she leaned closer, her warm breath, tinged with the faint scent of shampoo, unexpectedly brushed against Zhou Zekai's ear and neck. His body stiffened almost imperceptibly, and he instinctively turned his head, only to see her face so close to his in the dim light of the screen, her smiling lips moving as she spoke.
Zhou Zekai didn't hear a word she said. Enveloped in the dim light, all his senses seemed amplified, focused solely on her lips as she spoke and the excessively close proximity. The occasional bursts of laughter from the audience and the sound of the film seemed like distant background noise.
"Huh?" he uttered a short syllable, his eyes still somewhat unfocused and blank.
Zhao Zhinian thought that Zhou Zekai hadn't heard her because her voice was too soft, so she leaned closer without any warning and patiently repeated her comments.
Zhou Zekai looked at her face so close to his, at the faint smile on her lips as she spoke, at the glimmer of light from the big screen reflected in her eyes... A surge of courage, mixed with the pure impulse of youth, welled up without warning.
His Adam's apple bobbed slightly, and he gave a very soft "hmm." Then, as if drawn by some invisible force, he slowly, with a hint of hesitation, moved closer to her.
Zhao Zhinian was still waiting for his response, but instead of speaking, he leaned closer. The distance closed instantly, and her first thought was that their faces were too close—close enough to clearly feel his warm breath. Then, because they were so close, she felt embarrassed to look Zhou Zekai directly in the eyes, her gaze involuntarily wandering, finally settling on his eyelashes—quite long and thick, Zhao Zhinian thought to herself.
Then, a gentle kiss, like a feather brushing across the water, landed on her lips like a dragonfly skimming the surface.
Instantly separate.
Time seemed to stand still at that moment.
The lights and shadows in the theater continued to flow, but for the two of them, everything around them became quiet and blurred.
Zhao Zhinian froze on the spot, her eyes wide open, seemingly still savoring the sensation of that moment and the magnified eyelashes before her eyes. She could feel her cheeks heating up at an alarming rate, her heart pounding wildly and erratically in her chest, feeling even more nervous and at a loss than when she first took the stage to host a show.
After the kiss, Zhou Zekai seemed to realize what he had done and quickly stepped back, his ears turning bright red. He looked away somewhat awkwardly, pretending to focus on the big screen, but the tense lines of his profile betrayed his inner turmoil.
Originally, it was just Zhou Zekai who wasn't interested in watching the movie.
Now, well, the other person can't stand it anymore either.
The bursts of laughter that filled the theater once again finally pulled Zhao Zhinian back from her tipsy daze. She suddenly remembered that when they first got together, he would ask "Is it okay?" before hugging her for the first time, but now he had learned to act first and ask later.
A thought flickered in her mind. She turned her head, lowered her voice, and whispered in his ear, "This time... why didn't you ask 'Is it okay?'?"
Zhou Zekai's face flushed instantly, a blush spreading visibly from his ears to his neck. He was speechless, his gaze shifting for a moment before finally seeming to give up, a "I've been caught anyway" attitude on his face. He turned to meet her gaze, his Adam's apple bobbing slightly, and asked in a low voice, "Then...can we kiss again?"
Zhao Zhinian couldn't help but stare at him wide-eyed, both amused and annoyed by his overly presumptuous interpretation. She gently pushed his arm: "Zhou Zekai! Did I ask you to ask this?" Why is this guy so unpredictable!
Zhou Zekai seemed aggrieved, but he corrected him in a low but earnest voice: "I said... call me Brother Kai."
Zhao Zhinian suddenly felt that after confirming their relationship, Zhou Zekai had become incredibly skilled in certain aspects, completely mastering the rhythm. His sudden initiative and timely displays of grievance were used with great ease, which made her feel a little resentful of being "controlled" and want to "rebel" while she was feeling sweet and shy.
So she deliberately moved closer to his ear, almost touching his earlobe, and repeated, word by word, in a clear and slightly provocative breathy voice: "Zhou Zekai".
Her warm breath brushed against his ear, and Zhou Zekai was taken aback. He glanced at her with a helpless look in his eyes, as if to say, "I really can't do anything with you."
Seeing her bright, slightly smug eyes, he stopped arguing with her about the meaningless "address" and simply reached out and gently grasped her slender wrist, his grip gentle yet firm.
Then, he leaned closer again, this time without any hesitation or probing, and clearly covered her lips with his own when she was being mischievous.
Unlike the previous tentative, fleeting kiss, this one carried a clear possessiveness and a deepening tenderness, clearly conveying his response: he chose to silence her "provocation" with action.
Zhao Zhinian felt her mind was in chaos, and a slightly intoxicating, tingling sensation rushed through her mind. She subconsciously clenched her fists, but did not move, and simply slowly closed her eyes.
In the corner of the last row, the dim light provided the best cover, quietly concealing the intimacy and sweetness of the couple.
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