Chapter 57 What happened to Zhao Zhinian after she went home that night...?
Zhou Zekai had no idea how Zhao Zhinian explained things to her father after returning home that night. He only received a notification from her that evening, saying that they probably wouldn't be able to meet for the next few days, and that Zhao's father had arranged for her to accompany him on visits to relatives and friends.
In truth, Zhao Zhinian wasn't familiar with these elders. After all, she had been abroad for many years and hadn't kept in much contact with them since returning alone. Many relationships had become distant, and there was absolutely no need to meet some of them. But her father was adamant that she should go with him, and Zhao Zhinian even suspected that her father was deliberately preventing her from leaving the house.
This unexpected arrangement made Zhou Zekai reflect: Had last night's meeting left a bad impression on Zhao's father? On second thought, he felt somewhat fortunate that he had managed to meet him last night.
Upon learning this, Zhou's mother's initial enthusiasm for the Spring Festival immediately cooled. She had planned to showcase her culinary skills, preparing a table full of her signature dishes for Zhou Zekai to deliver, hoping to win over her future daughter-in-law's stomach. Now that her plan had fallen through, even though Zhou Zekai relayed Zhao Zhinian's praise for last night's meal, she still felt deeply disappointed.
Unwilling to give up, Zhou's mother even suggested, "Why don't our two families meet and set a wedding date? You can take your time with your relationship. If the two families get along well, you can get the marriage certificate first. That way, both sets of parents will feel at ease. After all, her father is abroad most of the time, and it's not easy to meet him. There's no time like the present, so let's set it up this year."
Zhou Zekai felt a chill run down his spine and could only look to his father for help. His father understood and quickly stepped in to smooth things over, advising his wife not to rush things: "Don't put so much pressure on the child. They've only just begun; take it one step at a time. If you bring up meeting her so abruptly, you'll scare the girl away."
Zhou's mother then reluctantly shut up, but her face was still full of regret.
Actually, finding a suitable date spot during the Spring Festival is already difficult: it's cold outdoors in winter, not suitable for outings; everyone is on holiday, and shopping malls and cinemas are packed; what's even more annoying is that many shops close for the Spring Festival.
Now there's no need to worry about where to go on a date, since we haven't even been able to see each other for the past two days.
Although Zhou's mother's words about "getting the marriage certificate" seemed hasty, they unexpectedly opened up new ideas for Zhou Zekai. He began to seriously consider buying a wedding house, after all, he really wanted a space that truly belonged to the two of them alone.
There, he wouldn't be suddenly disturbed by his parents, nor would he have to worry about being recognized and photographed by passersby. Although he didn't care much about this, and even secretly wanted to provide netizens with some "solid evidence" or simply make an official announcement, he was always concerned about the potential impact on Zhao Zhinian's career.
The manager of Reincarnation has now mastered the best way to advise him: instead of emphasizing the impact of the relationship on Reincarnation or himself, he focuses on analyzing the potential trouble that prematurely going public might cause for Zhao Zhinian's hosting career. The manager repeatedly emphasizes the difficulties she faces at the beginning: "If everyone only focuses on gossip and ignores her professional abilities..."
This earnest persuasion did indeed appease Zhou Zekai. He chose to heed the advice and proceed gradually, waiting until Zhao Zhinian's career was more stable before considering an official announcement.
He was willing to wait for her career development.
At least now he's not waiting namelessly; he has the legitimate identity of "Zhao Zhinian's boyfriend."
Once this idea of a "home" for the two of them took root, it quickly grew into something substantial.
First, there must be a sufficiently spacious walk-in closet. He clearly remembered Zhao Zhinian's complaint: the Yizhan dormitory had seriously insufficient storage space for her, forcing her to painfully give up or rent many of her favorite clothes.
What troubled her even more were the Hanfu (traditional Han clothing). Since there was nowhere to hang them, they had to be folded and stored, requiring time-consuming ironing before each wear due to the obvious creases – a real hassle. As a host who frequently appears on camera, a fully functional and well-organized walk-in closet was not only convenient for her, but also a professional necessity.
Considering my professional needs, I also need to plan a comfortable computer room with two computers of matching performance so that we can play Honor of Kings together.
Thinking back to when I went to her house before, only one of us could play while the other watched. It was cozy, but it lacked the fun of playing together. Given his status, going to an internet cafe would inevitably attract attention. The last time they played Glory together, they had to borrow the training room at the Samsara Club, which wasn't very convenient.
Ideally, a full-wall TV should be designed, which would not only make it convenient for Zhao Zhinian to access match recordings for review at any time, but also provide a perfect environment for her to practice commentary at home and familiarize herself with the hosting process.
We also need a bigger restaurant. Ever since his teammates found out he was dating, they've been nagging him to meet Zhao Zhinian. Now that he thinks about it, it would be much more convenient to host everyone at his own home than to go out. After all, Brother Fang invited the entire Reincarnation team to his home for dinner before and introduced his girlfriend to them.
Thinking about the work arrangements Zhao Zhinian mentioned last night: she will be handling multiple game projects next year, inevitably requiring frequent travel to various locations. Zhao Zhinian's intention was to tell him that next year would be exceptionally busy, but Zhou Zekai astutely grasped that Shanghai, as the e-sports center, would definitely be one of her permanent residences, giving the two more opportunities to meet. Therefore, to facilitate her work travel, the location and transportation of the house became top priorities.
As a top-tier player in Glory, coupled with the generous benefits and commercial value of the Samsara Club, Zhou Zekai possessed considerable financial strength and owned several properties. However, he still quietly began to take stock, carefully comparing the layout and location of each property to see if it met the conditions he had just envisioned. Perhaps… it was time to consider new options.
He even considered getting a car. Although he and his teammates had gotten their driver's licenses before, he lived with the team and traveled all over the country for competitions. Since his team was based in Shanghai, he already had a car at home, so he had never considered buying one. But now things were different. To make it easier to pick her up and drop her off, especially when she was traveling with her luggage, a car of their own seemed like a necessity.
It's only been a few days since we started dating, and he's already quietly included buying a wedding house and a car in his plans. This thoughtful and unpredictable nature is probably inherited from some of his mother's personality traits.
It's just unknown whether Zhao Zhinian would be moved by his thoughtfulness or startled by the rocket-like progress if she knew about his plans.
During the day, Zhao Zhinian accompanied her father to various gatherings and family dinners. It wasn't appropriate to keep looking at her phone in front of her elders, so she could only quickly reply to Zhou Zekai's messages during bathroom breaks or short rests, sharing anecdotes from the visits and a few minor complaints.
At the dinner table, questions about marriage are inevitable. These elders, whom we only see once a year, always ask the same old questions about their children: "How old are you? What do you do for a living? How much do you earn? Do you have a partner? When are you getting married?"
Zhao Zhinian had no intention of hiding anything and told the truth: "We just started dating. We're still young and focused on our careers. Marriage is still a long way off."
Mr. Zhao would usually smile and smooth things over, saying, "The child is still young. I want to keep Zhi Nian for a few more years. Nowadays, young people tend to marry and have children later in life, so there's no rush."
Little did they know that at that moment, the Zhou mother and son were thinking completely different things: the mother was planning how to get their marriage certificate as soon as possible, while the son was already quietly planning the decoration of their wedding room.
These past two days, Zhao Zhinian has been getting home late at night, so it's naturally inconvenient for her to go out on dates anymore. The sensible Zhou Zekai has also found a perfect way for the two of them to meet: in the game "Glory".
Thus, the solitary drinker in the tenth district welcomed his "god" after a long absence.
I've been feeling really stifled lately.
As one of the few people who knew about Zhao Zhinian and Zhou Zekai's relationship, he could only silently observe the online discussions about their romance and past gossip. Although he really wanted to share the juicy scoop that "Zhou Zekai personally played games with girls" with netizens, he held back because of his idol's trust in him, his responsibility as a fan to maintain his idol's image, and his own good relationship with Zhao Zhinian.
At the height of the online uproar, several core members of the 10th District guild realized something was amiss. After all, Zhao Zhinian's account card, "Yi Zhi Yin Nian," had been confirmed during the Glory event, essentially revealing her identity. Furthermore, the two accounts that joined the guild with her at the time were personally confirmed by the guild leader to be Zhou Zekai and Jiang Botao's alt accounts. This was clearly solid evidence that Captain Zhou was carrying female players in the game.
But Gu Yin spoke with each of these insiders: "Team Leader Zhou used a smurf account to come to the tenth server, joined our guild, and told us his real identity. He even helped us fight for the BOSS. This shows his trust in us. We have to live up to that trust! Sister Nian has also helped our guild revise a lot of documents and has been playing games with us for so long. She's one of us. This is an internal matter for Samsara. We have to protect our own people and protect Team Leader Zhou's relationship."
So when guild members inquired about or shared gossip about Team Leader Zhou, they would pretend to be clueless: "Huh? Is that true? I've never heard of it."
Watching everyone speculate and gossip, Gu Yin inexplicably felt a sense of superiority, as if he were one of them: not only could he keep his idol's secret, but he was also Zhao Zhinian's good friend and knew Zhou's alternate account. No one else in the guild could compare to him.
This is probably the treatment core fans receive.
However, if his idol, Richard Chow, knew about his intentions, he would probably think he was overthinking things and would be eager for him to promote it online.
After all, Zhou Zekai couldn't wait to personally reveal their love story to the world. However, his own revelation would be too much of a deal and might affect Zhao Zhinian's career. But if netizens were to dig things out bit by bit, he would be quite happy to see it happen.
Zhou Zekai and Zhao Zhinian had just logged into the tenth server and hadn't decided where to go yet when Gu Yin's message popped up impatiently, his tone filled with undisguised joy and eagerness: "Team Leader Zhou! You're here! Is there anything I can help you with? Dungeons, materials, or bosses?"
Zhou Zekai responded in his usual style: "No need."
With just two concise words, Gu Yin instantly understood: the master wanted some peace and quiet, some time alone with his partner!
He immediately replied, "Understood! Captain Zhou, you're busy, just let me know if you need anything. All members of the Samsara Guild are ready to serve you!"
Not only that, he also privately messaged several core members who knew the situation, repeatedly urging them: "Captain Zhou and Sister Nian are enjoying some alone time together. Be careful and keep your subordinates in check. Don't let them blindly gravitate over there and ruin Captain Zhou's important plans!"
This was, after all, internal news from the core inner circle of Samsara, and ordinary guild members were naturally unaware of it.
As a result, Zhao Zhinian soon received a team invitation from her guildmate, [Genius Battle Mage Xiaoyuan].
Xiaoyuan is on winter break and has a rare opportunity to put aside her studies and play games to her heart's content. When she sees that [Yizhiyinian] is lit up in her friend list, she thinks that the two of them haven't played games together in a long time and immediately sends an invitation to try out the newly opened dungeon together.
Zhao Zhinian glanced at the sharpshooter standing quietly beside her and replied, "Can I bring one more person?"
Xiao Yuan readily agreed: "No problem! Many hands make light work!"
When Xiao Yuan saw Zhou Zekai, the sharpshooter character with the Samsara Guild logo and dressed in a low-key manner, join the team, she was still a little unsure, even though he was an "ally" in the same guild, since they hadn't interacted much before.
She secretly opened Zhao Zhinian's private chat window, her tone tinged with worry: "Sister Nian, how good is the person you're mentoring?"
“This dungeon is quite difficult and there are many players. I’m worried that he might mess things up because he’s not familiar with the mechanics.”
"If your skill level is just average, tell me quietly and I'll talk to the other members of the team in advance and ask them to take extra care of you."
Looking at the league's top player beside him, whose "skill" was being questioned, Zhao Zhinian suppressed a smile and could only give a vague yet honest answer: "He should be pretty good."
Xiao Yuan felt a little relieved. Thinking that this was Zhao Zhinian's first time bringing someone into the team, Xiao Yuan was a little curious and asked, "Is he your friend?"
At this point, Zhao Zhinian didn't bother to hide it anymore and confessed with a touch of sweetness, "He's my boyfriend."
"!!!"
Xiaoyuan's screen was instantly flooded with exclamation marks. As a high school student in the prime of her youth, she was utterly defenseless against this kind of gossip from people around her: "Nian Nian! You're actually in love! I've never heard you mention it before... You two aren't dating online, are you?!"
Xiao Yuan immediately imagined a romantic online love story.
Zhao Zhinian was amused by her wild imagination and explained, "It's not an online romance, we're high school classmates."
Xiaoyuan suddenly realized and sent an exaggerated "I see" emoji: "Wow! How romantic! But Nian Nian, you were already in a relationship in high school... you actually had a boyfriend!"
She felt like she had discovered something new, but then she became worried. "Speaking of which, you don't happen to have a 'beauty is in the eye of the beholder' filter on him, do you? I once met a couple in a game. The guy was terrible at the game, his movement was awful, and the girl kept following behind him praising him, saying things like 'Brother is so good,' 'Brother is awesome.' It made me so embarrassed."
Thinking of the boy who awkwardly confessed his feelings online back then, Zhao Zhinian couldn't help but smile: Zhou Zekai probably did have the idea of dating early, but he didn't succeed back then. First, he was suspected of having his account hacked, then he was suspected of not being himself, and finally the two of them lost contact until they met again.
"We weren't dating in our youth," she explained softly. "We only started dating recently."
As for the filter issue, her gaze swept over the sharpshooter standing quietly on the screen.
There's no need for any filters; she is Xi Shi herself.
But she replied tactfully, "Filters... I'm not entirely sure if they're there or not."
All doubts about the filter disappeared after the dungeon started.
Zhou Zekai's sharpshooter moved freely through the monster horde, his positioning incredibly precise. His bullets seemed to have eyes, and while delivering explosive damage, he also effortlessly controlled the rhythm of the entire battlefield, sometimes precisely luring monsters, sometimes cleverly controlling the field, providing all-round support to the team. His operations were as smooth as flowing water.
After finishing a dungeon, looking at the Gunslinger's overwhelmingly leading damage data on the statistics panel, Xiaoyuan's voice trembled with excitement in the voice chat.
Even after the dungeon team disbanded, Xiaoyuan was still excitedly questioning Zhao Zhinian: "Sister Nian! You call this 'pretty good'? This is clearly the most amazing in the universe! This isn't 'beauty is in the eye of the beholder,' it's a reverse filter! You're being too modest! This level of skill is enough to be a professional player! I feel like even if the great Zhou Zekai came to do this dungeon himself, his performance wouldn't be much different!"
Listening to Xiao Yuan's high praise for "Zhou Zekai", and then looking at the person next to her who was being compared to him, Zhao Zhinian awkwardly typed on the keyboard: "Really? I think his performance was just average, probably... not as good as Zhou Zekai himself."
"Oh dear, he can't be compared to the top players in the league!" Xiaoyuan retorted excitedly, "But in our tenth district, he's definitely one of the best marksmen. He can totally be called 'Zhou Zekai of the tenth district'! No wonder he's my sister Nian's boyfriend, he's awesome!"
"Zhou Zekai from District 10?" Zhao Zhinian looked at this dramatic title and finally couldn't help but laugh out loud at the computer screen.
The protagonist of the incident, Zhou Zekai himself, remained silent, standing quietly behind [One Knowledge One Thought], as if he were just a dutiful guardian, his posture exceptionally obedient and docile, showing no trace of the domineering presence he displayed in the dungeon.
"Hey Niannian, why isn't your boyfriend saying anything?" Xiaoyuan asked curiously.
“Oh, he’s not very talkative,” Zhao Zhinian replied naturally.
"Wow! No wonder he's called 'Zhou Zekai of the Tenth District,' even his quietness is exactly like the Great God!" Xiaoyuan's tone was full of amazement. This discovery made her even more convinced that the nickname she had given him was incredibly accurate.
"Hey Nian Nian, did you know that Zhou Zekai seems to be in a relationship?" Xiao Yuan suddenly remembered the latest hot gossip. Because she was busy with her studies, she didn't have time to follow the gossip. She only heard about this news from her classmates when they were chatting: "It seems to be with a host, what's her name again..."
Since it was secondhand information obtained through hearsay, and because she usually only paid attention to the competition and not other activities, Xiao Yuan naturally did not know that the account card Zhao Zhinian used in the Glory official promotional event was the one called "Yi Zhi Yinian".
“Zhao Zhinian.” Zhou Zekai suddenly spoke up from the side.
"Yes, yes, that's what it's called! You guys are following the gossip too!" Xiaoyuan said excitedly. "Oh, by the way, Sister Niannian, you're also in the media industry, so you're an insider. Do you have any inside information? But, the host's name is quite similar to your ID, Sister Niannian, what a coincidence, haha..."
However, Xiaoyuan suddenly stopped talking, as if she realized something incredible. When her classmates were sharing gossip before, they seemed to have mentioned that Zhou Zekai and Zhao Zhinian were also high school classmates.
Zhao Zhinian... one thought, one feeling...
High school classmate... taciturn... god-level skills... "Zhou Zekai of the Tenth District"...
Zhou Zekai may be in a relationship... his girlfriend is TV host Zhao Zhinian... who is also his high school classmate...
These previously scattered clues were instantly linked together as if by a bolt of lightning, exploding in her mind with a dazzling white light.
"Wait! Wait! Something's not right! Something's not right!" Xiaoyuan's voice suddenly became urgent, as if she was about to grow a brain: "You two, say a few more words to me!"
As soon as she finished speaking, the sound of her frantically searching for videos could be heard. She was clearly looking for clips of Zhao Zhinian hosting and interview videos of Zhou Zekai, intending to compare them.
Hearing her own voice faintly coming from the other end, Zhao Zhinian cleared her throat and instantly switched to a professional announcer's tone: "Hello everyone, welcome to the post-match interview segment. I'm your host, Zhinian. First of all, congratulations..."
The clear, distinctive voice came through the earphones, and Xiaoyuan fell into a deathly silence.
Immediately afterwards, there was a "thud" as the mouse hit the ground, accompanied by Xiaoyuan's gasp.
"Nian... Sister Nian..." Xiao Yuan's voice trembled with disbelief, cautious yet filled with immense excitement: "You... you wouldn't happen to be... that Zhao Zhi Nian, would you? You're... the Zhao Zhi Nian of the great Zhou Zekai?"
She paused, almost holding her breath, before asking the most crucial and unbelievable question: "Then...then he...he wouldn't be...Zhou Zekai himself, would he?! You can't possibly have another boyfriend besides Zhou Zekai, a quiet but skilled sharpshooter, right?!"
Xiao Yuan was one of Zhao Zhinian's more familiar friends in the game, and she hadn't intended to hide it. Now that her secret had been guessed, Zhao Zhinian was about to admit it directly. Just as she was about to reply, Zhou Zekai controlled his character to take half a step forward, almost side by side with Zhao Zhinian's character, and then said "hmm".
The single word "hmm" was like a boulder thrown into a calm lake, stirring up a tidal wave in Xiaoyuan's heart. This was a "hmm" from her own god.
"Aaaaaaahhhhhh!!!" Xiaoyuan's scream, almost piercing the sky, came through the earphones. Fortunately, she covered the microphone in time, making her voice muffled, but the excitement in it was not diminished at all.
"It really is! It really is Zhou Zekai! Oh my god! I actually ran a dungeon with Zhou Zekai! I even questioned his skill level! I actually got the number one player in the Alliance to carry me through the dungeon! I even gave him the nickname 'Zhou Zekai of the Tenth Server'! Ahhh, I'm dead! The gossip online is actually true! My sister Nian Nian's boyfriend is actually Zhou Zekai himself!"
Xiao Yuan's screams gradually subsided. As if suddenly remembering something important, her tone became exceptionally serious: "Sister Niannian! Great God! Don't worry! I will definitely keep it a secret! I swear! I absolutely, positively won't tell anyone! I'll only tell my best friend at most. Don't worry, my best friend doesn't play Glory and doesn't know about Great God... Does Guild Leader Gu Yin know about this? I can't be the only one who knows! Ugh, I suddenly feel a lot of pressure!"
Zhao Zhinian was amused by her reaction: "It's okay, Xiaoyuan, don't be so nervous."
"No need to keep it a secret," Zhou Zekai said calmly.
Zhao Zhinian's Glory account card [One Knows One Thought] was public information. This time, he neither deliberately changed his operating habits nor concealed his strength when running the dungeon. There were many people running the dungeon with him, several of whom were randomly invited by Xiao Yuan in the guild's public chat. Anyone who was willing to run the dungeon with him could easily guess his identity from these details.
When a highly skilled sharpshooter appears by Zhao Zhinian's side, the first person that comes to everyone's mind is naturally Zhou Zekai.
Just like Xiaoyuan's probing question: Surely Zhao Zhinian doesn't have another boyfriend besides Zhou Zekai, a quiet but skilled marksman?
Zhao Zhinian belatedly realized this as well, and explained to Xiaoyuan, "Actually, I used this account in an official Honor event, and many netizens know that. You probably didn't see this, so keeping it a secret probably doesn't make much difference." As she spoke, she suddenly thought, "Was Zhou Zekai playing so hard in the dungeon just now on purpose?"
Sure enough, an anonymous post appeared on the Glory Forum that very night: "Holy crap! I ran into Yizhi Yinian in the tenth server dungeon, and she had an incredibly skilled marksman with her. Could it be Zhou Zekai himself?!"
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