Real World
Xia Yi looked up at the relieved expression on Gao Mingming's face. She was very familiar with that expression.
When she was first fired by her boxing coach, she could often see it on her family's faces. They were very cautious, afraid of causing her even the slightest discomfort. Whenever she had the thought of going out to relax, she would receive countless praises.
Perhaps it was because she had entered two dungeons and seen too many life and death situations, or perhaps it was because she was unfamiliar with Gao Mingming, but for the first time she had a desire to talk. The words in her heart were stuck in her chest, and she felt like she had to spit them out.
"Do you want to know...what's going on between Mingxue and me?" Xia Yi poked the fried egg on the plate and asked softly.
The voice sounded very small to her own ears.
As long as Gao Mingming didn't hear her, she would immediately swallow back all the words in her heart.
"What?" Gao Mingming inquired at first, but then understood. "I want to hear it. Of course I want to hear it. When I first heard I'd be your assistant, I immediately looked you up online, but all I could find were octagonal fights. I thought I'd searched wrong, but then I saw a few clips and it was you. But the comments from years ago were all insulting. Just reading those insults told me something wasn't right, but I didn't know the whole story, so I was dying of curiosity."
Gao Mingming didn't meet Xia Yi's eyes. Instead, he lowered his head and showed Xia Yi the fleeting messages from Xia Yi's fans. "But they're not all insults. There are a few more. I've saved them all and will send them to you later."
Xia Yi was surprised. Does she still have fans?
——I don’t believe the verdict of this trial. I like Xia Yi because of her boxing style. Her movements are very clean. I don’t believe that someone with this kind of boxing style would do something like giving people stimulants.
—I've seen Xia Yi compete. She wouldn't frame anyone for a spot. Her own strength is more than enough to secure one. Ming Xue and Xia Yi have played eight matches, and she's won all eight. Doesn't that speak for itself?!
"Six years ago, I was 22 years old. Back then, the ladder had just entered the world and hadn't yet taken shape. Fighting was on the rise, and there were big and small competitions in the Octagon Arena. There were competitions in countries on Blue Star and the Moon Palace, and there were also confrontations between planets." Xia Yi narrated calmly, like a bystander. "That match was a match on Blue Star, a friendly match broadcast live from all angles."
"After this friendly match, there will be a team selection process to represent the planet in interstellar competitions."
Xia Yi picked up a piece of sausage with chopsticks and spoke while chewing.
"I was the youngest on the team, and Mingxue was two days older than me. We were close back then, considered best friends on the team. Mingxue's first match at the friendly tournament was a fantastic one, and it was a perfect match for the sisters on the team and I, who had been praying for an exceptional performance," Xia Yi said. "The turning point came the day after the results came out, when Mingxue was found to have taken performance-enhancing drugs. Mingxue insisted she hadn't taken any and was unaware of it."
"I was stupid. On the morning of the competition, I gave Mingxue the tonic soup my mother brought me. She loved it, so I gave it all to Mingxue without even drinking a single sip."
"When it was first discovered, I foolishly called, fearing my mother had accidentally put in a stimulant. Someone maliciously recorded the call, and then, coupled with the fact that something was indeed found in the soup, Mingxue hesitantly looked at me in disbelief. The story spiraled online." Xia Yi suppressed his nausea. "After that friendly competition, Mingxue was disqualified for doping, and I was fired."
"The StarCraft tournament tryouts were live streamed online. After I couldn't hide the news of my dismissal, Mingxue also left the team, citing psychological trauma. She took a large number of sympathizers with her and became a ladder player for Rongya." Xia Yi shook his head. "Actually, there aren't many spots for the StarCraft tournament in our small place. Even if Mingxue participated in the tryouts, she wouldn't be able to become a regular player."
"Things escalated so quickly at the time, I felt something was wrong. When I left the boxing team, I asked Mingxue if she believed me." Xia Yi clenched his fists tighter and tighter. "She said there was no one else besides me, and she believed in evidence."
"She looked so proud and pleased, as if she had finally gotten rid of someone she hated. That's when I had the idea that she was the one who orchestrated the doping incident herself." Xia Yi smiled. "Then, several years later, Mingxue became a rising star. When the boxing team disbanded, one of the sisters on my team found a bottle of medicine in one of Mingxue's discarded bags while cleaning. It contained a stimulant."
"This is just rubbish!" Gao Mingming gradually digested the shock and heartache, leaving only anger. "I really didn't expect this. I used to think it was hard for Mingxue, a girl, to succeed in the escape game. I would go and support her live broadcast whenever I had the chance."
"Sister Yiyi, you will definitely be better than Mingxue in the future. The unknown anchor I liked at the beginning is now in the top 20. My vision is right." Gao Mingming seemed to have already seen the scene where Xia Yi stepped on Mingxue's ranking.
Xia Yi shook his head and said nothing more, just handed the plate to Gao Mingming.
Gao Mingming understood the situation and took it. After packing up her things, she stood up and left. "Sister Yiyi, you should stay home and recuperate today so that you can be in a good mental state when you go to register tomorrow. Mingxue is here too!"
"Okay." Xia Yi sent the person out the door. The moment she closed the door, her heart began beating violently in her chest, each beat louder than the last. Her heart had never beaten so fast when she met a dead person. It didn't seem so difficult to express the things that had been suppressed in her heart.
Xia Yi showed an expression that seemed to be neither smiling nor crying on his face, and slowly squatted down.
——Buzz, you have a new message.
"Read." Xia Yi said.
X's low voice came out of the penguin again: "Of course I believe in you. You can always solve the problem."
Xia Yi was stunned for a long time before she realized that this was x's response to her that she would find him.
Xia Yi lowered his head again, but this time his voice was much firmer: "Thank you!"
The registration location for ladder players is in the city hall of the central city of Blue Star. The greeters in classical cheongsams, the banners floating in the air, and the constant stream of reporters and players in the hall all reveal the scale of the event.
Xia Yi had completed registration and successfully entered the small exhibition hall where the expert lecture was held.
She stood at the door with Gao Mingming, and while glancing inside, she subconsciously memorized several escape hatches and the positions of familiar players' faces. Mingxue was sitting in the center of the first row, smiling and chatting with several boys next to her.
Xia Yi was not wearing anything today, but a normal orange sweatshirt and a black jacket, revealing her plump forehead, neatly trimmed short hair, and the sharpness in her almond-shaped eyes that could not be concealed after the competition. Even though she was still limping slightly, not looking people in the eye, staring at the calves of others, no one dared to say unpleasant words to her openly, and could only whisper behind her back.
Xia Yi paused. She just showed her head, but other people's attitude towards her was surprisingly different.
Gao Mingming also breathed a sigh of relief: "Sister Yiyi, I told you it's okay! Our seats are in row three, seat A-38." As Gao Mingming spoke, her voice changed and she kept glancing at Xia Yi.
Xia Yi looked at her seat number. Her seat was two rows behind Ming Xue's.
Xia Yi walked over and sat down, but his hands in his pockets were clenched into fists, and he looked a little angry.
"Of course it's true. The person in charge of this event is a sister from my original competition team with whom I have a very good relationship. We used to sleep together... Hey, Sister Lan..." Ming Xue called out, her sweet voice briefly drowning out the surrounding noise.
"Yi Yi?" But immediately Sister Lan's voice was more shocked and overwhelmed Ming Xue. Before the activity started, Wang Lan rushed straight to Xia Yi in the third row.
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