The Esports Big Shot Wants to Cuddle His New Teammate Every Day chapter 22

Chapter 22

After the interview came the awards ceremony. Bathed in applause and cheers, Xu Ziyan floated off the stage holding the trophy.

Walking back to the lounge, he was surprised and delighted to find that the First String players had also come.

Shen Xiao already had a good impression of this Omega newcomer and greeted him with a grin, “Congrats on first place. Wow, the younger generation is truly to be feared. It’s been several years since a Medic took the championship in the Newcomer Cup.”

Xu Ziyan smiled. “Thank you.”

Shen Xiao blinked. “Add me on Line? Let’s duo queue if there’s a chance.”

Qu Qingyue laughed “Hehe” and mercilessly tore down the stage. “Ice, absolutely do not be deceived by this guy. He’s just a bastard who likes to trick kids.”

Shen Xiao immediately put on a wounded look. “Qu Qu, hearing you say that really breaks my heart.”

“Kid” Xu Ziyan smiled and didn’t speak.

Qu Qingyue observed his reaction, her mind turning, and suddenly said, “By the way, listening to your interview just now, you said you’re the Captain’s little fanboy. Is that true?”

Xu Ziyan was startled, unsure of her intention in asking this question. But remembering his agreement with Xie Wei, he curled his lips into a smile, his attitude very frank. “Yes, I joined TWG because I admire the Captain.”

Seeing him act so normally, most of Qu Qingyue’s suspicions dissipated. She lowered her head and smiled, thinking she was really overthinking things. Then she turned back and laughed, “Captain, did you hear that? Our Newcomer Cup Champion is your fanboy. Won’t you give some fan service?”

Behind them, Xie Wei was originally talking to Lu Donglou about team matters. Hearing this, he turned his head to look.

In the crowd, the Omega in the team uniform holding the trophy happened to cast his gaze over as well. Under the hallway lights, the youth’s black hair was soft, his eyes sparkling, his skin fair—looking obedient and pretty.

And this pretty Omega currently carried his mark on the back of his neck.

Xie Wei smiled. “I saw your gameplay. Very impressive. Keep working hard.”

Xu Ziyan nervously tightened his grip on the trophy. On the surface, he tried hard to pretend it was like meeting Xie Wei for the first time, replying politely, “Thank you, Captain! I will definitely keep doing my best.”

Xie Wei raised an eyebrow.

Clearly, this attitude was requested by himself. But at this moment, seeing Xu Ziyan’s distant appearance, an inexplicable displeasure rose in his heart.

After realizing it, he couldn’t help but laugh at himself.

Just then, other media wanted to come over for interviews. Xu Ziyan briefly said goodbye to the First String members and left in a hurry.

Shen Xiao poked Qu Qingyue and joked, “They say the back waves of the Yangtze River push the front waves. It’s true indeed. Not only is he good-looking, but his mechanics are so sharp. How about it? What evaluation does this ‘front wave’ have?”

Qu Qingyue’s smile froze for a second, then quickly returned to normal. “What evaluation can there be? What about you? Seeing so many newcomer Assaulters in the competition, don’t you feel a sense of crisis?”

Shen Xiao didn’t take it to heart at all. After saying a few words, he changed the topic to something else.

It was Bai Chen, who had been silent on the side, who noticed the subtle change in Qu Qingyue’s expression. He pursed his lips but didn’t say anything.

After finally finishing the interviews, Xu Ziyan took his peripherals back to the van. Lu Donglou helped him put away the trophy and asked, “Ice, do you want to open a Weibo account? It will be convenient for team announcements and gathering popularity later.”

After saying that, he remembered the reason Xu Ziyan didn’t have a Weibo account he had overheard back then, and quickly added, “Of course, swearing, flaming, and arguing with people is absolutely prohibited.”

Xu Ziyan laughed. “I definitely know that. I’ll register a new one when I get back tonight.”

“En.” Lu Donglou paused, a trace of hesitation appearing in his expression. He seemed to struggle with something before gritting his teeth and saying, “Ice, I’ll ask you something. Tell me the truth.”

Xu Ziyan looked at him.

Lu Donglou lowered his voice. “You said before that you have an Alpha partner. Is that person Xie Wei?”

Xu Ziyan completely didn’t expect him to say this. His brain stalled for a moment, and he opened his mouth. “No…”

“Alright,” Lu Donglou actually had a fair idea of the truth in his heart. “I just want to say, if you two don’t plan to go public, then keep it hidden well. Everyone in the team knows your strength, but there are many people with ulterior motives. If this matter gets exposed, who knows what it will turn into in their mouths.”

Xu Ziyan revealed a somewhat helpless smile. He didn’t lie; he and Xie Wei really weren’t lovers. But to explain this would require explaining the whole sequence of events, which was too troublesome. So he simply nodded and agreed to the matter.

Seeing him so agreeable, Lu Donglou felt much more relieved. Having coached for so many years, he had seen many rebellious youths. At this age, it was easiest to breed so-called “lovebirds” who felt the person in front of them was their whole life, insisting on going public, acting as if they would die for love—there were plenty of such people.

A player like Xu Ziyan who was smart, willing to listen to advice, and had excellent mechanics was rare. Such people usually went further.

Lu Donglou smiled and patted his shoulder. “Rest well when you get back. I’ll give you a day off tomorrow. You’ve worked hard during this period.”

Xu Ziyan said, “Thank you, Coach.”

Back in the dorm, he closed the room door and collapsed onto the soft bed, exhaling heavily, feeling the weight on his heart lift significantly.

Looking back, the life he lived during this period was truly incredible.

Unfortunately, no matter how incredible, it eventually had to end.

He touched the bite mark on the back of his neck, finding that the traces were almost imperceptible. By tomorrow, this temporary mark would probably disappear completely.

His relationship with Xie Wei would return to square one completely.

…I really can’t bear to let go.

Xu Ziyan tapped his forehead, deciding to relax for a long time tomorrow, sleep in, and lie in the dorm watching movies. Just as he was about to get up to wash, there was a knock on the door.

Who would come at this time?

A name lit up in his heart. Xu Ziyan almost leaped from the bed to the door and opened it.

Outside the door, Xie Wei’s hand was still raised in mid-air from knocking. Seeing Xu Ziyan, he smiled. “Your movements are too fast.”

Xu Ziyan also realized he was acting too eager and smiled awkwardly. “Captain, is something the matter?”

Xie Wei saw his embarrassment and suddenly felt the urge to tease him, deliberately saying, “Can’t I come if there’s nothing? You don’t welcome me?”

“No, no!” Xu Ziyan shook his head hurriedly. “Of course, you’re welcome. Um, come in first.”

“Alright, I’m teasing you.” Xie Wei laughed. “I won’t go in. Just came to give you something. Here.”

He took a small white box out of his pocket and placed it in Xu Ziyan’s hand. Xu Ziyan looked closely and saw it was a limited-edition co-branded bluetooth headset from a certain brand.

He had wanted these headphones for a long time. While chatting with Xie Wei during evening training before, Xu Ziyan had casually mentioned it. He didn’t expect Xie Wei to remember and even buy it for him.

He hurriedly said, “This is too expensive, I can’t accept it.”

Xie Wei said, “There’s no ‘can or can’t accept.’ It was bought as a gift for you anyway. Didn’t you say you liked it before? Don’t like it anymore?”

Since it had come to this, Xu Ziyan didn’t refuse anymore and accepted it happily. “I like it, I like it. Thank you, Captain.”

Xie Wei said, “Stop thanking me. You thank me every day, it’s like you’re giving me a ‘Good Guy card’.” Saying that, he checked the time on his wrist. “Alright, rest early. My training match is about to start.”

The First String’s new season started earlier than the Second String’s, so the First String members were diving into new season preparations earlier.

Xu Ziyan nodded. “Okay, goodbye.”

Xie Wei smiled. “Goodbye.”

Closing the door again, Xu Ziyan walked into the bathroom in a daze to wash up. Lying in bed, looking at the headphone box in his hand, he felt like he was floating in the sky, even more elated than the moment he received the trophy.

Xie Wei never masked his pheromones in front of him. At this moment, the scent of lemon mint still lingered around. Xu Ziyan rolled around on the bed with unparalleled greed, covering his face.

What to do? I feel like I like Xie Wei more and more.

There was no helping it. Xie Wei’s attitude toward him was simply too gentle, too special. The company when affected by the mark, the guidance during training, and the meticulousness of taking his casual remarks to heart. All of this gave Xu Ziyan an illusion that their feelings were mutual.

If only that were really true.

Cherishingly placing the headphones on the nightstand, Xu Ziyan picked up his phone and found that the Second String members had all sent him messages congratulating him on the championship. He replied to them one by one, then tapped into Weibo and registered a new account.

[TWG-Ice: Hi, everyone, I am Ice.]

Xu Ziyan sent the new ID to Lu Donglou. When he switched back, he found he had gained a new follower. He didn’t pay much attention, assuming it was a bot account, and casually tapped in to glance.

In the latest follower list, the ID “TWG-Shining” hung brightly, and the status behind it had changed from “Following” to “Mutual Follow.”

Xu Ziyan’s heart instantly set off small fireworks.

But immediately after, when he refreshed again, he found that the TWG official Weibo, as well as the First and Second String members, all appeared in his follower list. The timing wasn’t much different from Xie Wei’s follow.

Xu Ziyan immediately realized that this follow wasn’t because Xie Wei cared about him, but because the team was about to officially announce him, so everyone in the team gave him a follow to build momentum in advance.

Sure enough, not long after, the TWG official Weibo posted welcoming the champion of this Newcomer Cup, Ice, to officially join TWG Second String as a Medic.

Xu Ziyan couldn’t help but give a self-mocking smile for his earlier wishful thinking. He tapped his finger and reposted the Weibo.