Translated by 🎏
Edited by apricot, @babyybluebear
Xie He’s eyes were lidded, and his lips quivered. The stubborn set to his shoulders, as if determined to carry the weight of the world, relaxed at last…
CC and the rest walked over, and the five young men pulled into a group hug.
The noise of victory surrounded them, yet Xie He heard nothing at all.
It was an unfamiliar warmth paired with the familiarity of his teammates, and when his line of sight landed on the three letters, FTW, he seemed to dazedly catch a glimpse of his former self.
His former self at eighteen years of age, wearing the black FTW team uniform, waving at him.
Goodbye, FTW.
Goodbye, the long distant past.
Xie He shut his eyes, trying to suppress the heat welling in his eyes.
He had already lost this feeling once; this time, he had to hold onto it tightly.
Xie He hugged his teammates, and his pale slender fingers clenched around the EVE logo on the uniform, keeping EVE within his grasp!
Echo came onto the stage. EVE’s coach, who always maintained her elegance and composure, had cried until her lovely makeup had started to run.
She could vaguely imagine Xie He’s emotions after being clean swept off the world stage by FTW.
What didn’t kill you made you stronger.
But who could envisage the heart-wrenching agony?
How much blood and tears would be shed when those hidden scars that had ached for three years were suddenly reopened in the span of a day?
Fortunately, this had been a form of recovery, a form of letting go.
Fortunately, he was finally home.
On the other side of the stage, Lu Feng took off his headset. He stood up, and his gaze turned towards EVE.
As if he could sense him, Xie He looked over as well.
Their eyes met, and there was no need for words between them.
Just like how it had been for countless nights before, three years ago.
As two taciturn men, they had been more than content to solo until daybreak.
It had been three years since. Three years of waiting and anticipation.
Lu Feng, on the competitive stage, finally conveyed to Xie He: It’s alright. I’m doing well.
Xie He squeezed his eyes shut, but the tears that he had blinked back still ended up falling. Yeah, we’re all doing well.
Having stormed into the world finals, the three little ones from FTW were ecstatic.
Even Brother Cai, the lazybones that he was, jumped to his feet. His face was flushed as he hugged Yue Wenle and Ning Zhehan, and almost smacked a kiss onto their faces!
Wei Xiao was delighted, too. They were one step closer to freedom; how could that not be cause for delight?
But when he looked over at Lu Feng, his heart was caught in a vice grip.
Xie He was prone to sentiment.
What was to say that Close wasn’t as well?
Wei Xiao approached him quietly and gave him a bear hug.
With everyone in such high spirits, this could easily be written off as excitement, adrenaline, or simply being overwhelmed with emotion.
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
He also no longer batted an eyelid at hugging his boyfriend in a public venue.
Oe Mfcu rajgafv wlceafis, tlr tjcvr cjaegjiis klcvlcu jgbecv atf batfg’r kjlra.
Qfl Wljb ktlrqfgfv lc tlr fjg, “Pa’r jigluta.”
Oe Mfcu ujhfv ja tlw klat tbbvfv fsfr.
Qfl Wljb abiv tlw lc rboa abcfr jwlvra atf cblrs rajvlew, “Xbv Wlf tjr tfjgv la.”
Ktf kbgvr atja sbe kjcafv ab rjs, ab afii tlw – tf tfjgv jii bo la.
The tightness at the corners of Lu Feng’s lips curved, and an unquantifiable warmth spilled from his eyes. “Mm.”
This scene was spotted by eagle-eyed female fans.
Despite the shot being blurry and pixelated, and Brother Cai and Little Ning occupying most of the frame, Wei Xiao’s arms were clearly around Lu Feng’s neck and the great demon king’s hands encircled his lower back. It was a sight that looked as natural as can be, and it also captured a gaze that seemed even more gentle than scattered light on a rainy day…
So much fluff!
Later on, when the Gossip Emperor saw what shippers touted as their ‘holy grail’, he was so alarmed that he almost rolled beneath the table.
Even in the face of this, you still believe that your ship only exists in your head?!
What was the term for this?
Another version of ‘The Boy Who Cried Wolf’?
There was no chance they would let Wei Xiao field the post-match interview.
He had openly challenged the world the last time; there was no way he was going up there again this time no matter what he said.
Wei Xiao: “I…”
Chen Feng glowered at him.
Wei Xiao was cowed by his own coach. “Fine, then I won’t congratulate EVE on their future placing as the runner-up in Worlds.”
Chen Feng: “………………”
Believe it or not, if word ever got out, Pufferfish Xie would definitely make sure you would perish together!
The five of them took their bows and went backstage. In the piercing glare of the light, it was natural that Wei Xiao wasn’t able to see the furthest corner.
There was a male in a grey work attire, and his ardent gaze was trained on the stage.
“C’mon, move along. If Old Wu sees you slacking here, he might dock your pay!” A similarly attired man muttered this advice to him.
The man trailed at his heels, blurting out a question. “Brother Li, F-FTW won, right?”
The middle-aged man who was addressed turned his head over. “Of course! They won this match. The worst they can do now is become the world runner-up!”
The man’s mouth parted, unconcealed delight on his face. “World… runner-up.”
Li Jingfu said, “If you ask me, the youngsters this year are pretty strong. You never know, they might return as champions.”
The man’s eyes instantly gleamed. “Ch-Champions?!”
Li Jingfu clicked his tongue. “Yeah, world champions, there’s only one a year!”
The man’s eyes brightened. His hands curled even more tightly around the handle of the broom. “So strong.”
Li Jingfu: “Yeah, they are. Betcha don’t know but the prize money for the world champions last year was nine figures!”
The man’s eyes were wide; it was obvious that he hadn’t expected that.
Li Jingfu sighed. “People sure are different. Those youngsters only recently turned into adults, but they have already attained the pinnacle of life.”
Seeing how naive the man looked, Li Jingfu patted his shoulder and said, “Don’t get ideas. It’s a tough road. Out of the masses that try to climb up there, only a few manage it. Your son got into such a good university, you must make sure he studies hard and finds a stable job after graduating, that’s the right way to go.”
The man was silent.
Li Jingfu jeered, “It’s normal to be jealous. Who wouldn’t be shaken at the thought of winning thirty million US dollars!”
But the man said, “No, it’s not about the money.”
Li Jingfu slid him a sidelong look. “What, complaining of sour grapes because you don’t get to eat said grapes?”
The other man usually tripped over his tongue, but his next few words came out smoothly. “It’s not about the money. Winning the championship is the dream. They’re fighting for the nation’s glory!”
Li Jingfu jolted before bellowing with laughter. “You’re already in your forties, how are you even purer than the children on stage!”
The man: “……”
A trace of gloom flickered through his bright eyes, but he kept silent.
Li Jingfu: “Hurry up and get back to work. When the crowd at the conference hall disperses, we still have to sweep the place over one more time. Children nowadays just litter all over the place. You wouldn’t have known that it’s a competition venue from the state it ends up in; it could pass as a dumpster…”
The one who fielded the interview ended up being Bai Caicai.
Brother Cai had social grace and a glib tongue.
Upon seeing that it wasn’t Wei Xiao who had come up, the host released a relieved sigh. He had confidence in handling the interview now and decided to broach a few contentious topics.
But who was Bai Cai?
When he had made his name as the Gossip Emperor, this host had not even ventured into Glory yet.
Could such a problem stump him?
Brother Cai effortlessly flung the questions back at him, and the host thought to himself – nobody in FTW can be messed with!
Since qualifying for the finals, from the moment that Little Ning’s hands left the keyboard, he kept repeating words along the lines of:
“Brother Cai, pinch me!”
“Brother Le, hit me.”
“Brother Xiao, kick me.”
“Coach, scold me.”
The granny-grey haired boy, who was already set to be a runner-up this year if not the champion, was going crazy!
He was pinched, hit, and kicked, but before he could receive a scolding, Ning Zhehan was already grimacing from the pain. “I’m really not dreaming!”
The audience: “……”
When departing the stadium, Wei Xiao’s gaze wandered a little.
The others were delirious with their victory and caught up in discussing where to have the feast that night, so only Lu Feng noticed.
“What are you looking for?” He not only took note but was even able to tell that Wei Xiao seemed to be looking for something.
Wei Xiao smiled radiantly at him. “It’s nothing much.”
Lu Feng looked at him intently. “Hm?” He wasn’t fooled.
Wei Xiao looked around, then muttered, “Later, when we get back.”
Lu Feng dropped the matter. “Okay.”
They weren’t returning to the headquarters just yet. Such skilled esports players were owed a grand feast for making it past the semifinals with a 3:0 score.
Quoting Money: “Even if I break the bank, laozi has to offer Old Lu 6666 kowtows!”
The subtext – Kneel, in fact, the entire livestream had better prostrate themselves to him!
Someone teased him: “Captain Mo, if this were RR making it through to the finals instead…”
Money laughed at the sky: “Everyone present would become family. When I return, I’ll hand out a share of my estate!”
The viewers were rolling with laughter.
As for the matter of Captain Mo magically obtaining a wagon-load of godchildren, which even managed to trend on social media out of nowhere… of course that was Captain Mo beating them up to vent his anger.
After supper and celebrations, it was almost two in the morning by the time they returned to the headquarters.
The solo and duo tournaments would commence after the semifinals, and then the finals would wrap it all up a week later.
The three cubs on FTW could relax a little – they had a short respite. On the other hand, Lu Feng and Wei Xiao had to prepare for the solo and the duo tournaments.
The solo tournament was nothing to fret over. With Lu Feng’s strength, there shouldn’t be any major problems provided there wasn’t any foul play.
As for the duo tournament…
Unusually, Wei Xiao was getting a small case of nerves; he still wasn’t familiar with the new maps that were going to be used!
If they were going to steamroll their way through it, that was fine. He and the captain could stand against the heavens, the earth and the atmosphere, slaughtering both gods and buddhas on sight.
But the problem with that was the complicated tournament format. They had to study not only their opponents and how they worked together, but also the winding map. Purportedly, there was also internal strife to consider ideas such as backstabbing in a temporary alliance. The duo tournament was going to be tricky to tackle!
FTW’s focus was still the team tournament. It wasn’t just Wei Xiao who hadn’t reviewed the new maps; the coaching team also hadn’t taken much time to analyse the new competition format.
Therefore, it was hard to predict how well they would perform in the duo tournament.
Even then, there wasn’t too much pressure on them. This was the new FTW’s first competitive season; winning the team tournament took top priority!
By the time they returned to the headquarters, Wei Xiao was so exhausted that he refused to budge an inch.
Lu Feng poked his cheek. “Take a shower.”
Wei Xiao sprawled out on his belly, feigning sleep.
Lu Feng smiled. “Together.”
No sooner words were spoken before Wei Xiao was up, every shred of fatigue gone, his attractive eyes as bright as they could be. “Shower together… hey…”
Lu Feng scooped him up in a princess carry, making straight for the bathroom.
Wei Xiao was anxious. “Your shoulder…”
Lu Feng kissed the crease between his eyebrows. “Rest if you’re tired, I’m fine.”
Wei Xiao was uneasy. “I’m very heavy!”
Although he was on the lanky side and almost as skinny as Bai Cai, he was still tall and did weigh a bit.
Lu Feng casually squeezed his hip. “Heavy?”
Wei Xiao melted, his whole body going limpid. “Captain…”
Lu Feng lowered him into the bathtub. Wei Xiao circled his arms around the other’s neck, deliberately getting his clothes wet. “It’s been a long while since we…”
Lu Feng bent down to look at him.
Wei Xiao’s throat was dry. “The duo tournament starts in three days.”
Lu Feng was in such close proximity to him that their noses were almost touching. “The solo tournament starts the day after tomorrow.”
Wei Xiao’s cheeks were scarlet and his words were bold in contrast to the soft volume he spoke at. “So what? In any case, I’m the one getting screwed… mmf…”
Water splashed up.
No matter how large the bathtub was in the master room of FTW’s headquarters, it seemed absurdly small right now.
Just like the water temperature – no matter how hot it was, it couldn’t match the heat of two people in love.
@babyybluebear: Fffffuuuuuuuuuu…it’s getting hOT IN HEREEEE! Congrats to FTW T^T!!
Good for Xie He, he finally was released from his years of worry. 🥹
Those two are so sweet at the end. 🥰
And wo was the unnamed man in the middle of the chapter? Wei Xiao’s father? But aren’t they abroad and wasn’t his career different? 🤔
Thanks for the chapter!
I know I’m late, but the global competition is actually in China 🙂
It’s getting hot in huuuuuurrr!!!
thanks for the chapter!! <333
Thanks for the chapter
Didn’t realize this was being updated again. Thank you so much for picking up this excellent story!!