translator: Oyen editor: Ciel
After the two-day carnival, all the fans who went to watch it live returned home with a full bag of goodies, while all the audience members watching the live broadcast received some rewards from the official game. Much to the reluctance of the fans, the carnival had finally come to an end.
On June 12th, the great gods who took part in the carnival returned to their teams one after another. Qin Mo happened to meet Qiu Zongping and Zhou Xuewei of the Sky team at the airport. Since there was still half an hour before the boarding time, everyone sat together and chatted casually.
“God Mo, can I make an appointment with you for a friendly match before the competition starts?” Qiu Zongping asked.
“No problem,” Qin Mo readily agreed. “You haven’t practiced with another team?”
“We’ve played with National Grace a few times,” Qiu Zongping replied. “Everyone is familiar with the rules. I just want the players to warm up before the competition.”
“Okay,” Qin Mo nodded. “Let’s make an appointment for tonight, then. I’ve also been thinking of letting the team members warm up a little.”
If professional players suddenly played in a competition after a period of not gaming, their hands might not respond as quickly and accurately. Since the competition for the second half of the year would officially start on June 15th, Qin Mo had wanted to find a practice partner before their first match. Since Qiu Zongping had voluntarily sent himself to their door, he certainly wouldn’t refuse.
Just as they finalised an appointment at 8:00pm in the evening, the broadcast announced the boarding time for the flight to Changsha. Hearing this, Qin Mo said goodbye to the two.
Qiu Zongping watched the three great gods of Mojue leave, before speaking once more. “Xuewei, please arrange matters regarding the practice match.”
“En,” Pausing, Zhou Xuewei asked. “Captain Qiu, the information you asked me to sort out before, it’s been passed to Yuan Xi, right?”
“Yes.” Qiu Zongping explained. “You came to Beijing to attend the carnival. Since time is tight, I sent the information to Yuan Xi and asked him to classify it. He’s already sent it back to my mailbox.” Glancing at her, Qiu Zongping questioned. “Why did you suddenly mention this?”
“I just remembered that every team from the Dragon Song club is accustomed to building a database. Do you think that god Mo will make one as well?”
“That’s one part of the reason. More importantly, a database is necessary to understand the comprehensive strength of all major teams in the league,” Qiu Zongping replied seriously. “You already know that we didn’t perform well in the first half of the competition. Dynasty’s lineup is very comprehensive, and their strength is higher than ours. It was also difficult to deal with Without Fire and Frost Moon. We failed to place in the individual competition, pair competition, and even three-person competition.”
“I know,” Zhou Xuewei murmured. “Since you’re the captain… the pressure must be really heavy, right?”
“This is nothing, the current lineup is much better than it was in the past.” Qiu Zongping replied.
“Indeed…” Zhou Xuewei took a while to reply, but when she did, her voice was quiet. “At that time, god Mo and captain Yan retired one after the other. The Wind Colour that was handed over to you was in a very poor condition. All its members were newcomers who had just debuted, and our scores were ranked last multiple times. If not for you never wavering, Wind Colour might have never regained its position as a first-class team.”
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.
When Qin Mo retired, he handed over the vice captaincy to Qiu Zongping. Yan Ruiwen retired the following year, forcing Qiu Zongping to take over as captain at a young age. At that time, due to a major change in their lineup, the entire team was composed of newcomers, and their results immediately plummeted. They even faced the crisis of being eliminated from the first-class league.
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Fortunately, Qiu Zongping had a strong learning ability. Coupled with the fact that god Mo laid a solid foundation for him, he soon grew into an excellent captain. The team’s achievements also gradually improved under his leadership.
Zhou Xuewei saw all this with her own eyes. She knew how hard it had been for Qiu Zongping. The fact that Yuan Xi liked Qiu Zongping, she had noticed only recently. In fact, the turning point was probably when Yuan Xi lost his temper and ran, only for Qiu Zongping to coax him back. Ever since that time, Yuan Xi’s attitude towards Qiu Zongping had obviously changed. Instead of clashing head-on with Qiu Zongping like before, Yuan Xi now listened to Qiu Zongping and practiced very seriously. Sometimes, he would even stare blankly at captain Qiu. This usually grumpy guy was a docile as a kitten in front of captain Qiu, and the team members were really unaccustomed to it.
It was not hard to realise that Yuan Xi liked captain Qiu, but captain Qiu was indifferent. Perhaps it was because he was 100% focused on the team and the competition that he had not noticed at all.
Zhou Xuewei sighed. Right at this moment, a broadcast for passengers to board the flight to Shanghai was played. Picking up her suitcase, Zhou Xuewei followed after Qiu Zongping.
The moment the plane took off, Zhou Xuewei whispered. “Captain Qiu… In fact, you don’t have to put so much pressure on yourself. Our Sky team is a newly formed team, and it’s normal for us not to perform so well in the first season. Take your time; don’t push yourself too hard, or you might ignore many important things…”
“The important matters you speak of should be referring to Yuan Xi, yes?” Qiu Zongping glanced at her.
He was not slow; he understood the meaning behind Zhou Xuewei’s words. Thinking of his partner of more than three years, Qiu Zongping lowered his gaze, hiding the complicated look in his eyes. “Don’t worry,” he whispered. “I will handle this matter well.”
As a bystander, Zhou Xuewei could only say so much. Unable to continue with this embarrassing topic, she decided to switch the line of conversation. “Since I’m the Sky team’s vice-captain, please leave the matters of everyone’s daily training to me. I should share the burden with you.”
“Alright,” Qiu Zongping nodded. “I’ll assign you some tasks later.”
***
By the time they returned to the club in the afternoon, all the team members were already present, practicing for the qualifiers.
Zhou Xuewei made the arrangements for everyone to play in the friendly match against Mojue in the evening, before bringing some newcomers to the arena for training.
As he walked past Yuan Xi, Qiu Zongping patted him on the shoulder. “I’ve received the information. It’s been hard on you.”
Yuan Xi stiffened upon hearing this deep voice, his ears flushing a pale shade of red. After taking a deep breath to adjust his expression, he pretended to be calm, and offered a casual reply. “Captain Qiu is too polite. Xuewei had almost finished everything, I just made a summary.”
“En.” Taking a seat beside Yuan Xi, Qiu Zongping opened his email and carefully read through the information sent by Yuan Xi, marking some important points with his mouse from time to time.
However, Yuan Xi was unable to calm down. His other teammates were tapping away at their keyboards not too far away, and right beside him was the person he secretly admired. Glancing at Qiu Zongping’s slender fingers as they pressed the mouse, at his handsome profile and familiar serious expression, caused Yuan Xi to feel quite conflicted—— had he been exposed by the phone call during the carnival? Would anyone notice that he liked captain Qiu? Surely not? After all, he had never told anyone about this.
While his thoughts were running wild, Qiu Zongping suddenly spoke up. “Yuan Xi, because of the banning rule of the three-player competition, our double summoner lineup might not see the field. If I am banned, you will play with Xuewei and Dongqing. Practice with them more these few days.”
Yuan Xi immediately came back to his senses and offered a nod. “Understood.”
“When I am not present, you should listen to Xuewei’s command.” Qiu Zongping added.
“En,” Yuan Xi continued nodding.
Glancing at him, Qiu Zongping continued after a short pause. “Tonight, the three of you will play a friendly match against Mojue. Neither god Mo and god Han will play; however, they might let Zhu Qingyue or Liu Hong bring the newcomers to practice. You don’t have to pay too much attention to winning or losing. Just play a few games and get familiar with the game process.”
“Oh.” Yuan Xi nodded once again.
Looking at him nodding obediently, Qiu Zongping was momentarily dazed.
During this time, he was too busy with the competition and tactics, causing him to become negligent. In fact, Yuan Xi’s attitude towards him had changed for quite some time now. The ferocious tiger who pounced at him in the beginning had become an obedient kitten who constantly nodded—— Was this because Yuan Xi liked him?
—— because of this like, he no longer targeted Qiu Zongping?
Qiu Zongping felt a strange uneasiness at the thought of this person actually liking himself.
Forcibly quashing down this uneasiness, Qiu Zongping maintained his calm expression. “I’ll list out several lineups. Practice them this afternoon, and gather at 8pm in the evening for a friendly match against Mojue.”
“Understood!” Everyone replied in unison.
***
Qiu Zongping returned to the dormitory after the afternoon training session. Unpacking his luggage, he carried the clothes he brought with him to Beijing to the bathroom, intending on placing them in the washing machine. Yuan Xi stood at the doorway, clearly intending to peek. Obviously, he had already been discovered, yet he was still pretending to have just been passing by… it was somehow a little bit cute.
Helpless, Qiu Zongping could only start the conversation first. “If you have something to say, just say it.”
His cheeks flaming red, Yuan Xi scratched his head. Only after several long moments did he finally speak up. “That… at the carnival, when you were asked to confess to someone, you… why did you choose me?”
“Everyone on the team is our junior, and it is not convenient to make such jokes,” Qiu Zongping explained. “I am most familiar with you, and I thought you wouldn’t mind. I’m sorry.”
Hearing this, Yuan Xi seemed to be a little disappointed, his head drooping.
Walking up to him, Qiu Zongping whispered. “Yuan Xi, I have always regarded you as my best friend.”
Yuan Xi: “…”
Qiu Zongping continued. “In the past, you constantly contradicted me, deliberately targeted me, and even took me as a goal that you had to surpass. But, I knew that you had never really hated me. You just assumed mistakenly that you couldn’t compare to me, so you stubbornly wanted to surpass me.”
Here, Qiu Zongping’s voice became more gentle. “We first met in the training camp. Then, we made our debut together, and fought side by side for so many years. I really treasure this rare friendship, you… you understand what I mean, right?”
Yuan Xi: “…”
Best friend, rare friendship; Qiu Zongping had already spoken so clearly, so how could he not understand?
Qiu Zongping had always handled matters in such a politically correct manner. Even if Yuan Xi was stupid, it was very clear that Qiu Zongping was politely rejecting him. In fact, Qiu Zongping had already seen through everything, but in order to save Yuan Xi’s face, he did not make things explicitly clear.
In fact, what he had just said actually meant—— I know you like me, but I don’t like you. I only regard you as a friend.
It was clear that the other party had been as gentle as he possibly could, but Yuan Xi still felt as if his heart had been ripped apart and trampled into pieces.
It was the first time he had ever liked someone. He knew he shouldn’t like this person, but he couldn’t help it. Being rejected by the other person was extremely painful, but Qiu Zongping had been polite enough to save his face, giving him a way out for him not to be too embarrassed.
As long as he wasn’t an idiot, he should know to follow the narrative laid out by Qiu Zongping.
Taking a deep breath to suppress the sharp pain in his heart, Yuan Xi forced a smile. “I know. I also cherish this… friendship very much. Don’t worry, I was very immature in the past and often fought against you, but I know better now. As you said, an excellent professional player does not have to be a captain. I will become the strongest output of the Sky team.”
—— He didn’t know that his smile was uglier than if he had actually cried.
Looking at the Yuan Xi that stood before him, Qiu Zongping was silent for a long while. “Then, let’s work hard together,” he sighed.
“En,” Yuan Xi replied. “I- I will return to the dormitory to rest for a while. I’ll report to the training room at 8pm.”
As if fleeing, he turned away from Qiu Zongping to retreat. Yuan Xi was still pretending to be calm, but unfortunately, his stiff back and messy footsteps had long since betrayed him.
Poor Yuan Xi… 🥺💔
Thank you for the chapter!
Rightt, poor Yuan Xi, Qiu Zongping is too heartless 😩
Exactly! I really want to see him regretting it! 😤
he will!! 😤
Can’t believe i cried for YuanXi.. lol poor boy
+1
+2
+3 +4 I also cried for him. My heart 💔
Awww poor baby
baby Yuan Xi needs hug 😭
Captain qiu… just don’t regret it.
Yuan xi you’re free to like who you like and your feelings are valid.
i’m already guessing that there would come a time when qiu zongping regrets rejecting yuan xi. poor baby 😭😭
I feel so sorry for yuan shi… How is gentle. He is kinda mean and disrespectful, he already knows he is being liked (true there was no confession) but is being so dismissive about the other s feelings. From my pov that’s cruel