CHAPTER 47:
The stars were shining, the insects were singing, the cool breeze of late spring was blowing, but one’s mind was unsettled and worrying. A beauty was currently looking up at the starry sky, except that her expression was nowhere relaxed or leisured.
She tapped her right foot on the ground, seemingly her mannerism when troubled.
“Ah Tang Rou…” her companion, Chen Guo wanted to talk to her but the old man with them pulled Chen Guo away.
“Why?” Chen Guo whispered to the old man, Wei Chen.
“What why? What are you going to talk to her? Tell her that Ye Qiu might have a hard time shaking off those tailing him? Do you think she didn’t know that? Do you think Tang Rou is someone who needs words of comfort?” Wei Chen whispered back and took a puff of smoke.
“Tsk!” Chen Guo sneered while fanning the smoke away from her nose. However, she didn’t move to comfort Tang Rou.
“……” Tang Rou glanced at them wordlessly.
Why bother whispering? With her good hearing, she could easily hear their conversation. And by just their actions she could easily read their thoughts. They might have thought that she was already in the state of paranoia, but she was powerless to clarify that she wasn’t.
It wasn’t new and was also not unusual that others would think of her and Ye Qiu’s relationship beyond the actual one. After all, they were pretending that they were really beyond that actual one. Based on their fake relationship, she should be really breaking down with nervousness and concern by now. So she couldn’t do anything but to let them misunderstood her.
Tang Rou sighed. Never mind, she might not be breaking down, but her actions were also not deliberate. She wasn’t breaking down, but she was indeed concerned.
She and Ye Qiu might be in a fake relationship, but the friendship between them was real. When she left abruptly earlier to search for Ye Qiu, that wasn’t because she was playing her role well. It was pure concern for a friend.
Speaking of that idiot, what take him so long? As she was thinking about what Ye Qiu might have encountered to be this delayed, footsteps were heard nearing.
“Sorry for letting you wait,” an approaching voice broke the silence of the night.
The three turned their heads and saw the two men walking towards them. The contrasting black and blonde hair of the two made them unusually charming under the moonlight.
Tang Rou saw Ye Qiu smiling at her and she unconsciously heaved a sigh of relief. Unfortunately, before she could utter a word, someone already took the initiative. In the end, she could just smile with the sudden mess.
“I knew it! We really didn’t lose you!” Wei Chen approached and tackled Ye Qiu by the neck.
“I can’t breathe,” Ye Qiu announced.
“Old Wei, let him go!” Chen Guo reprimanded.
Wei Chen laughed, but indeed let go of the poor guy. Then his focus shifted to the guy behind Ye Qiu, “Oh! Captain Lu!”
“Captain Wei,” Lu Liang threw back with equal sarcasm.
“Hahaha, I wouldn’t dare be called like that. I’m only Blue Rain’s captain for three years and didn’t even lead the team to the finals!”
“Captain Wei is too humble,” Lu Liang smiled. He might have lead Royal Style to the finals but he only stayed for one year. So was Wei Chen really being humble or insulting him?
“Hahaha,” Wei Chen was irritated that he couldn’t taunt the guy so he tried a different approach, “By the way, why is Captain Lu here in B City? I thought you were in the headquarters, researching.”
“I’m visiting my family,” Lu Liang answered disinterestedly.
“And here I thought you’re going to watch and support the team!” Wei Chen slap his forehead believably.
“Hmmn, since you said that, I might really do.” Lu Liang caressed his chin and nodded. Then, he suddenly turned around unceremoniously.
Wei Chen, “……”
“It’s getting late, I’m heading home!” he waved his hand without turning his back.
“F*ck! You will just leave like that?” Wei Chen shouted.
Lu Liang halted, “What else? Waste my time talking to you? You still have a match. Go Back.”
“You’re just escaping. You weren’t really visiting your family!” Wei Chen refuted, but he understood that Lu Liang was really concerned about them staying here.
“I’m going, bye everyone,” Lu Liang said, ignoring the old guy’s taunt.
“Take care!” Chen Guo raised her hand, but Wei Chen caught it midway before she could wave it.
“What are you doing?”
“Don’t wave to other guys!”
“……”
Tang Rou also bade her farewell to the guy.
Lu Liang nodded to everyone and before he left, he seemed to remember something and turned to Ye Qiu, “Ye Qiu we’ll talk later.”
Ye Qiu replied with a mnm and nodded, “Be careful.”
Tang Rou looked at Ye Qiu then to Lu Liang with a hint of interest, but didn’t ask.
“Let’s also go home,” Ye Qiu who had no idea that he jumped into a pit of misunderstanding pulled her attention back.
“Let’s go,” Tang Rou replied with a smile, as if she had discovered something.
…
The day of the finals had finally come. A do or die game that would decide the team that would be entering the professional league next season.
“Hey, Old Ye!”
At the entrance of the stadium, Team Happy halted their steps as someone called out and briskly walked over. This wasn’t a random person, but Excellent Era’s boss Tao Xuan. Following him was none other Team Excellent Era themselves.
Ye Xiu smiled and waved. It could be considered a greeting.
“You guys came quite early,” Tao Xuan smiled.
“You guys did too,” Ye Xiu said plainly, not bothering to show enthusiasm and busied himself with Li Chunhua’s hair. He wasn’t really taunting, it’s just that…of course he should focus on his lover.
Li Chunhua smiled, and surprisingly did not reprimand Ye Xiu’s public display of affection this time.
Tao Xuan didn’t mind the dog food served in front of him, his gaze shifted towards the members of Team Happy, sizing them up, and stopping on Tang Rou.
Wei Chen and Sun Zheping’s expression turned ugly but remained silent. Tao Xuan could easily recognize them but decided to treat them as air. Meanwhile, Li Chunhua and Ye Xiu looked at each other knowingly, waiting for Tao Xuan to shame himself. The others had no reaction since they didn’t even know who was this person. However, someone’s affectionate eyes suddenly turned sharp.
“Miss Tang, it’s nice to meet you,” Tao Xuan specifically singled out.
Ye Qiu who was already not feeling good looked up and raised a side of his brows. Standing beside Tang Rou, he shoved his hands inside his pocket and intently watched Tao Xuan. He’s a veteran in the business field, of course he knew what Tao Xuan was trying to do.
Tang Rou gave a polite reply towards Tao Xuan’s greeting. Then Ye Qiu heard Tao Xuan say: “Miss Tang, someone as talented as you shouldn’t stay buried. After this match, if you’re interested, you can contact me at any time. This is my business card.”
Ye Qiu released a nearly inaudible chuckle. And when Tao Xuan was going to hand over the piece of card, it was snatched away by a hand. Who else’s but Ye Qiu.
Tang Rou watched the business card being snatched away from her and couldn’t help but smile. Whilst, looking at the guy beside her and waiting for what mess he would create.
“If you’re doing business, you can ask me,” Ye Qiu smiled in a business tone.
Tao Xuan was startled and looked over. He saw the face identical to Ye Xiu and he suddenly felt that Ye Xiu was less irritating compared to this manipulative businessman.
“Our humble company wouldn’t dare partner with a business giant like Mr. Ye’s company.” Tao Xuan said this but he wasn’t showing any humbleness at all. Even his smile was a fake one.
“Mr. Tao misunderstood me,” Ye Qiu chuckled. “Excellent Era’s resources shouldn’t be sold in a bargain price. After this match, if you’re interested, you can contact me at any time. This is my business card.”
Tao Xuan’s face suddenly turned sour hearing his own words being repeated with a completely heavier meaning. His hands unconsciously clench in agitation. Excellent Era’s members were no exception. They were also not happy to hear those words.
“Seems like Mr. Ye is confident with his team?” Tao Xuan smiled, getting himself together. His team was a powerhouse, what could this empty insult do to him?
“Of course,” Ye Qiu answered with certainty, retracting his hand with his business card.
“I’m afraid that Mr. Ye will be disappointed,” Tao Xuan chuckled.
“Oh? We will see…” Ye Qiu smiled, not minding it at all. “You really don’t want this business card? Not everyone could get this,” he added.
Tao Xuan, “…….” Who f*cking want your business card?! Though thinking back, the COO of Ye Corporation’s contact details was really sought after. Understanding this, Tao Xuan’s expression turned uglier.
“Maybe he wants mine!” a voice full of arrogance was heard and a guy from behind stepped forward, handing a piece of colorful business card.
Tao Xuan’s gaze shifted over to that person and couldn’t help but agree that the business card and the person were well matched. Before him was a man in his twenties in a bright red suit and a big sunglasses.
“Ah, I forgot to introduce myself. Zhang Ziwei, the boss of Team Happy,” Zhang Ziwei proudly smiled and unceremoniously stuffed his colorful business card inside Tao Xuan’s chest pocket.
Some of the members of Team Happy couldn’t help but cover their face in shame, while some were laughing hysterically.
“…Nice to meet you President Zhang,” Tao Xuan awkwardly smiled after recovering from the ‘great shock’.
“I know,” Zhang Ziwei laughed unreservedly like he was some sort of big celebrity.
Tao Xuan, “……” Where did Happy get this clown?
“Anyway, if you need help, no need to bother my nephew, me is enough,” he announced arrogantly, but wasn’t his words meant that he’s the weaker boss? What weird confidence is this?
“You -,” Tao Xuan was about to refute but once again blocked by Zhang Ziwei’s nonsense.
“No need to thank me. This is a small matter. I can even buy your club like…in double price?” Zhang Ziwei seriously said, making the whole Excellent Era to cough up blood.
“What-,” Tao Xuan was again stopped, his face turning red in anger.
“Enough with the chit chat, see you later!” Zhang Ziwei said without waiting for the other side to make a comeback, he called out the members of Team Happy, and turned his back without a care.
“See you later!” Li Chunhua sweetly repeated followed by the rest of the members’ echoes.
While suppressing their laughs, Team Happy followed their crazy boss that they didn’t know whether they should love or kill.
Meanwhile, Excellent Era was left flabbergasted, not knowing what to react. Then, a giggle coming from behind woke them up. They turned they heads towards Su Mucheng with complicated feelings.
“That man was sure confident!” Sun Xiang commented all of a sudden.
“……” Brother, your focus was in the wrong path again.
“Okay, let’s focus on the game!” Little thing as a responsible vice-captain conditioned his team. Tao Xuan did not react but he was pleased with Xiao Shiqin’s clear mindedness.
The rest of the team nodded. That’s right! Why would they let themselves be affected by that grassroot team?
At 8:00 PM, the Challenger League finals officially started. As expected, this year’s finals wasn’t a disappointment. The stadium was fully packed with audience and of course, majority was supporting Excellent Era.
When the lights went completely dark, the host began calling for the players to come onto the stage. First up was Team Excellent Era. One by one, the characters and the pro players that wasn’t unfamiliar to everyone descended. The crowd's spirits were totally ignited. Excellent Era's fans cheered.
After Excellent Era was Happy. When the host announced their name, the stadium erupted with boos. When the host introduced Happy's first player, Ye Xiu, the boos reached its highest point. There were even curses and insults thrown in as well. Some fans even tried to rush on stage, but were quickly stopped by security and kicked out. Towards such a controversial match, the organizers had made plenty of preparations towards possible behavior like that.
“Brother, you are surely popular!” Ye Qiu chuckled without compassion after reaching the stage and standing beside his brother. He still remembered the reason why he was chased around yesterday and was still pissed off.
“Don’t worry, your face shares my popularity,” Ye Xiu lazily smiled.
Being rubbed with his hardship on the face, Ye Qiu’s smile froze and his face turned sour. He shut up, and didn’t bother talking to his brother.
Following him was Li Chunhua and her Spring Night. Towards a very beautiful girl, the crowd was lenient. There were even some of her supporters that cheered for her. Then there’s Wei Chen that ignited the boos once again, Sun Zheping with also some supporters, a beautiful girl Tang Rou, a public enemy Mo Fan, a less controversial on the outside yet chaotic in the inside Bao Xi, and a respected rookie Qiao Yifan. Though it was evident that after Ye Xiu, the boos really lessened. At the end, when Luo Ji and An Wenyi came onto the stage, there was practically no noise at all.
After introducing the players, about half an hour had passed. The two sides sat at their respective benches. At the player preparation area, Excellent Era's boss, Tao Xuan, personally came to watch over the match. Before the match started, he once again came over to give a polite greeting to Ye Xiu. Under the gazes of so many Excellent Era fans, he had to put in enough effort. Zhang Ziwei stood up and also greeted him, making Tao Xuan remember their unpleasant encounter earlier. Tao Xuan suddenly didn’t feel like pretending and almost yell at the arrogant dandy’s face.
Soon afterwards, the host called for the first players on each side to go on stage and get ready. Happy's first player stood up.
Tang Rou!
Tang Rou, Ye Qiu, Ye Xiu, Li Chunhua, and Sun Zheping. This was the arrangement that Ye Xiu had prepared for the arena competition. Excellent Era would probably deploy Sun Xiang just like how they used to do in their past match. Ye Xiu wanted Tang Rou to tire him down, and Ye Qiu’s tactical style to finish him off.
However, the heaven wasn’t on their side as the one that stood up wasn’t Sun Xiang but Xiao Shiqin. With the opposing playstyle, it wasn’t hard to guess that Xiao Shiqin was the best type of player to suppress the brute and straightforward style of Tang Rou.
Ye Xiu’s face turned grim, but didn’t panic at all. He turned towards his twin and asked, “Can you finish him off?”
“He’s strong,” Ye Qiu didn’t try to bluff then he added, “but on stage, the winner couldn’t be easily decided by strength.”
Ye Xiu chuckled and understood that his twin was prepared, “You studied about him?”
“It’s always good to have a second plan!” Ye Qiu shrugged and stood up as soon as he saw Tang Rou exiting the platform.
As expected, the battle fanatic was defeated shortly and left Life Extinguisher almost unhurt.
“I’ll take revenge for you,” Ye Qiu promised seriously as he approached Tang Rou.
Tang Rou was surprised, but smiled afterwards, “You should!”
Ye Qiu felt sweet inside seeing the girl’s smile. His spirit was ignited, ready to finish the battle in victory.