E-Sports Boss Wants To Post Messages With New Players Every Day Chapter 26

Chapter 26

Back in the training room, Xu Ziyan opened the game and found a new friend request. The person claimed to be the manager of WOF and wanted to chat with him about something.

He frowned, unable to figure out why the WOF manager would want to talk to him, a TWG player.

Behind him, Bai Ke walked past, saw his screen, and smiled knowingly: “This person probably wants to poach you to WOF.”

Xu Ziyan said, “Poach me?”

Bai Ke said, “If you add him, the process will probably be: he promises you a Main Roster Player spot on the A-Team, plus a much higher annual salary than you currently have, to get you to join their team.”

“A Main Roster Player spot on WOF’s A-Team?” Xu Ziyan was somewhat incredulous. “Me?”

Although WOF’s strength in Resist wasn’t on par with the big three—TWG, KW, and FTK—they were still frequent attendees of the World Championship and had won quite a few regular season and Mid-Season Invitational (MSI) championships. They were a very strong, established team.

Bai Ke looked at his incredulous expression and said, rather exasperatedly, “Do you have some misunderstanding about your own strength? Champion of the Rookie Cup? These managers have sharp eyes. How could they let go of a potential rookie like you? Besides, WOF is really lacking a Medic, especially an offensive Medic like you.”

“Well, currently, it looks like you can make the A-Team even if you stay at TWG, so it doesn’t matter.”

It was that phrase again.

Xu Ziyan wasn’t so naive as to think his current strength could firmly push Qu Qingyue out of her Main Roster Player spot on the A-Team, yet Bai Ke was so certain, which made him feel a little confused.

But Xu Ziyan didn’t ask. Instead, he said, “KK, you’re so experienced, have you been poached before too?”

Bai Ke took it as a given: “Isn’t that obvious?”

Xu Ziyan said, “Then why didn’t you…”

He didn’t finish the question, but Bai Ke understood the unspoken part. He smiled and waved his hand: “Because I had a screw loose back then. If I had another chance, wouldn’t I jump ship?”

Xu Ziyan knew the reason was definitely not as simple as Bai Ke’s “screw loose,” but he didn’t press further. If Bai Ke didn’t say it, he must have his own reasons.

Bai Ke clearly appreciated his tactful behavior. He chatted with him for a few more minutes until Lu Donglou walked in, then returned to his own seat.

From Bai Ke’s words and actions, Xu Ziyan sensed that Bai Ke had probably known something before he did, which was why he said those things.

But what exactly was it?

A hint of unease surfaced in his heart. His phone vibrated; someone had sent him a new message.

Xie Wei: I watched today’s match. You played very well.

Xu Ziyan’s eyes lit up. He quickly picked up his phone to reply, and those doubts were conveniently tossed to the back of his mind.

The TWG A-Team’s loss in their first match truly seemed to be just a matter of poor form. In the second match against UNC, they took two consecutive games in just forty minutes, securing an invincible victory.

Naturally, the online public opinion shifted from a torrent of criticism to endless praise. However, there was still some finger-pointing directed at Qu Qingyue, claiming she dragged the whole team down, and that if it weren’t for the excellent performance of the other players, TWG would have lost because of her again.

Some busybodies even created a dedicated thread on an online forum with the title: “Discussing whether Clear’s form this season has reached retirement standards.”

Suddenly, Qu Qingyue became the target of public criticism.

It was truly strange that she had to endure such malice despite winning the match.

Xu Ziyan also went to watch the match replay. Although Qu Qingyue’s form wasn’t the best, it was definitely not as useless as the online haters claimed.

Bai Ke said he would replace Qu Qingyue and become a Main Roster Player on the A-Team.

Why?

Xu Ziyan was completely baffled. While he was still confused, the B-Team’s second match arrived.

This time, their opponent was also a strong team, KW’s B-Team. They smoothly won this match as well, and Xu Ziyan was even selected as the MVP player for the game due to his outstanding performance.

Suddenly, the rhetoric praising him and stepping on Qu Qingyue increased even more.

Soon, Qu Qingyue’s fans began to view Xu Ziyan as an enemy, and the two fan bases fought fiercely. The fire grew hotter and hotter, eventually turning into a situation where “Xu Ziyan and Qu Qingyue are sworn enemies.”

The development of this situation was utterly baffling to Xu Ziyan. He had no idea what was going on, so he simply stopped checking Weibo, adopting an “out of sight, out of mind” approach.

Qu Qingyue even sent him a message, half-jokingly and half-seriously, to comfort him, saying that online public opinion was always like this and he shouldn’t take it to heart.

Days passed quickly. As the end of the year approached, the streets became increasingly lively. The remaining two matches for both the TWG A-Team and B-Team went smoothly, resulting in victories without further complications.

Although the base didn’t take a holiday on New Year’s Day because the season was still ongoing, the training load was lightened, giving them an invisible chance to catch their breath.

After finishing a Ranked Match, Xu Ziyan unintentionally looked up and glanced out the window. He saw tiny snowflakes in the night sky, drifting down like falling stars.

He gasped softly and murmured, “It’s snowing.”

Yuan Shaofeng heard him and looked out the window as well, then started shouting, excited like a child: “It’s snowing! First snow! Hey, KK, Hide, come look!”

Bai Ke was pulled up from his seat and dragged to the window. He glanced at the snow, then at the thoughtful Xu Ziyan, and asked, “Ice, what are you thinking about?”

Xu Ziyan snapped back to reality and smiled: “I was thinking, it’s the first snow. They say that if you watch the first snow with the person you love, the two of you can be together forever.”

Hearing this, Bai Ke’s expression twisted slightly, showing an indescribable look: “…I didn’t realize you were such a romantic.”

He clearly didn’t grasp the tenderness and beauty in the sentiment at all.

However, Yuan Shaofeng, who was behind him, blushed upon hearing the words.

Meng Cang looked at Xu Ziyan and said, “Ice, aren’t you planning to spend today with your partner?”

With training and matches filling his days, Xu Ziyan hadn’t thought about this for a long time. He was stunned by the sudden question, then replied, “Um, he’s in another city.”

“Long distance,” Yuan Shaofeng sighed. “That’s tough.”

Bai Ke gave Xu Ziyan a knowing smile but didn’t say anything.

Xu Ziyan almost suspected that Bai Ke knew something. He pretended not to notice, picked up his phone, hesitated for a moment, and opened the chat interface with Xie Wei.

Xu Ziyan: Captain, are you free tonight?

Xu Ziyan: I’d like to treat you to dinner.

His heart was pounding fast. Almost immediately after sending the messages, he regretted it and wanted to recall them. But Xie Wei didn’t give him the chance and quickly sent a reply.

Xie Wei: Later tonight, yes.

—

Because it was New Year’s Day, the streets and alleys were packed with people. White snowflakes danced among the lively crowds, and the colorful decorative lights that hadn’t been taken down from Christmas shone brightly.

Xu Ziyan was afraid of being seen, so he specifically chose a meeting spot outside the base. Before long, Xie Wei’s silver-white sports car stopped in front of him as promised.

He opened the car door and sat in the passenger seat, feeling inexplicably nervous.

Today, Xie Wei was wearing a beige sweater. His hair wasn’t styled, casually resting on his forehead, making him look much gentler. He lowered his head to adjust the temperature of the car’s heater and smiled at Xu Ziyan: “Sorry to keep you waiting. It must be cold outside. Where are you planning to take me to eat?”

The little man in Xu Ziyan’s heart was jumping up and down wildly, but on the surface, he maintained his composure and gave a big smile: “It’s a restaurant I frequent. I just don’t know if it will suit the Captain’s taste.”

Xie Wei handed him his phone, signaling him to input the address into the navigation.

Xu Ziyan carefully took the phone. As he was typing, the phone suddenly vibrated, and a new message received on Line popped up in the navigation window at the top.

He swore that seeing this message was absolutely unavoidable.

Clear: Captain, what are you doing?

It was Qu Qingyue.

An inexplicable feeling arose in Xu Ziyan’s heart. Perhaps it was the intuition of a fellow Omega, but he felt that Qu Qingyue was sending Xie Wei a message at this time because she also wanted to ask him out.

He quickly finished typing the address and handed the phone back to Xie Wei.

Xie Wei took it, glanced casually at the message, tapped a few times, and then didn’t reply, focusing on driving instead.

Seeing this, Xu Ziyan was inexplicably relieved.

The two didn’t talk much on the way, but the atmosphere wasn’t awkward. The car was warm, and outside, the lights were dazzling and the streets were bustling.

When they arrived, Xie Wei parked the car and got out with Xu Ziyan.

The restaurant mainly served dishes from Xu Ziyan’s hometown, which were lighter in flavor than those in A City. Xie Wei wasn’t picky. He handed the ordering entirely over to Xu Ziyan, picked up a teacup, took a sip, and said, “Why did you suddenly decide to treat me to dinner?”

Xu Ziyan was prepared for this question. He smiled and said, “To thank you for the late-night snack last time.”

“A favor repaid?” Xie Wei chuckled. “Why make it sound like a transaction? But it works out well, I also wanted to talk to you about something.”

Xu Ziyan couldn’t imagine what Xie Wei would want to talk to him about. He quickly asked, “What is it?”

“You’ve been in the B-Team for a while now. How do you feel about it?”

This topic felt more like casual conversation than “something important.”

Xu Ziyan answered truthfully: “Everyone in the B-Team is very nice.”

Xie Wei said, “Things have been quite chaotic online these past few days. I was a little worried, but I’m relieved to see you haven’t been affected.”

Xu Ziyan knew he was referring to the online fan wars pitting him against Qu Qingyue. He felt a little helpless: “After all, other people’s mouths are their own. I can’t control them.”

Xie Wei asked, “Don’t you have any thoughts?”

Xu Ziyan said, “Thoughts about what…”

Mid-sentence, he suddenly felt a sense of déjà vu. This conversation seemed to have happened somewhere before.

Bai Ke had asked him a similar question earlier.

However, when Bai Ke asked it, it meant something completely different than when Xie Wei asked it.

Xu Ziyan couldn’t gauge the current situation, so he spoke cautiously: “I… I have thought about joining the A-Team, but I believe my current skill level is not comparable to Clear’s, and I also lack match experience. I’ve never taken what those people online say seriously.”

Xie Wei paused, then smiled helplessly: “I just asked casually. Don’t overthink it. Let’s eat.”

But he still didn’t clearly state what he wanted to talk to Xu Ziyan about.

After they finished eating, they returned to the car. Xie Wei didn’t rush to start the engine. Instead, he reached into the passenger-side storage box, pulled out a beautifully packaged small box, and handed it to Xu Ziyan, saying, “Happy New Year’s Day.”

Seeing the young man’s surprised look, he curved his lips: “I actually wanted to give it to you on the day you won your first match, but I was too busy and missed it. So, let’s count it as a New Year’s gift. And, well, it’s also to thank you for bringing me food before.”

Xu Ziyan was overjoyed and looked up at Xie Wei.

Outside the window, traffic flowed. The lights from passing cars and streetlights blurred the outline of the man in front of him. The tall, handsome Alpha’s eyes were gentle, focused on him, and the light in his gaze seemed to possess a soul-capturing power.

The scent of lemon mint diffused around them, subtly mixed with the sweetness of a fruit.

A surge of courage, from who knows where, welled up in Xu Ziyan. He reached out, unbuckled the seatbelt he had already fastened, leaned forward, and kissed Xie Wei’s lips.