E-Sports Boss Wants To Post Messages With New Players Every Day Chapter 67

Chapter 66

Xu Ziyan was not one for gossip, but after learning about Bai Ke and Bai Chen’s situation, his mood was exceptionally complicated. During training these past two days, he kept looking toward Bai Chen, whether intentionally or unintentionally.

He thought his glances were subtle enough, but they still didn’t escape Xie Wei’s notice.

After the scrims, Yu Guangzhou and Jiang Yuxin repeatedly stressed the importance of resting well and maintaining their condition before letting the team members return to the dorms early.

Bai Chen was packing up his peripherals when he caught a glimpse of Xie Wei looking at him thoughtfully. He turned his head and gave a confused look. “What is it?”

Xie Wei said, “What happened between you and Yan… and Ice recently? I noticed he’s been paying a lot of attention to you.”

Bai Chen looked at his childhood friend—who was currently deep in a relationship and prone to jealousy—with an expression of looking at an idiot. He said exasperatedly, “What could possibly be going on between us?”

Then, his mind turned, and he understood the reason. He said flatly, “KK probably told him something.”

Xie Wei, who had been enjoying success in his love life recently and was overflowing with care and concern, asked worriedly, “KK? What’s wrong with him?”

Bai Chen recalled the young man he had always treated as a younger brother standing before him a few days ago, saying “I like you” word by word. A wave of irritation and gloom washed over him. Unwilling to discuss it with Xie Wei, he simply said, “He must be going through his rebellious phase.”

“That’s quite the timing for a rebellious phase,” Xie Wei chuckled, not pressing further. He only said, “My mom asked me to tell you to go home after the match. She said Auntie Bai couldn’t reach you… That’s strange. Has your rebellious phase started too?”

Bai Chen sighed, a hint of fatigue in his brow. “I don’t want to answer. They want me to go home for a blind date.”

Xie Wei understood, but then asked, “It’s just a blind date. Didn’t you prepare yourself for this long ago? Why are you so resistant now?”

As heirs designated early by their families, they had long been mentally prepared for such matters. The Xie and Bai families were deep-rooted wealthy clans, and they weren’t strictly mandatory about arranged marriages. If one found someone they liked, they could bring them home, and the family would usually agree.

If Xu Ziyan hadn’t appeared, Xie Wei would probably be in the same situation as Bai Chen right now.

Bai Chen said, “I just don’t want to answer. They keep rushing me. It’s annoying.”

Xie Wei rarely saw him like this. He scrutinized him with fresh interest and concluded, “You are definitely in your rebellious phase.”

—

At two o’clock the next afternoon, the TWG team members departed on time for the competition venue.

Today was different from usual. The two Assault Players starting in the first round were Shen Xiao and Yuan Shaofeng, leaving Bai Chen in the lounge.

The YNG roster remained largely unchanged: Medic Clear, Sniper KK, and Assault Players Bye and Mumu.

As it was the finals, the venue was more than double the size of previous matches and was completely packed. Looking around, the various colors of glow sticks and support banners made it seem like a concert.

In the coin toss for the first round, YNG won the right to choose sides. They immediately chose to attack without hesitation.

Before going on stage, Yu Guangzhou repeatedly emphasized that in today’s match, they absolutely had to defend against Clear and Bye’s strategy of switching between Assault Player and Medic to flank them.

Shen Xiao lamented, “It’s always been us flanking others, and others defending against us. Now the tables have turned, and it’s finally Ice’s turn to be flanked.”

Xu Ziyan said faintly, “You sound quite happy about that.”

“How could I be? Absolutely not,” Shen Xiao said righteously. “I have great team spirit. Don’t abandon me later.”

Perhaps due to the interview incident during the match against KW last time, the host this time was no longer a beautiful Omega in an evening gown but a Beta in a suit.

Yuan Shaofeng saw the host on the screen in the lounge and asked in surprise, “Huh? Isn’t that the former Sniper for UNC?”

“He retired and changed careers,” Jiang Yuxin glanced at the screen. “He already gained a lot of fans with his looks when he was active. After retiring, he immediately switched careers, signed with UNC’s entertainment company, and became a host and live commentator.”

He shook his head with a sigh, sounding envious. “Look at others. Even after retiring, they’re still contributing to the team.”

Xie Wei leaned back on the sofa and scoffed, “Don’t worry, I’ll contribute even more after I retire.”

That was true. The moment Xie Wei retired, he would immediately enter the family business and become the major boss of TWG. The value he would create was incomparable to that of an entertainer.

“Bah, bah, bah,” Jiang Yuxin spat three times. “God Xie, Captain Xie, your retirement is still far away. Our team still needs you.”

Xie Wei’s recent live stream had somewhat alleviated the public opinion caused by the interview, but he hadn’t denied the statement or revealed who the person was. As a result, the number of fans flocking to Jiang Yuxin’s Weibo to ask for details had increased exponentially in the past few days, and his private messages were constantly full, almost driving him crazy.

However, this also meant the team was popular, which was better than being ignored. If Xie Wei truly retired, TWG’s popularity would inevitably plummet. Jiang Yuxin felt this situation was more hair-raising than being cursed at in three thousand private messages.

Before long, a staff member knocked on the door to inform them to prepare to go on stage. Since Bai Chen wasn’t playing, he remained seated on the sofa with his arms crossed, staring at the screen, lost in thought.

The team’s introduction required the Coach to be present as well, leaving only Jiang Yuxin and Bai Chen in the lounge.

Xu Ziyan, who hadn’t spoken much, suddenly said, “Manager Jiang, could you come here for a moment? I have something I want to talk to you about.”

Ice needed to talk to him?

Jiang Yuxin was startled, then immediately became nervous. Could something unexpected have happened again?

He quickly stood up. “Okay, coming, coming.”

Shen Xiao wondered, “What does Ice need to talk to the manager about?”

Yuan Shaofeng scratched his head. “I don’t know.”

Xie Wei subtly glanced at the corner of the hallway behind them, spotting a familiar figure. He immediately realized Xu Ziyan’s intention. He smiled but said nothing, watching Xu Ziyan pull Jiang Yuxin out the door.

As soon as the TWG team members walked away, the figure hiding around the corner quickly jogged and pushed the door open, entering the lounge.

This figure was none other than Bai Ke.

Catching a glimpse of Bai Ke successfully entering the lounge, Xu Ziyan breathed a sigh of relief. He used a pre-prepared, random excuse to stall Jiang Yuxin for a while until his phone vibrated twice in his pocket. Only then did he let the bewildered Jiang Yuxin return.

He took out his phone. Before he could read the message, he heard a low voice ask beside him, “Did KK leave?”

Xu Ziyan was startled and nearly dropped his phone. He turned to Xie Wei and chuckled awkwardly. “Captain.”

Xie Wei gave him a faint look. “Let’s go. Time is almost up.”

Seeing that Xie Wei had no intention of asking further, Xu Ziyan let out the breath he was holding and quickly followed him.

While walking, he checked the message Bai Ke had sent.

KK: Gave it to him.

KK: Thank you, Ice.

From these two sentences, it was impossible to tell whether the outcome of the meeting was good or bad, but Xu Ziyan could only do so much.

He wasn’t someone who liked to interfere in other people’s relationships. The reason he helped KK, more than the friendship of helping a friend, was because he felt KK was too much like himself.

If not for that accident back then, he would probably be like KK now, leaving TWG dejectedly due to the exclusion of that Youth Training Camp Coach, yet unwilling to give up and joining another team. Even if everything still went smoothly, he wouldn’t be standing beside Xie Wei, but opposite him.

It would have been virtually impossible to join TWG at that point.

He sighed softly, turned off the screen, and put away his phone.

The most important thing now was the match.

Since it was the finals, the player introduction segment was longer than usual. Once everyone was seated, it was time for the pre-match interview and trash talk segment.

The two players doing the trash talk for YNG were Mumu and Bai Ke, while for TWG, it was Shen Xiao and Xie Wei.

Xu Ziyan focused on adjusting his peripherals. He glanced sideways and saw Yuan Shaofeng unconsciously tapping on his keyboard, looking extremely agitated and anxious.

The audience’s cheers and Xie Wei’s smiling voice on the big screen clearly came through his non-soundproofed headset. “…I hope YNG is prepared today. Don’t give me too many kills; I won’t be able to take them all.”

This provocative and aggressive trash talk elicited a burst of screams from the audience.

Next, the screen switched to Bai Ke.

The moment Bai Ke’s voice appeared, Xu Ziyan noticed Yuan Shaofeng typing even faster on the keyboard.

He paused, suddenly realizing that in this match, Bai Ke wasn’t the only one with complicated feelings; Yuan Shaofeng was too.

But on the field, setting aside personal emotions was the most crucial thing.

Xu Ziyan wanted to remind Yuan Shaofeng but didn’t know how to start. He could only secretly prepare himself to look out for Yuan Shaofeng more during the match.

And his worries were indeed confirmed in the following game.

The map was set as Ellie Park. YNG attacked first.

In the first round, Yuan Shaofeng made frequent mistakes, and his revolver accuracy was extremely low. Without his frontline fire cover, Shen Xiao didn’t dare to push forward rashly. Although Xie Wei was in excellent form, landing a shot for every kill, they couldn’t withstand YNG’s fierce offensive.

YNG escorted the objective unimpeded, practically steamrolling their way to the finish line.

The screen turned gray again. Yuan Shaofeng exhaled deeply and said, “I’m sorry, that round was my fault.”

Xie Wei’s expression didn’t change much. He calmly shot down Clear and said, “We’ll review the replay when we get back. The match isn’t over yet.”

Shen Xiao said, “It’s normal for a rookie to be nervous. Don’t worry about it. Now, focus on defending the last point well.”

Xu Ziyan also comforted him, “Don’t overthink it. Focus on the present.”

Yuan Shaofeng closed his eyes, then gripped his mouse again.

When they rushed out to the point again, his condition had recovered significantly. Although YNG still pushed the vehicle into the point due to their early advantage, TWG’s “stubborn resistance” meant that when the vehicle finally reached the point, only five minutes remained for the third round of attack.

Back in the lounge, Yu Guangzhou nodded at Yuan Shaofeng. “You know how you played that round. You’ll have extra training when we get back.”

Yuan Shaofeng acknowledged this.

In the second round, TWG made a personnel change: Assault Player Yuan was replaced by Chen.