Chapter 33

Chapter 33 \nChapter 33\n

 

In the hotel, after the competition results came out, Qi Zui switched off his livestream.

 

Qi Zui brought his physiotherapist out to find a Chinese restaurant. He ordered a lot of Chinese food and brought it back. The squad competition was tomorrow and Qi Zui did not order alcohol, only having the hotel deliver some fruit juice up.

 

They all went back to the hotel and surrounded Qi Zui, going crazy, especially Bu Nana. He pulled the physiotherapist’s hand and danced the tango. He even kept going close to Qi Zui, trying to get Qi Zui to have a dance competition with him.

 

“Go away,” Qi Zui frowned and looked around, “Where’s Yu Yang?”

 

“I don’t know, he seemed a bit…like he couldn’t accept it,” Bu Nana was done going crazy, he pinched a piece of melon and stuffed it into his mouth, informing him, “He knows about your livestream.”

 

Qi Zui was dumbfounded, “So fast? You guys can know what I’m doing in the hotel despite having a competition?”

 

“What do you think?” Lao Kai said faintly, “Captain, it’s not easy for me to get one achievement alright? But you snatched all the headlines.”

 

“If you come out of the closet tonight and say that you’re a couple with Lao Lai, you can definitely beat the news about the two of us,” Qi Zui pushed Lao Kai away, going out to find Yu Yang himself.

 

Qi Zui went out and knocked on the staff’s door. He was relieved after finding out that Yu Yang did not use a car or ask for a translator. He was unfamiliar with his country, and even when Yu Yang went out to find an Internet café, he relied on sign language, so he probably did not go very far.

 

Furthermore, Yu Yang would not do things that would make people worried. Right now… he was probably hiding in his room again.

 

Qi Zui walked in front of Yu Yang’s door and suddenly felt a small urge to laugh.

 

A familiar story, a familiar series of events.

 

Qi Zui knocked on the door. As expected, a few seconds later, Yu Yang opened the door.

 

“I’m sorry.”

 

Qi Zui had a very good attitude about admitting his mistake and was very sincere, “When I saw you during my livestream, my brain suddenly became empty.”

 

Yu Yang’s ears turned red. He had been hiding in his room because he was secretly watching a recording of Qi Zui’s livestream.

 

“There are even moments when old commentators get excited and act out of the ordinary, much less me1,” Qi Zui looked towards the hallway, hesitating as he said, “If I stand at your doorway like this, it won’t be good if I get photographed…”

 

Yu Yang suddenly understood, and he stammered, “Please, please come in.”

 

The corner of Qi Zui’s mouth involuntarily curved up, and he naturally entered Yu Yang’s room again.

 

There was a sleeveless singlet and a pair of underpants thrown on Yu Yang’s bed. He had obviously been in a rush and did not manage to clean it up in the morning. Qi Zui glanced over then hurriedly turned his head away. Yu Yang had yet to realize, he had Qi Zui sit down, with a bit of embarrassment. He helped Qi Zui take a bottle of mineral water and even unscrewed it for him.

 \n

“Thank you,” Qi Zui took the water and drank a mouthful. His eyes were uncontrollably wanting to look towards the bed. Qi Zui closed his eyes and tried his best to restrain himself, “About that… Why didn’t you come to my room? I bought food for all of you already.”

 

“I…” Yu Yang sat on the side table and said in a low voice, “You…”

 

“I was wrong,” It was not the first time Qi Zui had a livestream accident. His apology was very smooth and steady, “I was not using my brain and told the truth.”

 

Yu Yang did not notice anything wrong with what Qi Zui said. He lowered his head and said, “Why are you…”

 

Qi Zui raised his eyes and quietly waited for Yu Yang to continue talking. He felt a little uneasy.

 

It was already not the first time that Qi Zui had one-sidedly declared his love towards Yu Yang.

 

The jokes that could be regarded as jokes between friends, today’s words…Qi Zui was not able or planning on trying to hide his intentions already2.

 

Qi Zui did not care whether his popularity would fall as a result. He was just worried that Yu Yang would feel disgusted.

 

After all, the two of them were not really together.

 

“You…” Yu Yang was a little embarrassed to look at Qi Zui. After a moment, he asked in a soft voice, “Why did you tell outsiders about… the child bride thing?”

 

Qi Zui was stunned.

 

Qi Zui smiled in disbelief, “You’re angry because of this?”

 

Yu Yang pursed his lips, “I’m not angry, it’s not that serious… I’m just…”

 

Yu Yang lowered his head to play with his phone, his voice becoming lower and lower, “I’m just asking…”

 

Qi Zui smiled, his heart was about to melt.

 

“I don’t know how they knew, when they asked me, I was treating it as a joke, so I admitted it. I did not expect that the more the rumor spread, the more unreliable it became…” Qi Zui quietly explained, raising his eyebrows, “Did someone look for you to tell you? Who?”

 

“No one,” Yu Yang was originally not angry at all, and in the half a day that had passed since he returned, he had already digested the information, “It’s okay…”

 

Qi Zui smiled, “You can blame me, I was casually joking with them before this, but they believed me.”

 

Yu Yang frowned, not really believing that Qi Zui would casually joke with people.

 

“I really wish you could truly be my child bride, so I just let them talk about it…If this was true,” Qi Zui raised his eyes to look at Yu Yang, smiling faintly, “You’ll probably suffer less.”

 

Yu Yang’s heart suddenly softened.\n 

“And the two of us won’t still be…” Qi Zui looked at Yu Yang then looked at himself, indicating at the two-meter distance between them, “So unfamiliar with each other.”

 

Qi Zui smiled, then muttered to himself, “You’ll probably already be sitting on my leg right now…”

 

“Eh?” Qi Zui looked at Yu Yang with great interest, “How did they keep child brides in ancient times? If it’s true, do I keep you in my room?”

 

Yu Yang’s face turned red in an instant.

 

Qi Zui could not hold himself back, lowering his head and smirking.

 

“I…” Yu Yang cleared his throat and said awkwardly, “When we go back, I will definitely…”

 

“It’s no hurry, I don’t mean anything else,” Qi Zui smiled, “I’m afraid that you’re not happy so I was trying to make you laugh. Are you hungry? Eat…”

 

Qi Zui got up and saw Yu Yang’s underwear on the bed again. The more Qi Zui tried to control himself not to look over there, the more he could not control himself. After he left Yu Yang’s room, the underwear with a white background and black words was still in his mind for a long time.

 

It was in his mind until before he went to bed at night.

 

Qi Zui could not stop himself and he sent a WeChat message to Yu Yang.

 

Qi Zui: Are you asleep?

 

Yu Yang replied very quickly: No.

 

QI Zui: You aren’t sleepy?

 

Yu Yang: I’m still alright, I’m rewatching the training competitions.

 

Qi Zui: What time is it now3?

 

Yu Yang: We can’t lose the competition tomorrow.

 

Qi Zui: … Sleep.

 

Yu Yang: I’ll watch it for one more hour.

 

Qi Zui: Are you forcing me?

 

Yu Yang: Wh-what’s the matter?

 \n\n 

“As you all know, there’s nothing much to hide anymore,” He Xiaoxu was acting as usual, his expression was serious and his tone was solemn, “Coach Lai doesn’t allow me to give you guys pressure, but I feel that that’s not useful. You’re all very good at resisting pressure, and you’re not scared of pressure, so I’ll say it directly.”

 

He Xiaoxu looked at Qi Zui and said, “Qi Zui… The day before yesterday, we’ve already prepared it. However, you didn’t agree and wanted to move it to today.”

 

Qi Zui laughed, “It can’t be that, right? You…”

 

Bu Nana was stupefied, when fortune came, his mind became alert and he suddenly understood.

 

Yu Yang did not understand. He frowned and looked towards He Xiaoxu. He Xiaoxu was indifferent, “Your Captain had a very good opportunity to announce his retirement, but he refused.”

 

He Xiaoxu looked at the four people in HOG, “He chose to announce it after today’s game, can you understand what I mean?”

 

“What are you doing?!” Lao Kai had held himself back again and again, but he could not help but complain, “Aren’t you scared that I’ll drag you down in the critical moment again…”

 

Lao Kai had a lump in his throat and could not continue speaking.

 

Bu Nana turned his head around, his nose turning red instantly.

 

“It’s not as major as you guys think. It’s just an announcement,” Qi Zui was helpless, “He Xiaoxu are you crazy? Must you say something so major before the competition?”

 

“I did it on purpose,” He Xiaoxu had stayed up last night to urge the media department to arrange for the announcement of Qi Zui’s retirement. He had looked at each line and even he found it hard to believe how much Qi Zui had sacrificed for the team these few years. “This is very likely Qi Zui’s last competition… I don’t want you guys to fight in a muddle-headed way, and I definitely don’t want…”

 

He Xiaoxu’s tone changed. He calmed down for a while before he continued, “I definitely don’t want you to suddenly remember this after you’ve lost the competition and feel regret for your whole life.”

 

“Do your best to fight, whether you win or you lose, it’s all for the glory of our team.”

 

The rims of He Xiaoxu’s eyes were red, and after he said that, he left the lounge,  hurriedly going over to greet the reporters from China that had rushed over at the last moment.

 

In the lounge, it was so quiet that one could hear the sound of a pin drop.

 

“Don’t take what he said too seriously…” Qi Zui was most annoyed at this sort of atmosphere. He got up to open his computer accessories bag and took out a row of bandages. While he wrapped the bandages, he suddenly smiled, then looked at Yu Yang, “Cutie, do you know the meaning of ‘HOG’ in our team’s name?”

 

Yu Yang raised his head, dazed.

 

“The name of our team is not HOG, it’s an abbreviation using three letters,” Qi Zui slowly wrapped the bandages, pausing after each word, “Hand of God6.”

 

“You entered the team in a hurry, He Xiaoxu probably forgot to tell you,” Qi Zui bit the bandage to break it, then calmly said, “Every HOG member is the right hand of God. Without me, there’ll be others.”

 

“As long as HOG still exists, the Right Hand of God will exist,” Qi Zui leaned on the table lazily, his tone seemed uncaring, but also seemed like he was tackling tough problems easily. “In the FPS arena, there will always be a place for us.”