Xue Lan and Su Yiyu knew they had seen something they shouldn’t have. In this awkward situation, they didn’t know if they should run away or act as if nothing had happened.
But while they were standing there too confused to move, a wrathful voice came out from the darkness —
“Retire and get married? Do you not think you’re being a bit ridiculous?”
Wen Yan froze. His gaze settled on the person coming out from the Internet cafe’s back door. His face was as pale as a piece of paper as he said, “Kanqing…”
But it was as if Zhou Kanqing didn’t notice Wen Yan. His hands went straight and didn’t hesitate to grasp the collar of the person behind Wen Yan.
“Meng Qi, if you announce you’re retiring now, do you think it will silence the people who believe the rumors? We’re not afraid of our reputation going bad, let them speak what they want!
“If you want to date or marry, it’s up to you, but who are you to use such a reason to retire?! Who was the one who said to play together until we’re thirty? Who was the one who said that even if there’s only three of us left, we can take back the world champion and make the whole world remember LGW?!”
Meng Qi, held by the collar, lowered his head, avoiding Zhou Kanqing’s eyes. “I’m sorry.”
“Sorry? Is your sorry what I want?!”
Meng Qi’s eyes were bright red right then. “I do want to win the world championship with you guys, but after Qiang-ge left, our sniper has changed several times. There was Haoshan, and now we have Wen Yan. We’ve secured the national championship, but aren’t we falling short for the world championship? Now Hao Shan has also left…
“I told Xiao Ran to wait a little more, that I can’t leave my brothers. I told her I need to be by their side to win the world championship, told her that the vests of the new league will have LGW’s logo printed on them and have every game of Dawn of Apocalypse‘s campsite flutter with our national flag…
“She has always been waiting for me.
“Xiao Ran is older than me by three years… She’s now pregnant, she can’t wait for me any longer…
“Zhou Kanqing, do you understand?”
The hand on Meng Qi’s collar unconsciously loosened. Meng Qi’s emotions were unstable, and he staggered back into the Internet cafe in a rush.
Xue Lan and Su Yiyu stood as still as statues. At this moment, they didn’t dare to make a single sound.
Xue Lan knew Meng Qi’s retirement was inevitable and knew that whether it was him or Zhou Kanqing or Wen Yan, no one was at fault here. But at this moment, it was as if a big rock had crushed his heart, making it hard to breathe.
“Kanqing.” Wen Yan walked up to Zhou Kanqing. His voice as he spoke was sad and hoarse.
“He can’t wait anymore… Can’t we win the world championship without him?”
Zhou Kanqing slowly came back to his senses. His gaze settled on Wen Yan like a drowning person, who had just caught sight of the drifting wood that would save his life.
“They can leave if they want to, even if only two of us are left, why can’t we win the championship? A-Yan, at least there was one thing he said that was right: As long as you’re there, LGW will forever be LGW!”
It was as if he had found comfort and hope again. He clapped Wen Yan on the shoulders.
But Wen Yan’s face was instantly drained of color upon hearing his words.
“I…” Zhou Kanqing’s expression showed fatigue, oblivious to Wen Yan’s abnormality. “I’m a bit tired, I’ll get going now.”
Zhou Kanqing said this and left quickly as if he were fleeing the scene.
Two left one after another. Only Wen Yan was left standing under the flickering light of the Internet cafe with an unreadable expression on his face.
Xue Lan was incomparably regretful at this moment. Why did they choose to take the back door and be in such an awkward place? Wen Yan did not have the intent to leave, and both Su Yiyu and Xue Lan felt awkward and didn’t know if they should stealthily leave, or wait until Wen Yan went back into the cafe before…
While Xue Lan was contemplating back and forth, Wen Yan, standing beside the back door, suddenly opened his mouth:
“You can come out.”
“…”
Xue Lan and Su Yiyu froze at the same time. They shared a look, holding their breaths and hoping this time Wen Yan was also not referring to them.
But this time, they weren’t so lucky. Wen Yan was looking in the direction of their hiding place.
They awkwardly came out. Caught red-handed, both of them didn’t know how they should explain to Wen Yan… should they say they were just passing by, or should they pretend as if they didn’t hear anything?
Xue Lan and Su Yiyu stood in front of Wen Yan like students being called out by a teacher, both having the same mind to lower their heads and not look at the person before them.
Wen Yan’s voice sounded a little tired, but he didn’t sound very stern as he said, “Can you keep this matter to yourselves for the time being until LGW makes an announcement?”
Xue Kan and Su Yiyu repetitively nodded their heads.
“Thank you,” Wen Yan said in a low voice. “You can go back.”
As if a heavy burden had been lifted off their heads, Xue Lan and Su Yiyu felt relieved. Just as they were about to enter the cafe together, Wen Yan spoke again —
“Xue Lan, wait.”
Xue Lan’s sneaky movement to leave paused. He had to awkwardly hand the things in his hands over to Su Yiyu before stiffly walking back to Wen Yan.
Actually, Xue Lan could guess what Wen Yan wanted to talk about with him.
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