He remembered Huoran made a public response around two hours after Wen Yan made his clarification in the book…
Indeed, in the Weibo he had just opened, under “Wen Yan’s response to his retirement”, another popular search quickly rose to second place: “Thunder Team’s response to Wen Yan’s retirement”.
In this video file, Huoran was asked about the rumor of Wen Yan’s retirement. He said with shock in his voice:
“I was wondering why Wind held so much interest in our team’s new member Unknown…” As if he had just realized he had said something inappropriate, he laughed. “Wen Yan is an outstanding professional player, I also believe whether he continues his career or not, he will give a proper explanation to all of us.”
There had been a lot of tongue-lashing under this Weibo post.
@Windiswind: It’s LGW’s issue, for what reason should the Thunder Team respond?
@LGWisGod: Yan God will not retire, why cling on all kinds of attention? Are you guys at Thunder Team about to be over??
@YanGodsbelovedwife: Wind has said he will not retire, do you not understand? Why’s everyone undermining people?
……
Even though many esports fans thought Huoran’s words were incredibly improper, his statement proved the previous claim of “Wen Yan agreed to become a special coach at the training camp to look for a successor.”
Now this kind of sign indicated that Wen Yan had the intention to retire. Huoran’s words killed two birds with one stone, pulling Wen Yan down while also using his reputation to raise Deng Ruiqiu’s.
Xue Lan didn’t like Huoran’s way of handling things. This was also the reason why he never thought of joining the Thunder Team.
Perhaps this driving force was what made Meng Qi smoothly leave LGW and grow, but seeing the media crisis subsequently, Xue Lan couldn’t muster much interest in the event that would follow shortly.
This period of time should be LGW and Wen Yan’s most challenging.
As two teammates who had fought side by side retired one after another, the burden on him, who was still struggling to hold on, grew even heavier.
But fortunately, Wen Yan met Duan Wenzheng at this time. Even though Duan Wenzheng sometimes responded playfully to the person he liked with a childlike heart, when he faced other people, he would always stand by Wen Yan’s side.
Clearly, it was a love-hate relationship, but he would never allow anyone to harm the person he cared about, not even a little bit.
As long as he stopped his bad habit of teasing other people, he was the best shou!
With this thought, the memory of the hurried, short peck in Duan Wenzheng’s house surfaced in Xue Lan’s mind again, and his cheeks flushed.
It was truly…
Over the top.
How could he have believed his nonsense? Even if they had to pretend in front of his dad, it didn’t have to be like that.
Xue Lan felt the heat in his cheeks rise even more. He quickly snapped out of it as if awakening from a dream, and gave his cheeks a light slap.
At this time, the phone he had discarded to the side suddenly rang. The person who was calling was: Reset.
Xue Lan was so surprised he almost jumped out of his skin. In a flurry, he picked up the call.
“Why did you suddenly leave?”
Xue Lan guiltily replied, “The live stream was too boring, so I left.”
Duan Wenzheng didn’t think too much about his reply. Instead, he asked, “Are you tired? Do you still want to play?”
Hearing that, Xue Lan asked, “You’re not home?”
When he left earlier, Duan Wenzheng clearly agreed to properly discuss with Uncle Duan. Xue Lan had only left for a short while, yet…
Duan Wenzheng calmly answered, “I’ve done as the leader instructed and finished the conversation, but the old man said… ‘If you can’t pursue, don’t come home.’”
In the last part, his tone dropped low and carried an indescribable drawl, causing Xue Lan to envision before his eyes Duan Wenzheng’s joyful expression while he was teasing him.
Xue Lan shook his head, clearly flustered.
“So, is he coming?” Qi Siyu’s voice came from the other side of the phone.
Xue Lan realized in astonishment that the environment of Duan Wenzheng’s call seemed to be quite noisy. “Where are you?”
“The Internet cafe below your house.” Duan Wenzheng then seemed to have remembered his call’s objective: “The training camp is over and a lot of people are leaving tomorrow. Qi Siyu called everyone for a final get-together, and it happens to be in this cafe.”
“…”
“You tired? If not, come down…”
Duan Wenzheng’s words had not finished when a faint, excited voice came from the other end of the call. “This is great! Wind God said he’ll come over soon!”
Duan Wenzheng’s words sharply shifted. “Rest early if you’re tired.”
“…”
Xue Lan didn’t expect that Duan Wenzheng would change his mind so quickly. He awkwardly replied, “Okay then…”
“What?” When Qi Siyu heard Xue Lan’s answer, he yelled against the phone, “Come! Who knows when we’ll see everyone next after going our separate ways. Look at this as our final get-together. Lanlan, hurry and come, Su Yiyu and Weiran are also here! Rain or shine, we’re all waiting to team up with you!”
“That’s right! Exist, everyone’s waiting for you! Come!”
“Lanlan please come. If you’re afraid of going out at night, Reset can escort you!”
Familiar voices appeared on the other end of the phone. Warmth filled Xue Lan’s heart as he listened to their lively exchanges.
He gazed at the vacant room, illuminated solely by a night lamp. What once seemed like a typical solitary existence now didn’t feel so desolate.
Suddenly, he fixed his gaze on the night lamp and sat up. “Then… I’ll come over after getting ready.”
——————–
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