Chapter 149

Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios

Ji Zhiyao looked around. “Don’t look at me like that, I will feel embarrassed.”

The rest kept silent.

Ji Zhiyao continued. “That’s set, come come come, get moving!”

...

Everyone in Mix had thought that, Ji Zhiyao was referring to a certain setting that did not adhere to more than half of the national core values. Ultimately, they did not expect that...

They had really overestimated him.

Ji Zhiyao dragged them along to buy a heap of food, then they went on a bumpy bus ride for more than two hours and arrived at S City Waterfront. He carried two packs of beer, walked over and dropped onto the ground, saying excitedly, “Come on, we’re here for a picnic. Whatever unhappiness you have, shout it out loud while eating, shout it all out and you’ll feel better!”

K covered his face in despair. “... Damn it, how did we recruit this idiot into the team?”

Mo Huaifeng looked mutely towards him.

K recalled that Ji Zhiyao was brought in by Mo Huaifeng and cowered instantly. “Captain I was wrong.”

Mo Huaifeng looked as if he was deep in thought. “I think I am slightly regretful too.”

Nevertheless, they were already here and the scenery by the waterfront was not bad. There was a drizzle in the morning, the temperature around wasn’t high as well. Hence all of them sat down, gazing at the edge of the gray skies that matched the hue of the river and ate while drinking, gradually finding more enjoyment.

They were chatting when Mo Huaifeng’s phone suddenly rang. He took a clear look at the number on the screen, then said, “I’ll go take a call.”

Without hearing the reaction of the others, Mo Huaifeng took several steps away and picked up the call.

There was a smile in the voice on the other end. “Captain, I never thought that after so many years, your phone number would still be the same.”

“Dong Ning.”

Mo Huaifeng peacefully called out Cabbage’s actual name.

“It’s me.” Cabbage said, “Those issues on Tieba and Weibo, have nothing to do with me. I know all of you are in a bad mood, but you should find the correct person to lose your temper at.”

Mo Huaifeng squinted and looked into the distance. He recalled the materials that he had gone through briefly in the morning and asked again, “Is that so?”

Cabbage replied without the slightest hesitation, “Yes.”

His eyes staring at the river, Mo Huaifeng held an indifferent expression. “Since it has nothing to do with you, why are you suddenly contacting me?”

Cabbage paused for a moment before saying, “I just felt that in the livestream yesterday, I did not speak a single bad word against Mix from the start till the end; and I warned my teammates too. But this morning my manager told me that the club had received a demand for the battleteam to apologize. I don’t understand where I’ve done wrong, so I gave you a call to ask.”

“Getting Miao Pai to apologize is a decision made by the team’s club. You don’t need to contact me, I can’t change anything.”

Cabbage was stunned and laughed. “Captain, am I still oblivious about your status? As long as you make one call, saying that we don’t have to apologize, then we won’t have to. You are aware as well, Miao Pai battleteam is just preparing to debut this year, carrying such a reputation right at the start, won’t look too good.”

Mo Huaifeng’s face became a cold scorn. “You only know that Miao Pai would have a bad reputation, then what about us?”

Cabbage kept silent.

Mo Huaifeng frowned in frustration and did not speak as well.

After some time, Cabbage said, “Captain, let this matter end here, it’s merely a rumor, there’s no loss for Mix battleteam at all. For sake of past affections, could you end it here?”

If it wasn’t for the past affection that they used to fight alongside each other, just with those evidence in Nuo’s hands, with Cabbage’s intention of wanting to use them to create a hype, would be enough for Miao Pai battleteam to be directly banned from competing, how could it be that he was only demanding an apology?

But Mo Huaifeng did not intend on vocalizing these thoughts, only saying, “If there’s nothing else, I’m hanging up.”

He did not give Cabbage a chance to continue going on and hung up on him directly.

After staying in silence by himself for a moment, he texted Yuan Wei.

[DB.MHF: Did you not hand the evidence directly to Le Tian Club?]

[ManagerYuanWei: No, I listened to you, just an apology and this matter would be considered over. Don’t I know you well enough? If I gave it directly, you definitely wouldn’t feel good at heart.]

[DB.MHF: Do it. Let the club take it up with them, you don’t need to interfere anymore.]

[ManagerYuanWei: That’s the way!]

[ManagerYuanWei: I don’t care what’s the reason for you coming through, I’m going to contact the club first.]

Mo Huaifeng looked at his phone’s screen, and smiled.

...

Ji Zhiyao took a mouthful of beer as he heard K wonder animatedly, “Tell me about it, why is Captain making a call behind our backs? He has never been like this in the past, look at how nervous he is now, could it be that he has found a girlfriend?”

Ji Zhiyao choked. “Oof.”

Heng who was almost spat on dodged to the side, still in shock as he cried out, “F*ck, NoHomo, did you think you were watering plants!”

Ji Zhiyao picked up a tissue and wiped his mouth. “My bad, my bad.”

Nuo said, “He was probably shocked by K. Our Captain, out of 24 hours in a day, he stays at the base for 23 and a half. With the exception of team dinner parties or activities, competitions, the amount of time he spends out absolutely does not exceed one hour. Such a person, how could you readily speculate that he has broken away from the ranks of the organization?”

However, he had really broken away.

It was even with another that was self-produced and marketed by the team...

Ji Zhiyao calmly took a bite of chicken while observing his other heartless teammates around him and decided that for the sake of their physical and mental health, in the time to come, it was best not to let them know.

His gaze shifted as he looked towards his Captain.

His phone call had probably ended, at present, his arm was placed on the railing by the river, seeming like he was looking at the scenery. Because the distance was slightly far, Ji Zhiyao could not see his side profile clearly and at the same time, could not get a clear look of his expression.

His gaze was fixed closely on Mo Huaifeng, while he quickly finished his chicken at the same time, then stood up while patting his butt. “You guys eat up, I’ll go check on Captain.”

The rest were unsuspecting that the truth was another, Xiao said, “Son, quickly bring Captain back here, we’ll force him to drink together.”

“Okay.”

Ji Zhiyao walked to Mo Huaifeng’s side, Mo Huaifeng heard the sound of footsteps and turned his head. Seeing that it was him, his lips curved into a smile.

Suddenly, Mo Huaifeng smelled something and couldn’t help but ask with a frown, “How much did you drink?”

Ji Zhiyao lifted his sleeve upon hearing that and sniffed carefully while replying, “Not much, less than two bottles.”

“Know where to draw the line. I don’t want to have to carry you back to the base again.”

He could not stop himself from rolling his eyes exaggeratedly. And opposite him, the smile in Mo Huaifeng’s eyes because even more obvious.

Ji Zhiyao paused for a while before asking, “The person who called you just now, was it Cabbage?”

Mo Huaifeng smile vanished. “Mm.”

“Seeing how you are, he probably had very excessive demands? ... Not agreeing to settle the matter with an apology?”

Mo Huaifeng’s expression was a little mocking as he nodded once.

Ji Zhiyao was tongue-tied.

As a man, though he wanted to console him, he did not know what to say. After a few minutes, he lightly punched Mo Huaifeng’s shoulder with a fist, saying, “Don’t continue to stand here, go over and eat something, they’re still waiting for you. We still have to continue to train after eating, there’s a training tournament next week, have you forgotten?”

Mo Huaifeng’s lips gradually curved upwards.

He said, “Okay.”

...

With Mix Club going into action, Le Tian responded very quickly.

As they were worried about being sued, the measures that Le Tian Club adopted were very strong. They posted directly on their official Weibo account, admitting that the untrue information posted previously on Tieba was all the work of Cabbage and apologized to Mix battleteam. At the same time, they have taken over the Weibo accounts of all the members of Miao Pai, and planned to put them out of action for three months.

To Le Tian Club, this was the best way of handling it. Miao Pai wasn’t the only eSports battleteam under them, if the reputation of the other battleteams are affected because of Cabbage, this “almost has-been” professional player, it would be extremely unfavorable to them.

Ji Zhiyao did not continue paying attention to the outcome of this matter, because in less than two weeks, he would be taking his end-of-term examinations.

Ji Zhiyao who had been playing training tournaments and dating, and did not focus on studying this term, was in extreme agony.

In addition to that, after another summer vacation and one month of life as a Year 2 student, he would be participating in the national qualifiers as a professional player.

This was what he was most eager and also most anxious about.

Xiao’s wrist was gradually recovering, right now he could already bring into play the standards of an average professional player. According to the physiotherapist at the base, around the period of the national qualifiers, Xiao would be okay to recover completely.

This helped to slightly relieve Ji Zhiyao’s nervousness. If Xiao recovers, battleteams would usually adopt the method of having the starter and reserve take turns to go on, by then, his stress would be much less.

Ji Zhiyao sat in the dorm, hugging his linear algebra textbook while scratching his head.

He could never figure out why a law student had to learn such an obscure and difficult to comprehend subject as Advanced Mathematics.

It was killing him.

After Ji Zhiyao watched the videos for two chapters and completed the practice questions, he stood up for a stretch. He then found that his other three roommates were all hugging their judicial textbook,each reading out loud before their own desks.

There were a lot of judicial content that they needed to memorize this term, he had a better memory, so he was not worried. However, Yang Bing and the other two simply hated such things that needed memorizing and had began to revise the tested content way in advance, yet even till now, they had not managed to memorize everything.

Yang Bing was memorizing and suddenly acted like a drama queen possessed him as he let out a sorrowful wail while lying on the table, pinching his own philtrum with one hand. “Quickly dial for the ambulance, I’m dying, quickly save my life!”

The sound of Wen Heng and Ning Lichao memorizing both stopped. Wen Heng said, “Don’t worry, a pest lives on for a thousand years. With a nip of my fingers, I’ve predicted that you won’t die for now.”

Ji Zhiyao cracked his knuckles loudly, saying darkly, “If you have such a need, I guess we could satisfy you.”

“... It’s okay, thank you.”

Yang Bing got up from the table. “Have you guys heard, our Advanced Mathematics lecturer has the highest rate of retaining across the entire department, I was told that last year more than 10 people retained in each class. Virtually a human tragedy.”

Ji Zhiyao instantly felt tired at heart.

Then how about those who made frantic last-minute efforts like him?

Ning Lichao did not know about Ji Zhiyao’s thoughts at heart and rubbed salt into the wound as he said, “Even if the retaining rate is high it isn’t the lecturer’s fault, this subject is already tough in the first place. No fear if one consistently puts in effort, but studying right before the examination absolutely wouldn’t be enough.”

He laid on the table feigning death.

Before he could do so, his phone suddenly vibrated.

Ji Zhiyao got up.

[DB.MHF: Coach is asking if you can make time to play rank this weekend?]

[MelonRind: _(:_」∠)_ I’m afraid not.]

[MelonRind: Linear algebra is really too difficult, I am planning for a desperate struggle.]

[DB.MHF: Linear algebra?]

[MelonRind: !]

[MelonRind: Captain. you know how to do it? [In awe.jpg] ]

[DB.MHF: No, you sent your image too early.]

[MelonRind: ...]

[MelonRind: How could you not know how to do such a simple subject? What use do I have for you, let’s break up break up!]

[DB.MHF: ...]

... He had yet to meet someone who broke up because his other half didn’t know how to do linear algebra.

[MelonRind: Captain, do the national qualifiers have prerequisites for results? Not allowed to retain? I remember I’ve seemed to have read such information somewhere.]

[DB.MHF: That’s for youths below 18 years of age, people who have already completed compulsory education are not in that category.]

Ji Zhiyao was relieved, [Then forget it, I’ll leave things to fate. I pass if I do, if I don’t it’s Heaven’s will.]

[DB.MHF: How promising.]

[MelonRind: Then what should I do? You can’t watch as I get tortured to death.]

[DB.MHF: [image] ]

[MelonRind: Captain, why did you send me a picture of a koi?]

[DB.MHF: Sent luck to you. If you don’t pass, it’s purely because you didn’t work hard enough.]

[MelonRind: [goodbye] [goodbye] I’m going to revise.]

[DB.MHF: Rooting for Yao-god.]

Ji Zhiyao looked at the last line of words while curling in his lip.

This was so cringy.

He stared at the linear algebra textbook before him, not long after, the corner of his lips slowly, gradually lifted up.

Tsk.

...

Two weeks later, it was officially July.

After completing his examinations for his final subject, Ji Zhiyao returned to the dorm and did a simple packing of his belongings.

In order to prepare for the competition, he would not be going during this summer vacation, and would be staying at the base the whole time to train.

After packing, he bid his three dorm mates farewell.

Yang Bing said, “Train well during summer vacation. In another few months, I’ll be waiting to see you shine at the qualifiers.”

Ning Lichao added, “Rooting for you, Old Ji.”

And Wen Heng teased, “Remember to buy us a meal then.”

Ji Zhiyao was at a loss of whether to laugh or cry as he said, “Sure, I will train hard, don’t worry.”

After conversing with them for a bit more, Ji Zhiyao left the dorm while dragging his suitcase and went to the bus stop to wait for the school bus.

Because he did not know if he would hand in his script early, he simply decided not to get Mo Huaifeng to come fetch him.

He did not wait for long, the bus arrived. Ji Zhiyao stood behind the queue and boarded with the crowd while dragging his suitcase and walked to sit down in the last row of the bus.

As the neighboring schools were essentially all breaking for vacation today, the roads were slightly jammed. It took an entire 40 minute drive, before the bus arrived at the tech park.

Ji Zhiyao alighted and walked towards the base.

Outside the base, he greeted the two security guards who were on duty, then walked towards the front door of the villa and opened the door to enter.

He placed his suitcase beside the door and walked towards the training room. It happened that everyone in the team, including Yuan Wei, the stats analyzer, coach, all were in the training room, having a discussion while pointing at a white board.

Yuan Wei was the first to see him. “NoHomo is back. How was your exam?”

Ji Zhiyao threw his backpack down, and first shared a look with Mo Huaifeng before he replied crankily, “Brother Yuan Wei, could you not touch the tender spot?”

“I was just showing concern for you. You’ve arrived just in time, we’re currently arranging the sequence of the training tournaments for the coming three months. You come take a look too.”n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

Ji Zhiyao moved a chair and naturally sat behind Mo Huaifeng, looking at the white board at the front.

Listed on it, were all the names of the local top battleteams.