Chapter 69: The Alliance Support Who Was Suppressed by His Teammates (Part 12)
The matches were played one after another, and the few members of Dawn had become more and more coordinated, almost establishing their kingly status.
On the last day of the league, a light snow was falling in the sky.
Dawn was up against BCC. The ultimate showdown between the two top teams. The winner would be going to Europe.
Countless fans were holding light signs, and their eyes were shining as they waited for the results inside and outside the stadium. There were old fans who had been with Dawn for many years, and there were also new fans who had recently joined. They had been with them through the ups and downs of the past few months.
The few members of Dawn got out of the car, and the scene was a tsunami of sound.
Duan Qiancheng frowned and had someone distribute hot milk tea. He was skilled at it now, and he had ordered it with three parts sugar.
A group of them hurried through the crowd of fans, and he did not forget to remind them, “Wear more clothes. Those who are wearing less can wait inside next time. Don’t come out and freeze.”
They hurried into the stadium and ran into the BCC team.
This was an old rival. The first team of BCC was known for being old and cunning, and they were all heartless. But compared to some of the lower-class teams, BCC was still quite upright in their cunning.
What was even rarer was that BCC, like Dawn, had also gathered a team of handsome men, who were tall and had long legs, and were very eye-catching. The fans would look at their faces and would willingly buy their merchandise every year.
Besides the fact that they could not beat Zhuang Ningyu, who was a cheater and not a human, BCC was not afraid of anyone else in the alliance.
In previous years, the two teams had only been nodding acquaintances. Ever since they had been collectively scolded by LKN, and they had been staring at the idiots in the training matches, their relationship had actually become a little closer.
The captain of BCC was a handsome man who looked like the owner of a car repair shop. He was not one to smile, and he was a nodding acquaintance of Zhuang Ningyu on WeChat. When they passed by, the two of them had nodded slightly.
After walking a few steps, he had turned his head, and his gaze had swept over Zhuang Ningyu, who was talking with his head down, and Zhuang Ningyu, who had lifted his head with a light laugh, and had casually ruffled his teammate’s hair. He was stunned for a moment.
His lips had moved, and he seemed to have wanted to ask something, but the occasion was not right, and he had closed his mouth again.
The assault behind him had leaned on his shoulder, and his charming peach blossom eyes had curved slightly, and he had looked at him. “What’s wrong?”
The captain of BCC had looked at the shoulders of the two of them, and then he had recalled the hazy scene after drinking a few months ago. After a pause, he had frowned and had cleared his head, and had shaken his head. “Nothing.”
The lights on the stage were flashing, and both sides were in their positions.
The last match was very close. Both sides had won one match, and the winner was only decided in the end.
In the last match, the captain of BCC had been surrounded in a valley, and the NPC soldiers had suffered heavy casualties. The other members had cut their losses and had survived, but the team without a commander had had a very hard time on the battlefield map.
After a fifty-three-minute entanglement, the league had ended with Dawn’s victory.
The members of both sides had shaken hands, and the stadium was in an uproar.
The lights in the post-match interview room were flashing. The host came up with a smile and congratulated Dawn on successfully winning the triple crown.
He held a microphone and routinely asked Dawn what they had to say. Then he remembered the reply from a certain interview before, and his ears pricked up a little.
Fang Cheng took the microphone and shouted that he was going straight to Europe. Lin Qingchuan pushed up his glasses and said concisely that he would continue to work hard. And Yu Lin, who was known as the number one support in the alliance, just said a low-key “thank you.”
It had not been easy for him to get to this day. After that, the host looked at the only triple champion in the alliance at the moment, the man who had almost been deified, and waited for his answer.
But this time, Zhuang Ningyu’s reply was very conventional. He stood in the brightly lit interview room, his expression placid, and just said, “Thank you, everyone. I will continue to work hard. BCC is a respectable opponent.”
***
After the match, the group of them went straight to a restaurant.
Duan Qiancheng waved his hand and let them eat and drink well, and they had to reward themselves well. After a lot of noise, even he himself was drunk in the end.
Duan Qiancheng never drank in private, and he would always bring someone with him when he attended a dinner party. It was said that he had been tricked in the past few years and had almost made a mistake, so he had never touched it again.
But with the successive failures in the first half of the year, the public opinion that Dawn had to bear was not small, and the forum had scolded them countless times.
Now that the results were out, it was a moment of pride, and he was also really happy.
Fang Cheng was so happy that he spun around. “Hehe, I told you. I’m not going home so early.”
As he spoke, he was flapping his arms. Lin Qingchuan pushed up his glasses, and his arm was bumped by him. He held it in for a while, but he couldn’t hold it in any longer, and he pinched his soft face and twisted it.
Fang Cheng was shocked. “Will it be asymmetrical!”
Lin Qingchuan: “…” What an idiot.
Yu Lin’s alcohol tolerance was as bad as ever. After a few drinks, even his eyelashes were red. He sat on the side, and there was no expression on his cold face, and he was pressing his lips together lightly.
Someone sat down by his side. He looked up with hesitation, and in a daze, he met his boyfriend’s quiet eyes.
“Sleepy?” His cheeks were pinched by two cold hands. Yu Lin blinked, and he lowered his head with hesitation, and he nuzzled the fingers by his cheek in his drowsiness.
Zhuang Ningyu looked at him, and his fingers lifted slightly, and they threaded through his hair and ruffled it. “Sleep for a while.”
Yu Lin tilted his head and fell down.
In a daze, the light and shadow in the private room were swaying, and they were flickering and stretching into blurry shadows.
The owner of the restaurant was a fan of “Under the Stars” and was broadcasting the league on the big screen at the entrance. As one skill after another fell, the sound of fireworks and fans’ cheers came from afar.
When they were going back, most of the people in the car were lying down.
Zhuang Ningyu’s eyelids were also red. He lifted his arm slightly and rested it on the window. The window in the car was open, and a cool breeze was blowing in. Yu Lin was by his side, his head was drooping, and he was drowsy.
Everyone in the car had had a lot to drink. When they had had too much, they would start to talk in their sleep one by one.
Duan Qiancheng was the most talkative. He was leaning against the back of the chair, and he let out a whimper, and then he straightened up and suddenly laughed. “Who the hell said I can’t do it? I’m so good at it. I’m so awesome!”
Fang Cheng was so startled by his sudden movement that he almost fell down, and he looked up in a daze. “Huh?”
Duan Qiancheng looked at him, paused for a moment, and patted his head. “You don’t understand. Don’t look at me and Brother Zhuang looking so glamorous. We’ve also had our share of hardships.”
He counted, “Especially your Brother Zhuang. At that time, in order to play games, he had a falling out with the empress dowager. It was so tragic.”
Fang Cheng had never heard of these things, and he was energized. “Who is the empress dowager?”
Duan Qiancheng pointed to Zhuang Ningyu. “His mom.”
Fang Cheng’s expression was slightly stiff, and his cheeks were flushed. He was hesitant and puzzled. “Bro, why are you cursing again?”
Duan Qiancheng was so angry that he hit him. “I’m not cursing. It’s really his mother!”
“…”
When Fang Cheng had met Zhuang Ningyu, Zhuang Ningyu was still young, and he was different from them.
The young Zhuang Ningyu was a truly outstanding student. He had been a god-like existence since he was a child, and he had won countless competition awards. According to his mother’s plan, he should have lived a stable and step-by-step life, with gold and jade.
But on his way to a competition, he had been attracted by a game competition at the entrance of an internet cafe and had stopped, and then he had decided to go and play games.
One could imagine Ms. Zhuang’s anger at that time.
But Ms. Zhuang was tough, and he was even tougher than Ms. Zhuang. No one could change his decision.
Even if he had to eat instant noodles and live in a hotel, he had not bowed his head.
Duan Qiancheng said, “When we formed the team, your Brother Zhuang had already made a name for himself. Fang Cheng and Yu Lin came later and didn’t know. Qingchuan had also suffered with him. It was really not easy.”
The others had not heard of these things, and they were listening with great interest.
He was talking about Zhuang Ningyu’s past, and the man’s arm was against the glass, and his expression was placid, as if he were not the one in the story.
Yu Lin was a little awake, and his cheeks were red, and his expression was quiet. He would occasionally turn his head to look.
He was pressing his lips together, and his gaze was focused. Zhuang Ningyu turned his head, and in the hazy night, the others did not notice, and their hands were unknowingly intertwined.
Duan Qiancheng was still talking. “The others don’t know. Your Brother Zhuang really can’t afford to lose. According to the empress dowager’s request, if he loses, he will really be taken away.”
He remembered the young Zhuang Ningyu from that year, who had a straight face and was coldly confronting a group of secretaries in suits, and he took a sharp breath. “He really can’t afford to lose.”
The fingers in his palm tightened. Zhuang Ningyu looked up, and his gaze, which had been on the hazy lights of the city, shifted. Facing his boyfriend’s nervous gaze, an unexpected expression appeared on his cold, jade-like face.
He raised his eyebrows, and after a long while, he let out a low laugh, and comforted him in a placid voice, “He’s just bragging. It won’t happen.”
After a pause, he added, “Duan Qiancheng has watched too much TV. In reality, no one can restrict a citizen’s personal freedom without reason.”
The others were stunned for a moment, and they all let out a sigh of relief. Before long, the car was noisy again.
It was not early when they returned to the base. He didn’t know if it was because they had been too noisy in the car, but after he had finished his shower, his sleepiness had dissipated a lot.
Yu Lin picked up his phone and saw a message that his boyfriend had sent a minute ago. It was a picture: 『Starry Sky.』
The air quality in Ning City was very good. Under the deep blue night, the stars were twinkling. Looking out from the balcony, half of the city was shrouded in a cluster of stars, and there were occasional scattered tall buildings, and the lights were bright.
It was snowing in the sky, and the heating in the room was on. The sound of a door being pushed open was heard from behind. Zhuang Ningyu was leaning against the balcony and turned his head to look over.
In the snowy day, and in the warm room, his boyfriend was only wearing a T-shirt and shorts, and he had come into his room with his hair half-wet.
Zhuang Ningyu stared at his hair for a few seconds, then glanced at the sub-zero temperature outside the window, and got up to get a hairdryer.
The warm wind and his boyfriend’s moderately strong fingers were shuttling through his hair. Yu Lin was sitting cross-legged on the soft carpet, drowsy.
Outside the window, the snow was falling one by one, and the city was gradually turning silver-white.
His head was nodding, and he didn’t know when his hair had been dried, just as his alcohol-dazed brain couldn’t tell how they had started to kiss.
The temperature on his neck was scorching hot. He was gently held by his long and slender fingers, and the touch of his lips was soft and warm. It gently probed in, and his back was instantly numb.
He couldn’t speak, and his eyelashes lifted slightly. His cold face was blank, and his eyes were wet. “Captain.”
Zhuang Ningyu lowered his eyes to look at him, and his Adam’s apple bobbed slightly, and in the end, a laugh rolled out.
He lowered his head, kissed Yu Lin’s lips, and let out a low “en,” and leaned down.
Yu Lin felt that he was very hot, but the glass was icy. The lights in front of him were flickering, and the two heavens of ice and fire made him want to run away, but the weight on his waist made him unable to avoid it.
His clothes were thinly rolled up, and a fine kiss fell inch by inch, leaving no gaps.
His waist rose and then fell, and his eyes were dazed.
It was still snowing outside, but he was about to melt.
He was melting in Zhuang Ningyu’s arms, and he had become a weightless snowflake.
“…”
An unknown amount of time passed. The snow outside was getting heavier and heavier, and the entire city had unknowingly turned white in the darkness, and it was covered in silver.
Yu Lin opened his eyes in a daze, and his chin was resting on a warm chest.
A jacket was draped over him. It was deep blue, and the jacket had a faint cold scent. Yu Lin turned his head, and he slowly went over and sniffed it, like a puppy identifying its territory.
Zhuang Ningyu’s gaze was placidly looking at the snowflakes outside the window. Feeling the movement, his gaze paused slightly, and it fell, and it was much gentler.
“You’re awake? What are you sniffing?” He raised his hand and pushed aside the damp hair on Yu Lin’s forehead.
Yu Lin was resting his chin on him, and he looked up at the jacket on him. He remembered the faint smell of tobacco on the team uniform from a long, long time ago. He pressed his lips together lightly and asked with curiosity, “Captain, do you smoke?”
“Occasionally.” Zhuang Ningyu said, and after a pause, he reached out and pinched his cheek. “I won’t smoke anymore. Kids are not allowed to learn.”
Yu Lin’s eyelashes lifted slightly, and he thought of his experience in this world, and he said with certainty, “I… am not a kid anymore.”
I haven’t been for a long time.
Zhuang Ningyu held him and suddenly let out a low laugh. He held Yu Lin, and his fingers opened, and he pinched both sides of Yu Lin’s cheeks, and he squeezed them in the middle like a little frog.
After a while, he said in a low voice, “It’s fine. You are now.”