Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
While Qiao Lian was contemplating the matter, her cell phone suddenly rang.
As she reached for it, she saw the number on the screen and walked over to the balcony to take the call.
A very formal-sounding worker’s voice came through the speaker. “How are you? I’m Lot’s official representative. Are you Coach Qiao?”
“Yes, I am.”
“Your CQ Team has passed the preliminary competition. The team has qualified for the actual competition that will be taking place in three days’.”
Qiao Lian’s eyes lit up at once when she heard this. “Great.”
It was only after she hung up that she realized today was the official announcement of the results.
Using her cell phone, she went to the Lot official website.
It was then that she discovered CQ Team had actually taken the second position in the preliminary round.
And in the top position… was King Team!
Qiao Lian frowned.
King Fighting Team was evidently a strong team. Besides Smiling Tiger, the rest of the team members were not new. Hence, the chances of Smiling Tiger being able to take the field would not be very high.
Such a competitive team would prove to be quite a worthy opponent.
In the days that followed, Qiao Lian was busy as she could be.
She was constantly running between the hospital and the team’s villa. She had little time to occupy her mind with anything else.
On this particular day, she had brought some boiled chicken and wolfberry soup from home to the hospital for Shen Liangchuan.
After drinking a mouthful of soup that Qiao Lian had poured out for him into a bowl, he said, “I’ll be discharged tomorrow.”
Qiao Lian was a little surprised at hearing this. “Didn’t the doctor say that you’ll need to stay for a few days, until the wound closes?”
Shen Liangchuan put down the bowl and replied, “It’s my body and I have a better idea than the doctor. I’ve called Song Cheng, he’ll be here in the morning to help me with the discharge paperwork.”
Qiao Lian could not figure out the reason for his insistence, but after thinking for a moment she suddenly remembered: wasn’t the team playing their semifinals tomorrow?
Was Shen Liangchuan insisting on being discharged so that he could go and watch the match with her?
She looked at him steadily for a few moments and finally nodded. “Okay.”
–
First thing the following day, Qiao Lian went to the hospital to help Shen Liangchuan pack his belongings.
After the discharge paperwork had been completed, she accompanied the newly-recuperated, or more accurately, the yet-to-recuperate Shen Liangchuan to the competition venue.
To avoid being recognized, Shen Liangchuan was well-prepared, completely disguised and not standing out at all in the crowd.
As they had been delayed by the discharge process at the hospital, they arrived a little late for the competition.
By the time they got there, the other teams and coaches were already in position.
Qiao Lian headed for the backstage lounge, after she found Shen Liangchuan a seat among the audience and settled him.
She also walked to the back of the venue and from there, she could see that the audience was huge and almost all the seats were filled.
The crowd was a mass of black against the stage and the ambient lights, noisy and chaotic.
As she stared at this bustling scene and immersed herself in the adrenalin-pumping atmosphere, the thought of Zi Chuan automatically appeared in her mind.
If only he was still alive… If only he was here.
Could they have been professional gamers, sitting in this same place, eight years ago?
As her mind rested on this thought, her lips curled upwards in a bitter smile.
Just as Shen Liangchuan was unable to forget his first love, wasn’t she also unable to forget her Zi Chuan?
She took in a long, deep breath and told herself something.
This match was not just for Shen Liangchuan, and not just for their team’s aspirations, it was also for Zi Chuan.
For Zi Chuan, she had to become the champion in this season’s match!!