Chapter 1 The All-Star Weekend Continues

The All-Star Weekend activities were still ongoing, but Ye Xiu had already silently walked onto the streets outside the venue alone.

This kind of situation was quite familiar to him. Having participated in so many years of professional competitions, he always left early on his own. He had never attended pre- or post-match press conferences.

Glory had developed year after year, receiving more and more attention. The media's encirclement and interception of him had become increasingly fierce. To have persisted for so long without being exposed, the difficulty of creating this miracle was no less than building a dynasty.

Looking back, the tall stadium was now shining brightly from the outside. Individuals seemed so small in comparison to it.

"Tsk, tsk." Ye Xiu sighed, turned his head, and prepared to continue toward the hotel when he saw a girl sitting on the guardrail on the side of the road ahead. She had a large telescope hanging around her neck and was waving at him.

"Impressive, you're even faster than me." Ye Xiu greeted her and walked over.

"Hehe." Su Mucheng smiled and jumped off the railing. She was still completely wrapped up, wearing a large hat and mask. If it weren't for a familiar person like Ye Xiu, it would be difficult to recognize her.

"The competition is over, let's go get some ice cream?" Su Mucheng said.

Ye Xiu was stunned for a moment and casually said, "Is that shop still open?"

"It is!" Su Mucheng raised her telescope and looked across the road. "Look." She then handed the telescope to Ye Xiu. Ye Xiu looked through it and, sure enough, he saw the small ice cream shop on a small street behind the Samsara competition venue, still lit up.

"It's winter now," Ye Xiu said.

"Winter is the best. It won't melt so quickly, so we can eat it slowly," Su Mucheng said.

"Then let's go!" Ye Xiu said helplessly.

Su Mucheng immediately leaned on the railing again and climbed over.

"Mind your manners..." Ye Xiu muttered, but he also slowly climbed over.

They crossed the road and entered the small street. The small ice cream shop was as it always was. Four small tables for two, various flavors of ice cream in the ice cabinet with small handwritten price tags. The shop owner was a man in his forties. When he saw customers come in, he didn't greet them enthusiastically, but he wasn't coldly ignoring them either. He just stood in front of the ice cabinet, quietly waiting for instructions.

"I want this, this, this, and this. A quarter of each flavor, is that okay?" Su Mucheng skillfully selected the flavors.

"Okay." The shop owner took a large cup, evenly filled a quarter of each of the four flavors, put a small spoon on top, and handed it to Su Mucheng. He looked at Ye Xiu, asking if he wanted anything.

"Is smoking allowed?" Ye Xiu asked.

"Yes." The shop owner nodded. Seeing that Ye Xiu didn't seem to want to buy anything, he stopped paying attention to them.

At the small table outside the window, Su Mucheng was playing with her ice cream, eating it happily. Ye Xiu sat opposite her, smoking quietly.

The weather was cold, and the ice cream was cold, but this familiar feeling made them feel particularly warm.

Outside the Samsara competition venue, Chen Guo and Tang Rou finally ran out.

Chen Guo also had a telescope and immediately used it to look around in all directions, but she couldn't see Ye Xiu's shadow anywhere.

"He ran so fast!" Chen Guo said. She and Tang Rou had rushed out pretty quickly.

"He said he'd go back first," Tang Rou said.

"Let's go back!" Chen Guo decisively stopped a taxi and returned to the hotel with Tang Rou at lightning speed. She didn't even go to her own room, but directly knocked on Ye Xiu's door, but there was no response after a long time.

"He's not back yet?" Chen Guo wondered, "Where did he go?"

"Maybe he's just wandering around outside. Let's wait!" Tang Rou opened the door to their room.

"Is he really Ye Qiu?" Chen Guo followed Tang Rou in.

"Yes..." Tang Rou's answer was a little helpless. Chen Guo had repeated this question for the seventh time.

"That guy..." Chen Guo muttered and turned on the TV in the room. The esports channel was still broadcasting the All-Star Weekend activities. As before, professional players were sitting on the stage accepting challenges from ordinary players. This time, there were no more surprises. The professional players easily defeated one challenger after another, but the atmosphere at the scene could not be heated up no matter what. After such a climax, such small scenes no longer excited anyone except the challengers who were chosen to go on stage.

Chen Guo was watching TV, but her eyes were blank, and her mind was not on the TV at all. She vaguely heard some movement in the hallway outside and rushed out, but it wasn't Ye Xiu at all.

"Where did that guy go?" Chen Guo muttered, alternately standing by the window with her telescope and checking the hallway, knocking on the door across the hall to see if Ye Xiu had returned without anyone knowing. In between, she discussed Ye Xiu with Tang Rou a few times without rhyme or reason. In short, she wasn't quiet for a moment. After fussing for a full hour, the activities of the second day of the All-Star Weekend on TV were over, but Ye Xiu was still nowhere to be seen.

"That guy doesn't even have a cell phone," Chen Guo complained. At this time, the broadcast of the activities ended, and after a while, the press conference after the second day's activities began. There wasn't much to say about those entertainment games for the public. The pile of changes in the Challenger League was obviously the hot topic of the day. As one of the protagonists, Du Ming was of course sent to participate in the press conference and enjoyed the treatment of being surrounded by many reporters like a god.

Du Ming was now much calmer. After all, he was a professional player. If he couldn't let go of winning or losing, how could he survive in this circle? Although losing to an ordinary player was embarrassing, he had proved himself somewhat by winning four consecutive matches later. Moreover, that beauty's strength had been recognized by many people after the match.

As for that even more perverted challenger number two, although no one saw his true face, everyone basically agreed that it was Ye Qiu.

So, from Du Ming, nothing of value could be asked. Of course, it wasn't appropriate for him to show a lack of manners at this time, so he praised Tang Rou's strength and expressed his respect for the great god.

"So, what are your thoughts on the sudden appearance of Great God Ye Qiu at the All-Star Weekend?" The reporters asked this question to almost every professional player they had the opportunity to interview, and even conducted some random interviews with many audience members on site.

The answers from the audience on site were very bold, with all sorts of patterns. As for the professional players, they were all cautious and perfunctory.

Surrounding the question of Ye Qiu, the reporters of course spared no effort to grill the players of his old club, Excellent Era. As a result, the people from Excellent Era reacted blandly, saying nothing more than some polite blessings, which were very uninformative. And Su Mucheng, who was the most familiar with Ye Qiu, didn't show up at all afterward, and no one interviewed her.

In the end, the only bright spot was when Han Wenqing was interviewed. This captain, known for his domineering attitude, stared at the camera and bluntly dropped a sentence: "I'm waiting for you to come back."

This sentence ultimately became the biggest gain among the many interviews. Reports mostly used this as the headline. The media welcomed Han Wenqing's gimmicky idea and speculated whether this was really a signal that Great God Ye Qiu intended to make a comeback. In particular, the Dragon Raises Its Head, an operation that no one in the league could replicate and that even Ye Qiu himself hadn't used for two years, was suddenly used at this time. It really seemed to be telling everyone that he hadn't become a thing of the past.

Watching these bystanders and the media's various speculations about Ye Qiu's whereabouts and plans, Chen Guo, as a partially informed person,得意地产生了一点优越感. Regarding the future that everyone was more concerned about, Chen Guo also jumped up and clenched her fist: "When that guy comes back, I will definitely ask him clearly."

Saying that, she walked back and forth by the window and door again. As the time grew late, Ye Xiu still didn't return. Chen Guo finally began to worry: "Do you think he... doesn't plan to come back after his identity is exposed?"

Tang Rou was also stunned: "Wouldn't he?"

"He... hasn't even received his first month's salary yet?" Chen Guo suddenly said, her tone full of disappointment. She suddenly realized that although she couldn't equate Ye Xiu and Ye Qiu in her mind for the time being, whether it was that lazy, annoying guy or the great god she had admired for many years, whether either identity left quietly like this, it didn't feel good.

Chen Guo suddenly fell silent and sat silently on the edge of the bed.

"He will come back." Tang Rou quietly walked over and comforted her.

As soon as she finished speaking, there was movement in the hallway again, but Chen Guo's mood was different from before. After sighing, she didn't make a fuss.

As a result, this movement was getting closer and closer. After a moment, it actually stopped outside their door.

"He's back, right?" Chen Guo was still in a daze. This time, Tang Rou said as she went to check. She opened the door and saw Ye Xiu was tinkering with the door.

"Not asleep yet?" Ye Xiu turned his head and greeted them. Chen Guo had already rushed out like a gust of wind, but Ye Xiu opened the door, turned to the two of them and said, "Rest early," and then went in on his own.

Chen Guo didn't know where to start, but this guy just flashed away.

"What's the situation?" Chen Guo's mind couldn't turn around.

"It seems like... nothing happened..." Tang Rou smiled wryly. She estimated that Chen Guo was about to explode.

Sure enough, Chen Guo was stunned for a moment and then rushed up to bang on the door a few times. Ye Xiu opened the door with a puzzled look, as if he really didn't know what was going on. Tang Rou was speechless.

"What's wrong?" Ye Xiu asked.

"Confess!" Chen Guo said aggressively. She had originally thought for a long time about how to talk to this person. After all, Ye Xiu and Ye Qiu were completely different people in Chen Guo's mind. Now that the two were combined, should she talk to him like a wandering internet cafe employee or talk to her idol whom she had admired for many years?
Hu Die Lan