Chapter 218 No Ye Qiu?

The two reporters had come specifically to cover the Challenger League, so they had to do some homework. Jia Shi was naturally a key part of their research, and while the boss, Tao Xuan, didn't have much public exposure, they still recognized him right away.

"Boss Tao!" Their surprise was evident.

"Hello," Tao Xuan nodded in greeting, then immediately showed concern for Happy's situation. "You just said that Ye Qiu isn't on Happy's registration list?"

"That's right, take a look..." One of the reporters said, pulling out his phone. The so-called final list was displayed on his screen, which made Tao Xuan look at him suspiciously.

The reporter also looked a little awkward, but there was nothing he could do. They hadn't gotten the information on-site. They had followed Cao Guangcheng over here, and this final list was actually something they had refreshed from the Challenger League page on the Glory official website.

From the list on the phone screen, Tao Xuan could clearly see that behind Happy's character Lord Grim, the name of the player listed was unmistakably Ye Xiu.

Ye Qiu and Ye Xiu—only a character's difference, but for a competition that required strict identity verification, the difference was huge.

Tao Xuan glanced at Cui Li, and couldn't help but look at Su Mucheng again. Instinct told him that Su Mucheng definitely knew something, but he no longer expected to get anything from her. In fact, with Su Mucheng present, he didn't want to discuss the matter further.

The Jia Shi group left the hotel. As a powerhouse team, it would be a bit undignified for them to line up to take taxis. Jia Shi naturally had transportation arranged. But Jia Shi's boss, Tao Xuan, didn't make separate arrangements, and got on the luxurious bus with the players. The three reporters from Esports Home followed Jia Shi onto the bus, but soon realized that there were no extra seats next to their desired targets, the Jia Shi boss and manager. They were sensible and went to the back, finding seats at random.

After that, the two reporters began excitedly searching for interview subjects among the other Jia Shi members. Cao Guangcheng watched coldly from the side, sneering in his heart.

These two were really inexperienced as team-following reporters.

Team-following reporters had more time and opportunities to interact with interview subjects than general reporters, so there was no need, nor should they, rush up to ask questions as soon as they spotted a target.

The highest level of team-following reporter was to become like a member of the team, thereby recognizing the most authentic side of everyone here. Interactions should be like friendly chats and exchanges. Using their own eyes and ears, they would search for interesting material in countless trivial details, using these to enrich their articles and write content and angles that other reporters couldn't.

But what about these two? They grabbed a player as if they were going to do an exclusive interview, which was too inappropriate. The Jia Shi players were all here now, but were they going to conveniently complete eight exclusive interviews on this one trip? There was no such easy thing. If they really wanted to do an exclusive interview, even a team-following reporter had to go through the proper channels and apply to the club first.

After excitedly buzzing around for a while, the two reporters quickly sensed the Jia Shi players' dissatisfaction with them. Pitifully, they didn't know what they had done wrong, and returned to their seats, nervously muttering to themselves. They glanced at Cao Guangcheng, but he seemed oblivious to the rare opportunity at hand, sitting with so many news figures and actually dozing off against the car window.

The two reporters didn't dare wander around looking for players anymore, so they pricked up their ears, trying to hear what kind of exchanges the Jia Shi people would have with each other. But the car was completely silent. Up front, the boss Tao Xuan and Cui Li were constantly exchanging something, but neither of them dared to get close enough to listen.

"There's actually no Ye Qiu…" This was what Tao Xuan said to Cui Li after getting on the bus and settling down.

Cui Li, at this moment, also took out his phone and searched the official website. He didn't just look at Lord Grim, but scanned the names of all the players on Happy's roster. There was indeed no Ye Qiu, but… What was with the Berserker at the bottom?

"Sun Zheping!" Tao Xuan had only seen Lord Grim from the reporter's phone and hadn't scrolled down. When he saw the list on Cui Li's phone, he was stunned.

He had been in this circle since the early days of the league. He wouldn't have forgotten the name Sun Zheping.

"How could this person also run over to their team?" Tao Xuan couldn't understand.

Cui Li couldn't answer. He only knew that this person's addition would only make Happy more terrifying. Would Jia Shi's chances of victory against Happy still be one hundred percent? Cui Li doubted it, but he didn't dare say it out loud.

"Let's not worry about that for now. What's going on with this Ye Qiu?" Tao Xuan was at a loss. After they had revealed that Ye Qiu was forming Happy, and then Esports Home had reported that there definitely wouldn't be Ye Qiu on Happy's registration list, they had discussed the matter more than once. The final consensus was that Ye Qiu would somehow switch in by the time they reached the offline matches. As for this Ye Xiu, he was probably just a random person they found to lend their name. Anyway, there was no supervision during the offline matches, and Ye Qiu would control Lord Grim. Others wouldn't be able to do anything about it without evidence.

As for why they went to the trouble of creating a Ye Xiu, in Jia Shi's view, it was because they didn't want to be exposed, as the pressure from fans would be too great. But when it came to the offline matches, because the rules were strict, they would have no choice but to reveal their true selves. Who would have thought that now that the offline matches had arrived, Ye Xiu was still Ye Xiu, and this Ye Qiu really wouldn't appear on the field?

This should have been excellent news for Jia Shi. But Tao Xuan and Cui Li couldn't smile at all right now. Their intuition told them that this wasn't a good thing, that this was a very big game they were playing.

"It seems that it's necessary to pay him a visit in person," Tao Xuan said.

When they arrived at the Challenger League's designated hotel, the Jia Shi players also needed to sign in at the reception desk, as expected. At this time, there weren't many participating players in the hotel lobby, so the Jia Shi group didn't attract any attention.

"Happy's team, is Ye Qiu here?" After signing in, Cui Li immediately asked the league staff.

"No," the staff member shook his head. He didn't recognize Ye Qiu either, but as the person responsible for registering hotel check-ins, he hadn't seen Ye Qiu's name appear. They had even discussed this in private!

"Then which room was this Ye Xiu assigned to?" Cui Li immediately asked.

"Happy's team is in rooms 721-726 on the 7th floor of Block A. We don't know the specifics of who's staying where," the staff member said.

"Okay, thank you," Cui Li didn't ask any more questions, and returned to report to Tao Xuan. Cao Guangcheng had been listening from not too far away, and was also surprised. Then Tao Xuan and Cui Li went to the elevator in Block A, but Cao Guangcheng couldn't follow them. He had to return to the car with the Jia Shi players. The other two reporters from Esports Home were now in an awkward situation. Should they get on the car or not? Jia Shi had absolutely no intention of inviting them. If they got back on, they would still be sitting foolishly in the back like before. And going to that hotel wouldn't necessarily give them any opportunities for interviews…

No! They had to get on!

After a brief discussion, they decided that if they didn't get on, they might miss out on Jia Shi, the big fish. Cao Guangcheng would definitely submit articles related to Jia Shi, and if they wrote about other teams, how would they compete for space?

Not only would they get on the car, but they would also change their hotel and stay with Jia Shi! Once they made up their minds, they immediately jumped on the car, acting casual.

"What ambition!" Cao Guangcheng knew what they were thinking and gave them a thumbs up.

The two knew that he was being sarcastic and didn't reply, getting into the back of the car and finding a place to sit down. They didn't dare to try to get close to any of the players again.

Cao Guangcheng sat neither at the front nor at the back, wondering what was really going on with Ye Qiu on Happy's side. Chang Xian had been following Happy all along. Did he know anything about it?

Although he looked down on teams other than Jia Shi, Cao Guangcheng still had a sense of news. Thinking of this, he felt that he had to ask Chang Xian, so he got off the car with his phone and made a call. He was familiar with Jia Shi, and the car was like he was a member of Jia Shi. He had no psychological barrier at all.

After getting out of the car and dialing the number, Cao Guangcheng saw a familiar face getting out of a car parked in front of the hotel.

"Who is it?" Cao Guangcheng adjusted his angle, took a few steps closer, and looked again. He suddenly realized.

It was the League Chairman, Feng Xianjun!

It was even harder to interview this kind of big shot.

He might have the opportunity to meet and chat with team bosses, and maybe even get an exclusive interview if they were in a good mood. But as a random reporter for Jia Shi, he wasn't high enough in the hierarchy to get an exclusive interview with League Chairman Feng Xianjun. That would require the chief editor of Esports Home to come forward. Normally, he would be happy to have one or two questions answered during a press conference.

Those two idiots were only focused on Jia Shi and missed such a big figure. Cao Guangcheng mocked his two colleagues in his heart, and didn't even bother with the phone call, quickly following them.

Feng Xianjun's group only had three people. When they arrived at the reception, the league staff of course recognized their big boss and quickly stood up.

Feng Xianjun moved closer and finally heard what the group was saying. The first sentence that entered his ears was, "Which side is Happy's team assigned to?"

"Rooms 721-726 on the 7th floor of Block A," the staff member replied.

Cao Guangcheng was shocked.

Judging from the looks of it, was this League Chairman here for Happy? How capable was this Happy? Up until now, hadn't they just eliminated a pro team in the online qualifier? Was that enough for the League Chairman to personally pay attention to them? Even if this team had Ye Qiu's halo, it shouldn't be enough, right? Cao Guangcheng was completely confused.