[Esports] Team Leader Xie, your mid laner is causing trouble again.

Li Zhi opened the door.

He didn't want to see Xie Jichuan's face for even a second longer, afraid that he would lose his temper and slap him across the face.

Xie Jichuan, standing behind him, seemed to suddenly snap out of his daze and reached out to stop him: "There's also..."

He had barely begun speaking when he was interrupted by a striking pink figure standing in front of the door.

Ji Yu looked at the two of them nervously, her gaze sweeping back and forth between Li Zhi and Xie Jichuan several times, speaking rapidly:

"Lychee...have you finished talking to River?"

In fact, Ji Yu had a sudden realization of Xie Jichuan's oppressive aura just three seconds after the two left.

An Alpha can do a lot of bad things to an Omega.

In terms of familiarity, he often watched Li Zhi's live streams, but it seemed that Li Zhi had never mentioned knowing Xie Jichuan.

What if the two people aren't just catching up, but have some kind of conflict...?

Ji Yu didn't dare to think too much about it. He followed and stood guard outside the door, ready to rush in and save Aibo if things went wrong.

When Xie Jichuan saw that he hadn't left yet, his expression visibly soured.

The three of them stared at each other for a long time.

"Why aren't you leaving yet?" two voices rang out in unison.

However, Xie Jichuan was asking Ji Yu, while Li Zhi was asking Xie Jichuan.

Xie Jichuan, who had hoped to have a sweet dinner together, was speechless.

He gritted his teeth inwardly, noting Ji Yu's radiant smile in his notebook, and decided to kill him a few more times when they met in the next competition.

But under Kurichi's cold gaze, he chose to give in.

"Then I'll be going now," Xie Jichuan's voice sounded calm, but his clenched fists betrayed his emotions. "Contact me later."

Li Zhi ignored him and turned to leave.

Caught in the middle, Ji Yu bowed deeply to Xie Jichuan, so deeply that she almost fell over, and then ran after Li Zhi.

Once out of Xie Jichuan's sight, Ji Yu quickly switched to gossip mode.

"Lychee, you know River?"

Li Zhi snorted coldly: "Who is River? I don't know him."

Ji Yu: "..."

Sensing the evasiveness in his words, Ji Yu wisely refrained from pressing the matter and changed the subject: "Want to have dinner with me tonight? I know a really good hot pot place nearby."

"I won't eat." Li Zhi refused decisively, without even glancing at him.

Ji Yu wasn't angry about being rejected. After a moment of silence, her mouth started itching again, and she began to chatter on and on:

"I've heard so much about River, but I never expected to meet him in person today. Everyone says that when he was abroad..."

Before he could finish speaking, Li Zhi interrupted him: "Which hot pot restaurant?"

Ji Yu was stunned.

He looked at Li Zhi's expressionless face, and then thought about the resolute "I won't eat" he had said three seconds ago. He really couldn't understand this person's thought process.

He pointed blankly to the other side of the road: "It's right there."

Five minutes later, the two sat down at the hot pot restaurant.

Ji Yu happily took out her phone, ready to post a message on her WeChat Moments to record her life.

The crisp sound of the cup hitting the table interrupted his actions.

Li Zhi poured a glass of water and handed it to him, placing it in front of him with a light touch.

His tone was rather reserved: "You may continue."

Ji Yu looked up blankly: "...What else did you say?"

Li Zhi took a sip of the water in front of him, a seemingly casual gesture, but his evasive gaze betrayed his chaotic thoughts:

"Speaking of River, what happened to him abroad?"

Ji Yu: "..."

Would you condescend to have a meal with me just to hear some gossip about River?

Fortunately, Ji Yu is a person who loves gossip, so Li Zhi doesn't need to waste any time urging her.

The dishes were served one after another, the red oil broth was bubbling and steaming, creating a hazy white mist between the two of them.

As Ji Yu poured fish balls into the pot, she started talking non-stop:

"It's said that River didn't get to play any games for the first six months after he joined the Ashes. The competition was so fierce that there were three or four substitutes for each starting position, and they couldn't even get a turn."

Li Zhiben had no appetite for hot pot and listlessly poked at the bowl of iced tofu pudding in front of him with his spoon, leaving the tender tofu pudding riddled with holes.

Upon hearing this, his hand paused slightly, and his brows furrowed.

"Xie Jichuan can't beat them?"

Ji Yu shook his head: "How could that be? River will be a regular starter in six months."

Li Zhi's brows relaxed.

That's right.

Xie Jichuan's strength is undeniable. If there hadn't been an age limit back then, he would definitely have secured a starting position on a top team.

If we really let someone like that watch the water dispenser in the back, it would be a waste of talent.

Li Zhi felt a little more relaxed and scooped up a spoonful of iced tofu pudding and put it in her mouth.

Immediately afterwards, Ji Yu lowered her voice and leaned closer, saying mysteriously:

"But I heard that River didn't care at all about whether there were any matches to play back then."

Just then, Li Zhi's phone screen lit up, displaying a WeChat friend request.

He clicked on it and found that the person's profile picture was all black, and the message read, "I am Xie Jichuan."

Thinking back to how Xie Jichuan seemed to have something to say to him, and imagining the seventeen-year-old boy going to a foreign team alone and sitting backstage as a substitute, he realized that Xie Jichuan did indeed have something to say to him.

Li Zhi paused slightly in his movements.

Even after two years, he has always been soft-hearted when it comes to Xie Jichuan.

They have absolutely no ambition.

Li Zhi cursed herself inwardly twice, her finger hovering over the "agree" button, hesitant.

Then Ji Yu's gossipy tone suddenly became ambiguous:

"It's said that during that period, River would stay out all night every two days, and then come back with a body full of Omega pheromones, and fall asleep as soon as he got back to the base."

"Almost everyone in the international league knows about this, tsk tsk tsk... It's hard not to wonder if he's having some kind of romantic encounter outside."

A soft "click" sounded.

Ji Yu looked up and watched as the person opposite her smiled and bent the small iron spoon for the iced tofu pudding with one hand.

Without hesitation, Li Zhi clicked "reject" and added the person to her blacklist.

Then, she slowly bent the small iron spoon back to its original shape, smiling as she looked at Ji Yu:

"Go on."

Ji Yu trembled: "..."