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

The fans on the roadside were very enthusiastic, especially Xie Jichuan's.

He often competes abroad, and very few fans are able to support him in person. Now that he has finally returned to the domestic arena, the support teams are so large that they fill both sides of the passageway.

"Go River! Victory in the first battle is assured!"

"River, this is the new mouse I bought for you, it's a gift!"

Along the way, fans kept reaching out to hand over gifts in all sorts of creative ways.

Xie Jichuan politely declined each gift, saying, "I'm sorry, team rules prohibit accepting gifts from fans."

As he spoke, he walked quickly forward, his eyes scanning the crowd, snatching a letter or two from the gaps in the crowd.

Just as he was about to push open the door and enter the venue, he suddenly stopped in his tracks.

A little girl with pigtails stood at the edge of the crowd, holding a fan in her hand.

The fan is printed with a photo of him and Li Zhi, and is surrounded by pink bows and sparkly stickers.

At the bottom, there are two cute little figures, one with a lychee on its head and the other with a banana on its head, huddled together in an adorable manner.

Xie Jichuan stopped, pointed at the fan, and said with a hint of interest:

"Did you make this yourself?"

The little girl was completely taken aback when River spoke to her. She paused for a moment, then her voice trembled with excitement:

"River, you like this? This was a freebie posted by a top fan in our supertopic. I can give it to you if you want!"

Xie Jichuan's gaze fell on the chibi version of Li Zhi holding a lychee, and he shamelessly fell for her.

He accepted the fan without hesitation, examined it for a couple of seconds, and then thanked him.

"Thank you. Please find one of our team's staff members later, and I'll have them send you a set of team merchandise."

The little girl could hardly believe her ears and nodded repeatedly, "Thank you, thank you River! Good luck in the race!"

Xie Jichuan responded, took the fan in his hand, and pushed open the door to enter the venue.

He was the last one to get off the bus, and by the time he entered the venue's passageway, the people in front of him had already walked quite a distance.

He quickened his pace and met up with the others just as he reached the entrance of the lounge.

Li Zhi walked at the very back, carrying a peripheral bag with several letters piled on top of it, haphazardly stacked together.

Walking slowly at the back, it seemed to be waiting for someone.

Xie Jichuan walked over: "Waiting for me?"

Li Zhi nodded, her eyes shining brightly, reflecting the light from the corridor ceiling light.

His voice held an undisguised little thrill:

"Xie Jichuan, I just received so many letters! I thought I would have a lot of haters."

Like a child being praised, they are both happy and somewhat hesitant to fully believe it.

Xie Jichuan looked at him, and a sudden softness welled up in his heart:

"Of course, even more people will like you in the future."

Li Zhi shook her head shyly, her hair swaying gently.

That slight lack of confidence stemming from the two-year hiatus dissipated completely with the encouragement of fans.

He lowered his head to see how many letters Xie Jichuan had received.

As he moved, the stack of envelopes on his peripheral bag fell apart, revealing a pink corner.

It was the same color as the fan in Xie Jichuan's hand, and you could even see half of the QQ character's head in it.

Li Zhi was completely unaware, preoccupied with counting the number of letters Xie Jichuan held.

Then he saw the fan in Alpha's hand.

Xie Jichuan didn't deliberately hide it like he did; in fact, one could say he was openly displaying it.

It was held casually in my palm, with a pink bow peeking out from between my fingers, quite flamboyant.

Li Zhi froze, then furtively moved his arm, using the bag to bury the pink piece back into the pile of envelopes.

Since Xie Jichuan also has this fan, we can't let him find out that we have the same one.

Otherwise, this person would definitely be eager to tease him.

He just thought it was cute, so he accepted it; he didn't mean anything by it.

Xie Jichuan took in all of this.

The tips of the ears of one of the shy mid-laners had already turned red, but he kept his expression perfectly straight and gave him an innocent wink.

Xie Jichuan didn't expose him. He suppressed the smile on his lips, about to say something, when a strange, sarcastic voice suddenly came from directly in front of him:

"Hey, isn't this our famous River?"

The slight smile on Xie Jichuan's face vanished instantly, replaced by a chilling expression.

The newcomer was Dashan, VD's top laner.

The only starting player to remain in this major VD reshuffle is a veteran, has a bad temper, and a foul mouth.

Xie Jichuan had faced him several times in international competitions, and after each match, Xie would make sarcastic remarks off the court, the source of which was unknown.

Xie Jichuan's tone turned cold: "What do you want?"

Da Shan's gaze swept back and forth between Xie Jichuan and Li Zhi, a gentle smile on his face.

What came out of his mouth was both offensive and offensive: "Did River fail to make it abroad and come back to cash in?"

Xie Jichuan raised his eyelids expressionlessly, as if looking at a barking dog on the roadside.

His tone was cold and dismissive: "A good dog doesn't block the way, please get lost."

Seeing Xie Jichuan's attitude of not taking him seriously at all, Da Shan laughed in anger.

His heavy double chin caused him to let out a short, sharp gasp, like a pig whose tail had been stepped on.

Li Zhi stood to the side with a sour face, and tilted her head when she heard this.

He reached out and picked at his ear, his tone both confused and sincere:

"Where did this dog come from, panting so loudly? Watch out, don't stick your tongue out and drool on the ground, it's dirty."

The coldness in Xie Jichuan's eyes melted slightly, and he let out a very soft laugh:

"I don't know, maybe I was too tired after shouting just now."

The fake smile on Da Shan's face couldn't hold up any longer.

His entire face turned red, and he gritted his teeth:

"So you're that lousy streamer? Birds of a feather flock together, two lousy guys like you think you're fit to compete?"

As he became emotional, wisps of pheromones emanated from his body, carrying a pungent, spicy scent, like burnt rubber.

A pheromone detector is installed every ten meters inside the venue to prevent pheromone riots in public places.

If a player is found to be randomly releasing pheromones to interfere with their opponent, they will be suspended from the competition.

The red light on the detector had begun to glow faintly, flashing on and off.

Standing next to the mountain was a skinny boy wearing a VD team uniform. He looked timid and cowered inside the uniform.

He noticed the detector was turning red, so he quickly leaned over and whispered reassurance:

"Captain, calm down, your pheromones are overflowing."

Da Shan said gruffly, "I'm very calm."

The boy's voice gradually faded, but he stubbornly added one more sentence:

"But your face is all red with anger..."

Da Shan broke down even further: "I already said I was very calm, it wasn't because I was angry."

Li Zhi smiled and replied, "I know, that's blush, right?"

He took Xie Jichuan's hand, and as they walked away, he tossed out a sentence without looking back:

"Nationwide blush application tour, you're welcome."

Xie Jichuan was pulled forward by Li Zhi's hand, and the secret joy in his heart was rising like bubbles, which he couldn't suppress.

Zhizhi is protecting him.

Zhizhi cares about him.

Rounding down, Zhizhi also likes him.

Xie Jichuan chuckled to himself for two seconds, then glanced at him as they passed the mountain:

"Only those who can defeat me are qualified to challenge me. You are not qualified."

After saying that, he grabbed Li Zhi's hand and pulled her away.

The two figures turned a corner at the end of the corridor and disappeared behind the door of the lounge.

A sharp, pungent pheromone stabbed into the back of Da Shan's neck.

Although the concentration was high, it was only for a short time; the detector went red for a moment and then went out.

Dashan clutched his gland in pain, glaring hatefully in the direction the two had left.