Chapter 1240: Bitter But Unable to Complain
Translator: Nomyummi Editor: Nomyummi
Dai Yanqi shifted targets to Lord Grim. Fang Xuecai thought that as a long-ranged attacker, switching targets would be fast and easy. Dai Yanqi wouldn't need to approach either, saving time while still letting her take care of the other side simultaneously.
His thinking wasn't wrong. At the moment, this was the best way to maintain balance on the field. However, since she needed to take care of two sides at once, her presence on one side would be weaker. This small difference was quickly seized by Happy.
Who had Happy sent out for the team competition today?
Ye Xiu, Su Mucheng, Fang Rui, Wei Chen, An Wenyi.
Apart from An Wenyi, the rest were experienced veterans of the game. As soon as Thunderclap's balance tipped a little, those three raced towards a small opening that appeared.
Thunderclap's players felt their hearts suddenly turn cold. This feeling was as if they had caught a net packed with fish, but then a small hole ripped open in the net, resulting in all of the fish escaping for their life through this hole. In an instant, the hole enlarged, leaving them no opportunity to patch it up.
"Stop them! Stop them!" Fang Xuecai roared.
But Thunderclap's players felt powerless. A hole had been exposed already. They couldn't stop them. Agreeing by chance, everyone turned to look towards their captain. If Xiao Shiqin's shotcalling hadn't been cut off, this situation wouldn't have happened.
How could Xiao Shiqin not feel bitter? It wasn't that he didn't want to give out commands. If he had even a fraction of a chance, he would certainly take it to instruct his teammates on what to do. But he wasn't given any chances. He could only watch as their complete and perfect offense slowly fell apart due to a lack of precise adjustments. There had been numerous crucial moments that Xiao Shiqin had wanted to say something, but he couldn't, because he discovered that whenever these crucial moments appeared, Ye Xiu would suddenly press even harder.
Ye Xiu… he wasn't only looking at the opponent in front of him. He was also carefully watching over the entire battle and then adjusting his attacks according to the situation. If Xiao Shiqin tried to type anything, he would be taking on a full frontal assault from an unspecialized. Under Lord Grim's explosive storm-like attacks, he might just die as a result.
If he lived, there would at least be hope. If he died, then it would mean he wouldn't be able to give any orders anymore.
In this instant, Xiao Shiqin hated the Alliance's ban on voice chat. He could completely feel the helplessness and misery that Yu Wenzhou had felt facing against him.
Fang Xuecai had Dai Yanqi provide support for him, and he knew that this wasn't that great of a decision. The outcome could be disastrous, but what else could be done? If they had continued like that, it would have been disastrous too. Change always created something. For example, what if Dai Yanqi suddenly played out of her mind and was able to completely take care of both sides at once?
That didn't happen, unfortunately. As soon as Dai Yanqi switched targets, she didn't even get the chance to show if she could overperform. Happy had immediately seized the opportunity to break free from Thunderclap's offense. The players that Happy sent out this time were too experienced. They wouldn't miss such a golden opportunity.
Is it over?
No!
Not yet.
Happy had broken free from their offense, but Dai Yanqi didn't hesitate. She became even more determined to rescue Xiao Shiqin.
Good!
Xiao Shiqin felt grateful for Dai Yanqi's decision. When making a tactical decision, the biggest taboo was hesitation. For the tactics-oriented Thunderclap, no one was indecisive.
Lightning Bolt!
A bolt of lightning flashed in front of Lord Grim. The purpose of this predictive attack was that even if it didn't hit, you still had to be wary of it. This pause would at least let Xiao Shiqin free himself from a defensive position, giving him an opening to either counterattack or give an order to the team.
However, Lord Grim stubbornly took the step forward.
How persistent. The stun from lightning spells weren't weak. Even if you take it, an opening will still appear. But as Lord Grim stepped forward, he swung his Myriad Manifestations Umbrella to the side. The moment the Lightning Bolt arrived, his umbrella opened up with a whoosh.
Zzt. Lightning struck the umbrella, but before the electricity spread out, the umbrella closed, or it could be said that the umbrella never stopped. This was simply another attack towards Life Extinguisher. It was just that it came from the side, blocking the Lightning Bolt coming towards him in the passing. Lord Grim's offense wasn't interrupted one bit.
Dai Yanqi felt frightened by such precise movements, and she didn't cast her prepared follow-up. Dealing with Ye Xiu wasn't how she had thought it would be.
It wasn't until after she saw Life Extinguisher continue rolling to dodge did she regain her senses. She immediately cast another spell to attack, but Ye Xiu wasn't just fighting alone. The rest of Happy was helping him too. Before Firebird Messenger could cast her spell, a boom sounded first. Su Mucheng's Dancing Rain had started providing support for Ye Xiu. Not only did this attack interrupt Firebird Messenger's casting, it also helped blast Ye Xiu towards Life Extinguisher.
Fang Xuecai's Assassin, Demon Talent, rushed forward to try and stop Dancing Rain, but Su Mucheng had noticed him long beforehand. Dancing Rain Aerial Fired away. No matter how fast an Assassin's speed was, he wouldn't be able to catch up to her in a short amount of time. And right now, how could he have the time to blindly chase after someone? He wasn't like Dancing Rain. He wasn't a Launcher, who could move around while also providing support to the rest of the battlefield. His Assassin needed to get close. If he was just kited around by Dancing Rain, then his presence would be equivalent to empty air.
Fang Xuecai was helpless. He just thought of it as bothering Su Mucheng for a bit. He looked around to see where to go next and in the end, he locked onto Little Cold Hands.
An opening!
Fang Xuecai keenly discovered that because Happy had been trapped for so long, after breaking free, they ran wild, unexpectedly forgetting to protect their healer. If he could eliminate Happy's healer in one go...
This was definitely possible because Fang Xuecai's Demon Talent was an Assassin. He also knew Life-Risking Strike. He may not love the move as much as Void's Li Xun, but no Assassin would completely give up on Life-Risking Strike. The mere existence of Life-Risking Strike was a threat, and in certain moments like these, it could also be used.
Right now… is that moment...
Fang Xuecai pretended to have his Demon Talent continue chasing after Dancing Rain. Suddenly, he moved diagonally as if trying to circle around Dancing Rain. But halfway through this movement, his figure flashed. Shadow Clone Technique. His real body instantly moved towards Little Cold Hands, and he closely followed with a Shining Cut to suddenly reach Little Cold Hands' side.
Life-Risking Strike!
Fang Xuecai directly used this risky strike. Little Cold Hands' health wasn't full. He had been pressured by Thunderclap's fast changing offensive, resulting him in being unable to keep Happy's characters above a safe line. Every character including Little Cold Hands himself had lost quite a bit of health due to An Wenyi's panicked healing.
This is more than enough!
Fang Xuecai calculated it precisely. He was certain of this attack. They had analyzed An Wenyi's strengths and weaknesses very clearly. His reaction speed and hand speed wasn't that great. An Wenyi definitely wouldn't be able to react to this sudden sneak attack.
Go die!
Fang Xuecai roared in his heart. Afterwards, even if his own health dropped to nothing, if his character could trade for Happy's healer, then it would 100% be worth it.
But the instant the dagger was about to strike, Fang Xuecai saw the gown of Little Cold Hands flutter and a wave of qi circled around Little Cold Hands, slicing into Demon Talent's waist.
Qi Blade!
This was Fang Xuecai's final thought on the battlefield. After using Life-Risking Strike, he didn't have the health to take any attacks. A single Qi Blade was more than enough to take him down.
To use a Cleric as a cover and so perfect too! My intentions were completely seen through! Yet to dare use it at the last moment was brave. If that Qi Blade had been one beat too late, my dagger would have taken Little Cold Hand's life! Even if I were killed by the Qi Blade later, who cares?
This guy… is so bold, so dirty!
Demon Talent fell despite Fang Xuecai's unwillingness. Fang Rui hollered in the public chat: "This brother's Golden Right Hand is beyond precise!"
"Who would get actually get hit by such a cheap trick? You call this tactics?" Wei Chen sneered.
No one would have thought that in the blink of an eye, Thunderclap would lose a player. 4v5. The situation completely reversed. Thunderclap had no way of stopping Happy. Happy immediately found their target and focused on Life Extinguisher. They stopped at nothing to kill him and before Thunderclap's sixth player could arrive, Xiao Shiqin was sent out of the battle. Xiao Shiqin wasn't just another player in Thunderclap. Without him, Thunderclap's momentum was halted and, in the end, Happy won the team competition.
9-1. Another thrilling victory. Everyone was completely dumbfounded by this sudden reversal. Pan Lin and Li Yibo looked at each other with lingering fear in their eyes, especially Li Yibo. He had practically ascertained Thunderclap's win and nearly blurted it out, but he didn't, saving him face. As for Pan Lin, he had a feeling of relief. His caution had paid off. In the end, Happy had pulled off another bout of black magic.
"What a brilliant match…" Li Yibo said. He felt like he had just survived by the skin of his teeth and for a moment, he didn't know what to say.
"Yes, Thunderclap played very well for the first half, demonstrating how to give trouble to Happy."
"Happy also responded brilliantly. Yes… they… also showed how to stop Thunderclap's outstanding tactics." Li Yibo followed up with Pan Lin's words with some hesitation because Happy's way was similar to when Thunderclap beat Blue Rain. It was a sort of dirty way and shouldn't really be praised.
After Blue Rain had lost, they could only feel wronged at the voice chat restriction. But Thunderclap? They had benefited from it and then suddenly became victims to it. Thunderclap had no choice but to suffer in silence. Even if they were bitter about it, there was nothing they could say!
Chapter 1241: Keep Working Hard
Translator: Nomyummi Editor: Nomyummi
The last time Thunderclap had failed in the team competition was during their away game against Royal Style in Round 9. After that, they went on a beautiful six round win streak, but in Round 16 their golden statue cracked again. And this time, their opponent was none other than the team Xiao Shiqin had already lost to last year in the finals of the Challenger League, Team Happy.
In that match, Happy had used lots of unusually exciting tactics against Excellent Era. In the Glory world, it was generally agreed that as Master Tacticians, Ye Xiu was still a bit more shrewd and ruthless. But after losing that battle, it seemed as though Xiao Shiqin had gained something. He returned to Thunderclap, which hadn't changed aside from the addition of the Cleric Zhang Jiaxing from Excellent Era, and he had obtained startling results for his team.
It was impossible for Xiao Shiqin not to be at least a little pleased. Such outstanding results would naturally bring high spirits. Xiao Shiqin now had more self-confidence than before. But this time, he once again fell before the opponents who had just recently defeated him.
When he shook hands with Ye Xiu after the match, Xiao Shiqin's emotions were complicated, and he was certainly a little frustrated. He felt that his year at Excellent Era hadn't been a waste, for in those depths, he had learned a lot and grown a lot. But after growing and improving, he found that he still had no way of defeating this person before him. No one could find happiness in such a situation.
"Keep working hard next time!" Ye Xiu patted his shoulder, as though encouraging some rookie.
Xiao Shiqin smiled bitterly. Of course, he was no rookie, he was someone with prestige and reputation in this circle. But this person in front of him had more qualifications than him, had more honors, and had defeated him twice in a row. When Ye Xiu said something like that, how could Xiao Shiqin respond?
He could only smile bitterly like this and watch as the other walked aside. And then, another hand shook his, and patted his shoulder, and said, "Keep working hard next time."
Xiao Shiqin didn't know whether to laugh or cry. This Su Mucheng hadn't been like this during their time at Excellent Era together! After being with Ye Xiu, she had really changed a lot, hadn't she?
She hadn't even waited for him to say anything before vanishing, and another person shook Xiao Shiqin's hand, and patted his shoulder, and said, "Keep working hard!"
Fang Rui! By year, Xiao Shiqin was actually the senior of this kid, yet even he was going along with this act! Xiao Shiqin glared at Fang Rui, but Fang Rui cleanly ignored him and was all puffed up as he walked away.
"Kid, you gotta keep working hard!" After that, a more boastful voice reached his ear with this encouragement. This person skipped the handshake entirely and directly went to pat him on the shoulder.
"We're not like those little Blue Rain brats," the person said.
Little Blue Rain brats… Blue Rain did have a little brat, but Xiao Shiqin knew, in front of this person, "little Blue Rain brat" referred to more than just Lu Hanwen. Yu Wenzhou, Huang Shaotian, two major players in the Alliance, were really just little brats in this person's eyes.
Blue Rain's former captain, Wei Chen. The person with the most status to call the Blue Rain players little brats. Xiao Shiqin could say nothing to him.
After enduring four consecutive encouragements, this blatant ridicule, Xiao Shiqin really couldn't stand it much longer.
Was there more?
Xiao Shiqin adjusted his glasses and prepared to unleash some killer intent, but the youth who walked in front of him now was very respectful in tone.
"Thank you Senior for your teachings."
"Ah?" This sudden change of style caught him completely off guard. This person in front of him now was Happy's sixth player for this match, Qiao Yifan.
"You're welcome…" Facing this kind of respect, there was no way Xiao Shiqin could insert any mockery in his response.
The last one, An Wenyi, the weak point in Xiao Shiqin's eyes. This match, Thunderclap's strategies almost entirely targeted him. He must have a lot of resentment right now, no? As Xiao Shiqin thought this, he was already bracing himself. This was just a rookie, he couldn't lose in dignity.
But when An Wenyi came up to him, the rookie just extended his hand very ordinarily, shook hands, and nodded his head in acknowledgement. Without revealing any unusual expressions, An Wenyi departed.
The players of both teams finished their polite greetings just like that, and Happy's players gathered together and left, basking in victory. Xiao Shiqin was left onstage. He stared at the hand he had just used for the handshakes, and in the end he used it to pat his own shoulder. "You still need to work even harder, Xiao Shiqin!" he told himself.
During the post-match press conference, seeing those eager expressions of the reporters overflowing the space, Xiao Shiqin knew that this upcoming battle today wouldn't be a good one.
During this season so far, they had received too much phrase. But he should still be able to deal with an awkward situation like this!
He had to work hard! Xiao Shiqin lifted his chin, sat straight in his chair, and welcomed the media's interrogation.
The results of Round 16 of Season 10 continued to release, and those who liked statistics quickly found a pattern. In Round 9, the round where Thunderclap lost the team competition, there were five 10-0 swept matches. And this time, in Round 16, when Thunderclap once again lost the team competition, four 10-0 sweeps appeared this round.
Was Thunderclap's performance in the team round a weather vane for powerful 10-0 showings? The bored gave this title to Thunderclap's team competitions.
Looking at the four 10-0's, they were earned by Samsara, Tyranny, Blue Rain, and Wind Howl. Among them, Blue Rain and Wind Howl's performances had been lagging recently, but their 10-0 scores this round were a clean answer to those voices of doubt. And Samsara, after after achieving this 10-0, finally took the lead over Happy in terms of 10-0 match count. Right now, they had six 10-0 matches, one more than Happy.
Aside from them, Hundred Blossoms, Void, Misty Rain, Tiny Herb, and Miracle all achieved victory. This round had been a huge victory for the home teams - among all ten matches, it had been the home team who had won, and the victories were very close to what was predicted by comparing the teams' strengths on paper. There had been no surprises or unexpected outcomes, if one didn't count Happy's victory over Thunderclap as a surprise.
With this, Happy's ranking increased by one on the leaderboard. With 107 points, they were now in fifth place. And the team they had defeated, Thunderclap, was the only team among the current top ten that had lost during this round. Because the other teams had all gathered a sizable number of points this round, Thunderclap instantly slid down two places, from fourth to sixth, with 105 points. And the team that now rose to fourth was a team that had swept 10-0 this round, Blue Rain. Tyranny and Tiny Herb had the same number of points this round, but Tyranny had defeated Tiny Herb in their match, so Tyranny was second, and Tiny Herb third.
Even as the debate continued over whether or not Tyranny was still strong enough, the team had actually quietly climbed up to second place. Samsara was truly too strong this season, leading by such a large margin that people overlooked their presence. The conflict that people paid attention to was that between all of the teams aside from Samsara. People still held the impression that Tyranny was stumbling had nothing of the dominating strength they had shown last season, but just as the season was about to reach the halfway point, they had returned to their place second only to Samsara?
How in the world had Tyranny chased them up here? Even as everyone was still worrying over whether or not they could even secure a playoff spot, now they were actually second place on the leaderboard?
What was Tyranny's performance?
Everyone discovered that their minds were empty. Their impressions of Tyranny had apparently stopped at when they had begun their rotations. After that period of stumbling performances, they had begun to steadily obtain points. Had anyone noticed? Without drawing attention, they had already quietly risen to second place. This sort of cool and calm performance sent chills down everyone's spines. These old generals in Tyranny still couldn't be overlooked!
Although the rankings among the top 8 had changed, it was still the same eight teams. Wind Howl and Hundred Blossoms were sitting steadily at seventh and eighth place, respectively. Void was chasing them ferociously, but they were still five points behind the eighth place Hundred Blossoms. Below them were Misty Rain and 301, with 82 and 81 points. The gap between them and the playoff zone was in the double digits.
Behind the top 10, among the teams in the lower half, the team that surprised everyone was Miracle. After sixteen rounds of play, this team was at 13th place. For a team that had just joined the Alliance, such a performance was extremely outstanding. As of now, they were even higher up than Heavenly Justice, who had garnered such high hopes last season. Everyone praised Miracle, but it seemed like they had forgotten, the other new team this season was solidly in the playoff zone! But no one thought of Happy as some new team. They had Ye Xiu, Su Mucheng, Fang Rui, these All-Star level players with whom everyone was familiar. No one could continue to view them as some new team.
After this round, the end of the year was upon them. The Christmas event, the New Year event, and the first weekend of the new year, the All-Star Weekend, they were all rapidly approaching. The in-game event during summer break had been officially named Carnival, but for those in the Glory circle, whether pro or ordinary player, these two weeks crossing the end of the year made up the true valuable carnival.
Every year, the Christmas event that rewarded wonderful presents took place in-game. Ye Xiu had participated in this event for two consecutive years, with great profits. But this year wasn't like previous years. Christmas Day was a Wednesday, and on Friday they still had a professional match to play. The in-game event mainly had to be left to Wu Chen, leading the guild to participate. If pro players were interested, there was nothing stopping them from helping out, but if they spent too much energy there, it could ruin their condition for their match.
Competitive condition, this wasn't just something that existed in the competitive Glory scene. Any sort of competitor for any event had to maintain their condition for competition.
Generally, one's competitive condition would vary cyclically through the weeks. For any sort of event, competitors relied on practice to adjust and maintain their condition. With different events and different competitors, the changes in condition might be different. Some people might only reach their peak condition once a year, and others might reach it two or three times. This required specialized team scientific systems to help every person achieve some control. For Glory, the teams that were aiming for the championship needed their players to reach their full explosive potential during the playoffs.
Ye Xiu was the Glory Textbook, true, but that referred to his knowledge of the techniques of the various classes and the strategies within the game. As for competitive condition, which depended on an individual's skill, personality, skill, and even psychological strength, he truly had no solid grasp of it.
Happy didn't have anyone with such specialized knowledge; the Glory circle as a whole lacked such talents. After all, the Glory Alliance was a competition only ten years old, and everyone was still studying and researching how to best adjust the conditions of the Glory players.
For now, Happy had no way of having such a high-level department, and could only rely on Ye Xiu's intuition from years of accumulated experience to make judgments. And Happy's recent strong performance was unexpected even for him. They… had they entered their peak condition too quickly, too early?
Chapter 1242: Christmas Presents
Translator: Nomyummi Editor: Nomyummi
Eght consecutive wins, plus it was almost Christmas. From top to bottom, Happy was filled with a joyous atmosphere. Ye Xiu didn't want to ruin the spirit. At least wait until after the holiday passed to remind everyone to stay cautious and focused!
That little clumsily handmade Christmas tree was brought out by Chen Guo again. But this time, she didn't set it up in the main area of the Internet cafe for some activity. Instead, she carried it to the practice room of Happy Internet Cafe, and after setting it in a corner she carefully began to decorate it.
Seeing this Christmas tree, Ye Xiu couldn't help but pause. This was now his third time seeing this Christmas tree, and it was now two years since the first time he had seen it. At that time, it had been less than a month since he left Excellent Era. In the blink of an eye, two years had passed, and he had actually established a professional team in this Internet cafe, slaughtered his way back into the Alliance, all the way to fifth place on the leaderboard…
Looking back, even Ye Xiu himself couldn't believe that all of this had happened. They had actually managed to do something like this, and they'd done a pretty good job of it, too.
"What are you spacing out for, come here and help!" Chen Guo's shout interrupted Ye Xiu's thoughts.
Chen Guo was currently hanging presents on the tree. These were all presents that she had prepared for everyone at Happy, each one carefully wrapped so that from the outside, you couldn't tell what they were at all.
"Which one is mine?" Ye Xiu casually asked as he helped her hang them on the tree.
"I don't know. When it's time, everyone will pick one for themselves, and whichever one they pick will be theirs. That way it'll be interesting," Chen Guo said.
"Then what about yourself?" Ye Xiu asked.
"There's one for me too, of course," said Chen Guo.
"You got yourself a present? What's the meaning in that?" Ye Xiu laughed.
"What do you mean I got myself a present! This is a present from Happy to Happy's every member. Am I not a member of Happy?" Chen Guo asked, filled with righteousness.
"Of course." Ye Xiu hurriedly nodded.
"Very good, then we'll just leave it like this!" Chen Guo hung the last present on the tree, studied it critically for a while, and after confirming that nothing was wrong, she nodded her head in satisfaction.
"Aside from picking presents, are we doing anything else interesting?" Ye Xiu asked.
"Isn't casually playing some Glory the most interesting thing for you guys anyway?" Chen Guo said.
Ye Xiu froze, and then laughed bitterly. "I don't object to playing some other things occasionally."
"Oh?" Chen Guo thought for a bit. "Go online and play Astrogeddon?" Astrogeddon was currently the most popular RTS game at the moment.
"It looks like you can't think of anything besides playing games, either," Ye Xiu said.
"Yes, I can't either." Chen Guo put special emphasis on the "either." She didn't think that Ye Xiu would have any good suggestions himself; after all, this wasn't the first holiday they had spent together.
"Let's wait for everyone to show up!" Ye Xiu sat down on the couch.
"Brainstorm?" Chen Guo sat down as well.
The two of them sat there like that, staring at the ceiling. One was Happy's captain, one was Happy's boss, but for something like this, neither of them had any good solutions. Perhaps it was because they had both spent too many lonely days without their loved ones.
Bang!
The door to the practice room was roughly pushed open, and Steamed Bun, clutching a steamed bun in his hand, walked inside.
"Yo, Boss!" Steamed Bun waved his steamed bun and greeted Ye Xiu, but just as he was about to greet Chen Guo as well, he saw the Christmas tree at the corner of the room. "Yo, a Christmas tree!" And so Steamed Bun's greeting skipped right over Chen Guo and was sent to the Christmas tree.
"Yup, it's a Christmas tree." Chen Guo wasn't upset that Steamed Bun had skipped right over her, and was actually quite satisfied with his reaction after seeing the tree.
"There are presents hanging on the tree. When it's time, everyone will pick one," Chen Guo explained.
"Alright, thanks Boss." Steamed Bun nodded, and then picked a present off the tree.
Something didn't seem right? Chen Guo blinked.
"What is it?" But Steamed Bun was already unwrapping the present.
"You-! When it's time, I said when it's time! Didn't you hear?" Chen Guo jumped up.
"When it's time? When it's what time?" Steamed Bun asked.
"When it's Christmas!" Chen Guo said.
"Isn't that today?" Steamed Bun was confused.
"That's tomorrow, today is the 24th, the day before Christmas, Christmas Eve, do you understand?" Chen Guo fumed.
"Oh, then I'll unwrap it tomorrow." Steamed Bun nodded, and finally stopped unwrapping. Chen Guo almost went up to get it back, but… Steamed Bun had already left his fingerprints all over the wrapping, since he had just been holding an actual steamed bun. Chen Guo was quite depressed. Should she just rewrap it? Just as she was pondering this, another person entering the room. With a "Huh?", they discovered the Christmas tree as well.
"It's a Christmas tree," Steamed Bun quickly introduced. "There are presents hanging on it, we all pick one, but you can't open it immediately! You gotta wait until tomorrow." After explaining, Steamed Bun shot a "you're welcome" look at Chen Guo.
"Hahaha, little kids, where's all this fuss coming from!" But the new arrival strode forward in large steps. Without waiting for Chen Guo to stop him, he had already come right in front of the tree, plucked the biggest wrapped present off, and swiftly tore it open.
"I…" At this moment, Chen Guo really wanted to burst into tears and wail.
"Let's see what this is, ha!" Wei Chen had already torn all of the wrapping off the present. As it turned out, this largest present was… a cartoon Xiha Monkey pillow.
Wei Chen, growing a chin of stubble over the new year, looked a bit clumsy and helpless as he held this cutesy pillow, with an air of not knowing what he should do with it.
"Is this for me?" Wei Chen didn't know whether to laugh or cry. This present didn't fit him at all!
"You picked it yourself." Chen Guo's voice was extremely cold. She'd said that everyone would pick their own present, but in reality she had prepared to give some hints and prompting. But this guy hadn't even waited for the event to start before rushing forward and snatching a present. Chen Guo was truly heartbroken.
"This… this… Can I have a redo?" Wei Chen looked down. "The wrapping isn't too messed up. Steamed Bun go find some scotch tape, let's rewrap this."
"Yeah, you can't open it now, you have to wait until tomorrow, Christmas Day!" As Steamed Bun spoke, he really did go to find some tape just like that.
"No way! That one's yours!" Chen Guo refused to accommodate them any further. She took a few steps forward and roughly shoved the pillow back into his arms. Seeing the gruff old Wei Chen trying to put on an innocent face, combined with this Xiha Monkey, Chen Guo thought it was both infuriating and hilarious.
"This one! No trading allowed." And so she fiercely emphasized this again. This guy brought this upon himself, let him hold this Xiha Monkey and be embarrassed!
But Chen Guo had underestimated Wei Chen's ability to withstand anything.
"Alright!" Seeing Chen Guo's determination, Wei Chen just casually laughed. He carried this pillow over to the sofa, as though he were the pagodwielding Heavenly King Li, plopped himself down, and tucked the pillow behind his back and leaned against it.
"What's yours?" Wei Chen asked Ye Xiu, who was standing at the side.
"Don't know, haven't picked yet."
"Aren't you so noble," Wei Chen said disdainfully.
Ye Xiu was silent. He wanted to laugh, but Chen Guo was glaring at him.
"How about, I pick one too?" Ye Xiu said, cautiously testing the waters.
"Pick one, pick one!" Chen Guo was helpless. There was no point in resisting any longer.
And so Ye Xiu went over and plucked one at random.
"What is it, take a look," Wei Chen urged.
Ye Xiu looked at Chen Guo, who didn't seem to have any murderous spirit left, and was probably already in despair. So, he also began to tear open the wrapping. To the side, Steamed Bun saw that even Boss was opening them, he'd better keep up with the pace! So he too began quickly opening the present in his hand.
At this point, Su Mucheng and Tang Rou entered the practice room together. The girls were all close with each other, so although Wei Chen and Steamed Bun and the others didn't know about this, the girls had all gotten together and talked about it. But now, they saw Ye Xiu and Steamed Bun were already hurrying to open their presents, this… wasn't what Chen Guo had planned!
"This is?" The two were confused.
"Forget about it. You two go and pick too!" Chen Guo was depressed.
At this point, Ye Xiu had already opened his present. Holding what was inside, he laughed in delight. "Haha, this is useful."
"I'll switch with you." Wei Chen instantly said, without a moment of hesitation.
"Hehe." Ye Xiu used his laugh to reject him. He had gotten a lighter. At Happy, he and Wei Chen were the only ones who smoked, so it was clear that this present was intended for one of them. Ye Xiu had gotten quite a suitable present.
"What did Old Wei get?" the new arrivals Su Mucheng and Tang Rou asked, curious.
Wei Chen shifted on the sofa, pulling out the Xiha Monkey pillow to show the two of them.
"Hahaha…" The two burst out laughing. This present plus Wei Chen was a combination that you couldn't not laugh at!
"You're really good at picking!" said Su Mucheng. Seeing that Wei Chen had gotten that present, she knew that this situation had gotten out of Chen Guo's control. No wonder Chen Guo was a bit depressed. But the important part of sending presents was the feeling behind it. Su Mucheng didn't care too much about the process or result, the most important thing was creating this atmosphere, no?
"Will you bring that with you everywhere you go from now on?" Su Mucheng asked Wei Chen with a laugh.
"You hurry up and pick, if you get another lighter I'll trade with you," Wei Chen said.
"Don't even think about it," Su Mucheng said. "No matter what I get I'm not trading with you." She also picked a present from the tree and opened it. "Oh no, how'd I get this one?"
"What is it?" Wei Chen carried his Xiha Monkey pillow as he scurried over, prepared to exchange.
"This… should've been given to him!" In Su Mucheng's hand was a slender voice recorder, and in the direction of her gaze, Mo Fan had just entered the practice room by himself.
A voice recorder, the silent Mo Fan… This was really an exquisite pairing.
"What a shame, I suppose it's mine now." Su Mucheng put the present away.
Wei Chen appeared not to be very interested in this voice recorder.
"What did Little Tang get?" He made his way to Tang Rou's side.
The wrapping was torn off, Tang Rou's present was a more general gift, a beautiful music box.
"Are there any more manly gifts?" Wei Chen called.
"Are you talking about mine?" Steamed Bun turned around, wearing a glove on his right hand. Ordinary people might not recognize it at first, but everyone here instantly realized that this was the glove weapon used by Qi Masters in Glory, a piece of Glory merchandise. The intent of this present was also rather clear; it had special meaning for Fang Rui, who had just changed classes to Qi Master. Unfortunately, now…
"Steamed Bun, did you wash your hands?" Chen Guo asked with a sullen expression