The press conference was silent. It was much quieter than Happy's prep room. Even though they had seen Lin Jingyan announce his retirement from the live broadcast, the helplessness and grief of retirement didn't affect them as newcomers to the Alliance. Moreover, they were still immersed in the ecstasy of reaching the finals. The news of Lin Jingyan's retirement didn't seem to affect the atmosphere in Happy's prep room.
The young people were still laughing, but the melancholy spread through Happy's prep room in that instant.
Ye Xiu and Lin Jingyan were old acquaintances. They had played together since Season 2, so they weren't strangers to each other. He had played together since Season 1, and in the process, he had experienced the departure of familiar faces time and time again. Some of them were teammates, while others were opponents. However, at the moment of departure, everyone would forget their identities. All they felt was the departure of a comrade.
It was the same this time. The familiar face had once again faded into nothingness.
Ye Xiu was silent.
Fang Rui was also silent. He hadn't known Lin Jingyan as long as Ye Xiu, but when he debuted in Season 5, he came to Lin Jingyan's side as a fledgling. It was Lin Jingyan who watched him grow, and then they became a famous pair of partners. After Season 8 and Season 9, they went their separate ways.
Lin Jingyan was both a teacher and a friend to him. If Fang Rui had to choose the player he respected the most in the Alliance, he would vote for Lin Jingyan without hesitation. Even if Lin Jingyan wasn't the best in the circle.
But now, he had left.
It wasn't that Fang Rui, who had many years of professional experience, had never expected this day to come. It was just that he had never thought that he would see Lin Jingyan leave in this way.
He had originally thought that the two of them would fight side by side until one day, when Lin Jingyan suddenly smiled and said that he couldn't play anymore. Then, under his own ridicule, Lin Jingyan didn't change his mind and said goodbye with a smile.
So today, he saw it.
Lin Jingyan was smiling as he bid farewell to everyone. However, it was only after he was defeated by Fang Rui's team …
How many people could feel the sadness hidden beneath his smile?
Fang Rui knew that Lin Jingyan would definitely want to win the championship. He really, really wanted it.
But in the end, the one who ruined his hope was himself and Happy.
He would never have the chance again.
Because he had chosen to leave.
Good luck.
He gave his blessings to everyone, including Fang Rui.
But would such blessings make people feel healed? At least, Fang Rui wouldn't. He couldn't bear to watch any longer. At that moment, he found an excuse to leave Happy's preparation room. After him, Wei Chen, who had retired early and returned many years later, ignored the rules of the preparation room and fiercely smoked a cigarette. And the boss, Chen Guo, unexpectedly didn't criticize him. As a Glory fan, Chen Guo had never experienced this kind of parting, but she had seen it happen many times. And now, she had become part of this circle. She felt the same way. She realized that there would gradually be parting like this by her side. Wei Chen, Ye Xiu, and even Su Mucheng, Fang Rui …
Chen Guo felt scared. Really scared.
She watched as Fang Rui said something and was about to leave the preparation room. No one went up to stop him. Even the happy rookies realized that the atmosphere in the preparation room was no longer like this. They quieted down and watched as Fang Rui left the preparation room. Then, at the press conference, Lin Jingyan and his three Tyranny teammates said goodbye and hugged each other before leaving the stage.
Uh …
Those who were quick-witted had already realized a problem.
Fang Rui had left the preparation room, and Lin Jingyan had left the press conference. Then wouldn't these two meet in the passageway?
The preparation room instantly quieted down. Even the television had been muted by someone, as if it would disturb the conversation between the two in the passageway. No one moved. No one made a sound. Until the door to the preparation room was pushed open again.
"It's our turn." Fang Rui stood at the door and calmly called out.
And so, Ye Xiu and Luo Ji, who had been arranged by Happy to participate in the press conference, walked out of the preparation room. In the passageway, they saw Lin Jingyan. He smiled at them and patted Fang Rui. They didn't return to Tyranny's preparation room. Instead, they followed the passageway that led to the exit of the stadium.
"Let's go." Ye Xiu didn't send them off with his gaze. He just called out to them. Happy and the other two walked out of the passageway and walked towards the press conference.
"Excuse me, did you guys know that Lin Jingyan just announced his retirement?"
The reporters had already thrown out their first question.
"I know." Ye Xiu nodded his head.
"Can you talk to each of them?" The reporters emphasized each one. Clearly, they weren't interested in Ye Xiu answering this question. What they wanted to hear was Fang Rui's thoughts.
Fang Rui didn't avoid the question. He took the initiative to hold the microphone. Ye Xiu didn't interrupt either. Just as the reporters wished, he waited for Fang Rui to talk about his thoughts.
"I wish him good luck." Fang Rui held the microphone and said these four words.
Everyone was silent and continued to wait. But there was no more after that. Fang Rui only said these four words. Lin Jingyan, who had been his partner for so many years, who was both a teacher and a friend, but who had been personally destroyed by him in the end, he only said these four words.
"That's all?" The reporters didn't give up. They wanted to hear more heartfelt thoughts.
"That's all." Fang Rui shook his head and smiled, just like Lin Jingyan. What he thought and what he wanted to say had already been said when he met Lin Jingyan in the passageway. To Fang Rui, this was enough. There was no need to relay it to these reporters.
After that, he just wished him good luck, wished him well, and just wished him well.
But the reporters still didn't want to give up so easily. Even if Lin Jingyan hadn't retired today, as a former partner, their meeting on the court would still be a hot topic.
"Uh, forgive me for being blunt," a reporter said. "Your performance today didn't seem to be up to expectations. Was it because your opponent was your former partner and you couldn't bring yourself to do it?"
"My performance today really wasn't good. Fortunately, the team won the match in the end. I will continue to do my best in the following matches," Fang Rui said.
It seemed like an extremely ordinary answer, but in this moment, it was incomparably cunning. He completely avoided questions about his "former partner," then admitted that his performance wasn't good, analyzed the results, and stated his future.
What else could the reporters ask? What else could they ask?
They couldn't continue pestering Lin Jingyan. They could only start focusing on Happy's performance in the match. Zhang Xinjie's analysis at the press conference instantly became an important piece of information that they could use to ask Happy.
"Happy's Life-Risking Strike against Zhang Xinjie's Immovable Rock in the team competition today, was it a well-rehearsed strategy?" a reporter asked.
"Hahaha." Ye Xiu laughed. "Don't use Zhang Xinjie's analysis to ask me. I just saw it on TV. His analysis was completely wrong."
The reporters were speechless. Anyone could tell that Ye Xiu was spouting nonsense. But if he dared to disregard Zhang Xinjie's analysis so rudely, what could the reporters do?
Ye Xiu had never attended a press conference like this before. In fact, Ye Xiu was a newcomer like Luo Ji. But this newcomer was terrifyingly difficult to deal with. Compared to those people who were especially slippery with their answers, Ye Xiu treated them like he didn't care at all. When it came to questions, he could casually make them up, and when you asked him later, he would forget what he had said. The most hateful thing was that he never avoided this point. He would only ask you sincerely, "Is that so? Did I say that? "
So what if he said it? So what if he didn't say it?
Could the reporters report on something that was obviously made up on a whim? Of course not. If they reported it like that, wouldn't they feel like they had low IQ? They wouldn't even believe such nonsense.
Seeing Ye Xiu activate this state again, the reporters were going crazy in their hearts, but on the surface, they still had to put on a calm expression.
"Then may I ask, is there any special meaning in sending out Luo Ji for this match?" someone asked.
"To train the newcomer. To train the newcomer on a big stage. Just like how Tyranny sent out Song Qiying, we sent out Luo Ji, "Ye Xiu said seriously.
Motherfucker!
The reporters were cursing in their hearts again.
This time, his answer was ambiguous. If you didn't believe it, what he said was logical. But if you believed it, you still felt like something was wrong. It felt like you were being toyed with.
"And we are more courageous than Tyranny. In this crucial match, we sent out as many as three newcomers," Ye Xiu continued.
The reporters were on the verge of tears.
Why don't you send out another team! Happy, everyone. Other than you, Fang Rui, Su Mucheng, and Wei Chen, who isn't a newcomer?
"Perhaps in the grand finals, we will try to send out all of them as newcomers and let them take on the most difficult test," Ye Xiu said.
Who would believe that?
Who would believe that?
Send out newcomers to train in the grand finals? Even a joke should have a limit!
The reporters were all frowning. What should they write about today? Some of their minds were already wandering. It looked like this press conference wouldn't be able to provide them with any material.
"Then, shall we call it a day?" In the end, Happy's press conference ended hastily. The reporters did not put up much resistance. They were not even in the mood to take a few more photos. Thinking back to the past, it was such a grand feat to be able to get a photo of Ye Xiu. But now, seeing this guy appear on camera, everyone felt their mouths go dry. They didn't know what to ask or what to listen to.
The press conference ended.
The ups and downs of today's competition had finally come to an end.
Whether they lost or won, they would all walk their own paths.
But no matter what kind of path they took, they would all rush in the same direction. Their own paths would always be the path to victory.
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