Confrontation and Camaraderie

However, there was nothing to be done about it. Everything is fate; not a single thing is in our control.

After eating her fill, Qing Zixi felt her strength returning. She opened her phone. In the group chat Luoluo had created, everyone was training fervently, reporting their mastery of certain heroes.

Seeing their enthusiasm, Qing Zixi felt her own face blush even more.

‘Sorry, my dear teammates. While you four are burning the midnight oil slaughtering in the canyon, your support is getting slaughtered in bed.’

But I definitely won’t drag you down!

After typing some words of encouragement in the group and agreeing to a final night of practice to polish their coordination, Qing Zixi closed the chat window.

‘I can’t keep indulging tonight!’

But speaking of which, is it really okay for girls to do this with each other?

When girls have a disagreement… is this how they resolve it?

Qing Zixi didn’t know. She had never understood girls. But judging from her sister’s reaction, doing this seemed as normal as anything…

—Ding-dong!

Lan Mengyao’s phone rang. With some annoyance, she picked it up from the nightstand and sighed at the name on the screen.

“Ugh, even during the off-season they want me to train. Fine, I’ll head back first…”

Just as she stood up, Lan Mengyao turned to look at Xia Mengying, who was sitting on the edge of the bed, and warned her.

“Don’t you dare sneak a bite.”

“Don’t worry, I won’t!”

Xia Mengying raised both hands in surrender. But Lan Mengyao clearly knew her friend well. She leaned in, staring intently into Xia Mengying’s eyes, her light blue irises narrowing.

“Mm…?”

“Well, you know what happened last night. Don’t actually break our little sister.”

Finally, Lan Mengyao shrugged and left. She didn’t trust Xia Mengying’s sisterly bond with her—she trusted Xia Mengying’s sisterly bond with Qing Zixi.

Or rather, she trusted Xia Mengying’s rationality.

She surely knew the consequences of draining the pond to catch all the fish.

“Bye-bye~”

After seeing Lan Mengyao off, Xia Mengying giggled, wiggling her fingers in the air as if grasping something. Qing Zixi warily grabbed the pillow from the bed and held it in front of her.

“Wh-what do you think you’re doing?!”

“Thinking!”

“That’s not a question! No, I mean, it is a question, but not asking— ah!”

For a moment, Xia Mengying nearly short-circuited Qing Zixi’s CPU. She didn’t know how to express herself. In any case, clutching the pillow tightly was the way to go!

“Alright, I’ll stop teasing you. I’ll send you back this afternoon?”

Xia Mengying also had people urging her. Yesterday hadn’t been a break day. Even though she was still a student, many students were waiting for her to teach a pharmaceutical course.

“Mm!”

Hearing that she could finally escape this den of iniquity, Qing Zixi nodded like a bobbing pestle. But she still couldn’t quite believe it—would this person really be so good as to let her off easily?

‘Can’t let my guard down!’

Yet for the rest of the time, it was indeed just friendly sisterly chat.

“So it was because you love it that you chose this path resolutely. What a pity I can’t help you like Xiao Yao can. Really too bad.”

After hearing Qing Zixi’s reason, Xia Mengying sighed. She wished she could help Qing Zixi in every way, like Lan Mengyao did.

She felt like such a useless older sister.

But after Xia Mengying finished, Qing Zixi seemed to think of something. Her eyes widened with curiosity.

“Um, is there like an annual competition in the pharmaceutical field? You know, like in those novels, there’s the yearly Alchemy Conference, and then…”

“Stop, stop, stop. What Alchemy Conference? Little Xi, you’ve read too many novels and gone silly. Besides, things like that are ultimately mysterious and hard to measure—who’s to say who’s better?”

Hearing Xia Mengying’s words, Qing Zixi nodded thoughtfully.

‘Guess that’s true. I thought I could expand into another track, but it looks like that’s a no-go.’

In the afternoon, after taking a car back to the training camp, Qing Zixi stepped out into the whistling cold wind. A faint sense of loneliness rose unbidden from the depths of her heart.

‘What am I thinking!’

Shaking her head to dispel the thoughts, Qing Zixi stepped through the gate.

“Oh, if it isn’t the pretty vase who got through the qualifiers by luck. While everyone else trains, she doesn’t. Making it to the top four is already a success, huh?”

As soon as she entered the training room, Qing Zixi heard a mocking voice. Without thinking, she knew it was those three.

Qing Zixi even wondered if that guy had been waiting at the door for half a year, just to jump out and taunt her now—much like how she and her sisters chased after each other with teasing.

But in esports, strength speaks. The opponent had also made it to the top four, and they weren’t in the same bracket. Talking trash was pointless. Qing Zixi knew exactly how to deliver a precise and lethal blow to someone so shameless.

“You’re back! We’ve practiced all the heroes you designated!”

“Come on, let’s work on our coordination!”

The members of Qing Zixi’s team gathered around and pulled her over to their seats. Before leaving, they shot a fierce glare at Wang Ba and his two companions.

“Tch, get lost, you luck team. Shameless!”

Both sides had three people. If a fistfight broke out here, it would definitely catch the Manager’s attention. So Wang Ba just cursed loudly in their direction.

His words stung. The three of them wanted to retaliate, but Qing Zixi raised her hand, then finally lowered it.

‘Let them curse.’

Even though the final blow was yet to come, holding back still rankled.

“Who do you think you are? You’re the luck team! If you’ve got the guts, say that when we’re in the finals!”

“Exactly! So disgusting. Think we’re afraid of you?”

While it was best to just walk back and avoid conflict, Qing Zixi felt this wasn’t unwarranted.

‘Class? Ladylike? Who needs that.’

“People always attribute what they don’t understand to luck…”

Qing Zixi narrowed her eyes, raising a hand to cover her mouth while pointing at the three with the other, a mocking expression on her face.

“I think that’s why you’ve been stuck here so long, unable to even enter the minor leagues—because you have no idea how we win our matches!”

“You!”

Soon, the quarrel drew everyone’s attention. The two sides dispersed before any trainer arrived.

“Come on, look! Even though we’ve only trained a few rounds, I feel like I’ve already improved!”

“Yeah, me too! Our coordination has gotten a lot better!”

Seeing the passionate atmosphere within her team, Qing Zixi forgot the earlier unpleasantness. She had already retaliated. A smile spread across her face as she blended into this makeshift team that had stumbled and fought its way to the top four.

When the match began, the audience seats were fully packed. After all, Qing Zixi’s brilliant move had caught everyone’s eye in the previous competition, and she had repeatedly used unconventional picks to turn matches around.

Combined with her recent popularity online, many teams had sent scouts, intent on poaching her if she performed well—even if a support could only do so much, she could still elevate the whole team’s level. Even if they kicked her out later, the improvement would remain.

Thus, the VIP section was filled with people harboring their own schemes. At the very center sat Lan Mengyao and Yu Shengshui.

“Mengyao, has your sister been training all night with you for the past few days? Her skill must have gone up another level, right?”