Rise

Zeng Rui put his hand on Zhang Hao’s shoulder and nodded in agreement with An Xin’s words.

Chu Fang chuckled.
“Alright guys.
Looks like our little stay in Guangzhou is over.
Everyone’s worked hard.
When we get back, get as much rest as you can.
Once the Quarterfinals start, this tournament will only get more and more tense.”

“No worries! The championship is ours! I can already taste the victory meal we’re going to have once we win!” Lin Feng said as he thrust his fist into the air.

Chu Fang looked stunned for a brief second.
Then said, “Lin Feng, I believe the expression is taste victory…” Lin Feng looked at Chu Fang, puzzled.
“Taste victory? I’ve never tasted victory.
The food that we have after winning is pretty good.
What does victory taste like? Why didn’t we get it today?” 

This was the point where An Xin had enough.
“Forget the Championship, you still have exams to worry about,” An Xin said.
Dousing Lin Feng’s excitement and insatiable hunger with cold water.
But not him alone.
That single sentence snapped everyone back to reality.

Team Shanghai had left for Guangzhou on January 12th.
Yesterday was a Friday.
And after Friday came Saturday, which was today.
The 16th of January.
After Saturday came Sunday, the 17th of January.
This meant the end of the weekend.
They could no longer afford to take it easy and decide if they were kicking it in the back seat or kicking it in the back seat.
No, no.
The date was significant because it meant that they were already halfway through the school year.
And coming up on January 25th were exams.
The most dreadful period for all high schoolers across China! In a very real sense, they did not want this weekend to end. 

“What? Argh! Exams!? No! No! No! I wanted to celebrate and eat! Not think about exams that I don’t want to take!” Lin Feng shouted and started throwing a fit.

Chu Fang, An Xin, and the rest of Team Shanghai were more than accustomed to Lin Feng’s fits of impotent autistic rage.
They ignored him and continued the conversation. 

“Our exams are on the 25th, which is perfect timing.
Zeng Rui, how about you? When are your exams?” An Xin asked.

“On the 24th.
We take them a day earlier than you guys, ” Zeng Rui replied.

“Excellent!” An Xin said.
Then she continued, “The quarterfinals start on the 28th.
Our exam schedule and the tournament schedule works out well.
Perfect.
We’ll do it just like we did this time.
I’ll buy the plane tickets and get in touch with you guys when the time comes.
Then we’ll be off to Beijing!”

They continued to work out the details while Lin Feng wallowed in existential dread over the upcoming exams.
Eventually, everything was set in stone.
Team Shanghai started to wind down.
The conversation mellowed and lulled.
And then, Su Xue’s phone started ringing. 

She fumbled around for her pocket and pulled it out to see who was calling.
And then sat bolt upright in bed.
“It’s from Huya!” The person on the other side of the line was the Huya TV executive Su Xue had spoken to before, Zong Yao.

Su Xue hurried up from the bed and composed herself quickly before answering. 
“Hello, hello! Su Xue here.
This is Mr.
Zong, right?”
“Yes, Mr Zong! Today was great! I had so much fun shoutcasting for the matches! And doing both matches was no trouble at all, really! I appreciated the opportunity.” 
“Hm? My schedule? I have a flight back to Shanghai at 10AM tomorrow morning.
Other than that, nothing besides streaming.
Why?” 

No one besides Su Xue could hear Zong Yao’s side of the conversation.
But right after Su Xue asked why he wanted to know her schedule, her eyes jolted open wide.
An expression of shock was frozen on her face.
She was so surprised by what Zong Yao asked that she couldn’t speak for thirty seconds.
Then she mumbled something quickly into the phone and hung up.
Then she turned around to look at Team Shanghai and squeaked, “I… I don— I can’t believe what just happened!” 

Team Shanghai looked at her, curious and concerned about what had transpired on that call to leave Su Xue in such a state!