Full-time master: I have a spirit behind me.

August 7th, Zurich, sunny
"Don't move, Xiao Wen," Chu Xue said helplessly.

"Um, Sister Xue... could you... not apply so much?" Li Wen looked at the bottles and jars in front of him with some difficulty.

Did Sister Xue buy so many cosmetics in just a few days?

"Hmm, let me see. These aren't necessary, but these are." Chu Xue smiled and ruffled Li Wen's hair. "Or perhaps, Xiao Wen, you'd like other makeup artists to help you?"

……

"Sister Xue, come on." Li Wen resignedly closed his eyes.

Chu Xue found it somewhat amusing, kissed Li Wen's cheek, and earnestly began to dress up the young man.

"Xiao Wen, Xiao Wen, are you done yet?!" Sun Xiang shouted from outside.

"Is he still half asleep?"

"Probably not?"

"Old Ye, don't you guys have spare room keys? Let's go pull Xiao Wen up!"

"Isn't this a bit bad?"

"drop……"

"It's not good to say it, but you didn't do it at all... Um, hello boss lady." Zhang Jiale cheerfully pushed the door open and came in, only to see Chu Xue looking at them with a dark face.

"Ahem, well, we'll be right there..."

"What? Stop blocking the doorway! What's going on inside? Give me some space and let me see!" Huang Shaotian's sharp, rapid voice rang out from outside.

"Everyone out, everyone out." Sun Zheping maintained order, shooed the others out, nodded to Chu Xue, and closed the door.

Something happened outside the door, and the sound disappeared instantly.

Looking at Li Wen's pitiful eyes, Chu Xue pinched his cheek in annoyance: "Alright, go ahead, go ahead. Come shopping with me after the press conference."

"Okay." Li Wen felt like he had been granted a pardon and quickly got up and went out.

Chu Xue smiled as she watched his retreating figure.

Outside
"Hiss, you mean your boss's wife is in there too? I remember yesterday Boss Wei and the others said that their place is a bit far from here?" Huang Shaotian's eyes were full of gossip.

"You mean, my sister stayed here yesterday?" Chu Yunxiu's eyes sparkled as she wondered how much pocket money she could make if she sold this information to her aunt.

"Don't make wild guesses, don't make wild guesses!" Zhang Jiale said righteously, then instantly changed to a shrewd expression: "That's what I think too."

"Damn, alcohol is really no good!" Fang Rui said with some annoyance. Everyone rarely had a drink, and they were all pretty tipsy, so they really didn't notice this.

……

"Um, shouldn't we go now?" Li Wen reminded him in a low voice, somewhat helplessly.

"Cough cough cough, come on, come on, the place that Lao Feng and the others arranged is in our hotel's conference hall, so we don't need to go any further." Ye Xiu said with a smile, maintaining order.

As everyone excitedly made their way to the elevator, unnoticed, a small figure slipped out of Su Mucheng's arms and quickly climbed onto Li Wen's shoulder: "Xiao Wen, you heartless bastard! How can you treat your brother like this?!"

"Um... Sister Mu Cheng..." Li Wen turned his head, wanting to say something, but Su Muqiu's lion-like avatar's expression changed: [No, no, no, brother, you're my brother!]

No one knows what kind of torment Su Muqiu suffered yesterday; judging from the looks of it, even Li Wen wouldn't know.

Li Wen smiled and caught up with the rest of the group.

The hotel's conference room was set up much like the conference room after a regular season game, and there were quite a few familiar faces sitting down.

Xiao Zhao, the unofficial reporter for Team Ember; Chang Xian, the resident reporter for Team Happy; Zuo Chenrui, the number one fan leader of Blue Rain and the number one hater of Tiny Herb...

And, some journalists from foreign esports magazines.

Behind them were the team's photographers.

Chairman Feng Xianjun's personal assistant served as the press officer for this event. As everyone took their seats, he announced the start of the press conference with a smile.

The reporters below immediately raised their hands, scrambling to answer questions like elementary school students waiting for their teacher to ask them a question.

Everyone looked around, and Ye Xiu coughed twice: "Well, that reporter..."

Chang Xian stood up with a look of surprise: "Ah, me, me? Um, may I ask, how are the members of the Chinese national team feeling right now?"

As soon as he finished speaking, Chang Xian's face turned red. What kind of question was that? It was unprofessional, not professional at all!

"If you ask how I feel..." Ye Xiu thought for a moment, then said seriously and without being perfunctory, "I'm very happy, not only because I won the championship, but more importantly, because I worked together with most of my strongest opponents to achieve this victory."

I am honored to have worked with them; they are both the best competitors and the best friends.

Chang Xian paused for a moment, then sat down.

Huh? Ye Shen's answer this time was unexpectedly serious...

"Please welcome the next reporter." The assistant also glanced at Ye Xiu with some surprise. This was really not easy. If he had done this earlier, Chairman Feng would probably have had to take much less blood pressure medication.

The next question was chosen by Xiao Shiqin, naturally from a reporter he knew who was stationed with the Thunder team.

"What are your thoughts on this World Invitational Tournament, Captain Xiao?"

"Aren't you just hitting me where it hurts?" Xiao Shiqin sighed helplessly. "I watched the whole thing from the preparation area, you know..."

"Old Xiao also complained that the location was bad and that he wanted a front-row seat."

"What a joke! That's meant to be sold, how could I possibly give it to him!"

An argument broke out on stage.

The assistant breathed a slight sigh of relief. That's right, that's more like it, it's just right.

My blood pressure is about to rise...

Huang Shaotian was eager to pick someone, but Yu Wenzhou subtly held his hand down. He knew with his eyes closed who Huang Shaotian was going to pick, but Zuo Chenrui really couldn't come this time. The Huaxia team hadn't disbanded yet, and it would be no fun if they started fighting amongst themselves!
Looking left and right, Yu Wenzhou gave Li Wen a wink. Li Wen paused for a moment, then smiled and pointed to Xiao Zhao's seat.

Xiao Zhao immediately stood up with a beaming smile, straightened his expression, and asked, "Captain Li, is it true that Ye Shen is going to join the Ember team?"

"Huh?" Li Wen was stunned. Brother Ye is going to join the Ember team? How come I didn't know about this?

"It's fake... You need to be able to tell the difference." Ye Xiu sighed, "I've already retired, how can I go back on my word..."

"You came back after retiring last time." "This guy has a criminal record, you know!"

"Damn it, ugh, ugh, you guys didn't actually make a deal behind the scenes, did you?"

Even his teammates looked over with suspicion.

Even if Ye Xiu is old...bullshit! His teamwork with Qiu Musu in the finals showed absolutely no signs of aging!
"It's true, this time it's for real. You can ask my assistant if you don't believe me. I've already completed the onboarding process for the professional league." Ye Xiu sighed, thinking about his past record: "This time it's really for real, I'm really retiring..."

With a skeptical look in his eyes, Xiao Zhao sat down with some regret.

No way! He was so happy yesterday. After careful analysis, it seems extremely feasible. Xiao Zhao has already thought it through. Even if he retires for a year and then comes back, he can still continue our Ember team's three-peat. If he plays for another two years, he can have a five-peat...

What should we call it back then?

Hmm, Dynasty... oh dear, if we keep fighting like this, it'll be hard to come up with a name...

Xiao Zhao's confidence in whether the Ember team could establish a dynasty was far stronger than that of the Ember team itself.

Although two key players retired, haven't Bai Shu and Qiu Fei fully matured? Plus, there's the addition of Captain Chu, and the two newly promoted title holders, one Thunder Emperor and the other Mad Venerable—how wonderful…

"Mr. Sun Xiang, what was your biggest takeaway from the World Invitational Championships...?"

“It’s not just cultural workers who need to be cultured; workers in all walks of life also need to be cultured. I recently read Romance of the Three Kingdoms and couldn’t put it down. I’m no longer the ignorant person I once was…” Sun Xiang said, shaking his head.

……

Has Sun Xiang started acting strangely too? Shouldn't he be guiding the conversation to say that his biggest achievement was saving a little girl?
The reporter stationed at Samsara twitched his eyes. This was something that Samsara's boss had specifically asked the editorial department to do yesterday, just to help promote Sun Xiang!
However, Sun Xiang took this extremely seriously, and his real gain was understanding the benefits of reading, realizing that "books hold a wealth of knowledge and beauty."

As for saving lives, isn't that what we should do? How can that be considered the greatest gain?
The reporter from Team Samsara sat down with a sense of helplessness.

From that point on, the atmosphere was completely relaxed.

"Team Leader Tang, seeing your close cooperation with Fang Rui at the World Invitational Tournament, and your use of Tang San Da's most classic sneaky playstyle, have you two become friends now?"

"What? Friends? Me and him? Little Cheng, if Tang Hao threatens you into covering for him, blink twice! I'll protect you!" Fang Rui exclaimed, "Being friends with him? Impossible, absolutely impossible!"

"This time I agree with Fang Rui's point of view." Tang Hao sneered, "As for the sneaky playstyle... I want to apologize to Captain Lin for my immature behavior and the hurt I caused him before."

The moment he said it, Tang Hao felt completely relaxed.

Although Lin Jingyan had completely proven himself, Tang Hao had never discussed this matter in public. Taking this opportunity, he finally resolved his last worry.

"Captain Wang, may I ask about your relationship with Young Master Huang...?"

"Impossible, I'm telling you, absolutely impossible. Our feud started in the second season, you know? This guy was trying to avoid me and debut a season early, he's really cunning. But it's precisely because of this that he snatched the title of Rookie of the Year. I can only say he's lucky enough, and it proves that his decision to debut a season early was the right one..."

"I'm avoiding your sharp edge?" Wang Jiexi glanced at Huang Shaotian speechlessly: "Isn't it you who stood me up back then?"

"Hehehe, you're just comforting yourself here. But it's okay, I'm magnanimous, I forgive you. But you better watch out next season. Let me tell you, I'm so strong right now that even I'm scared of myself..."

"hehe."

Hurry up, next group, next group! Young Master Huang has joined the battle! Time is running out!

"Captain Chu, you can also..."

"Ah, there's no need to ask that question anymore, is there?" Chu Yunxiu smiled, without any other emotion: "Everyone has different ideas, everyone has their own dreams, let's live our own wonderful lives."

"Captain Su, judging from your performance at the World Invitational Tournament, will your main playstyle still focus on support roles? Um... Captain Su?"

"Huh? Oh, right, they're calling me. Sorry, I'm still not used to being addressed like that." Su Mucheng smiled. "As for our playing style, I'll probably make some changes. Please look forward to the reorganized Happy team."

"Excuse me, Deputy Captain Zhang..."

"The collar is a little crooked," Zhang Xinjie whispered, "Please continue..."

The reporter silently sat back down. He had originally wanted to ask Zhang Xinjie whether his unconventional tactics in the final meant he would make similar adjustments in future matches, but now it seemed... well, although he didn't ask a question or receive an answer, everything was already understood without being said.

Watching from behind, Feng Xianjun felt his blood pressure rising again. This was a live broadcast to the whole world! These guys were starting to cause trouble again! What do you mean by saying the biggest regret is not getting to play against the Japanese team members who are living a good life? You guys clearly just wanted to say "little Japanese"... cough cough.

"Team Leader Ye Xiu, from your past experience, we can see that you are a legendary player in the history of Glory. Could you please tell us which match you remember the most and which match you were most looking forward to before the game?" a foreign reporter asked.

Ye Xiu paused for a moment, then fell into deep thought with the help of the translator behind him.

The most unforgettable match...

"The most unforgettable game was the one that had already ended."

What I'm most looking forward to is the next match that hasn't even started yet. Ye Xiu smiled. "I think they feel the same way I do, right?"

Everyone was stunned, then burst into laughter.

As long as my professional career continues, the most anticipated thing is the next game.

Mr. Ye, who had specially set a time to watch the press conference on television, nodded.

Isn't that enough? He can still say something decent...

……

The press conference ended, but the internal strife within the national team had just begun. To avoid the reporters, they split into several groups and separated Tang Hao, Fang Rui, Huang Shaotian, and Wang Jiexi; otherwise, these guys would have started a full-blown brawl.

"Where is everyone going later?" Li Wen looked at Chu Xue, who was waiting for him over there, and turned to ask.

"Shall we go to sleep?"

"Should we go for a walk?"

"I'll go to the stadium and see if I can run into a football star..."

"Heh, you're all coming shopping with us," Sister Chu Yunxiu said with a sneer, waving her phone's memo app.

Everyone's expression changed.

That was a list of things their mothers and relatives had asked them to bring...

Li Wen nodded in satisfaction. Boss Wei was right. People are not worried about scarcity, but about inequality.

Let's go shopping together!
The sun is shining brightly today, perfect for going out.

(End of this chapter)