CH 158

White Lilyhttps://www.patreon.com/WhiteLily47614-18 minutes

Once the two of them arrived at the birthday party, the players of the national team had already arranged the private room. Balloons and streamers were hung from the roof and balloons were used to spell out the words ‘Happy Birthday Coach Jiang’ on the background wall.

Jiang Shaoyu couldn’t help the corners of his mouth stiffening when he saw this scene… wasn’t it a bit pompous?

Seeing Jiang Shaoyu enter through the door, everyone shouted in unison, “Happy birthday!”

Jiang Shaoyu felt a bit helpless in his heart and walked quickly to the table.

Pei Feng immediately put the birthday cake on the table, opened the box and personally lit the two candles ‘2’ and ‘4’ for his master. He said with a smile, “Master, happy birthday. Make a wish first.”

Jiang Shaoyu never believed in ‘birthday wishes.’ His wishes could only be fulfilled by hard work and making wishes was just psychological comfort.

Facing Pei Feng’s gentle eyes, Jiang Shaoyu couldn’t easily refute him. He closed his eyes and made a wish. Then he blew out the candle in one breath.

There was warm applause around him and Jiang Shaoyu handed the knife to Pei Feng. “You cut it for me.”

Pei Feng was willing to help his master with work. He took the knife and carefully cut the double-layered cake according to the number of people present. He handed one to his master and then distributed it to the others.

Jiang Shaoyu’s eyes swept over the audience and he said, “Everyone, sit. There is no need to train tonight. Take advantage of this birthday dinner to relax.”

Everyone took their seats in turn and the waiter quickly brought the dishes.

Pei Feng picked up a large box with exquisite packaging and handed it to Jiang Shaoyu with both hands. “Master, this is the birthday gift that we all prepared for you together.”

Jiang Shaoyu said, “Thank you. What is inside?”

He moved to open it and Pei Feng hurriedly said, “Go back and open it.”

Jiang Shaoyu had to give up and put the gift next to him first.

Lao Lin sighed emotionally, “This seems to be the first birthday we spent with Brother Yu, right?”

Zhou Yiran smiled and said, “Yes. For his 18th birthday he just happened to retire after the finals and we didn’t have time to spend it together.”

The finals of the S3 season also ended in October. ACE won the championship and Jiang Shaoyu’s birthday was coming. Several people wanted to celebrate him, but he suddenly retired.

Hua Ran was heartless and asked bluntly, “Why did Coach Jiang retire in the first place?”

This question made the box suddenly fall silent.

Mo Hantian, Xia Li and the others were also curious about the reason why Jiang Shaoyu retired that year. They wanted to listen carefully to Coach Jiang’s explanation…

In the end, Jiang Shaoyu just said, “Personal reasons.”

This explanation, wasn’t it the same as not saying it?

The atmosphere in the room was suddenly a bit embarrassing. Hua Ran also realized that he asked a question that he shouldn’t have asked. He hurriedly lowered his head to reduce his presence.

Pei Feng smiled and took the initiative to give his master a dish and ease the atmosphere. “Master, try these glutinous rice ribs. It is delicious.”

Jiang Shaoyu let out a ‘hmm’ and lowered his head to eat. The others let out a sigh of relief and continued to focus on the meal.

The dishes ordered by Pei Feng were indeed good and everyone was very satisfied when eating.

After the meal, Jiang Shaoyu took the initiative to pay the bill. He wasn’t interested in going to a KTV to sing, but he also saw that everyone wasn’t having fun. This made him whisper to Pei Feng, “If they want to go out to play, you can organize it. I will reimburse the expenses.”

Pei Feng looked back at everyone. “Do you want to go out and play?”

Hua Ran excitedly suggested, “I know there is a store nearby where we can play board games, sing K and it also provides a self-service meal! My classmate recommended it to me before, but I haven’t had a chance to go. Do you want to try it?”

Xia Li immediately raised her hand in agreement. “Okay! I haven’t been out in a long time.”

Xiao Gui asked, “For the board games, can we play werewolf kill?”

Hua Ran replied, “Of course!”

Jiang Shaoyu saw the elated looks of the little guys and said, “Go. There is a break tonight and you guys can have fun. Xiao Pei, lead the group and remember not to drink.”

Pei Feng asked softly, “Aren’t you going?”

Jiang Shaoyu said, “I’m not going. They can’t relax if I’m sitting there.”

Pei Feng knew that his master didn’t like occasions that were too noisy, so he didn’t force it.

Jiang Shaoyu, Old Chang, Sister Yu and the other staff members returned to the national team’s base while Pei Feng took the players who wanted to go to the board game store together.

With Xiao Pei leading the team, Jiang Shaoyu was very relieved that this group of players wouldn’t cause any trouble. During this time, there were two practice matches a week and tactical cooperation every day. Everyone was very tired, so it was time to take the opportunity to let them relax.

After returning to the dormitory, Jiang Shaoyu sat on the sofa of the living room and opened the gift.

—It was a beautifully crafted commemorative book.

The first page was a group photo of all the members of the national team wearing team uniforms. Jiang Shaoyu saw that his face in the photo was as serious as a meeting while Pei Feng, who was standing next to him, was smiling brightly.

Hua Ran’s purple hair was very eye-catching, Shi Xiaobin was a bit cute and Mo Hantian’s face was pale and he stared directly at the camera as if seeing a monster. Xia Li laughed so hard that her mouth cracked and Qin Xueyao seemed a bit nervous. Her expression was stiff. Shu Chen was blushing shyly. Yezi and Lao Lin had their shoulders together and had the posture of two brothers. Zhou Yiran and Liu Shaozhou were smiling and personable.

Jiang Shaoyu looked at the ‘group photo of the sixth national team’ at the top and the corners of his lips raised slightly.

It was also fate that such a group of people could get together. Jiang Shaoyu usually scolded everyone and was strict with them, but in fact, they were all players he was very optimistic about and appreciated.

Then he turned the page and the second page was full of signatures. Everyone had their names signed on one page. Further on were the blessings written by the players.

Mo Hantian wrote a confession in dog crawling characters, “God Wing has always been my idol and I am honored to be your student on the national team. I will definitely train hard and won’t let you down! Happy birthday to you and may your dreams come true!”

Shi Xiaobin’s handwriting was neat like it was printed. “Coach Jiang, thank you very much for pulling me out of the quagmire and allowing me to regain my confidence. I hope you are happy and do well every day. Happy birthday!”

Hua Ran from the arts department directly drew a picture. The chibi version of Jiang Shaoyu was painted very cutely by him. He had a birthday cake in his hand and a birthday halo above his head. He wrote the words ‘Happy birthday’ with colored pens next to him.

Ye Qingming drew a leaf and said, “Happy birthday, Brother Yu. I will strive to write fewer self-criticisms in the future ：）.”

Jiang Shaoyu turned it page by page and his heart was full of emotions.

Each player, with different handwriting and styles, were full of blessings for him. This gift was indeed quite meaningful. It was much more intentional than buying something directly.

Jiang Shaoyu turned to the last page and saw the words written by Pei Feng.

Pei Feng’s words were very good-looking, dashing and flamboyant. He also seriously wrote a small composition.

“As a teenager, I watched an ACE match and became a fan of God Wing. I was determined to be a good sniper like you. I impulsively ran to ACE to see Master. Thank you very much for not disliking me back then and that you were willing to accept me as an apprentice and teach me everything possible.”

“I fell in love with e-sports because of you and became a professional player because of you. For me, you are my talent scout, my mentor, my idol and my role model. You are also the most important person in my life.”

“Happy birthday, Master. Your apprentice always loves you [heart].”

Jiang Shaoyu’s heart skipped a beat when he saw the end.

Pei Feng’s words were only about his apprentice’s gratitude to his master but his inexplicably last ‘always loves you’ made Jiang Shaoyu’s heartbeat a bit unstable.

Jiang Shaoyu closed the commemoration book and put it down. His phone suddenly rang. He glanced at the caller ID, picked up the phone and said, “Brother, what’s wrong?”

Jiang Shaocheng asked in a low voice, “Is the birthday party over? Have you returned to the dormitory? Did you drink alcohol?”

Jiang Shaoyu was puzzled. “Why do you suddenly care if I drink or not?”

Jiang Shaocheng’s voice was serious. “You are an omega. Don’t drink when you go out in case you get drunk and suffer.”

Jiang Shaoyu felt very amused. ‘Brother, after so many years, you finally know today that I am an omega?’

This inexplicable concern was very uncomfortable. He raised his eyebrow and said, “I’m the head coach of the national team. Even if they know I am an omega, they won’t have any disrespectful thoughts about me.”

Jiang Shaocheng said coldly, “Is it? Including your apprentice?”

Jiang Shaoyu was startled. “What do you mean?”

Jiang Shaocheng said in a low voice, “The look in his eyes when he looked at me today wasn’t very friendly. Didn’t you notice it?”

In fact, Jiang Shaoyu had also felt that Xiao Pei had a strong hostility toward his older brother. He just didn’t know the reason, so he had to explain, “Xiao Pei is probably more protective. He thought you came to trouble me.”

Jiang Shaocheng said, “It seems that you still lack understanding of alphas. Is that apprentice of yours really that simple?”

Jiang Shaoyu instinctively defended. “Xiao Pei was brought up by me. Of course, I know him very well. He has a simple mind and only wants to win the championship. His goal had always been to become a world-class sniper. He was hostile to you just out of desire to protect his master. It is a misunderstanding. Don’t think too much.”

Jiang Shaocheng: “……”

There was silence on the other end of the phone.

Jiang Shaoyu was puzzled. “Why aren’t you speaking?”

Jiang Shaocheng pressed a hand against his temples because he had a headache. “Do you have an omega’s awareness?”

Jiang Shaoyu frowned. “I don’t think there is any difference between an omega and alpha when coaching.”

“I’m not talking about your business capabilities. It is your pheromones that will have an impact on an alpha.” Jiang Shaocheng frowned and he changed to a more direct statement. “Did you inject the inhibitors you brought back on time? Does Pei Feng know you are an omega?”

This time, Jiang Shaoyu fell silent.

He hadn’t taken an inhibitor in months. Pei Feng gave him a mark in July and his body seemed to have adapted to Pei Feng’s pheromones. This caused him to be stable for several months.

However, Jiang Shaoyu didn’t want to tell his brother about this.

He said casually, “My pheromones are very stable, you don’t have to worry. I just want to lead the national team well now and play well in the World Series. I don’t want to focus on other things. I don’t have the energy.”

“…Okay.” Jiang Shaocheng sighed. “Pay more attention to yourself.”

After hanging up the phone, Jiang Shaocheng frowned and fell into deep thought.

Perhaps it was an alpha’s intuition?

He always felt that the young man’s thoughts toward Ah Yu weren’t so pure.

Why was one alpha so hostile to another? Obviously, they were strangers and had never met before.

The only reason was Jiang Shaoyu.

An alpha’s sense of territory was very strong and Pei Feng had included Jiang Shaoyu in his territory. Therefore, he rejected all alphas who set foot in his territory. Simply put, it was a strong desire for possessiveness at work.

His brother was full of the competition and training, without any of an omega’s self-awareness. He regarded Pei Feng as a simple apprentice but was he so sure that this apprentice didn’t have any ‘disrespectful’ thoughts toward him? This apprentice seemed to be an obedient puppy but perhaps one day, he might turn into a wolf and eat Jiang Shaoyu clean?

At this time, Jiang Shaoyu was sitting on a sofa and holding Jiang Doudou. His mind was suddenly a bit troubled.

If it wasn’t for the reminder from his older brother, he would’ve almost forgotten that he was an omega and was marked twice by Pei Feng.

So Pei Feng’s hostility toward his older brother today was because an alpha had become possessive of his marked omega? This made him unhappy when seeing another alpha too close to Jiang Shaoyu.

No way. How could Xiao Pei be possessive of his master?

Jiang Shaoyu didn’t quite believe this speculation. In his eyes, Xiao Pei had always been a very obedient and hard-working apprentice and only respected and worshiped him.

…Is that so?

Jiang Shaoyu was originally very certain.

But now he was suddenly unsure.

Did Pei Feng care about him and took care of him more than an ordinary master and apprentice?

Last time, Jiang Shaoyu asked him to help with the injection but he put down the syringe and marked Jiang Shaoyu. It was because the injection would have side effects. During the Japanese competition, he specially ran to order food and ordered Jiang Shaoyu’s favorite dishes. He always used the excuse of buying canned food for Jiang Doudou to come to Jiang Shaoyu’s room to chat.

After getting the bonus, Pei Feng checked the information overnight to select financial products, took him to the bank to complete the procedures and personally arranged everything for him.

In addition, there was the blessing at midnight on his birthday. This commemorative book was very in line with Jiang Shaoyu’s heart and it was probably suggested by Pei Feng and made by everyone.

Xiao Pei was indeed very considerate to him.

Jiang Shaoyu had a headache and pressed against his temple. He always disliked people with complex minds. His principle was to directly say things when he encountered problems in order to find ways to deal with it and solve it, rather than hiding it in his heart.

Pei Feng was his general, the captain of the national team and the most important commander of the World Series. He couldn’t drop the ball.

He wanted them to be honest with each other and not hide everything in their hearts.

Why not test Xiao Pei’s true thoughts?

If Xiao Pei was really caught in tangled emotions, he could do some facilitation in advance as a master so as to avoid problems during the World Series.

Thinking of this, Jiang Shaoyu picked up his phone and sent a message to Pei Feng. “After you come back, come to my dormitory to find me. I have something to tell you.”