Chapter 810: I told you my buddies would definitely miss me~

NEST group stage kicked off the same day, the Worlds patch 7.18 went live on the Chinese server. Since the overseas servers had already been updated the previous week, everyone had already seen the patch notes; the Chinese server's official launch is actually a signal, meaning that teams qualified for Worlds can come to China to practice.

Surprisingly, the first team to arrive in China was not the usually hardest-working LCK region, which is also the closest to China, but a team from the Western Hemisphere.

——a team from the Brazil Region, CNB.

On the morning of September 8, a plane that had taken off from Argentina and flown for over ten hours carried the CNB delegation to a landing at Pudong Airport.

CNB belongs to the Wildcard Region and must play in the play-in stage, a new addition to this year's Worlds that didn't exist before.

The so-called play-in stage is essentially a group-stage qualifier; aside from LPL teams, which have an exemption as the reigning Mid-Season Champion VG's region, the third seeds of the other four major regions and all teams from the Wildcard Region must compete in the play-ins to vie for the four remaining Worlds group-stage spots. In that sense, the play-in is essentially a global bubbling stew.

Moreover, given the steadily rising strength of the Southeast Asia Region (actually mainly Vietnamese teams), Riot made an exception this year and granted the region a direct slot into the group stage. That precious ticket was claimed by the Vietnamese team GAM, which not only put on a very impressive showing at this year's Mid-Season Championship but is also the absolute ruler of the GPL Region; by analogy, it is roughly equivalent to LPL's VG.

Getting back to the point.

Although CNB had to play in the play-ins, after arriving in China they did not go straight to the play-in venue in Wu Han; instead they stayed in Shanghai and moved into the VG base.

This time, CNB's boss Luonaerduo didn't come along, yet he still received a warm welcome from VG. The VG base is large, but it doesn't have enough spare rooms to house an entire expedition team, so some rooms needed to be freed up.

Considering that another team would be coming later, Lu Wenjun waved his hand and simply gave the entire second team and some miscellaneous staff a day off.

Anyway, the second team's matches for the year are basically over; if they later need to stand in for the Demacia Cup, CNB will already have left, so they can just recall the staff after canceling the leave.

That's right; more than just CNB would be staying at the VG base.

Just as the CNB delegation had finished settling in at the VG base, a plane from Europe landed right after.

G2 had arrived as well.

……

G2's flight landed at three in the afternoon.

Originally, picking them up only required a minibus from VG, at most sending Wang Liangyi to greet them; they weren't exactly VIPs, and since G2 and VG are old friends, there was no need for ceremony.

Wang Liangyi was about to set out when, as he reached the base gate, a voice came from behind:

"Wait a moment, I'll go too."

Wang Liangyi turned to see Liang Yan walking out from inside, looking puzzled: "Brother?"

Liang Yan stepped forward and smiled: "I'll go with you."

Wang Liangyi stood frozen at the doorway: "Huh?"

Liang Yan tugged at his jacket, his expression a little unnatural: "It's been a while since I saw my old teammates; I'll go pick them up."

Lu Wenjun happened to be coming downstairs; hearing this, he paused, glanced at the crooked sign Wang Liangyi held that read "G2Welcome," then took a look at Liang Yan, who was obviously dressed up specially, and chuckled: "I'll come too; it's a good chance to chat with Ka Lao Si."

Wang Liangyi scratched his head, feeling that something was off.

The driver took the out-of-service minibus from the base, Wang Liangyi obediently sat beside him, while Lu Wenjun and Liang Yan took the back seats, chatting intermittently.

Most of the time Lu Wenjun did the talking, Liang Yan listened quietly, leaning against the window to watch the outside, occasionally glancing down at his phone and then up at road signs.

Wang Liangyi occasionally sneaked a glance back at Liang Yan, his eyes full of oddness.

He finally realized that Liang Yan was different today: his hair was neatly combed, and he wore a brand‑new T‑shirt and jacket he had never seen before. Although Liang Yan usually kept himself tidy at the base, even on the day he moved into his new place he hadn't bothered to pick out clothes like this, showing that today held special significance for him.

And Boss Lu seemed to have noticed something as well…

Wang Liangyi pondered alone for a moment, then a sudden flash of insight struck him.

Damn, that's what it is!

……

People came and went at the airport arrivals exit.

Not long after the three of them stood still, a crowd of familiar faces poured out from the end of the passage.

The two groups drew the attention of many passing travelers, several of whom stopped to take out their phones and snap photos; fortunately, no one came forward to disturb them.

In the G2 entourage, Ka Lao Si led the way; he instantly spotted the three from VG, paused his steps, and Perkz had already briskly walked past him, opening his arms wide from a distance:

"Liang!"

Lao Zhang walked among the group, smiling and waving at Liang Yan.

"You actually came to pick me up—what a pleasant surprise, hahaha~" Perkz flung his arms around Liang Yan and, as an aside, dropped a Chinese idiom: "I just said my buddies would definitely miss me~"

He even added a rhotic ending.

"I miss you, I miss you." Liang Yan gave Perkz's back a perfunctory pat, his gaze sweeping past Perkz's shoulder, through the crowd, and landing on the rearmost members of the G2 group.

Tang Anna walked at the rear of the group, dressed quite ordinarily: a white T‑shirt plus a light‑green windbreaker on top, black skinny jeans outlining her long, slender legs below, her voluminous wavy hair tied into twin tails, a cap on her head, and she was pushing a suitcase.

Her face still bore its usual, unchanging aloofness.

Their eyes met.

Tang Anna's breath caught in an instant, her eyelashes fluttered, and she involuntarily looked away.

After exchanging greetings, Liang Yan stepped up to Tang Anna, placed his hand on the suitcase handle, and said softly, "Let me take that."

"... Thank you."

Tang Anna slipped two fingers out from under Liang Yan's hand, deliberately putting on a polite act, but she couldn't stop her ears from slowly turning red.

Wang Liangyi kept a mental note, warmly greeting the G2 crew while observing everything with keen eyes. He glanced at Liang Yan, then at Tang Anna, and finally at Lu Wenjun, who wore an "I knew it all along" expression, and in an instant he understood everything.

What a buddy—turns out picking them up was just a pretext; the real reason was to see the person!

Although various rumors had been circulating in the team for a while, Wang Liangyi only today dared to confirm that it wasn't gossip—damn, it's all true!

Wang Liangyi felt a sudden, inexplicable excitement; he quietly rolled up the pickup sign, then looked up and saw Boss Lu giving him a meaningful glance.

Wang Liangyi blinked hard and gave a hehehe laugh.

Seeing through but not speaking up—I get it!

……

……

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